Hand

I highly reccomend the Motorola v188 - no camera, Quad band GSM, great talk time, speakerphone and dirt cheap. With a USB cable I believe it can be used as a modem as well but have never tried it.

copwriter

Check out the LG PM-325 being offered by Sprint on their web site for $40 with a service plan. It's getting great eviews on the SprintUsers.com forum. I just bought one for my wife. Small, light, and Bluetooth-capable. The only gadget add-on is a camera.

The Winger

I am a phone geek and usually go through 2-3 phones a year, until I got the Nokia 6230B last August. This is the best phone I have ever used, the RF is amazing. I have never dropped a call using this phone.

I use it all over NA and Europe. It is very simple looking but has features mentioned by others here such as Bluetooth for internet connectivity and a decent camera. They can be found unlocked for very reasonable prices.

I used to get ribbed all of the time for continually having a new phone, now I am getting it for having this phone for almost a full year!

kanebear

My current Luddite-fone is the Nokia 6340i. Note that it doesn't have bluetooth or GPRS or anything like that. What it does is have exceptional battery life, durability and voice quality. It's what you want. It's the same formfactor as the 6310i but not built quite as well. It uses different batteries. The ace up it's sleeve though is that it's not only dual band 850/1900 (won't work abroad, though) but tri-mode. Yes, this was the first, last and about only gasp of GAIT technology when Cingular was switching to GSM.

Thus, it does GSM, TDMA (older digital tech, wider coverage) and ANALOG! There're very few to no places in the US this thing won't work. As you're on Cingular, just buy one off Ebay, slip your current SIM into it, call Cingular up and tell 'em you want to activate GAIT. You'll need to give them the ESN which is on the back of the phone inside the battery compartment.

If you REALLY want to be a luddite, you'll have to switch to T-mobile and buy yourself a Nokia 2190. Yes, it's 1900 only, so it'll work only on T-mo. Yes, it DOES work. Yes I have one. No, I won't give it up. Make sure the one you buy is unlocked, most were locked to various carriers.

kanebear

AAAAAAAAAARGH! That's the LAST time I post without looking at the date of the previous post. Duh.

cblaisd

kanebear, you have a PM

dannyr

I know exactly what you want, however not sure of it's availability. Vodafone in Australia have realised that people don't want gimmicky handsets and have released Vodafone Simply.

There's two phones, the Sagem VS1 and the Sagem VS2 and they're so basic that all they do is make calls, recieve calls, send sms and make sms.

I'm not sure if you can buy these handsets in the US, but I believe they're available in most Vodafone markets. Both are 1900MHz GSM compatible so will work in the US.

cblaisd

kanebear,

I am very intrigued by this suggestion.....

I am currently on a ATT-now-Cingular account (my plan is a nationwide $39.00 family plan -- which seems to be no longer offered on Cingular's website)

So, I can't find details of this plan, but Cingular's current family plan GSM offering says "Customer must (1) use a Cingular GSM dual-band handset programmed with Cingular Wireless' preferred roaming database;"

I am not only luddite but cell phone illiterate.

So.....

1) Could I simply buy an unlocked 6340i and drop in my current sim and I'd be good to go?

2) Would this phone meet whatever restriction that I quoted?

3) If I were somewhere where there wasn't Cingular GSM signal but there was (is there any still such ??) Cingular TDMA signal, would that still be included in my minutes-bucket? (Or would that be considered extra-cost roaming?)

I'm sure I'll have other questions, if this looks possible. TIA

cblaisd

Kind of interesting that the price for these on eBay shot up in the last two days over the previous month.

cblaisd

Yes it is what I want.

I snagged one on eBay.

I am happy.

Thank you!

kanebear

SWEET! And, since it's GSM, you can Luddite away with it for the next decade or so.

Viking547

You shouldn't have a problem using it. There are certain carriers (i.e. Nextel) who push signals to the phone and receive back programming codes that send your type of handset (model number) which then determines which feature sets and such your phone has--so it can properly transcode MMS messages and such...I don't believe Cingular does that.

Just make sure you put in the right SMSC (SMS Service Center) number in your messaging options if you decide to use it. Other than that, if the handset is unlocked, you should be golden.

Let us know how it goes ^

cblaisd

It's working great!

Uh, can you translate that? I do get SMS messages fine on the phone; haven't tried sending one.

Tomorrow I am going to go to the Cingular store and see if anyone there has a clue about getting an Cingular SIM and getting the GAIT feature turned on.

Deep breath....

cblaisd

Have I mentioned how very, very, very, very much I hate dealing with Cingular?

Very.

First, let's review what we've been told: "ATT Wireless is now Cingular!" "You'll notice no change in your wirless service." "The changeover will be 'seamless' to former ATT Wireless customers."

Sounds good.

I went to the Cingular store (company-owned, btw) today. My request: I need a Cingular SIM to replace the ATT one so that I could have them turn on the GAIT feature of the phone. Easy, huh?

No.

First, "our computers are down so we won't be able to do anything in-store today."

Second, "if you get a new SIM, then you'll have to get a new contract with at least a one year extension because we aren't allowing former ATT customers ["seamless," remember?] to simply put a new Cingular SIM in their phones."

"But I'll give you a SIM, you can take it home, and call Cingular and do this over the phone, since our computers are down."

"Uh-oh, you're on a family plan. If you change your phone then your wife's and daughter's will stop working. They will all have to be put on a new >1 year contract too. No, we don't offer the current plan you're on, you'll have to change."

"You'll need to bring in their phones, if you decide to switch to a Cingular contract, so they can be 're-programmed.'"

By now I'm steaming. Remember "seamless" and "you won't notice any change" (except, apparently, being extorted into a new contract)?

My final question to her: "Is my current contract over with?" "We don't know, our computers are down."

I might go through the hassle of switching phone companies but reading reports on the cell phone discussion boards it sounds as if all of them are simply abysmal at customer "service."

If only Dante had had cell phone and cable tv providers.....

I'd pay good money at this point for a "cell phone agent" (something like a real estate agent) who could navigate all this %$&#&.

sf4dfish

I agree that dealing with Cingular agents is a pain! I also am an ATT customer. Cingular have been trying to get me to switch over to a Cingular SIM chip, but I would loose my current contract, which is no longer offered. I have been using an UNLOCKED Nokia 6310I for years and I love this "PHONE". I have an extended life battery and when I travel, the battery lasts for my usual five day trips.