vB Easy Archive - Camera-less - X497 vs. C1500 vs...

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Camera-less - X497 vs. C1500 vs...
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Posted by: DeltaOne81

So I'm out of contract shortly and eligible to buy a new phone now (well, the system doesn't think so, but that's because it screwed up when I changed my phone number, but Cingular acknowledged it and put a note in my account that I'm actually eligible August 24th, 2005 and not October 24th, 2005 so I should be fine at a store or over the phone).

I was planning on sticking with my trustworthy Moto V180 for a while, which I've had just under a year - due to all the problems I've heard about (and witnessed friends have) with Motos, I have been quite pleased as it's ability to perform admirably day in and out, with someone who uses his phone a lot and never turns it off. Either I got lucky or Moto got something right with that model.

However, last night, apparently I grabbed it kinda wrong and pushed the inserted headset jack over a little, and now the headset jack doesn't work. Well, if I hold in the plug at exactly the right angle I can get the headset to function, with a good deal of static, but... yeah. I tested it with another headset I have and it's definitely the port on the phone and not the headset. No way the way I touched it should have caused that. I'd be mad, but I'm eligible for a new phone and all I had hoped, when I bought the phone full price last October, was for it to get me through to this time period.

So, the catch. Where I work I am not allowed to have a camera phone, which severely limits my choices - much of the reason I was just planning to stick with my V180 for a while more. I've done some seraching and some looking on PhoneScoop. The primary choice that comes to mind is the Samsung X497. I have a friend (on Sprint) that swears by the sturdiness and reliability of Samsungs. I didn't give it serious thought because I remember the old X427 without an external display - but apparently they took care of that little flaw.

I also remember an email I got from Cingular recently advertising the LG C1500, but it doesn't appear to be around yet. Any word on that one? My sister has had a series of LGs, and dispite her tendency to break and/or lose them, has been pleased with them (I blame that more on my sister and less on LG

).

I've done a side-by-side compare, plus the V180 (I guess I could get another, but that's so boring, no? and a bit more expensive) and is seems the X497 is 'superior' to the C1500 anyway. I.e. every feature the LG has, the Samsung has also, plus a few extra. Most notibly the 2.5 mm headphone jack which would be nice. Ideally I'd like EDGE too, but that doesn't seem possible without a camera, so alright.

Although the V180 still seems to have a slight edge on those, with Ringer Profiles (kinda nice) and USB (although I've never used it).

But none of those sites can tell me what I really want to know, namely the interface and the RF quality. The interface, alright, I'll play around with it myself at the store some, but if any of you have comments about things you love or hate about the LG, Samsung, or Moto interfaces, I'd love to know - sometimes these things don't rear their heads until you've owned the phone for a few weeks.

As for the RF, well, that's just an unknown for quite a while, my V180 has been good, but not great, and has occassionally had problems in my apartment where signal is mediocre (if I head back to the bathroom, or even the kitchen, it will often cut out). So if there's one of these known to have great RF, that'd be nice. One known to have pretty bad RF, I'd want to know.

Finally, the one stat that dismays me is that both the 497 and the 1500 list only 2.5 hours of talk time, as opposed to the nearly 6 for my V180. Two hours?!? What is this, TDMA?? Is this realistic or does it perform better in real world situations?

Thanks for all your comments

. Other phone suggestions are also welcome if you have them.

Posted by: WirelessAndy

The x497 does not use the same 2.5mm headset jack that works with your V180. You need a proprietary Samsung-only or compatible headset that uses four conductors (instead of three).

During the time I had it, I never ONCE saw the battery gauge take a hit. Don't believe all the specs you read all the time- they're just a guide.

If you've used Samsungs before, you're right- no real profiles. But at least the ringer volume/silent mode switching is refined. You can even specify if the phone goes into vibrate only OR "total silence" when you do the #-button toggle trick (switches the phone between audible modes).

I gave the x497 a once-over not too long ago. Instead of cluttering the forums with more of my pithy drivel, just click on my sig link below. vvvvv

Posted by: rosullivan04

Have you considered the smaller slim-line Nokia? (Forget the model number/ maybe 3200?) That is an excellent phone - definitely better than either one of these selections!

Posted by: DeltaOne81

The Nokia 3220, while not specified so on the Cingular page, has a camera according to PhoneScoop. If this is wrong, please let me kow.

I had 3 Nokias (2 TDMA, 1 GSM) as my first 3 phones. I liked them a lot. But as phones got smaller, the buttons on bar phones just got too tiny to be comfortable. Of course, if it does have a camera, then it's irrelevant anyway.

Andy, thanks for your response. Unfortunately, I get an error on every link I try from your main site. It looks like the underscore is the problem... perhaps only because of my proxy here at work, but underscores *are* quite odd in a hostname.

-------------

The requested URL could not be retrieved

While trying to retrieve the URL: http://wirelessandy_reviews.blogspo...rward-step.html

The following error was encountered:

* Invalid URL

Some aspect of the requested URL is incorrect. Possible problems:

* Missing or incorrect access protocol (should be `http://'' or similar)
* Missing hostname
* Illegal double-escape in the URL-Path
* Illegal character in hostname; underscores are not allowed

Posted by: WirelessAndy

That's a bummer! Sorry about that.

Posted by: rosullivan04

I was actually thinking of another model that didn't have a camera on it.

