Looking for a new Mobile Phone

[Miesian Corners]

My phone is on its last legs (motorloa V 600). Any advice which models I should look at?

[teshadoh]

I would think it depends on your cell phone provider & what offers are available. I never like paying for them, since most cell phone plans give them away every 2 years.

[Miesian Corners]

^Tragically, I signed a new contract in October (Cingular), but I'm not trapped into only the phones they sell. As long as the phone uses a SIM card, I'm good.

[monsoon]

My other half just got a Razr phone. It seems to work really well.

[hood]

I would get the A900 by Samsung (it's sold through Sprint), it's almost as thin as a Razr, but is more advanced (bigger screen, streaming video, better camera, ect...).

[monsoon]

I looked at this phone and it is indeed nice, but I wouldn't get another phone from Sprint. They have the worst network that I have ever used.

[urbanvb]

I looked at this phone and it is indeed nice, but I wouldn't get another phone from Sprint. They have the worst network that I have ever used.

I have Sprint here in Va Beach and I haven't really had any issues.

[Miesian Corners]

Looked at the Samsung and the Razr. Both nice. The Samsung is a better phone, but out of my price range. $325! And that was on ebay. Ouch. I settled on the Razr. Still not happy that I had to spend nearly $200, but I needed one that had quad band. Cinglular wanted to charge me $295 for it. I love ebay.

Thanks for the advice guys!

[dubone]

I used to think that a lot, and get terribly embarrassed that I had Sprint, but lately, I have rarely had issues with reception and dropped calls. I have friends with Verizon, traditionally considered the best network, and they haven't gotten signals in key places where I have one. Although, I'm sure there are probably plenty of inverse examples.

Anyway, I'm locked into Sprint for a while, so I got the A900. (Althought I absolutely had its T9 text recognition over my older Sanyo phone, as it never seems to recognize abbreviations that I need).

I'm a phone peppermint, (I average 6 months between buying new phones), but I think I'll stick with the A900 for a while. Best features: slim cross section allows it to fit in the wallet pocket comfortably, bluetooth, 3G. Worst features: T9 recognition, battery life, lack of universal power jack.

[DigitalSky]

I've never had problems w/ Verizon. I plan on getting the RAZR once my contract is up for renewal.

[satalac]

i sell cell phones for t-mobile, cingular and sprint. you won't be able to use the samsung a900 because it's a cdma phone and not gsm. the phone that i would recommend for cingular is either the razr (although they've had some problems with the last batch sent out) and the nokia 6102. the nokia is a great little phone and not that expensive. it has a camera and a fm radio built into it. and i'd hold off on the slvr if you were thinking about that one also. it's been pretty buggy lately since it's a new phone. i personally use verizon. sure i can get 3000 minutes for $20 a month through sprint, but i can't ge the service that verizon offers. cingular is probably the closest thing to verizon coverage wise, but customer service suuuuuuuuucks.

[jice]

I've never had problems w/ Verizon. I plan on getting the RAZR once my contract is up for renewal.

I just got the RAZR V3c for FREE since my contract was almost up... but... I gotta say... I'm not extremely happy with it. The phone itself is great... as far as hardware & looks. It's the OS (operating system) that really ticks me off. Verizon put their own special OS on it... and left a bunch of features out. One key feature that I really miss is 'Vibe & Ring' and 'Vibe then Ring'... it will only do either ring or vibe... not both. I have asked VZW about it and all they have to say is Motorola left it out when they programmed the OS. I have read somewhere, though, that VZW wants to eventually use this same OS on all phones they sell... to keep tech support easier... and the OS itself is actually just a BREW application that runs on top of the Motorola OS. So I, personally, think VZW is responsible for the programming of the OS... but who knows.

Anywayz... there are other things about the VZW OS that drive me crazy. It just doesn't seem natural in a lot of ways... when you are doing certain things. There are only a limited number of tools... and no games unless you download and pay for them. You also can't customize it all that much. There is this red bar at the top and bottom of the OS that you cannot change the color of! It really sucks! lol.

