Random cellphone babbling thread #1

Remove all ads!

Soft resets... welcome to the wonderful world of Winblows Mobile.

If I were to get a touch phone, you can be damn sure I'd be waiting for the Blackberry Storm. When it comes down to Winblows Mobile or Blackberry OS, the choice is pretty straightforward -- at least to me. Then again, I own two Crackberries so maybe I'm biaised.

 

Thanks Montresor, I thought it was just me. But as long as there's at least two of us then there's nothing wrong with us. Maybe we should start a group for people who use their mobile phones only as phones

 

Well, a few years ago, around the time when I got my first phone, that POS Mitsubishi G310, it made/received calls, and then that was good enough for me. Then, got my first color screen phone, say what you want, but a color screen looks exponentially better than a plain monochrome LCD. Then, first cameraphone, decent enough, but I wanted something better. Second camera phone, 2MP, and with a full-blown MP3 player, and of course expandable memory. Against my own expectations, having the boatload of features grew on me. I tried my old CrackBerry 7290, but it's only good point is a full QWERTY keyboard, I snapped and got a RAZR, which I used for a while before ditching it and witnessing the rebirth of my Blackberry 7290 from it's ashes.

At first all the functions looked like gadgets to show off, with no other real utility. One gets used to taking pics and videos on the go, or even ditch the MP3 player and carry only one device.

 

Indeed, for example, a smartphone can replace a spearate MP3 player, PDA device and a GPS navigator. In some cases maybe even a camera and a handheld gaming device as well. So, yes, I will keep my smartphone instead of carrying n+1 other devices with me.

BTW, Nokia just released their new touchscreen phone (5800). Should be available later this year.

 

I'm not a fan of touch phones, but I admit I am curious about the 5800. Another phone who piqued my curiosity is the BlackBerry Storm, RIM's first touch Crackberry. The two big CDMA carriers are waging war for the exclusivity of the Storm... let's see who comes on top.

---------- Added 16 hours, 1 minutes and 31 seconds later... ----------

Wow. I had not used GSM in YEARS, and I've recently made the switch to GSM, and the DIFFERENCE in quality VS CDMA is absolutely brutal. Sound quality is inferior, and CDMA soldiers on in areas where GSM gets zero service.

That being said, there's at least *one* good thing about a GSM phone... they're as not as crippled/limited as their CDMA counterpart. Transfering tones/wallpapers to my RAZR and setting them up is as easy as a plain ol' USB cable with Motorola Phone Tools. No DRM, no BS, the tones WORKED right out of the box. Current tone is the intro of Megadeth's "Gears of War" - love that KILLER intro.

Oh yeah, pics don't look as bad as I expected them to. Sure, it's cellphone quality, and relatively crappy resolution versus my now-defunct 6275i, but it's adequate. I'll post a few pics taken with the RAZR, just to show how they look like.

 

Wow, a smartphone for emergency use? Talk about overkill, Tal. I'm afraid I can't help you much on that one. One thing I can tell you is that I personally don't like GSM Samsungs... even reflashed with proper firmware, my T809 is still a crappy phone.

Expect Kit to display his fanboyism and vote for GSM Samsung phones pretty soon... as for me, I wouldn't touch GSM Samsungs with a 100 foot pole.

 

Tal, I think this is a known issue for your old Nokia, and a problem I believe was fixed by a firmware upgrade. Nevertheless, GSM Nokias are some -- if not -- the best GSM phones out there, period. Sure, my CrackBerry worked great as a phone (I say worked because I can't even use it anymore - new SIM vs old phone), and the RAZR holds it's own pretty well, to my own shocking surprise.

But back to the subject, get prepared to occasionally pull out the battery and restart the phone... WinMo phones like to crash. I wonder why...?

 

Field test: Telus Mike i530

Yep, iDEN part two.

Modes: iDEN 800

Battery life: Like my old i315, the i530 barely makes it to three days with a single charge. iDEN phones have ridiculous battery life, but the pros of iDEN outweigh the cons, IMO.

Signal: Simply put - the i530 has stellar RF. I was able to make calls even in the deepest of dead zones where other phones fail with the i530. And to my own delight, Direct Connect works just as quick with a weak signal VS a strong signal.

Sound quality: One of TDMA's strongest points was it's great sound quality. Being a TDMA-based protocol, iDEN retains the TDMA trait of a very smooth sound quality. Calls on the i530 sounded natural, though the phone picks up more background noise when the speakerphone (who sounds clear and crisp on both ends) isn't active.

