I'm in the market for a cell phone. Not counting your first cell phone, when you had no real idea what you wanted, what features have been most important to you when buying a new phone?

How many of you actually use bluetooth devices, rather than just have them? Do you use bluetooth headsets while driving or walking? I really don't care for a wire if I can avoid it. Which devices have been the best for you personally?

Networks -- there are a number of cell networks out there. If I buy a phone, how do you then shop for a network provider? Most want you to buy their phone when signing up for a plan. Can you tell them you already have a phone? What if they say "sorry, that phone is not compatible with our network" when it really is?

P.S. Let's discuss features only please. I do not want this topic to stray into pricing, charges and fees.

I just have a color screen flip phone and a lot of minutes. It is fine for me. I never play any of the games, never use my head set, so on and so fourth. I do not even talk when I drive usually. When people call me I tend to not know about it or ignore it because I keep my phone on vibrate and it is often resting in my console. I only call people when I need to call work because I am stuck in traffic.

Whatever you do, do not get sprint. It may be better where you are, but it has been crappy for me whever I have been. Sprint is all over the nation, you can get service about everywhere, but its really weak and crappy. I can barley get service in my house, let alone school or work. Motorolla all the way.

I was looking for cheap. I don't use the phone much, so opted for pay-as-you-go. I pay 39 cents/minute during the day, and 5 cents/minute evenings/weekends. I go to the store, put money on my phone, and use it till it runs out (which usually lasts pretty long).

I just look for something that has plenty of capacity as far as the phone book size goes and has features where I can add their address and e-mail so I don't have to carry an additional PDA, as well as long battery life.

I look for good price/minutes ratio.

I was looking for cheap when I got mine too. I got a new users deal of 30 bucks for the phone. I also got my unlimited minutes after 7 and unlimited weekend minutes (I saved more cash by convincing my mom and dad to join us all up on a family plan and slit this and buy a large lump of any time minutes). But most of my calls after after 7 or on the weekend anyway so I do not use many minutes.

I don't have much use for a cellphone, but most of my friends have them. Generally, they look for a free cellphone when signing up for a service, and the phones they get come with cameras which is very handy.

[quote author=Grok link=board=2;threadid=8031;start=0#msg74192 date=1091726718]
I'm in the market for a cell phone. Not counting your first cell phone, when you had no real idea what you wanted, what features have been most important to you when buying a new phone?

How many of you actually use bluetooth devices, rather than just have them? Do you use bluetooth headsets while driving or walking? I really don't care for a wire if I can avoid it. Which devices have been the best for you personally?

Networks -- there are a number of cell networks out there. If I buy a phone, how do you then shop for a network provider? Most want you to buy their phone when signing up for a plan. Can you tell them you already have a phone? What if they say "sorry, that phone is not compatible with our network" when it really is?

P.S. Let's discuss features only please. I do not want this topic to stray into pricing, charges and fees.
[/quote]

As far as bluetooth goes, I *would* use it for a headset if it wasn't so damn expensive. I do have a phone that supports it.

That point aside, my phone has a digital camera, which wasn't a buying point for me (the free phone with activation was), but -- it is also my *only* digital camera. Since my PDA supports Bluetooth, I can send pics to my PDA to then ActiveSync to my desktop PC. It's a bit of a moot point, though, since my phone supports infrared, which my laptop also supports -- so there's no huge advantage to having the one that I have. To be perfectly honest, I haven't found much point to having a camera on the phone. The cameras aren't that great anyway -- just buy a damn digital camera if you want to take pictures.

As far as the network provider goes, I currently use T-Mobile. For me it was the best for several reasons -- 1.) I frequently do travel out-of-town, and T-Mobile offers free nationwide roaming. 2.) Several friends have it, and in-network calls are free. That in-and-of-itself is not unique to T-Mobile, but like I said -- several friends have it. 3.) They offered (when I bought my plan) a very nice 600 minutes plan (I had been on a family-shared-800-minutes plan) coupled with free nights and weekends. My family plan only had free weekends -- getting nights was a big deal. 4.) At the time, wireless data access was cheap -- $3 a month. I only use the feature rarely, but since I'm still a customer, still getting the $3 wireless data access, it's okay for me.

For me, what really sold it was the free nights coupled with free roaming and free long-distance. I realize that free nights and long-distance are not unique to T-Mobile (and to be honest, I'm not even sure that roaming is anymore), but about 14 months ago, roaming was. I could often get a combination of two of those three with other carriers, but with T-Mobile, I got all three.

