vB Easy Archive - Note sure if 910a or 910i is a better choice?

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Note sure if 910a or 910i is a better choice?
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Posted by: mpovolo

Note sure which carrier I will end up with but one supports 850 and the other does not. If I get the 910a, will it work in Europe?

thanks

Posted by: Wirelezz

I use the P910A since i'm in Canada a lot more then in Europe.
I'm waiting for te P1000 quadband

Posted by: burrito_nl

if it'll work in europe depends on your carrier I guess.

Posted by: Mark Kenepp

Carriers in Europe use either GSM 900 or GSM 1800 (I guess some might use both). Of those two, the p910a only supports GSM 1800, so it will work only with carriers who offer GSM 1800. The p910i supports both GSM 900 and GSM 1800 thus increasing your options.

Posted by: spock

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.0; Symbian OS; SonyEricsson P800; 316) Opera 6.31 [en])

Quote:

Originally posted by Mark Kenepp
Carriers in Europe use either GSM 900 or GSM 1800 (I guess some might use both). Of those two, the p910a only supports GSM 1800, so it will work only with carriers who offer GSM 1800. The p910i supports both GSM 900 and GSM 1800 thus increasing your options.

i thought 910a supports 850? i would pick 910a if i can, if not 910i will do.

Posted by: Wirelezz

Quote:

Originally posted by spock
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.0; Symbian OS; SonyEricsson P800; 316) Opera 6.31 [en])

i thought 910a supports 850? i would pick 910a if i can, if not 910i will do.

P910A ia 850/1900/1800
P1000 quad band , my next to be phone.

Posted by: Mark Kenepp

Quote:

Originally posted by spock

i thought 910a supports 850? i would pick 910a if i can, if not 910i will do.

As Wirelezz sayz, it does support 850 but I am pretty sure you wont find any 850 service in Europe. You also wont find any 1900 service in Europe.

Cingular/AT&T use 850/1900
T-Mobile uses 1900

I am not sure, but I have heard that Cingular/AT&T will soon only support 850. I don't know if they mean they are dropping the 1900 band or if they want to maximize their coverage by only supporting phones that utilize both 850 and 1900.

If your local provider does not support 850, there is little use in getting a phone that supports 850 at the expense of 900.

Make sense?

Cheers,

Posted by: WereSHARK

Here's my opinion on this debate.

I originally had a P910i and it works fine on Cingular's network in Southern California & works great in the Philippines with all major providers (SMART, Globe, & Sun)

Over the Xmas holiday 2004, I got myself a P910a thinking it'd be better option when I finally return to the USA permanently. The signal strength seems the same in Irvine, So. Cal., although seems to be weaker than my P910i in some areas. BUT my biggest surprise came when I returned to the Philippines earlier this week! The sacrifice of the 900 band for the 850 band caused me to LOSE my compatibility INDOORS (like in a concrete building) with 2 of the 3 major providers. I can now ONLY use SMART (which is my least favorite provider). So now I have 3 pre-paid SIM cards, with only 1 that will work in my P910A.

I'm not sure if the firmware revisions have anything to do with any of this as my P910A has an older revision (R2A16) than my P910I (revision R3A04). And there is no immediate reports of a newer revision for the P910A.

So personally, it seem the P910I would be a better option if you are truely going to be going global, as the "A" series doesn't seem to be AS world-compatible as a tri-band phone than it's "I" cousin.

Posted by: Mark Kenepp

Quote:

Originally posted by WereSHARK
...The sacrifice of the 900 band for the 850 band caused me to LOSE my compatibility INDOORS (like in a concrete building)...

From what I understand, the lower frequencies (shorter bandwidths) better penetrate solid objects.

Posted by: mobilezen

Quote:

Originally posted by Mark Kenepp
From what I understand, the lower frequencies (shorter bandwidths) better penetrate solid objects.

Be more specific than solid objects....a block of cheese? a brick? To answer my own statement, lower frequencies penetrate metal buildings easier than higher frequencies.

Posted by: jettie1767

I have a P910a and personally have not had any problems using it in Europe (London, Paris and Rome) as well as in Asia (Philippines).

If you use your phone mostly in the US and you are with Cingular/ATT, you're better off with the P910a. If you're with T-Mobile, you can go with either one coz they only use the 1900 mhz band.