Form factor: Clamshell

Phone and keyboard feel: The i530 meets military requirements for shock, dust and vibration. It also is encased in a tough rubber shell. In short, this means the phone is bulky and it's definitively NOT the kind of phone that you can carry in a pocket. The i530 is very easy to open with one hand. As for the keyboard itself, with the i530 in hand, I don't need to do any crazy gymnastics to reach any of the buttons, and that's something I definitively like.

Screen: The i530 has a rather small, no-nonsense B&W LCD. It's not pretty, but it works, it's easy to read in sunlight... and it's a work phone, not a fancy piece of bling.

Camera: Are you kidding me? We're talking about a work phone.

Final score: 9.5/10. The i530 is a solid replacement for my i315, and the fact it's a clamshell is icing on the cake.

And as for those of you who wonder why in the nine hells I wanted an iDEN phone... no LD charges on DC anywhere in Canada and the US. I can DC with anyone of my friends in a different province or in the US using my regular airtime (unlimited after 7, BTW) for no damn charge. Then there's the fact the i530 is one indestructible mofo, so I really could care less if it gets roughed up... I know it will be no worst for wear no matter how much punishment it takes. Tried, tested and true, it's taken a LOT of bumps so far and is none the worst for wear.. just some minor physical scuffs on the thick rubber coating. The torture I put it through includes getting thrown on concrete, stepping on it with my Rangers on, dropping it from the balcony... good times.

 

Hey DotW, I was browsing my company's website, looking for fee stuff I want, and I came upon this .pdf... the interesting stuff starts on page #27. Thought you might be interested since it shows a cell phone in a block diagram. (everything in red is a chip we make).

 

Interesting stuff, Kit. I should really get around learning electronics.

I've ordered another iDEN phone, this time a i560, the i530's successor,which is pretty much the same but with thinner rubber, external caller ID and a color scree.

Oh yeah, the unthinkable happened... I signed for a year with Telus for iDEN service. So far, so good - great reception, smooth sound quality, DC works great, and I can DC anywhere in North America with zero LD charges. I got a pretty good (for a Canadian plan, that is) deal, and since newer iDEN phones use a SIM, I can switch phones whenever I want to. Works for me.

Oh yeah... I managed to get a NEC phone running on a Nokia battery. I took a look at the phone's polarity, looked at the battery, turned it around, noticed the connector pins match those of the phone, took a close look at polarity, and with the battery installed this way, the polarity matches perfectly. The phone powers on and runs on this battery, as the other pics show.

Notice the small cardboard patch on the bottom of the pic - the battery is smaller than the phone, so without the cardboard patch, the connector pins don't fully contact with the battery poles, and the phone doesen't turn on. The cardboard's job is pressing the contacts against the poles.

After securing the battery with the cardboard, I snapped the battery cover back on, opened the phone and pressed on the power button, expecting nothing. Imagine how shocked I was when the phone powered on!!!!

 

Field test: NEC 232E

Never heard of NEC? Not surprised.

Modes: GSM 850/1800/1900. One unique thing about the NEC232 is the fact you can tell the phone which band(s) to give priority to. So if, for example, you are in Europe, set the phone to priorize 1800MHz, since Europe has neither 850 nor 1900. Sounds like a great idea at first, but stop for two seconds and think - other phones do that automatically. Yup, dumb.

Battery life: Since the phone runs on a Nokia BL-5B battery, I expected about the same lifespan as the Nokia the battery came from, which is about eight to nine days. It turned out to be a little less seeing as the NEC has a cam, flashlight, which drain power faster. Nontheless, seeing that a NEC phone isn't supposed to run on anything else than NEC batteries, it's pretty impressive.

Signal: The 232E holds a pretty good signal. It holds it's own surprisingly well against most of the other GSM phones in my collection... save for the almighty 6340i, which is the biggest signal magnet I've ever had the pleasure of owning/using. The fact it's a pre-production prototype is just a big slab of icing on the cake (the 6340i, that is)

Sound quality: This is a point I pinpointed as not being the phone's strongest point. After giving the phone a chance, it's FAR better than I originally judged it... though the earpiece volume could use being louder, I had no problems hearing or being heard.

Form factor: Clamshell.

Phone and keyboard feel: The 232E is adequatly sized, and fits nicely in the hand. Seeing as the 232 has a springed hinge, it's rather stiff, so while the 232 can be opened with one hand, it's not a pleasent exercise. As for the actual keyboard itself, the 232E ears the sad honor of being the first phone whose keyboard I absolutely hate. The keys are small and they're neither raised nor easy to feel to the touch. I very often made mistakes while typing phone number or texts, which, as you can all imagine, quickly grows frustrating. Oh yeah, the intenna in located at the bottom of the phone... so be careful where you hold the phone, because things get sticky when the antenna is covered in conversation mode.

