I need a new phone

Monday, July 18, 2005

The folks at Brightpoint—Nokia’s service centre near Dairy Circle—regretfully informed me today that my 6600 is beyond repair, and since it’s past the one year warranty period, I’m not getting a replacement. The instrument has been in their possession for nearly two months now.

However, since Nokia thankfully provides insurance for the second year, I’m told I can file a claim and expect to get back about 75%. I’ve been phoneless and enjoying the peace all this while, but the pressures of a working life demand I be more accessible.

Ergo, I’m in the market for a new phone. I want a smartphone, user extensible, no stylus, should have a reasonably functional calendar, to do list manager and notepad. Budget 20±5k. I hear the 6630 6680 finally gets it right. Any recommendations?

teemus — Jul 18, 2005 4:18:44 PM — # ↩

6681.
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 18, 2005 5:35:35 PM — # ↩
  
  Thanks! That looks good. One dealer I just visited said the 6630 isn't selling very well and is likely to be phased out soon.
  - teemus — Jul 18, 2005 5:38:34 PM — # ↩
    
    Or if you like two cameras, the 6680. :D
    - Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 18, 2005 11:36:24 PM — # ↩
      
      Any idea what it costs? The 6680 definitely looks good.
      - teemus — Jul 19, 2005 12:01:51 AM — # ↩
        
        26k for 6680. 21k for 6681.
        
        Disclaimer: These prices are over a month old, so you may get the phones cheaper.
        
        Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 19, 2005 12:09:21 AM — # ↩
        
        Is the 6681 like 6680 minus 1? For some reason Nokia's comparison site is utterly slow right now. Dad or bro must be doing a heavy download.
        
        26k is budget boundary, so this is looking good. :-)
        
        teemus — Jul 19, 2005 12:13:18 AM — # ↩
        
        AFAIK, 6681 is the 6680 minus the front camera and video-conferencing features.
        
        Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 19, 2005 11:10:41 AM — # ↩
        
        I just got a quote for 22k for the 6681. Bargain time!
      - teemus — Jul 19, 2005 12:02:33 AM — # ↩
        
        My cousin got a 6680 but had to return it as the firmware was crapping out. Just make sure you get a stable piece.
gromhellscream — Jul 18, 2005 4:55:20 PM — # ↩

Treo 650 I think its available for 27 or 29k.
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 18, 2005 5:16:29 PM — # ↩
  
  What about warranty? Treo has a history of manufacturing defects.
  - achitnis — Jul 18, 2005 5:53:04 PM — # ↩
    
    Not manufacturing - firmware defects. Luckily fixable through firmware updates.
    
    From a usability perspective, you may find the Treo 650 more flexible.
    
    If you ask my opinion - smartphones suck. Bad phones, bad PDAs. Too much of a compromise. And that aplies to both PalmOS and Wince based phones.
    
    YMMV, of course.
    - Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 18, 2005 6:10:41 PM — # ↩
      
      The 6600 was a good phone but left much to be desired as a PDA. It did, however, do an acceptable job of note taking, which is my primary requirement in a PDA. Since I have limited pocket space (too many gadgets already), I can't consider separating PDA and phone functions -- I'll live with a crippled PDA.
      
      The thing that worries me about the Treo 650 is, I've already lost two phones in two years, both deaths shortly following respective warranties, so I'm not comfortable plonking good money on a device with a reputation for dying easily, unless it's backed with local warranty.
      - madhav — Jul 18, 2005 7:07:15 PM — # ↩
        
        I'm curious about the Treo 650 too. I'll be tracking this thread for a while :)
      - achitnis — Jul 19, 2005 12:05:42 AM — # ↩
        
        Which was the other phone that died on you?
        
        I am not comfortable with having a compromise device, and paying a high price for it, and then things dying on you. My current setup is a rock solid (and cheap - 9K) Nokia 6021 and a reasonably cheap Palm Tungsten T3. I have had the T3 for the past year, and am on my third phone since then.
        
