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 bought a Razr a few months back because it was the only flip phone that Cingular had that didn't goddamn suck balls.
That being said, I have a V3xx
My prior phone was a Sony Ericcson T637
Which I really liked. I wanted to get something exactly likely it for my new phone, or at least something in a in a non-flip phone design, but sadly there was only one or two other phones available in the form factor, some cheap nokia and another Sony/Ericsson that I had heard bad things about.
That being said, I use a phone to make phone calls. I don't listen to music. Don't Text Message. Don't Browse the Web, nothing. It's a goddamn phone. That's what I use it for.
I'm a huge fan of the Bluespoon line of earpieces. I had the Bluespoon AX for a long time, and only stopped using it because my father didn't want his Bluespoon 5G anymore. You can grab an AX2 for cheap... they're small, not gaudy or hideous looking like most other earpieces, and the call quality and battery life is really good.
On topic: I'm currently using a Nokia E61, and I love it. I've never been happier with a phone. It's my first full QWERTY keyboard phone, and I gotta say, the wideness really doesn't bother me.
I bought a Razr a few months back because it was the only flip phone that Cingular had that didn't goddamn suck balls.
That being said, I have a V3xx
My prior phone was a Sony Ericcson T637
Which I really liked. I wanted to get something exactly likely it for my new phone, or at least something in a in a non-flip phone design, but sadly there was only one or two other phones available in the form factor, some cheap nokia and another Sony/Ericsson that I had heard bad things about.
That being said, I use a phone to make phone calls. I don't listen to music. Don't Text Message. Don't Browse the Web, nothing. It's a goddamn phone. That's what I use it for.
Inexpensive Bluetooth headset reccomendations?
Was the other sony phone the W810? Because that's probably the best phone I've ever owned. And it's cingular exclusive.
It's got a great camera, 2.1 MP, a nice speaker and walkman software to sort your music and videos. I've got a 2 gig in my phone and it's great. It's small and it's got this neat 2 LED flashlight on the back.
So I used to have this phone that came cheap as free with my plan, a Motorola v.90 or something like that. It was a pile of crap and eventually died when it went through the washing machine.
Now I've got some old, scratched up Samsung phone that some guy was getting rid of because he was getting a new one. I bought it from him for ten dollars and paid another twenty for reactivation fees. This thing has been through the washing machine twice now without any signs of damage. I like it.
Being able to survive a trip through the washing machine is my new criteria for getting a phone.
I bought a Razr a few months back because it was the only flip phone that Cingular had that didn't goddamn suck balls.
That being said, I have a V3xx
My prior phone was a Sony Ericcson T637
Which I really liked. I wanted to get something exactly likely it for my new phone, or at least something in a in a non-flip phone design, but sadly there was only one or two other phones available in the form factor, some cheap nokia and another Sony/Ericsson that I had heard bad things about.
That being said, I use a phone to make phone calls. I don't listen to music. Don't Text Message. Don't Browse the Web, nothing. It's a goddamn phone. That's what I use it for.
Inexpensive Bluetooth headset reccomendations?
Was the other sony phone the W810? Because that's probably the best phone I've ever owned. And it's cingular exclusive.
It's got a great camera, 2.1 MP, a nice speaker and walkman software to sort your music and videos. I've got a 2 gig in my phone and it's great. It's small and it's got this neat 2 LED flashlight on the back.
If that's not it it's damn close.
That damn employee said that it was the most returned phone he had.
Goddamn I wanted that phone. It reminded me so much of my 637.
And I think it was cheaper than this stupid Razr anyway.
I bought a Razr a few months back because it was the only flip phone that Cingular had that didn't goddamn suck balls.
That being said, I have a V3xx
My prior phone was a Sony Ericcson T637
Which I really liked. I wanted to get something exactly likely it for my new phone, or at least something in a in a non-flip phone design, but sadly there was only one or two other phones available in the form factor, some cheap nokia and another Sony/Ericsson that I had heard bad things about.
That being said, I use a phone to make phone calls. I don't listen to music. Don't Text Message. Don't Browse the Web, nothing. It's a goddamn phone. That's what I use it for.
Inexpensive Bluetooth headset reccomendations?
Was the other sony phone the W810? Because that's probably the best phone I've ever owned. And it's cingular exclusive.
