What's a good phone?

[genocidal]

I'm getting a new phone. I don't know or care anything about telephones so I put it to you, Trench Wars forums (except paradise, don't care what he says), to tell me what's good.

I'm looking for an internet and whatever else one. I've messed around with an iphone and a number of different Blackberries, but I really don't know how to work them beyond opening the browser and searching porn (and usually then I have to get someone to open the browser for me). Money is a somewhat a concern, but I realize none of these worth getting will be cheap. So yeah, what do you like?

[Chao.]

This is a Sony Ericsson 580i. I got it with an upgrade-deal a couple of years ago because a wanted a somewhat-useful cellphone for once. It's pretty good at playing music (if that's a concern at all for you) but you have to buy a memory stick for it to store the ton of music they advertise it being able to hold. On this one you've got to click the same button multiple times to get the letters you want when you text, which might irritate you if you're really into texting.

I really liked it while I had it, until a friend of mine took a swing at me and ended up cracking the screen when I had it in my pocket. Go figure.

[Jason]

if you're looking for a smartphone right now, and you don't want to go the iphone route, you might as well go with the motorola droid phone verizon is offering up.

just my $0.02

[Soup du Jour]

If you're not looking for a Blackberry/iPhone, I would recommend Sony. That particular phone, I hear, has problems with buttons cracking but they make good product usually.

I had a phone from their walkman line and I loved it. The only problem is the cost of the memory being stupidly high.

I currently have a LG something slide out keyboard which is useless and the phone is a big cheap piece of plastic that has less useful functions than my old Sony.

Other than that, I don't know much about phones. I hear the HTC dream? is a nice phone.

Hope that Eric is God comes on and starts trying to sell you a Blackberry.

[WuTang420]

I use an HTC Fuze made for at&t but can be unlocked, i use tmobile with mine and its perfect. has IE, windows media and all o the other goodies you can get for windows mobile 6.5

full keyboard and it has a text layout like an msn convo. ive tried other smartphones and the new "android" phones and cant stand them. windows layout makes using the fuze sooo much more familiar to me. you can find em used or reurbished on ebay for like 200-300$

specs: (i highlighted the important parts in red)


Operating System Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional (easily flashed to 6.5 roms)
Keyboard Sliding QWERTY Keyboard.
Applications Remote Desktop Mobile
Domain Enroll
Managed Programs
WorldCard Mobile
JetCet Print 5
Sprite BackUp
AT&T Video Share Calling
AT&T Cellular Video
AT&T Push To Talk
AT&T Navigator
Processor Qualcomm MSM 7201a, 528Mhz
Memory ROM: 512MB RAM: 288 MB
Display 2.8" VGA TFT touchscreen, 65K colors
Size 480 x 640 pixels, 2.8 inches
Full QWERTY keyboard
TouchFLO 3D finger swipe navigation
Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
Touch-sensitive navigation controls
SIM Interface 1.8/ 3V SIM card slot
Headset Jack HTC ExtUSB TM (11-pin, mini-USB and audio jack in one)
Frequency UMTS (850/1900/ 2100 MHz ) and GSM/ GPRS/ EDGE (Quad-band, 850/ 900/ 1800/ 1900 MHz)HSDPA
Talk Time Up to 8 Hours.**Depends on device configuration and use.
Standby Time Up to 406 Hours.**Depends on device configuration and use.
AC Adaptor 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz
Wi-Fi WiFi 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth® Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
Email Microsoft Exchange, POP, IMAP, and AT&T Xpress Mail supported at launch.
Good Mobile Messaging to be supported 12/15/08.
BBC to be supported on Q1 of 2009.
Battery Lithium-ion Polymer 1340 maH battery
Speakerphone Built In.
Internet Opera Mobile (default) and Internet Explorer.
Built-in Camera 3.2 MP Color CMOS camera with auto focus
Caller ID Supported.
Audio/Video Built-in microphone and speaker Ring tone formats:
AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, QCP, MP3, WMA, WAV
40 polyphonic and standard MIDI format 0 and 1 (SMF)/SP MIDI
Expansion Up to 32GB MicroSDHC Card
TTY / TTD Supported.
GPS Built In
Other Features TouchFlo 3D, G-Sensor

so basically its faster than a pentium 3, in your pocket lol

[a hundred kazillion]

if you're looking for a smartphone right now, and you don't want to go the iphone route, you might as well go with the motorola droid phone verizon is offering up.

just my $0.02

Seconded- the Droid runs super smooth and between what comes with the phone, and the free apps in the app marketplace, it has everything you'd ever need.
Actually there really aren't that many epic games on droid yet, but I guess it just matters how important games on a phone are to ya. But if you're gonna get one do get the Motorolla one not the HTC one.

[the_paul]

I have an iPhone and I have no complaints, I'm a big fan

[Tone]

Do not leave your lithium ion battery in heat and order a freshly manufactured phone with a battery produced within the past 60 days. Charge the battery when 1 bar left has just recently appeared rather than letting it die or charging overly often. store an extra battery at 40% charge level in a refrigerator. place a double A battery phone charger in car glove box with a 2 pack of alkaline batteries or have a car charger. place signal booster behind battery in phone. Use headset. Use phone for games and texting as much as possible instead of call, never place phone next to brain and talk for more than 1 minute, must get wired headset, not blue tooth. send email to FCC telling them to get out of the microwave band and back into the high radio band for phones, such as 850 Mhz, tell them microwaves damage the brain.

