vB Easy Archive - Is it really worth it?

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Is it really worth it?
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Posted by: Kinalyx

Im really looking into getting a Japanese phone, probably a sharp, but i doubt ill get any of the ones i really want.....considering i dont have $500+ for a phone. But i dont think a 904sh is out of the question.

Now...my main question is, is it worth it to get a japanese phone??

All of these sim hacks, & reviving your phone if u lose signal. Thats rough for me, my buildings elevators give ZERO signal, does that mean i need to have another phone with me at all times to "revive" my phone?

If so, i cant even consider getting a japanese phone.

Also, it seems as tho it takes FOREVER to get the cameras unlocked.

Blah.....im rambling.

I guess its technically a simple question, is it actually worth it?

Shawn

Posted by: IonNuke

I think it is. If you go recent phones but not the super new ones they won't cost $500 and they will be unlocked by a code so everything will work.

It makes it super easy for me when I go home back to Asia b/c then i abuse the other functions on those networks

Plus I guess the good thing is that you don't walk around the street and find 100 people with the same phone as you do. For me that was always the problem so I wanted something extremely different from other people.

Posted by: takumi906

Quote:

Originally Posted by IonNuke

I wanted something extremely different from other people.

this is usually the reason people buy japanese phones. me inlcuded.

EDIT: 904sh wont need CPR. it will reconnect when you leave your building. the only ones that need CPR are the docomos. if you can, go for the 904sh. it has a really nice camera and is stable (i lose reception up on campus and it reconnects as soon as i leave)

Posted by: murdoc2k

Go 903SH!!!!

Posted by: IonNuke

It's really up to you on this one.

It is somewhat stylish...... And if you happen to travel to Asia with your phone, people on the streets won't give you looks like "which rock have you been living under for the past 10 years?". I remember when I went back to TW with my Moto V3XX and people were telling me "hahah ur still using one of those?!??!".

Yes~~~ but with my SX633A things changed. I can give people funny looks now.... well I already do that so.... yeah... leave that last point out

Posted by: SnooPPP

So I'm Planning on going with a 905sh. I have ATT, and live in Northern California. I'm not too confident on how strong going solely on the 1900 band will be. Is it even easy to upload your own mp4 videos or what not on to the phone?

So in this case would it be worth it for me to get the phone?

Posted by: murdoc2k

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnooPPP

So I'm Planning on going with a 905sh. I have ATT, and live in Northern California. I'm not too confident on how strong going solely on the 1900 band will be. Is it even easy to upload your own mp4 videos or what not on to the phone?

So in this case would it be worth it for me to get the phone?

The answer is "it's not worth it". Why?

1) you have to buy a cable to load music
2) It doesn't allow MP3 playback
3) 1900 solo isn't your best bet in North America. It works when you're out but wait till you walk into a building.

Everything sucks don't buy it!

lol.. I'm kidding... but those are the problems that you're going to have to face. Also if you're used to American phones, the new interface is going to drive you nuts until you get used to it. If you're willing to sacrafice the fact that

1) Internet feature cannot be used
2) No 3G feature usable (as of date)
3) No TV feature
4) No MP3 or nice quality music ringtone
5) No Downloading New games
6) No AM/FM tunner
7) Only 1900 Mhz band support
8) You only get a 3.2 MP camera
9) No bluetooth
10) You have to pay a hefty price (Ebay prices are going up to ~$700 for Buy it Now Price)

Then go ahead and buy it

Posted by: marktang

SH905 no bluetooth either lol. i would go with P905i if i was you. no need to hyper sim unlock anymore.

Posted by: SnooPPP

Damn I love Sharp TVs, and just the concept of having a nice big Aquos screen is too tempting. Going from the N95 to the 905sh would be a severe downgrade in features tho....so tempting.

