Travel Technology - PLEASE help - I need a new phone!

As noted in my thread about the T610 the RF is useless - I now seek a new option.

My list of issues!

1) Tri band GSM

2) Bluetooth

3) Reasonable sized

4) FANTASTIC RF

5) Installed car kit available

6) Good assortment of accessoires

7) USB charger cable available

I KNOW - this is tough - the 610 is PERFECT if it worked!!

Check out http://www.nokiausa.com/phones/3650#phone_features

And please report back with what you find. I may be in the market for a similar phone soon.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by B Watson:
As noted in my thread about the T610 the RF is useless - I now seek a new option.

My list of issues!

1) Tri band GSM

2) Bluetooth

3) Reasonable sized

4) FANTASTIC RF

5) Installed car kit available

6) Good assortment of accessoires

7) USB charger cable available

I KNOW - this is tough - the 610 is PERFECT if it worked!! </font>

Soubds like you are in the market for a Treo 600. The nokia 3650 is a joke, it has a circus keyboard and is massive. If you are looking for a smartphone then get an SPV E200.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by stimpy:
Check out http://www.nokiausa.com/phones/3650#phone_features

And please report back with what you find. I may be in the market for a similar phone soon.</font>

Ah yes - Godzillaphone - does it count as a carry-on or personal item? http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/wink.gif

This is a great and timely thread. I'm looking to get a bluetooth enabled replacement for my Moto 7389, which is fine otherwise.

Maybe we should all wait for

http://commerce.motorola.com/consumer/QWhtml/v600.html

Sadly the Treo doesn't do Bluetooth internally. I know there's an SDIO card available but am not sure if it'd work with a headset. IMO the Nokia 6820 (http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,,47814,00.html) might just fill the bill. It's a great size (much smaller than the 6800), has a car kit (http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,,4916,00.html) available for it, loads of accessories (Nokias always do) and there's a USB charger cable available.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by stimpy:
Check out http://www.nokiausa.com/phones/3650#phone_features

And please report back with what you find. I may be in the market for a similar phone soon.</font>

Stimpy, frankly the thing is as big as a HOUSE. Huge, ungainly, hard to dial... I gave one to my uncle and for some reason he loves the thing. If you don't need the bluetooth, jump on the Treo 600. It's faster, has more functionality, is quadband, has a full keyboard and also doubles as a Palm. The camera sucks but oh well.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by kanebear:
Sadly the Treo doesn't do Bluetooth internally. I know there's an SDIO card available but am not sure if it'd work with a headset. IMO the Nokia 6820 (http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,,47814,00.html) might just fill the bill. It's a great size (much smaller than the 6800), has a car kit (http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,,4916,00.html) available for it, loads of accessories (Nokias always do) and there's a USB charger cable available. </font>

It is a viable fall back position for me, the problem is that I am looking for a real car kit that connects to an external antenna - this did not seem to be that kind. I office area is fine, but my home area is VERY fringe so I need help.

BWatson.. I have a Nokia 6600. It's based on the same platform the 3650 is with a newer version of the OS, smaller form factor and close to normal keypad.

I also have a Bluetooth car kit on my US car and it works fine between that and the phone.

http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,,33210,00.html

The CARK-126 (http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,8764,47833,00.html) offers an external antenna connection, as does the AXF-15S (also on that page).


Forgot about the 6600, that might work well too! Just checked the accessories page, the 6600 doesn't list any of the external antenna accessories that the 6820 has. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/frown.gif Barton, you might see if the Nokia RF is good enough without the external antenna. Things may not be that marginal at your home, it may just be that the phone is THAT bad!

I have this situation at home, coverage is awful here for T-mobile. The Panasonic GD-50 goes no service in the kitchen whereas the Treo shows 1-2 bars. I'll check out the 6820 and edit to let you know. FWIW the T610 had trouble even on the second floor!

We seem to be making progress here!!

NOW - any hope that there is a Nokia option that does not have all of the messaging keyboard stuff? That just adds bulk for no reason.

[This message has been edited by B Watson (edited Dec 25, 2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by NickP 1K:
[B]BWatson.. I have a Nokia 6600. It's based on the same platform the 3650 is with a newer version of the OS, smaller form factor and close to normal keypad.

I also have a Blue tooth car kit on my US car and it works fine between that and the phone.
</font>

This looks GREAT - I am just a bit worried about the lack of a full installed car kit - it is my understanding that the bluetooth one does not have an external antenna - is that correct? Basically, what I seek is a formal professionally installed car kit.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by B Watson:
As noted in my thread about the T610 the RF is useless - I now seek a new option.

