Update to DB´s Cell Phone Adventures

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Nov 19, 2003 5:09 pm

Well guys, I did it again...I picked up a $500 cell phone this time. Before you get all excited...this time, my company bought it. Awww yeah...can´t beat this thing of beauty:
 
 http://www.mobileburn.com/review.jsp?Id=536
 
 Damn it´s good to get a new job.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Wed Nov 19, 2003 5:25 pm

You liked this better than the Treo 600?
 
 I´ve been a bit tempted to get a Wifi PDA but I really doubt I´d use it much after the novelty wore off. Probably would get more use out of an iPod for the moment.
 
 I just heard that Verizon has service in DC and San Diego that gets well over 100 kb/s on downloads. AT&T is promising 3G (they´re calling it UTMS, like Europe has) by the end of next year in selected markets.
 
 In Japan, they say 3G service has really opened up the things a phone could do for you, kind of like the way broadband always-on connection have done for PC useage. For instance, 3G phones will wake you with alarms that it downloaded while you were asleep and then retrieve your email and calendar without you having to have logged on.
 
 Nokia is talking about streaming TV over in Europe. Really wasteful use of bandwidth but if you can get 200-300 kb/s, you could conceivably stream your MP3 collection at home to wherever your phone is.
 
 I think I´d jump in if there was solid 3G service with speeds comparable to at least DSL for a flat rate. None of this data quota. But with the proliferation of Wifi hotspots, it remains to be seen whether it makes sense to pay the cell phone companies a lot to retrieve data on the move.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Nov 19, 2003 5:40 pm

The reasons I went with the I600 over the Treo are simple. Verizon is far superior (reception wise) to any other company in Southern California and I really like flip phones better than the regular ones. Those are the two main reasons but then there are a lot of little things that added up.
 
 The display on the Samsung is far better (higher resolution and more colors), and also the addition of a SD slot to play Mp3s through Windows Media Player and add extra storage (up to a gig, I´ve only got 256 right now). Overall, the i600 just fit my needs or likes a little better.
 
 As for the data plans...I don´t even use that feature. I sync my phone with my PC at work and at Home at the begining and end of each day, that´s it. I really can´t imagine I´d need to do it any more often than that. Anytime I need to download or send email I can just connect to the network and send them using my allotted minutes per month...no biggie there. I really only use the online feature of a phone to check scores anyway.
 
 As for streaming online...I agree, it´s a waste. But they´ve got the bandwidth in Europe and Asia so I can see why the gimmick is working.
 
 Verizon´s network is a lot faster than that of Cingular´s GSM, which I had previously, so I´m happy there. The introduction of EDGE will be the CDMA´s biggest rival, so we´ll see how that pans out in the next couple months. [ This message was edited by: dbdynsty25 on 19-11-2003 13:40 ]

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 4:55 pm

BTW, after using the i600 for a couple days, I´ve realized that it´s the best damn cell phone out there.
 
 If you´re in the market for PDA/Cellphone...you cannot go wrong with Verizon and the i600.

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 5:08 pm

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD>Quote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><BLOCKQUOTE>
 On 2003-11-20 12:55, dbdynsty25 wrote:
 BTW, after using the i600 for a couple days, I´ve realized that it´s the best damn cell phone out there.
 </BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>
 
 Yeah but can it shave your beard?
 
 <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_wink.gif">

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 5:15 pm

I´m sure one of the brilliant software guys out there in the world will eventually port a Remington Micro Screen to Smartphone 2002...so it´s on it´s way I´m sure.

Toper · Post by **Toper** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 5:43 pm

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD>Quote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><BLOCKQUOTE>
 On 2003-11-19 13:09, dbdynsty25 wrote:
 Before you get all excited...this time, my company bought it.
 </BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>
 
 
 Please tell me what company this is so that I can sell my stock of it.
 
 <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_wink.gif">

matthewk · Post by **matthewk** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 6:02 pm

Yeah, but can it blow you? That´s the ONLY way a cell phone would be worth $500.
 