Screen: 128*160, 65,535 colors TFT LCD. The screen resolution is good, but the colors are washed up. There is also a small 30*96 external monochrome LCD which displays the usual info - signal, messages, battery, time, date. While playing with the options, I discovered the color of the external LCD's backlighting can be changed - a big slab of icing on the cake. There's a good number of colors, but I stay in the green/dark blue/orange/red.

Camera: VGA, 0.3MP. Good to catch pics on the go... just don't expect much.

Data: My jaw is still on the ground thinking this phone has EDGE. No, I'm not kidding. The Net loaded faster than it does on my tired old RAZR stuck with archaic GPRS.

Final score: 8/10.

The bottom line: The 232 is a bag of mixed nuts. It offers a good experience for the casual caller and texter, but the laggyness of the firmware is maddening. A good effort... but not enough to earn a 9/10.

Random thoughts:

- Pretty decent signal.
- Fugly -- I mean, just look at it.
- Worst F'N keyboard EVER
- The lags range anything between a minor eye-roller and a good eight seconds while browing my gallery of pics.

 

Field test: Telus Mike i560

iDEN, part three.

I have to be honest -- the i530 was not my first choice. I had my eyes on the iDEN CrackBerry, which frankly, I came this close to buying. Anyway, a i560 popped up, so I bought it. Let's see how the i560 fares against it's older sibling the i530. (In short, the i560 was the i530's replacement)

Modes: iDEN 800

Battery life: The battery is *exactly* the same than my i530, so I've got a spare battery, which, considering iDEN's power consumption, is a very good thing. I managed to squeeze three days out of the battery, and the i560 is officially rated by Moto (like that's worth anything) for about 2.9 days, so the i560 delivers.

Signal: When I reviewed the i530, I went on to raving about how stellar the RF was. Well, the same applies to the i560, retaining that stellar RF performance and sound quality.

Sound quality: TDMA's strongest point was it's great sound quality. Being a TDMA-based protocol, iDEN retains the TDMA trait of a very smooth sound quality. Calls on the i560 sounded natural, though the phone picks up more background noise when the speakerphone (who sounds clear and crisp on both ends) isn't active. The i560's speakerphone sounded better than the i530's in a margin that is enough to be notable, but not obvious.

Form factor: Clamshell

Phone and keyboard feel: The i560's keyboard is a MAJOR amelioration versus the i530... the i560's keys are just the right size, and they're spaced to perfection. In short, it feels natural, and the spacing is nearly perfect. The i560 is also slimmer and MUCH more pocketable than the i530.

Screen: 130*130 65,535 colors LCD. This is a STN screen. As expected from a STN screen, the colors looked washed up. Not a big deal, though, the readability of the screen, even in the sun, is amazing.

Camera: Are you kidding me? We're talking about a work phone.

Final score: 9.8/10. Take all the good things about the i530, pack it into another design, reduce the bulk (and therefore the durability), add an external (mono) LCD and you got the i560.

 

I have a Sony Ericsson something or other and It's great! Good camera, good memory, loud enough for me to hear when it's in my bag, bluetooth so it'll hook up to my cars handsfree. Decent sized screen...perfect

 

NEC 232 - follow-up

Well, it's been some time down the road with the NEC232, and it's actually better than I initially judged it for. The cam isn't very good, it's still one ugly bird, but on the signal front, this is one of my top dogs. My other gripe was sound quality -- I'm biaised, having been a long time CDMA user. I'm starting to get used to the sound quality of a GSM phone, and the 232 actually doesen't that bad.

Seeing a NEC phone running on a Nokia battery always gets reactions, too.

 

I think it's time to give T-Mobile's GSM phones some credit.

This past week our phones proved to be lifesavers in Costa Rica. Even in the thick of the jungle, we still had 2-3 bars of service...while our friend’s Verizon Wireless phones only worked if they were in one of the larger towns. The wife and I were always in contact with each other.

That being said, our next bill is going to be though the roof. International calls through T-Mobile are $1.99 a minute, and texts are $0.35 a pop. I won't be surprised if the bill is over $300.

 

Duh, roaming agreements.

 

I'm looking to upgrade my phone and then I wandered into this massive thread. I need the phone for work so corporate e-mail and calendar are important and web surfing a close second. I have to use the AT&T network. I'm guessing my two options are the iPhone and the Blackberry Bold. Any thoughts?