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The Cell Phone Thread
Torso Boy
Registered User
Registered User
I didn't see a cell phone thread on the first couple pages so I figure it's a topic worth bringing up.
I was at a Rogers kiosk earlier, and I fell in love with the Sony Ericsson W810i. The free 4gb memory stick offer didn't hurt. It's steep though- just over $350 CAD after taxes- as I refuse to go on a plan (it'd be a waste of money for me, because I'm not a heavy phone user at all...I'm also not a fan of taking it in the ass). I was wondering if anyone here was familiar with the brand or service provider- I'm not very reserved about the idea but you know how there can be hidden caveats. I'm enthusiastic about switching from Bell, because it seems like a wall of anything denser than packing foam kills their signal.
On another note, what is the consensus on smaller providers (other than Bell/Rogers/Telus/Fido in Canada, or whatever there is elsewhere)? I'm curious about coverage and how competitive their pricing is.
Any cell phone recommendations/warnings are also welcome.
PS., to all Razr owners: yeah, we get it, you're cool.
I was at a Rogers kiosk earlier, and I fell in love with the Sony Ericsson W810i. The free 4gb memory stick offer didn't hurt. It's steep though- just over $350 CAD after taxes- as I refuse to go on a plan (it'd be a waste of money for me, because I'm not a heavy phone user at all...I'm also not a fan of taking it in the ass). I was wondering if anyone here was familiar with the brand or service provider- I'm not very reserved about the idea but you know how there can be hidden caveats. I'm enthusiastic about switching from Bell, because it seems like a wall of anything denser than packing foam kills their signal.
On another note, what is the consensus on smaller providers (other than Bell/Rogers/Telus/Fido in Canada, or whatever there is elsewhere)? I'm curious about coverage and how competitive their pricing is.
Any cell phone recommendations/warnings are also welcome.
PS., to all Razr owners: yeah, we get it, you're cool.
Torso Boy on
Posts
On it's way right now is my new phone. I finally updated to a Razr v3 - nothing amazing, but certainly an upgrade for me. I just wanted something with Bluetooth and the Razr has come down in price so much it was really the best option for what I wanted to pay. It should arrive by the end of the week.
Pros:
- WinMobile 5: not perfect, but it's getting better and allows direct hooks into my corp Outlook, calendar, etc
- 1.3mp camera takes decent photos for a cell phone
- miniSD slot for mem expansion - 4GB card resides in mine for mp3s, and I load up the spare with Divx movies when traveling
- Bluetooth! Use the Q as a PC remote, or when in need, tether to a laptop and use the broadband service instead of an air card
- Super-thin and easily fits in a pocket, 'tho I opt for a clip-swivel chassis
- Actually pretty rugged - my Q has met the pavement more than once and it's still working fine. It just has a little 'character' now.
- Video\mp3 playback is surprisingly good, although Motorola opted to natively encode its media files in 3GPP2 - not a deal-breaker since Quicktime plays the filetype just fine, but you will need to recode the files for playback on a media center or PC
Cons:
- WinMobile 5: still locks up now and then and forces a battery-yank hard restart, but rarely
- Battery life blows ass. When using the standard slim-profile battery, expect 6-9 hours of uptime tops, give or take depending on your usage like data sync'ing with Exchange, etc. Using the fat-kid battery requires a fat-kid battery plate at the cost of the sleek low profile, but the extended battery does add a good 4+ hours without needing a charge.
Minor complaints:
- The default themes fucking suck, and it took some investigating and finally some custom XML to create my own black\silver theme, but once you figure it out it's pretty simple
Bonus levels:
- Vista owners: Windows Mobile Device Center 6 rocks: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/devicecenter.mspx
- Free WinMobile 5 stuff can be found @ http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/default.mspx
- OneNote Mobile!! http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/onenote/FX100487701033.aspx?ofcresset=1
- Tetris for your smartphone: http://www.download.com/Kevtris/3000-2159_4-10503337.html
Overall:
Having moved from a Treo 700w to the Q, I've been thoroughly happy with the Q thus far. If I were to move to a new smartphone, I'd probably pick up the Blackjack from Cingular\AT&T, but I may hold out until the next Q revision. Overall though, the Q has done me right.
