vB Easy Archive - Dear Cingular Experts, I Need Advice

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Dear Cingular Experts, I Need Advice
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Posted by: PSOmasterX77

Here's my story. I have the Motorola V710 phone on Verizon Wireless. Great phone, amazing reception, but the bluetooth and file crippling has annoyed me so after the V710 Lawsuit Settlement is publicly released, I plan on switching to cingular. For the record, I'm in Rochester, NY and don't leave upstate NY very often. What kind of quality drop am I going to be recieving when I switch to Cingular? I'm willing to accept that they're not as good in service as long as it isn't too much worse. The phones look amazing. I'm debating what kind of phone to get. Here's my wish list:
1. Bluetooth. HAS to have bluetooth. Full and uncrippled.
2.Good reception. I don't want a phone that's loaded with features but can't keep a call.
3.I'm really hoping to buy a smartphone or pocket pc running Windows Mobile 2005.

I'm looking around the net, and there are 4 phones I like so far. One is the Motorola V3x. It's like the RAZR except it doesn't scream "I suck and only look good". Another is the Motorola MPX 300, which is actually running Windows Mobile 2003. I'm assuming there's no upgrade planned for that as that was only released in select foreign markets, or so I thought, and it got canned for the US. Another is the newest HTC smartphone. The final is the HTC Universal. Any insight on these devices would be great. I see people selling the V3x and the MPX 300 for the mere price of $150, claiming they bought them bulk. Are they legit, does anybody have experience with that?

Posted by: VTECaddict

rule of thumb: if it seems too good to be true, it is. regular RAZR's dont even sell for $150 on eBay, much less the V3x. i dont even think its out yet? o_O

what about the Motorola Q?

Posted by: PSOmasterX77

Motorola Q will be on Verizon, and perhaps Cingular as well, but that's not until next year. I need a phone in the next month or two. Sooner the better as I need a new Pocket PC for school.

Posted by: Rcadden

Check out the Nokia 6682. By most estimates it should be out in the next few weeks. It's got the bluetooth you're looking for, plus it's a smartphone, class 10 EDGE, hotswap, sounds like just what the dr. ordered.

Posted by: PSOmasterX77

But. I don't want Symbian. I want Windows Mobile. 2005. I can now get the MPX 300 for $300 but there's no 2005 :-\

Posted by: ivwshane

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSOmasterX77

But. I don't want Symbian. I want Windows Mobile. 2005. I can now get the MPX 300 for $300 but there's no 2005 :-\

What's your reasoning for that?

Posted by: wierdo

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivwshane

What's your reasoning for that?

Some people are masochists. (I suppose the same thing could be said by Series 40 users in regard to Series 60 users)

Posted by: PSOmasterX77

I'm used to Windows Mobile, I have a Pocket PC and love the software, and there's a ton of support for windows mobile. Plus it'll sync with my pc so easily.

Posted by: .7

Since the OP's question is more phone related, I'm moving it over to the phone fourm.

What about the hp pocketpc thats coming out soon?

http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=776

Posted by: PSOmasterX77

Oh yeah sorry see originally my post was going to be more all-around but I guess I turned it into a phone topic, thanks for the move. Let's see, the problem with that new HP one is the square screen. I hate that. Nothing's developed for it specifially.

Posted by: ivwshane

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSOmasterX77

I'm used to Windows Mobile, I have a Pocket PC and love the software, and there's a ton of support for windows mobile. Plus it'll sync with my pc so easily.

Same with symbian based phones (for nokias you can download their free software called pc suite that syncs with windows easily too).

The only reason I ask is because most series 60 nokia models are top performers and can do everything palm and ms based smart phones can do.

You asked for a phone that performed well, had lots of features, and wasn't crippled. To me that rules out any moto phone and any windows based device.

Posted by: beatniks3

series 60 phones, it can be argued, also function as phones better than their microsoft smartphone counterparts. you can't go wrong with nokia reception either.

Posted by: ivwshane

Quote:

Originally Posted by beatniks3

series 60 phones, it can be argued, also function as phones better than their microsoft smartphone counterparts. you can't go wrong with nokia reception either.

That is for sure.

Posted by: PSOmasterX77

But. But. I like motorola and Windows Mobile!

