Cellphones... which one?

michael_w

OK so I have been thinking about getting a cellphone for a while now. I thought about going pay as you go but then I've ruled that out since it'll be really expensive if I start to use it a lot. I found out about a good deal on a plan available through my work. With the plan I get to choose which of these three phones I want (all for free with the plan).

Phones:

Motorola V551

Nokia 3220

Samsung X426

Now I could really care less about the camera part of the nokia and motorola, I like flip phones a little more than non flip ones and I like how the samsung is thin but I want the best performing phone. I don't want a pretty phone that drops calls while im sitting in class or something. The motrola does have bluetooth and I like the external screen so I am kinda leaning towards that for now.

Any ideas? I've never owned a cell phone so I'm a bit lost when it comes to buying one.

Thanks,

Michael

edit: I've been reading some reviews and it sounds like the Motorola is a horrible phone... drops calls all the time and the battery sucks. So I think that ones out of the picture.

In the reviews people keep saying my old Nokia is way better or I should have gotten a Nokia....

spwuinmk67

If those three are the only options, I'd say the samsung. I had their A650, through Verizon, before I got my Sprint 3rd party plan. Nice phones, easy to use, good quality as well. I had one, my mother has one, I also sell an assload of samsung phones, through sprint and verizon, no problems with them. Motorloa phones are kinda iffy, some are good, some arent so good. Don't know why either. It seems that they either have a really good phone, the V710, the Razer(not a fan of this one, but good none the less), then everything else ive seen by them is ****. I know Nokia's basic phones are nearly indetructable, but I don't think the same goes for their upper ones. Guy came in today with a pretty new Nokia, and already something was broken on it.

Shizelbs

Heres what little I know. I have a Sanyo and its the best phone I've ever run across. Best quality compared to Kyocera, Samsung, and Motorola.

Toxis

I just got the LG 325 from sprint and love it. Bluetooth is cool...

bobman1235

I've had 4 Nokias and one Motorola. The Motorola is the only phone that died on me. The Nokias I just replaced for something new, but never had a problem with them. The menus and operation are all very intuitive, as opposed to Motorola (or at least Motorola of like two years ago), where for the first time I had to read (gasp!) an instruction book.

Sound quality and reception on the Samsungs seems to be pretty bad. I know a couple people who have them, and I can't understand a word they say when I talk to them on their celll phones. Plus, pick up a Samsung some time. The thing just FEELS flimsy.

Anyways, that's my vote for Nokia. Probably not what you want to hear cuz you like flip phones... I thought I wanted a flip phone when I got the Motorola... I was wrong. It seemed cool the first week and then just turned into a hassle, even with the external screen. Plus, it's just another moving part to break.

Good luck tho man.

HBombToo

This is the phone I have.

http://product.samsung.com/cgi-bin/nabc/product/b2c_product_detail.jsp?eUser=&prod_id=SPH-I500&redirect=yes&prod_path=Phones+and+Fax+Machines%2fWireless+Phones

I never had a good experience with Samsung until I grabbed the i500. From experience the Sanyo's are awesome for voice quality and reception.

Nokia would be my last choice. JUNK in my honest opinion!

HBomb

kingtut

We have Motorola V60 & Motorola Nexttel i1000. They both suck big time. Voices are unintelligible, even at full signal. Stay away from Motorola.

spwuinmk67

Originally posted by Toxis
I just got the LG 325 from sprint and love it. Bluetooth is cool...

I just got the same phone myself about a month ago. Aboslutly awesome. The bluetooth is crippled though, thanks to Sprint. Still haven't found a way to fix that, yet. My only problem...my left directional, and 0 button are kinda touchy already. Sanyo's are great phones, awesome web browsers. Thinking about getting the 7400 soon. I'll still stand by my opinion, that if out of the three, the samsung would be my 1st choice.

HBombToo

Originally posted by kingtut
We have Motorola V60 & Motorola Nexttel i1000. They both suck big time. Voices are unintelligible, even at full signal. Stay away from Motorola.

that's typical though on an iden network:eek:

spwuinmk67

Thats nextel for ya. You can "bloop bloop" all you want, but try makin a phone call, when your find a spot where you can, it sucks. Now that Sprint bought them, their service will get better. fortunatly. But it's gonna take a while, cause nextel is based on the older service and tech, so they gotta switch everything over.

michael_w

Thanks for the replies. To start I can't really go with sanyo, lg or any other brand outside of those three phones I mentioned. I could go with a different service provider but I'm not willing to spend almost double more on the same plan just so I can get a fancy phone. Right now their latest and greatest "special limited time offer" has ended, but thats not a problem because I was planning on getting a slightly different plan. I have the feeling they might be changing things around and possibly offereing different new phones with thier plans so I think I will give myself a few more days to mull it over (and hopefully they will release some new better quality phones).

