Hi all. I'm looking into buying a new cell phone. Been using the same Nokia 6160 for three years. It's pretty beat up, and last week I sat down in an airplane seat, caught the phone on the arm rest, and well... it took a minute to round up the pieces. Still works, but needs to go.

Anyway, I'm really interested in the gsm phones, Sony/Ericsson T68i and Motorola T720. Is anyone using either of these? I'm worried mostly about coverage. My job is pretty much 100% travel, but usually to urban areas. I'll be using AT&T service, as they have a tower near my house in great GSM coverage in my home area.

If I'm not in a GSM area, I get no service, correct? These phones can't do Digital or analog, right?

Any comments on usability, data download speeds, coverage, clarity, games, etc... would really help.

I may just by a cheapo Nokia for a year, until the coverage is better. Then again, I wouldn't mind locking in the current offer for double minutes on gsm plans.

Thanks!

 

Some friends of mine just switched over to the AT&T GSM service here in LA. They got the new Sony Erricson phone and it is awesome. The reception is much better, and the phone has much mire features. The only problem is with coverage in the area. Here in LA, AT&T hasn't switched completely over to GSM yet. The coverage is very spotty. If you are going to be traveling a lot, I'm not sure that GSM is for you. I don't think you're going to get good coverage around the US, at least not from AT&T.

 

I'm about to switch to AT&T GSM also!
I'm waiting for the Motorola T720i to become available later this month.
Also, they have a plan that is UNLIMITED calling within the US for $99/month.
You can lock that in for 2 years too!

 

I'm also with AT&T and looking at their GSM service...

I've heard great reviews of the Siemens S46. Not quite as flashy as the Sony/Eriksson, but will also connect to AT&T's TDMA network if you are out of a GSM area. I think that will be a key advantage over the next few years while AT&T builds up its GSM network. Right now AT&T's GSM network is tiny compared to their TDMA network. I believe the Siemens is the only AT&T GSM/TDMA phone.

It's also "free" right now, $99 plus a $99 rebate. AT&T will usually give you $50 good customer credit towards a purchase (in addition to the rebates) if you ask, so they will effectively pay you $50 to change to the less expensive GSM service. On which (with this phone) you can still use the TDMA network at no additional cost. Basically, a pricing loophole. $40 for 1,000 minutes, no long distance charges, inexpensive roaming!

Phones:
http://www.attws.com/mobileinternet/equipment.jhtml

Plans:
http://www.attws.com/mobileinternet/rateplans.jhtml

Third party phone reviews:
http://www.cnet.com/wireless/0-3366793-8-6...793-8-6618351-1

 

Thanks for the help. pfb, sounds like you have the master plan! LOL. KeithD has the Siemens phone, and he likes it alot. Looks like it's worth checking into.

 

I'm getting some more conficting info from AT&T today...

The local store told me that the great priced plans ($99 unlimited, $40 for 1,000 minutes) will work with the Siemens, but they will *not* allow the phone to go into the TDMA mode. The multi-band plans (it's amazing that they have a whole brochure on multi-band plans but only one phone that is actually a GSM multi-band...) do allow usage of both networks, but at non-promotional pricing.

 

I've been using GSM in my area (Miami, FL) for about 4 plus years now since Omnipoint was first in service. Since then Omnipoint was taken over by Voicestream, now known as T-Mobile. AT&T is also offering service in our area.

I don't know the details of the AT&T offerings, but right now I'm paying about $50 for my cell. It includes 600 minutes, unlimited nights and weekends with free long distance and free roaming. When I travel, I've been always able to connect to the local GSM Provider and go into "roam" mode. I've been to NYC, LA, San Francisco, New Orleans, Atlanta, Chicago and Seattle and had no problems, except for new Orleans, the service was spotty at best. Of course these are all major metro areas, so I'm not sure of other locations.

I would recommend a dual mode phone if you travel a lot. My friend from work has the Siemens, same as Keith's and he travels to Memphis all the time, and it does go into TDMA mode according to him. He has service through AT&T GSM.

 

jvils:

I just replaced my Nokia 6160 with a Motorola V70. If you are looking for a slick, compact GSM phone, this would be the one to get. I debated over the V70 and the Sony Errickson T68i but in the end, I went with the V70. I do not plan on taking any pictures with my phone-something that the T68i provides.

Other phones in our family include the Nokia 8310 and the Motorola V60c (not GSM), both which has performed up to their expectations.

Good luck with your decision.

Louie

 

T68I is hot!

 

The V70 has horrible reception, drops calls all over.
The T68 uses a lot of battery -- color screens will do that.
The Nokia 8890 is a solid performer with long battery life -- and the cool thing about Nokia's are that you can swap "business cars" with other Nokia phones.

GSM uses a semblence of TDMA as it's carrier protocol -- and all digital cellphones in the U.S. use the same spectrum, 900 or 1800MHZ, the issue with AT&T's GSM rollout is their weak buildout and alliances with other carriers that limits the areas of roaming and coverage. Still, AT&T has seen the future and they are replacing their TDMA infrastructure slowly. VoiceStream (who purchased, Omnipoint/Aerial/PowerTel/and a few others) already has a pretty good network deployed and roaming agreements with Cingular in markets they don't currently serve -- in general they have the best network, but the worst billing system (custom implemenation of AMDOCS Ensemble) that overbills a good chunk of their base -- and they do jack shit to resolve this. Credit that wonderfull trait to the old PowerTel folks who now run their billing operations.

When you think of GSM just think of a phone with a SIM card in it that can be swapped from phone to phone allowing the use of any GSM handset -- you are in effect your SIM card no matter what handset (IMEI) you use.

This handset independence is actually what makes GSM more interesting -- the standard allows for the grey / black / red listing of handsets so that they won't work on a given network if reported stolen, but so far no one has come up with a convenient means to do so across mulitple networks -- and as far as I can see no one will within the next few years. Stolen handsets all around!