Which Cell Phone to get? (TurboDave?)

[TTA89]

I lost my Cell Phone yesterday and I need a new one. I am currently using Verizon as my Provider but in order to not pay 400 bucks for a new phone, I have to renew a 2 year contract and use the current rates which dont work for the way I call.

Sprint is offering me 1000 Peak, 1000 Weeknights and Weekends with Free Long Distance for 75 Bucks a Month and if I order off the Web I can get 50 bucks off any phone, plus 100 dollar rebate on some phones.

I am looking at the Samsung SCH-8500 Phone, which on www.epinions.com is rated the number 1 phone. I can get this for about $50 bucks after the rebates.

Any Opinions? Im in the Boston Area, I dunno who else is out here.

My main concern is free long distance as I call out of state most of the time. Currently I am using 1000-1100 Peak and 1200 Nights and Weekends.

Is there a better phone? It has to be a Flip phone so I can fit it into my pocket.

Thanks!

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Mike Schoenfeld

Most Valuable User-Name on tb.com

[This message has been edited by TTA89 (edited May 23, 2001).]

[Orlando_87GN]

Nokia 6100 series. It's tiny, awesome battery life and not expensive any longer.

Also, see if you have a GSM provider up there. There are strong advantages to using GSM opposed to CDMA ect..

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Stock Turbo, Stock Heads, Stock CAM, V4, MSD50's, TH DP, JayJackson 62mm TB, 16position MaxEffort Chip. 3750# with Driver
12.35 & 108.39 Street Trim
11.92 @ 111.77 Race Ready
mailto:mike@TurboBuicks.commike@TurboBuicks.com</A>

[arista5]

whatever you get make sure it ISNT VoiceStream, or MCI Big Problems

[Orlando_87GN]

Hmm.. voicesteam is GSM and that is what I have used for 4 years now. Same phone, same service. I am sure location will play a big part in "Which phone service is the best"..

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Stock Turbo, Stock Heads, Stock CAM, V4, MSD50's, TH DP, JayJackson 62mm TB, 16position MaxEffort Chip. 3750# with Driver
12.35 & 108.39 Street Trim
11.92 @ 111.77 Race Ready
mailto:mike@TurboBuicks.commike@TurboBuicks.com</A>

[TurboDave]

Well, Samsung makes good products without a doubt. But since I work for Kyocera Wireless now (was Qualcomm). I like the QCP 3035 a lot better (just personal preferences though), since I'm intimately familiar with the inner workings of all the cell phone technologies.
As far as Carriers go, I do a lot of traveling so naturally I prefer Verizon, and their "one rate" plans. Their network coverages and roaming agreements are far more extensive than Sprint's.
If you don't do a lot of traveling, then Sprint might be better for your needs. Just make sure the coverage in your local area is as good as you need. Sprint's network coverage areas tend to have "holes".

Because I know a thing or two about cell phone technology (That's how I make my living) and what "makes 'em tick" I would strongly recommend staying away from what's called TDMA or GSM(they like to say it's digital, but it's really just a digitized version of the old analog technology) phones. Stick with CDMA digital which is what you'll get with either Sprint or Verizon.

The important thing is to make sure the carrier has the area coverage to suite you and then look at the plans and phone to fit it.



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TurboDave & Kathy Huinker, mailto:TurboDave@turbobuicks.comTurboDave@turbobuicks.com</A>
TurboD Racing,BGNRA San Diego,GSCA-5311,Turbo Buick Web Ring
San Diego CA http://home.san.rr.com/buickv6/
86 GN(MM/MAF Xlator/Extender,MM BstC Boost Command,THDP,PTE44,CAS V2FM,MSD50's,9.5"vigilante 3500)
87 GN 12.95@105.50(Stock)
84 L69 Z28

[WFO]

hey dave,anything good/bad/indifferent on the kyocera qcp 2035?

my friend just got a good deal on one through qwest.

thanx,sean

[U1ARUNIT]

I use a Nokia 8260 and NOTHING I have had previously comes close to lasting as long for talk and standby time. I get a complete week out of a full charge leaving in on 24/7 and the unit weighs next to nothing, like around 3.4 oz and it is extremely small. You can download ring tones via the internet to this phone and the phone seems very durable. I have dropped it many times.

