CDMA seems to get the coolest phones. Then again the CDMA customers are always saying that GSM always get the cooler phones. I guess the grass is always greener in your neighbors yard. :wink:
This phone is so outdated. CDMA doesn’t get the coolest phones, trust me. No Sony phones, 1 or 2 Nokia phones, thats it. Only half the Motorola phones. No sidekick either.
BTW, this phone is also made for GSM:
Very few phones are CDMA only, we get some trickled down GSM phones. For example the T720 had a camera option for GSM, not for CDMA.
BTW, here is the updated version of the phone you want, for GSM. The CDMA updated version is not out yet.
The coolest phones by far are those for the Japanese iMode service. There are some iMode deployments in Europe and some planned in the US, but it’s not likely to take off like it has in Japan. GSM is used just about everywhere except for Japan and Korea. Korea is CDMA, and the best CDMA phones come from there. Models with integrated TVs are available there, for example. The better GSM phones tend to be launched in Europe first and then are sometimes launched in the US. Europeans tend to be willing to spend more on their phones than Americans. American phones are generally crap because they can’t be bothered to pay for cool phones for the most part. They’d rather the free one.
I personally like GSM phones because as long as they are unlocked, I can buy a European one or switch phones on a whim just my switching the SIM card. A SIM is a fingernail-sized card that contains your account information so you can change phones without having to buy one from your provider or having to contact them when you want to switch.
[quote author=“Drachen”]The coolest phones by far are those for the Japanese iMode service. There are some iMode deployments in Europe and some planned in the US, but it’s not likely to take off like it has in Japan. GSM is used just about everywhere except for Japan and Korea. Korea is CDMA, and the best CDMA phones come from there. Models with integrated TVs are available there, for example. The better GSM phones tend to be launched in Europe first and then are sometimes launched in the US. Europeans tend to be willing to spend more on their phones than Americans. American phones are generally crap because they can’t be bothered to pay for cool phones for the most part. They’d rather the free one.
I personally like GSM phones because as long as they are unlocked, I can buy a European one or switch phones on a whim just my switching the SIM card. A SIM is a fingernail-sized card that contains your account information so you can change phones without having to buy one from your provider or having to contact them when you want to switch.
Hey, cut us Yankees a little slack. We take telephones for granted, having been busy hard-wiring ourselves since Bell invented the telephone. Most living Americans have had a phone in their home since the day they were born. I remember Europe in the ‘70s and going to the post office to make a call.
In the US every developement in communications has had to compete (and be compatible) with the ones that came before. My father had a radio-telephone in his car in the 60’s. Then we built a (mostly) nationwide analog wireless system. When digital came of age, we then had to figure out how to piggyback digital onto the existing infrastructure.
Being able to start from scratch, GSM allowed people who’d never owned a telephone to have one and countries that could never afford a wired network to build an infrastructure. Being open minded about it, the US is well on it’s way to building a GSM network… took a little time, it’s a big country.
For most americans it’s “only” a phone. The younger generation and those to follow will most likely demand more features. After all, the only place with more toys than the US is Japan.
As a matter of interest, what do you pay for your cellular services?
For around $50US per month I get 1K anytime and 500 night/weekend minutes, nationwide long distance/roaming and a handful of bytes on the data side. For comparisons sake, what would be the equivilent cost for the same coverage in the entire EU?
Ok, thanks to Drachen I will recant part of my statement.
US CDMA phone choices suck, I can’t speak for worldwide CDMA. Since Verizon uses their own technology you can’t just ‘unlock’ a phone like GSM, so we are stuck with their lousy choices.
[quote author=“TruthSeeker”]So if I get an unlocked GSM phone from anywhere around the world, I can just put my SIM in it? There is no need for me to even call Cingular?
Theoretically. I have a SE T68i on the A$&$ network. A while back they sent me a new phone, model T226, with instructions on moving the SIMM. The information that came with the phone said something about one of the frequency bands in the T68i being used in Europe and a different freq. in the US. They’d been catching hell for poor reception and dropped calls and I think the free phone was their solution.
The problem is, the T226 is bottom end. No bluetooth, less memory, dropped features (don’t ask me now, I don’t recall). Moved my simm back and the freebie is collecting dust in the closet.