My old VZW phone seemed like it had so much more! It was the LG VX6000... sadly, it became a little soaked and won't work anymore lol. It had an OS that I assume was made by LG... and had a lot more customization you could do to it... and more tools and stuff too.... and of course, 'VIBE & RING' lol. Only thing about that one I didn't like was no speakerphone... but anyway.

I am stuck with the RAZR V3c I guess for the duration of my current contract, unless I wanna dish out a bunch of money. But... I do think it is probably one of the better phones that VZW sells. I just wish they would not have crippled the OS! I have a friend who has a RAZR V3 from Cingular... and has all the features I wish my RAZR had. Vibe & Ring, Vibe then Ring, more customizations, more tools, a few FREE games... he can even set his up to check his email right through the OS itself... the only way I can find to do it with my phone is by subscribing to mobile web.... which is an additional monthly fee, of course.

Hopefully... VZW will come to their senses and make some MAJOR OS updates soon! I am gonna keep complaining til they do! lol

Not to mention... I live in Nashville... and although they advertize VCast allllll the time on tv... there is no VCast service here yet! Are they just trying to piss me and other customers off? lol

Ok... I think I'm done lol... for now anyway.

[Miesian Corners]

It is a Verizon thing. My Razr was purchased from ebay and came unlocked (meaning it can be used on any system that uses SIM cards. Most phones are locked by the company that provides service. They don't want you do something such as going to Cingular and buy a phone only to use it on the T Mobile network) My phone was was boxed to be sold in Germany. Once I switched the language to English, it looked just like my V 600, only with more stuff. It has the vibe-ring option. Verizon is at fault with your phone missing that function.

[DigitalSky]

I just got the RAZR V3c for FREE since my contract was almost up... but... I gotta say... I'm not extremely happy with it. The phone itself is great... as far as hardware & looks. It's the OS (operating system) that really ticks me off. Verizon put their own special OS on it... and left a bunch of features out. One key feature that I really miss is 'Vibe & Ring' and 'Vibe then Ring'... it will only do either ring or vibe... not both. I have asked VZW about it and all they have to say is Motorola left it out when they programmed the OS. I have read somewhere, though, that VZW wants to eventually use this same OS on all phones they sell... to keep tech support easier... and the OS itself is actually just a BREW application that runs on top of the Motorola OS. So I, personally, think VZW is responsible for the programming of the OS... but who knows.

Anywayz... there are other things about the VZW OS that drive me crazy. It just doesn't seem natural in a lot of ways... when you are doing certain things. There are only a limited number of tools... and no games unless you download and pay for them. You also can't customize it all that much. There is this red bar at the top and bottom of the OS that you cannot change the color of! It really sucks! lol.

My old VZW phone seemed like it had so much more! It was the LG VX6000... sadly, it became a little soaked and won't work anymore lol. It had an OS that I assume was made by LG... and had a lot more customization you could do to it... and more tools and stuff too.... and of course, 'VIBE & RING' lol. Only thing about that one I didn't like was no speakerphone... but anyway.

I am stuck with the RAZR V3c I guess for the duration of my current contract, unless I wanna dish out a bunch of money. But... I do think it is probably one of the better phones that VZW sells. I just wish they would not have crippled the OS! I have a friend who has a RAZR V3 from Cingular... and has all the features I wish my RAZR had. Vibe & Ring, Vibe then Ring, more customizations, more tools, a few FREE games... he can even set his up to check his email right through the OS itself... the only way I can find to do it with my phone is by subscribing to mobile web.... which is an additional monthly fee, of course.

Hopefully... VZW will come to their senses and make some MAJOR OS updates soon! I am gonna keep complaining til they do! lol

Not to mention... I live in Nashville... and although they advertize VCast allllll the time on tv... there is no VCast service here yet! Are they just trying to piss me and other customers off? lol

Ok... I think I'm done lol... for now anyway.

