Does any one here have a decent cell phone?

[gadgetgary]

Agreed

I have had no problems with Motorola or Nokia phones since the mid 90's.

Strange thing happened the other day. I used my cell phone in the morning before work, and, when I went to take it with me to work, the display read 'Insert SIM Card'. I thought it was strange since I had just used the phone maybe an hour before. I called Cingular and they told me to take the card out, clean it with my fingers and put it back in to the phone. I did that and still got the message 'Insert SIM card'. That afternoon, I took my phone(Motorola V220) to the Cingular store and they told me it was a bad SIM card. Told me there was no rhyme or reason for it going bad(it did not get wet, nor did I drop the phone). They tried to retrieve the phone #'s off the SIM, but their machine could not read the card. Bottom line....I lost all my stored phone #'s. The store told me the best thing to do was a double entry(store #'s to the SIM and to the phone.......a PIA in my opinion).

I guess the best way to keep phone #'s is a back-up source(maybe on an Excel speadsheet on the computer). I have gone through past phone bills in order to retrieve some #'s.

 

[nurdlinger]

I have Verizon Wireless service, and have had good luck with Motorola phones. I was a cell phone luddite for a long time, finally in 2002 I got a Motorola V60i. This was a fine phone and never gave me a problem. After four years (twice its expected lifetime) I got a Motorola V325. I chose this phone because it retained the tri-mode feature and I hadn't heard about the withdrawal of AMPS service. I don't use any capability of a cell phone except voice calling. The V325 lacks the bluetooth feature, and that is probably what I miss. I have an external bluetooth adapter that plugs into the earphone jack, and that allows me to use the wireless headset when I am in the car.

 

[maytagmark]

I've had great luck with Nokias and my Sony Ericson,the battery lasted longer on the Nokia,it would let you talk until it was completely dead,my two year old Sony turns itself off when the battery gets low while you are talking on it, its time for a new one, haven't decided what to get. Mark

 

[exploder3211]

Thanks.. Rich and all read my post about my update

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

My experience

I've had T-mobile since 2002. Never had a problem with service. I had a Motorola C332 when I first signed up with them. It was TERRIBLE about holding a charge and had a built in battery so you couldn't just buy a new battery and have no more problems. I had to have it plugged in if I was using it. Then I got a Nokia for 20 bucks... one of the first with a color screen. It was durable and powerful. Great signal and battery life. Dropped it several times and even though it was all plastic, it never broke. Until I dropped in in the mud puddle one day! Then I upgraded to a Sony Ericsson T610. I LOVED that phone. Mostly metal which was good because I dropped it a lot. I'm clumsy and I usually miss my pocket when I go to put my phone away. It was my first "nice" phone... it had Bluetooth, infrared, and a camera. I loved the joystick navigation. A year and a half ago I upgraded to the T-mobile MDA (HTC Wizard) and I love it. It feels like cheap plastic but has survived numerous drops heretofore. I'm on my fourth handset because I kept doing an exchange... the stylus starts dropping out after about 6 months. My cell phone is my only phone and I'm very happy that way.

 

[MrX]

You can't really generalise

From what I gather, depending on which part of the US you're in different networks are at different stages of 'build out'.

So, in some areas you'll actually get great Verizon coverage, and in others you'll get excellent AT&T (Cingular) or even T-Mobile coverage.

So, really, I'd suggest you get local advice (and not from a sales person) as to which network's best for you.

Also, remember that AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM (and will use UMTS 3G) technology while Sprint and Verizon use Qualcomm CDMA.

GSM networks will generally have access to a *MUCH* better range of handsets as GSM networks have nearly 2.5billion subscribers worldwide so it's a vast market and has a vast array of handsets.

The US GSM networks are years behind on 3G though. In Europe, almost all of the networks are well on the way to full 3GSM (UMTS) roll out, so you can do things like access the internet at 3.6 - 7.2 Mbit/s from anywhere, make video calls, browse the web at genuinely high speed on your handset all that kind of stuff.

AT&T is still mostly stuck with EDGE for the time being, a kind of half-way house technology that's basically GPRS (basic mobile data on GSM) on rocket skates. It's not 3G and no where near as fast though.

Your 3GSM rollouts and other 3G rollouts on CDMA networks have been substantially delayed because the FCC didn't allocate the necessary frequencies.

In Europe :
GSM works on 900mhz and 1800mhz (2G/2.5G)
and for 3GSM (UMTS) 1900Mhz is used for uplink and 2100Mhz for downlink.
(As 2G GSM becomes less popular, the 900Mhz spectrum will also be partially used for 3G services)

In the USA the FCC tried to squish EVERYTHING into 1900Mhz and 850Mhz i.e. sharing bandwidth with 2G phones (GSM/CDMA) and wouldn't licence further bandwidth for 3G. This resulted in very bandwidth-limited 3G services and drastically hindered the rollout.

What's happened now is that the FCC has cleared some of the 2100Mhz spectrum (used for very old satellite stuff in the US)
So, it's hoped that operators will be able to use 1900Mhz (Shared) for uplink and 2100Mhz for downlink which means that you'll have all the European and Japanese handsets available.

As it stands, each US network operator's 3G setup is different. They're big networks, but no where near as big as the market that simply uses European standards i.e. the rest of the world. So, you've a few million subscribers versus potentially 2.5billion subs.

So - basically, if shopping for a mobile phone in the US, understand the technology, understand the technical limitations and seek good local advice on which network provides the best coverage in the areas you're likely to be in.

 

[irishwashguy]

besides the two 302's and the 500 set next to my bed,, I

I managed to destoy two cell phones last year, one was crushed when I tripped and fell on the side walk, at least it was Grand Avenue those were both Samsung, I think, the last one bi it on the cement floor at a Wal-mart in Everet, Washington. I went to the Qwest store in Olmpia, they charged me 50 bucks for it, I have a color screen on it, with my leather belt strap, It is a year old, and so far, it seems to hold up better than the last three, i have had my cell phone service since 2003, this is phone # 4. 49.99, not bad for a flip phone!! No problems yet to report.