vB Easy Archive - Sorry, yet another e815 replacement thread...

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Sorry, yet another e815 replacement thread...
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Posted by: cartervt2k

I've done all the searches, read all the pros/cons of phones e815 owners looking to trade up. I'm ready to make a decision, if I only knew which is best for me. In order of importance, here's what I want:

1) DUN over Bluetooth
2) OBEX hackable
2.5) Small form factor
3) Customizable ring tones
4) Decent camera, ideally better than what I've already got
5) Good media player - standard headphone jack a big +
6) Calendar, Notepad
7) All the other tools, Calculator, etc.
8) UI that doesn't suck (may not exist with VZW)

Everything I've read seems to indicate the e815 is still the king. I'd have no problem riding it out and waiting for something better is released, but it recently developed a problem in that I'll sometimes have to reboot the phone before I can place a call. Also, one annoying bug with it is the calendar fills every other month with blank appointments when viewed from the month view. They disappear when you look from the week's view, but still annoying when you want to take a look at the month ahead.

I've narrowed it down to 3 phones, which I think I have the specs right:

Samsung sch-a990: seems to have the best camera, no/limited obex, kinda bulky, only plays WMA's, DUN over BT

LG enV: a little less bulky, good camera good but not as good as the Sammy, good media player, small front screen, hear the front keypad doesn't lock (would be very annoying - maybe someone can disconfirm), DUN over BT.

Moto Raz V3mr: great form factor, mediocre camera, hackable OBEX, DUN over BT.

I'd be willing to jump carriers if I could find a phone that would deliver all these features. Any input appreciated - thanks in advance.

Posted by: Fegul

I'm in the same boat and I'm probably just going to switch providers once my contract with vzw ends. I'm looking at the Samsung Blackjack right now but I've still got 4 months on my contract so I'll see what comes out until then.

I hate how Verizon locks their phones

Posted by: cartervt2k

I checked out the Blackjack - it pretty cool. It's actually a hair thinner than the moto slvr and not all that much wider either. My biggest reservation with going with AT&T is data use. I can tether with VZW for free - not sure I'd be able to do that with AT&T.

Posted by: Fegul

Quote:

Originally Posted by cartervt2k

I checked out the Blackjack - it pretty cool. It's actually a hair thinner than the moto slvr and not all that much wider either. My biggest reservation with going with AT&T is data use. I can tether with VZW for free - not sure I'd be able to do that with AT&T.

Here is a thread on tethering. I havent heard of too many people not able to do it; http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1046047

Posted by: mcdull

Quote:

Originally Posted by cartervt2k

I don't have black jack, but I have no problem to do DUN over BT with my SE W800i and Nokia N93i w/ Cingular/AT&T under XP.
So, DUN over BT on AT&T is definitely not a problem.
I'm using $20 MediaMax 200 plan.

The tricky part is I needed to add extra initialization comamdn to the modem: +cgdcont=1,"IP","wap.cingular"
I guess that might be because my phones are not Cingular branded.

Posted by: bigroy

nokia n75 is a great phone does all the thing s you mentioned the only downside to this phone would be the headphone jack its pop port other then that you have full bluetooth access 2 megapixel camera and easily customizable platform s60 is a gem once you get use to it. go into an att store and give it a try, being a former user of the e815 on verizon i know how great a phone that is and this is the only one so far since that i think compares from a carrier

Posted by: cartervt2k

Ok, so I picked up a Samsung SCH-u740. It's nice and compact and does have the qwerty keyboard, but there are some things about it that annoy me:

1) No OBEX (knew about it beforehand, still annoying however)
2) Need to disable EVDO every time you want to tether or you get an error and unable to connect
3) Reception and battery life - no question, e815 is still the king
4) UI - u740's is decent, e815's I still like better
5) I really hate how Verizon is trying to pimp their V-cast service that much, that they need to advertise it in the boot sequence of the phone. I also hate how the music controls are also integrated in the "Pay-Me-Now" menu.

The only reason I even picked up the u740 was because the e815 was having problems in that sometimes when I would try to dial a number, it would just hang there and never connect. I would need to reboot the phone and then it connected right away. So, I was thinking of picking up another e815. I liked the Alltel e815's because they don't have Verizon branded all over them, but I don't know if Verizon will refuse to activate it because that ESN isn't in their database. Can anyone verify this one way or another?

Posted by: cartervt2k

bump - anyone know if I can use an alltel e815 on verizon's network?

Posted by: timstown

I have to replace my e815 to, I'm actually considering the razr maxx ve, it's camera is awesome and it's multimedia looks great (external controls)! Bigest con is that it uses verizons ui and it's not yet customizable.
You might be intrested in this:
http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/Ver...iew-r_1756.html
Apparently the a990's camera is only very good outside

Posted by: nbali02

I too am looking to replace my E815 and have been eagerly awaiting the Moto V9m and z6tv. I've also read good things about the Samsung SCH-A990. At the end of the day my #1 requirement is great reception on the Verizon network. I work in a storm shelter and I get decent reception with the E815. A friend recently picked up an LG8600 and basically gets no reception in the storm shelter. I am looking for another job that might fix the reception issue, in the meantime any opinion on best Verizon phone for reception?

Posted by: edoc

I have an e815, better than my prior phones, but dislike Moto's dumb power connector and too-small display.

Hate Alltel's habit of dumping some calls to voicemail when they are overloaded and of misplacing voice
messages for hours and sometimes days. (Yeah, I know they deny it, doesn't change the facts.)

Early renewal with Alltel comes up in November so I get to choose a new phone (no reason to change
carriers since they all have flaws & my wife's phone is Alltel).

Multimedia phones require a huge increase in mandatory Alltel account costs so I won't do that.

I want a good phone for tethering as I need to dump our Verizon landline service - other than faxing and
ISP we don't use the landline.

Is there a decent replacement for the now 4 year old e815 design that works with Alltel, has decent
battery life, and decent reception?

I'd like a better camera and Linux connectivity (forcing cellphones into proprietary Apple or MS computer
interfaces is really bogus).

Thanks! doc

Posted by: Overland1

Looks like a number of e815 users are read for upgrades (including myself), and the Maxx and V9m are fairly popular choices. Anybody want to share their experiences, now that they have likely upgraded and used their new phones for a while?

Are the cables and chargers the same (interchangeable) between the Maxx Ve and the V9m? My wife has a Maxx, and if I bought the V9m, I would like to have that convenience of carrying only one charger when we travel.

Posted by: lorddaddy84

The verizon V9m can be flashed with the USC firmware with all thos features. So that would be your best bet with Verizon.
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1242254

also see

http://www.howardforums.com/showpos...281&postcount=1

But be warned, the How to is in its draft stage, so flash at your own risk.