I'll let ya know which I go for. I hate to say it but it looks like I'm leaning towards the Nokia just for the great ratings instead of the others which are either absolutly love it or think its a pos and waste of money. (btw motorola is definately out of the picture now)

bobman1235

Most people I know who don't like Nokia don't like them for one of two reasons :
1) See too many cutesy faceplates and whatnot, and just write them off as a kids toy
2) Their first phone 8 years ago was a Nokia POS, and htey never got over it.

Find someone with one, talk on it sometime. They sound good, and they last. All the Nokias I've had, I've dropped countless times, never had one break. Recommend them to all my friends and never get a complaint.

Airplay355

hello moto

Demiurge

Problems with phones have more to do with your service provider than the phones themselves. If you notice there's a problem someone has with every brand that's been mentioned. I have a Motorolla now with Verizon and it's flawless....then again Verizon is amazing in the Midwest.

I've also had an LG with Verizon and had no problems either. Had the same LG with US Cellular and it was horrible.

It's mostly all about your SP.

Oh...and Sprint is by far the worst SP I've been with and all of my friends had the same experience. We're all with Verizon or Cingular now.

Airplay355

i have a tmobile moto and i havent had any problems with it. the only reason i don't like verizon is because of the sneaky overage crap they do. if you get verzion make sure you read the fine print so you know when everything expires to avoid going over.

they might give you unlimited text messaging for $5.99 but it will only be for 3 months or something like that. i've had many a $200 cell bill from things like that.

Strong Bad

I have a 2 year old Motorola with Verizon and it's been a solid champ. Very very little complaints. I'm getting ready to get another phone next week due to my 2 year agreement coming to a close. I'm looking at the new LG VX8000. Nothing against the Motorola, but the LG is cheaper with just as many features.


John

kingtut

The V60 is actually with the Verizon plan, and it is a really bad phone. Another relative has the exact Verizon plan with a cheapie Nokia phone, and we tested both phones at my house. The cheapie Nokia was much clearer.

exalted512

my samsung has gone through hell and back and never complained aside from the battery occasionally falling out when i drop it
-Cody

Airplay355

my motorola was free....any cheaper and they are paying you for the phone (some plans actually do this). i had a samsung before the moto and it was also through hell and back. it eventually died but i beat the piss out of that phone. the only thing i didn't like about the samsung phones was they didnt have alot of the bell and whstle type features.

scottnbnj

i've had the motorola v400 for over a year w/ cingular. i've had it since it hit the market. it's the lower/older version of v551 and looks very similar. the biggest problem i have is that it drops calls every 15 minutes like clockwork. i mean, like, every single 15 minutes. it's only an issue with long calls. i think it's the provider though because my wife has the same phone with verizon and doesn't have the consistent time period drops.

the speaker phone works well enough. folks on the other end often can't tell i'm on speaker, but the speaker volume is not loud enough on my end sometimes. just as an example, in a normal car it's fine placed about 3 feet away, at home there is no problem at several feet away. on jobsites or in construction vehicles at the same distance i strain to hear. speaker phone is a good thing to have with new driving while talking laws. i could never fiddle with hooking up wires, earphone things or moving cradles and whatnot from vehicle to vehicle. other than that, the only problem is that the v400 can not answer or dial out in speaker phone without accessories, you must connect first then press the speaker phone button.

i feel like flip phones offer less protection if you use them outside in not so great weather conditions and color displays are hard to see outside. this phone feels small and delicate in my hand. i often feel like i'm in that saturday night live skit where will farrel (sp?) is talking on the silly little matchbook sized phone. though i'm not ready to say that it is rugged, it has stood up to a good bit of abuse and many drops.

the battery is lithium ion. it holds a pretty decent charge if you don't use the color display too much (play games, internet, camera so on), it doesn't seem picky about bad charging habits and replacement batteries are not expensive, though, it does not hold a charge well if the phone is exposed to cold weather for extended periods of time.

the phonebook has a large capacity and works well. the only thing i can think of that would help is ability to attach notes to the numbers. ditto for the calendar, and it would be really cool if it were more functional, but hey, it's a nice add on for a phone. i'd never carry a palm pilot, but, having even limited calendar access whenever i have my phone with me has become more important to me than i thought it would.

i didn't care about the camera when i got it, but have found uses for it that i never expected. all things equal, it's nice to have.

i wish the vibe alert were a little stronger and rings were a little louder, but, i haven't looked to see if i could upgrade either. the display on the outside is something i'd miss a lot if i didn't have it.

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michael_w

Thanks for the continuing replies...

Update: I've been talking to people at school and from what I have heard the motorola is pretty good and so is the samsung but not the nokia. I'm a bit worried about the numerous sketchy reviews for the motorola.... I think its one of those phones that relies heavily on which service provider you go with to operate well. I'm going to email the guy and see if its possible that I try the moto for a few days or something then decide if thats the phone I'd like to go with then have the option to go to the samsung or nokia. I doubt this'll happen but its worth a shot.