It's got a great camera, 2.1 MP, a nice speaker and walkman software to sort your music and videos. I've got a 2 gig in my phone and it's great. It's small and it's got this neat 2 LED flashlight on the back.
If that's not it it's damn close.
That damn employee said that it was the most returned phone he had.
Goddamn I wanted that phone. It reminded me so much of my 637.
And I think it was cheaper than this stupid Razr anyway.
Maybe it's a reigonal thing. My friend works for a cingular store and told me about it first. I looked online and it looked great.
The manager said that he only traded his in because he wanted the blackberry, and that the w810 was one of his favorite phones. My friend said pretty much the same thing.
And after owning this for about 4 months, I can safetly say this beats the shit out of my old razor, which was slow and had a terrible keypad.
In January I picked up a Blackberry Pearl from T-Mobile. Prior to that I'd been stuck with a RAZR.
RAZR Cons:
Worst UI this side of Samsung phones. Seriously someone should be shot for producing a UI this damn bad.
S....l...oo....w. Most phones don't have the snappiest CPUs in them and I accept that fact. However Motorola needs to really work on the speed of their software. If you've got more than 20 contacts in the phone book the phone slows down considerably in just about every situation where you even think about needing to look up contacts. The shitty UI is not helped in the slightest by the sluggishness of the phone.
It looks expensive but it's poorly constructed and mostly plastic. If you keep it in your pocket with keys it will get scratched to hell very quickly.
Don't bother trying to do anything with the phone besides make phone calls and text. The camera is horrible for even a phone camera.
Useless secondary display. If you buy it subsidized all that ends up on the back display is the carrier logo. There is no clock visible when you're in a call so wear a fucking watch at all times.
RAZR Pros:
Wide but really thin when folded. It's actually very comfortable to carry around in your pocket. Other flip phones really need to take a cue from the RAZR and work on getting really thin.
Nice looking screen. Very bright and clear, not the best resolution but not bad either.
It has useful Bluetooth profiles including FTP. If you connect to it with a Mac you can use the Bluetooth File Exchange to browse the main storage of the phone so it's simple to put backgrounds, ringtones, etc on it.
Blackberry Cons:
Blackberry. Needs Blackberry service on top of your normal phone service to be remotely useful.
Shitty chome on the sides. The chrome is very easily scratched off revealing tacky plastic underneath.
Bad battery life. I don't know if I've just got a bad battery or what but it seems to get way worse talktime than my RAZR did.
Blackberry Pros:
Real web browsing and e-mail. The built-in BB browser is alright but you can get Opera Mobile for free on it. Opera works very well for the phone. Google also has a lot of phone-friendly services like Maps and GMail.
Superior text messaging. The keyboard takes a little getting used to but I can now type on it almost as fast as I can on a QWERTY keyboard. The way it automagically threads text messages based on the recipient is fantastic. It's also smart enough to automatically select a contact's mobile number if you choose to send them a text message.
It's a Blackberry. While you do have to sign up for the Blackberry data/e-mail plan it's actually very useful. You can have it check up to 10 e-mail accounts and notify you when there's new messages. You can also load up third party software on it (I've only needed Opera) if you want.
Small and light. My old Nokia 6600 was a brick and not nearly as nice of a phone as the Pearl. The Pearl is about the size of a RAZR when it's folded up.
I've used a lot of phones and have become very picky with them. When I was looking at the Pearl it was a fair toss-up between it and the T-Mobile Dash (HTC Excalibur). After playing with the Dash I failed to understand how anyone could use Windows Mobile 5 on a day to day basis. So many basic features required obscene amounts of button pushing. A Dash would have also required an extra bit of cash to get the WM5 version of Missing Sync (PocketMac offers a free Blackberry compatible version). I also stuck a 1GB TransFlash chip in the Pearl which can be mounted on a computer by connecting the Pearl via USB to a computer. This makes it trivial to load ringtones and background images onto it. Bluetooth transfers are a PITA because it doesn't have an FTP profile and does not allow you to simply enable OBEX transfers globally, you have to enable them in the media manager for every transfer you want to perform. The USB method of transfering media is much easier.
Slvr l7, and I love it. Best phone I've had. Not super feature rich, but has bluetooth and is great looking/feeling. Decent sounding speaker, camera is better than razr, mp3 software w/ playlists, easy self-made bg and ringtone support, sd micro slot. And I'm like, one of the only people alive who doesn't like flip phones. Not to mention I can barely tell it's in my pocket. Big plus.