It is not nearly as shiny as the picture.
and Operation Flashpoint: Red River code to trade/sell
and Halo: Reach code
and Portal 2 code
but i wanted to wait for something more... these mp3 phones are kinda exciting though. Maybe when a phone comes out with quality video capture or a hugeass screen I can watch a movie on or something.
edit- bigass screen in relation to the size of the phone, not just in general
Personally, I still like my trusty old LG V4400 flip. Unbreakable, reliable, very easy to use. MP3s as ringtones, and you can hack the image and audio files on the phone directly with a data cable. The only thing it's missing is a speakerphone (and camera, but that's not something I miss). Totally unsexy and unhip, though!
Tell me more about smartphones. Which are considered the state of the art these days?
> turn on light
Good start to the day. Pity it's going to be the worst one of your life. The light is now on.
Samsung A707 aka Cingular SYNC
Best phone I've ever had, this is coming after 5 years of Motorola hell. I think some people say Samsung's UI sucks, but I think it's better than Motorola's, especially once you configure the menu's the way you want them.
The inside screen on this phone is amazing, made me think of my PSP. As a trade off though the outside screen kind of sucks as far as resolution and color range go. Camera is pretty good if you're into that kind of thing. Also I guess it plays music (I've never used it) and has touch sensitive buttons on the front that glow white when you press them ala the 3G iPod. It's got Bluetooth and a miniSD slot on the side for said music playing capabilities. Also it's 3G which is perhaps it's best feature, considering you can get it for $100.
Cingular only though so...yeah.
edit: The picture doesn't indicate it, but it's only 3 mm thicker than the RAZR.
I recently signed up for Sprint service, and got the Samsung M610
Nice phone, had it for almost a month now.
Has not scratched yet even though I have shoved my razorblades from work in the pocket with the phone.
Pros:
Nice clean menu.
Bluetooth.
Relatively fast.
Decent enough camera.
Sleek, light phone that still has some substance to it.
Good call quality.
Cons:
Battery life is a little low, if you are doing anything other than talking.
SD card slot is in a bad place.
Try it before you buy it though, the guy at the store I went to let me play with it for over an hour before I made the decision to purchase it.
I wanted to avoid the razr and it seems this was the next best thing.
Samsung D807, my current phone.
I'm on a Rogers plan up here in Canada, and I've had this phone for 4 months or so . I'm really liking it a lot. Build quality is excellent, the screen is beautiful, camera looks more like a 2MP than a 1.3MP, and the battery life is excellent. I also love the GUI-it's way more elegant than my last Samsung phone (Samsung C417 that I returned after a week).
I do have a few gripes with the phone. First off, the MP3 player is terrible. You get one playlist with up to 100 songs on it, and that's it. Organizing the songs seems to be only doable on the phone itself, despite the otherwise excellent software the phone comes with. The headset is also extremely quiet-even on the maximum volume it is hard to make calls while on the street or in an otherwise loud environment. One way to get around this is to set it to speakerphone and then go to the minimum volume level, but this usually ends up being slightly too loud to be comfortable. There are currently no volume table hacks known that allow you to change the base volumes on the phone.
As an aside, does anyone here know if Rogers offers an unlimited data package up here in Canada? I am getting a laptop soon and would love to be able to use my phone as a wireless access point (or would this be unacceptably slow?) if possible. For around $5 a month, which seems to be the usual rate with other providers, this would be a really handy service if offered, but I'm having trouble finding any information about this on their site.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Thanks for the info... I'll have to look into this further, when I have some time.
I'm also looking for some high-quality (for listening to music) ear buds, with a mic for hands-free calls. Do they even make those? Or do all hands-free sets have only one ear piece?
I've used a Razr before, and I definitely like the Katana more. It doesn't have a ton of features, but as a phone, it works really well. Plus, Sprint+Sanyo is a great combination in terms of reception and reliability, so that's also a plus.
That said, I still don't think I'll ever be able to go back to a non-smart phone after using my Treo for a couple of years now. I'm thinking about what my next one will be. I really like the look of the iPhone, but it doesn't look like it will have a GSM version for a while, so that might not be an option unless I switch providers - which I guess I'm not totally closed to that idea either. What is the consensus for the top smart phone currently? Or is there one?
