No, you are just used to the assortment of phone in the US.

Generally speaking they are 4-8 months behind Europe, especially when it comes to the assortment the operator offers.

That's not retro. I'm still using a Nextel i2000. That's retro.

I know, I was partially kidding. I follow phonescoop and HoFo about as much as FT. I was thinking about the phones and decided I wanted a series 60 rather than a EDGE for instance since I wouldnt be able to use the EDGE feature and the series 60 EDGE wouldnt be out for a short time and I really NEEDED to get a new phone. Love the 6600. Now if the V710 would come out so I can upgrade my Verizon phone as well.

Buster,
I live in SoCal (South Bay) and travel all over the US, Europe, and Asia. I used T-Mo for 3 years, and recently switched to the new AT&T GSM America plan with a quad-band v600. This combination really suits me well, and I have yet to drop below 4 bars of RF reception in my travels. I believe this is both because AT&T GSM service is improving (at least in the major markets) and the fact that I'm using a quad-band phone which can access more towers of more carriers.

I was very sceptical moving from T-Mo to AT&T, but I'm glad I did!! T-Mo was a real PAIN for me, and I hardly got any RF with the t68i (and later t610) I had.

Spent $30.00 unlocking the v600, and since it's quad band it works everywhere in the world I've been, with a local SIM card. All the best!

T68 is pretty well known to be one of the worst performing phones in terms of RF frequency that has been made in recent years. I doubt the 610 is much better. You basically went from crappy RF phones to a decent RF phone and that probably accounts for all or most of the difference you see. Good that it is working better for you though.

I've been an AT&T customer for years, and switched over to their GSM plan two years ago. I've been all over the world with no problems (except Russia, but that was my fault for not finding out the proper international codes before I went.) I've never had a problem with AT&T's customer service either. I hope I can say the same after they've been totally absorbed by Cingular.

The reason I chose t68t610 was:
1. World phone with world adapter included
2. EXCEPTIONAL battery life (still the best in the business!)
3. Bluetooth (no cheap phone had bluetooth back then, and so incredibly well-implemented)
4. Lightweight
5. Last but definitely NOT the least - free thru Amazon!

By the way, though I knew from ratings, reviews, and forums that the RF signal was not the best in the business, I never had any RF problems in Europe, Asia, or Australia. I always got full/near full RF strength. The US however was a different story. I still carry the little thing with me as a backup phone.

Also, my v600 on AT&T GSM gives me as much or more RF than my wife's v60 on Verizon (arguably one of the best ever cellphone/service combo in the US!). That's saying a lot, considering the fact that 2 years ago we hardly had GSM coverage!

I bought the crappy SE T68i the first moment it was offered and I unloaded it 3 months later on Ebay. That thing was a total piece of garbage especially when I was traveling around Asia. People would be talking on their mobiles next to me on a street corner in BKK and that lousy SE T68i would not be able to find a network eve with a local sim in it. Once I bought the S55 I never had a problem. I also use the Nokia 6600 and I have yet to have a problem SE just plain sucks in the RF department. I stick with Siemens and Nokia because They are consistently reliable.

A mobile with all the bells and whistles but can't provide the simple function of making and recieving calls is a piece of junk.

You could probably get a good GSM signal in most of Europe with a stick.

I have a good friend with ATT and when I travel with him it is clear that he gets lousy service. It does vary by area and Im glad you find that the V600 works. However, I must say that nationwide no one can even touch Verizon for coverage, not even close. And what is on the signal bar doesnt mean much. Companies set that different on different phones. Verizon is just really above competition in the US. They have other problems (mainly cost and international roaming), but not coverage.

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I actually assemble my own PC's using components from manufacturers that I know make quality components and have decent customer support because I hate buying white boxes of unknown components from the likes of Dell and gateway.

I liken the mobile phone thing to buying a car. I don;t care how much Hyundai has supposedley improved I will continue to buy German or Japanese models. I can even liken it to air travel; My one and only flight on Southwest 6 years ago was so horrible I have never flown them again even when they were the lowest priced and most convenient carrier to my destination.

Now when u are spending $300-500 for an unsubsized mobile phone yopu have certain expectations for the product and one of them is the ability to make and receive quality calls(network issues aside). When they fail in that regard your not going to be a happy camper.

Once u had a bad experience you don't contemplate revisiting the product.

Novice here, can someone please explain what "unlocking" phones and "subsidy codes" mean?
I saw street vendor in London advertising "unlocking phones" for a small fee. Didn't know what that meant.

Virtually all phones, when bought from a mobile service provider with a contract, are sold at a subsidized price. As a result they have a service lock so you cannot use SIM cards from other providers. The disadvantage of this to the consumer is that they cannot, for instance, use prepaid SIMs in a foreign country and rather have to pay the higher international roaming rates of their service provider. Different providers have different policies on unlocking ranging from never unlocking to unlocking for free for customers who fit some definition of a good customer (time of service, average monthly bill, etc). In England I believe that all companies are required to provide the unlock code for a "reasonable" fee. A few years ago Vodafone UK provided codes to unlocked my Pay as You Go phone for 30 quid. Dont know what they charge now. You can also pay third parties to do it, which was what you were seeing for sale.

I as talking with a friend who just purchaed a V600 for full retail from AT&T as he hated the phone that he purchased with his plan.

The phone came unlocked contrary to what the sales person told him. I am starting to wonder if some of AT&T's phones are locked and some are not. Maybe they have two sets of phones those sold at the promo rate and those sold at full retail, could this be?

Dan

The 3 main reasons why I have been with Sprint for eight years now:

1) I travel alot and they have always had the largest coverage area throughout my routes.

2) I get a nice discount.

3) They have the best phone selection.

My only beef is that their customer service is lacking, but the rest are not much better.