Best phone/PDA/Service....

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
My contract with AT&T expires in October and I'm looking for a little more in my next phone. RIght now I have a Nokia 3360 and while is a great little phone its basically featureless. I am happy with AT&T and would stick with them if they have my choice for what device I want to use next...



The phones/devices I'm looking at include:



Nokia 3650 camera phone

Sony/Ericsson T616

Sony/Ericsson T68i

Danger Hiptop or T-Mobile Sidekick



I want to be able to check a little e-mail here and there- maybe send a few short messages and get some web updates.



Right now I'm at 300 minutes a month and unlimited nights and weekends- which is working out perfectly- I haven't went over on my minutes once and roaming is not bad.



I kinda want a camera in my phone just for the cool factor- I know they don't take goood pictures, but it would be fun just to have. I know the Nokia can also take and send short video clips too- so that would be kind of cool. But I'm a student and I need something cheap- which the sidekick is not- but they do have a great dataplan...



RIght now I'm thinking about staying with AT&T 'cause they have a sale on the T616 which also has a camera- I'm not sure about its data options though. Could I use this to check a few web sites out? What about checking POP or IMAP e-mail?



Also I think the T68i would be really cheap to find somewhere. Basically I want a phone with bluetooth and some data stuff and under $150 in price- under $45 monthly charge too.



What do you guys think I should do?



Thanks.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    f1turbof1turbo Posts: 257member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by tacojohn

    My contract with AT&T expires in October and I'm looking for a little more in my next phone. RIght now I have a Nokia 3360 and while is a great little phone its basically featureless. I am happy with AT&T and would stick with them if they have my choice for what device I want to use next...



    The phones/devices I'm looking at include:



    Nokia 3650 camera phone

    Sony/Ericsson T616

    Sony/Ericsson T68i

    Danger Hiptop or T-Mobile Sidekick



    I want to be able to check a little e-mail here and there- maybe send a few short messages and get some web updates.



    Right now I'm at 300 minutes a month and unlimited nights and weekends- which is working out perfectly- I haven't went over on my minutes once and roaming is not bad.



    I kinda want a camera in my phone just for the cool factor- I know they don't take goood pictures, but it would be fun just to have. I know the Nokia can also take and send short video clips too- so that would be kind of cool. But I'm a student and I need something cheap- which the sidekick is not- but they do have a great dataplan...



    RIght now I'm thinking about staying with AT&T 'cause they have a sale on the T616 which also has a camera- I'm not sure about its data options though. Could I use this to check a few web sites out? What about checking POP or IMAP e-mail?



    Also I think the T68i would be really cheap to find somewhere. Basically I want a phone with bluetooth and some data stuff and under $150 in price- under $45 monthly charge too.



    What do you guys think I should do?



    Thanks.




  • Reply 2 of 14
    f1turbof1turbo Posts: 257member
    Sorry about that, hit the wrong button---D'oh



    I'm using a Treo 300 (Sprint) and I love it. There's a new version coming out ~Oct (Treo 600) - which adds camera, SDIO slot, updated OS (Palm 5.x).



    Things I like:

    - small size

    - UNLIMITED DATA--$10/month (think it's gone up to $15 now, still WAY CHEAPER than AT&T plans)

    - 300 minute, free long distance, nights, weekends, Sprint to Sprint - $30

    - Palm OS, great PDA, lots of software available





    ... and more. Check out Treocentral.com. You can currently buy the Treo 300 for $99 bucks after $200 rebate for new subs.
  • Reply 3 of 14
    h228h228 Posts: 26member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by F1Turbo

    Sorry about that, hit the wrong button---D'oh



    I'm using a Treo 300 (Sprint) and I love it. There's a new version coming out ~Oct (Treo 600) - which adds camera, SDIO slot, updated OS (Palm 5.x).



    Things I like:

    - small size

    - UNLIMITED DATA--$10/month (think it's gone up to $15 now, still WAY CHEAPER than AT&T plans)

    - 300 minute, free long distance, nights, weekends, Sprint to Sprint - $30

    - Palm OS, great PDA, lots of software available





    ... and more. Check out Treocentral.com. You can currently buy the Treo 300 for $99 bucks after $200 rebate for new subs.




    For Sprint, there's also the Samsung i500, which is a Palm based flip phone. It lacks Bluetooth, or even slot for a BT card. It also costs $600.



    There will also be the Sony Ericsson T608 for Sprint. If they release it anytime soon, it will be the only CDMA phone with Bluetooth built in.



    I think Sprint has the best price compromise between voice and data. Unfortunately, their closed phone selection stinks compared to other networks open to phones bought anywhere. That leaves customers like me waiting a long time for the phones with new functionality.
  • Reply 4 of 14
    Get the 3650 and T-mobile



    They have the best data service. you pay like $10.00 extra, for unlimited data, AT&T bills you on how much KB you use.



