No cameras, please...

[JornadaJ]

I would like to know why it is so difficult to find a Smartphone, PPC with phone, whatever, WITHOUT a camera. There are a lot of us who cannot have a camera at work. A lot of my friends in various industries cannot have them either, ranging from engineering, legal, gov't, etc.

I actually like the Q. It seems pretty neat. The Treo would be ok, but I can't get past the Palm. But, alas, they predominantly have cameras. Good luck special-ordering the ones without a camera... I've heard, "Sorry, we're out of stock" SO many times...

I even emailed Verizon and Motorola about that... Verizon said, "tell the manufacturer..." Motorola said, "Tell the cell provider."

If I am looking in the wrong place, I am open to suggestions. I'd love to have a phone and PPC in one good device... Sans camera.

[Paul Martin]

I'm surprised there aren't more business-class phones. Do they even market phones this way? Seems like it could be a substantial market, especially for those who cannot have certain features.

[LWesson]

I would like to know why it is so difficult to find a Smartphone, PPC with phone, whatever, WITHOUT a camera. There are a lot of us who cannot have a camera at work. A lot of my friends in various industries cannot have them either, ranging from engineering, legal, gov't, etc.

I actually like the Q. It seems pretty neat. The Treo would be ok, but I can't get past the Palm. But, alas, they predominantly have cameras. Good luck special-ordering the ones without a camera... I've heard, "Sorry, we're out of stock" SO many times...

I even emailed Verizon and Motorola about that... Verizon said, "tell the manufacturer..." Motorola said, "Tell the cell provider."

If I am looking in the wrong place, I am open to suggestions. I'd love to have a phone and PPC in one good device... Sans camera.

We actually provide a service where we will remove the camera and block the camera hole, so that it is easily apparent that the camera has been removed. We have done this for several customers working in the government sector or corporate environment requiring no cameras.

[Paul Martin]

We actually provide a service where we will remove the camera and block the camera hole, so that it is easily apparent that the camera has been removed. We have done this for several customers working in the government sector or corporate environment requiring no cameras.

Nice service! I imagine the costs vary per phone, but generally what should a customer expect to pay, especially if they were just doing one phone?

[LWesson]

We actually provide a service where we will remove the camera and block the camera hole, so that it is easily apparent that the camera has been removed. We have done this for several customers working in the government sector or corporate environment requiring no cameras.

Nice service! I imagine the costs vary per phone, but generally what should a customer expect to pay, especially if they were just doing one phone?

$60 plus return shipping.

[airconvent]

Same here!
There will come a time when cameraless phone/pda will no longer exist.
Take for example the Nokia twins, the 6020 and 6021. The 6020 has camera while the 6021 does not. Overall, alot of people I know who aren't permitted to use camera phones are buying it up and its very popular. But then Nokia decided to stop the 6021 and continue the 6020. Reason is worldwide the 6020 far outstrips the 6021 in demand.

But the good thing is O2 here offers a service to remove the camera for a fee of equivalent to around US$15. They keep the camera, close the whole and issue a cerificate to confirm removal. Only problem is if you decided to re-install the camera, its >$US50!

HP also briefly offered this service for their smartphone but has since cancelled it...sigh..

[JornadaJ]

Ok, but why should a person have to pay more money to have something REMOVED? That is nuts... Especially for a feature that I don't WANT or can't have??

[GSmith]

Ok, but why should a person have to pay more money to have something REMOVED?Supply, demand and economies of scale. A few years ago it seems the manufacturers were offering different SKUs identifying identical devices with and without a camera. My guess is that demand for devices with cameras way outsold those without.

Sometimes the right question is not "why should I pay more?" it's "is it worth it to me?"

Greg Smith
Author, FeederReader - Windows Mobile news, blogs, audio, video, podcasts downloaded direct to your Smartphone or Pocket PC
www.FeederReader.com - Download on the Road