        I think the concept of a smartphone reducing space requirements is *vastly* overrated in real life.
        
        I dont have to hold both units to use them - the 6021 is usually in my pocket (its really small - as small as the SE 610/630), while the T3 is in my hand when I use it (else in the shirt pocket). The two connect via Bluetooth, so I am not actually working with one huge device, but two small/slim ones.
        
        And if one dies, I still have the other, so it is not a total loss.
        
        Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 19, 2005 12:16:25 AM — # ↩
        
        SE T68i. The one I went to press about, ending with the distributor writing to apologise for the shoddy service, but not fixing it anyway (they too held on to the phone for two months while it was within warranty, and then refused to help when the replacement instrument died a few days post warranty).
        
        About the combination: I'm more comfortable dealing with one piece of all-in-one bulk in my pocket, especially when packing light like for an evening walk (which is usually also a thinking+voice memo walk).
        
        I think I'll pick up a cheap 2k phone for backup should this new instrument die on me too.
        
        acmurthy — Jul 19, 2005 8:03:46 AM — # ↩
        
        Much cheaper now actually (around 7-8K)... I'm seriously considering N6021 now, especially with Airtel's EDGE services starting to pick up... and the best part is that you aren't paying for a cheapass VGA camera with it... phew!
        
        madhav — Jul 21, 2005 5:15:41 PM — # ↩
        
        Global Access is selling it for about Rs 6400. Sounds like a good deal.
        
        As of this moment in time, anyway.
        
        gromhellscream — Jul 20, 2005 6:03:40 AM — # ↩
        
        Personally I totally agree with atul's view here.. My main concern with smart phones is well single battery. If I use it as a phone a long time then my I can't use it as a pda for long cause the battery is going to get drained:-\.. The reason why I have a similar setup now a Nokia 6021 and a Tapwave Zodiac2 for a pda:)..
    - deepix — Jul 19, 2005 12:53:27 PM — # ↩
      
      If you ask my opinion - smartphones suck. Bad phones, bad PDAs. Too much of a compromise.
      I think similarly. I bought Nokia 2600 in March and am happy with it ever since. For
appaji — Jul 18, 2005 9:14:53 PM — # ↩

An iPAQ?
- appaji — Jul 18, 2005 9:18:11 PM — # ↩
  
  > no stylus
  
  Sorry, the iPQA has a stylus and no keypad. So were you taking notes without a stylus, using T9?
  
  Recent Nokia phones aren't as well tested as their ancestors were, but their RF is still the best. Motorola has some interesting Linux based smartphones these days.
  - Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 18, 2005 9:22:42 PM — # ↩
    
    Yup. My gripe with stylus-based interfaces is that they require two hands, which I'll rarely have available, and their interfaces are rarely designed for keypad-only navigation.
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 18, 2005 9:19:37 PM — # ↩
  
  Considered that, but the iPAQ appears to be a dying line. Several reviews say the h6300 series isn't exactly happening.
chandru_bv — Jul 18, 2005 10:30:56 PM — # ↩

how about P910i
- acmurthy — Jul 18, 2005 10:38:47 PM — # ↩
  
  Expensive?!
  
  Btw... if you don't care about having kickass smartphone features: 6021 seems a decent option. It comes with EDGE/GPRS and Bluetooth, decent browser etc. All at a quite affordable price of around 8K INR... not earth shattering, but a decent interim buy?
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 18, 2005 10:40:07 PM — # ↩
  
  Ageing spec. SE seems to be ignoring that line lately. Also, that dinky little alnum keypad totally sucks.
  