Posted by: rosullivan04

Just found it - check on Phone Scoop on the Nokia 3120

Posted by: DeltaOne81

rosullivan,

Thanks. I've seen that one in the stores and again thought the buttons were so small, to make room for the screen, and the phone was so delicate, it just didn't appeal. But if you have first hand experience, I'm more than willing to hear why you like that phone. It seems to compare favorably feature-wise - one thing that seems unfortunate is it says it's MMS only supports up to 45K... I do receive pictures from friends sometimes and that seems awful small. Is that accurate?

I haven't heard any comments on the various manufacturer's interfaces yet

Also, one thing i'd like clarified. One thing I liked on my Moto is the 'predictive text entry' where it can actually guess at the completion of the word for you. Do other phones have that or is that a Moto thing only?

Andy, not gonna do anything about it, huh?

I can't be the only person to have had problems with that. Oh well, I guess I'll just read it from home later.

Posted by: WirelessAndy

I would fix it, but I'm too incredibly lazy. I'll look into it in the near future. It may involve me nuking the entire blog and starting from scratch.

Motorolas use iTap predictive text entry. Nokias use T9 as well as Samsungs and LGs.

Posted by: rosullivan04

Sorry about that - I missed the small button part. The build quality seemed pretty good on the testing model I used... it also had good battery life (Common with all Nokias)... as you said, the MMS limit is definitely dissapointing, as is web browsing on the device. I won't comment on the Samsung in the interest of a flame war... I've had good luck with LG in the past, but I remember the C1200 having poor reception... not sure on the C1500 though. All in all, you can't ever go wrong with a Nokia.

Posted by: macintoshcx

If you have access to the cingular premier web site you could get the Motorola 554 I believe that the right number. But, it's just a Motorola 551 without the camera.

Posted by: DeltaOne81

Ooo, I do (I think)! I saw the V540 on PhoneScoop and lamented that Cingular didn't sell it.

I get a Cingular discount through my employer (been a customer for a while, just a nice coincidence) and I just checked out the employer login through our discount site -> Wireless services -> Cingular, and it appears to be Cingular Premier. Gee, I didn't even think they would have extra phones through that. It it looks free?! Geez.

If I decided to go this way (leaning heavily) the problem may be allowing me to order online since my upgrade date is messed up. Gonna have to try to fix that.

Really, no one has any comments on the RF on any of these phones (other than Nokia's are always good, which is true)? None of them are traps, usually RF opinions are well formed. For instance I remember the X427 wasn't much in the way of RF so I expected some bad words about the X497 in that respect, but no one said a peep.

In the meanwhile, I'm looking into this, thanks!

Posted by: WirelessAndy

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeltaOne81

Andy, not gonna do anything about it, huh?

I can't be the only person to have had problems with that. Oh well, I guess I'll just read it from home later.

Fixed. Use the link in my sig, or click below:

Link (fixed!)

Posted by: rosullivan04

I haven't used this particular Sammy, but (I'm going to regret saying this), they are so rotten in every other regard I wouldn't consider one regardless of its RF quality (which is very poor in my experience). I'm sure that even Sammy can improve in the future, and this one might be a great unit... but with the crap they spewed out CDMA-wise a few years ago, they will never get me as a customer again.

Posted by: WirelessAndy

I won't say the x497 has "the best RF". I will say the call holding ability and clarity has improved over the x427m. No clipped audio, no audible gremlins chattering in the background. Plus, the earpiece sounded way better than the x427m, probably because it has to serve double-duty as the speakerphone output (unlike the LG C2000 whose speakerphone audio is on the back, separate from the earpiece.)

I had no expectations on the x497, either. It has none of the gee-whiz features that some drool over (no bluetooth, no expandable memory, no Blackberry Connect, no camera, no color external display, no TFT 262k color main display). On the other hand, it's a great replacement for the x427m, even if the keypad feels a bit low-rent.

And oh, they fixed the broken Samsung T9 word-add feature.

Posted by: CingularEmploye

something you all havent gone over as of yet..............

Samsung is a good product for Sprint and what not, but for Cingular the service quality is less than most phones out there. LG's new lineup is much better than the last, so if I were to choose a NON camera phone i'd get the new LG 1500 for SERVICE reasons only. We've tested the new 497 in NON metro areas and the v180 and LG prevailed service wise over the x497 and the x427.

Its going to depend on what areas you travel. If your only in metro areas.. more power to ya.. any phone will work good for you, but if your in suburbs and out in boony areas, then your going to get better service on the LG.

Posted by: DeltaOne81

Thanks for your help guys.

I read Andy's review of the V551 and I assume that the V540 is pretty much identical. I'm pretty pleased. If the biggest problem a nitpicker could come up with is concerns that similar plastic has been a problem in other devices, I'll take my chances. No games is true for the V180 too. The shortcut buttons and off-axis I'll deal with, and the video issue is obviously not relevant. On the other hand, I'm pleased by the good RF and noise quality, know that I'm good with the Moto interface and like my iTap, etc.

So, anyone who sees any reason that I shouldn't snap up a free V540 through Cingular Premier (all opinions are wecome), speak now or forever hold your peace!

Thanks

Posted by: WirelessAndy

Delta,

Fantastic! Glad the lunatic rants helped somewhat. The rubbery finish is neat, but just not for me.

Bear in mind that other people have taken issue with earpiece volume (too low, some say) and mixed tales of shortened battery life.

If you can- if you haven't already- fiddle with a live phone as much as possible before plunking down the dough. I assume you've seen a V551 already. Good luck!