[txcaesar]

Originally Posted by Mike Temporale

The i600 is a good device - the wifi is a nice addition, but be wared, it isn't quad band. You won't get full 3G coverage and the phone will just work as a tri-band unit (so you'll really have just 1 useable band).

The WiFi is nice, but I would rather have the 3G coverage.

So in the Dallas area on at&t, Id get, slower speeds? I use my 3G for mail and less than heavy web use, but I usually sit at places with coffee, or am in areas where i can piggy back wifi, so was thinking that the wifi would be more beneficial...

..and I am still learning my way around the workings of bands...so when you say just one usable band, can you define more please? I know I can do a search for understand bands, but would love to have it spelled out for me, (remember, I had too much coffee, and now am beginning to crash!) :-)

[txcaesar]

Originally Posted by Mike Temporale

The i600 is a good device - the wifi is a nice addition, but be wared, it isn't quad band. You won't get full 3G coverage and the phone will just work as a tri-band unit (so you'll really have just 1 useable band).

The WiFi is nice, but I would rather have the 3G coverage.

So in the Dallas area on at&t, Id get, slower speeds? I use my 3G for mail and less than heavy web use, but I usually sit at places with coffee, or am in areas where i can piggy back wifi, so was thinking that the wifi would be more beneficial...

..and I am still learning my way around the workings of bands...so when you say just one usable band, can you define more please? I know I can do a search for understand bands, but would love to have it spelled out for me, (remember, I had too much coffee, and now am beginning to crash!) :-)

[Mike Temporale]

It's rather simple, Europe has 2 bands that they use and North America has a different 2 bands. A tri-band device has the 2 local bands and 1 of the other bands. If you get a dual band phone from Europe, it won't work over here.

The i600 is a Tri-band phone. Meaning it has both Europe bands and only 1 of the north american bands. So depending on where you are, you might not have any coverage. Or just spotty coverage.

When it comes to high speed, 3G is a similiar concept. If it doesn't have all the right frequencies, it won't work over here. To my understanding, the 3G on the i600 is not the right mix to work well over here.

[txcaesar]

Thats good to know Mike, Thanks for taking the time to explain!

[stumpy]

Sorry to say but I had to let my Blackjack go. I was a device that had a lot of features but everything was minimal. Battery life sucked even with extended. Yes the unit is 3G but when the processor cant handle the speed and bring up the data fast enough what good is it. In direct sunlight I could not see who was calling me. Marginal web surfing could not access all the sites and even when on a site i could only access a quarter of the page. Even emailing was a pain since I get around 100 a day. Sorry I dont mean to get on Blackjack bashing but just disapointed. So i bought a Iphone. You guys don't know what your missing. Not saying that it does everying the blackjack does but the webbrowsing and emailing are sweet.
Great battery life and a great display. It lacks some features I would like but I guess im very happy for now and waiting for a release with the new features. It's a new frontier boys and apple took a giant leap ahead. I hope that this will motivate the phone companies to release better products.

[dstrauss]

stumpy

Sorry to see you go. If you do travel back to Blackjack land, give Opera Mini a try...it really boosts the web experience (soirry, no substitutew forthat gorgeous screen, but heh, can't have everything.)

[twestley]

I'm about to pull the trigger on an upgrade from Cingular 2125 and your comments have been very helpful.

I love that great big beautiful iPhone screen and the $20/month data plan. However, I'd have a really hard time giving up all the WM apps, losing one-handed operation of a WM smartphone, and paying the higher price of the iPhone. If I can talk AT&T into keeping my $20/month Media Max 200 Bundle, I'm going with the BJII. WM6, 3G, GPS, scrollwheel, Wow!

If I can't keep the Media Max 200 Bundle with the BJII and have to pay $40+/month for a data plan, I will be looking for a WiFi device instead. Then, the iPhone and the Tilt start to look better than a WM smartphone.

--TWestley

[twestley]

Originally Posted by twestley

If I can't keep the Media Max 200 Bundle with the BJII and have to pay $40+/month for a data plan, I will be looking for a WiFi device instead. Then, the iPhone and the Tilt start to look better than a WM smartphone.

AT&T store says I can't get Media Max 200 Bundle on BJII. Only on iPhone and certain non-WM phones. He claims that AT&T is now checking the IMEI and if the SIM card supports 3G, you get charged $40 whatever plan you sign up for. Then, he told me that I could get around this by buying an unlocked phone on eBay and doing some sort of switch on the SIM card that I didn't follow.