Log in

View Full Version : Phone Eye for the Dumb Guy


lurch
12-12-2003, 05:46 PM
The time is coming soon for me to upgrade my pocket pc, and my phone. I currently have a GSM phone (nokia 6590) with Cingular... I know almost nothing about smart phones, but am interested! Just a couple questions for anybody listening:
1. Where is a brick-and-mortar where I can try out a smartphone interface? Look at it, touch it, etc.. not just see a picture online :)

2. If I buy a smartphone, how do I know it's compatible with my SIM card from my nokia and that it'll work on the Cingular network? Are there any sites out there that have a matrix of sorts that will tell me which phones are compatible with what?

3. Along the lines of #2, if I buy a new phone, will it work with my existing contract/etc. or do I have to pay Cingular some more unnecessary fees for it to be "approved" or whatever? In other words, I am under the impression I could just swap out my SIM card into a new phone (assuming it's compatible) and it'll work just great, I never need to call Cingular, is that true?

I can't think of any other questions, but as I do, I'll post them here. Thanks in advance!!!

lurch
12-12-2003, 06:45 PM
Okay, no need to answer me... I didn't think I'd have time to do a proper search on this site (or if the answers were there yet, I know this site isn't that old yet) but turns out I had a few minutes here at work (let's hear it for bloat-ware that takes 15 minutes to build!!! :) ) and found most of my answers...
Thanks!

Mike Temporale
12-12-2003, 07:03 PM
Glad you found your answers, and welcome aboard!

lurch
12-12-2003, 07:13 PM
I guess one question I still have is a recommendation on where to go to try a phone? I live in Indianapolis...
thanks

Mike Temporale
12-12-2003, 07:23 PM
I live in Canada (Toronto, Ontario to be exact :D ) so I can't say for sure, but I would try a AT&T store. Since they now carry the MPx200, they should have something there for you to try out.

Macguy59
12-12-2003, 08:10 PM
I guess one question I still have is a recommendation on where to go to try a phone? I live in Indianapolis...
thanks

I don't know of any MS based smartphones available from Cingular. The Motorola only works with AT&T and T-Mobile while the Samsung i600 is Verizon only. The best bet to try a working model is to get to a corporate store and not just an authorized dealer.

lurch
12-12-2003, 09:23 PM
I don't know of any MS based smartphones available from Cingular. The Motorola only works with AT&T and T-Mobile while the Samsung i600 is Verizon only. The best bet to try a working model is to get to a corporate store and not just an authorized dealer.
I was pretty sure Cingular didn't offer any Smart Phones, but from what I read on this site, I should be able to buy an unlocked one (i.e. the new(er) Motorola phone) and transfer my SIM card from my current phone into it and it should work fine... please correct me if I'm wrong!
I did see the note to make sure I'm in a 1800/1900Mhz area since Cingular operates on the 850/1800/1900 bands and most smart phones (well, the Motorola at least) don't handle 850 Mhz.

Which reminds me, which smart phone do you all recommend? I am extremely partial to a clamshell design.
Oh, and do any have a touch screen? I read something about that being in the summer of 2004... will I have to wait that long for one?
Thanks..

Macguy59
12-12-2003, 09:38 PM
I don't know of any MS based smartphones available from Cingular. The Motorola only works with AT&T and T-Mobile while the Samsung i600 is Verizon only. The best bet to try a working model is to get to a corporate store and not just an authorized dealer.
I was pretty sure Cingular didn't offer any Smart Phones, but from what I read on this site, I should be able to buy an unlocked one (i.e. the new(er) Motorola phone) and transfer my SIM card from my current phone into it and it should work fine... please correct me if I'm wrong!
I did see the note to make sure I'm in a 1800/1900Mhz area since Cingular operates on the 850/1800/1900 bands and most smart phones (well, the Motorola at least) don't handle 850 Mhz.

Which reminds me, which smart phone do you all recommend? I am extremely partial to a clamshell design.
Oh, and do any have a touch screen? I read something about that being in the summer of 2004... will I have to wait that long for one?
Thanks..

Really aside from the form factor they do the exact same things and it becomes a matter of what carrier your with and whether or not your willing to bite the bullet and pony up the cancellation fee to switch. I have been a Verizon Wireless customer for 3 years and was not willing to give up the superior coverage provided by their networks. So it was either the i700 or i600 for me. I chose the i600 and am very happy with it.

Luzerman
12-13-2003, 03:34 PM
lurch, I think the first thing you should do is determine if Cingular uses the 850 band in your area and if they do whether there is a roaming agreement with another carrier to allow you to use a phone without the 850 band and not incur roaming charges. In the U.S. we use the 1900 and in some limited areas the 850 band. Right now only Cingular and AT&T have deployed the 850 band. The largest metro area I can think of on cingular that is primarily 850 is Houston, TX. I believe all the Cingular nodes in California are 1900. It is my understanding that for the most part Cingular has a roaming agreement with T-Mobile and has recently signed one with AT&T but it would be good to verify that.

As for the phone I would recommend I really enjoy my MPx200 since it is app unlocked and I can pretty much do what I want with it. If you don't know there are two locks that can be placed on the phones-App and SIM. SIM locks keep you tied to a single carrier and App locking will prevent you from using non-signed (approved by the carrier) apps. I've seen some nice things about the Mitac Mio except I believe that that device is app locked. I'm not 100% certain but I believe those are your two choices when it comes to GSM flip phones.

I do not believe that there is a MS Smartphone with a touch screen. If I understand Microsoft's thinking they're trying to keep tight control on the hardware so that its easier to write 3rd party apps and one of the decisions they made was to not allow touch screens to reduce costs for the phones.

lurch
12-14-2003, 10:22 PM
Thanks for the responses everyone..... very helpful!