Help on Cell Phone Purchase

[Marlie]

Don't want camera phone, just a good cell phone. Also, what Company
do you suggest? I am curently with Cingular but everyone says
Verizon is the best. Any suggestions would be so helpful.

Thanks in advance.

[pinniped]

1. Stay away from T-Mobile.

Here in San Francisco everyone I know seems to like Sprint and Verizon.

[aePrime]

2. Don't get a Nokia

Mine is hideously awful.

Random buttons stop working. First it was the 7, which was apparently contagious, because now it's the 5, but the 7's cured itself.

Sometimes, when somebody calls and I answer, it doesn't stop vibrating. I have to hang up, turn off the phone, and call them back.

Sometimes, when somebody calls and I answer, I get a weird echo. I have to hang up, turn off the phone, and call them back.

Sometimes I get the vibration and the echo at the same time.

It is the worst consumer product I have ever owned. I would like to drop it off of a building.

[A HERETIC I AM]

3. My advice.......

Where do you live? If you live in a major metro area and don't usually leave it then consider NEXTEL. They have features that i liked a lot and if you buy one of the larger phones (I305, for instance) they are DURABLE as hell. I work with a phone on my hip and i have dropped the 305 my company gave me from quite high up and picked it up and made a call. Also, the "Direct Connect" feature is pretty cool, basically a walkie talkie type feature that with most plans is unlimited, free and nationwide. It only works when you are talking to other NEXTEL phones and subscribers, but it is a good value. Now that they have merged with Sprint (Sprint has a similar feature called "Ready Link" but it is a different format and transmission style than NEXTEL so they don't work together yet), the coverage will improve but the integration of both systems may take up to 18 months.


I think the best coast-to-coast coverage is probably Verizon. They have family plans that offer free, unlimited calling between family members and also between 2 Verizon subscribers.

My advice is to go to a retailer that sells several lines and ask questions! Take your time, decide what exactly you need out of a cell phone and go from there.

MAKE SURE YOU DON'T GET A PLAN THAT HAS TOO FEW "ANYTIME" MINUTES!!!

Trust me, 500 anytime (usually, the hours between 6 - 8 Am and 8 PM are "Peak") minutes IS NOT VERY MUCH and if you make most of your calls during the day, you'll burn through them pretty quick. Most companies offer "Free Nights and Weekends" but let's face it, most of us use our phones during the day, and that is where you run into overages. Your first $350 monthly cell bill after being told "Oh! It's only $39.95 a month!" will piss you off to no end.

I hope i helped a little. I am heading to bed now (12:30 Eastern) and i won't be back online for a couple days, so i wont be able to answer any follow up questions so i say again, stop by a multi line retailer and pick their brains.

[Maddy McCall]

4. These days, most phones are camera equipped.

I like the Motorola v551. It has bluetooth, so you can use a wireless earbud with it, if you ever want to.

I also like my Audiovox. It's a decent phone, good battery life, good sound.

I would NEVER use Alltel again. They suck.

[Marlie]

5. Thanks so much...

I found a Samsung digital with a speakerphone and voice activated
dialing. Samsung seems to be highly rated but I will check out
all the phones suggested. I'm in a rural area and don't drive in
to Chicago on a regular basis. I think I will definitely switch to
Verizon.

Thanks for all the input. I really do appreciate it.

If anyone really hates Samsung, please let me know.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

6. Wife and I have had excellent experience with Samsung/Sprint.

Important to ask people in your area who have different services how happy they are with the coverage, dead spots etc. Most important is to decide what service to go with on that basis. If you have a good service with good coverage, the basic to mid level phones are pretty good with all the services, I think.

[KitchenWitch]

7. I have had two different Nokia phones with no problem

[CanuckAmok]

8. This is the best phone I have ever owned:

Sanyo SCP-4500i



It's about 5 years old, so you'd have to find a used one. You can probably get one on eBay for $5.

1) It's durable as hell; I dropped mine repeatedly, including accidentally drop-kicking it while I was running across a parking-lot. It probably flew about 50' in front of me before hitting a light pole. The battery broke off, but I glued it back on, and the phone worker perfectly. I also ran it through the wash once. Still worked fine, although the display was a little hard to read after the washing.

2) digital and analogue.

3) has built-in speaker phone.

4) 100 number memory.

5) voice-activated commands, and voice activated phonebook.

6) screen is small and B&W, so it doesn't use lots of battery power, like the stupid animated multi-colour displays all the new phones have.

7) has all the stuff like calculator, alarm clock, games, voice memo, etc.

8) email access.

9) too ugly to steal, to big to lose.

earphone jack, 12v adapter, etc...

[Scooter24]

9. I have a black moto RAZR V3

and use cingular. The phone is incredible and includes some of the best features anywhere. :) The sound is the clearest I've experienced.

Some places have them at a reasonable price if purchased with a contract, but can be very expensive if bought alone.

This is the one I have:


Some of the main features:

External dimensions: 13.9 x 55 x 98 millimeters
Weight: 3.4 ounces
External color display
Picture caller ID
Nickel-plated copper-alloy chemically-etched keypad
Internal display: 2.2 inch 176 x 220 pixel 64K color TFT display
External display: 96x80 pixels 4k color CSTN CLI
EL keypad illumination panel
Internal quad-band antenna
Integrated VGA camera with 4x zoom
Integrated Class 1 Bluetooth® wireless technology
22kHz polyphonic speaker with MP3 ringer support
MPEG4 video Playback
3D Graphics Engine
Java™ MIDP 2.0
Dedicated Messaging & Browser keys

This phone allows you to call from over 100 countries. Has a speakerphone and excellent signal strength from an internal antenna. Stores 1000+ names. Has up to 430 minutes of talk time (depending on features used), and between 180 and 290 hours standby time.

Also has mobile email, instant messaging, high-speed wireless modem via GPRS, on-board and downloadable games/graphics/ringtones, personalized menu layout, information manager (calendar, reminders, etc.)