None of my readers fessed up to owning an iPhone yet. So what phones do you guys have? I have a Samsung SCH-A670 which kinda looks like this:
I had it for a while, and while it served me well, I’m getting sick of it. I need a new one. I was thinking about either the Samsung SCH-U740 or the LG enV. Both have a full qwerty keyboard which I like. The Samsung is a very thin flip phone, while the enV is a bulky brick that opens up in landscape mode to reveal a nice big screen. It also has a better camera, better keyboard layout, better speaker and generally gets better reviews. Initially I was leaning toward the Samsung because of the size, but after I held both of them in my had, and read more about them I think I like enV better. Here is how they look:
enV on the left, SCH-U740 on the right
I haven’t decided yet which one I want. Which one would you pick given a choice? Btw, I probably won’t buy the data plan – but I like to have a full keyboard for texting.
What kind of phones do you guys have?
[tags]lg, samsung, lg enV, samsung SCH-U740, samsung SCH-A670, cell phone, phone[/tags]
I currently have a Nokia N80, but contract runs out next month so think I will prob upgrade to a Nokia 95
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I got the LG vx8300. It has been an awesome piece of hardware. Mp3 player, 1megapixel camera, movie player (I have full length movies on mine), web browser (a little hacking made browsing free, except for minutes, of course) and evan a calendar.
There was only one thing that made me get this phone . . . it was free! My company has a good employee discount with Verizon.
Craig – how did you hack the browser? Do you only get WAP websites, or is it actual web? I tried using some a free WAP servers on my SCH-A670 but all the posted IP’s were dead. Meh…
I wonder if I can do that for enV. I’m not buying data plans and services from Verizon. They seem to be way overpriced, and backwards when compared with competition. But, I get signal almost everywhere, and since my company uses Verizon my work calls are free. :)
Well, first I changed the proxy (ou have to hack the phone to do this) so I could bypass Verizon’s, since this is how they control you.
Second, I wote my own WAP homepage (http://www.bettssoftware.com/p) to act as my frontend.
I use Google to surf oddball webpages since they have a really nice http-to-wap converter. I take some pics for you today so you can see what I did.
Thanks. :)
I have a Sony Ericsson W810
– 2Mpixel camera
– 512 Mb memory ward included
– mp3 player (which is mainly the reason for buying it, I didn’t want a separate mp3 player, because a good one costs as much, and any cheaper sounds like crap :))
– Opera browser
I’m very happy about it :)
Personal: still use RAZR and have recently bought Nokia 6300 in Europe (trying to convert it to crappy US networks)
Work: Treo 700W
I don’t need anything fancy with my phone, just something that can answer and make calls when needed. I have a Samsung x497. It’s a simple flip phone with no MP3s, no camera; just a phone.
I actually have something similar in functionality to the iPhone: the Sony Ericsson W950i. It is a bar phone with a touch screen, 4GB of memory, UMTS (or I think you guys call it 3G) and the Symbian UIQ3 OS, so I can install and delete programs as I please. Its only drawback is that it doesn’t come with a camera, but that’s no big deal to me since I’ve never used a phone-camera. I bought this last October as an iPod, organizer and phone in one and must say it really does it’s job very well. In the Netherlands (where I bought live) data plans are cheap and UMTS (which is available nation-wide) makes it possible to watch tv and surf the web any time. I often hop on MSN instead of sending text messages since chatting is so easy by just writing on the screen. I love this phone and definitely wouldn’t give it up for any other, iPhone included!
[quote comment=”5201″]Personal: still use RAZR and have recently bought Nokia 6300 in Europe (trying to convert it to crappy US networks)
Work: Treo 700W[/quote]
I heard really bad things about the razr’s. How do you like yours? Pretty much everyone I know hated it.
I don’t think I can justify to myself buying a smartphone of any sort. I’d love to have one, but I don’t want to pay for a really expensive data plan.
Btw, I think the enV has a 2 megapixel cam, it’s loud as hell, and has a sd micro port which is noice!