Posted by: MyLoveForTofu

The docomo phones are only worth it for pure keitai addicts and collectors lol for practical use and stuff its a pain in the arse. Now if it was something like a 904sh or 903sh or any of the other more stable Keitai's then it would be reasonable to get it since they aren't too costly and aren't a pain to use.

Posted by: ShawnK

Can't talk for everyone but in Canada, I'd say it is definitely worth it considering an uber phone like the N95 costs 400 bucks with a three year contract and features like the internet are so expensive that most people don't use it.

Posted by: IonNuke

I think the cheapest alternative is to grab a Sharp 770SH. It's like an euro counterpart of the popular Sharp 705SH (before they started to sell Softbank 705SH). Those things should be rather cheap these days and it would give you some time to get use to the Vodafone UI. It's an idea. Probably not a very good one but yeah. Thats my 2cents.

Posted by: aesculanus

before iPhone: buy keitai.

these days, with the iphone supporting japanese and now the 3g iphone around the corner and an unlock community FAR more sophisticated and supportive than that unlocking keitais, there is little practical benefit that a keitai offers over the iphone. the only two i can think of are the style and form factor – the bar shape of the iphone just doesn't achieve that keitai aesthetic, though it's certainly more appealing than say a blackberry. with apple showing the western world how to make a proper, fashionable gui with gorgeous lcd screen, even that edge is lost over the keitai offerings...

Posted by: murdoc2k

Quote:

Originally Posted by aesculanus

before iPhone: buy keitai.

these days, with the iphone supporting japanese and now the 3g iphone around the corner and an unlock community FAR more sophisticated and supportive than that unlocking keitais, there is little practical benefit that a keitai offers over the iphone. the only two i can think of are the style and form factor – the bar shape of the iphone just doesn't achieve that keitai aesthetic, though it's certainly more appealing than say a blackberry. with apple showing the western world how to make a proper, fashionable gui with gorgeous lcd screen, even that edge is lost over the keitai offerings...

I beg to differ.

- Iphone has the iphone unlock team backing the entire unlock operation. We don't have a dedicated team of people working on unlocking the 905s.

- Iphone 3G is definitely going to attract a lot of attention and so hackers will get right down to work in no time

- Iphone is all across the world now and so only a few places won't have iphone and will require to get it unlocked

- Iphone with contract is 400, the Keitais in Japan are also around that price with contract

@ShawnK:

- Internet features are expensive, but don't forget N95 has wifi built in so that will save you a bit of money. Another thing is Rogers is trying to roll out more "afforable" plans for its 3G services because they've paid so much for the equipment and they want people to use it so they can make up for the loss. There's a Rogers section in this forum where people always talk about cheap plans and special deals.

So there you go. No matter what, judging for its benefits over its worth Keitais are not worth it. I agree with MyLoveForTofu If you think you have too much cash to burn and don't know where to spend it or if you're a crazy keitai addict, then buy the phone otherwise forget it.

Posted by: aesculanus

i think you misread my post. i was saying, BEFORE the iphone was released, i would say get a keitai. today, with the iphone available, buying a keitai is foolhardy. it makes less sense than buying an overpriced LV bag for the name – at least the bag has all its functions intact.

Posted by: bestdesignman

[QUOTE=Kinalyx]Im really looking into getting a Japanese phone, probably a sharp, but i doubt ill get any of the ones i really want.....considering i dont have $500+ for a phone. But i dont think a 904sh is out of the question.

Now...my main question is, is it worth it to get a japanese phone??

All of these sim hacks, & reviving your phone if u lose signal. Thats rough for me, my buildings elevators give ZERO signal, does that mean i need to have another phone with me at all times to "revive" my phone?

If so, i cant even consider getting a japanese phone.

Also, it seems as tho it takes FOREVER to get the cameras unlocked.

Blah.....im rambling.

