csua.com/Consumer/CellPhone -> csua.com/Consumer/CellPhone/
Is there any particularly shiny cell phone hardware that you are fond of? I used to have T-Mobile and a motorola, got decent reception, much better phone in terms of usage. Whatever you do, if you get a clamshell model get one with an external window to see who's calling you. Too bad their phone selection rather sucks compared to Cingular/AT&T or TMobile. verizon is only shitty inside buildings, and of course the phone selection sux. Verizon uses a lower frequency of radio waves than the others, so for technical reasons should get better reception in buildings. I've had comparatively pretty good reception in buildings, but some places it just doesn't work. If you have weak reception on top of a BART station, you'll have none inside one. OTOH I've gotten a decent signal in some BART stations or large buildings or elevators where everyone else gets nothing. From my unscientific survey of the SFBA, Verizon is a bit better than Cingular, and WAY batter than TMo, but there are some exceptions. Sometimes I have problems inside lecture halls, but this doesn't bother me too much b/c I don't really need cell phone access during class. In terms of shiny new cell phone hardware, I'm waiting for AT&T to intro the Treo 650 so that I can get a Treo 600 at a reduced price. Verizon is a bit more expensive, and has a lousy phone selection. Sprint, T-Mobile, and Nextel all have inferior networks.
Only things I can complain about are that it can't elevate very much, the bezel could be not as wide, and there could be more buttons (the Viewsonic VP191b has all of these and 2 VGA ports + 1 DVI, but the refresh is only average - also, from the back the VP191b looks like a light pole, but from the front it's just better than the 193P in my opinion and just more functional). after I get used to it, I'll probably like the 193P more, even though it's sitting on two books.
Motorola crashes a lot (software) and the GUI is very clumsy (need to press a lot of buttons to get something done). Several Nokia models (6310 among them) have ass-quality bluetooth. A Finnish colleague, whose wife works at Nokia, says to watch out for the 6670, if it's not already out.
Could it be the phone or is t-mobile just worthless around here? T-mobile doesn't have any towers in Northern California; In case it's not clear, there is, effectively, only one GSM carrier in northern California. It's possible your area had lots on Cingular users and not that many Cingular towers. i dont care whether it can play tetris or surf the WEEB or manage my stock portfolio. has anybody made a phone that has signal strength as its only distinguishing feature? surely something can be done with antenna/amplification. To improve the SNR you can add a phased antenna array, which will massivly increase weight, power consumption and cost, or you can use a high-gain antenna, which is by necessity directional. A high-gain antenna would be big, which is bad for a phone, and would depend strongly on orientation, which is very bad for a phone being moved around. The best compromise would be a long straight antenna, which is not as big as a dish, and has the only directional requirement that it is upright. Most phones use antennas which are about (8/7)*(1/2) wavelength long so they get optimum performance when slightly off perfect vertical.
I have Verizon and it works everywhere EXCEPT where I live and I'm very upset. This way I'll be able to make better purchasing decisions next time. These phones are getting harder and harder to find as the carriers move to 'all-digital' phones, which sounds like a selling point but means less versatility, though lower cost of manufacturing. Actual tower locations are a closely guarded secret for reasons of competition (though the excuse du-jour is 'anti-terrorism'). The tower locations should all be on file with the FCC, but good luck getting a look at them. If you got your contract/phone less that 15 days ago, you can return it and get out of your contract with no penalty. If not, see if your phone is 'all-digital', and if it is, get a friend with a tri-band Verizon phone to visit your house and see his signal. On top of that, some phones just get better reception than others. Tri-mode LGs are pretty good, as is the Nokia 6015i from what I've heard.
ie how many minutes, long distance, national roaming etc. The contract length is linked to how much discount you get on your phone, so if you're willing to take a 1-year contract, you can get a MUCH better price/minute than if you went prepaid, but you'll get a better or cheaper phone if you commit to 2 years.
I've considered epoxying the battery door to the phone, but I'm worried that if the Li-Ion battery wears out, it'll be near impossible to change it. Have you considered epoxying back the little clip, rather than the entire door? I'm worried doing just the open button/clip might not be strong enough. Another possibility is to make a form so the epoxy itself will solidify in the shape of the little chip. If you're interested, look up photos of the Audiovox VM4050, 9900 or 9950 \_ Get some colorful rubber bands, like the kind women use for hair.
Do you take any steps to keep the phone the recommended 15 cm or whatever from your body? If so are you aware of reports that those can act as an antenna and transmit significantly more radiation into your head? Yes, a regular earphone adapter that transmits sound down a wire. Yes, but not as much as a bluetooth handsfree thingie, and nowhere near as much as the phone itself.
America just lost a great champion for this cause in Christopher Reeve. People like Chris Reeve will get out of their wheelchairs and walk again with stem cell research." Would you be more satisfied if he said he plans to leave everyone with those diseases to suffer while we spend our money on other things?
I liked T-Mobile for nationwide service when living in Los Angeles. there are smaller GSM phones if you want to pay top dollar, eg some tiny panasonics you can buy over the web.
Specifically, I'm looking to purchase Nokia 6820 with TMobile. Recently there was even a store in San Mateo that was offering a good discount on an unlocked T630 with activation with TMobile. If you want it unlocked you'll either have to do it yourself, or fins a place that will do it for some small $$. As far as I know, the carriers will not subsidize phones that aren't locked into their own company. So the discount would have to be from the reseller who makes commission on service contracts.
Bay Area mobile phone companies who do you use, do they suck/rule? More info please \_ AT&T: Great phones, decent prices, signal is hit or miss. New GSM system will give you whichever is the stronger of AT&T or Cingular. Haven't seen the old Cingular GSM problem yet where you couldn't get a line out. Old AT&T TDMA system gets progressively worse and worse as they shift resources. Also, their customer service is now back to average after several months of being useless. I couldn't get a signal at all at the office in the Financial District and had to stand on the porch to make a phone call at home (in Noe Valley). Great plans, nice phones, and pretty good coverage, we've found (in the Berkeley area).
com \_ I've had them send me a $20 tripod after about 6 weeks and another time they simply cancelled my order for an N64 game after about 6 weeks. Do they ship the item to me or the manufacturer ships the item to me?
I ask because a coworker's wife apparently has daily emergencies around lunch time. if I take the SIM card out of my GSM phone, I don't think it can register on the network to make a call (though I've never tried dialing 911) \_ federal law requires all carriers to allow free 911 call access, so maybe a non-GSM phone would be enough? Just for yuks, try '112' (European emergency number) if 911 doesn't work. but if your emergencies are not police emergencies, pre-paid is good.
htm I'm not sure what the catch is, but they asked for my phone number and email address, so I assume they'll sell it to a bunch of people or something. I gave them a fake phone number and an email I don't check much, so whatever. I tried it from a payphone the other da...
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