vB Easy Archive - 903 in Canada and US is not worth the money

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903 in Canada and US is not worth the money
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Posted by: phantom45f

I have the v903sh. why do you think it is so good in North america? I can see when the service providers come out with 3G services, but now !!!!! I have lived in japan and australia (when I can use the great services), but in North America why is there so much talk?????? This phone is bigger than many phones (lets say a Nokia 6230i, which plays MP3's not ACC files, and has email support, T9, and has a 1.3 MP camera, which the JAP firmware doesnt support, and when all the beta unlocked firmware has many faults.) The 903 has useless features in North America, Yeah, it looks good, but you know what, for the price everyone is paying for this phone at the moment, you can get many phones much cheaper (maybe even free) with the same features, aside from the camera and resolution....it doesnt even support EDGE... I think this phone is great..... when you can utilize it........ WHAT DO YOU THINK? (I think you can get a much smaller phone for free, with better features in NA and a better form factor, say the Nokia 6230i, that is much smaller than then 903, and a 3.2MP Digital camera for under US$200, so in total much cheaper with better pics.) You are not going to be able to utilze the features ever in the in North America, unless you pay to get your phone flashed (when Verizon, or Cingular, or T-Mobile come out with services that the phone can support), but at that time i am sure they will have better phones in Japan!!! But if you want to be ahead of the game and show off, then this is the phone for you...............

Posted by: Kevbodian

Quote:

Originally Posted by phantom45f

I have the v903sh. why do you think it is so good in North america? I can see when the service providers come out with 3G services, but now !!!!! I have lived in japan and australia (when I can use the great services), but in North America why is there so much talk?????? This phone is bigger than many phones (lets say a Nokia 6230i, which plays MP3's not ACC files, and has email support, T9, and has a 1.3 MP camera, which the JAP firmware doesnt support, and when all the beta unlocked firmware has many faults.) The 903 has useless features in North America, Yeah, it looks good, but you know what, for the price everyone is paying for this phone at the moment, you can get many phones much cheaper (maybe even free) with the same features, aside from the camera and resolution....it doesnt even support EDGE... I think this phone is great..... when you can utilize it........ WHAT DO YOU THINK? (I think you can get a much smaller phone for free, with better features in NA and a better form factor, say the Nokia 6230i, that is much smaller than then 903, and a 3.2MP Digital camera for under US$200, so in total much cheaper with better pics.) You are not going to be able to utilze the features ever in the in North America, unless you pay to get your phone flashed (when Verizon, or Cingular, or T-Mobile come out with services that the phone can support), but at that time i am sure they will have better phones in Japan!!! But if you want to be ahead of the game and show off, then this is the phone for you...............

well you have a few good points however most of your opinion seems to be based upon size. North american phone consumers have been tricked by phones getting smaller and smaller. I, personally, prefer bigger phones. The bigger phones have bigger screens! It is all about the screen.

Also, how can you compare the 903 to ANY Nokia? The 903 plays MP3s (non AAC) if you flash it to SX833 or UK's 903. The 6230i isnt even in the same league as the 903. The 903's 3G features will NEVER be useable in north america so flashing will not help you with that, however, the camera, mp3 player and sexy phone attributes are more than enough.

Another argument you made is about EDGE. Sure EDGE is great, IF you even need or want it. For most people who don't use their phones for browsing, the data rates are so excessive that EDGE isn't necessary because people don't even use the internet capabilities of their phones. If this phone did have EDGE, most people would download so much their plans would double in price with all the expensive data usage.

Not only is this phone beautiful in comparison to the budget handsets released here in NA, but it is reliable (much more so than pretty much every Motorola ever made or Samsung ever made available to NA). I am not saying that Nokia's aren't reliable, I just wanted to compare the 903 to other phone brands than just nokia.