It is a Verizon thing. My Razr was purchased from ebay and came unlocked (meaning it can be used on any system that uses SIM cards. Most phones are locked by the company that provides service. They don't want you do something such as going to Cingular and buy a phone only to use it on the T Mobile network) My phone was was boxed to be sold in Germany. Once I switched the language to English, it looked just like my V 600, only with more stuff. It has the vibe-ring option. Verizon is at fault with your phone missing that function.

wow I had no idea about all this.. thanks for the information

[GRDadof3]

Forget Verizon, Sprint, et al. My Brother-in-law talked me into getting a Virgin Mobile phone and it rocks. No contracts, no extra fees, just the minutes you want plus sales tax. It's just like a calling card with a phone attached. I spend on average about $20/month, compared to $50 - $60/mo. with Verizon. You can get a Virgin phone just about at any electronics retailer or Target. Then you just call their number and "top up" your minutes when they run low.

http://www.virgin.com/gateways/mobile/

[jice]

Yup... it is a Verizon thing. Verizon doesn't use SIM cards like Cingular and some of the others. I could be wrong... but I don't think there's such a thing as locked/unlocked when talking about VZW... it's a totally different deal. Also, the Cingular version of the RAZR wouldn't work on the VZW network... cuz Cingular uses GSM, not CDMA.

I have never ever had a major problem with VZW's service... or their phones for that matter. But... after what I have been going thru with this new OS they seem to be using... I am very tempted to pay the fee to cancel my contract and switch to Cingular or someone else. The RAZR is the only phone that VZW sells that really interests me... and its a perfectly good phone... except for that operating system! It really ticks me off lol... almost enough to want to drop them completely if they don't make some changes soon. My friend that has a RAZR thru Cingular doesn't have any problems with their service either. Now that they are bigger than VZW... i'd imagine it would be just as good of a network.

I am by no means promoting Cingular either... for those who think so... just expressing my opinions about VZW nowadays lol.... all the Cingular talk is just based on my friend who has the same phone thru them. I have also considered T-Mobile... I like that new Motorola PEBL... anybody have opinions on them?

[Cotuit]

Forget Verizon, Sprint, et al. My Brother-in-law talked me into getting a Virgin Mobile phone and it rocks. No contracts, no extra fees, just the minutes you want plus sales tax. It's just like a calling card with a phone attached. I spend on average about $20/month, compared to $50 - $60/mo. with Verizon. You can get a Virgin phone just about at any electronics retailer or Target. Then you just call their number and "top up" your minutes when they run low.

http://www.virgin.com/gateways/mobile/

I have Virgin, but I don't use it enough, I have a hundred dollars stored on it because you have to top up $20 every 90 (60?) days regardless of what your balance is. I try to use it all the time, but I can never get the balance below $100 before it's time to top-up again.

I'm thinking of getting a family plan for the boyfriend and I since he's on the phone all the time. Our landline cost us almost $200 dollars last month, and he put over $40 on his Virgin phone. I just need to figure out how many minutes he's actually using in total to pick a plan. Then I'll ditch the landline.

[M. Brown]

Nokia 6102.

[monsoon]

.....

I'm thinking of getting a family plan for the boyfriend and I since he's on the phone all the time. Our landline cost us almost $200 dollars last month, and he put over $40 on his Virgin phone. I just need to figure out how many minutes he's actually using in total to pick a plan. Then I'll ditch the landline.

If you have high speed internet at home, it sounds like you need VoIP. You can talk forever on it anywhere in the USA and Canada for a flat fee that is less than $25/month.

[DigitalSky]

^is that what Vonage is? Does it work if you have DSL too or just with Cable?

[Neo]

^is that what Vonage is? Does it work if you have DSL too or just with Cable?

Yes, VoIP is what Vonage is but there are other companies involved in the VoIP consumer market as well. Consumer VoIP (like Vonage) works with any type of broadband including DSL and Cable.

[Cotuit]

If you have high speed internet at home, it sounds like you need VoIP. You can talk forever on it anywhere in the USA and Canada for a flat fee that is less than $25/month.

I was thinking of getting VoIP, but if we're going to have mobiles too, I'd rather save the $25 and just go with those. I use the phone maybe once every two months (seriously, I hate talking on the phone). The boyfriend however uses the phone constantly (he's a little chatty cathy). So it's best if we share mobile phone minutes.