  SE's K650 is kick-ass, but it can only take Java extensions, and there's pretty much no good Java software around. The K650 is my backup in case nothing else works out.
  - jbritto — Jul 30, 2005 8:56:44 PM — # ↩
    
    K650? I could find a K750, no 650...
    - Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 30, 2005 11:11:00 PM — # ↩
      
      Umm, I meant the K750i. :-)
Anonymous — Jul 18, 2005 11:03:41 PM — # ↩

6680 vs Treo 650
~ Anon Coward.
inthing — Jul 19, 2005 1:07:59 AM — # ↩

Do check out the Mot A780 before deciding:
Linux based PDA + Edge phone
- http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=590
- http://www.mobiledia.com/phones/motorola/a780.html

* Quad-band with EDGE technology for enhanced downloading speed
* Dial pad and vivid 240 x 320 TFT color touch screen
* 1.3 megapixel camera with full-screen viewfinder
* MOTOSYNC for secure over-the-air synchronization of corporate email, contacts and calendar
* Video record/playback and streamed video* playback
* MP3 player supporting MIDI/WAV/AMR/WMA, Real and AAC files
* Hands-free speakerphone and speaker independent voice dial
* Embedded Bluetooth wireless technology
* Viewer for PDF and Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents
* Java (J2ME) MIDP 2.0 with 3D Graphics
* Internet access via WAP 2.0, WML, xHTML, HTML (Opera7)*
* Messaging options via MMS, SMS, IM (WV), POP3, IMAP4, SMTP
* TransFlash Memory Card to support all data, images and more
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 19, 2005 1:14:27 AM — # ↩
  
  They missed one point:
  
  * Really crappy UI
  
  Motorola makes good stuff (and yodha promises more is coming), but until they hire some decent UI people and fix their shit, I'm not using their phones.
  
  The only contenders are Nokia and Sony Ericsson (the K750i rocks!), and I'm pretty much settled on the Nokia 6681 right now. While I like SE's UI better, Nokia uses Symbian which is an extensible platform, and that weighs it significantly in their favour.
  
  Thanks, anyway.
  - teemus — Jul 19, 2005 2:05:49 AM — # ↩
    
    While I like SE's UI better, Nokia uses Symbian which is an extensible platform, and that weighs it significantly in their favour.
    Word.
  - vinit — Jul 19, 2005 2:10:56 AM — # ↩
    
    My k750i rocks.
    (read my blog entry)
    
    I got it for around 17.8k in the 1st week of July. So prices should have gone down since.
    
    I love this phone. And I think it's been a great replacement for the 6600 I had just before it. But yes, lack of applications can suck ... I already miss Agile Messenger.
    
    Still, i would look at the new pocket pc devices ... with the integrated keyboards ... they run around 30k ... could stink, at those prices.
    
    Though, if anything else, get the k750i just for it's camera ... for once the combo works out to an advantage. Good phone, good camera.
    - Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 19, 2005 8:18:42 PM — # ↩
      
      Dude, where in the world are you right now?
      - vinit — Jul 21, 2005 11:56:23 PM — # ↩
        
        Eeps ...
        
        right now, in NJ.
        
        I was back in blr, but getting stuck with 2 weddings in 2 weeks doesn't leave any time for anything!
        
        Keep ready for December in Bangalore, though.
- cray3 — Jul 19, 2005 3:12:28 PM — # ↩
  
  a780
  pl dont buy moto a780...it sucks...i invested 20k in it and got nothing in return...it is a total crappy phone which looks good only on papers...
Anonymous — Jul 19, 2005 1:31:34 AM — # ↩

try a blackberry
hey jace.. try the new blackberry... looks good!

Gautam
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 19, 2005 8:18:03 PM — # ↩
  
  Re: try a blackberry
  Blackberry's only available through Airtel, which locks you into a contract. I'd rather get one unattached.
  - vinit — Jul 21, 2005 11:54:16 PM — # ↩
    
    Re: try a blackberry
    Blackberries are great except for the fact that the company will not be including any cameras anytime soon.
    I spoke a couple of blackberry reps at PC Expo in NYC and they won't do it because their main customers (corporates) don't want employees with company-provided cameras/cameraphones ... lots of legal issues with that.
    
