Which one: Samsung E105, Nokia 6610, Sony/ Ericsn T610?

[VEFF]

I am about to get a new cell phone.

My choices are:
Samsung E105
Nokia 6610
Sony/Ericsson T610

I am looking for user recommendations

Here is MY take after a little research yesterday.

Nokia 6610:
Relative Pros - Good FM stereo radio built-in (I listen to
the radio during my commute, so this is a BIG bonus)
- best amazon user reviews (by a small margin)

Relative Cons - less colors (not 65,536)
- (not a deciding factor) lower rebate than the other
two ($50 difference).

Samsung E105:
Relative Pros - smallest of the three
- 65,536 colors

Relative Cons - shortest battery life
- flip phone
- no radio

Sony/Ericsson T610:
Relative Pros:
- AMAZING BATTERY LIFE (both talk time and standby)
- 65,536 colors
- Bluetooth, infrared and cable compatible .
- built-in camera (not a big deal to me, since it
isn't a high quality camera (fixed focus, no
optical zoom)

Relative Cons:
- shape doesn't seem as ergonomic as the Nokia e.g.
- no radio


I think that about sums it up.


Thanks for any feedback!

[Bhairav]

Get the Nokia. My dad has it, loves it. Samsung phones tend to suck sometimes, with a nonintuitive menu system. The T610.. good phone actually, but no FM, so bleh.

[VEFF]

Thanks bhairavp!
My two cell phones so far have both been Nokia phones (6160 from early 1999 and a 8290 from early 2001).
I haven't had any real problems.
Battery life has been somewhat disappointing though.
The battery life on my current phone (8290) is way down now.
The back cover, when removed, on my 8290 is also the MOST flimsy thing of all the products I have ever owned. It is so thin that it is extemely easy to break. Mine actually has a LITTLE rectangular cutout missing because of that. Not a real big deal. I understand they want to make the phone as small as possible.

The 8290 itself is VERY solid though:
1) On (at least) two occasions it has dropped from waist high onto the cement/tarmac without any side effects.
I did replace it once a while ago (the plastic next to the screen got a small hairline crack after a fall, but it still worked fine); I could have kept it, but someone suggested I get a free replacement (in case)...

2) This is pretty funny I think.
It fell in the snow during the 2nd of this season's two snowstorms ( a small storm is expected tonight into tomorrow morning) because the belt clip while solid, doesn't have a hook on the end like my previous one which got so tattered that I had to replace it. Becuase it doesn't have the hook, there are times when my jacket's realtively tight waist band will pull the phone (and my portable FM radio) up, resulting in the item dropping...
4 - 5 hours later I realized I didn't have it when I went to make a call.
I couldn't find it in the house or in the car. Then my gf called it from my place while I was out by the car.
I heard this faint ringing coming from under the snow, and almost though I was going crazy
Then the ringing stopped. I went upstairs to my place and asked her to dial it again. This time we found it completelt buried under an inch or two of fresh snow. It still works fine. I just had to dry it off a bit near the contacts. What saved me is 1) it was in the case (which protected the buttons ) and 2) that it was buried in the snow, under the edge of the trunk, so the freezing rain didn't get to it.

EDITED FOR TYPOS THAT ACTUALLY SPELLED OTHER WORDS!
'They' instead of 'Then'
'Feel' instead of 'Fell'

[hoxlund]

well im with sprint service and with a samsung a260 (VGA 1000) phone

the phone is really cool, i'll admit it doesn't take the best quality pictures but great enough to understand whats in it

ohh and yeah another little detail, i pay $15 a month for 750 anytime minutes and unlimited web, email, pcs vision (camera), long distance

if anyone wants to see the camera quality, let me know ill email you a pic of something optical drive based from staples

[VEFF]

hoxlund,
750 minutes for $15, with unlimited web!
That is HOT.


All,
That reminds me, thanks:
To browse the web with T-Mobile, do I need T-Zones?
Is it $4.99/mth?

I'll find out at lunch, but I wanted to know/confirm in advance.

[hoxlund]

hoxlund,
750 minutes for $15, with unlimited web!
That is HOT.

Sprint Employee Plan through Staples

[dodecahedron]

i love Nokia.
i would go for the Nokia.

the Samsung's UI isn't very good IMO. i've played around with some of their models (though not the one you mentioned probably). not very good. cumbersome and unwieldy by comparison to Nokia.

as for using the cellphone as an FM radio, i wouldn't do that. it really eats up the battery fast.

you should post pics of these phones.

http://www.nokiausa.com/phones/6610



i would dearly love to have the 6600 line model, but (even though it was on the importer's website a while back) it isn't imported to Israel. so i had to settle for the 6100. i love it.
actually i think the biggest difference is the FM radio (which i wouldn't use anyway).

[VEFF]

dodecahedron,

I ended up getting the 6610 because:
1) I wanted the radio for my commute
2) The Sony T610 has spotty reception (when I mentioned it, the dealer,
a friend of my friend readily admitted this)
3) it isn't a flip phone
4) I got a ***great*** deal (won't go into specifics here, but it was a no brainer - their business gets a lot of business from my friend, need I say more...)
5) it got better reviews than the other two...


Regarding the battery life, someone on another forum who has the phone said there was no noticeable drop in battery sdtrenght after he listened to an entire football game on one.)
He mentioned that the radio (receiver) uses far less power than the phone (which is also transmitting).
Besides, we asked for a free battery. I got one thanks to my friend's relationship with the cell phone business' manager.

