vB Easy Archive - Help Me With Tri-Band Choice

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Help Me With Tri-Band Choice
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Posted by: Wildcat_1

Hey All

I live in the US currently but will be moving to the UK soon for a year or two and want to buy a sim free (unlocked) phone that I can use around the globe but primarily Tri-Band for USA and European use.

I have been thinking about purchasing a Panasonic GD87 and was wondering what everyone thinks and also need some info on its emailing capabilities.

The other phones on my consider list are Nokia 7210, Ericsson T68i, Motorola V66i and Samsung V205.

Any comments, recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

WC

Posted by: hardtarget35

Well, if you're moving to europe, the SE T68i is an excellent choice...no complaints about RF over there. Its not too expensive (like the GD87) and from what i hear, the bugs are being removed with firmware upgrades. The 7210 is also a great choice from what i have learned, the only problem is that its relativley new, and there are bugs to be caught and removed from the firmware...otherwise it will be a great phone (oh, and if you think you will find the key layong troublesome, then stay away). The GD87 is a great phone feature wise (camera, brilliant screen) it has all the bells and whistles, but im not sure if its the best choice for everyday phone use (to have all that stuff, b-life has to be sacrificed, as well as call quality, as i have read from reviews) The V66i looks like a great phone for everyday usage, however if your a tech geek (like me) you may be left out in the cold after a while of usage (no mms, or polys, and no color)

) <-- just some of the major things left out if your tech crazy. Otherwise, great phone, hardly any complaints about quality. And Finnaly, the sammy V205. This phone is packed with nice features like the GD87, however from what i hear its very buggy, and the firmware could use a major facelift...something that cant be easily done. If i were to chose between the V205 and the GD87, definitly the GD87, but thats me

All in all, considering cost wise, time on the market, and core phone features, i would go with the T68i. I personnaly have not owned any of these phones, but i am in the market for them, so i know a lot about them...a lot! Those are just my opinions, hope this was a little helpfull anyway...good luck on your cell phone choice (pretty big investment considering the costs nowadays

)

Cheers

Posted by: ralejand

Get a Nokia 6610 or 6100, they have great size, great rf, and tri-band capable, I believe both have colour screens too...the only diff is 6100 has a wap wallet(credit card info container..secure) and the 6610 has an fm radio instead of the wap wallet feature....6100 does not have the fm radio. Or if you want something cheaper....get the v60g/i, or the Ericsson t39...both are tri-band and rf-reliable, but t39 is more feature - rich.

Posted by: devis

I have the GD87 from about a month now and even though battery life is not the greatest, the call quality is awesome and reception is great. The problem with the battery life rests on the extra features you have on the phone. For starters this is a 65k color screen. It draws mad power... just think of WAP access. You are looking at the screen for at least half an hour a day reading the news and such. Then there's the ringtones, the animated startup and shutdown logo... I also have a car charger that does the trick.
Personally, I love the phone. It is much different from my old T86 and I have to live with a few features that before I took for granted (mostly an Ericsson user) but god... one look at that screen and you just want to stare at it for hours

simply beautiful... If they made some tv tuner addon i'd buy it in a flash

Posted by: Robertl

And there´s always the good old Nokia 6310i. Cheaper and huge talktime.
If price, standby and talk time, reliable firmware is important the I would suggest Nokia 6310i.

Posted by: Robertl

And there´s always the good old Nokia 6310i. It´s cheaper than others but has better talk time.
If price, standby and talk time, reliable firmware is important the I would suggest Nokia 6310i. It is bigger than the new phones but has proven to be reliable and almost bug free.

Posted by: Ryan1524

T39m

Posted by: lost_rebel

I typically go two to three days between charging. I use between 500-700 min/mo and clock about 30MB/mo since I got it about 3 months ago. I am not sure if others are using it more than I, but I am real happy....for the most part. Like any mobile, there are things that can be better but overall I am satisfied. you will be too unless you
A. Don't plan on using data/GPRS
B. Don't want to spend 400+ USD on a mobile that almost every bell and whistle out there save J2ME. (for unlocked)

Keep in mind that GD88 is the same mobile but targeted at different countries.

Posted by: devis

Speaking about java...

I'm subscribed to www.gd87.it/forum.html and i've been reading that a few people that did the firmware upgrades had strangely found a menu called JAVA or something along those lines. Basically some form of JAVA being mentioned on the phone. Could this be a possibility? The thing that sucks is that even if they do put java on the phone, us in America can't get it, but even if we somehow manage to upgrade the firmware overseas, no american operator has java games or apps....

Posted by: SFDM

Consider the Nokia 6100 if you can. I have a 7210, T68i, 6310i, and a few others. I've traveled the world with the Nokia 6100 and it is, in my opinion, the best one.