My list of issues!

1) Tri band GSM

2) Bluetooth

3) Reasonable sized

4) FANTASTIC RF

5) Installed car kit available

6) Good assortment of accessoires

7) USB charger cable available

I KNOW - this is tough - the 610 is PERFECT if it worked!! </font>


The 610 is pretty well known for this. There is really only one option in my opinion from doing a fair amount of research on this. It is the Nokia 6310i. It is considered by many as the benchmark for RF and audio quality among triband GSM phones. It has BT and infrared. The battery life is stellar. I am using one to make this post with a G4 Powerbook and a BT connection between the phone and the computer. The phone has a GPRS connection. I have carried this phone for about 6 months. It has really excellent RF and sound quality. If you look at some of the cell phone forums you will find a large group of people who agree. The 3650 is also great for RF but just looks goofy. The 6310i is very business-like in appearance. I suspect it has substantially better RF than some of the newer Nokias such as the 6600 (other than the 3650).

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by B Watson:
This looks GREAT - I am just a bit worried about the lack of a full installed car kit - it is my understanding that the bluetooth one does not have an external antenna - is that correct? Basically, what I seek is a formal professionally installed car kit.

</font>

You'll be wanting the 6230 (http://www.nokia.com.hk/nokia/0,,49459,00.html) then. No keyboard but all the important features of the 6820. Alternatively, there's the Siemens SX1 (http://www.my-siemens.com/MySiemens/CDA/Index/1,1652,HQ_en_0_product%253AMW%252FHD%252FHD%252FSX 1M%252Facc%252F,00.html) which has a carkit with antenna available. This one is brand new on the market and we've just gotten one in to play with so no idea on the RF but Siemens hasn't been nearly as dire as Nokia in this area. Aside from that I'm really not sure WHAT to recommend. The Siemens S55 is middle-of-the-road on RF, has a great size, good audio, but the screen is on a par with the Ericsson T68i and I hate the user interface even more than the T68. Siemens offers a SERIOUS car kit for it though, with full voice control, external antenna, the works.



[This message has been edited by kanebear (edited Dec 25, 2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by kanebear:
The Siemens S55 is middle-of-the-road on RF, has a great size, good audio, but the screen is on a par with the Ericsson T68i and I hate the user interface even more than the T68. Siemens offers a SERIOUS car kit for it though, with full voice control, external antenna, the works.
</font>

The S55 also has possibly the nastiest keypad that I've ever used on a phone ... definitely one to try before you buy, I'd say. I gave mine to a friend who is a bit of a text fanatic and whose old phone died: either tastes in keypads vary and she's perfectly happy with it, or she's just too polite to tell me how much it sucks :-)

The Motorola V600 looks like a great phone, but antennas sticking out is so 1900ish http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/wink.gif

The Sony Ericsson Z600 is finally starting to show up in stock here in Sweden (should have been november but something delayed it). Seems like a great phone with all the features one would need. And the display itself is told to be one of the best ever in a mobile phone http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif
I´m gonna pick one up in januari!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by B Watson:
As noted in my thread about the T610 the RF is useless - I now seek a new option.

My list of issues!

1) Tri band GSM

2) Bluetooth

3) Reasonable sized

4) FANTASTIC RF

5) Installed car kit available

6) Good assortment of accessoires

7) USB charger cable available

I KNOW - this is tough - the 610 is PERFECT if it worked!! </font>

I have a Nokia 6100. It meets almost all of your requirements. It is very, very small, has a true car kit, but unfortunately does not have Bluetooth.

Not sure how the relative RF is, but it seems to work well for me.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Always Flyin:
I have a Nokia 6100. It meets almost all of your requirements. It is very, very small, has a true car kit, but unfortunately does not have Bluetooth.
</font>

I also have a Nokia 6100 - it is a very small phone, does have reasonably good RF, but it's not really got the full feature set of the latest SE or Motorola phones I don't think.

Bluetooth is a big missing point, but also it doesn't have email on the handset, or the ability to attach pictures to contacts etc. (that I could see).

