vB Easy Archive - Sync, V3xx or 6555?

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Sync, V3xx or 6555?
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Posted by: Linux23

I'm new to the GSM phone world. Can someone help me pick a decent phone, good battery life and call quality, with 3G and Quadband for international travel (easy tethering also a plus)?

These are the 3 I am looking at with a 2 year contract. Any suggestions for this green thumb?

Note: This would be a backup phone to my iPhone.

Posted by: ILuvMyMac

Stay away from the SYNC: the battery life is horrible - either of your other 2 choices would be fine. Personally, I would go with the Nokia, but I hate Motorola with a passion so that's not an unbiased opinion.

Posted by: frail

Both the V3xx and the Sync have HSDPA while the 6555 has a slower implementation of WCDMA (though still 3G). None of the choices will give you great battery life in 3G mode (standby is fine, but voice and data will drain it relatively quickly compared to GSM, GPRS/EDGE). The V3xx is not quad-band. Based on your needs and from my experience, I would recommend the 6555.

Posted by: Linux23

so the only big issue with the sync is battery life?

Posted by: frail

You can read what people are saying about the Sync here: http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/us....php?phone=1063

And the 6555: http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/us....php?phone=1328

Posted by: ItalianAngel831

the v3xx is only a tri band phone not a quad band so that should help narrow ur decision

Posted by: Linux23

now I'm looking at non 3g phones. Battery life seems to be a big issue with those phones. Any suggestions?

Posted by: quillhill

The battery life on my husband's Nokia 6555 is exceptional. Now, he doesn't talk on it much (about 300 minutes a month), but he's had it almost two weeks now and I've been impressed with the battery life. He also doesn't have a 3G enabled SIM card in it so it doesn't use the 3G at this point. So, he got the phone on a Monday. First charge lasted through last Saturday. I don't think he's charged it yet this week so it's gone since last Saturday on the second charge.

I know that only answers part of the question but I hope it helps some.

When I had the SYNC the battery lasted me a couple days on a single charge but with my usage, about 500 to 600 minutes a month and 3,000 to 4,000 messages a month, some surfing and lots of email that is about what I get with most phones.

My third line has a SYNC on it now. He's used about 500 minutes this billing cycle and I think he's charging the phone every three days.

We don't pick up a 3G signal at my house, though, and he doesn't always take it with him when he goes to work (where there is 3G coverage).

Posted by: frail

The problem with the 6555 is that you can't turn on or off 3G. Whatever it picks up, is what it will use.

Posted by: werp

The 6555 is horrible if you have 3G available in your area. You get much better sound quality but when you switch towers you will get dropped calls a lot. The battery life is horrible. 3G you get around 3-3.5 hours of talk time. Non 3G you can easily get over 6 hours of talk time.

Posted by: Baldilocks

Quote:

Originally Posted by quillhill

He also doesn't have a 3G enabled SIM card in it so it doesn't use the 3G at this point.

Having a 3G SIM card doesn't mean your phone is going to get 3G. Your phone will pick up a 3G signal as long as it's in a 3G area, regardless of SIM card.

Posted by: att-guru-boy

V3xx is a great signal phone and will continue to be a year later, sync is okay on battery but not good reception, doesn't aske permission on google map application while v3xx does. 6555 even though people are saying that its 3g and gets terrible battery, when it drops to 4 bars in edge it does not continue to search for 3g signal anymore and is better than v3xx and sync for that. v3xx and 6555 each great signal but 6555 wins on battery life, its after time that this matters, after a year the nokia battery life will still be good while the v3xx will deteriate - i have one, biggest difference screen size, try the 6555 first if you don't like it switch to the v3xx, the 3g search thing i said earlier is what makes battery so good on the the new v9 it is geared to work easy on edge and 3g so it doesn't use to much it also has a higher bluetooth internet mb rate for faster intnernet its expensive but hte first great motorola ever.

Posted by: quillhill

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baldilocks

Having a 3G SIM card doesn't mean your phone is going to get 3G. Your phone will pick up a 3G signal as long as it's in a 3G area, regardless of SIM card.

He doesn't have a 3G SIM card. His SIM card is 3 years old. And it doesn't pick up a 3G signal in areas where there is 3G. If it isn't the SIM card then I don't know what it is but given the battery life he's getting, he certainly isn't pulling a 3G signal, even when he's at work.

Posted by: Baldilocks

Quote:

Originally Posted by quillhill

I don't have a 3G SIM card either. I get a 3G signal because my phone is a 3G phone. That is all that is required for the phone to FIND a 3G signal.

Posted by: quillhill

Ah, gotcha, but finding it isn't the same as using it so could that explain the battery life he gets. And I swear, his phone doesn't find a 3G signal with that SIM card he has. *shrug*

Not that he cares. He doesn't even use Internet on his phone. He does this strange thing with it, he talks on it, kind of hard for me to grasp. I didn't know you talked on these things.

Posted by: att-guru-boy

no you need a 3g sim

Posted by: att-guru-boy

tell him just get one from the store its free

Posted by: Baldilocks

Quote:

Originally Posted by att-guru-boy

no you need a 3g sim

You do NOT need a 3G SIM to recieve a 3G signal. The phone picks up the signal, not the SIM card. I still have an old Cingular SIM in my N75 and I pick up a 3G signal just fine.

Posted by: Linux23

What about unlocking these phones? Can a user do it, or would I need to find an unlocked phone somewhere on ebay? Main use will probably be when I go to the Dominican Republic (or Europe). I should be able to buy a local SIM and use it to call the honeys, I mean female tour guides I meet.

Posted by: quillhill

I have a 3G SIM that came with the phone (a friend ordered it from the premier website) so I could upgrade it if I want but the phone works with his old SIM so I don't see any reason to ... I'm just trying to determine if that has anything to do with the battery life. Baldilocks says that the SIM card doesn't prevent the phone from looking for a 3G signal so since he gets six, seven days on a single charge, so I wonder what's up with that.
Because if his battery life is an exception for whatever reason then it's important to understand why since I'm trying to provide input for someone searching for the right phone.

Posted by: quillhill

I've had no trouble getting unlock codes from at&t. I've called, said I was traveling to Europe (Germany, the UK), and an e-mail was sent. First one took a few days, second time took about 24 hours and the third one took six hours to get the unlock code via e-mail.

I've also unlocked phones myself with a variety of inexpensive methods available on the Internet.

Nokias have a reputation for being among the easiest to unlock.

Posted by: growan

I have a Samsung 427 and am considering an update to a 3G phone. The 3G SIM cards have worried me, since I assumed I'd need to use it on a 3G phone. That seemed logical enough. My concern was that I would lose all my address entries stored on my current SIM if I switched to a new 3G SIM. Am I right in this regard?

The impressive battery life on the Nokia 6555 in this thread is certainly an anomaly and worth investigating, from my point of view. I've seen the phone in a store and it seems to be very well made and pleasant to hold. The main slam on the 6555 has been Battery Life. So if not using a 3G SIM is the trick...

Greg

Posted by: MrSlacker

I have Tilt with old 64K sim card. I live in NYC where we have 3G everywhere. However, I could only get EDGE on my phone. My brother came for the holidays and we put his new 3G sim in my phone. I got 3G service right away. So sim DOES make a difference.