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#1
06-18-2005, 10:11 PM
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What cell phone should I buy?
My wife and I have been using a pair of craptacular Nokia 3395's for three years. (Actually, I may be slinging harsh adjectives unfairly, our dissatisfaction with these has been mostly the battery life as of late. If you go a night without plugging them in, you'll battery will die, even though I have no friends and only call my wife, my mom, and my dad.) They are of course bare bones by today's standards. We finished the initial contract, so we can sign up for a new contract and get the discount on new phones doing so typically entails.
The thing is, I don't know anything about phones today. We already have a 4 megapixel digital camera, so having a camera in my phone seems stupid. I don't receive 'urgent' emails, so getting email on my phone seems to be of little or no use. I don't instant message, and don't think I want to. I have a Plam Pilot because I'm a geek and like to buy toys, but other than some heavy initial Bejweled-playing, I never touch the thing. I browse the web constantly, but I can't imagine wanting to put up with a cell phone's interface to do so. What I'm asking is this: Much like someone who couldn't understand the point of TiVo, but never wants to go back once they have it, are there any "killer features" in cell phones nowadays that I should get even if I wouldn't think I need it? What features in your cell phone have you found awesome/underrated/useless? Share your experiences. BTW, here are the choices offered by Cingular: Samsung X427M Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) capable Mobile Instant Messaging using AOL® Instant MessengerTM Data Connect capable $0.00 Motorola V220 Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) capable Mobile Instant Messaging using AOL® Instant MessengerTM Integrated VGA camera with 65k color CSTN display and zoom $29.99 LG L1400i Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) capable Mobile Instant Messaging using AOL® Instant MessengerTM Mobile Instant Messaging using Yahoo IM $49.99 Sony Ericsson T237 (Refurb) Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) capable Mobile Instant Messaging using AOL® Instant MessengerTM 4K-color, full graphic display $0.00 LG C1300 Refurb Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) capable Mobile Instant Messaging using AOL® Instant MessengerTM FastForward capable* * Subscription dependent feature $0.00 Nokia 3120 (Refurb) Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) capable Mobile Instant Messaging using AOL® Instant MessengerTM Downloadable Polyphonic ringtones $0.00 Nokia 6010 Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) capable Mobile Instant Messaging using AOL® Instant MessengerTM High-resolution, full-color display (4,096 colors) $0.00 LG C1300i Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) capable Mobile Instant Messaging using AOL® Instant MessengerTM Mobile Instant Messaging using Yahoo IM $19.99 Siemens CT66 Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) capable* Mobile Instant Messaging using AOL® Instant MessengerTM* Integrated VGA camera with 65k color TFT display * Subscription dependent feature $29.99 Motorola V180 Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) capable Mobile Instant Messaging using AOL® Instant MessengerTM Downloadable Polyphonic and MP3 ringtones $39.99 Sony Ericsson Z500a Integrated VGA still and video camera with zoom and brightness control Video and picture Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) capable Mobile Instant Messaging using AOL® Instant MessengerTM Exclusive Star Wars Offer $49.99 AFTER MAIL-IN REBATE $99.99 LG F9100 65k full-color display, 128x160 pixels with rotating color screen Sliding QWERTY keyboard Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) capable* * Subscription dependent feature $99.99 Samsung P207 262K color display with integrated still and video camera High-speed data transmission via EDGE Video and picture Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) capable* * Subscription dependent feature $99.99 Siemens S66 Integrated mega-pixel camera with 5x digital zoom and video camera Bluetooth and infrared wireless connectivity Tri-band world phone operates on 850/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS networks $99.99 LG A7110 Integrated video camera with 65k color display, 4x zoom, flash and rotating lens Sliding keypad Picture and video Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) capable* * Subscription dependent feature Online Offer Only $149.99 Motorola V551 Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and video message capable Mobile Instant Messaging using AOL® Instant MessengerTM Quad-band international capability $99.99 AFTER MAIL-IN REBATE $149.99 Motorola RAZR V3 Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) capable* Mobile Instant Messaging using AOL® Instant MessengerTM* Quad-band international capability * Subscription dependent feature $199.99 Audiovox SMT 5600 