WiiU NNID: BigDookie
Probably the best feature of the phone is that it's easy to add content to it without buying cell phone content. In the right (read: horribly, horribly wrong) sort of social-butterfly-goes-to-bars-and-wears-their-cells-on-belt-clips crowd, that could save you money.
As a note, if you buy one you have to be careful about firmware updates (like, you don't want to get them) because updated ones bugger with your audio playback quality and Sony doesn't seem to have plans to change that. Stupid thing to have to worry about in what's touted as a 'walkman' phone.
I'm no phone expert or anything, and I don't think most of the phones people are suggesting here are even things I looked at when picking up my phone, so I really suggest you do. Just wanted to throw out how I've found the phone since I've had it, as it's the exact same one you were lookin' at.
Erik
Never had one, just got a job, tired of having to ask to borrow one of my parents' when I go somewhere, so Im thinking of buying one of my own.
How much can I expect to pay for phone/service? Im looking just for a phone. I have a mp3 player, and a DS, I need neither music nor games on said phone. I'd be amazed if I talked for more than 2 hours a month on this thing as well.
I work for an agent of U.S. Cellular. I'm currently using the BlackBerry 8703e, as a recent promotion requires me to be a little more connected than I was previously. I'd never really considered a smart phone/BlackBerry option, but now that I've used it I don't think I could part with it. Google Maps has saved me more than once.
Before the BlackBerry I used the Nokia 6265i.. Excellent phone, did some mods to it (U.S. Cellular didn't cripple it like Telus). It's in it's box, in my closet, should I ever need a backup.
Before that I had the Razr V3c, and Nokia 6255i with U.S. Cellular.
Before that a Samsung A660 with Sprint.
And back in the day a Nokia 3360 with Cingular.
on a side note, I have a Blackberry 8703e for work, and I love the fact that I can do e-mail on it....I really wish I didn't have to have it. Like I said, all I want is a phone damnit. and I don't even use the BB for a phone. I think I've made 4 calls on it since december, since it's work only.
A very beaten up version of this. My mom bought it from someone at her office for $50, then decided she couldn't work it. She gave it to my sister, who then decided she couldn't work it so she traded with my neighbor. My neighbor decided I should have had first rights to it since I was out of town, so she traded back with my sister and gave it to me. All of my friends holyshitwtf when I take it out, since it's kinda a lot of phone for a typical high school student.
The keyboard rocks. I love texting on it.
Seriously, someone suggest me a nice flip top that I can put shit onto, just small sound bites I can set as my ring tones. If anyone is willing to sell? I'm willing to buy.
Cons:
Big. Wearing it in my pocket is rather uncomfortable, so belt pouch it is.
Laggy interface.
99% of games made for it pretty much suck. I only use it as a phone anyway, so it doesn't really matter that much. TES: Shadowkey wasn't half bad though, nor Glory in Death.
Price. I managed to get mine much cheaper than usual though, which is the only reason I have one instead of a cheapo $10 mobile.
"olol NGage moar liek FailGage amirite?". Prejudice against it is pretty harsh at times.
Pros:
Screen contrast is very good, making messages very readable.
Loudspeaker can be set from very quiet to quite loud (which helps compensate for my lack of ability to hear voices correctly over the phone).
Comfortable to hold, type and game on.
Great conversational piece (at least once a week I get "Is that a phone?").
Lots of homebrew apps to do everything under the sun.
Decent for playing music and movie files, with anime subs being surprisingly readable.
Old PA forum lookalike style for the new forums.
That thing is a fucking tank, best phone Verizon has ever carried in my opinion. Has not a worthwhile feature on it, but it got reception no other phone has, had incredible battery life, and simply would not die when abused.
The only phone that stood up to more abuse was my old Nokia 3595, and the one time it broke a new faceplate was all that was needed to get it back together. The guts on it survived 20 foot drops, being stepped/stomped on multiple times, several high-speed crashes into walls, skidding across parking l,ots, and even used as a hackysack when I was done using it.
It did once briefly stop getting any reception after a wall collision, but taking apart with a T6 screwdriver and bending the copper contacts on the circuit board back into connection with the antenna fixed that. You can't repair phones like that anymore, they're too complicated.
It still works, to this day, 4 years after buying it.
when the indigo children come
My Samsung has also been through the wash and has come out the other side in working order, with the exception that the 4 key will sometimes not register its presses. I was pleasantly surprised at this.