My advice to you is to really look at which features you’ll be using instead of which ones it has. The phone you’re looking at seems neat with the extra inner screen but will you really use it so much? That feature makes it incredibly bulky and even so, it’s not a smart phone, so adding new functionality is pretty much out of the question. Also, the front screen seems incredibly small; nearly 1990’s small. I suppose I’m somewhat biased as a European, looking for aesthetics along with functionality. I would list which features you’re looking for, in order of importance, before you pick a phone that hooks you with some cool stuff you’ll stop using after two months.
To address your smart phone to data plan remark: a smart phone doesn’t mean you need a data plan. Smart phones are particularly nice because you can install whichever software suites you, be it a data-plan driven program like the incredibly useful-anywhere Google Maps or more general programs you would use regularly such as a graphic calculator, automatic call manager (this saves me from countless telemarketers), city-map or [enter favorite game console here] emulator with a bunch of roms. Any decent smart phone allows you to install software by downloading it on your PC and placing it on your phone from there with not a byte of data going through your greedy carrier. Also, remember that most data-plan marketed applications can just as easily be accessed by visiting the right website (e-mail, flight times, web-messengers) with any normal phone with a browser as well.
Btw, I didn’t mean to bash the phone you’re looking at! If it’s got everything you want go for it. I’m just trying to help out where I can. ;)
You make some good points. I still haven’t decided what I want. So far I looked at these two phones because some of my co-workers had them, but I’m posting these here to gather oppinions, and see what people use, or would like to use.
I’m definitely open to suggestions. :)
The features I use on my phone right now are:
1. phone
2. texting (or SMS as some call ti)
3. phone camera (for quick random pictures)
So a I do want a semi-decent camera and some storage so I can keep some pictures on it. I would love a qwerty keyboard for writing text messages but I can live without it.
Also, my phone currently can’t play mp3’s but if my next phone would have that capability, and some decent storage space to put few songs, and maybe a podcast or two I’d probably use it. I don’t even own an ipod, but if it was there for me to use, I’d probably would use it.
Again, none of these things really is exclusive to enV or any other phone I mentioned. I’m open to anything really.
Btw, what I meant with the data plan is this:
If I get a smartphone without the overpriced data plan, it will just remind me that this phone would be so much cooler if only I could get real emails on it, and browse the web, and etc.
I had this problem with my pocket PC. I got the lower end Dell Axim as a present, and it shipped without the wifi card. This bothered me so much that I eventually bought the card so I can pick up emails and browse the web on it.
But then I realized that whenever I have free wifi access, I usually will just use my laptop rather than the pocket PC.
So I know that if I get a smart phone I will be really tempted to get the data plan to unlock more features and get internet access everywhere. And at one point I will probably break down and buy it, get used to the ability to google shit on the road, and then for the rest of my life pay really high cell phone bills. lol
chocolate 8500 with a usb cable and a 1gig mini sd card. free with the plan, works great as a standalone mp3 player and its an ok phone too. no iphone for me bud. I just charge and shuffle sync a gig a day and thats fine for me. Cool gadget.
[quote post=”1721″]I heard really bad things about the razr’s. How do you like yours? Pretty much everyone I know hated it.[/quote]
It’s been ok overall. However, camera sucks…can’t really expect it to do much being that it is a freakin’ VGA camera. But what I like about it is its size, like how slim it is and like it’s software (basic software – phone calls, txts and settings) and it is very easy to use. You can setup shortcuts to menus or functions you use most often which is cool.
Also, it’s quad-band capable which is great when I travel internationally. I had it for a while now and never had any problems until this past July 4th when it started spazing out and entering numbers on its own. I took the battery out for about 5 minutes, put it back in and it started working fine again…very weird, but honestly who cares what caused it, all that matters is that it works now. :)
My coworker hates his razr with a passion. He says the software is very slow and unresponsive. the camera is useless, and that the flip is flimsy and breaks easily. When I asked him about it he went on a 20 minute rant about it. And I have to say he really made a compelling case against it – that was one of the mains reasons I never got one. :P
But I guess its really a matter of personal preference.