It's time to replace my worn out cell phone. We have AT&T which we are happy with. I'm trying to figure out what phone I'd like to get. Since I'm going to start traveling more, I'm thinking some type of smart phone. AT&T has a new "tilt" phone. It looks kind of cool. What do you guys have. Like, dislike?

I have a Motorolla Q, I really like it for having email etc... It does like to eat the batteries though. I had to buy the extended life battery almost immediately.

The software is much better than the BlackBerry, in my opinion.

John, I see it is GPS enabled. Does that mean it has a stand-alone gps function, or is it an extra monthly fee?

My dad gave me his Treo because he hated it. Now i hate it. Its cool for internet but other than that it sucks.

Apple has the best and is reducing prices on some of there models. Go to a Apple store in your area, they will help you select there products ... You can also use them connected to your Camaro :thumbsup:

I have the Treo with Sprint. Like Randy jackson on American Idol... it's "A'IGHT"

Dave keep in mind any extrs services will be extra charges to your bill. Some phones, I-Phone, Blackberry etc will cost you a much higher monthly just to be able to place calls. You need to know exactly what you will use your phone for and shop from there. Nice to have internet and e-mail when traveling but if you carry a laptop why pay extra for your monthly phone service when you can find free wireless almost everywhere these days. Same thing with many new phones, if you don't text message a lot, why pay a premium for a keyboard phone.

Stay as far away from the Treo as possible.
our Co. uses (soon to be used) them for 8 mos.
and they are JUNK...

mike

We bought #1 son an iphone for christmas, and I think he likes it a lot, at least it always seems to be in his hand.

He all ready had AT&T service, the ectra with the iphone was $15/per month to cover the internet access.

I have a motorola razr, I hate it, and it hates me. I have no idea how to do half the things it can do, and the "buttons" are perfectly smooth, you can't feel them to dial while you're driving. 'course they tell me I can "TELL" it what to do, but I don't know how to do that either.

The last time I accidently turned the speaker phone on, it took a tech support call to a very nice gentleman in Pakistan to get it off again!

I like phones that are just, well, phones.

I love my Treo 700P.

Next phone is the Blackberry Pearl. I need the BB service for work and hate carrying two phones.

If you need email for work then the BB is the only way to go.

Samsung just came out with a new phone, believe it's called the Black Jack. My sister has it and I'm envious. Looks alot like a palm pilot would, lots of people have them at school.

I have had the new BlackJack 2 (i617) since late last year. I carried the Motorola Q for two weeks prior to receiving the BlackJack and they are very similar. The Motorola Q has a much better speaker phone and is just a little larger. Another difference was the Q has DocView (I think) for viewing office documents and the BJ has mobile office. Battery life on my BJ has gotten better and it will now go 2 days, but I charge it nightly.

If I had to choose between the two, I'd go with wichever one is the cheapest unless a very good speaker phone is a primary feature for you. Note that the better speaker phone on the Q also translates into louder audio for playing tunes. The Q will pound out a tune compared to the BJ2. In an office environment, the Q cranked will disturb your neighbors while the BJ2 will only anoy the old cranky fart that complains about everything.

I haven't used the Tilt, but it does have a touch screen. It is also the thickest of the three with pretty much the same features as the Q or BJ2.

If you don't need corporate email, the iPhone may be a good choice. My boss has one and the browser is the best available on a phone. It is actually usable while the others are just frustrating.

Oh yeah, the Q, BJ, and (I believe) the Tilt have built in GPS and do not require a monthly subscription unless you want turn-by-turn directions. The iPhone does not have built in GPS.

Thanks for the input guys. My son has a blackjack and hates it. So far I've just been doing some reading on them. Tomorrow I think I'll stop by an AT&T store and take a look at them.

Dennis, I'm hoping to leave the laptop at home, if the phone will do my email and allow me to read the TC BB. :D

Perfect topic to keep going as we're also looking to upgrade our phones here.

