I love T-M! I was an Omnipoint customer since before the takeovers, and
each time I change carriers, I end up cancelling during the 15 or 30 day
test period.
With that being said, I am unhappy with the selection of phones. Why don't
they carry any half decent phones for business? Clearly because the handset
manufacturers have decided to stop making phones that do what phones are
supposed to, and they have started to sell phones that do everything else.
If my landline phone didn't make calls well, but made a mediocre pot of
coffee and burnt the toast, I'd probably throw it out. I think a lot of
people would. So why do the handset makers feel that they can do exactly
that? All I can find anymore are phones with lousy reception or sound,
mediocre cameras at best, lousy PDA and phone book features and polyphonic
ringtones that make your pocket sound like you're at the circus.
I still love my v60, but I've dropped it about 100 too many times, and it is
finally in need of replacement. It doesn't do much well except the one
important thing, IT MAKES CALLS WELL!! I know I can buy one elsewhere and
put my SIM in. The fact is that I would like it if there was actually an
offering with the newer features important to me as a businessman who
travels a lot. Bluetooth, great reception and sound quality, ringers that
actually sound like telephone ringers, GPRS, triband and even a half decent
calendar and, most importantly, some ruggedness in a small package would all
make me very happy. Instead, they make all these junky lightweight plastic
things with so many stupid features that I don't need. I tried a Nokia 6110
today. After 5 minutes, I was ready to return it. Who cares if there's a
screensaver? I want it to make calls well. Ringers that sound like a
circus? Give me a break. The Samsungs aren't much better. And the Sony
Ericssons have terrible RF. The T722i is a piece of junk as well. It seems
that, for the most part, manufacturers are completely ignoring an important,
if not the most important, customer base with these offerings.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like things will get much better any time
soon. Maybe the new v500 and v600 will fit the bill, if TM decides to carry
them.
Anyway, sorry for the rant. I just needed to get it off my chest.
Carl. - 29 Aug 2003 08:41 GMT
> With that being said, I am unhappy with the selection of phones. Why don't
> they carry any half decent phones for business?
I would go for a Nokia 3595. The profiles feature is great for business
use, and not only does the 3595 have a couple of plain ringers (unlike the
Samsungs dingy bells), but I am pretty sure it also has a composer so you
can make as many distinct yet plain ringers as you please. Probably better
reception than the sony/ericsson models (though probably not quite as good
as samsung, but close) and I tried one for sound quality and volume and was
satisfied.
The 6610 is another good one, but I don't know if it has the composer. You
might not need it anyway.
Doug - 29 Aug 2003 16:30 GMT
>With that being said, I am unhappy with the selection of phones. Why don't
>they carry any half decent phones for business? Clearly because the handset
>manufacturers have decided to stop making phones that do what phones are
>supposed to, and they have started to sell phones that do everything else.
I'm just amazed that a 2 year old phone like the Moto P280 is at or
near the top of both RF and voice quality. Like you, I just gave up
with the ridiculous gee whiz phones that couldn't operate as phones.
I sought out the best sounding phone (both in and out) with the best
RF, regardless of when made or who makes it. So I settled on the P280
and got two. Not until these wear out and something bests it will I
change.
>that, for the most part, manufacturers are completely ignoring an important,
>if not the most important, customer base with these offerings.
It seems as though the vast majority of users simply take for granted
that phones work equally well as phones. Therefore, these add-on
features determine the sales leaders. Crazy. But at least we have
the net and can read RF and voice test results, then find someone who
has the phone, and pop in a SIM to test.
>Maybe the new v500 and v600 will fit the bill, if TM decides to carry
>them.
Why can't Moto just take the RF board from the P280 and graft it into
all new phones? For that matter, why can't they make it better? It's
two years since that design came out.
Doug