Of the features that are useable, this phone is well worth the price. You are getting a sweet phone that was a low end 3.2mp camera attached (high end as far as mobile phone cameras go), as well as an mp3 player with memory expandable to 2gb. Let's add this up:

Sexy flip phone with bluetooth 1.2 and a 2.4" screen that destroys anything available in North America $300-400 CAD (approx value for a phone with this build and featureset)
Casio 3.2mp camera (S100WE) $350 CAD (my camera. doesnt take the best pics, probably comparable in quality to my 903sh)
Ipod Nano 2gb $249 CAD (2gb miniSD is somewhere around $150CAD, and an mp3 player is around $100)

Total: $900 to $1000 (take off a few percent for bulk purchase etc)
maybe ~700-800

You're getting a good deal for whatever you pay for your 903 (so long as you pay less than $800).

Lastly, of course someone can pay sub-$200 for a phone, but then they are just another average joe (average joe = ignorant consumer who will take what their provider suckers them into on a 3 year term). Many people, I am sure, buy the 903 because it is different; because they like how it looks pressed up to their ear.

Posted by: xdrifter

One 3MP digital camera WITH optical zoom AND flash AND video capabilities, another digital camera for optional video calling, mp3 player WITH speakers, video player, voice recorder, gsm phone with killer screen, speakerphone and expandable memory card slot, good battery life and GREAT reception, available software to convert it into a remote via the infrared port, and on top of all that, all of the above in ONE slim, 1"x2"x4" plastic unit. Is there any competition out there for this phone? Haha. Now, who's complaining again? You should have your phone taken away from you.

Btw, I got mine in BLACK for $450USD SHIPPED with the beta unlock. I will soon get the chinese/taiwan firmware with T9 as well as MP3 player/ringtone capability.

Posted by: echau

my only downside is that it lacks 850 otherwise it's well worth the money

Posted by: phantom45f

I have the phone and think it is well worth it, I was just ranting that it is out of its league here in North America. I love the features it has, especially when you can use them, especially not havign to carry around a camera and being able to snap shots where ever. I wish that it had some of the features that some of the NA carrier offered phones have, such as EDGE. I love the look and size doesnt matter to me (as long as its not huge) especially when the screen is great.

Posted by: deadTamago

well... the thing is, why would a 3G phone support EDGE? cuz 903SH's data rate is beyond EDGE's capability when it's operating in 3G mode (WCDMA). After all, we are talking about a phone that was designed for WCDMA networks, GSM/GPRS inclusion is just an "added" feature.

Posted by: Blt4424

Quote:

Originally Posted by echau

my only downside is that it lacks 850 otherwise it's well worth the money

I don't see why everyone is so bothered by that. I'm in Philly with a 903SH and have absolutely no problems. No problems in Trenton, Las Vegas, Florida, or NY.

Posted by: khaltire

Sorry but this kind of attitude doesnt come from someone who loves phones like this very much, but rather one of those people that want to get a decent phone for free on a 3 year term. Is that what you are?

I personally think this phone is awesome, when I get mine that is. Good screen, I NEED a camera, but a phone + cam that has good enough pics to pass off as a camera is good enough for me. The screen on Sharp phones never ceases to amaze me, and the phone itself looks great. I too love bigger phones, they have that Japanese-esque look which I love alot

Also, having this phone is very exclusive

Lastly, I'm not gonna let the non 850Mhz band get in my way of purchasing the phone. Yes I'm on Rogers but we never used to have this band and everything was just fine. I've never been convinced that the 850mhz band is worth dismissing a phone over, its not THAT big of a deal.

Posted by: foo_mark

Hmm, actually you can have it both ways, I know a friend that just came back from Toronto (i.e Pacific Mall, etc) and he says that you can get "those" types of phones mostly in the chinese community which sells it packaged with the carriers. So instead of getting what the carriers offer, they can flexibly substitute with the import phones that most asians like, instead of being forced to sell the standard stuff the carriers provide, since I am sure that Rogers or Fido will have no success in getting contracts if they simply sold the same thing as the local consumer would buy.

Posted by: BMWFilms

Quote:

Originally Posted by phantom45f

I have the phone and think it is well worth it, I was just ranting that it is out of its league here in North America. I love the features it has, especially when you can use them, especially not havign to carry around a camera and being able to snap shots where ever. I wish that it had some of the features that some of the NA carrier offered phones have, such as EDGE. I love the look and size doesnt matter to me (as long as its not huge) especially when the screen is great.