 <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_biggrin.gif">

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 6:29 pm

Wait, wait, wait: I´m the biggest miser in the world and don´t have a cell phone. Don´t want one. But if a $500 cell phone also is a PDA, Web browser, e-mail device, text messager, walkie talkie and Wi-fi device, then it´s worth $500.
 
 Each of those items sold separately would add up to more than 500 bones.
 
 The big question is, do you really need all that s***? But if you´re in a business or family situation where the answer is yes, then the pricey phone-combo device is worth it.
 
 Take care,
 PK

BBReBozo · Post by **BBReBozo** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 6:39 pm

I´m waiting for the cellphone/mp3 player/portable HD/digital camera/pda/wi-fi device (browser, e-mail and TMS). I may be waiting for a long time but at least i´ll have plenty of time to save up the $20,000 it will cost.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 6:47 pm

BBR,
 
 It is an mp3 player as well...it´s got a Secure Digital slot that I´ve got a 256mb card in (it supports up to 1gig). It´s got a version of Windows Media Player in it to facilitate this.
 
 PK,
 
 It´s not ´necessary´ that I have it all in one device, but the way the company looks at it, they´d much rather have it all in one device because it´s a pain in the ass to carry around a Palm Pilot, or Pocket PC AND a cell phone. If I can get it all in one shot...I´m down for it. Especially when its only the size of a normal cell phone in the first place. Its not tiny by any means, but it´s definitely not as big as one of those stupid PDA ´looking´ cell phones.
 
 Had the company not shelled out for it, I might have bought it myself anyway. Not to mention some of the games you can get on this thing are pretty impressive. They´ve even got a version of Links you can play. So not only is it a phone, it´s a contact manager, a calendar (all synced with outlook), a gaming device, an mp3 player, a web browser with html and java, an email client (yahoo pop mail is sweet through it), a VPN tunnel (you can tunnel into work firewalls get all of your email/contacts/calendar events wirelessly) and a host of other things that guys decide they want to develop software for. There are already about 500 different apps that are made to run on a smartphone operating system.
 
 BTW, no blow jobs...but at least I can mark it on the calendar when the girl is planning on giving the next...likely a year down the road.
 [ This message was edited by: dbdynsty25 on 20-11-2003 14:51 ]

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 7:20 pm

First thing I´d do with that phone is download Tecmo Bowl.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 7:29 pm

Only appeal of an MP3 player would be to have all your music in one place. I would get tired of swapping out MP3 files to rotate my music as I gave up on making tapes a long time ago. So it would have to be one of those hard-disk based players for me. Or, as I said, if you can access your whole collection remotely, that would be cool too.
 
 As for the PDA, I´m not sure what regular use I would make of it. I hear Howard Stern getting excited about being able to run AIM on his Treo but I can´t imagine chatting too much with those cramped keyboards (BTW, I had to peck out some short messages on the virtual keyboard of ESPN NFL to RobVarak before we got to the team select screen where we could use our headsets. Was very painful).
 
 Has anyone ever taken one of those surveys which conclude with a 4-letter acronym about your personality and working styles? I forget whether it was the Minnesota Multiphasic Inventory or some other thing but basically, what you learn is that only a certain class or category of people are so anal that they will always carry organizers or PDAs (which are basically computerized organizers) around. Better lay off those PDA company stocks.
 
 As for gaming, PSP could be cool if it delivered on price, built-in Wifi (maybe Bluetooth as well) and decent battery life. Supposedly, variants will have a cell phone module as well but I´m doubtful about the innate need to watch movies on a little screen or game online over cellular networks, especially if you have to pay for connect time and data transferred. Maybe if free Wifi spots became more prevalent...

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 7:32 pm

"Only appeal of an MP3 player would be to have all your music in one place. I would get tired of swapping out MP3 files to rotate my music as I gave up on making tapes a long time ago."
 
 Wco...I agree with that statement, but the amount of time I´ll be listening to Mp3´s on my phone is just during traveling or waiting periods. Using a 256 meg card will get me around 75-100 songs at a 128 bit rate so I´m cool with that. I won´t need to swap the songs out for a while at that rate.