New phone time

Truant · Post by **Truant** » March 24, 2008, 1:00 pm

I have pretty much obliterated my 3125. The external screen is cracked and unuseable. The volume button is broken in two which makes it difficult to adjust (which i have to do a lot for some reason). By far the biggest problem is that the battery cover is no longer secure. This phone powers down when the battery cover is removed, not when the battery is removed. REALLY annoying.

Here's the catch. Because of my job, this phone is going to have flour on it on a daily basis. It's unavoidable. This makes me leary of flip and slider phones, because that's just going to accelerate breaking. However, noone makes 'bar' phones anymore, because they're uncool or something. AT&T has a Samsung A727 listed that I'm going to go look at, but does anyone have any reccomendations? They can be flips or sliders, if you think they can handle the kind of abuse stated above.

Post by **Xouqoa** » March 24, 2008, 1:04 pm

You might can have the extra 8125 that we have laying around, I'd have to check with the missus, though.

Canelek · Post by **Canelek** » March 24, 2008, 2:33 pm

I really like my Blackberry Pearl although I generally don't abuse phones so not sure if it would be good for ya since there is no flip to protect keypad.

Jarori Bloodletter · Post by **Jarori Bloodletter** » March 24, 2008, 4:29 pm

You cant stick a phone in your pocket on vib? or wear a earpiece? aka bluetooth?

Truant · Post by **Truant** » March 24, 2008, 4:56 pm

It is in my pocket 99% of the time. Vibrate or bluetooth have nothing to do with it.

Fash · Post by **Fash** » March 24, 2008, 5:03 pm

flour?...

Canelek · Post by **Canelek** » March 24, 2008, 5:09 pm

He is a flour tester. Part of the job entails keeping flour in zie pockets.

Truant · Post by **Truant** » March 24, 2008, 5:16 pm

Yes flour, and it gets everywhere. In my pockets, In my wallet, In my shoes, and in my phone.

cadalano · Post by **cadalano** » March 24, 2008, 5:41 pm

i would recommend carrying some eggs and sugar in your pockets. and at the end of the day? COOKIES!

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » March 24, 2008, 8:09 pm

cadalano wrote:i would recommend carrying some eggs and sugar in your pockets. and at the end of the day? COOKIES!

Syenye · Post by **Syenye** » March 24, 2008, 8:43 pm

The Samsung A727 is a nice phone.

My brother is a welder, so he continuously gets particles of metal in his phone. He had one of the Samsung sliders (similar to the A737) and it lasted for almost a year, which is a record for him. The little bits of metal made the whole slidey part not work, which may or may not be a problem with flour.

His 8525 lasted almost 4 months. He's on my old Blackjack, and he's had it since Friday with no problems!

Zamtuk · Post by **Zamtuk** » March 24, 2008, 9:17 pm

Canelek wrote:I really like my Blackberry Pearl although I generally don't abuse phones so not sure if it would be good for ya since there is no flip to protect keypad.

That's a chick phone. Get a real man's Blackberry and call it a day!

Pherr the Dorf · Post by **Pherr the Dorf** » March 24, 2008, 11:31 pm

Love my tilt.. probably more phone than you need but jeebers this thing rocks

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » March 25, 2008, 1:23 am

I would maybe look into some of the heavy duty (and usually rubber) nextels. I had to have one when I worked construction management and I threw it off of a 25' roof once and went and picked it back up and made a call. They can take a beating and they keep dust (or flour, in your case) out pretty well.

They aren't the coolest phones and are probably lacking a bit in features but it would meet your requirement of durability.

Ashur · Post by **Ashur** » March 25, 2008, 9:59 am

I do NOT recommend the LG Chocolate.

That is all.

noel · Post by **noel** » March 25, 2008, 10:27 am

I don't recommend ANY LG. They all suck.

The Pearl wouuld be the phone I'd recommend, except for all that flour. Even without the flour, I occasionally take my crackberries apart to hit them with a can of air.

I am sorry for your flour woes, sir. ><

This looks like a job for the iPhone (which just has a screen and no slots to absorb the evil flour!).

Editor's note: Ignore me, I think everything looks like a job for the iPhone! (though I still think it would help with the flour thing)

Ashur · Post by **Ashur** » March 25, 2008, 10:36 am

http://www.casiogzone.com/type_s/

Passed the Military Dust Resistance Test using Silica Flour.