EDGE gets owned by W-CDMA...why would they want to downgrade their flagship phone for North America when it's not even suppose to be here.

Posted by: kaizoku_san

Quote:

Originally Posted by echau

my only downside is that it lacks 850 otherwise it's well worth the money

I'll have to agree with others about how the lack of 850 makes NO DIFFERENCE.

My last two phones, the Sharp GX32 and NEC N840 were both quadband with 850, but both of them would have very low signal and drop calls in my basement aparment. The N840 did happen to work much better than the GX32, however.

My 903 NEVER drops ANY calls, and it always has at least two bars.. most of the time 3 or 4. If the 1900 is so good that it works better than phones with 850, I don't see why people see the lack of it as being any kind of disadvantage.

Posted by: echau

i'm not saying that lack of 850 makes it bad...i just think it would be better.

but of course...that just depends on where you live...some areas have better service with the 1900 band...

Posted by: kaizoku_san

Quote:

Originally Posted by echau

i'm not saying that lack of 850 makes it bad...i just think it would be better.

but of course...that just depends on where you live...some areas have better service with the 1900 band...

Oh, I know.. 850 is always a good bonus. The point is I DON'T live in one of those areas where 1900 is good.. I usually need 850 or I get no signal at all (in my apartment), which is why I was pleasantly surprised.

Posted by: yis903unposubl

一月に私は日本へ帰る。そして、９０３はべんりですね？

Posted by: nla0079

What turned ME on to the 903: I could buy it for next to nothing (got it in Japan, for about 20000 Yen - 170 USD). In my country (Belgium), you ALWAYS have to pay for your phone, no matter what kind of contract you're on. And you pay almost retail price. If the 903SH were available here (which will probably take another 2 years

), it would cost at least 600 EUR (700 USD). So, I don't care if it's a bit overkill right now (Belgium is 100% GSM - only one of the three telco's has recently started rolling out 3G) - I'd never get that much phone for that little money !

Posted by: studiddy

Quote:

Originally Posted by phantom45f

I have the phone and think it is well worth it, I was just ranting that it is out of its league here in North America. I wish that it had some of the features that some of the NA carrier offered phones have, such as EDGE. .

Out of it's league? What other phone has comparable features? The only feature you mentioned is EDGE and 850. It's not a cingular phone. What other features are there that NA phones have that this doesn't? I'm not sure what I'm missing.

Posted by: dragon208

yes it lacks 850.. it would of been great if it was quad band like the GX-32!

Posted by: phantom45f

maybe i came off a little harsh in my original post. I really like this phone for many reasons, if i didnt like it i would sell it and get something else, but i wont do that. what i am saying when i said "out of its league" is that it is too far ahead of the game for the US and Canada, which renders much of the features worthless. The style, camera, and screen are far better than anything else available and this is why i have the phone, all i was saying is that because it is too far ahead of its time in NA, that it cannot even make use of the better services here. I know W-CDMA blows EDGE out of the water, but we dont have it here yet. As for phones like this being sold in the asian community being packaged with contacts with providers here in the US, there are many websites that do this and its not just the asian communities. If you want a phone based more on style (and for the camera) than this phone is fantastic, but in the US or Canada at the present time there are phones that have work better with the services that are provided here. This phone overall, especially in 3G places, is fantastic.

Posted by: totaltoanage

Not many ppl care for 3G here in America, sure it would be nice but I for one dont need it. I only bought this cause i wanted to upgrade from my 902 and have an awesome camera, watch movies/anime on the go, and listening to mp3s all in one.

uhhhh Tmobile has EDGE and Cingular is planning to release 3G within a 6 month radius, Tmo should follow. Thats what i heard, could be wrong.

Posted by: Kevbodian

Quote:

Originally Posted by yis903unposubl

一月に私は日本へ帰る。そして、903はべんりですね?

