Shopping for a mobile
Filed in: consumerism, tech, Mon, Jul 18 2005 22:40 PT
I have reached the limits of my patience with my Nokia 3650 and T-Mobile. In addition to its frequent failure to ring when I’m called (which I understand is actually common on the T-Mobile network), it’s got a nasty habit of shutting itself off for no damned reason whatsoever. So it’s history.
So I’m asking for help with a replacement. My requirements:
- Unlimited data plan
- The fastest, cheapest plan available. T-Mobile offers 56k for $20/month. Verizon offers ten times that data rate for $45/month. I hear that Cingular is offering its EDGE service under the MEdianet brand for $20/month.
- Bluetooth
- That includes dialup networking functionality for the data plan above. It appears the biggest struggles with data plans on phones center around operators disabling Bluetooth and dialup networking, so I want to make sure that this is part of the deal.
- Flip phone
- Since it will go in my pocket, I’d like a flip or a slide. I’m tired of ass-dialing.
So, that’s it. My research has been less than fruitful so far, but it is only day one. Anyone with information to contribute is encouraged to add it below, with my thanks.
It’s all about the Treo on T-Mobile. Case closed.
Yeah, but, dude, I’d have to use Palm OS again.
By the way, I’m selling a Tungsten T, a Vx, a VII, and an SPT1500, if anyone wants one or all of them.
I’m happy with my Nokia 6630, so I would look at that and other Series 60 phones. It Does Everything ™. Oh, and right, get an unlocked phone — just get the SIM card from your carrier.
If you want to drop some serious coin, check the Nokia N91 (it’s got WiFi). Warning: Nokia’s website is filled with annoying Flashie-mc-Flash.
It’s not a flip (I’ve never liked flips), but key lock pretty much takes care of, um, “ass dialing”
Re: N91. Boris, I think Matt would like a phone that he can actually buy right now, not one that hasn’t yet been FCC-approved or released.
Coincidentally, I was in a Cingular store today and confirmed that yes, the MEdia Works package will give you both GPRS and EDGE for a flat rate, provided your phone supports it and you’re in a coverage area. They had this nice mapping application there that would tell you what the coverage is like down to the street level — why isn’t this on the web?
I have a GPRS phone with Cingular, a Sony Ericsson T637. It’s not a flip, and it only supports GPRS, but it works quite well as a Bluetooth modem on my Mac. There were a few EDGE phones there at the store, though not all of them supported Bluetooth.