--Doug

Posted by: psxp

Quote:

Originally posted by SFDM
Consider the Nokia 6100 if you can. I have a 7210, T68i, 6310i, and a few others. I've traveled the world with the Nokia 6100 and it is, in my opinion, the best one.

--Doug

Doug,

just read your reccomendation and it looks like the 6100 is a nice phone. Actually looks similar to the 7210! I'm going to try and find some pictures of it so to see how big it is compared to phone's i "know" like the T68.. unless you can post a picture or two maybe?

b

Posted by: KiSsTiNe

Nokia 7210.. preeeeetty..

Posted by: SFDM

Sorry I don't have any real pictures of the 6100 vs. 7210, the Nokia site is a start. I have them both in front of me:

The 6100 is signficantly lighter. The 7210 is already a small phone, but feels like a solid puck. The 6100 is even lighter than it appears.

The 6100 is smaller. The 7210 doesn't feel like much in the pocket, the 6100 you need to check to see if it is really there, I think my key ring is heavier.

The keypad on the 6100 is more "standard" - I have 'em both and switch phones like some people switches shoes on a daily basis (love GSM!), the novelty keypad of the 7210 is something that doesn't bug me too much, but I wouldn't say I'm a real fan.

7210 has a radio, which I've never used, but people say it works well.

The 7210 has a tad more volume (as in louder) than the 6100, like it seems like the volume can go to "11" compared to the 6100 (insert spinal tap reference here!).

I unlocked my 7210 for $15 via email, which is nice. I bought the unit at an AT&T store, so it had the latest firmware, then sent the ESN to a guy via email and paypal'ed him $15 and he sent me back the unlock code. Can't get much better than that!

I was an early-adopter of the T68i and really, really wanted to like it, and the features are great, but in the end the RF performance here in the US was poor, especially compared to the Nokia models. I've heard that it works much better (aka: normal) overseas, but I've never been able to take the gamble. I've used the 7210, 6310i and 6100 overseas a lot. The 6100, being the smallest, is the one I like the most, it never leaves my side and I use the alarm clock on it to wake me up, much better than depending on a wake-up call in a foreign hotel!

Another thing -- GSM coverage everywhere else seems so much better than the US. I was in SE Asia a few weeks ago and signal strength was full-bars, all the time, everywhere.

--Doug

Posted by: Wildcat_1

Can you give me some info on where I can get the Nokia's unlocked for $15. I am thinking of buying my wife a 6100 or 7210 and would like to go for a domestic model and then unlock to keep costs down.

Thanks in advance

WC

Posted by: hardtarget35

Update...S55, take the plunge. Its feature rich, check out www.siemens.com , and navigate untill you find S55, take a look at all those features and tell me one thing that it doesnt have...except for a useless 65K screen. After your finished with that, check out the prices on the net, like expansys and ebay...Now you tell me, how can you go wrong?!?!?

Take the S55 plunge...You will thank me later!

Posted by: blu_monkey

Samsung S100 or S105.
They're sturdy, have a decent feature set, and you can probably get one for a fair price.

Posted by: lost_rebel

Quote:

Originally posted by devis
Speaking about java...

I'm subscribed to www.gd87.it/forum.html and i've been reading that a few people that did the firmware upgrades had strangely found a menu called JAVA or something along those lines. Basically some form of JAVA being mentioned on the phone. Could this be a possibility? The thing that sucks is that even if they do put java on the phone, us in America can't get it, but even if we somehow manage to upgrade the firmware overseas, no american operator has java games or apps....

The game engine is Java based but you can only get games from carriers that support it (In-Fusio) and only if your mobile is setup for it.

Posted by: devis

It's not a problem setting up the phone... also.. In-Fusio is not Java... It's a Java emulator or something along those lines.
Actually, I am entertaining the possibility of having a friend send me a prepaid Vodafone SIM from Italy. Apparently Vodafone supports GPRS roaming in the US. Therefore all i need to do is download the games, play them and umm that's it

but I dont know if it will work...

Posted by: lost_rebel

But if you have the stupid herding sheep game, you can not activate Infusio no matter what.

Posted by: devis

Luckily I have Wallbreaker

Posted by: brockley

The v66i is a great phone as well. It has geat reception and small size due to the flip. If your main concerns are size, RF quality and cost then look intothe v66. I am very happy with it. The only other phone Id look into at this price range is the v60 which is a little larger but has the external lcd so you can see whos calling without opening it.

Posted by: lost_rebel

From a features standpoint, the GD87 is the best product, I think. It has nearly everything built in. But at a premium! It is the best phone in class. Quality is higher than any other mobile out there!