そうだよ。もう決まってるぞ。ロームかVodaのシムでも使えるけ。

Posted by: Kevbodian

Quote:

Originally Posted by totaltoanage

Not many ppl care for 3G here in America, sure it would be nice but I for one dont need it. I only bought this cause i wanted to upgrade from my 902 and have an awesome camera, watch movies/anime on the go, and listening to mp3s all in one.

uhhhh Tmobile has EDGE and Cingular is planning to release 3G within a 6 month radius, Tmo should follow. Thats what i heard, could be wrong.

3G would be nice in NA if from Cingular or Rogers, however, it will not be released on 2100mhz. Too bad. I heard they will release it on 850; or even 1900 now that so many people are using 850 handsets.

Posted by: manchuia

One thing I keep hearing people go on and on about is how much better 3G is over Edge. This is the same as me saying a Ferrari Enzo is a lot better than a turbo for my Focus. Yeah in principle it is WAY better, but the fact is I will (probably) never have a Ferrari Enzo. Edge is on two carriers in the U.S. and the only planned 3G network will not be on 2100mhz, so yeah a 3G phone, as cool as the theory is, is useless.

Now before you get in a huff, Nokia released the N90 some time ago, and it's 3G, but they included EDGE. Why?!? Because there are areas that havent jumped on the bandwagon and may not for a long long time. They saw that they had a better opportunity to move units in those areas if they at least supported EDGE as well because then those people could at least get on at decent data speeds rather than dialup speeds.

As an aside, is the U.S. the only place with a reasonable unlimited Data plan. Unlimited EDGE data on tmobile is a wonderful $20 for me and I take that into consideration when looking for a phone as it will be online (AIM, push email with attachments, web browsing) more often than not. Doing all that without at least edge is annoyingingly slow right now, and while 3G would be a better solution, it's one that I don't see coming my way for a long time.

I am not bashing the phone. As anyone who is selling this phone on this forum knows, I am VERY interested in purchasing the phone, but writing off the lack of edge as a consequence for having 3G is not really realistic as oher manufacturers have pulled double duty in their top range phones.

Posted by: Kevbodian

anyways, EDGE is a feature that is required only for phones that will someday be released in NA. the 3G capabilities are really not very important to most of us. no video call, or high speed data? meh, most people we call dont have a phone that will do the video call anyways.

Posted by: echau

Kevbodian: I was thinking about that too! How many people do we know actually own 3G phones?

Posted by: phantom45f

exactly what i was trying to say originally. You can tell your friends my phone can do this and that (when it cannot here in the US and CA), but in theory it can, whats the point. Yeah it looks fantasic and camera and screen are great, why spend the cash. You can get phones with better and faster functionality for free and get a comparable 5MP camera for less than the cost of the phone in NA. Like i said before i got my phone in japan for a lot less and had the use of the features that the phone can handle and trust me it was great. And no i am not a person who gets the two year contract to get a new cool phone for cheap. I have had many phones in the last 6 months, with this one being the top of the top when i could utilize all the capabilities of the phone. Now that i am spending more time in the US, i dont see what all the hype is about. In japan DoCoMo (and j-phone, now vodaphone) have always had better phones than the US has had.

Posted by: volcompunk

You guys are forgetting one thing. WE ARE NOT SUPPOSE TO HAVE THIS PHONE. That's why it doesn't have all the cozy little US and Canadian features we love so much, (which in reality are a way of getting us to forget that we SUCK and only have the worst phones available to us and the worst service.). If you are complaining that this 3G phone isn't specially tailored to suit the american or canadian market than you are just being ridiculous, this phone wasn't made for us it was made for the japanese, european and chinese markets. Stop complaining that the phone lacks "the best in the united states and canada" in terms of features because basically the lack of them gets overruled by the abundance of features not present in ALL of U.S. and Canadian phones now on the market. (i.e. mobile video watching, .ASF Video recording capabilities, 3.2 MP camera etc.. etc...) An also in reference to the N90, who gives a crap that it has both 3G and EDGE, it's almost 800 dollars after everything is said and done and only has a 2.0 mp camera and is really boring and from the reviews I've read it's has a lackluster performance. Also keep in mind Nokia had plans to take the phone worldwide from the beginning, unlike the 903 which was only meant for it's respective markets.

