SE T610 or Nokia 3650?

[QYV]

I have the opportunity to sign up for a new T-Mobile contract and get either a Nokia 3650 or Sony-Ericsson T610 phone. All I care about is using the phone as a Bluetooth data modem for my Pocket PC - I won't be bothering with the camera, fancy ringtones or anything but connecting to the Internet via GPRS. At this point I'm favoring the T610 because the 3650's size is quite extreme, and because my current phone is a Sony-Ericsson T68i and I'm pretty happy with it. I'd be interested in hearing opinions from others who have one phone or the other, though! Which is the best phone to use with a Pocket PC via Bluetooth?

[dMores]

go for the t610.
after owning about 5 different nokia phones and always having trouble with them, and now being on my second sonyericsson phone without any problems at all, i try to persuade people to avoid nokia.

the 3650 was part of a deal i got when i switched plans with my carrier. i decided to give it to my parents as a present, so i could send them mms too. now the 3650 has a funky design, but it's just too funky to work properly. i played with it for about 2 weeks, setting everything up so it'd be an out-of-the-box experience for my (not so tech-savy) parents, and the keypad is just horrible. looks nice, but doesn't work.
writing sms, or even entering contacts, is a nightmare. after 2 weeks, i haven't been able to adapt.

the t610 doesn't have a proper operating system like the nokia, which doesn't let you install apps and games as easy as you can with series60 phones, but that's the only draw-back. you can still download java apps (which are mostly games) though.

it's the next generation of the t68i, which has been extremely successful and worked like a charm. i can only reccomend it.

[Zack Mahdavi]

I haven't personally tried out the bluetooth on the 3650, but I've owned a T610 for several months now. The bluetooth implementation is awesome! It works well with my Macs, my Pocket PC, and a headset... all at the same time.

Browsing the internet with the Pocket PC through the phone is very nice and convenient, plus my Pocket PC checks my email through the phone every hour.

I highly recommend the T610. It's very well designed, and the bluetooth implementation is great.

[tulrich]

I'm signing up with T-Mobile tomorrow, and the SE T610 is one of my options. How is it's phone reception? I've heard mixed things about signal strength and call clarity (though I know this is largely a function of carrier coverage), but I'm quickly being seduced by the Bluetooth functionality.

[Pat Logsdon]

Another vote for the T610 - I got mine a few days ago, and I'm very impressed with it. I use it almost exclusively as a bluetooth modem with T-Mobile's free WAP. It takes about 2 hours to fully charge, and lasts for around 10-12 hours with BT on all the time. I just keep it in my pocket with the keys locked and forget about it.

Reception seems to be fine - my office is near a freeway, so I get at least 1 bar anywhere in building. YMMV, of course. I have noticed that the T610 does seem to refresh the signal bar more frequently than other phones I've had - it jumps around a bit, but it's never affected performance.

Now I just wish I could figure out how to get MSN Messenger (or any 3rd party app) to connect over port 80. :?

[Zack Mahdavi]

I'm signing up with T-Mobile tomorrow, and the SE T610 is one of my options. How is it's phone reception? I've heard mixed things about signal strength and call clarity (though I know this is largely a function of carrier coverage), but I'm quickly being seduced by the Bluetooth functionality.

The T610's reception is not nearly as good as some of my past cell phones, but it's not bad either. I live on University of Texas campus in downtown Austin, where TMobile's reception is not too great... however, the T610 is able to handle this pretty well.

It's also kind of slow in picking up a signal after its lost one. It takes about 30 seconds or so, so it's kind of annoying.

You may want to consider waiting just a short while, as from what I've read, the T630 will be coming out soon and should address these issues.

Check out www.howardforums.com for more cell phone related information.

[Wiggster]

I live on grounds at the University of Texas at Dallas. The T-Mobile reception with the Nokia was abyssmal, but I switched to CIngular and a SE T616, and it's been crystal clear. My roommate then went out and bought himself a T610 with T-Mobile, and he said that it's much clearer than his old Nokia.

So, yet another vote for the Ericsson model :mrgreen:

[tulrich]

Thanks for all the responses, folks! I have to add one more question...anyone from the Boston area (which is where I live) have experience with this phone?

[Zack Mahdavi]

Thanks for all the responses, folks! I have to add one more question...anyone from the Boston area (which is where I live) have experience with this phone?

Do a search at HowardForums.. I did one, and I found a bunch of comments about TMobile in Boston.

Take a look at this thread... seems like TMobile's service in Boston is very good.

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=340697&highlight=%2Bboston