So the answer to your question should be yes, with the qualfication that you might not get as good performance when compared to a US specific model.
Basically, this is the problem: Europe uses 900MHz and 1800MHZ bands for cell phones. The US mainly uses 1900 MHz. SE phones, the T68 and T610 particularly are well-known for being optimized for 900 and 180MHz. They just tend to work better in Europe. Both AT&T have long had TDMA service on the 850MHz bands that they have been aggressively transitioning over to GSM. The T68 only supports 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz, so they’re giving you another phone to catch the newer frequency as well as 1900, but as usual for AT&T, they’re giving you a less-capable phone.
TruthSeeker: Yes and no. Many carriers “lock” their phones so that only their SIM cards will work on them. This is typically true with subsidized phones bought from providers. (Although this isn’t always true. I bought my T616 at a Cinguar store but I have T-Mobile service. Even the clerk that sold it to me thought it was locked. But I knew better. ) The other thing you have to worry about is the bands thing above. “World phones” (tri-band) usually support all three older bands, but many european phones like the Nokia 9810i only support 900 and 1800 MHz making them useless in the Americas.
[quote author=“dbs”]For most americans it’s “only” a phone. The younger generation and those to follow will most likely demand more features. After all, the only place with more toys than the US is Japan.
As a matter of interest, what do you pay for your cellular services?
For around $50US per month I get 1K anytime and 500 night/weekend minutes, nationwide long distance/roaming and a handful of bytes on the data side. For comparisons sake, what would be the equivilent cost for the same coverage in the entire EU?
I am American. :D You’re absolutely right about our cell infrastructure. Our power infrastructure is the same, but it’s not being built up the same way the cell system is. We saw the result last year… I was simply referring to how ... frugal ... americans tend to be.
Americans have some of the better cell prices in the world. I pay $50 for 300 minutes a month with free weekends and unlimited GPRS data.
[quote author=“Drachen”][quote author=“dbs”]For most americans it’s “only” a phone. The younger generation and those to follow will most likely demand more features. After all, the only place with more toys than the US is Japan.
As a matter of interest, what do you pay for your cellular services?
For around $50US per month I get 1K anytime and 500 night/weekend minutes, nationwide long distance/roaming and a handful of bytes on the data side. For comparisons sake, what would be the equivilent cost for the same coverage in the entire EU?
I am American. :D You’re absolutely right about our cell infrastructure. Our power infrastructure is the same, but it’s not being built up the same way the cell system is. We saw the result last year… I was simply referring to how ... frugal ... americans tend to be.
Americans have some of the better cell prices in the world. I pay $50 for 300 minutes a month with free weekends and unlimited GPRS data.
Sorry, didn’t mean to accuse you of being un-American
Price was part of the point I failed to make. At work or home there’s always an unmetered land-line available. Between inexpensive cell service and almost universal access to land-lines the perceived value of a cellphone is relatively low. When you talk about a $500 phone to a guy paying $600 a year for service there’s some resistance. I think a lot of it dates back to the old Bell system where, when you bought the service, you got a telephone. Wireless marketing using free phones just reenforces the mindset.
[quote author=“Drachen”][quote author=“dbs”]For most americans it’s “only” a phone. The younger generation and those to follow will most likely demand more features. After all, the only place with more toys than the US is Japan.
As a matter of interest, what do you pay for your cellular services?
For around $50US per month I get 1K anytime and 500 night/weekend minutes, nationwide long distance/roaming and a handful of bytes on the data side. For comparisons sake, what would be the equivilent cost for the same coverage in the entire EU?
I am American. :D You’re absolutely right about our cell infrastructure. Our power infrastructure is the same, but it’s not being built up the same way the cell system is. We saw the result last year… I was simply referring to how ... frugal ... americans tend to be.
Americans have some of the better cell prices in the world. I pay $50 for 300 minutes a month with free weekends and unlimited GPRS data.
At&T had $99 unlimited calling a while back, not sure if they still have it. I’m paying out the XXX for cell phone service, but I get 3000 minutes, unlimited In-Network, and unlimited night/weekends, plus unlimited data…so I guess its alright.
) The other thing you have to worry about is the bands thing above. “World phones” (tri-band) usually support all three older bands, but many european phones like the Nokia 9810i only support 900 and 1800 MHz making them useless in the Americas.