(Also works after having been underwater 30 minutes)

Canelek · Post by **Canelek** » March 25, 2008, 12:48 pm

Zamtuk wrote:
Canelek wrote:I really like my Blackberry Pearl although I generally don't abuse phones so not sure if it would be good for ya since there is no flip to protect keypad.
That's a chick phone. Get a real man's Blackberry and call it a day!

At least it fits in my purse!

Fash · Post by **Fash** » March 25, 2008, 12:50 pm

Ashur wrote:http://www.casiogzone.com/type_s/

Passed the Military Dust Resistance Test using Silica Flour.

(Also works after having been underwater 30 minutes)

Oo.. that's nice!

Zamtuk · Post by **Zamtuk** » March 25, 2008, 4:26 pm

Ashur wrote:I do NOT recommend the LG Chocolate.

That is all.

eh, i have the 2nd version now and it's fine. The first one blows though. However, I have a Crackberry Curve (8300) ready for me whenever they hit verizon stores at months end. The 8800 Worldphone is neat and everything, but the Curve has all the features that the 8800 needs (camera, sd memory, music/video support, etc.). The beef is that it is almost a year old since the AT&T version and they had to customize it to CDMA format from GSM. Anyways, it is worth my paying extra to buy it straight up with no contract (I am getting a massive deal, however thanks, friend who owns every independent Columbus Verizon store).

Truant · Post by **Truant** » March 25, 2008, 5:18 pm

I should have clarified, sorry.

I'm pretty locked into AT&T.

I agree the iPhone would actually be perfect. I just can't afford it atm.
The Blackjack seemed pretty awesome to me, though the keys worry me a bit. The Pearl probably came in right around, or behind that.
My current phone has the metal keypad (like the razr and other phones) which is impervious to flour. That is a good feature, and something I look for.

I do appreciate all the recommendations and will check them all out. (my store trip got delayed a bit, as my insider has vacation this week)

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 25, 2008, 5:26 pm

You might want to try this phone that has a coating that makes it feel like you're touching skin when you use it:

http://gizmodo.com/371862/lg-sh240-desi ... on-in-mind

The otherwise run-of-the-mill LG SH240 GSM HSDPA phone comes with a silicon (or maybe silicone?) coating on its front, including keypad and d-pad, in order to give the user the feeling of touching skin, rather than cold, unfeeling rubber. And then, to drive the point home, LG hired hot models and told them to touch each other. Nice going, LG. There's a second even more "explanatory" pic of the Korea-only phone (and models) below.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 25, 2008, 6:13 pm

Here's Samsung's Cell Phones specifically for AT&T

http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/subt ... ubtype=att

Syenye · Post by **Syenye** » March 25, 2008, 8:45 pm

Truant wrote:My current phone has the metal keypad (like the razr and other phones) which is impervious to flour.

Have you thought about the SLVR? Besides the stupid name, it's got a metal keypad, and it's a candy bar. Not the best OS though, and not sure they still sell them but you could probably find one on ebay.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » April 2, 2008, 2:30 am

Since I'm with Sprint, I'm going to get one of the new Samsung Instinct phones. It's an iPhone look alike but with EVDO-Rev A (1-1.3Mbps) wireless broadband, open source java platform, landscape qwerty keyboard, microSd expansion slot, All in one 99.99 everything plan. (internet, radio, TV, texting, talk time, etc)

It's not quite as slick looking as an iPhone (and it's an iPhone clone) but it does have some things that iPhone doesnt (access to music store at all times, fast wireless broadband, open source java, etc) so there's some pluses and minuses. It has a tilt screen web browser (push a button on side and you can tilt the screen to move around a webpage)

It has stereo blutooth and micro sd expansion slot which are two things I wanted with my next phone.

Here's YouTube Demo of it: (review peeps first time using so not exactly smooth)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWya25m5i70

Some Specs and pics:

http://gizmodo.com/374454/sprints-samsu ... competitor

Not bad. like the landscape typing over the iPhones skinny keypad.