Smartphone Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) capable Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition software for Smartphone Windows Media Player 10 supports WAV/MP3/MPG4 FREE SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD $199.99 AFTER MAIL-IN REBATE $249.99 BlackBerry 7100g Large high resolution portrait LCD color screen (240 x 260 pixels) Supports Internet e-mail (POP3/IMAP4) with Blackberry Web client SureTypeTM QWERTY keyboard $199.99 After Mail-in Rebate $249.99 BlackBerry 7290 E-mail, phone, browser, SMS, browser and organizer applications in a single, integrated handheld Bluetooth® support for hands-free voice communications Bright, backlit 240x160 display supporting over 65,000 colors $249.99 After Mail-in Rebate $299.99 Sony Ericsson S710 Unique swivel design w/ oversized 2.3-inch 262K color display Multiple data communications: Bluetooth, Infrared, and EDGE Integrated 1.3 megapixel still/video camera w/ 8x zoom and flash Exclusive Star Wars Offer $199.99 AFTER MAIL-IN REBATE $299.99 Samsung P777 Slider design with 262K color display Integrated 1.3 mega pixel camera/camcorder with 4x zoom and Movie Light Integrated MP3 player with EasyStudio II File Manager software, data cable, and stereo headset included $299.99 palmOne Treo 650 EDGE technology for fast data downloads Bluetooth connectivity Vibrant 65k color touchscreen display $399.99 AFTER MAIL-IN REBATE $449.99 Siemens SX66 OS: Windows Mobileż Pocket PC 2003 Second Edition Unique slider design, QWERTY keyboard Connectivity: WiFi (802.11b), Bluetooth®, USB, and wireless data transfer via infrared interface (IrDA) $499.99 After Mail-In Rebate $549.99 
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#5
06-19-2005, 04:03 PM
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Re: What cell phone should I buy?
[ QUOTE ]
And what features is it you think I need? [/ QUOTE ] Something that operates well as a phone. You say you like to browse the web but don't like a cell phone interface, the sidekick has a much better interface for web browsing than regular cell phones. The internet browsing thing is what did it for me. You can also download games for it, as you mentioned you liked to play bejeweled. You can access all your contacts and stuff on the phone from the internet in case you need to look up a number but don't have your phone. Lastly, even though you don't really care about a camera on your phone, it's nice to have. I can't count how many time I use my camera phone for random pictures when I don't have my camera with me.
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#6
06-19-2005, 06:48 PM
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Re: What cell phone should I buy?
buy whatever your poision from www.amazon.com
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#7
06-19-2005, 07:35 PM
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Re: What cell phone should I buy?
i have the sony ericsson k750i and i love it. basically it's a phone/mp3-player/camera rolled into one.
bluetooth is a standard for wireless transfers. If your phone features bluetooth you can use stuff like wireless handsfree or move stuff between computer and phone without having to plug it in (given that your computer has bluetooth). anyway, by the description of your needs i think the k750i prolly isn't the phone for you. your choice should be based entirely on looks, and if looks doesn't matter just pick the least expensive one.
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#8
06-19-2005, 08:03 PM
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Re: What cell phone should I buy?
[ QUOTE ]
Do cell phones geenrally all have the same games, is it related to the carrier, or how does that work? What is BlueTooth? [/ QUOTE ] I'm not sure about Cingular, but most Verizon phones don't come with games...they want you to download them and pay $3 a month for it (or some have a $7 or $8 one time fee).
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#9
06-19-2005, 08:05 PM
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Re: What cell phone should I buy?
[ QUOTE ]
Cingular [/ QUOTE ] I don't know what exactly the problem is, but I'm on a Sprint phone, and whenever I'm talking to someone on a Cingular, I only hear about two-thirds of what they say. I don't know if the problem is on my end or not, but I thought I'd just mention that here.
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#10
06-19-2005, 08:08 PM
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Re: What cell phone should I buy?
Another related cell phone question (rather than starting a new thread for it)...
Does anyone use the Treo 600 or 650 right now? I've done a little research on it, and it says there's a web browser on it. Is this the typical phone browser that only gives you certain options and pages you can access or is it an actual browser that would allow me to, say, check my fantasy baseball/football teams and stats anywhere? E-mail is a plus too...I can't even count the number of times a day I check my e-mail.
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