Looking for a cell phone

P

pygmalion

Well-Known Member
Where the heck is TC when you need him? :wink: I can't find that old thread. (Please merge if you can find the old one, any mod. :cool: )


My Blackberry is eligible for an upgrade and I'm looking for a new phone. Based on my experience with the BB, I figure it's probably a good idea for me to get someone's input. (I am very unhappy with a handful of features of my BB 9000-series world phone.)

Anyway. So what I want is a smartphone -- internet browsing capability, lots of aps, etc. But here's the tricky part. I need international calling capability and I want a camera phone. It's very hard to find both in the same package, from what I can tell. It looks like international dialing phones are designed for business and camera phones for pleasure. (I currently use Verizon as a carrier, but could switch if I had to.)

Does anybody have recommendations?
 
Don't most smartphones, business-designed or pleasure, have a camera built in nowadays to begin with? BF has a Blackberry with a camera in it.
 
Ah. Well, I know this is a new Blackberry (after BF killed his in the snow a couple weeks ago, heh) if that helps, but I don't know exactly what model it is.
 
Your real issue is actually Verizon. Verizon uses CDMA technology, while ATT and Tmobile use GSM. You can easily find coverage for both here in the states. The problem is when you go overseas. Internationally, most networks are GSM. So I take my tmobile phone international, and it just works. A Verizon phone, on the other hand, has to have a separate GSM radio to work well internationally, which isn't in most of their phones. So you get stuck with something like the Blackberry world edition.
 
I don't have to have a Blackberry, but I do want a smart phone - LG, Droid, iPhone, whatever.

what I learned with my BB 9130(? something like that) is 1)I don't want to do without camera/video and video texting ability, if I can help it and 2) personal recommendations make a huge difference.

My current phone has a voice dialing control exactly where my thumb lands when I pick up the phone. So I pick up my phone when walking out the door and it asks me to "Say a command." I cannot count the number of times I said "Shut the heck up!" That IS a command after all. :lol: And the other thing is butt dialing. Unless I specifically take the time to lock the keyboard, this phone screen and keyboard stay active. I'd rather have a phone that has a time-out feature, so that, if I'm not actively using it, it locks automatically after a certain amount of time.

Both of these are things you find out after using a phone for a while.

That's why I'm looking for personal recommendations, even if it's just for nice, usable smart phones with a camera and nicely placed control buttons. I can google to find out if those models are global ready.
 
etp777 said:
Your real issue is actually Verizon. Verizon uses CDMA technology, while ATT and Tmobile use GSM. You can easily find coverage for both here in the states. The problem is when you go overseas. Internationally, most networks are GSM. So I take my tmobile phone international, and it just works. A Verizon phone, on the other hand, has to have a separate GSM radio to work well internationally, which isn't in most of their phones. So you get stuck with something like the Blackberry world edition.
Click to expand...

Oops. We were posting at the same time. :cool:
 
As to your current phone, you can change what the left button does under settings - options - screen/keyboard - left side convenience key opens:

There is probably also a lock button on the top, though it might not show as a button. Just left side of top on mine is a button. Get in habit of pressing that as you put phone away, will quickly take care of the butt dialing
 
I just went and checked out AT&T, and you're right. Their phones don't even mention global ready -- maybe because it's irrelevant. Of course, AT&T would end up costing me more, because they don''t have friends and family. Off to check out T-mobile.
 
for what it is worth, when i was doing more traveling in europe, i would take my gsm phone (t-mobile and att, at various times) and buy a local no contract sim card. that saved lots of roaming charges, and i could use it in the same phone i used at home.

also, if i remember, i think that the international dialing was an account setting, rather than a phone setting.

finally, i really like my droid phone, and with the touch screen presentation, it is hard to butt call.

good luck.
 
Of course, now that I've talked about carrier technologies, and how to improve the settings on your existing phone, here's your list of smartphones on Verizon that are global ready and have cameras:

Droid pro
Droid 2
LG Fathom
Blackberry Storm2 9550
HTC Ozone

I'm partial to the Droid Pro, on that list
 
little watcher said:
also, if i remember, i think that the international dialing was an account setting, rather than a phone setting.
Click to expand...


Thanks. And yes. I pay $5 a month for the privilege, and it's worth every penny. Completely reliable connections (which is more than I can say for any other avenue I've tried) and much cheaper than calling on a land line.
 
I like the Droid too, but that's mostly because it says, "droid!" A darn good reason to buy a phone, if you ask me. :lol:
 
Okay. I'm going to stay with Verizon and buy the Droid. Not sure why, but, even though my two-year contract ends in April, I've been eligible for a phone upgrade since December. In cell phone world, two years = 1.5 years. Can you say revenue generation, anyone? That and they want to grab you before you become a mobile phone free-agent and decide to sign on with another carrier, would be my guess. *shrug*

Gotta love that Droid. Anybody here have one? "If not, I'll have to ask my sis about getting the thing up and running. My BB has so many features that it came with a book -- a thick book -- of incomprehensible instructions. And the controls and settings are embedded in menus that just don't make any sense to me. Maybe the Droid is easier to figure out. (As you can see, I'm not yet woman enough to admit that I'm cell phone challenged. *grin* )

I never did figure out how to stop the butt dialing, btw. Eh. *shrug* I suppose I should be happy, though. I figured out how to play brick breaker. :-D
 
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