smartphone, redux

alaskaflyer

alaskaflyer

Final Approach
Joined
Feb 18, 2006
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Smith Valley, Nevada
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Alaskaflyer
Hi all-

I am tiring of the small screen and limited features of my current phone (though I appreciate its small size) and want to upgrade. My provider has limited smartphone options so I am looking at getting an unlocked phone on the open market.

I really like Sony Ericcson's P990, but the price...ouch. My brother is a lead software engineer for S/E and he says they won't even give him one for free, even though they hand out other free phones like candy for many of the developer employees. So much for that idea :rofl:

Anyone else have a recommendation? I want "palm" type functionality i.e. large stylus screen - prefer a qwerty keyboard too. I don't need blackberry service (though that function is usually included anyway I suppose) but do want limited IMAP and web features available over my providers network. Mainly I use it for calendar and address book stuff plus phone and SMS. Bluetooth is a given.
 
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I use a Treo 650 which combines everything you get with a Palm Pilot plus a digital phone. This way I don't need to carry both a Palm and a phone. It's equipped with Bluetooth.
 
Motorola Q, everyone I know who has one loves it. There are only a few of us at work that don't have it, me being one of them. But that is because I need a GSM phone due to massive international travel.
 
Oops, forgot to mention it must be an unlocked GSM phone - I would prefer to stick with my same provider. Thanks though.
 
RotaryWingBob said:
Treos can be ordered in a GSM version.
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Thanks Bob, I've been looking at both the Treo 650 and its more expensive brother the 680, but thought before I pull the trigger there might be something else equally as good or better out there,
 
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I have the Verizon XV6700 (AKA UTSTAR). It's a Pocket PC running Windows. I've had it about 5 months and am pretty happy with it. The device syncs easy with Outlook on the company machine. I have my contacts list on both systems.
 
silver-eagle said:
I have the Verizon XV6700 (AKA UTSTAR). It's a Pocket PC running Windows. I've had it about 5 months and am pretty happy with it. The device syncs easy with Outlook on the company machine. I have my contacts list on both systems.
Click to expand...

I've had my 6700 for about a year now and I love it. The slide out keyboard is much better to use than the Treo's or the Q's.
 
alaskaflyer said:
Oops, forgot to mention it must be an unlocked GSM phone - I would prefer to stick with my same provider. Thanks though.
Click to expand...
You won't get an unlocked phone from your carrier. But you can get one, unsubsidized, from Buy.com and other retailers.

But the good news is the Library of Congress just ruled that you can unlock a phone without violating copyright.
 
I have a Palm Treo 650. I love its versatility but it's had some problems. I can't upgrade the operating system as it was bought as an unlocked phone off eBay. But, Palm does sell them unlocked for use on most any carrier and you can get it upgraded to resolve problems I currently have. There's a great deal of software available for the Palm Treo, including those for pilots. It sounds like the Palm Treo 680 may be the way to go since it uses everything the 650 does and it's considerably cheaper than what I paid for the 650.

You may find some problems but then, I don't think there is a phone out there that has not had problems. They claim the new 700 is better but it's still TOO new. You might as well load Vista on your PC while you're at it. I also own a Motorola i605 I use for work and direct connect communications. It will reboot out of the blue on me; usually right after I call my dispatcher. Maybe that's why there are so many restarts during Nextel Cup races these days? :confused:

I'd be interested in knowing what you go with and how it works. Good luck to ya!
 
For unlcoking a phone you can also just Google phone unlock and there are a ton of guys that oyu will pay 10 bucks to that will generate an unlock code for you.
 
I have the Cingular (HTC) 8125 and I love it. Slide out QWERTY keyboard, large screen, and I've added Voice Control and Mapopolis to it, so I can verbally dial or start any program, and use a bluetooth GPS for mapping and navigation. It's GSM and runs Pocket PC. They are not exactly cheap though. You can find them unlocked on eBay for about $350.00.
 
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