Myndfyre spends too much time out of the real world :P Let me explain why camera phones rule. On more than one occasion, funny signs or hot chicks have come across the path of my friends and I, and it is MUCH easier (and inconspicuous(sp?)) to whip out a phone and snap a picture than it is to carry around a digital camera. Believe me, you will probably kick yourself if you don't get it.

I read somewhere about security issues with Bluetooth.

http://www.securityfocus.com/news/5896
Seems that the only real problem is discovery, not infiltration, so it's not that bad.

I'm with Verizon...I don't know whether it differs or not down there, but in the northeast, literally no other provider even comes close to matching their coverage. I get strong reception in places where my friends on other networks can't make a call.

I also have free nights and weekends, as well as no roaming charges...

Hey.

I have my Motorola V300, and it's quite excellent.

The latest LG VX series -- model number I'm not totally sure -- is supposed to be fantastic.

The major I've found is not actually with the phone, but the service.
GSM vs. CDMA
In America, CDMA is a better choice.
In Canada, Europe, etc, GSM is better.

As for actual phone options, a few things to keep an eye open for:
Long battery life
Vivid, bright color screen
Phonebook
two way speakerphone
Customization (appearance, sounds, etc.)

In all honesty, Bluetooth is worthless.
Heh.

http://www.nokiausa.com/phones/3600
Here's the phone I have. It kicks very much ass. The camera is decent and I enjoy the ease of bluetooth. I can transfer pictures and videos to my roommates laptop, tablet, and to either of our PDA's or my desktop with the air2net bluetooth usb adapter. You can put pictures by people's phone numbers. I also have a 256mb memory card to store more pics. You can change ringtones if you care about that and the sound quality of phone conversation is good.

I have a cell phone. It's silverish colored. I find that the coloring is nice because if I misplace it, it usually reflects the light back at me and catches my eye. I find that feature very helpful. It also has this thing that comes out of the top; some wire sort of thing. I find it very entertaining because I can extend it and sort of swing it around like a helicopter. I can also poke people in the ear, from behind and make them feel uncomfortable. Some kid told me to stop poking him with my antenta or something, once, so I atleast know it works at making people feel annoyed or uncomfortable. The coolest feature of my phone is that when I flip open the screen and hit the buttons they make these beeping noises. I think whoever built the phone knew how to play the guitar or saxaphone because I swear it plays the notes E, A, D, G, B and C#. Maybe the creator could play the gong too, but I've been told the gong can't make a B sound, so I don't know. If you were wondering about minutes and stuff, yes it knows how to count to 60 and all that. The size of the phone is very convinient because it fits fastly into most large shopping bags and grocery carts. This is great because I don't have to always carry it when I go to places like the mall, grocery store or even Sea World. (yes, it fits in those small whale-shaped kid strollers!) It's also affordable. It always tells me before I make a call that roaming rates will apply, then asks me if I want to continue. Ofcourse I want to! That's the best part, the rates roam around; they usually get lower I think, but sometimes they roam to some higher numbers. Soon the rates will find their way down to some small numbers and when they do I'll be sittin' pretty. It's a great phone. I recommend it to all.

[quote author=cefx- link=board=2;threadid=8031;start=0#msg74263 date=1091759257]
In all honesty, Bluetooth is worthless.[/quote]

On what do you base that opinion?

Also I am looking at this for the Volvo S60R -- Parrot CK3100 Advanced Bluetooth Car Kit

I base my opinion on the length limitation; the ease of which Piconets, "PAN"s based on bluetooth can be hopped onto/used; the 1mbps limitation. (I also don't really know much about the data transfer types - SCO and ACL - which makes me kinda leary. though this makes me now go to google and figure it all out.)

Unbiased speaking:
It's a good protocol with someone that doesn't really care about the limited things a PAN 'jumper' or "bluejacker" could do.

It's pretty well structured, in that physical objects such as walls do not obstruct the signal very much.

The fact it hops on the ISM band is pretty good, too.

All in all, it's a whimsical call, IMO.
It has its ups and downs -- the downs of which make me dislike it.

(Though, AFAIK, bluejacking is only a threat if you're in a major metropolitan area)

It's just like any other software driven device if it's not secured it can be bad. Know what you have and secure it.

