Getting a new phone
What a pain…
So I have a Blackberry on T-Mobile right now, that was paid for through SOE. I have switched the billing over to me and I am keeping the number, but I am going to give the actual phone back. And Kristen’s cell is on Sprint.
I still want to have international capability (which Sprint mostly seems not to). I still want to be able to check my email and browse the Web. I figure, short of switching to yet another carrier, my best bet is the T-Mobile MDA. Reviews look… well… middling. Fairly consistent complaints of poor reception, but I’ve found the Blackberry’s reception is often iffy too. But it’s a quad-band phone that you can check email and browse on, which makes for a vanishingly small set of choices.
Looking at other phones, it’s basically a Treo (which isn’t on T-Mobile anyhow) or the newer Blackberry. I always had problems with my Blackberry, never having succeeded at getting it to download software or firmware, and the sync software would often crash in the middle of syncing phone numbers to my PC.
After more research, I determine that even if I eliminate carrier as a consideration, pretty much half the phones on the list are the same phone: built off the same reference design as the MDA. At that point, I figure why bother going through the extra hassle of switching carriers? T-Mobile has good international support… the best reviewed version of all of them is Sprint’s, but it isn’t an international phone.
So, I figure I’ll just do the upgrade through T-Mobile. But T-Mobile’s upgrade site is down. I visit two T-Mobile stores, and one of them hasn’t been trained in how to activate phones, and the other has a waiting list for MDAs that is at least a half-dozen people long. Ordering it elsewhere doesn’t get me upgrade pricing and is way more money. Plus I can’t easily transfer my current billing to it.
Grumble.
17 Responses to “Getting a new phone”
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OT: I’m attempting to e-mail you, but I’m receiving the following error: “503 valid RCPT command must precede DATA”. That error usually indicates a client-side problem (i.e., setting the flag “Log on to incoming mail server before sending mail” in Outlook); however, I can send e-mail to domains other than raphkoster.com and your ISP e-mail address.
I actually just got a new phone from sprint recently. First off the guys at the store didnt even set it up right and I had a 000-000-0025 number. Then I had to go to another sprint store to transfer my contact list over to my new phone. Lots of pain. I cant wait for a game company to add Ventrillo or TeamSpeak to their portable game machines. The day that happens I wont ever use a cell phone again hah.
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I am really happy with Cingular myself although I don’t try to do stuff like getting email on the phone. I’m in India this week and we are getting signal even in some of the rural areas so that seems to speak well of Cinular’s international capabilities. Have you checked out their phones?
lol..
phone woes.
I really like my MDA. Have no problems with reception that weren’t also evident in my Blackberry. Plus, if you sync to an Exchange 2003 Server you get that familiar Blackberry email feature WITHOUT additional licensing.
If you go to Palm’s website you can buy an unlocked quad-band GSM Treo 650. Just insert your T-Mobile SIM card in it and voila!
Well, the good case for sticking to T-Mobile is that then I can get upgrade pricing on the phone. 🙂
The MDA is the same phone. These phones are made by HTC in Taiwan then rebranded by carriers and distributers round the world. Think it is their magician phone (and in fact the phone itself is part of a family of MDA like phones).
I have an iMate K-JAM on T-Mobile. It’s not a supported T-Mobile phone but I had the iMate pda2k before this and it’s never seemed to be an issue, so you might want to look into iMate’s line.
Oh, It looks like the MDA is the same as the K-JAM too! I’ve not really had any problems with it, but I don’t use it for email much.
Gah… Raph, reading your description of the maze you’re venturing through reminds me of why I am a cell-phone avoider. My eyes started glazing over about halfway through your blog. And I thought the Betamax vs. VHS war was bad….
Hi, Regarding phones, what about one of them Blackberry Mike style phones?
And if you need international.. depending what ocean you cross would be weather it’s cheaper to buy overseas or not. I’m fairly certain northamerica has unified grid… If you are in a compatible network.. you know analog digital x type.
Where internationally might you want to go? Don’t these phones have the smart cards?
I have my MDA, but haven’t gotten it to sync email correctly. It says that Outlook is not my default email client (even though it is) and then when I try to sync, it seems to just sit there forever with no progress indicator. Grumble.
Ah, it was the firewall. All sorted and synced now.
I am about to return to the US, and I am likewise pondering what to do, phone-wise, as I will have to leave my Australian carrier, and I currently want to slam my defective Motorola phone against a wall repeatedly until it makes horrible crunching noises.
Windows Firewall FTL?