Suggest your favorite GSM cell phone / bluetooth headset (1 Viewer)

I've always loved tiny cell phones. Unfortunately most of them, including my latest favorite the Siemens SL56, have terrible reception. Often I can't place a call at all, while friends with larger phones on the same network have no problems.

So I figure I'll buy a better phone. One with bluetooth, and a headset to go with it. I can leave the phone clipped to my belt and use the headset (with voice dialing?) to handle my calls.

Any suggestions? Share your favorite GSM bluetooth phones/headsets!

I've been using the Motorola V600 since the summer. It's a quad band phone with blue tooth. I like it. The reception is great. I like making fun of my friend's phone who has the same service as me, just a differnt phone. In his condo, he barely gets 2 bars on the v60, but on my phone, it's full bars.

Motorola MPx220 with Jabra BT250 Headset.

Excellent phone. If you actually need all the features that it provides, you might as well buy a black berry (unless you want to walk around with a Bluetooth keyboard). I can't imagine the reception being much better -- just today I made a call from the second level of a subway, inside the subway car, as well as accessed the internet). Works in buildings my old Nokia TDMA didn't.

While there are smaller phones, this one fits in my pocket without a problem.



Hasn't that been discontinued due to technical problems?

Anyone see the Moto RAZR V3 yet? I don't need all the features but I've been wanting a phone that thin for some time!

one of my coworkers has a v3 razr, for the $500 or so bucks it costs, I honestly don't care for it.

I haven't heard anything about the v600 getting axed, it's considered a good phone by most.

I just picked up a Nokia 6230 and the Jabra BT250. This phone marks my transition from TDMA to GSM. So far, so good.

My home is in a cellular black hole, as my TDMA phones never worked well and the GSM has improved on that.

Bluetooth is cool. The headset works fine, although it IS one more thing in your life you have to recharge and baby-sit (to some degree).

Bluetooth from the Nokia PC Suite to the phone is easy and worth it as well.

I was going to get the Motorola (some of my fellow employees have that phone) but I like Nokia just a bit more; also I always fumble with the flip phone in the car. That's just me.
YMMV.

Alex, is the bluetooth reliable? The 6230 looks real nice, but I've read some reports of unreliable bluetooth functionality. Can you access the MMC card over bluetooth? Does it show up as a regular drive letter? I use USB keys and it'd be cool to ditch them and just access the drive built into my phone while it's still in my pocket. With up to 2GB MMC support that'd be real sweet.

Have you seen this car kit? http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,,65324,00.html
Looks like a nice addition to the 6230. Leave the phone in your pocket and safely make/receive calls while driving.

Thanks for the other replies. Anyone else?? Come on, there have to be more of you on the bluetooth/GSM bandwagon! We all like cool gadgets around here, right?

*bump* any other recommendations?

I've had the v600 for a few months now. At first it was awesome, but then I started getting dropped calls every 20 minutes. Lately, it has been acting up even more. I got a call from a friend, but it used the ringtone for another friend. Then yesterday, I had it in vibrate mode, but it played the ringtone for a different person again (when it should have just vibrated).

The ATT store told me to call the Motorola warranty people and ask for a replacement, but I've got it all customized. So if I switch phones, I'm going to have to redo all my ringtones and stuff ... ARGH.

I've got a Sony Ericcson T616 that I'm happy with. I haven't used the bluetooth headset, if it has one. The phone is small and drops right into my jeans pocket. I use the bluetooth to link it with my Mac, which is great for programming the phonebook and stuff like that. With the right software, I can also control my Mac from my phone.

If you want good reliable RF reception, along with good Bluetooth support, I would recommend either Nokia (late revision 6230b, 6620b, or 7610b) or Sony Ericsson (T637, S710a). Although Motorola has improved significantly, they still come short when it comes to reception. They just do not measure up to Nokia and Sony Ericsson (earlier Sony Ericsson models were also not so good). Although subjective, I find Moto's UI rough (Nokia's Series 40 is pretty dated looking, too, although intuitive).

P.S. Who is your service provider? If Cingular or AT&T Wireless, be sure to get 850 MHz and 1900 MHz capable phone.

I had a Motorola v600 for about 3 months when it started locking up and could only be reset by taking out the battery. I got a replacement which was worse than the first. The backlight stopped working, it would drop calls, not receive text messages and the screen would go blank totally at random.

Though I have been burned by Motorolla, I have been waiting for RAZR to become available. Meanwhile I had to get a new (cheap) phone as the v600 became completely unusable.

-Mike

Yes and Yes. I have only used the Nokia PC Suite (free download from their site) and the card is a separate drive.

I prefer the nokia interaction over Motorola, but that Motorola V550 has better picture and video taking capabilities (not a priority for me).

Also, I think the screen is bigger and higher rez on the Motorola.

I keep hearing about "Bluetooth"

Can someone please expalin what it means?!

Thanks

Matt,

It's a protocol used for connecting/synchronizing electronic devices wirelessely. The appeal with cell phones is that it makes it easy to synch the phone up with your address book and appointment schedule on your computer. With headsets, you no longer have to fumble with plugging one into the phone. Other applications for cell phones include synchronization with your car -- the dashboard can display who is calling, and you can hear the caller over the car speakers (of course you'll need a car that supports bluetooth).

I wish Cingular would hurry up and release the Sony-Ericsson S710. Been waiting for this phone for a very long time.

Thanks Seth! I get it now.

Yes. I have the Motorola V600 with T-Mobile and I love it. The days of getting literally every call dropped from ATT/Cingular are now over. I am in Los Angeles and they were horrible. I love T-Mobile and have never looked back. The phone is good. I got the bluetooth headset for free with one of T-Mobile's promotions.

Nokia 6600/Ngage QD/Ngage Original/3650 though I don't use a BT handsfree with it. Tmo Employee. I'm waiting for May to upgrade to the BB7100T.