Thanks again and I'll let ya know how it goes.

spwuinmk67

I'm going to assume most service providers do this, cause the two I sell do. They should give you a 14 day trial period, in that time not only can you come switch the phone at a discounted price, but you can also get out of your contract within that time, without paying the cancelation fee.

scottnbnj

ok, i finally talked to my cingular store about the 15 minute drops. they sent me to the "handset exchange by mail" 800 number. the handset exchange folks read me a motorola bulletin that says that there is a known, i think, 8-16 minute drop issue (exactly like what i have) with v series phones and that the phone must be turned off for at least 3-10 seconds then turned back on at least every 3.3 days.

this sounds like me, i never turn my phone off. i'll be making some calls over the next couple of days, so i'll find out whether the fix works or not. handset exchange folks said that if this doesn't work they'll probably exchange the phone.

oh, i was wrong, i've had this phone for just under a year. it's probably a good thing that i take care of this now while it's still under warranty.

)

steveinaz

The only good cellphone, is a broken cellphone.

scottnbnj

ok. i've done a couple of hour+ calls. cycling the phone off and on cured the consistent 15 minute drops 100%.

)

disneyjoe7

Sorry for the late response to this. I own a Motorola V400 phone that I consider one of the better Cell phones I've ever owned. I think the world as a whole will put up with **** phone service / quality vs. a landline so what's your **** anyway.

I like the freedom a cell can give you put give me a F'ing break with call quality / dropped calls / battery life. Give me a landline any day.

michael_w

Thanks again for the responses.

So I emailed the guy that I will have to go through to get my plan and asked him a whole bunch of questions. Well turns out that since I am a minor even though I will be getting this discounted plan though my work my co-signer is the one that has to work for the place that gets the discount. In other words no discount for me doing it that way. Well turns out where my mom works she can get the exact same plan. So I'm not screwed after all. Now I just have to wait for the guy to mail me back and answer my many many questions. (these are the fees I know of ... what else will I be charged for? etc...)

From what I've heard ... the V551 is an excellent phone but most people think its terrible because in the US it is mostly provided by Cingular, which is a very bad provider (just from what I've heard). Its not final on what phone yet but the Moto is definately back in the list of choices.

Thanks,

Michael

disneyjoe7

I would agree that Cell Phones them self have more to due to the Cell phone service / provider.

I can continue with Motorola seems to work better with Cingular then my Nokia phones ever did.

dorokusai

The old school Nokia 2190 was damn near bulletproof, and standard issue for field technicians nationwide.....and I assure you, we are the worst ppl to handle phones.

I've personally used MANY phones, and destroyed MANY more, and it has been the best so far. The second choice for me would be the Sanyo 7200, my current phone. It's generic.

The dog has eaten it....twice....and has been dropped in a puddle....a couple times....AND dropped out of the truck because the belt clip snagged on my seat belt, NUMEROUS times.....but it still keeps kicking. If a phone survives a field tech, it's ready for the public.

Most phones are standard fare, nothing extraordinary, regardless of a singular opinion. They will break, they will fail, and it's only a matter of time.

scottnbnj

Originally posted by disneyjoe7
Sorry for the late response to this. I own a Motorola V400 phone that I consider one of the better Cell phones I've ever owned. I think the world as a whole will put up with **** phone service / quality vs. a landline so what's your **** anyway.

I like the freedom a cell can give you put give me a F'ing break with call quality / dropped calls / battery life. Give me a landline any day.

agreed. v400 is a good phone. my wife couldn't wait for the contract on her old phone to run out so that she could get one too.

dj, everyone has different priorities and uses for their phones.

consistent dropped calls or poor quality might not be problems if your calls are short or for pleasure, but, might be big problems if your calls are long or for business.

the fact that a particular battery will not hold a charge through the day if exposed to cold weather might not be a problem for a floridican. but, if you're a thousand or two miles north and your business puts you out in the weather, it might be a problem.

)

disneyjoe7

Well as for as "Battery Life" my wife and I have the same phone.
She can kill the battery in 2 days, I would kill the battery in 4 to 5 days. WTF I was thinking, so I swapped batteries the same thing happens. WTH swapped phones same thing, ok so what's different she works in a metal building I don't. Her phone must send a higher powered sync? back to a tower in her area. My phones doesn't same power when on, at first I thought the battery is bad, the phone broken. Long story short it's not the fault of the phone or service but how it's used.


As for as the V400 nice phone I wish I owned that V551 for that "BlueTooth" thing.

Doro,

Yes if a phone can live with a field tech for 12 months, I give it 24 - 36 months life with the normal Joe Blow.