    Unless i'm missing something ...?!
    
    Can you live with/like that?
    
    The k750's 2mp camera has made life tons easier. And I love the fact that photos compare to my regular (older) digicam.
prgowtham — Jul 19, 2005 10:10:05 AM — # ↩

Nokia's N series

Check out the N series from Nokia. From past one week I have been going thr all previews & reviews. Should be a very good series.
I am planning to buy N91. N90 should be in the market very soon (another week max). N91 & N70 will take 2 more months.
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 19, 2005 12:02:57 PM — # ↩
  
  Re: Nokia's N series
  
  Indeed, it looks good, but I need a phone today, and the clam-shell design is somewhat disconcerting. I think I'll get a 6681 now and look at whatever is new in the N series a year or two later during the next upgrade.
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 19, 2005 8:17:10 PM — # ↩
  
  Re: Nokia's N series
  
  Damn Nokia.
  
  I went shopping today and was told the 6681's prices will fall in the next couple of days or so. The dealer didn't know why, but it must be due to the N90. Damned Nokia had to ruin my prospect of going home today a happy geek with a new toy.
tushar — Jul 19, 2005 11:33:58 AM — # ↩

Infosyncworld seems to like the 6630 a lot. Otherwise, the 6681 would be my choice. Russel Beattie doesn't seem to like the 3230, though that is a cheap-ish smartphone with the latest revision of series 60.
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 19, 2005 11:41:33 AM — # ↩
  
  Indeed. I'm shopping for a good price on the 6681 right now. I may have one by the end of the day.
- appaji — Jul 19, 2005 5:22:07 PM — # ↩
  
  The 6630 seems to be a Multi-Mode WCDMA/EGDE phone. Anybody using it?
  - Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 19, 2005 5:40:32 PM — # ↩
    
    The 6630's replacement is the 6680.
    - appaji — Jul 19, 2005 5:54:57 PM — # ↩
      
      Kinda true, I just looked up again and noticed that the 6680 has many of the features of the 6630, and that 6680 isn't really 6681 minus 1. Somehow bluetooth doesn't seem to convince me much in smartphones (it is ok as a replacement for IrDA), I was wondering if there are any smartphones out there with 802.11.
      - Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 19, 2005 8:14:21 PM — # ↩
        
        Actually, 6681 is 6680 - 1, in Nokia's version of arithmetic. ;-) Bluetooth is absolutely essential for me. I wouldn't touch an instrument without it.
        
        I think Nokia's N70/90/91 series does 802.11. Not sure.
        
        prgowtham — Jul 19, 2005 8:49:28 PM — # ↩
        
        Nokia's N series
        http://www.mobile-review.com/phonemodels/nokia/nokia-n91-en.shtml
        http://www.mobile-review.com/phonemodels/nokia/nokia-n90-en.shtml
        http://www.mobile-review.com/phonemodels/nokia/nokia-n70-en.shtml
        
        appaji — Jul 19, 2005 11:57:13 PM — # ↩
        
        Re: Nokia's N series
        W00t!
        
        Now I think I only need to wait for a few years to buy that N91 :-P
irq2 — Jul 21, 2005 2:03:32 PM — # ↩

The 6680. I've been working on it for some time now, and it's a very nice phone/PDA.
- Anonymous — Jul 21, 2005 6:46:55 PM — # ↩
  
  nokia 7710
  I know Jace is not looking for Only Stylus phones,but how are the other ppl experience with nokia 7710, has lot features,and an impressive display,
  
  though its litle slow and crashes at times but then my powerful PC also does the same so cant expect that from my smartphone...the phone/pda provides lot of features at a very attractive prices
  
  any user reviews?
madhav — Jul 29, 2005 3:20:44 PM — # ↩

So, what did you buy?
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Jul 29, 2005 3:23:51 PM — # ↩
  
  A 6681. Longer post coming.