I want to buy a quad band phone for travel only (a couple of weeks abroad
once a year), and I can buy one of the following unlocked quad band phones
on Ebay for $100 or less including shipping ("Buy It Now"): Motorola V180,
188, 220, 400, 600. All are either new or said to be "slightly scratched"
or "like new." I don't need a camera, but I do like a clamshell design.
It's hard to find reviews of these older phones on the internet. Can anyone
give me advice on these phones? Should I scratch the "pre-owned" ones even
though they're cheaper? Will I get more phone for my money if I eliminate
the camera phones? (I always have my digital camera with me when I travel.
Is it a bad idea to buy a phone that came out several years ago, or should I
bite the bullet and spring for a newer one?
Harriett Wright wrote:
> I want to buy a quad band phone for travel only (a couple of weeks abroad
> once a year), and I can buy one of the following unlocked quad band phones
> on Ebay for $100 or less including shipping ("Buy It Now"): Motorola V180,
> 188, 220, 400, 600. All are either new or said to be "slightly scratched"
> or "like new." I don't need a camera, but I do like a clamshell design.
>
> It's hard to find reviews of these older phones on the internet. Can anyone
> give me advice on these phones? Should I scratch the "pre-owned" ones even
> though they're cheaper? Will I get more phone for my money if I eliminate
> the camera phones? (I always have my digital camera with me when I travel.
> Is it a bad idea to buy a phone that came out several years ago, or should I
> bite the bullet and spring for a newer one?
Pre-owned isn't necessarily a problem, but a friend who has T-Mobile tells me
that the V180s had software problems. Wife and I have V188s, also on
T-Mobile. I thought mine was crap (and have replaced it with a PEBL),
although she hasn't had too much trouble with hers.
If you're going low-end Motorola, get a V188 instead; but maybe you would be
better off with a cheap Nokia or Samsung.
--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl ** Linux/*BSD/Windows
Apple Valley, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED
It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.
"Harriett Wright" <harriett@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:L4rBg.5326$0e5.512@newsread4.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> I want to buy a quad band phone for travel only (a couple of weeks abroad
> once a year), and I can buy one of the following unlocked quad band phones
> on Ebay for $100 or less including shipping ("Buy It Now"): Motorola
V180,
> 188, 220, 400, 600. All are either new or said to be "slightly scratched"
> or "like new." I don't need a camera, but I do like a clamshell design.
>
> It's hard to find reviews of these older phones on the internet. Can
anyone
> give me advice on these phones? Should I scratch the "pre-owned" ones
even
> though they're cheaper? Will I get more phone for my money if I eliminate
> the camera phones? (I always have my digital camera with me when I
travel.
> Is it a bad idea to buy a phone that came out several years ago, or should
I
> bite the bullet and spring for a newer one?
www.phonescoop.com has some pretty good information on many phones. For
instance, like some other phones, the V220 http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=467
and be dual, tri or quad band depending on the carrier that sold it. So you
want to be 100% sure that you are getting a quad-band phone. The only
problem I see with a "pre-owned" phone is that you should probably price an
OEM replacement battery and figure that cost into the value, since a used
phone is probably going to be "battery challenged."
--
Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net
Since I posted my query I've been poking around the internet and have
happened upon something that seems to be quite amazing: Mini Opera, a
highly acclaimed internet browser that can be loaded into a cell phone. How
fantastic to be able to take the internet along on one's travels without the
encumbrance of a laptop (and anyway, I don't have one)! It's compatable
with lots of low-end phones, including the ones on my list, but I don't know
yet whether it can be used on an international phone with a SIM as the
"provider". If so, I'm quite willing to spend more for a phone with a
fairly large screen, maybe even one of those jobies with a little bitty
keyboard. You probably already know all about it, but in case you don't the
URL is http://www.opera.com/products/mobile/operamini/.
Harriett
"Donald Newcomb" <DRNewcomb@NOT.attglobal.net> wrote in message
news:44d65bea@kcnews01...
>
> "Harriett Wright" <harriett@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
> news:L4rBg.5326$0e5.512@newsread4.news.pas.earthlink.net...
>> I want to buy a quad band phone for travel only (a couple of weeks abroad
>> once a year), and I can buy one of the following unlocked quad band
>> phones
>> on Ebay for $100 or less including shipping ("Buy It Now"): Motorola
> V180,
>> 188, 220, 400, 600. All are either new or said to be "slightly
>> scratched"
>> or "like new." I don't need a camera, but I do like a clamshell
>> design.
>>
>> It's hard to find reviews of these older phones on the internet. Can
> anyone
>> give me advice on these phones? Should I scratch the "pre-owned" ones
> even
>> though they're cheaper? Will I get more phone for my money if I
>> eliminate
>> the camera phones? (I always have my digital camera with me when I
> travel.
