I think the Sony Ericsson W600i to the right is a very cool phone. It's gotten great reviews, is small, can store some music along with working as a phone, and is a reasonable price. However it's got one small flaw.
It's a Sony product.
After their debacle with the rootkit, I'm committed to not buying their products. So that one's out.
I checked with Cinglar and I saw they have the Razr in black which is a very cool phone. I mean, after all the commercials and holding one in my hand, I like the size, weight, and feel. I'm not thrilled with the flip format, as I prefer a candy bar or a slider, but hey, I've had a Motorola for a year now and I've gotten used to it. But I don't like the interface, which is slow and not intuitive for me, and the synch with my PC isn't that smooth. I'm still considering it, but it's not on top of my list.
My wife has a Sidekick and I got her a Sidekick II for Christmas. She loves them, but she does more data work than I, especially using the chat feature for work. I don't really chat very much, and I don't really care about data or browsing , or really even a camera. Mostly I want to synch my phone book and (very few) appointments easily and just have a rock solid phone.
So I'm looking for suggestions. I really like Nokia phones because the interface is great, they synch easily WITHOUT a special kit that costs $29.99 or $59.99, and I've had great luck with them. I'm considering grabbing an old Nokia 6820 as I used to have a Nokia 6800, great story as to how I lost that one. Remind me to write about it. That phone made it easy to enter appointments as well as contacts, the interface was outstanding, synch easy, etc.
The LG the V also looks cool. I like the cool factor as I've rarely had a "cool phone". At least one to make my 13 year old jealous :)
So I'm wondering what phones you like out there. Ones that have good battery life, good sound because I'm somewhat deaf, good PC synch, and a quick, intuitive interface. Don't care about a camera or video, etc. Mostly I just want a good phone that acts as a modern phone.
Steve Jones
I'm a big fan of the i-mate K-Jam (it may be called something different in the US) - in fact I'm a fan of Windows Mobile devices in general.
People talk about music playing phones which is all well and good but what's a music playing phone? At the end of the day its just some a hard/flash drive and some multimedia software. All Windows Mobile devices have all that and more.
I've got a Virtual Earth client on it which is very cool - well it will be when Virtual Earth covers places other than the US
Its got MSN Messenger so I'm never off that - which may be a good or a bad thing depending on your opinion!
I can check my email on it which I like very much!
I use it to sync my work contacts list with my personal contacts list.
I'm getting a bluetooth GPS unit and TomTom software which means my phone can be a sat nav device as well as a phone, mp3 player, MSN Messenger client, VE client and whatever other gubbins you want to load onto it.
Other stuff worth looking at is the i-mate JasJar (don't know how it is branded in the US) which is like a mini-laptop, or the upcoming Motorola Q which looks very cool.
Of course, if you don't want an all-singing, all-dancing phone and instead just want something that looks very cool you should ignore this and get a RAZR!!!
-Jamie
Nokia 6230i because it is a Nokia (after having various phones we vote them the best) hence the various chargers, headsets etc are widely available and mainly the same for all that brand.
It takes standard multimedia cards (MMC) for storing music, pictures etc and these can be bought in various sizes and usually slot into the laptop for quick transfer of mp3 files etc.
It has a good camera with zoom and various modes producing respectable picture quality
The interface software is good, synchronising with Outlook easily so contacts and calendars are easily kept up to date. I use the infra red link but bluetooth and data cable also available. The software is downloadable and maintained so it's worth checking for a later version before installing from the supplied cd.
I'm really pleased with mine and I'm not a gadget nut, they are just tools, but this does a great job.
I like the looks of the RAZR very much but others' comments above would put me off! That and the fact Motorolla make it!
I'm a PDA phone fan myself, and a Sony one at that, so I'm going to plead both their cases. I understand concerns after the rootkit issue, but they really do make good phones (I also hate Motorollas as they've just never done it for me, and Nokias haven't been great for me in the past, and other brands have failed to impress).
I've had a Sony Ericsson P900 for the past 18-20 months, and when I upgrade I'll be getting the newer version of that. It's got a small flip panel with access to a touch screen that you use with a stylus, and can do everything through that, or you can do everything through the keypad with the flip closed. You can also permanently remove the flip and only use the touch screen if you want (it can be replaced but you use a supplied tool to get it on and off). It has a Memory Stick Duo slot which I have a 128Mb stick in, which does me fine. Copying files to the PC is easy by Bluetooth or just taking the memory stick out (you can hot-swap when the phone's on unlike a lot of phones), and sync is easy too with the docking station & software that comes in the box with the phone.
It runs on Symbian (which many don't like but I have no probs with), and does everything I need - phone with good address book, calendar/planner and other common PDA functions, MP3 player (just plug in the supplied handsfree headphones and switch on the music player) and camera functions. If it doesn't have something you want, there are plenty of free Symbian applications you can install on it.
Battery gives about 10 days standby and a fair few hours talk time, and is still performing well after 18-20 months of use. Takes a couple of hours to charge and I just stick it on charge normally twice a week.
I've just checked SE's US website and the nearest equivalent you guys can get is the (slightly better) P910a, which also has a keyboard inside the flip panel.
I just got my 15 year-old son a Motorola MpX-220 (his choice). Uses MiniSD to store video and audio files and he is really happy with it. It uses Windows Media Player for music and video files. Cool for kids
Personally, I would go for one of the Blackberry devices. Windows PocketPC, Outlook, IE, PocketWord, touch screen, the works. The lower-end models are comparable in price with the MpX-220 (it cost $149 after $50 rebate--I hate rebates!). Ultra-cool for adults
Dan
I am from the UK and to be honest I have never been a fan of motorola Phones, they seem primitive compared to other manufacturers and the people I know that have had a RAZR are not impressed many stories of issues with them.
I used to be a Nokia fan and had them for many years the first being a very old brick type phone (cannot remember the model, but was an early business phone). My last two phones have been Samsungs and I think they are great, many features and easy to use, I currently have a D500 which is fantastic, never crashes, decent camera and features and can hold 200 texts in memory ideal as it allows me to monitor how many I have sent and also what I have send when I am drunk. My contract is up soon and I am looking at upgrading to a D600 which is even more feature packed than the D500.
Personally I would not go back to Nokia and would not touch a Motorola, I am a converted Samsung man, and it is well worth looking at what they have on offer in the US.