[soup]

wow tone


and my phone is the best, get a sony if you don't want a blackberry/iphone (<3 soupdujour)

[Mr. 420]

I had an HTC Touch and I couldn't stand Windows mobile so I got this and I couldn't be happier!



Blackberry Storm 2

[Jerome Scuggs]

I enjoy the iPhone because as far as portable music is concerned, it's an industry standard.My car stereo has an iPhone dock, I have a digital-to-audio converter component for my hi-fi stereo for my iPhone, and connecting it to any computer is easy.

My hi-fi setup includes my computer as a source component, and I can control iTunes via my iPhone, and so basically I have a remote control that allows me to completely control my music collection and listening experience at the touch of a button.

and phone chargers? the charger for the iPhones are like bic lighters... noone buys them, and yet they are everywhere. i have six. six. i never need to bring my charger anywhere because there is a 100% chance that someone has one.

Half a year ago, I broke the shit out of my iphone, cracked the screen and broke the LCD screen. It would have been expensive to fix through Apple, and I wound up just buying an iphone off of a friend for a hundred bucks. Recently, I broke that phone - but in the meantime, a large aftermarket for iphones had developed (here at least) and I paid some guy - who called himself "The iDoctor" and handed out cards on campus - fifty bucks to fix it like new.

So basically, I enjoy the iPhone because it lets me carry my music with me whereever I go, and yet it is also an important piece of my hi-fi audio hardware. This is due to the second reason I love it, which I call "The RAZR effect": it's a popular, industry-first phone, and therefore there are tons of accessories and aftermarket parts, and there are tons of people who use it... meaning servicing it will be cheaper, and finding products that support your phone is easier as well.

I can make calls, I can surf the web, and I can carry my music. I can do it at a decent price, and I know for certain that my phone will sync or connect with just about any goddamn device made in the past 3 years. And if I break it, chances are I can either fix it or replace it at minimal cost. I don't see that blend in any other phone/mobile device/pds/smartphone/sfkdjghfkdjhgksjhdfkg I have seen.

edit: for clarification, I am still on my parents' family plan and so I wind up paying them $50 a month, which is what they ask for. i have no idea what buying an iPhone and having to pay for service would cost for a single person, and i hear AT&T is pretty expensive generally, so yeah

[404 Not Found]

I enjoy the iPhone because as far as portable music is concerned, it's an industry standard.My car stereo has an iPhone dock, I have a digital-to-audio converter component for my hi-fi stereo for my iPhone, and connecting it to any computer is easy.

My hi-fi setup includes my computer as a source component, and I can control iTunes via my iPhone, and so basically I have a remote control that allows me to completely control my music collection and listening experience at the touch of a button.


So basically, I enjoy the iPhone because it lets me carry my music with me whereever I go, and yet it is also an important piece of my hi-fi audio hardware.

Not to bust on ya Jerome, but all this mention of Hi-Fi and Music, because honestly...mp3's suck and are a friggin horrible lossy format for any music file. mp3's should be banned IMHO. I mean they are ok if you like something that usually sounds like crap when compared to something in a Flac or SHN format converted to .wav or just do not really care what it sounds like.

I still just do not get why people are thrilled with I-Tunes and the crap mp3 formats they use.

on the topic of this thread...I have a my-touch Android from T-Mobile, unlimited at $40 a month. Not bad...would have gone verizon or att, but honestly...the "Can You Hear Me Now" bullshit doesn't work in my area and T-Mobile does. 1 bar if lucky on ATT and Verizon vs. 5 bars T-Mobile.

A phone is one thing, but it will do you no good if the service sucks in your area.

[Jerome Scuggs]

Not to bust on ya Jerome, but all this mention of Hi-Fi and Music, because honestly...mp3's suck and are a friggin horrible lossy format for any music file. mp3's should be banned IMHO. I mean they are ok if you like something that usually sounds like crap when compared to something in a Flac or SHN format converted to .wav or just do not really care what it sounds like.

I still just do not get why people are thrilled with I-Tunes and the crap mp3 formats they use.

My dad turned me on to the idea after seeing a review in Stereophile for a DAC. I know mp3's are the audiophile's bane, but times are changing

[404 Not Found]

My dad turned me on to the idea after seeing a review in Stereophile for a DAC. I know mp3's are the audiophile's bane, but times are changing

That's cool...just an audio head here. I obviously hate mp3's. The Alpine I put in my wifes car has the IPod hookup, but also accepts the mini stereo jack as an Aux if I play something from another source, as well as it has a USB input for a thumb drive. I have also seen the radio's that have SD card inputs as well. I am thinking that CD's will be gone in the next 5 years for car radio's.

[paradise!]

Do not buy a blackberry storm. It's terrible for texting. And it's really pathetic at orienting itself when you turn it.

The games are fun though. Level 12 on Word Mole, I bow to anybody who has gotten past this level.