I can't wait to charge it tonight and try out the radio and phone tomorrow morning

[dodecahedron]

congrats.
enjoy!

[VEFF]

Thanks
It is charging now (initial charge cycle), so I have to wait to use it.

[UALOneKPlus]

congrats, and let us know how you like it!

I haven't purchased a new phone in a couple of years. I used to go through phones a lot, but I haven't been able to get a good deal on a phone lately.

[VEFF]

I love the phone!
The speakerphone is a useful thing, and the battery life (standby, at least)
is really good!
The FM stereo radio is great. It has 20 named presets, with direct access
usng the keypad.
This saves me from having to carry a mini portable radio to work.
I ordered an OEM Nokia stereo headset yesterday, since the included one is mono only and has an earpiece that sits on top of the ear, rather than in the ear canal in which case the sound won't disturb other commuters.

I still have some questions about accessing the (mobile) internet though.


MY QUESTIONS ABOUT INTERNET ACCESS:
I have done research, but there is conflicting info, depending on whom I talk to, and even then it wasn't explained to me properly how to access the wireless web...

I do NOT want, nor do I have, T-Zones.
Can someone walk me through how to connect using WAP or GPRS.
And what exactly is CSD?

I tried yesterday.
I went to 'Services' and then hit the "I" key on the phone, and it said "connecting via T-Zones".
In hindsight this might have been the wrong method to connect?
(I hope they don't try to charge me for that!)

I just went into the 'Connectivity' menu instead.
There is an ption for 'GPRS'.
Am I in the right place?
Then it says 'GPRS connection'. This is currently set to 'when needed'
(as opposed to always online)
Then there is a menu 'GPRS modem settings' Should this be set to
't-zones internet'?
Then it says 'Edit active access point'. The GPRS access point displays the special voicestream internet URL.

Thanks!

[aviationwiz]

ii would dearly love to have the 6600 line model, but (even though it was on the importer's website a while back) it isn't imported to Israel.

Is it true that everyone in Israel has a cell phone, that's what everyone here says...

Also, wasn't the cell phone originaly invented in Israel, I remember hearing that once...

[dodecahedron]

Is it true that everyone in Israel has a cell phone, that's what everyone here says...

Also, wasn't the cell phone originaly invented in Israel, I remember hearing that once...

well yes, virtually everybody has a cellphone here.

i managed to hold out till i had a steady girlfriend (my wife now) then i had to give in and get one.

example: my older sister's family:1 phone for her, one for her husband, 1 for each of both kids.
this is not rare here.

the market penetration here in Israel is among the highest in the world. probably higher in the far East though (Japan, Korea etc.)

[dodecahedron]

VEFF:

CSD is for data transfer.

as far as i'm concerned, internet on the cellphone is still crap. WAP sucks.

on my 6100 i get to the 'net (WAP) by going to the Service menu and in it Home (which takes me to the cell provider's WAP server) or Go to address.
i don't have T-zones and don't know what they are.

hope that helps.

[Bhairav]

VEFF : Depends on what mode of Internet access you guys are getting. Here we get Hutch - GPRS.. as dodecahedron said.. go to Services ->Go To Address. This works best for WAP formatted websites, and for downloading wallpapers and ringtones, with the occasional game thrown in. What is your GPRS slot config? We get 3 down, 1 up, which is about 40.2kbps.
It's too slow for normal web surfing though. We CAN use it with a data cable on the PC, set it up as a modem and use it for Internet access. It's strictly ok though, slower than a 56K modem for this purpose.
My mom has a CDMA phone, net access on it is MUCH faster.. 100KBPs throughput.

[VEFF]

VEFF : Depends on what mode of Internet access you guys are getting. Here we get Hutch - GPRS.. as dodecahedron said.. go to Services ->Go To Address. This works best for WAP formatted websites, and for downloading wallpapers and ringtones, with the occasional game thrown in. What is your GPRS slot config? We get 3 down, 1 up, which is about 40.2kbps.
It's too slow for normal web surfing though. We CAN use it with a data cable on the PC, set it up as a modem and use it for Internet access. It's strictly ok though, slower than a 56K modem for this purpose.
My mom has a CDMA phone, net access on it is MUCH faster.. 100KBPs throughput.

Thanks for the info bhairavp!

I guess I probably won't use it much anyway since the speed is so slow, but it could come in handy to refresh my memory on hot deals (look up an item # / SKU code, rebate dates etc.) for a product OR for checking the news in the event of an emergency, while on the train etc...

I will call them to see that I won't get charged for going through GPRS.

By the way, I have to go to 'Connectivity' (as opposed to 'Services') to get to 'GPRS'.
When I go to the 'Services' menu, I only get 'T-Zones' (and options to clear the cache etc.)

GPRS slot config?
How can I check that?
I really haven't played around with it much yet.

[Bhairav]

^^Ah ha! You are on T Mobile,right? Then they've probably customised the Internet menu. Can't help you there .GPRS slot config is set by your service provider, you'll need to talk to someone there.

[VEFF]

I bought the stereo headset on ebay (real Nokia, brand new, but big discount off retail, even if you include the shipping).

It arrived yesterday (or probably Saturday, since I didn't get the mail this weekend), since the shipper was only 1 state away.

This radio works great in stereo with the headphones.
I am a happy camper!

- clear reception
- great sound
- minimal battery usage (I charged it last night; used the radio for about 75 minutes this morning and the 7 bar battery meter hasn't dropped one notch.