Bottom line: Use your free phone in america, see how much you like it with your less than 1 megapixels and crappy screens and playing "snake II". I'll keep using the 903 even if I can't surf the web at broadband speeds.

Posted by: raine2x

well i know this is out of the question, but i still want the 903.. can anyone guide to which is a reputable place in TO with great deals for this phone.. anyone ?? =)

Posted by: Cloud V

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevbodian

そうだよ。もう決まってるぞ。ロームかVodaのシムでも使えるけ。

いや、そうじゃないよ。日本に帰って生活するつもりだったら、あなたの生活に合わせる携帯が一番いいんだ。ヨーロッパとかオーストラリアとかに行くんであれば、海外ローミングはいいかもしれないけど、ただ日本に住むならもっといいやつある。

いや、日本語話せるなら、ここで日本で使う携帯相談はやめたほうがいいよ、もっといいとこあるし。

Posted by: Cloud V

Quote:

Originally Posted by volcompunk

You guys are forgetting one thing. WE ARE NOT SUPPOSE TO HAVE THIS PHONE. That's why it doesn't have all the cozy little US and Canadian features we love so much, (which in reality are a way of getting us to forget that we SUCK and only have the worst phones available to us and the worst service.). If you are complaining that this 3G phone isn't specially tailored to suit the american or canadian market than you are just being ridiculous, this phone wasn't made for us it was made for the japanese, european and chinese markets. Stop complaining that the phone lacks "the best in the united states and canada" in terms of features because basically the lack of them gets overruled by the abundance of features not present in ALL of U.S. and Canadian phones now on the market. (i.e. mobile video watching, .ASF Video recording capabilities, 3.2 MP camera etc.. etc...) An also in reference to the N90, who gives a crap that it has both 3G and EDGE, it's almost 800 dollars after everything is said and done and only has a 2.0 mp camera and is really boring and from the reviews I've read it's has a lackluster performance. Also keep in mind Nokia had plans to take the phone worldwide from the beginning, unlike the 903 which was only meant for it's respective markets.

Bottom line: Use your free phone in america, see how much you like it with your less than 1 megapixels and crappy screens and playing "snake II". I'll keep using the 903 even if I can't surf the web at broadband speeds.

He hit's a good point here that I think a lot of people overlook. These phones aren't designed for North America. Yes, we have crappy phones. But it comes from in a way capitalism at it's best. We have too many providers fighting to have their own set system, with poor 3g coverage, and such that prevents the advent of better 3G services.

As far as the features, having lived in Japan in college, and working here now, I can tell you for sure that Americans and Japanese have two different attitudes towards the phones. Americans are now maybe starting to demand more features, but it has been a society that embraced the computer faster, and all that extra stuff was seen as a waste. Japan, people spend hours just commuting, computer usage has finally picked up here. For them, mail and ways to pass the time is more important.

I myself have an hour commute to inner Tokyo for work, and I spend most of my time on imode catchin up on sites. Or playing solitaire. One bad point is as much as you all tout the video/music/camera stuff, the truth is it kills your battery, wish they could fix that now.

I think we just have to accept that, and then make the decision. A lot of people don't have grounds to ***** that they can't use this this and this on their system when it wasn't meant to do so. If you can get around the fact that you're using it at half capacity, then no problem. But you can't *****.

Well you can, ***** to Sharp in North America to get onto releasing that there then, just it's making it fit to work with all the providers that's the problem.

Anyways, my 2 cents, trust me, I want to see these phones in North America as much as you do.

--
edit: wow, my japanese is great, but my english is going to hell

Posted by: huiben

it worths every cent of it.. only for its cool factor

Posted by: xdrifter

Quote:

Originally Posted by volcompunk

Bravo!! Well said. Someone finally managed to touch on the most important points of all. S

Posted by: Timsta

haha. you got volcom all pumped up.

how's your phone buddy? all good? like the uk flash?

Posted by: volcompunk

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timsta

haha. you got volcom all pumped up.

how's your phone buddy? all good? like the uk flash?

haha people are so ignorant sometimes

In regards to my 903, I'm loving the mp3 ringtones and I am glad I finally have t9 text messaging, totally worth the money, thanks again timsta!~