Stats:

Samsung Instinct™
The Ultimate in Touch Screen Speed and Simplicity

Samsung Instinct, exclusively from Sprint, offers consumers an industry-leading user experience by combining full touch screen functionality with access to the fast speed of Sprint's EV-DO Rev A Mobile Broadband Network. Samsung Instinct provides easy access to Sprint exclusive multimedia content, business or personal email, GPS navigation, live and on-demand TV content, full song downloads, streaming radio and an impressive HTML Web experience. Samsung Instinct offers localized haptic feedback and a new level of customization by allowing the user to access their favorite applications with a single touch. This stylish handset provides an expansive touch screen display and three navigation keys that keep all of the device's features and applications within immediate access. Samsung Instinct offers Visual Voicemail, stereo Bluetooth® with audible caller ID, expandable memory up to 8 GB and a 2.0MP camera with camcorder.

ENTERTAINMENT/PERSONALIZATION
• Sprint TV® with an extensive selection of live and on-demand programming including Sprint Exclusive Entertainment (SEE), the industry's only made-for-mobile sports and entertainment video
programming network
• Sprint Music StoreSM allowing users to wirelessly download full-length songs directly to their phone for just 99 cents each
• More than a dozen streaming-radio applications, including Sprint Radio with more than 150 channels
• Sprint Media Manager PC to phone transfer application
• Background music mode allowing the user to play music while text messaging, playing games or surfing the Internet
• Customizable Favorites menu

PRODUCTIVITY
• Sprint Navigation with GPS-enabled audio and visual turn-by-turn driving directions, one-click traffic rerouting and more than 10 million local listings
• Live Search for Sprint, powered by Microsoft, provides easy access to directory information, integrated GPS-enabled directions, interactive maps and one-touch click to call access
• Voice to Action button providing many functions using voice activation including call, text, picture messaging, traffic, movie, sports, news and search.
• HTML Web browsing
• Visual Voicemail allowing users to listen to messages in their order of preference and manage them with a tap of the screen
• 2.0 megapixel camera with 2x digital zoom and video camcorder
• Advanced Stereo Bluetooth® Wireless Technology with audio caller ID
• Access to corporate and consumer (POP3) email including AOL, Gmail and Yahoo!
• Threaded text messaging provides a view of the full conversation
• Mobile Sync to restore contact information if the device is lost, stolen or damaged
• Phone as Modem connects the phone with a computer for Internet and email access

SPECIFICATIONS
• Dimensions: 2.17 x 4.57 x 0.49 inches; 4.4 ounces
• Display: 3.1" TFT (240 x 432 pixels and 262K vibrant colors)
• Standard Lithium (LiIon) battery: up to 5.75 hours continuous talk time*

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » June 8, 2008, 10:08 pm

Reviews of Spint Instinct phones are coming out and are mostly positive. The one area that takes a hit is the web browser which is a pretty big knock on a phone with speedy EVDO Rev A network pumping data to it.

http://gizmodo.com/5014419/samsung-inst ... e-ever-too

Since I'm with Sprint and don't plan on changing, I'm pretty much stuck getting this phone.

The last thing I want to mention is that the phone has an all-you-can-eat service price of $99 per month that includes EVERYTHING. That is to say, everything but song downloads and some very peripheral video-on-demand options. Most streaming vid and music is included, all data for e-mail, all messaging including video mail, unlimited use of the GPS navigation, plus unlimited talk time. I believe that's a pretty good price when you consider all of the features. The key with a plan like that is to have a phone where those features can be used. That's what the Samsung Instinct is, to me—the best feature phone option for people who don't mind playing in Sprint's walled garden of services, but don't want to feel like a chump. I've been playing with it nonstop for days now, and it continues to impress me. And while I'm no iPhone fanboy, I'm not easily impressed. Now, if only Verizon would get something this nice...

That 99.00 is for unlimited voice as well. Since I barely use my cell phone for voice calls as it is, I'll be taking the 69.00 Everything included with 450 minutes of talk time plan, saving 30.00 that amounts to unlimited giganews.

