06-29-2004, 12:00 AM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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PDA Buyer's Guide Reviews E-TEN P300B Pocket PC Phone Edition
"The P300B's specs won't make you drool, but its compact size and relatively small price tag will. This is one of the smallest Pocket PC phones, and weighs only 5.8 ounces. FutureCom Global will sell it for $499.95 unlocked, which means you can use it with any GSM provider and don't need to sign a contract. The unit runs the Windows Mobile 2003 Phone Edition OS, has a 2.8" non-translfective color display, an SDIO slot and a healthy amount of memory. It's a GSM world phone that supports 900/1800/1900MHz bands and GPRS for data."
The specs might not blow you away, but $499 USD for an unlocked Pocket PC Phone Edition is the cheapest I've seen yet. Nice to see that price point coming down!
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06-29-2004, 12:15 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,264
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I have ATT GSM service. If I bought this, I could pop the chip from my current phone Nokia 3200 and put it in this and it would work?
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06-29-2004, 12:18 AM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Goldkey
I have ATT GSM service. If I bought this, I could pop the chip from my current phone Nokia 3200 and put it in this and it would work?
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Yup, that's the way unlocked phones work. :way to go:
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06-29-2004, 12:19 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,264
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Nevermind, I read the article. My service area uses 850 mhz, so no go. :evil:
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06-29-2004, 12:22 AM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Goldkey
Nevermind, I read the article. My service area uses 850 mhz, so no go. :evil:
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Crap - yeah, you'll need to have a quad-band phone for it to work in your area. Quad band phones are rare at the moment...
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06-29-2004, 12:26 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,264
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Yeah, I could not even get any of the smartphone options when I renewed my contract because of this. I only stayed because line number portability was not yet available here and I got a really, really good deal on my service.
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06-29-2004, 02:24 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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You'll want to keep your eyes peeled for the 6300 series when it hits the market...
Also, minor clarification: there are triband phones that are 800/1800/1900 that will also work (although none of them are Pocket PC Phones). In other words, there are two kinds of tribands -- one optimized for NA and one optimized for Europe/Asia. Quadband is the most convenient, but apparently it's really hard to design a good antenna for it.
--janak
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06-29-2004, 02:42 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 172
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Wouldn't the Audiovox PPC4100 work? Its got Tri Band GSM 850/1800/1900...so you'd have coverage.
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06-29-2004, 02:44 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by dorelse
Wouldn't the Audiovox PPC4100 work? Its got Tri Band GSM 850/1800/1900...so you'd have coverage.
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Yep - in fact, I'd recommend Goldkey go that route, as the PPC4100 is an AT&T sold phone. However, it's probably more expensive without getting a contract extension at the same time.
--janak
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06-29-2004, 03:13 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 403
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I can't understand why more don't offer 850Mhz phones. Cingular and AT&T are quickly phasing out 900 band phones.
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