Oh BTW, it's on with AT&T Wireless which I think is a TDMA network and I have very good signal in the areas that I frequent most. HTH

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Mark Herrly
U1arunit@aol.com
You wanna run it..??
Mark's GN Page
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[TurboDave]

Originally posted by WFO:
hey dave,anything good/bad/indifferent on the kyocera qcp 2035?

my friend just got a good deal on one through qwest.

thanx,sean

Excellent entry level phone;

Here's a link to some info collected by ZDNet on some tests they did. Just another source of info.
http://www.zdnet.com/smartbusinessma...1090-6,00.html
and some rankings on the second page(click the "next" button near the bottom of the article)

U1ARUNIT
I know it probably sounds and works "OK", but unless you've had a chance to compare voice quality with a high end CDMA phone, you'll never appreciate "midling" voice quality of your present phone.

Oh, and BTW, Don't grab an Audiovox CDMA phone to make the comparison, theirs are total junk and the voice quality is hardly any better than TDMA/GSM, some cases even worse. Audiovox quality is, well, you get my drift.



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TurboDave & Kathy Huinker, mailto:TurboDave@turbobuicks.comTurboDave@turbobuicks.com</A>
TurboD Racing,BGNRA San Diego,GSCA-5311,Turbo Buick Web Ring
San Diego CA http://home.san.rr.com/buickv6/
86 GN(MM/MAF Xlator/Extender,MM BstC Boost Command,THDP,PTE44,CAS V2FM,MSD50's,9.5"vigilante 3500)
87 GN 12.95@105.50(Stock)
84 L69 Z28

[Twins]

I have a Samsung 8500 and it is a total POS.

I also use Verizon and travel in and out of digital service areas, I understand batt life is shorter in analog but I get only 1.5 hrs. on a full charge in analog and 4 hrs. in digital.

I've had the phone back to Verizon twice and they keep saying nothing is wrong. I have replaced the batt thinking it was defective.

My last phone was a Startac....delicate but great batt life.

Just my 02 cents

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#1 84 GN, Precision 33,868's,KB headers/up/down pipe,Joe L. chip A/C 2800 373's Auburn posi, Eibach springs, Metco lower controll arms, blah, blah, 13.00 102
#2 84 GN all stock 34k 50 hp NOS (Dads car)never been to the track.

[TTA89]

Well I bought the 8500 w/Sprint. I got a good plan, Verizon wanted over 150 bucks a month for what Sprint Gave me at 85/month.

Battery seems ok to me I have been on and off it all day today and its still at 3 bars.

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Mike Schoenfeld

Most Valuable User-Name on tb.com

[This message has been edited by TTA89 (edited May 24, 2001).]

[Twins]

Maybe something in my Hot-Air car is sucking the life out of it? Just like my wallet.

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#1 84 GN, Precision 33,868's,KB headers/up/down pipe,Joe L. chip A/C 2800 373's Auburn posi, Eibach springs, Metco lower controll arms, blah, blah, 13.00 102
#2 84 GN all stock 34k 50 hp NOS (Dads car)never been to the track.

[TurboDave]

It's a battle I fight on the "training front" almost daily. As simple a concept as it seems to me, it's still very difficult trying to explain to folks why the battery life on their phones suffer so dramatically when dropping from digital to analog service areas!! Unfortunatlely, to explain it so they understand it's not a fault in the phone or the battery requires very very technical and in depth explinations of just how dramatic the differences between analog and digital really are.
Even when in pure digital service there are mitigating circumstances that can dramatically affect battery life.
A little thing the carriers wont tell you about called "slot cycle index". Very simply stated it's the amount of time between a phones "wake up" cycles (to check for incoming calls). Many carriers run a slot cycle index of "2" (5.2 seconds wake up cycles). In an effort to increase their revenues some areas will change their slot cycle index to "1" (2.1 seconds wake up cycles). This means your phone wakes up twice as often (less likely to miss an incoming call) but also means your battery will be drained twice as fast.

I've noticed this dramatic affect in my travels. San Diego Verizon, for example runs SCI of "2". New York Verizon runs a SCI of 1. My battery litterally lasted only a day and a half while in NY instead of 3-4.
Lots of other things, just no time or room to train everyone here on Cell Phone theory. My training class is a whole day just on cell phone and CDMA theory.



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TurboDave & Kathy Huinker, mailto:TurboDave@turbobuicks.comTurboDave@turbobuicks.com</A>
TurboD Racing,BGNRA San Diego,GSCA-5311,Turbo Buick Web Ring
San Diego CA http://home.san.rr.com/buickv6/
86 GN(MM/MAF Xlator/Extender,MM BstC Boost Command,THDP,PTE44,CAS V2FM,MSD50's,9.5"vigilante 3500)
87 GN 12.95@105.50(Stock)
84 L69 Z28