Sprint has the best data network going right now so I hope they improve the browser a bit. It has all the capabilities but the interface is a little bad with onscreen controls squishing the viewable area more than you'd like. I don't expect anything fantastic out of a cell phone internet browser but I want to be able to reliably make a quick buy or sell of stock if needed and scan some news sites.

edit:

Text entry is either via T9 or multi-tap in portrait orientation, or a full QWERTY keyboard in landscape orientation. The Instinct is less presumptive than some handsets; it doesn’t automatically correct misspellings, but instead give them Word-like underlines and let you choose from alternatives when you later tap them. As a system it comes down to personal preference. Menus are clear and transitions reasonable, and while you can’t rearrange icons there’s a ‘Favorites’ page which lets you gather up links to frequently used apps.

I prefer this spelling correction over Apple's auto correct.

Browsing is courtesy of Teleca’s Obigo software, which pales compared to Mobile Safari, Opera 9.5 or others. However Sprint’s 3G data connection is fast, which gives little time to be too frustrated, and it’s very usable with finger-drag scrolling (and a pop-up mini-map page view as seen on the Nokia browser) or an innovative motion-panning system that uses the Instinct’s camera to track how you’re tilting the handset. The browser is full-HTML compatible, but many sites automatically defaulted to their mobile versions; since the non-MultiTouch display makes zooming less intuitive than on the iPhone, this is perhaps not such a bad thing.

It doesn't sound as bad as the Gizmodo review but it sounds like the network is still being tweaked. The early reviewers are all being told the bwosers is slow due to known issues that they are fixing before the June 20th release.

Messaging is a mixed bag, with the Instinct falling a little more on the corporate side than the consumer. SMS, MMS and email are all supported, with the latter playing nicely with webmail, POP/IMAP and Exchange accounts, but there’s no instant messaging client and only plain-text, not HTML emails are viewable. Attachments can be sent with outgoing email, but not opened from incoming messages. On the plus side, SMS and MMS can be viewed as threaded conversations, and the 32MB of built-in memory could be used to load a Java IM client. Unlike the iPhone, the Instinct is capable of multitasking applications including third-party software, so an IM app could stay running in the background

The email (unless you like HTML email, sounds good with an easy way to add all of your POP email accounts (web and ISP based). I'm not into instant messaging but it sounds like that could be added third party (unlike unhacked iPhone) to the internal memory and run all the time multitask style (unlike iPhone) Nice to be able to swap mini SD cards in and out of the phone as well instead of permanent memory in the iPhone.

It has Sirius radio stations and some live TV. The radio might be nice to catch some games, etc.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » June 8, 2008, 11:44 pm

Continuing from above, some peeps (me) like to see things visually. Here's a nice series of videos on the Instinct:

Basics and Phone Mode:

http://www.phonedog.com/cell-phone-vide ... -mode.aspx

Messaging: handwriting recognition looks cool although won't be used, the spell correction method I like. It appears that an IM client won't take too long to be introduced using the open source Java environment.

http://www.phonedog.com/cell-phone-vide ... aging.aspx

Email: Not too shabby but it looks like it won't be long before google has their gmail java working for Instinct as well so that will be an option.

http://www.phonedog.com/cell-phone-vide ... of-im.aspx

Web Browsing Part One

http://www.phonedog.com/cell-phone-vide ... -pt-1.aspx

Web Browsing part Two

http://www.phonedog.com/cell-phone-vide ... art-2.aspx

This guy hasn't reviewed GPS/Maps yet which is a strength of this phone so I'll link that later. I like how many things are tied into GPS. Movies for example. "Showing near me" will use GPS to determine your location and then list what's playing at the local theaters, show a trailer, etc. Great for travelling. Same with something like "pizza". It will determine where you are and find the closest Pizza places, etc.

noel · Post by **noel** » June 9, 2008, 6:40 pm

Or I could just get a new 3G iPhone. Yes, that's what I think I'll do.

Aardor · Post by **Aardor** » June 9, 2008, 6:42 pm

noel wrote:Or I could just get a new 3G iPhone. Yes, that's what I think I'll do.

3.6x FASTER

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » June 9, 2008, 7:06 pm

Apples' (AT&T) 3G won't be faster than Sprint EV-DO Rev A 3G network.

The phone might be better but not the network and 3G coverage.

noel · Post by **noel** » June 9, 2008, 7:26 pm

Winnow wrote:Apples' (AT&T) 3G won't be faster than Sprint EV-DO Rev A 3G network.

The phone might be better but not the network and 3G coverage.