Posted by: PSOmasterX77

Okay well I'm going for the "cool" factor in my phone. I'm 15 (16 soon) and I always hear how much cooler my V710 is than other people's phones and I wanna retain that "awesomeness" aha. I'll settle for a phone without windows mobile if it can basically do all the same stuff and looks way advanced, I know there's some awesome import phones out there so I'm open to your reccomendations. I'll keep that nokia in mind too. But preferably motorola.

Posted by: J-Mac

I agree, stick with the MS Smartphones. I'm using a Nokia 6620 presently, and my next phone will definitely not be one with a Symbian OS.

Reasons?

Symbian is a very "closed" OS; it doesn't have anywhere near as many 3rd party developers creating software for it as WM 2003/SE/2005 does. Nokia (the original founders of Symbian) preferred to try and keep the software development limited to a select group of companies, possibly to keep the pricing fixed, but I'm not certain. There are very few "hooks" (read: API's) that a developer can access for writing programs that will actually be able to do very much.
Using PC Suite is not at all an easy nor fun experience! If you have ever had any problems using MS Activesync, you'll soon think it was pure heaven after trying to work with PC Suite after a very short time! Activesync at least automated almost all file transfer and PIM data synchronization. PC Suite will let you automate PIM sync, but anything else is a chore. For Nokia's version of PC Suite, there are about a dozen separate icons available when you start it up, and each one, when clicked, opens into its own, little mini-application, which must then be completed and closed before opening the next. If you want to add some contacts, install a new program, add some ringtones, and move some data files, you will be opening and closing that many separate mini-apps to do it! And you'll be doing those tasks manually each and every time.
Most Symbian phones do not come with a sync cradle or a data cable. You actually have to BUY a data cable, and do without a cradle altogether. Ugh! The SE P900, which I also used, does have a cradle but you have to kind of "stick" the phone into it; not just drop it in like your PPC. Picture an accessory "travel" sync cable for your PPC, that you push through the bottom of a very lightweight plastic cradle-type "stand". You don't just set your phone in their; you have to line it up with the end of that travel cable - which will of course move around on you like an eel! It's just not cool. Most Symbian phones don't even have this; just a travel-type sync cable. But you have to purchase it separately!
If you've ever had difficulty synching your PPC using Activesync via IR, BT, or WiFi, wait till you try to sync a Symbian phone wirelessly. Believe me, you WILL hurt that phone! Well, that really depends on just how hard you throw it, and how far away the nearest wall is!
What few applications there are available for your Symbian phone, you will need three or four - maybe more - to accomplish what you usually can with one on your PPC. There are no true PIMs available for Symbian. No Pocket Informant or Agenda Fusion. None. And I would be happy to debate anyone who wants to argue that point by citing Agendus or Handy Day! Agendus is a powerful PIM - on a Palm device. But the Symbian version is not anything like that at all. You may get an app that shows your calendar/task events differently than the native apps. But you'll have to buy a different one to see birthdays and anniversaries - and even then you will have to input them individually! Even though you are synching with Outlook and have them all already in Outlook. There simply are no decent Symbian applications. (And I must warn you - PDAmill does not make their games for Symbian.....Aghhhh)
Finally, have you ever tried to do much input with a regular cell phone keyboard? Symbian keyboards make it virtually impossible to perform any meaningful tasks on your "smartphone" that require the keyboard. Of course there are the Series 90 devices - they have real keyboards and nice, big screens. And they will also just about require you to take out a second mortgage to purchase....if you can find many of them stateside!

So if you're used to your Pocket PC, you will be disappointed with a Symbian phone. Unless, of course you really just want a phone! Signal strength is exceptional, and they hold their battery charge much better than any of the MS Smartphones.

But if you are, as you claim, looking for a computer to use when you go away to school, then you need to stick with the Windows Mobile devices. And don't shy away from WM 2003SE; WM 2005 will be nice ONLY in the use of persistent storage. Nothing else makes it a big improvement over 2003SE, IMO.

By the way, I've developed software for the Palm, PPC, and Symbian platforms, just to give you a little background.

Have fun!

BTW, I'm also keeping an eye out for the HTC Universal!! PM me if you see or hear anything!!