    And there regular plans kickass too!
  • Reply 5 of 14
    h228h228 Posts: 26member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Lazzyass86

    Get the 3650 and T-mobile



    They have the best data service. you pay like $10.00 extra, for unlimited data, AT&T bills you on how much KB you use.



    And there regular plans kickass too!




    T-mobile must vary greatly from area to area. For my area, Los Angeles, their data is an extra $30/month.
  • Reply 6 of 14
    tacojohntacojohn Posts: 980member
    I'm not so sure about the 3360- its a little big the more that I think about it- where the T616 is about the same size as my 3360- maybe smaller...if I could get the T616 from T-Mobile with the data plan I would be all set.
  • Reply 7 of 14
    tacojohntacojohn Posts: 980member
    Is the T616 from AT&T and the T610 from T-Mobile the same phone?
  • Reply 8 of 14
    jbljbl Posts: 555member
    Can someone do a compare and contrast between the Palm based models (e.g., the Treo 600 and Kyocera 7135) and the Sony/Ericsson models? What are the advantages of each?
  • Reply 9 of 14
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by h228

    T-mobile must vary greatly from area to area. For my area, Los Angeles, their data is an extra $30/month.



    Are you sure? They've got a nation-wide unlimited data thing for $19.99 if you have a voice plan $29.99 and up.
  • Reply 10 of 14
    taztaz Posts: 74member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by tacojohn

    Is the T616 from AT&T and the T610 from T-Mobile the same phone?



    Yes, they are essentially the same.



    I just got done evaluating a T610 with T-mobile and its a great phone and decent service. Here in TX you can add unlimited internet allowing you to connect a laptop for $20/mo if you have a voice plan. I am currently with Sprint and will keep it at least till my contract expires. I thought the SE phone was GREAT. BT connectivity was wonderful, however, the GSM coverage in my area is still spotty. My feeling is that in a short time the GSM networks here in the US will be as good as those in Europe and then the switch will be worth it. Currently the data plans from Sprint suck and are expensive. However their Vision service is quicker than the TZones that is offered by T-Mobile and you can get an HTML browser for your phone which lets me surf the net relatively easy. An additional thing about T-Mobile and their internet service is that it uses a proxy server which uses, I believe, GZip compression to make data transfer faster. Safari and IE are not compatible with this comression, although rumor is that Safari for Panther will be OK. If you want to tether a Mac off of your phone you will need to use a Mozilla based browser.
  • Reply 11 of 14
    nofeernofeer Posts: 2,427member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by TAZ

    Yes, they are essentially the same.



    I just got done evaluating a T610 with T-mobile and its a great phone and decent service. Here in TX you can add unlimited internet allowing you to connect a laptop for $20/mo if you have a voice plan. I am currently with Sprint and will keep it at least till my contract expires. I thought the SE phone was GREAT. BT connectivity was wonderful, however, the GSM coverage in my area is still spotty. My feeling is that in a short time the GSM networks here in the US will be as good as those in Europe and then the switch will be worth it. Currently the data plans from Sprint suck and are expensive. However their Vision service is quicker than the TZones that is offered by T-Mobile and you can get an HTML browser for your phone which lets me surf the net relatively easy. An additional thing about T-Mobile and their internet service is that it uses a proxy server which uses, I believe, GZip compression to make data transfer faster. Safari and IE are not compatible with this comression, although rumor is that Safari for Panther will be OK. If you want to tether a Mac off of your phone you will need to use a Mozilla based browser.








    what about the ease of connecting your mac laptop to the phone as a modem to connect to the internet or corp intranet. some pcs phones don't work with mac. which do.. the only way i would acccess the web is with my laptop so i can access my corps intranet and files.
  • Reply 12 of 14
    Wait until after November 24 to get a new contract...number portability will come in then...all the carriers will be looking to retain / pick up clients, and you'll be able to get much better deals then are available now.
  • Reply 13 of 14
    Quote:

    Originally posted by torifile

    Are you sure? They've got a nation-wide unlimited data thing for $19.99 if you have a voice plan $29.99 and up.



    I don't see that on t-mobile's website.



    Where did you find that price?
  • Reply 14 of 14
    taztaz Posts: 74member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by NOFEER

    what about the ease of connecting your mac laptop to the phone as a modem to connect to the internet or corp intranet. some pcs phones don't work with mac. which do.. the only way i would acccess the web is with my laptop so i can access my corps intranet and files.



    I had a Samsung A500 and am currently using an A620. Havent tried the 620 yet, but the A500 was simple to connect. Just got the data cable and OSX already has drivers for Sprint Vision and it recognized the phone automatically. Dont know about any other phones unfortunately. I think the Sanyos are also Mac compatible. The best bet is to go to Howardforums.com and dig around a bit. Even if the phone may not be listed as compatible someone may have a driver for it out there. Heck I got Siemens driver for one of the other phones I was tinkering with.





    as far as the $19.99 add on data plan for T-mobile. Its not on the internet site so you will have to call and have it added to your service. That is how I got it. The site only lists independent data service.
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