I've only had it for a month or two, and really haven't changed any of the settings. I do like to feel of it, and the address book is a lot nicer than my old one (which was around five or six years old). Since I've gotten it I used my cell a fair bit, which I never really did before. Also, it's nice to have a camera handy if I unexpectedly need to take a photo of something.
Telus has a nice family plan, so it's not too expensive. As for coverage, I haven't had a dropped call or any static, ever. I live in a remote mountain town, too, and I've only seen signal loss in the passes. The only major cities I've taken it to so far are Victoria and Calgary, and had no problems at all. The battery life seems to be fairly long, at least for the amount I use it.
Slvr l7, and I love it. Best phone I've had. Not super feature rich, but has bluetooth and is great looking/feeling. Decent sounding speaker, camera is better than razr, mp3 software w/ playlists, easy self-made bg and ringtone support, sd micro slot. And I'm like, one of the only people alive who doesn't like flip phones. Not to mention I can barely tell it's in my pocket. Big plus.
I've only had it for a month or two, and really haven't changed any of the settings.
man you gotta hack the shit out of it; its begging for it.
my shop button is now a "names" button. the menus are all de-telusized (original nokia theme now)
my camera doesnt make a sound when i take a picture, the telus logos are off the front and back, i can assign any mp3 as a ringtone, and it goes on
I recently upgraded my Sprint phone to the LG Fusic:
I really enjoy it, especially over my pitiful old Sanyo. The reception is really great in most places, even if I only have one bar. The UI is also highly customizable, and you can make your own ringtones with a workaround using BitPim. And then on top of that, it can play mp3s and videos (in .3g2 format - I converted an episode of Heroes and watched it on the phone with good results), as well as take ~1.6mp pictures and record 176x144 video w/ sound. The storage medium is miniSD, and it has a USB interface, so that's really handy too.
The Ericsson w810 is an awesome phone. Unless you need a Blackberry or other PDA phone, it's probably the best GSM phone available in North America. Beats out everything I've used or sold in the last few months. Could do with a louder speaker (my w600 is much louder) and I'll UMTS when it finally launches here in Denver, but those are minor complaints. Everything it does right more than makes up for it.
The V3xx is not a bad little phone either, and I've hated the RAZR ever since it came out. Played with one a little and the UI cleans some things up, the phonebook is better (but lacks a "copy all" function, what the fuck?), and it's fast. Screen's nice too.
I currently have an old Nokia 6101. Very crappy flipphone. The camera is poor, the buttons that are supposed to be green and red don't light properly, no Bluetooth, the front screen is cracked and just in generally it's a pretty lousy phone. Great reception though!
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
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.
I'm pretty sure its been more than 3 years since that phone came out and thus you would have qualified for a free new one in that time if you had continued to be with them
They wanted to give me a new one, and another three year contract for something
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
I'm going to second bash's RAZR cons list. It looks nice, and it's cheap and ubiquitous now, but it has serious design flaws. A complete victory of form over function, which is too bad. The software UI is pretty bad, but what really gets me is the ridiculous side button placement and function. This is a phone that can very easily accidentally have its ringer or vibrate function changed or turned off by jostling around in your pocket or bag, or even when opening the damn thing up. The side buttons themselves are too big and loose, so it's hard to open the phone without inadvertently pressing one of them. And the number buttons are hard to tell apart by feel, since they're flat and unseparated.
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?
HarshLanguage on
> 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.
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 got the Sanyo Katana with Sprint as my provider. Good phone and easy to use. Does what I want and was very cheap. Looks cool too. Best thing about it is that it has a battery life of like, a week. It also helps that I don't spend every waking moment texting.
I wanted to avoid the razr and it seems this was the next best thing.
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.
Yeah, my Verizon replacement plan is coming up soon and I can get pretty much anything they offer. With that in mind, I'm having trouble finding one that suits my tastes. Which phone is the smallest and has the biggest battery life? Fuck the bells and whistles, I don't need my phone to be able to take pictures or play music or videos or have any bluetooth or anything. Does anyone have any suggestions for a small, durable phone with good battery life? Slimness is the main factor when I think of small, since my new phone will likely reside in my pocket for long periods of time. I'd also prefer a folding phone since it won't be the only thing in my pocket and I'd rather not scratch up the screen. I've already ruled out the Razr due to all the negative reactions I've heard from friends that have it.