I'm waiting for the new Android phones to come out this summer... it's the cell phone platform (linux-based) that Google put together, and they've got like 15 cell manufacturers that have bought into it. It's supposed spank the iPod, and have a ton of 3rd party apps available that work on any vendor's Android-based phone. It's supposed to become the Windows of mobile phones (unlike Windows Mobile that has 50 different versions/variations that are only partially compatible).

I've had a Treo 650 for going on 3 years. It does EVERYTHING, and doesn't do ANY of it very well. Actually the calendar sync with Outlook worked great until the company I work for got aquired, and we were forced to switch to Lotus Notes.

I've been looking into this for quite some time. I plan to upgrade to a smartphone later this year.

First: You need to look at www.brighthand.com and look in the forums. There is tons of info on this area over there.

Second: What do you really need? For my needs, I want a phone that is a GOOD PDA, a GOOD phone, and can at least read e-mail. Since I am a fan of Palm O/S, the number one pick for me is the Treo 680.

That being said, Palm is releasing a new O/S later this year that is supposed to be more user freindly than Windows currently is. The big difference is the calendar feature. The Palm version is superior to Windows right now.

Third: do you want a touch screen? If you do, then you want a Treo, Tilt, or iPhone. Remember that the iPhone is the most expensive, and requires all the features to be activated. You don't have to activate the web features on a Treo or Tilt.

I have had my iPhone for 10 months and it is by far the best phone I have ever used. The regular telephone features are excellent and the internet capabilities are very good on wifi and a little slower on AT&T's Edge network. Once you learn and become comfortable with the navigation features and typing, I think it is quicker and easier to use than a standard keyboard phone. Google Maps and an iPod are included and are nice extras to have. Upgrades are easy through Apple's iTunes website and the only time I had to call customer service for help, I got an english-speaking Apple representative in California who was friendly and solved my problem in about 5 minutes. That alone is worth considering the iPhone in my opinion.:thumbsup:

I have had my iPhone for 10 months and it is by far the best phone I have ever used.

In the past I've had a Razor, a Blackberry, and a Treo. For the last 9 months I've had the iPhone and I couldn't be happier. I do a lot of traveling for work, and to have one device that combines phone, e-mail, internet, maps, and iPod so seamlessly has been a real blessing for me.

I am biased beacuse I dont pay for my phones or service the Co. Picks it up. But I have a blackberry its OK My wife has an I Phone. I Love her I phone.

I went and played with several different phones today. I think I'm going with the Tilt. The size isn't that bad, but It's definitely heavier than any of the others I looked at, but with all the features I think I'll be able to leave my laptop at home.

I'll let you know how I like it after I've had it a while. AT&T has a 30 day return/exchange policy, so that gives me a good opportunity to try it out.

I myself am coming up on my new every two... and the competetion is pretty stellar.

I wholeheartedly agree with Dennis. One needs to weigh out what is really their pre-req's are with any device. With that being said... I have it narrowed down to one phone, but two different carriers. Verizon and T-Mobile.

Verizon... I have been a faithful customer for going on twenty years now... and they just love to throw deals at me all the time. So... they have a little clout over the next guy.

T-Mobile... WOW. Talk about some late model technology. Their new 'HotSpot' ability/service is going to make other carriers cringe. Basically, any and everywhere there is Wi-Fi... your call are free. The airport, Starbucks... just walking down the street... is free. Anytime you originate a call Wi-Fi and go out of the RF boundry it switches over to GSM... and its still free. Not to mention that you can get a proprietary Linksys wireless router (which is free after rebate)... then all of your calls at the house are free. Oh yeah... and its only $9/mo... not $29 like the other carriers. Oh wait... none of the other carriers have this ability. And... their service is more affordable than other carriers.

Now the phone(s)...

