Best phone available for AT&T GSM?

K

Kunmui

New member
Hi All,

I'm in sort of a different predicament, and would like advice from anyone else who may have made a similar decision, or has any advice. Thanks.

I've been with AT&T since 97, and always had pretty good treatment. I have maintained my AT&T GSM service on a Nokia 6200 until this time. Obviously with the Cingular buyout, the service has suffered, and I'm not sure I want to transition over to a new Cingular account and Cingular phone. Plus, I currently have a good plan, including the nights and weekends starting at 7pm (does anyone even offer this anymore???) and can't find a better plan with any carrier. So I'm thinking I'll just stay with it (my contract ends in August) as long as I can, or until there is a better plan for me out there.

So I'm thinking of just staying with AT&T as long as I can. My issue is that I want a new phone, and they have pretty much stopped making the tri-mode GSMs that work with the AT&T SIM cards. Or at least that's the impression I'm under. I'm looking for recommendations of the best phone out there that I can swap my current SIM card to and just stay on my plan.

Any suggestions? I've always been partial to the Nokia bar phones, as they are very user-friendly and I text a lot. But I'd be willing to look at a flip, I suppose, if it's a good phone. I've been looking at the Nokia 6820 and the Sony Ericsson Z520A for starters. Basically I just want a solid phone that's easy to use, good reception, good sound, good features (nothing flasy), and small size. Can I get any tri-mode Cingular phone and just unlock it? I seem to think that there is some difference in the types of SIM cards. What is the best way to tell what phones will still be compatible with AT&T? What are the newest phones out there that are compatible? Best? Worst?

Any suggestions/answers/feedback are much appreciated! Thanks!

Tim
Portland, OR
 
Ok Tim. The first thing you need to do is stop thinking that the only phones you can get are ones offered by your carrier. If you go online you can buy many different tri and quad band GSM phones that are "factory" unlocked (or so they claim). Most of the good phones are only available in Europe or Asia and you might prefer them over what you can get in the US.

Get yourself a new phone that way. You'll pay for it, but you'll be happier than you would be with a new plan. Also, an unlocked GSM phone will work with either T-Mobile or Cingular/AT&T (not Verizon or Sprint). It also works with the regional GSM carriers.

IF (and I say IF) you buy a new phone that will not accept your old AT&T SIM, contact your carrier and tell them your SIM has failed and request a replacement. The old SIMs were 5 Volt versions. If memory serves me right, the new ones are 3 Volts. They will probably replace it with no hassles. Since you have a Nokia 6200, you should be able to transfer all the SIM contacts the phone, plug in the new SIM and transfer them back to the SIM again.

To give you some piece of mind, my old VoiceStream (TMobile) card is about 4-5 years old. It works just fine with every GSM phone I've put it into (and that is well over a hundred different phones).

As for actual phone models, I prefer music, Bluetooth and good RF performance. I don't care about the cameras. The phone in my pocket is the ROKR E1 and I'm happy with it. Nokia has some phones that play music, but I can't think of a new model that is geared toward it as the main experience like the ROKR or Sony Ericsson Walkman models. My last phone was the Nokia 6680, but it's music experience wasn't too good and it only came with a 64MB memory card (not the 512MB in ROKR).

Tango Uniform
 
Thank you for a very insightful reply.

This has been my biggest issue, is not understanding what phones are available to me. I know that I can get unlocked phones, but I was just unsure as to if there were some restrictions on what phones would work with my SIM card and/or carrier. And your post seems to have addressed that.

So as I understand it, there are two types of tri-mode phones out there; the 850/1800/1900 mhz, and the 900/1800/1900 mhz. The latter is more of an intl/TMobile phone, as Cingular/AT&T use the 1900 and commonly the 850 mhz signals. So I want to just find an unlocked GSM phone that operates on those frequencies (850/1800/1900), and my SIM card should just lock and load. Right?

Thanks also for your suggestion on the phones. I'm not as concerned about the music (or camera, for that matter), but I'm going to look into the ROKR.

Thanks again. Cheers.

Tim
 
Any unlocked phone with at least the 850/1900 band will be sufficient. Those are the only band ATT/Cingular/T-Mobile use in the USA. So any GSM phone you can find that has at least those 2 bands and is not locked to a carrier (ie unlocked) will work just fine. You might have to input the settings for SMS/MMS/WAP yourself, but most mfg of cell phones have options on their support website to send these settings to you thus eliminating the need for you to input them manually.
 
I was in a similar situation with one of my phones. I was hanging on to my old AT&T account because my night minutes started at 7 pm also. I was able to upgrade my phones by purchasing unlocked ones online. However when Cingular came up with the $7/7PM plan (additional 7 bucks a month will start your night minutes at 7pm) the currents plans (even with the additional 7 bucks) made more sense so I made the switch and went over to the dark side. This way I was able to take advantage of the rollover option which wasn't available thru AT&T. (When you really think about it, what is the true cost of your minutes if they just expire at the end of the month with AT&T)
Good luck with your desicion!
 
Wow, I didn't know about the $7/7pm deal. When was that? Do you think it's still available? If so, I could basically get the same plan (900 peak, unlimited n&w, unlimited m2m) but with rollover, for $7 more a month. Plus get a cheaper phone out of the deal. Interesting.

If I could get a SE W600i or a Nokia 6230i out of the deal for free, I would probably switch over. But to pay more per month, lock into a new 2 year contract, and still have to ante up at least $150 for a phone? Not sure it's worth it. As it is, I don't go over my minutes, so I'm not as enticed by the rollover. But I definitely thank you for the suggestion. Food for thought...

Speaking of the SE W600i and the Nokia 6230i, these are the two I am most closely looking at now. Anyone know (first of all) if the 6230i is available with the 850/1900 yet? Everywhere I find it it says 900, but http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=698 lists it with an 850 option. And where I can get either of them cheaper that $300?
 
I am also a cingular blue customer, but I am on a business account. When I want to upgrade my phones, which I have done several times, I call 611 on my phone, ask what phones are available and how much they will cost, and they send my choice to my house and put the charge on my monthly bill. I don't know for sure if a regular account will work the same, but I assume it would be similar. My last upgrade was a few months ago so I don't know what phones are available at the moment, but back then I could get %75 of the the phones on their website including the razr and the v551.
 
As far as I know the "Extended Nights and Weekends" is still being offered. Here is a link for it:

http://www.cingular.com/customer_service/common_777

You should probably go thru the motions of purchasing a new phone online from Cingular and make sure it is offered in your area/zip code.

I have no experience with SE phones but my sis-in-law has the Nokia and she loves it. I guess the RF performance is outstanding (which is somewhat typical for Nokias) and very easy to operate.

Good luck with your desicion.
 
Thanks gunar, you have been very helpful.

BTMAB - that must be different for business customers. The last time I called cust svc, I was told that any new phone I got from Cingular would necessitate me changing plans, since the new phone would have a Cingular SIM card. And they certainly didn't offer me 75% off of anything!
 
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