Audiovox SMT 5600 from Cingular -- is it worth it?

[zeke009]

What are your thoughts on the SMT 5600 from Cingular? I was anxiously anticipating the release of the MPx220... but saw the beginnings of that debacle. Cingular has me a little gun shy now, do I want to wait for them to release the MPx220 (anyone heard when?) or should I move to the Audiovox SMT 5600?

[Mark Larson]

Aside from the fact that it is as expensive with contract as one on ebay (no lock and no contract), it looks like they messed up on some things like not having the Cingular branding on the phone while it is on the box, and some phones coming with the AT&T firmware, just unlocked to take Cingular SIM cards.

But seriously, how can they charge $200 with a 1yr contract? :roll:

[zeke009]

Temptation has the best of me right now, I've seen a few SMT 5600's on ebay lately and after speaking to the seller he confirmed that these were the AT&T devices that were "pulled" from the AT&T lineup just before the Cingular merger. My question now becomes if there have been any substantial ROM upgrades released for this phone since they were pulled from AT&T?

Can anyone in the know or a SMT 5600 owner comment on that? I'm not asking for the ROM, just asking about the history of the phone and any updates that might have occured.

I can get the phone for about the same price as having Cingular lock me into a 2 year contract... phone for same price or similar price with no locked contract sounds pretty enticing!

[Mike Temporale]

There has been no updates for the SMT5600 released. At least none that I am aware of.

[zeke009]

sheesh, so Audiovox (and the maker in Europe) got it right when Motorola blundered so badly when they released the MPx220? All I can say to that is... wow!

Aside from paying for the unlock fee on the SMT 5600 (still locked to AT&T I guess), it's a better deal than going through Cingular. Come on payday!

Or do I wait and see if Billy Gates is right, apparently he expects phones to be running Windows Mobile 5.0 within the next few months.

Gates said that Microsoft's rival Windows Mobile 5.0... ...which is expected to be running phones on the market in the next few months...

[Mark Larson]

You probably won't see WM 2005 on phones in the US before the end of the year, if that. Its a long way away.

[hubzone]

Don't wait for it to ever come back to cingular. I purchased one in December and now it will not charge...contacted cingulars exchange by mail and it is on back order for several weeks now.. I have contacted several people and they even sent me a replacement that they never tested and it didn't work either.. and Motorola has it on back order on their website? ... I did end up buying the Audiovox SMT 5600 good phone but I really liked the voice commands built into the mpx 220.