Already mentioned some to Grok, but just for completeness I'll do it here as well. Having had four cell phones over the last 8-10 years, these are my observations... Valuable features:

Good coverage - depends a lot on the operator but also some on the phone

Good sound quality - some phones have crappy microphones or speakers

A battery that lasts - what good is a phone when you're out of battery? Less of a problem these days, but still worth checking. I like to recharge my phone in the weekends, so it has to last a week.

Ergonomic design - buttons large enough for your fingers, clear and easy to read display (preferably even in sunlight). Make sure you try it in the store. The most common operations have to be easily accessible - find a number in the phone book and dial it, add a number to the phone book, look up caller id for missing calls. Get a phone that you like, if it's too slow in the menus, or the interface doesn't make sense to you, look for another one.

I have a headset (not wireless) that I use most of the time. I highly recommend getting one. I don't like bluetooth headsets that much, because that's another battery to recharge. Or that runs out just when you need it the most. A friend of mine got a bluetooth headset, but don't think he uses it anymore.

Ring tones was a problem on one phone - it wasn't loud enough, so you couldn't hear it when it was in a bag.

Extra features - wap / gprs / 3G, java games, digital camera, calendar/ outlook sync, bluetooth / ir - can be useful depending on what you're going to do with the phone. I just recently found out that I can bring up maps in the phone through the internet access in it. Very useful in the car when going somewhere and getting lost.

A convenient keylock function on the phone is important so it doesn't dial numbers from your pocket.


I typically get my phone for free with a subscription, or at a discount. All phones work with all operators here, although some features of some phones don't. (i.e. fax, blocking numbers, call cost display, online buddy list, etc - rarely used features)

Don't buy a too small phone.
Mine is small and cute and prefer to hide when I need it. Especial when someone is calling you. The phone uses to show up exactly when the person calling me hangs up. His name (the phone, not the person who calls) is Siemens.

Thank you everyone. I choose an Sony Ericcson T637 phone.

[img]http://www.sonyericsson.com/t637/design/images/design_338_312.jpg[/img]

I did not try any in the store, however as Adron suggested. Instead, I went to forums all over the web and read complaints about various phones from users. The speed of menus as Adron mentioned, that was a hot topic. Since I will mostly be using this phone in my Swedish demon car Volvo S60R, *insert big grin*, I wanted a bigger phone. Battery life is important too, since I am forgetful about recharging things. I should be OK since it will be my only phone; cutting off the land line about two weeks after I get the cell. Button size and position matters, and this phone has '0' on the bottom row, making it easy to press any number by feel. I wish it had a bump on the '5' key though, to indicate center of the number keypad. I did not care about the VGA display, games, webmail, or anything like that, for now, so none of those were an issue. I did want Bluetooth so I could integrate the phone with other devices as I figure out what I want in that arena.

Forgot to mention this site:
http://www.phonescoop.com

I want to exchange my V300 for the V600.
If I can, I am going to....

I'd love to get the Sony Ericcson P800:
http://www.shoprogers.com/store/wireless/products/phones/products_details.asp?shopperID=XL9G9CK5BK118P2U12L02NLHQJ1F7TCF&PRODUCTID=P800&summary=1

[quote author=Grok link=board=2;threadid=8031;start=15#msg74475 date=1091891244]
Thank you everyone. I choose an Sony Ericcson T637 phone.
[/quote]

Is that like a T630, except with American gsm bands?


[quote author=Grok link=board=2;threadid=8031;start=15#msg74475 date=1091891244]
I wanted a bigger phone.
[/quote]

Doesn't seem like a bigger phone to me, only reaches half-way down my cheek, but.... :P


[quote author=Grok link=board=2;threadid=8031;start=15#msg74475 date=1091891244]
Button size and position matters, and this phone has '0' on the bottom row, making it easy to press any number by feel.
[/quote]

Are there cellphones that don't have 0 on the bottom row between * and #?


[quote author=Grok link=board=2;threadid=8031;start=15#msg74475 date=1091891244]
I wish it had a bump on the '5' key though, to indicate center of the number keypad.
[/quote]

The T630 has a small bump on the '5' key. Maybe yours has too... I rarely dial numbers by feel though, I tend to pick them from the phone book - down arrow, first letter of name, possibly a few downs, and dial.

Mine has the numbers in a circle kinda like the old analog phones.