Good phone for east coast travel? (Cingular)

A

alarebel6920012002

New member
I changed jobs at the beginning of the month and my company transferred my number to their corporate account. Before the change I had been using a V3, but it was over a year old and the battery was sort of shot, so they sent me out a new phone. Well they sent me out the not so great Nokia 6061.

I am looking to upgrade the 6061 to something better and something a little more unique. I live in Denver so obviously I?ll be using it in Colorado and when I travel I?ll be using it all across the eastern seaboard, but on occasion I?ll be using it in other parts of the country.

I am looking for a phone with:
-A straight phone, SMS text messaging and other standard features, I don?t need anything geared toward email, etc since I have a BlackBerry.
-Bluetooth
-Good reception
-Less than $400, I might go $500 if it was something really special
-Camera, this is more for novelty than a necessity so high resolution isn?t required
-Moderate size to small size, a little bit over or any amount under 120g
-Something not everyone is going to have, preferably but not necessary
-From a company with a strong presence in the US: Motorola, Samsung, Nokia, etc.

I?m still trying to learn about GSM so here are some questions. Since I am on Cingular do I need to make sure any phone that I buy operates on both the GSM 850 and GSM 1900 modes? If I buy an unlocked phone will I just need to drop in my sim card and all the features will be available or is there some manual programming/setup required to take advantage/be able to use all of the features? Are there any recommended sellers I should buy from? Is there a website or place on this forum that answers all these noobie questions?

Thanks for the help everyone.
 
If you like the V3 in terms of looks etc. then the V3i is the next step up in tech evolution. It has a better camera, MP3 player functionality and a microSD slot to expand the memory.

If you are tired of the RAZR look and want even better functionality, the W810i is a great choice. It has quadband, a really good 2.0 megapixel camera with LED flash and walkman MP3 player. The camera is good enough that it's a decent substitute to a standalone digital camera and with a large enough memory memory stick pro duo card (they go up to 4GB) it would be a great iPod shuffle/mini/nano replacement.
 
R U serious about that title..?? Whats the difference between east coast & west coast .. ?? What difference does it make what phone u have on the same network..??
 
Well I wanted to know if I had different phone options because maybe the east coast or the west coast is primarily using 1900mhz with none or hardly any 850mhz coverage, so then I could get a phone that was triband instead of quadband. Since it appears you have appointed yourself the critic of all thread titles does this explanation appease you?

Mobileobsession,

Thanks for the suggestion, I am kind of over the V3 since it seems like just about everyone has one these days, but it is a great phone. Have you had any experience with the LG CU500? I just saw this for the first time the other day and know nothing about anything LG aside from the Chocolate. Thanks.
 
There are a FEW states on the east coast that run ONLY 1900 and to my knowledge they are N and S Carolina. But there may be more.. But those i am 100% Positive on..

Not one time did i appoint myself (mentally) nor officially STATED that i appointed myself to be the critic on this forum so dont jump 2 conclusions...

Now bottom line is this, unless u live in those 2 states or live in a state than is 100% 1900 gsm... i would recommend a QUAD band phone to avoid any problems..!!
In my zip code / city, wireless advisor states 850 & 1900. I have a quad band phone and a 1900 tri-band phone. The quad phone is my personal phone and the tri-band 1900 phone is being used with my work issued cingular sim chip for trial purposes to see how the 1900 compares to the 850.
To make is short and sweet, both the 850 and 1900 are the same is most places, but not the same in other places.
I have seen SO MANY different issues between the 850 and 1900, that it would take a LONG paragraph to explain........
 
If Cingular is your provider and if you are in an Metro are that has 3G and are willing to pay extra for the data plan, then the CU500 is a really good choice because it's one of the only phones on the market that has quadband and 3G HSDPA. It also has camera and music functionality too, which is beginning to be the standard on mid to high tier phones.

Also if you are tired of the RAZR look, there's the KRZR K1 the narrow clamsshell cousin of the RAZR.

Although it is tempting to get a Euro (GSM 900) triband phone, if you are in North America, I do recommend getting at least a GSM 850 triband phone if not a quadband because it will greatly increase your coverage area in North america. The 850 band is primarily used to cover large rural areas in North America because it has a greater range (much like the 900 band is used in europe and other contries).

Even T-Mobile who does not have naitively have GSM850 service have roaming agreements with other providers in the US for 850MHz Coverage. I rememeber a trip to Vegas. For the whole week was roaming off of Cingular Network for the whole time, but much to my relief I didn't get hit with any extra roaming charges.
 
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