Hi,
Another good alternative is Softbank 911T or 920T. It is the only softbank mobile (the 920sh unlock is not yet commercially available) that have a realy high resolution VGA wide screen (480 x 800) that have its multi media - meaning an good camera (better than Docomo 905SH), music player unlocked. And it is super stable- no rebooting, cpr, lost signal. But this mobile only works in countries that have WCDMA 3G. Here in Manila it works perfectly.

Posted by: Super Chimp

Or just get a Sharp SX862 or T92, which is the option I am probable going to go for.

Posted by: marktang

Quote:

Originally Posted by bestdesignman

[QUOTE=Kinalyx]Im really looking into getting a Japanese phone, probably a sharp, but i doubt ill get any of the ones i really want.....considering i dont have $500+ for a phone. But i dont think a 904sh is out of the question.

Now...my main question is, is it worth it to get a japanese phone??

All of these sim hacks, & reviving your phone if u lose signal. Thats rough for me, my buildings elevators give ZERO signal, does that mean i need to have another phone with me at all times to "revive" my phone?

If so, i cant even consider getting a japanese phone.

Also, it seems as tho it takes FOREVER to get the cameras unlocked.

Blah.....im rambling.

Hi,
Another good alternative is Softbank 911T or 920T. It is the only softbank mobile (the 920sh unlock is not yet commercially available) that have a realy high resolution VGA wide screen (480 x 800) that have its multi media - meaning an good camera (better than Docomo 905SH), music player unlocked. And it is super stable- no rebooting, cpr, lost signal. But this mobile only works in countries that have WCDMA 3G. Here in Manila it works perfectly.

yeah it wont work in north america. that person is from the US. we have diff 3G frequencies

Posted by: yamagatacamille

I looked at the pros and cons in owning a keitai, and I think I looked at the matter of possible connection drops on my P905i (which only happen when I'm in a tunnel) and the notion of 'reviving' it (which I don't have to up to this point); that and the current sim I have at the time, and it was worth taking the risk; although it wasn't this hard when I was using the 707SC FWIW. The only major downside I have with owning a keitai is the internet functions don't work. (but, my iPod touch makes up for it on the go).

I've only owned 2 keitais and I just cannot go back to North American mobiles anymore. I just can't be excited over the current line-up of 3G phones Rogers and Fido offer. So vanilla.

So the short answer is, in some strange way, it's totally worth it!^_^

Posted by: murdoc2k

well I find that my P905i does really poorly when I'm inside buildings. Most of the time I get 1 bar only (unless the building has windows). There's also alot of dead zones when I'm inside my university buildings which is bad because even my W810i had at least 3-4/5 bars. I had 2 major outages where my sim wasn't able to recover from until I CPR. Both times were when I was at downtown which caused a lot of trouble.

You mentioned no internet, but you also forgot no 1-SEG. Plus, no one has been able to get 3G video calling to work in North America which all new rogers line up phones can do.

I don't think there's more to discuss here. It all goes back to the point made by MyLoveForTofu. If you will kill for the great looks, then it's worth it. For those who are money conscious, this is totally a waste of money.

Posted by: marktang

yup that's how tri band phones are. poor reception when ur are inside buildings and stuff. i used to get reception in the elevator and underground parking lots with my HTC before but not anymore

Posted by: brybie

mark what did you mean before that for the p905i you dont need to hyper sim anymore? is there an unlocked software version??

Posted by: murdoc2k

Quote:

Originally Posted by brybie

mark what did you mean before that for the p905i you dont need to hyper sim anymore? is there an unlocked software version??

it's called "built-in hypersim". It's not perfect either but it saves you the hassle of having to combine the simhack with your sim.

Posted by: brybie

oh i see.. thx mur.. hmm ive been trying to find a p905i.. do you have any idea where they sell it like that as a combo?

Posted by: murdoc2k

Most of the time local shops would have them. For example, I live in Toronto and there's Pacific Mall where I'm sure they would see this type of P905. I'm sure there'll be some in Vancover as well. You can also order on ebay.

Their prices however are a lot more expensive than the regular ones.