As I'm sure you're aware, the network's quality is largely due to your location, and where you regularly travel. Fortunately for me, being in Southern California, both AT&T (my very recent former blackberry provider), Sprint, (my wife's provider) and Verizon (my current Blackberry provider) all have about equal quality.

Perhaps the quality is vastly different in your area of AZ.

Also, the built-in Cisco VPN client, the REAL web browser and the fact that 16GB is really fucking cheap make it difficult to pass up.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » June 9, 2008, 7:36 pm

I charged up my iTouch last night (battery was completely dead as I'm back to using the Nano Fatty) to see if I could make a trade using Ameritrade. I could log on and see my account but couldn't make a trade. No go for iPhone!

I'll have to look into it some more. They might have a mobile specific website.

---

I'd get the iPhone for sure over this Instinct if it was available. The Instinct doesn't look all that bad though.

EVDO Rev A coverage is good here in AZ (phoenix metro area). I realize coverage for specific locations is the most important factor. It doesn't matter how great the rest of the network is if the signal sucks in your home or at work, etc.

laneela · Post by **laneela** » June 9, 2008, 11:06 pm

Fuck the iPhone. I want an N82... The iPhone doesn't have shakelock which in my opinion is a necessity. I have the Blackberry 7250 for Nextel. I need the walkie talkie feature for work. It's HUGE.

noel · Post by **noel** » June 9, 2008, 11:30 pm

laneela wrote:Fuck the iPhone. I want an N82... The iPhone doesn't have shakelock which in my opinion is a necessity. I have the Blackberry 7250 for Nextel. I need the walkie talkie feature for work. It's HUGE.

The iPhone has an accelerometer in it, so shakelock would be a relatively simple software change. It would probably be pretty simple to do with the new SDK.

noel · Post by **noel** » June 10, 2008, 12:25 am

For anyone with an hour to kill who's interested, here's the WWDC '08 Keynote. It's pretty interesting if you consider yourself any level of technologist.

http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/0 ... index.html

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » June 10, 2008, 12:26 am

You do get comparable speeds to Sprint's network now but the price goes up a bit:

Lost in all of the excitement about the newer, cheaper iPhone 3G is this little nugget: AT&T is raising the cost of iPhone data plans from $20/month to $30/month for consumers (the plan price stays at $45/month for business users). Considering that you have to sign a two-year contract for voice and data to get iPhone 3G for $199 (8 GB) or $299 (16 GB), that new "lower" priced iPhone 3G will actually cost you more in the long run than the current "more expensive" iPhone (EDGE version).

noel · Post by **noel** » June 10, 2008, 12:47 am

Turns out microwave backhaul for cellular data is expensive.

I expect to pay more. I don't really have a problem with that. It's not a cost issue within reason. The phone literally does everything that's available (from a hardware perspective) at the moment to some degree. In some cases, it's the best there is. Most of the issues I see raised are software, and now there's an SDK for that development effort. It's a no brainer for me. Especially since I'm already a .mac subscriber and now I can use that to sync my blackberry to my iPhone to my gmail contacts to my Mac to my PC. It's an incredible device that brings so much interoperability to the table.

Edit: Apologies. That video is about an hour and forty minutes long.

Edit2: I noticed no one has yet coded shakelock for the iPhone, so I decided... Fuck it. I'll code it myself. I'm downloading the dev kit now. For those of you that haven't seen the dev kit, it allows you to run an iPhone emulated on your Mac. given that my mac has a built in accelerometer of it's own, I can test the functionality on an emulated iPhone with essentially the same tools capabilities. Great stuff.

noel · Post by **noel** » June 11, 2008, 3:52 pm

macrumors.com wrote:On Monday, Apple officially announced the iPhone 3G. The final phone design matched up closely with expectations as spelled out in our pre-WWDC rumor roundup. The 3G/GPS iPhone also matched up closely with one of the first leaked iPhone photos originally published by iPod Observer. We will publish a full rumor scorecard later this week.

A few sites were able to get brief "hands on" time with the new iPhone (Macworld, Engadget, Gizmodo). Initial impressions included:

- Enable/Disable 3G setting is real, Reception seems better
- Feels similar to existing iPhone, thicker in center, thinner on edges but same geometric volume as previous iPhone
- Volume buttons now silver metal, Clearer speaker audio
- Camera seems same, Geotagging also there

The iPhone 3G will be released in AT&T and Apple Retail stores on July 11th, 2008 at a discounted price of $199 for 8GB and $299 for 16GB. This represents $200 less than the price for the first generation iPhone. While we were hoping details about the launch would be clearer a day or two after the announcement, there are still lingering questions about activation and the sales procedure.

