After a horrible mishap involving some india pale ale, an ice scraper, torn jeans and a Buick Century, my trusty P900 is no more. I’ve fallen back to my MS Smartphone, but I like it, not love it and I need something to replace the P. The thing is, I don’t see anything with everything I want out there and I don’t really feel like paying $500 for a 2-year old phone (the P910).

Here’s what I absolutely need:
- Unlocked GSM phone supporting GPRS and EDGE on the 1900 MHz band
- A smart phone OS (like Symbian or MS Mobile) PalmOS doesn’t count.
- No bigger than the P900
- A touch screen and/or QWERTY thumbpad
- Bluetooth
- Not made by iMate (burned by their lack of customer service)

Unfortunately, neither the upcoming SE P990 nor any of the Treos qualify. Any other suggestions? Thanks.

i am in a similar place as you. i want to get a new phone with all the necessary technology but so far there is nothing in the pipeline that is a must have…although any of these phones would be a huge improvement over your last one.

3G SE P990i
3G SE W900i
Nokia N70 (i have the previous model the Nokia 6680 which is an extremely productive business phone with 3G)

or you could always succumb and become a crackberry but i think that would be just too common for you.

Thanks for the recs. The main problem with those SE phones is that I’m American. I’d love the P990 in particular, but neither support EDGE or the UMTS bands that will be in use here in North America (1900MHz vs the 2100 MHz in the rest of the world). EDGE is important to me because T-Mobile USA isn’t planning on rolling out UMTS for another year at least. The N70 isn’t a bad suggestion, but only has a numeric keypad for text entry. Thanks, though.

I currently have P910a and have been OK with it so far, I just kinda joined the smartphone group, so I guess that is why I am satisfied with it. It would be really nice if the newer P990 or whatever number it is comes with Wi-Fi! And I also wish that Skype would be supported by Symbian as well…..
Stan
P.S. selling a new SE W800i on Ebay if anyone is interested :wink:

Hi

I have an N70 in Hungary with 3G partially available, and EDGE otherwise. There is no other input besides the numeric pad is true. I dont need more though, but if I did I would buy a fold-up Bluetooth keyboard.

N70 has lots of memory, and still at an affordable price I guess.

N80 will have Wifi, and all the E series.

Also via Bluetooth, I am able to use internet on the N70 for free, and I can also type messages etc with it. Such a pretty couple, TR3/SP + N70

Ben

ah, the budapest, i will be there for a party in march to follow with an after party at the turkish baths…but what i am really waiting for is the summer parties at rio on the buda side of the danube and a few days afterparty at the balaton…

Hah, funny to hear that. And where are you from by the way?

Sorry for thread highjacking…

Ben

Regarding Windows devices…

If you don’t mind Cingular being stamped across the front of the device…you could check out the 2125 and 8125.  The 2125 is out, but it’s only a smartphone platform, no qwerty or touch screen, but you could couple it w/ a freedom bt keyboard or something.  The 8125 isn’t out yet, but it’s the Cingular version of the HTC Wizard, slide out keyboard, touch screen, 2.8” QVGA, etc…jury is still out as to whether it will be crippled.

Those are just if you want the Cingular branded version…for a decent price if you are eligible for an upgrade or move to Cingular from another carrier.  Otherwise, full price, but still cheaper than unlocked, unbranded.

If price doens’t matter, the same devices mentioned above are available in imate and qtek brands from a variety of online dealers…on howardforums, they all speak highly of madmonkeyboy gadgets, very reputable, good prices, good to deal with…but I have never purchased from the guy, so dunno.

Anyway…currently, those are the only Windows based devices on the market…Cingular, IMATE, QTEK…TMobile will be offering the same thing in February, exact same devices, TMo branded…

If you are concerned about imate, these may all not be an option, they are all made by HTC, which is who makes devices that imate brands…

QTEK is suppose to have pretty good support…but again, no experience.

I’m holding out for a decent flip smartphone, I’ve owned the Audiovox SMT5600 and now a Moto MPx220…both nice phones, each w/ their own issues and annoyances…but neither w/ EDGE, keyboards, or touchscreens.

Chris

hylton, thanks for the post. I found out yesterday from a friend that they will be releasing the MDA on Feb 20 and after checking it out (and your post now basically confirmed) that’s probably the way to go in terms of price and support. Thanks for the advice.