Motorola CD930- my first phone. Bought 2nd hand in 2000 from a friend who swore it came from Europe. I had no reason not to believe him. At the time, close to 99% of phones sold in the Philippines were Nokia. The display had a very luminescent green backlight and finer dots compared to the blocky text on yellowish-green backlights the Nokias screens had. I had to buy a new phone when the battery decided to call it quits and I couldn't find a replacement anywhere.Nokia 3310 - bought a few months after getting a steady job. It was a practical choice. Accessories for Nokias had started to flood the market making it cheaper to maintain. This was my 'ligaw' phone. It spanned 3 relationships, the last one heralding a new chapter in my life. I spent a small fortune in 300-peso call cards on this thing calling my wife-to-be. It paid off as you can tell. I got married to her ;-) Incidentally, I bought my first ever ringtone for this phone. Hazard a guess? It was Shaggy's It Wasn't Me.
Nokia 7110 - the Matrix phone, as I called it. This phone lured me into subscribing to a postpaid plan. I just had to have it. It was so cool releasing the keypad cover on that phone to take a call, Neo style!Nokia 3210 - downgraded to this hand-me-down when I needed cash and sold both the 3310 and the 7210. Darn, now that I think about it all the Nokias back then always ended in '10'. Like it was a last name or sumthin'.
Nokia 3100- got this brand-spanking-new after I renewed my contract. This thing lasted a really long time. After I stopped using it, I gave it to my mom. It died last year after 2 power buttons, 3 batteries and at least 10 face plate changes. I don't even remember how old it was!
Motorola E398 - the version of the Moto ROKR that wasn't tainted by the curse that was iTunes 4. It was the 1st phone to support TransFlash (eventually renamed MicroSD). I had to ask a friend in the US to send me one because the MicroSD cards sold locally cost twice as much. The music I loaded on the thing kept me happy despite the absence of an iPod in my life.Palm Treo650 - this was sent as a gift by an Aunt of ours. 4 years old and still going strong. It's got dents, peeled paint and occasional button lag but it's still my fave. It introduced me to threaded SMS and apps on a phone. The apps meant I could read ebooks, edit spreadsheets, look up a word in a dictionary or cover MPG to KM/L. That got me hooked into Smartphones. Thing is once you get hooked there is no turning back. Stuck with it and just recently bought an HTC to replace it. After a few days I missed it, so I bought a prepaid SIM just go on using it. Now I have 2 phones I love.
Sony-Ericsson K530i - it was my 1st 3G phone. It had a great cam for it size. Browser was great, Opera Mini was even better despite the smallish screen. Also had a good MP3 player, but I hated that it took only MS-Micro cards. Those cards are expensive. I had to relinquish it to my wife as she had lost her phone at the time. It lived a short life. It died a few months out of the box when it was dropped into a bucket of water. Don't ask me, it wasn't me. I was using the Treo650 when it kicked the bucket. :-pSamsung SGH-E590 - originally bought this for my mom to replace the Nokia 3100. It had a great camera for the price. The screen was great too. I ended up using it for a while. But my joy was cut short when it died 3 days after I got it. The battery would heat up and it couldn't get a signal whatever I did. I was able to return it to Smart, but the replacement took close to a month. It was working for another 3 months then had the same battery and signal problem. I had it fixed under warranty and it's been fine since then. My wife uses it now, because while waiting for a replacement unit I bought a Nokia 1208 for mom. And because of the bad experience and anecdotal info that Samsungs were known to have battery problems, I've swore never to buy another Samsung again.
Nokia 1208 - the cheapest phone I have ever laid my eyes on. I got it for Php 1,400. Fearing another lemon like the Samsung because it cost half as much, I used it for a few days before turning it over to my mom. It's about as basic as you can get. The color screen only supported 3 lines of text. Both text and graphics appeared big and blocky. It's keypad was rubbery and the numbers felt like they'd fade in a matter of months. I used it mostly for calls and it was great. Texting was another matter though, because of the rubbery keypad. Battery life was outstanding. It could last close to five days if all you did was send text messages and an occasional 2-minute call. It's most important feature was up on top -- it had a flashlight!
HTC Tattoo - after waiting around for prices to come down, I found the Smartphone I couldn't pass up on. It's got all the things I wanted -- a large screen for reading ebooks, mail + calendar sync, 3G, WiFi, GPS, a Linux OS and tons of free apps! Android is tha Bomb!So, what about you? What phones were you using 10, 5 and 2 years ago? Leave a comment. Let's reminisce about old kit.
It seems that everything I buy these days has a defect of some kind. So I'd bravely say brands are no more than names now and warranties a necessity. Make sure that before you buy any product, read online for reviews, ask in forums and ask people you know about what you're going to buy. Caveats were so cliche just a few years ago, but now buyers must really beware. Cases in point: 
to everyone who's ever been related to the suffering I've had with the recent stuff I bought. Grrrr......