AT&T's official press release only revealed that the iPhone 3G will require a 3G data plan which is priced at $30/month for consumers and $45/month for business users. While some have been quick to point out that this $10-higher 3G data cost offsets the $200 subsidy provided by AT&T, this $30/mo price is indeed AT&T's standard 3G plan for smartphones and has not been artificially raised. Customers with the most cause for objection with this pricing are those who don't live in 3G supported areas. While the new iPhone will default back to EDGE data support in these areas, users will still have to pay for 3G data. But again, this appears to be standard procedure for data plans on 3G-enabled smartphones.

Based on various interviews with AT&T representatives, it appears that activation will be carried out in-store at time of purchase. This is reportedly to deter individuals from unlocking phones for use on other carriers or other countries. Since $199 represents the subsidized price from AT&T, it is understandable that they wish to ensure activation, however, many are concerned that this procedure will slow down lines significantly when the iPhone 3G goes on sale. For users who wish to buy an unsubsidized iPhone, this does not appear to be an option. However, those users can sign up for the iPhone 3G and then cancel their contract after 30 days resulting in the usual (~$200) early termination fee, thus repaying AT&T for the built-in subsidy.

Finally, BoyGeniusReport publishes an internal AT&T memo regarding the iPhone 3G and confirms that AT&T will require in-store activation. It also describes that the customer can cancel their phone after 30 days and pay an early termination fee. Cancelation within 30 days, however, requires the customer to return the phone (and get a refund).

I'm curious to see the difference in cost between a Sprint 3G plan and AT&T's.

Fash · Post by **Fash** » June 11, 2008, 3:59 pm

I'm sick and fucking tired of phone subsidies and network lock-in. Sell me a fucking phone and then sell me fucking service. Don't give me a $500 phone for $100 and then jack up the price of my service to cover the $400 (and never lower it after you've been repayed.) I have no problem paying $500 for a phone, but I'm getting tired of my $115 monthly phone bill for my own personal usage.

The absolute least they could do is allow people to buy the iPhone for full price without service... It's a computer that happens to be a phone, too... Why turn down paying customers who don't want to be married to AT&T's shitty service? (depending on your area)

noel · Post by **noel** » June 11, 2008, 4:08 pm

Fash wrote:I'm sick and fucking tired of phone subsidies and network lock-in. Sell me a fucking phone and then sell me fucking service. Don't give me a $500 phone for $100 and then jack up the price of my service to cover the $400 (and never lower it after you've been repayed.) I have no problem paying $500 for a phone, but I'm getting tired of my $115 monthly phone bill for my own personal usage.

The absolute least they could do is allow people to buy the iPhone for full price without service... It's a computer that happens to be a phone, too... Why turn down paying customers who don't want to be married to AT&T's shitty service? (depending on your area)

Totally agree with the hardware/service thing. That's the best thing for the consumer. I'm pretty sure this is how it works in Europe, I don't really understand why it's not the case here in the US.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » June 11, 2008, 4:09 pm

Fash wrote:I'm sick and fucking tired of phone subsidies and network lock-in. Sell me a fucking phone and then sell me fucking service. Don't give me a $500 phone for $100 and then jack up the price of my service to cover the $400 (and never lower it after you've been repayed.) I have no problem paying $500 for a phone, but I'm getting tired of my $115 monthly phone bill for my own personal usage.

The absolute least they could do is allow people to buy the iPhone for full price without service... It's a computer that happens to be a phone, too... Why turn down paying customers who don't want to be married to AT&T's shitty service? (depending on your area)

Couldn't agree more. But if you are going to pay that much for a phone, buying a unlocked euro/japanese phone is going to be 500% better than any phone you will ever buy in the states.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » June 11, 2008, 4:12 pm

noel wrote:
Fash wrote:I'm sick and fucking tired of phone subsidies and network lock-in. Sell me a fucking phone and then sell me fucking service. Don't give me a $500 phone for $100 and then jack up the price of my service to cover the $400 (and never lower it after you've been repayed.) I have no problem paying $500 for a phone, but I'm getting tired of my $115 monthly phone bill for my own personal usage.