I have a Nokia 6265i, and it's hands down the best value out there right now. 2.0 MP camera, bluetooth, Mini-SD slot, GPS (if your network supports it), MP3/video playback, and it's a sexy little slider. A year ago it was $99 CDN for the phone with a contract, now I think they're free with contract.
Pheezer on
IT'S GOT ME REACHING IN MY POCKET IT'S GOT ME FORKING OVER CASH
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
man you gotta hack the shit out of it; its begging for it.
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?
Avenrosh on
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Big DookieSmells great!Houston, TXRegistered Userregular
I got the Sanyo Katana with Sprint as my provider. Good phone and easy to use. Does what I want and was very cheap. Looks cool too. Best thing about it is that it has a battery life of like, a week. It also helps that I don't spend every waking moment texting.
My wife got this phone a while back, and I have to admit that I like it a lot, and so does she. We traded phones for a day one time, so she took my Treo 650 and I took her Katana, and I was amazed at how thin and light it was compared to my normal phone. Don't get me wrong, I love all the extra features of the Treo, but it was really nice having such a small profile phone for a while.
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?
I got myself a W810i six months or so ago (really don't remember) and I'm quite happy with it. Plays mp3s well (which is the main reason I got mine), takes remarkably good pictures for a cell phone, and perhaps best of all it was really easy to figure out how to convert video for use on it. When I'm bored at work I've always got a few choice movies or shows on hand. And a lot of games. Batteries last a long time for phone functions, seem average as an mp3 playing device. I also like that it's small.
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.
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.
I like my RAZR, it's certainly not the best, put I've put a lot of time into it, aobut 300hours in the past 16 months, and it's served me well. I agree that the software is crap, but meh, for me, I buy a phone to be a phone, and nothing else. I don't need it to be an mp3 player, or a camera. it actually pisses me off that you can't really find any good phones that don't offer those features anymore. all I want is a phone that works well as a phone, can hook up to my bluetooth headset, and that's it. I don't want all the extra crap. But unfortunately.....any good phone has all the things I don't want/need.
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.
Ramen Noodlewhoa, god has a picture of me!Registered Userregular
edited April 2007
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.
Ya, I have a V3 Razr. It's not so bad, but I'm rough on my electronics and fuck... I've gone through two of them. Currently my system is charge it on the phone that can charge, but the D-Pad and 9 button don't work (my area code is 918, I'm fucked) and switch it to the phone that is kind of beat up and makes the interference noise while I'm on the phone and can't charge.
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.
I
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!
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.
Posts
That being said, I have a V3xx
My prior phone was a Sony Ericcson T637
Which I really liked. I wanted to get something exactly likely it for my new phone, or at least something in a in a non-flip phone design, but sadly there was only one or two other phones available in the form factor, some cheap nokia and another Sony/Ericsson that I had heard bad things about.
That being said, I use a phone to make phone calls. I don't listen to music. Don't Text Message. Don't Browse the Web, nothing. It's a goddamn phone. That's what I use it for.
Inexpensive Bluetooth headset reccomendations?
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
I'm a huge fan of the Bluespoon line of earpieces. I had the Bluespoon AX for a long time, and only stopped using it because my father didn't want his Bluespoon 5G anymore. You can grab an AX2 for cheap... they're small, not gaudy or hideous looking like most other earpieces, and the call quality and battery life is really good.
Pricegrabber link: Bluespoon AX2
On topic: I'm currently using a Nokia E61, and I love it. I've never been happier with a phone. It's my first full QWERTY keyboard phone, and I gotta say, the wideness really doesn't bother me.
or Brawl. 4854.6102.3895 Name: NU..
Was the other sony phone the W810? Because that's probably the best phone I've ever owned. And it's cingular exclusive.
It's got a great camera, 2.1 MP, a nice speaker and walkman software to sort your music and videos. I've got a 2 gig in my phone and it's great. It's small and it's got this neat 2 LED flashlight on the back.
Now I've got some old, scratched up Samsung phone that some guy was getting rid of because he was getting a new one. I bought it from him for ten dollars and paid another twenty for reactivation fees. This thing has been through the washing machine twice now without any signs of damage. I like it.
