Getting a cell phone, need suggestions (1 Viewer)

[David_Moechnig]

I have already decided on Cingular for a carrier since it is the only thing that gets good reception at my house. I am looking at a Motorola MPx220 flip phone. I've never had a cell phone before and don't know how the purchasing and programming of the phone works. Buy.com has the phone free with a new service plan but I don't know how to get those rebates if I sign up for a plan locally. Do I need to just hope that the store that I go to has the phone I want or how does all this work?

 

[Elinor]

I had a Motorola a few years ago and my partner got one more recently.

We were both disappointed with battery life (big disappointment) and dropping calls/signal strength.

I love my Nokia, however, and even liked my Ericsson very much.

Your local Cingular agent should have free models too.

Think hard about that Motorola.

 

[Phil_L]

I have the LG 1400 from Cingular and am very happy with it.

 

[Alf S]

We have ATT/Cingular and my wife and I as well as my mom were able to get the Nokia 3120 for free a little while back..I see it's still free on Nokia's site.

It's really an awesome phone with nice features like speaker phone, LONG battery life, color screen, etc.

 

[Robert_Gaither]

David I'd recommend going to mobile phone websites and seeing what actual users state about the products such as www.gsmarena.com , www.howardforums.com , and www.phonescoop.com for more information. I would also recommend calling the various companies 1-800 line and find out how much for voice, data, and what kind of expection of coverage from your home, work, and one-three recreational places you go to often to find out the coverage in those areas (iow have addresses/zip codes availible). Hope this helps you out.

 

[Dennis*G]

we have the motorola v551 thru Cingular and like above, signal and sound is terrible, calls dropped. friend has a sony/ericcson on Cingular and he gets great reception

 

[Dome Vongvises]

What a coincidence. I just got moved to Best Buy's Wireless department a month ago.

As far as I've heard and reseached, earlier models of the MPX 220 and the V551 were horrible, with the sound quality on the MPX 220 being bad at higher volumes and the V551 having trouble staying on (something about a white screen).

However, I think the problem has been corrected on both phones.

The MPX 220 is rather pimp with an easy navigation although the phone contact list is seperated by individual numbers as opposed to by individual names (that may be the same way with all Motorola's, but I'm not sure). Speaker on it is pretty good, and the camera on it works as well as any camera phone. Never tried the Bluetooth on it, but customer feedback has been good. The big advantage to the MPX 220 (besides the Windows Mobile) is the world capability. If you travel abroad, you can get a pre-paid SIM card for that country and use your phone.

The V551 is where you get the most bang for the buck (considering a two-year agreement for instant rebates). It has awesome/neat little features like camera, external panel, and a nice blue rubber grip to it. People love the Bluetooth capability, and the phone reception has been great. Unfortunately, no external pic caller ID (while not important really, it has been useful for me).

My advice: ask friends, relatives, and coworkers about carrier reception first. That's the more important thing than the phone itself. You'll find online deals are much better than B&M stores, but at least take a look at the phone at a B&M store. Then buy it online.

But that's just me. I opted for the free phone, and now I want a phone with every bell and whistle. Otherwise, you can be perfectly happy with a free phone.

 

[Dennis*G]

I just got my v551 two weeks ago, so no, I don't think they have been improved. I have two more weeks to decide if I want to exchange it free of charge, and it is definitly leaning that way..

 

[Yousaf]

Razr anyone? Oh come on, you know you want it...

 

[Dome Vongvises]

For what it does, the Razr is horribly overpriced. As thin as it is, it's horribly wide, and you can get a much better phone for cheaper.

 

[David_Moechnig]

Has anyone used wirefly.com to order a phone and plan? After reading more about the MPx220 and talking to several people that have/have used one I want to get that phone. However, I want to get a family talk plan with 2 phones but my wife does not need nor want the MPx220. I can't find a way to contact wirefly to see if it is possible to get 2 different phones. The fact that I can't contact them makes me want to spend $250 more and get the phone from Best Buy and have a storefront that I can go to with problems.

 

[Peter Burtch]

Hi David,

Personally, being a Cingular customer for quite a long time, I would advise you to order directly if possible instead of dealing with an intermediary like Best Buy or another third party web reseller. You have the opportunity to get better service this way, and not have to deal with the 'rebate hell' from other places. If your heart's not set on the x220 check out the free phones you can get via the web site. It doesn't sound like your spouse needs more than just a basic phone. The v220 isn't a bad phone and will even work in Europe (900MHz), although it's not a quad-band. Anyway, all three of the following are free if you order via the Cingular web site. The rebates are instant. Very painless IME, especially since you & the wife aren't porting numbers from another wireless provider.

http://www.cingular.com/free_flip_phones/Jan/31_03

hope that helps.

-Pedro

 

[Peter Burtch]

David-

Although I'm going against what I just posted, I happened to notice amazon.com has some good deals listed on most of the cingular phones. Some actually _give money back_ after 3-6 mos. of service. Check it out-

http://www.buy.com/retail/store.asp?loc=18106

 

[McPaul]

The problem with the V551 was that the screen wouldn't know it was flipped close, and would stay on when closed shut, thus killing the battery.

I've got the 3120 like Alf, but it's on Rogers, so I wouldn't be able to say anything about US carriers.

I'd love to get a SonyEricsson K700i or S710a but afaik, neither does 850, and I want that MAD SEEG that Rogers 850 provides. (hofo term, nm)

I'd advise you to pick a carrier first. Then pick a phone.

I'd personally stay away from Motorola, although I haven't heard many bad things about the MPX220, and stick with SE and Nokia.

Most importantly, do NOT get a RAZR, for reasons noted above.

 

[Dennis*G]

OK, just an update on our V551.

Basically the phone is great when we have 3 or more bars. Went downtown the other day and got the full 5 bars and the thing was crisp sounding and flawless. Unfortunatly, where we use it most we maybe get 1-2 bars, not sure thats the phones fault but crappy GSM coverage in our area.

Battery life has been pretty good with ours. About 5 days between charges, most of that time in standby.

 

[Peter Burtch]

LOL

 

[Elinor]

>"Battery life has been pretty good with ours. About 5 days between charges, most of that time in standby"

Honey, 5 days mostly in standby SUCKS. IMHO.

 

[Peter Burtch]

Interesting. AFAIK that time frame sounds pretty typical for a Lithium-Ion battery in a new GSM phone. Mind you, these aren't huge power cells either. And the devices suck more power since they generaly can do more (color screens/MP3/etc.) than the older phones did w/ mostly Ni-Cd or Ni-MH batteries.

Question: why would 5-days necessarily be considered 'bad' for someone who doesn't use their phone much and mostly keeps it on to receive the odd call(?)

Granted, my old Nokia TDMA phones lasted longer than my current GSM & GAIT handsets. Even though it would hang at the lowest visible level, you could still receive and make a call for at least a few hours or so.

-Pedro

 

[Elinor]

Peter, I haven't switched to GSM yet. I'm still using my Nokia TDMA phone.

If GSM is digital I can't imagine, though, why it would consume more power. Obviously the other built-in gadgets (most especially a color LCD) are going to be battery suckers.

I'm used to getting at least a week on standby ... sometimes up to 9 days. I'd be irritated with a 5-day recharge cycle.

 

[Dennis*G]

Well, don't ever by a GSM phone then, or at least like ours with color screen, external screen (non-color) camera phone, mp3 ringtone.

And the 5 days is MOSTLY standby time, there are the odd phone calls made. True stand-by time would probably be 7 days or so...