The absolute least they could do is allow people to buy the iPhone for full price without service... It's a computer that happens to be a phone, too... Why turn down paying customers who don't want to be married to AT&T's shitty service? (depending on your area)
Totally agree with the hardware/service thing. That's the best thing for the consumer. I'm pretty sure this is how it works in Europe, I don't really understand why it's not the case here in the US.

Japan has the same issue as us.. A lot of the phones there ONLY work in Japan, and ONLY work for the provider that makes them. They also don't have contracts, but the price of phones is very expensive, and you have to have like 2 forms of ID, a Japanese address, 5 mexican pesos, a 3 legged cat and a rare species of Gorilla only found in the congo before they will sell you one.

I think the reason they do that with phone prices/contracts etc here in the US is money (duh). If they make the phones cheap for new customers, people are going to be more likely to make a sporadic decision in the store to buy a phone there and get a plan.
Then, once they have them hooked they know that they will probably get at least a few months of payments out of them before they stop paying or try to leave, at which point they then get the crazy fee for breaking the contract...

I honestly think a lot of the decisions and restrictions placed on this shit by the cell companies is due (at least in part) to the obscene number of delinquent cell phone bills.

Fash · Post by **Fash** » June 11, 2008, 4:18 pm

Funkmasterr wrote:Couldn't agree more. But if you are going to pay that much for a phone, buying a unlocked euro/japanese phone is going to be 500% better than any phone you will ever buy in the states.

I dunno... I would consider the iPhone to be in the top 5 phones world-wide, but I'm very happy with my windows mobile HTC Vogue and Verizon service.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » June 11, 2008, 4:24 pm

Fash wrote:
Funkmasterr wrote:Couldn't agree more. But if you are going to pay that much for a phone, buying a unlocked euro/japanese phone is going to be 500% better than any phone you will ever buy in the states.
I dunno... I would consider the iPhone to be in the top 5 phones world-wide, but I'm very happy with my windows mobile HTC Vogue and Verizon service.

Really? I guess I just don't like it much, but I pretty much don't like touch-screen phones so that almost immediately eliminates it for me.

I think there are a lot of phones out there that are much better feature and quality wise.. The Nokia N82 and N95 both come to mind, as do most of Softbank's (Vodafone Japan) phones. It's funny, the Iphone is being brought to Japan by Softbank actually. I want to see how it will do, pretty much every american phone that has ever been released in Japan in the past is bought by no one except for people from the U.S. military that are stationed there.

noel · Post by **noel** » June 11, 2008, 4:39 pm

Funkmasterr wrote:I think there are a lot of phones out there that are much better feature and quality wise.

/sigh I think we've played this game before...

Why do you think there are phones out there that are better feature and quality wise? There are no phones out there at all that have Apple's software capability, web browsing capability, and integration with your desktop. Please quantify your statement so that I may respond point-by-point.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » June 11, 2008, 4:47 pm

noel wrote:
Funkmasterr wrote:I think there are a lot of phones out there that are much better feature and quality wise.
/sigh I think we've played this game before...

Why do you think there are phones out there that are better feature and quality wise? There are no phones out there at all that have Apple's software capability, web browsing capability, and integration with your desktop. Please quantify your statement so that I may respond point-by-point.

I'd be glad to do that for you.. Maybe I'll have some time tonight. Features matter to me, but adding software other than what came on my phone and any integration with my computer mean almost nothing to me.. I think when it comes to phones I fall more in the mainstream and less in the techie crowd.

The stuff that is more important to me are the features phones in other countries have that no one has here.. Video phone, better camera phone capability (there are no camera phones in the US that compare to the Japanese phones), amongst other things are what are important to me.

Japanese phones tend to be a bit bigger so that these other/better refined features can be included, and that's fine with me.. I don't have the infatuation with making phones as tiny as possible like most people in the U.S. seem to.

Edit: to be clear right away, there are plenty of Jap phones that have just as good web browsing as the Iphone, minus the touch screen (which I already stated I can't stand.) That one should be easy enough to prove on your own.