>> Is it a bad idea to buy a phone that came out several years ago, or
>> should
> I
>> bite the bullet and spring for a newer one?
>
> www.phonescoop.com has some pretty good information on many phones. For
> instance, like some other phones, the V220
> http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=467
> and be dual, tri or quad band depending on the carrier that sold it. So
> you
> want to be 100% sure that you are getting a quad-band phone. The only
> problem I see with a "pre-owned" phone is that you should probably price
> an
> OEM replacement battery and figure that cost into the value, since a used
> phone is probably going to be "battery challenged."
>
> --
> Donald R. Newcomb
> DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net
>
>
>
"Harriett Wright" <harriett@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:K7xBg.846$Qf.550@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> Since I posted my query I've been poking around the internet and have
> happened upon something that seems to be quite amazing: Mini Opera, a
> highly acclaimed internet browser that can be loaded into a cell phone.
How
> fantastic to be able to take the internet along on one's travels without
the
> encumbrance of a laptop (and anyway, I don't have one)! It's compatable
> with lots of low-end phones, including the ones on my list, but I don't
know
> yet whether it can be used on an international phone with a SIM as the
> "provider". If so, I'm quite willing to spend more for a phone with a
> fairly large screen, maybe even one of those jobies with a little bitty
> keyboard. You probably already know all about it, but in case you don't
the
> URL is http://www.opera.com/products/mobile/operamini/.
While Opera Mini should run on most phones with both GPRS and Java, you will
be paying quite a bit with most prepaid accounts for the bytes transferred.
Also, Opera Mini is (IMHO) a less than perfect solution. You're trying to
pour a gallon into a pint glass.
--
Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net
That's something I should have thought about but didn't! I guess if I
really want to access the internet while traveling I can just go to one of
those internet cafes. (And the truth is I don't think I really want to; I'd
much rather spend my time seeing the sights!)
Harriett
"Donald Newcomb" <DRNewcomb@NOT.attglobal.net> wrote in message
news:44d6b454@kcnews01...
>
> "Harriett Wright" <harriett@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
> news:K7xBg.846$Qf.550@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...
>> Since I posted my query I've been poking around the internet and have
>> happened upon something that seems to be quite amazing: Mini Opera, a
>> highly acclaimed internet browser that can be loaded into a cell phone.
> How
>> fantastic to be able to take the internet along on one's travels without
> the
>> encumbrance of a laptop (and anyway, I don't have one)! It's compatable
>> with lots of low-end phones, including the ones on my list, but I don't
> know
>> yet whether it can be used on an international phone with a SIM as the
>> "provider". If so, I'm quite willing to spend more for a phone with a
>> fairly large screen, maybe even one of those jobies with a little bitty
>> keyboard. You probably already know all about it, but in case you don't
> the
>> URL is http://www.opera.com/products/mobile/operamini/.
>
> While Opera Mini should run on most phones with both GPRS and Java, you
> will
> be paying quite a bit with most prepaid accounts for the bytes
> transferred.
> Also, Opera Mini is (IMHO) a less than perfect solution. You're trying to
> pour a gallon into a pint glass.
>
> --
> Donald R. Newcomb
> DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net
>
>
>
"Harriett Wright" <harriett@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:miGBg.682$Sn3.601@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> That's something I should have thought about but didn't! I guess if I
> really want to access the internet while traveling I can just go to one of
> those internet cafes. (And the truth is I don't think I really want to;
I'd
> much rather spend my time seeing the sights!)
Harriett,
If you really need mobile Internet access you can do it, but you'll need to
bump up both your technology level and price range. If you are interested in
doing this you might want to drop into the fourms on www.prepaidgsm.net to
learn what is required.
--
Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net
Thanks Donald. I've given up on the idea. I got carried away with the hype
for Mini Opera, but I've come to my senses. I do have a couple of other
questions, but I'm starting a new thread.
Harriett
"Donald Newcomb" <DRNewcomb@NOT.attglobal.net> wrote in message
news:44d7b7e3$1@kcnews01...
>
> "Harriett Wright" <harriett@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
> news:miGBg.682$Sn3.601@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
>> That's something I should have thought about but didn't! I guess if I
>> really want to access the internet while traveling I can just go to one
>> of
>> those internet cafes. (And the truth is I don't think I really want to;
> I'd
>> much rather spend my time seeing the sights!)
>
> Harriett,
> If you really need mobile Internet access you can do it, but you'll need
> to
> bump up both your technology level and price range. If you are interested
> in
> doing this you might want to drop into the fourms on www.prepaidgsm.net to
> learn what is required.
>
> --
> Donald R. Newcomb
> DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net
>
>
>
Linear Mode