Being able to survive a trip through the washing machine is my new criteria for getting a phone.
If that's not it it's damn close.
That damn employee said that it was the most returned phone he had.
Goddamn I wanted that phone. It reminded me so much of my 637.
And I think it was cheaper than this stupid Razr anyway.
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
I have Sprint. I am in the USA. I needs me a new phone. I have a 150USD new phone bonus. I also get the resigning bonus. Recommend me anything
The manager said that he only traded his in because he wanted the blackberry, and that the w810 was one of his favorite phones. My friend said pretty much the same thing.
And after owning this for about 4 months, I can safetly say this beats the shit out of my old razor, which was slow and had a terrible keypad.
RAZR Cons:
RAZR Pros:
Blackberry Cons:
Blackberry Pros:
I've used a lot of phones and have become very picky with them. When I was looking at the Pearl it was a fair toss-up between it and the T-Mobile Dash (HTC Excalibur). After playing with the Dash I failed to understand how anyone could use Windows Mobile 5 on a day to day basis. So many basic features required obscene amounts of button pushing. A Dash would have also required an extra bit of cash to get the WM5 version of Missing Sync (PocketMac offers a free Blackberry compatible version). I also stuck a 1GB TransFlash chip in the Pearl which can be mounted on a computer by connecting the Pearl via USB to a computer. This makes it trivial to load ringtones and background images onto it. Bluetooth transfers are a PITA because it doesn't have an FTP profile and does not allow you to simply enable OBEX transfers globally, you have to enable them in the media manager for every transfer you want to perform. The USB method of transfering media is much easier.
Slvr l7, and I love it. Best phone I've had. Not super feature rich, but has bluetooth and is great looking/feeling. Decent sounding speaker, camera is better than razr, mp3 software w/ playlists, easy self-made bg and ringtone support, sd micro slot. And I'm like, one of the only people alive who doesn't like flip phones. Not to mention I can barely tell it's in my pocket. Big plus.
Also have sitting on my desk:
Kyocera KX5
N-Gage QD
Moto Razr V3
Kyocera SE47
Moto v265
I some more in a drawer but I don't feel like getting up to see what they are.
I've only had it for a month or two, and really haven't changed any of the settings. I do like to feel of it, and the address book is a lot nicer than my old one (which was around five or six years old). Since I've gotten it I used my cell a fair bit, which I never really did before. Also, it's nice to have a camera handy if I unexpectedly need to take a photo of something.
Telus has a nice family plan, so it's not too expensive. As for coverage, I haven't had a dropped call or any static, ever. I live in a remote mountain town, too, and I've only seen signal loss in the passes. The only major cities I've taken it to so far are Victoria and Calgary, and had no problems at all. The battery life seems to be fairly long, at least for the amount I use it.
I hate flip phones but it was my only choice as the clerk dissuaded me against getting the Sony Ericcson pictured above...dammit.
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
man you gotta hack the shit out of it; its begging for it.
my shop button is now a "names" button. the menus are all de-telusized (original nokia theme now)
my camera doesnt make a sound when i take a picture, the telus logos are off the front and back, i can assign any mp3 as a ringtone, and it goes on
Would the 6265i work on Verizon's network, or would they not let it be used because they're a bunch of bastards?
I've got a Q at the moment, I'm really liking the QWERTY keyboard, and I actually get decent battery life out of it.
Buy some useless stuff at my Cafepress site!
I really enjoy it, especially over my pitiful old Sanyo. The reception is really great in most places, even if I only have one bar. The UI is also highly customizable, and you can make your own ringtones with a workaround using BitPim. And then on top of that, it can play mp3s and videos (in .3g2 format - I converted an episode of Heroes and watched it on the phone with good results), as well as take ~1.6mp pictures and record 176x144 video w/ sound. The storage medium is miniSD, and it has a USB interface, so that's really handy too.
The V3xx is not a bad little phone either, and I've hated the RAZR ever since it came out. Played with one a little and the UI cleans some things up, the phonebook is better (but lacks a "copy all" function, what the fuck?), and it's fast. Screen's nice too.
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.
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?
Oculus: TheBigDookie | XBL: Dook | 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 | My ko-fi donation thing.
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.