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by GadgetFreak:

The 610 is pretty well known for this. There is really only one option in my opinion from doing a fair amount of research on this. It is the Nokia 6310i. It is considered by many as the benchmark for RF and audio quality among triband GSM phones. It has BT and infrared. The battery life is stellar. I am using one to make this post with a G4 Powerbook and a BT connection between the phone and the computer. The phone has a GPRS connection. I have carried this phone for about 6 months. It has really excellent RF and sound quality. If you look at some of the cell phone forums you will find a large group of people who agree. The 3650 is also great for RF but just looks goofy. The 6310i is very business-like in appearance. I suspect it has substantially better RF than some of the newer Nokias such as the 6600 (other than the 3650). </font>


Yanno, I COMPLETELY forgot about the 6310i. That is a great phone! Lots of accessories, bluetooth, carkit, usb charger, killer battery life, great size...

BWatson, the 6600 uses the phones antenna. No Bluetooth kit today has a provison for external antenna UNLESS you have a cradle an the antenna connector exposed (anyone seen one?)

The 6310 is a good choice but it's on it's last legs as far as Nokia is concerned.

A platform replacement is now LATE for this (was TBD: Late Q4) Rumor has it the platform for this was going to be Symbian Series 60 with WCDMA support as well (within the platform, not all the devices) however since Nokia is now focusing on Series 90 for Symbian this device looks to be getting revamped with a complete new spec.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by NickP 1K:
BWatson, the 6600 uses the phones antenna. No Bluetooth kit today has a provison for external antenna UNLESS you have a cradle an the antenna connector exposed (anyone seen one?)

The 6310 is a good choice but it's on it's last legs as far as Nokia is concerned.

A platform replacement is now LATE for this (was TBD: Late Q4) Rumor has it the platform for this was going to be Symbian Series 60 with WCDMA support as well (within the platform, not all the devices) however since Nokia is now focusing on Series 90 for Symbian this device looks to be getting revamped with a complete new spec.</font>


They have announced an apparent replacement and it will be available first quarter of next year. However, it has a lot of stuff I wouldnt want (like an MP3 player and movie camera) that take up space and battery life. Interestingly, the 6310i has gone up in price in the last 8 months or so. Im not sure it being on its last legs is relevent, although true. It still hasnt been beat for RF on a BT capable phone, except possibly by the 3650 which just doesnt cut it for me.

UPDATE : Barton, I think you can safely buy the T630 and not worry about finding something else. I spent a few minutes with one today in a low signal area and it did at least as well as my Treo 600. I'll have a firm answer on Monday as to it's RF capabilities (AT&T has ONE cellsite in the city and we're on the absolute fringe of reception for it at ~12 miles away... great opportunity to see how any phone does in extreme conditions) but my preliminary answer is that the T630 is better than the T610.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by kanebear:
UPDATE : Barton, I think you can safely buy the T630 and not worry about finding something else. I spent a few minutes with one today in a low signal area and it did at least as well as my Treo 600. I'll have a firm answer on Monday as to it's RF capabilities (AT&T has ONE cellsite in the city and we're on the absolute fringe of reception for it at ~12 miles away... great opportunity to see how any phone does in extreme conditions) but my preliminary answer is that the T630 is better than the T610. </font>


This would be a real relief since I do like the form factor so much

Any idea when I can buy a 630 other than in China

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by B Watson:

This would be a real relief since I do like the form factor so much

Any idea when I can buy a 630 other than in China</font>

It should be freely available in most HKG cell stores by now. Otherwise, try these people:

http://allglobaltk.com/product_info.php/products_id/101

But I'm sure Kanebear has a decent source as well.

Not to seem too cynical, but....
Ive been reading on cell phone forums that the SE(Fill in the Number) is better than the SE( previous model) for quite a while. Even with the T68 it was that a given version of the firmware had better RF than the previous version. Then it was the T610 or T616 was better, etc. Nonetheless, from my reading the consensus is that they just dont have good RF. Lots of features, nice look, poor performance. I like the way they look too and would be interested in getting one, but not until I was convinced by substantial experience and reviews from a lot of sources.

[This message has been edited by GadgetFreak (edited Dec 28, 2003).]

I use HTTP://www.4cellular.com . If you want to get one there, let me know and I'll contact them to make sure you're treated properly. I've never had an issue returning a phone to them if I wasn't happy with it (obviously it had to be in original condition); I can ensure they extend you the same courtesy.

And GadgetFreak, I don't think you're being too cynical at all. SE have had some pretty big clunkers out there... but the T610 does indeed suck (a bit) less than the T68 with regards to RF. SE CAN do a phone with decent RF... the T39 was the last one I recall. I can't test multiple samples of the T630 (I can with the T610/616) but this will at least give some preliminary insight into the phone's abilities.