Xatrei · Post by **Xatrei** » June 11, 2008, 4:51 pm

I agree with Fash, and I got away from the contract stuff. Two years ago and just after my last AT&T contract expired, my old phone started having some issues. I started looking at the (then) Cingular offerings, and I also took a look at my actual usage over the previous year. Rather than getting another new phone with a spiffy new 2 year contract, I decided to experiment with another option. I canceled my existing mobile service, paid cash for a new phone and started using their GoPhone pay as you go service. I figured that if I didn't like it, I could always just switch back to their regular service. I bought $100 bucks worth of airtime to see how things went. Even with the higher per-minute cost and the costlier text messaging and downright exorbitant data rates, my highest monthly expenditure against my balance has been about 60 dollars, which is still $20 cheaper than my old monthly rate. My average monthly usage is around $30. The By the time I used up my initial $100 air time purchase 3 months later, I was sold and have been buying my mobile service this way ever since. This won't work for everyone, obviously. If you need a data plan, or are an extremely heavy user or texter, you're better off with a regular plan. It might be an option worth considering if you're a light to moderate user that doesn't want to be locked into goofy contracts.

My days of doing this are probably coming to and end, though. I've changed my mind about them and now I really want the new 16GB 3G iPone when it becomes available, so I'll most likely be going back to the normal way of doing things.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » June 11, 2008, 4:59 pm

As much as I hate Apple, the iTouch/Phone is pretty cool and works.

As much as I hate anyone touching my monitor screen, I'm ok with fingering my iTouch screen (although I wipe it off a lot)

I switched back to the Nano Fatty because the iTouch is a little too heavy for a shirt pocket and I already have a phone in my pants pocket. The iPhone would actually work well for me (except I don't think it has stereo bluetooth, might be wrong about that, the iTouch doesn't). I doubt the Instinct will handle podcasts well. The Instinct has stereo bluetooth though so I hope to have it playing podcasts in my car with better quality than the lame FM transmitter setup I currently use with the iPods.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » June 11, 2008, 5:00 pm

Winnow wrote:As much as I hate Apple, the iTouch/Phone is pretty cool and works.

As much as I hate anyone touching my monitor screen, I'm ok with fingering my iTouch screen (although I wipe it off a lot)

I switched back to the Nano Fatty because the iTouch is a little too heavy for a shirt pocket and I already have a phone in my pants pocket. The iPhone would actually work well for me (except I don't think it has stereo bluetooth, might be wrong about that, the iTouch doesn't). I doubt the Instinct will handle podcasts well. The Instinct has stereo bluetooth though so I hope to have it playing podcasts in my car with better quality than the lame FM transmitter setup I currently use with the iPods.

Stereo bluetooth is also something that is important to me, until I have the money to blow on a 160GB Ipod

noel · Post by **noel** » June 11, 2008, 5:13 pm

Funkmasterr wrote:
noel wrote:
Funkmasterr wrote:I think there are a lot of phones out there that are much better feature and quality wise.
/sigh I think we've played this game before...

Why do you think there are phones out there that are better feature and quality wise? There are no phones out there at all that have Apple's software capability, web browsing capability, and integration with your desktop. Please quantify your statement so that I may respond point-by-point.
I'd be glad to do that for you.. Maybe I'll have some time tonight. Features matter to me, but adding software other than what came on my phone and any integration with my computer mean almost nothing to me.. I think when it comes to phones I fall more in the mainstream and less in the techie crowd.

The stuff that is more important to me are the features phones in other countries have that no one has here.. Video phone, better camera phone capability (there are no camera phones in the US that compare to the Japanese phones), amongst other things are what are important to me.

Japanese phones tend to be a bit bigger so that these other/better refined features can be included, and that's fine with me.. I don't have the infatuation with making phones as tiny as possible like most people in the U.S. seem to.

Edit: to be clear right away, there are plenty of Jap phones that have just as good web browsing as the Iphone, minus the touch screen (which I already stated I can't stand.) That one should be easy enough to prove on your own.

What is this world coming to where you give a totally reasonable response?

Anyway, if all you care about is the phone then it's really not worth your time to enumerate why you aren't interested in the iPhone.

The only thing I disagree with is the browser comment.

You're begging if you think you can find a better phone browser than Safari on the iPhone.