vB Easy Archive - phone help - AT&T flip choices

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phone help - AT&T flip choices
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Posted by: BurnMage

Ok, I've lurked in here for maybe a total of 20 hours the past few days obsessively researching a new phone, and was hoping someone would chime in on where I'm at so far.

I live in Austin, and it appears AT&T has by far the best coverage in the city, and currently is the only provider where I can get signal both at work and at home. Because of this I am definitely going AT&T.

I may not be eligible for contract because of my credit and I definitely shy away from contracts. In my mind since the buyout of a contract is $175 and the contract activation fee is $38, a contract would have to save me more than $213 on my new phone before I considered it. I am willing to drop up to $400 on a phone today and go month to month w/ pick your plan (or month to month postpay if they'd do it), but if I can get away with spending less I'd sure consider it.

I'm getting a phone for pure convenient voice communication and nothing else. If I could I'd choose to have no camera, but it seems impossible to get a camera-less phone these days. I rarely text, and have no interest in a data plan, or watching tv or listening to mp3s on my phone, or modding it, beyond possibly removing the terrible AT&T branding.

My 'perfect' phone in my mind is the Samsung SCH-A900 (See pic at bottom). I used to have one in Canada and loved it. It's probably the evolution on my preferences since owning a StarTac. I'm pretty anti-razr because of their ubiquity, and I feel a bit anti-Samsung after reading about their lower reception & call quality in the forums. I'm not too worried about what bands/networks the phone works on, if it just works around the most "civilized" parts of Texas. In a new phone I want these things, in essentially this order of importance:

1. Must work w/ AT&T
2. A flip phone
3. best signal/clarity of voice
4. metal casing

So far on AT&T site I see the Nokia 6555 is a reasonable bet, but it doesn't look like it's metal. Even being anti-razr, after reading the Razr2 v9 reviews and seeing the pictures, it seems like it might make me happy even if I have to drop $400 for it, but I am loathe to spend $400 on a Razr of all things. I see I can get it on Newegg w/ service contract for about $99 which makes it seem like a good buy.

I've seen the Shine, or the Sync, or the SLM, or the v3xx, or the Nokia 6126 or 2610 all mentioned with various endorsements. None of them particularly wow me, so I was intending to stop by my local corporate store and see what I could actually get my hands on this weekend. I see a Samsung U300 in the B/S/T forum for around $320 that might be close to what I'm looking for.

Am I perhaps missing any good unlocked model anyone knows about thats < $400?

If you got this far, thanks for your patience in reading and your input!

Posted by: Radiux36

Well, there is the Razr V3xx. It has pretty much everything you want, including the metal casing, good quality reception, etc. Only problem for you I guess is that... it looks like a razr. But its cheap these days and has pretty much the exact same specs as the V9 so you might want to look into it.

Posted by: TheGSRGuy

What's wrong with the 6555? It's slim, sleek, and very functional. It's not a super-flashy phone; it is styled conservatively but still looks good. The Nokia's RF performance will of course be top-notch -- and I think that's the most important thing in any phone purchase.

Posted by: BurnMage

Thanks for the input guys..

I guess I don't really mean to just dismiss the 6555, and I always liked the Nokia phones I've had, just they were older models which I read tend to be better than their newer offerings. I plan on swinging by a corporate store tonight and hopefully getting a good look at one, the price sure seems right too.

Also yeah you're right of course about the v3xx, I just have this weird hangup about the design heh, feels funny to be picky about it when primarily I always want function first.

Posted by: BurnMage

fwiw, I ended up getting a Nokia 6555. It mostly came down to it feeling well made and looking quite attractive, but the deciding factor was the OS, it just seemed easier to use, after going hands-on at a corp store.

Free 6555 w/ contact at Best Buy, then signed up w/ my FAN online. Pretty seamless and well coordinated experience getting the phone and setup!