I miss my QD.
It was also fun to make fun of.
I have a Motorola v360 now. It's an ok phone, just kinda sluggish.
pros
cons
Next upgrade will be a Nokia N95, a colleague at work has one and I have been impressed by how many features it has and how light it is.
If faith is just a silent tribute, mine is just a desperate act.
I haxored the number 2 out of my E815 ... but i desire the sexy thinness of the maxx
Librarians harbor a terrible secret. Find it.
How did you dial numbers with a 2 in them then? :lol:
My current phone is the K800i, I did a lot of research before buying and have looked for upgrades since, and I can still safely say this is the best candybar phone on the market, and probably the best full stop
Pros
- Awesome camera
- Doesn't need fancy software (at least on a Mac. iPhoto opens when I pug it in and copies all my photos across like a proper digicam, iSync works immaculately too)
- Nice solid feel, really well made
- Really good battery life (almost as good as my old z520i - I get about 5 days between charges and that includes sending and recieving about 25 texts a day)
- Huge internal memory (stored 1000 texts (about 2 months worth) before it needed emptying)
- Decent interface with some nice skins available
Cons- Quite heavy
- Camera is a bit grainy and has too small a lens
- Battery life drops qiute sharply for actual calltime
- Camera cover slides open sometimes
- Buttons are quite small and fiddly.
- Would prefer it in a flip form factor.
My next phone will of course be the iPhone <3Selling my 16GB Wifi iPad 1. UK people only, £150. PM me.
For those unaware, it's a fully programmable cellphone. It runs on a touchscreen.
It's not the iPhone.
It's open source, and it's called the neo1973.
It runs on openmoko software, which can be tweaked to do pretty much anything.
I really, really, really, really want one.
Thanks for the heads up. I think my impulse drive will be blowing my tax return ($50 shy of the price of this phone), and I'd hate to have it ruined by Sony. I was hesitant from the beginning as I haven't had the best history with the company, but this is the first remotely cautionary thing I've heard and, I mean, there's a whole other company helping Sony out with this so maybe it won't blow up on me.
I've been trying some Razrs and certain Samsungs, and man, you guys aren't kidding about the interface. My current Sanyo 2400 is a basic phone through and through, but the menus are much nimbler than many phones that cost three times as much as it. Funny that it's $230 now, I paid $110 on Solo. But I must say, to anyone thinking about getting Bell/Solo in Canada, they have pretty much no towers. Every, single, other, provider I have ever heard of has more towers than these guys.
Selling my 16GB Wifi iPad 1. UK people only, £150. PM me.
(US version = Cingular 8525)
pros:
touchscreen
full web browser
can tether to a laptop as a modem
amazing keyboard layout
gps
playing emulators while at work
access to corporate outlook etc.
cons:
sorta bulky
battery life
massive frame skipping when on cingular's EDGE network (no proglems on 3G)
And will it be less then $arm.leg ?
Librarians harbor a terrible secret. Find it.
from what I read there are currently some dev models out on the market, but I guess they're kind of basic/chunky/test models.
Also, a cleaner-cut version is going to be hitting the market in September, and the price is earmarked for around $350 US.
Not that i care.. but I'll choose in sept if it turns out to be the cat's pajamas
Librarians harbor a terrible secret. Find it.
I'm getting something similar from Helio once it releases this spring. I am ditching Verizon once and for all!!! The one I want is the Helio Ocean:
http://www.helio.com/#device_gallery_ocean
Wii Code: 1040-1320-0724-3613
You... you do realize that Helio is an MVNO that runs on Sprint's network... which uses the same technology that Verizon uses, right?
In the event that the Sprint network isn't available, a Helio phone will fall back on Verizon's network for voice communications.
If I'm wrong, please correct me.
or Brawl. 4854.6102.3895 Name: NU..
That's not really why I'm leaving Verizon. I'm leaving them for their shitty customer service, their crappy phone selection, their 2-year lockin everytime your LG phone breaks and you don't want to pay an arm and a leg to get a new one. I want them to burn in fire. If I wasn't going to Helio, I would go back to Cingular and get an Ericsson phone.
Wii Code: 1040-1320-0724-3613