Does Wireless Work Well? Need help.

[kerry_cleary]

I have read through 45 days worth of help me find a new phone, countless forums on different models and need some help.

The wife and I are 48. I am a programer and computer geek by profession and never use cell phones, but she does and is a master of them, as well as digital cameras. We currently have a basic 2yr old Motorola v180 and T-Mobile with 60min anytime and 500weekend. We are going to give th v180 to her 70yr old mom. I'd like to get her a new phone, but am not sure what to get.

Does the cell phone wireless internet/browsing work well or is it better left to our laptop? We looked at a T-Mobile Dash, but I am not sure just how functional it would be. She did seem to pick up the operation of this quickly.

In order of priorities, she would like a phone with (1) great clarity/usability as a phone with good battery life (2) a decent camera that will just store the photos so we can upload later to a PC, preferably with a flash card/reader (3) if it works well, reading email and basic browsing. She doesn't seem to care about music such as mp3/radio abilities on a phone.

Suggestions?

 

[rheukala]

Web browsing on a device like that is a different experience from on a laptop. it is definitely very useful, and enjoyable. If you are going someplace for a day or two, you would feel very comfortable leaving the laptop behind. it is also useful for quick browsing sesions during the day (though if you are a programmer you probably are at a computer all day) They are fantastic little computers, and as long as you are not expecting the same experience as a desktop you will be happy. The are also good phones with nice voice quality.
I would suggest the MDA especially if you are tech savvy. but the dash is a great choice too. My MDA is my only phone and I dont have any voice quality issues at all.