Whats up?  I may be getting another cellular phone but cant make up my mind on what to get.  I have a Motorola Startac now, but may have to disconnect it.  I might be switching cellular companies and the one i am thinking about does not use the startac.  Any suggestions or comments?  Thanks

The Nokia 71xx has a modem built in, uses IR, has analog, sort of a lite PDA.
SSD

Samsung 8500 or Sanyo 4500

I've never used a startac so I can't make a direct comparison, but my wife and I both have Nokia 8260's we're quite happy with.

The thing I like about them is that the sound quality is pretty good and the battery life is just phenomenal. I can't stand having to constantly charge a cellphone.

I leave mine on all the time and it easily goes for about a week on one charge. It's compact with no antenna so it fits in pocket and I don't have to dangle it off my belt like something from an old Batman episode.

The only downside to this is that once a few weeks ago my wife washed a pair of my shorts with the phone in the pocket.

I noticed it was missing after it had been completely through the washer and then into the dryer for about 10 minutes. I took it out and completely disassembled it, then rinsed everything with DI water, dried it at 50C for an hour and put it back together. Works great.

(Even got rid of the lint that was inside of the case!)

I had an Ericsson 2-3 years ago and wasn't very happy with it. Poor sound quality and battery life, plus I had to have it replaced once when it just stopped working for no apparent reason.

Please mention what carrier you will be going to.

Randy

My wife's happy with an Ericson R289 that she got with a $100 rebate and AT&T service at $30/month.  The Nokia has a silent vibrate function. Stay away from Sprint, they say they have a nationwide digit system, but they have lots of problem with it.

I've had a Sanyo 4000 for a year and a half and it had been flawless.

I have been with Sprint for 3 years and have no reason to switch out to another carrier. I have been using the Motorola Timeport (startac in silver) for a year. I had to replace my Sanyo 3500 phone when I lost it. The motorola definately improved my reception a little more then the sanyo got. I paid $200 for the phone new with phone book sync software, cable, and sprint dialup software and cable. Signed up for the insurance plan, and got the newer model with multi color lcd when I broke the antenna on my last phone. No costs incurred getting the replacement. Service has been outstanding, even on 9/11 I was able to make and receive calls when all the carriers were going down or blocking calls. Just in the past few months I finally got digital signal inside my home. For years at least 1 mile around my home has a been a dead zone. If you look at sprint, check radio shack and some of the other stores that resell. Around the holidays they run incentives, could be cheaper phone prices or rebates on service plans. If not check the [url]www.sprintpcs.com[/url] for promos.

SPRINT PCS sucks ass.  I've got a samsung 8500 and it's constantly dropping calls and saying signal failed and sprint claims that the houston area is one of their best areas.

I used to have sprint digital here in tulsa about 4 years ago, it sucked ass. My friend just got it, it still sucks ass, same cut-outs in voices, dead spots, dropped calls, no rings and we're like jadams said about houston, one of the bigger and oldest (most improved upon?) sprint systems. BS!

Ive been with Sprint PCS now for about 3 years and couldnt be happier with it. I dont even have a home phone since I hooked up with Road Runner for my computer.

BKVic

Before you decide check out Nextel. WWW.NEXTEL.COM. Great system with the cell service, pager, and 2 way radio service, all in one unit.

My experience with the Nokia 8260 is the same - great battery life, great sound quality, and the size is unbelievably small, which I find convenient.

The only drawback I can think of is there is no IR or data port, so I can't synchronize phone numbers with my PC.

I am currently with cingular wireless.  I am thinking about going to voicestream or maybe even suncom.    Thanks for the replies

I have AT&T service and the Panasonic DuraMax indestructible phone.  This phone is OK but the software is not nearly as good as the nokia.  There are no games and no calculator.  Plus it's got an antenna and it's a little bigger than the tiny Nokias.  I'm getting a Nokia 8260 this week and selling my Duramax.

If I were you I'd get the little Nokia and be happy.  Just don't leave it in your shorts when you wash them!

crash.

Anyone in Northern VA / DC area have a suggestion? Phone and Carrier.  I'd like to use the cell phone down to Richmond and out to west of Harrisonburg VA.

I agree with Sprint bashers. Poor reception, lost calls, messages left when out of service may take 3 or more days to show up or never...
You can be on a call with full reception power and the call drops out.
I've heard that Nextel service is great, that will be my next choice.

I currently have this. Very cool. Its web enabled. Has a calendar. A to do list with alarms. A reminder with alarm. Keeps 100 numbers. Voice recognition. Of course Sprint is the only one that carries this phone and their CustSvc dept sucks. But they have a reliable service so I don't have to deal with their CS so much.

Hey guys, I try not to do this but I've got to vent. [-!-] CELLULAR ONE IS A POS COMPANY!!!!![-!-]  I've been pulling my hair out for three weeks trying to get them to fix my phone.  I bought a phone with the hands-free kit and the 3-watt booster for my car from those A-HOLES about four years ago.  The set up cost me almost $1000, and because of the expense of the booster($600-$700), the sales person advised me to carry their Cellular-Guard insurance.  Well, I've been paying them ever sense; I even had the system repaired under insurance about 2-years ago.  Well, now my phone and associated hardware has died, and when I go to make a claim on the insurance they try to screw me.  I have dealt with their insurance company (MERRIMAC) and Cellular One and have gotten the run around from everybody; of the 4-5 agents @ the insurance company NOBODY knew what their policy was.  I was sent a replacement phone(it was a refurbished with an aftermarket battery that didn't work straight out of the box) and two hands-free kits.  I shipped the whole pile of crap back to them and told them I would let Cellular One handle the claim.  The last person I talked to was the customer service rep. @ Cellular One who assured me that they would get in touch with the insurance company and straighten things out, but when I finally got in touch with her(she dodged me for two days), she said that the insurance company had decided that my phone was obsolete and refused to pay.  I don't recall them sending me my money back, telling me my phone was no longer covered and terminating my policy!!! I'm off from work tomorrow and I'm going down there and one way or another I am going to get some satisfaction.  END OF RANT-[pissed]

Thanks Guys

If I ever go postal it'll be in a Sprint office, Hewlett-Packard office, or out on a golf course looking for leaf blower guys.

Sprint sucks! Customer Care line is always busy.Avoid Sprint.

I had Cingular Wireless(CellularOne) using a Nokia 5120. Cingular Wireless' reception sucked even after when I exchanged the phone. It wasn't the phone, just the service itself.
I now use AT&T wireless service using the new R300XL from Ericsson. The phone cost $50 and I got a $80 rebate with 2yr agreement. So I got the phone free and actually made $30. The reception is much better. The phone has no external antenna(uses an internal antenna) and has some cool features my Nokia didn't have like vibrate alert and voice-activated dialing.
The only thing I liked about the Nokias was the large selection of famous songs for ring sounds you could have programmed into it.
The price of AT&T wireless service in my area is currently running at $39/mo for 400 prime time mins, unlimited nights(8pm-7am)mins and unlimited weekend usage and also has free long distance. Caller ID, Voicemail and Call-Forwarding also included.

[b]ArmaLiter[/b]