I first started out looking at the Motorla Q... and then I educated myself. In summation... no. The barrery life issues, Windows Mobile lock-up and up date issues... and the scroll wheel idea is lame. And no Wi-Fi... which is something that is going to effect the wireless industry here in the next year or so. It is also the prime operating system that is the most vulnerable and subject to viruses.

Next was the Iphone. Its a neat little toy... but that is about all. That and its limited to one carrier and their service is less than stellar. It also doesnt do what I need such a device to do... and it is expensive... and having no keyboard is a major limitation. Perfect for the keep up with the Jones' out there.

I played with the STM5800, the Tilt, the VX6800, the SCHi760 and various Palms... the 5800/6800's and the Palm's were the biggest waste of time. With the 5800/6800's... it didnt matter if the touch pad was locked... it would do things on its own... and the screen locks at the most inconvient times, when switching from the outside keypad to the key board. Worst off is the Palm. I dont even see how Palm is still even in the market... honestly. Slow, clunky and a stylus ?? That is a PITA to begin with. Pretty neat five years ago... but get with the times people...

Crackberry.

First was the 8830 World. Good device, solid attributes and a solid, very proven performer. It was holding promise... but lacks some bells and whistles that are not pre-req's with myself... but would be nice to have. The only other thing was that the key board was a little tight.

Next was the Pearl. Same as above... but it is geared towards the classic consumer market and the keyboard is so small that unless you have little girly hands... you'll be editing your input more than anything else.

Lastly was the Curve. Smaller than the 8830, better keyboard than the Pearl, more useable options, Wi-Fi, camera that the 8830 lacked and all the software and ability that I needed. My pre-req's were the ability to open, read and edit various file types... live sat weather radar imaging... GPS... 8/16G of memory... mail push w/Microsoft Sync and nine other accounts at the same time... it does all the multi media things that I need and being part of Blackberry's proprietary network... no viruses, solid stability, security with VPN capability, tethered ability... and everything else is gravy. It even sports a 2MP camera... which isnt a necessity, but it is nice to be able to point, shoot and send within seconds.

I have had my hands on each of these for roughly thirty days each to play around with.

And the winner is... the Curve. I'll give Verizon theri 30 days... and if the service doesnt live up to their boasting... "Its all about the network"... I'll be switching to T-Mobile pronto. Just using the Curve on the T-Mobile network/hotspot/wi-fi was possibly the most impressive thus far. Not to mention that they are cheaper than Verizon... and with the wi-fi abundance here in Vegas... my bill is sure to be cut by one third.

I was down to the curve or the tilt. What pushed me to the tilt was 3g, touchscreen and wifi, which, unless I'm wrong, the curve does not have with AT&T. Also the camera is 3 mp vs. 2.

Have you ever seen that Verizon commercial "Can you her me now?" well the company where I work builds a mobile system which measures network performance and coverage. We sell systems to ALL the major service providers. The system: http://agilent.com/find/e6474a runs on a standard laptop. Connect a GPS antenna, phones and a receiver then plug into a cig lighter and drive around (drive-testing). The system captures all of the key measurement parameters and displays tehm on a map (just like a car navagation system) . Its pretty cool and the BIG questions i always getn are: "Who has the best coverage and What is the best phone". Unfortunately, the answer is "It Depends" IF you live in or near a big city, all the services are fairly equal. However, its the "fringe" areas (out in the country) which seperate the service providers. Every area is different so the best is to talk to LOCAL folks as you cannot compare city to city.

Now to the phones (so many choices) but it really depends on what your use case is - are you a data guy (internet, file transfers, etc) or strictly voice use (yaking on the phone). Again, talk with LOCAL folks because it depends on the area and the type of service you want. Nokia and LG phones are very reliable. Personal preference is yours.

Here's Jeano since his company downsized and took away most of his real hi-tech equipment so they could sell it to boost stock dividends...

http://mobilementalism.com/imageSnag/1184-46b65122c3517.jpg

"Can you hear me now?" ;)

Well, as of today....I wouldn't suggest a Nokia :)

OK - that is funny!