I made a account just so I could give you my opinion so you won't make a huge mistake. I have worked for Verizon, have had other Straight Talk phones and have had AT&T before. If your contract is over with AT&T then I totally suggest you going to the E71 with Straight Talk. If you have heard about other Straight Talk phones the internet is so slow because they use Verizon's 1G service which means the signal strength is great but the internet is as slow as molasses. This fact probably gave Straight Talk a bad name but luckily the two Nokia smart phones, the 6790 and e71, that Straight Talk has uses AT&T's 3G network. I even have an AT&T phone number From the experience I've had with it the internet is faster than my old droid from Verizon and faster than my friends Iphone. 99.9 percent of the time I can hit play on a YouTube video and it will play all the way though without buffering, which is unheard of for any phone I sold at Verizon a year ago. It also has Wi-Fi to make it even faster. You can hook it up to a pc and share the internet connection. It has voice guided gps and applications in the Ovi Store and many third party applications. I would recommend Straight Talk to anyone that uses a Smart Phone. Not recommended for someone that doesn't

Lets Compare The Plans

Straight Talk and E71-

Unlimited Everything
Unlimited Teathering
$169.00 upfront for the Nokia E71
Monthly Service is $45.00 plus tax, here that's $2.70
Best of all it uses AT&T's National 3G Network and no contract!!!

AT&T and The Blackberry Bold 9700 or Curve-

I chose these phones in my example because they comparable in features and trying to chose the plan and features closest to Straight Talks $45 Unlimited Everything Plan.

$69.99 Unlimited Minutes

[CENTER]$20.00 Messaging Unlimited
$25 for 2gb of internet usage plus $10 for each additional gb going over
$45.00 4GB Tethering For Smartphones plus $10 for each gb that you go over
The Bold is $649.99 for no contract, $299.99 after signing 2 year contract but it says you get an online discount of $299.98
The Curve is $379.99 for no contract, $29.99 after signing 2 year contract
So the monthly cost of service would be $159.99 plus Government taxes and fees
First month you can expect a $36.00 activation fee, prorated bill and a bill for the next month [/CENTER

And that's with 2gb Internet and 4g Tethering; not even close to the unlimited Straight Talk Offers so there's a chance that price can go up

The crazy fact in all this is Straight Talk uses the exact same 3G service and towers as AT&T

For information on the e71x please see this page:
Nokia E71x - Phone Database - Cell Phone Forums

They don't know what phone you're using unless you either change your IMEI in the system, or use an iphone. I switched to a Nokia 6230, Cingular branded, and my phone model stayed the same in the system. I also tried putting it in an ATT branded, a BJII, and it still didn't switch.

This was also confirmed by my ATT rep. We get unlimited data on our ANR plan, but if you use a smartphone it's an extra $10. He told me to just put my SIM in a new phone and ATT would be none the wiser.

^Was your wife's old phone an AT&T branded phone? I've been using unlocked phones, they never figure out what they are.

sorry for jumping in... but ATT does track what phone you are using now.

My son just recently broke his phone, and we swapped it out with a phone my wife hasnt used on her plan for about 2 1/2 years. We put his sim card in the old phone before he left for school, and later that day when I went into my account, sure enough it listed that old SE as his device in use.

But back on subject. For data plans... its up in the air if they're going to call it a smart phone or not. The 6650 that just came out, runs the same s60 platform and it's not being considered a smartphone... sure its a clamshell and doesnt have qwerty... so hopefully ATT wont consider any Symbian phone as one.

I wanna thank you a whole lot. I'm leaning towards getting the unbranded version.

Thanks again!

We aren't sure what the branded version of the E71x will or won't have that the unbranded version will. In the past, Nokia S60 phones have not been included in the pda plans (I've used the $15 plan with the E61), but that doesn't mean they will change their minds with the E71x.

1 - Unsure at this point, will only know when it's released.
2 - They can't tell what phone you are using, so the $15 will work fine. In fact I've used most smartphones with the $15 plan. Just don't buy from at&t directly.
3 - at&t can't charge for WiFi. The only charge you might incur is the place where you intend to use it (like starbucks). If you have WiFi at home or at a free location then use it to your hearts content!


The rule of thumb when it comes to Nokia S60 phones is unbranded is best if you can afford it because it will be the least limited in features.

I didn't know whether to place this in the Nokia or AT&T thread. So I just picked this one.

There has been rumors, recently, that a AT&T version of the Nokia e71 called the "e71x" will come out. I am with AT&T and will consider buying this phone. I have several question regarding the unbranded version vs. the locked version (that's if the e71x will come out) and I hope someone can help me out.

1) If the branded AT&T version of the e71 comes out, will AT&T consider it to be a smartphone, which would require the $30 pda/data plan?

2) I have been doing some research on the web regarding the unlocked e71 and found out that the AT&T $15 MEdia net plan works just fine with the e71, according to people who have the phone. My question is, if the e71x comes out and requires the $30 data plan, would the unlocked verson of the e71 be required to adopt the $30 data plan, instead of the $15 data plan?

3)The nokia e71 comes with WIFI and it is unknown if the e71x will have it. Is there such a thing as free WIFI with AT&T? If not, would the $15 data plan cover WIFI on the unlocked e71?

I'm kinda new towards unlocked or unbranded phones and I just want to get as much information as I can before I decide to buy one. Thanks