[This message has been edited by kanebear (edited Dec 28, 2003).]

This has been a great thread. One feature I really like is the ability to synch the address book with Lotus Notes.

Is this possible with the T6x0 phones?

doglover

UPDATE : The T630 is a definite improvement over the T61X and was the equal of my Treo 600. In places where the T630 faltered, the T610 was breaking up badly or had no audio. None of the phones ever dropped the call but at one point or another the signal level on all of them got to where audio dropouts and garbling was exhibited. The T61x (note, I noticed no difference between the 610 and the 616) just got bad much earlier. In areas where the 630 and the Treo were perfect, the 61x exhibited warbling. Where the T630/Treo were starting to warble a bit, the T61x was already dropping bits of the conversation. At the point where the Treo/T630 were starting to drop out, the T61x conversation was totally unreadable and badly broken up with lots of twanging, hissing, muting and garbling. I don't know if the T630 is good ENOUGH and perhaps I just have a really 'hot' example but assuming mine is representative I think you'll see enough improvement from the T630 to make it viable.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by NickW:
The S55 also has possibly the nastiest keypad that I've ever used on a phone ... definitely one to try before you buy, I'd say. I gave mine to a friend who is a bit of a text fanatic and whose old phone died: either tastes in keypads vary and she's perfectly happy with it, or she's just too polite to tell me how much it sucks :-)</font>

With the S55 you either love or hate the keypad. I have used the phone all over the world and predominatly in Asia and the US. I don't text much(rather call) so the keypad is not an issue for me. I love the size,BT,and all the other features(especially the handsfree speakerphone function). I have had mine for over a year now and I am still surprised that the prices are very strong for the phone. Great business phone.

Motoraola also has a new lineup of phones coming out with all the bells and whistles and I have heard nothing but good reviews for their current smartphone the MPX200

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jwalkabout:
Motoraola also has a new lineup of phones coming out with all the bells and whistles and I have heard nothing but good reviews for their current smartphone the MPX200</font>

Ugh, 'nuff said.

The bluetooth car adapter sounded interesting. Tell us more!

I'd rather have a car kit that will allow hands-free and work with my next phone since I tend to keep cars a long time.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by kanebear:
UPDATE : The T630 is a definite improvement over the T61X and was the equal of my Treo 600. In places where the T630 faltered, the T610 was breaking up badly or had no audio. None of the phones ever dropped the call but at one point or another the signal level on all of them got to where audio dropouts and garbling was exhibited. The T61x (note, I noticed no difference between the 610 and the 616) just got bad much earlier. In areas where the 630 and the Treo were perfect, the 61x exhibited warbling. Where the T630/Treo were starting to warble a bit, the T61x was already dropping bits of the conversation. At the point where the Treo/T630 were starting to drop out, the T61x conversation was totally unreadable and badly broken up with lots of twanging, hissing, muting and garbling. I don't know if the T630 is good ENOUGH and perhaps I just have a really 'hot' example but assuming mine is representative I think you'll see enough improvement from the T630 to make it viable.</font>

This is the BIG news!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jwalkabout:
Motoraola also has a new lineup of phones coming out with all the bells and whistles and I have heard nothing but good reviews for their current smartphone the MPX200</font>

The MPx200 sucks, and the only reason it's getting such rave reviews is because it's the first Microsoft smartphone the US reviewers have seen. Europe has smartphones with integrated cameras and Bluetooth, all lacking on the current Motorola products. Besides that, the smartphone platform is slow, unreliable and too cumbersome to operate, don't get me wrong, it's fun to play with but for the demanding world of cellphones it's not even close to the likes of Siemens, Nokia and SonyEricsson.

Any opinion updates on the T630 as far as reception and usability?
Rich

Usability: interface identical apart from minor details; screen much better outdoors.

Reception: improved to good level.

I know I'm the TT dinosaur from Australia around here, but the 6310 is still the best thing going. Mine is now 2 years old, and it's been very well used, dropped, soaked, etc etc. It refuses to die, and still works beautifully with all the accessories and my notebook.

Utterly reliable and dependable.

Importantly, the car kit performance is very good - and you can actually use the keypad and read the screen while in the car.

I spoke with one of the major corporate dealers here, and 70% of the corporate handsets are 6310i.

You can get "new" unlocked 6310i phones at www.ebay.co.uk (http://www.ebay.co.uk) for reasonable money - well over A$500 here.

I've tried most of the new Nokias - they're all rubbish.