Which new cell phone to get??

Keypad

Yes, I have heard concerns about the keypad. When the phone is fully opened, your thumb does touch the upper part when trying to press buttons 1, 2 and 3. However, I find that I use the side of my thumb/tip of my nail to press the buttons and I have not had any problems. Perhaps I am now used to it. I also have bigger hands than average.

I think it will only be a problem if you have huge hands.

Another concern is the small font size. I personally prefer this, but it can be a challenge for the visually impaired.

One of the easiest things to do is to go to the NOKIA/Exactmobile stores directly. The Cape Town one has now moved from Greenpoint to Canal Walk. Not sure if there is one at Vodaworld. They have stock and you can play with the phone in store.

I have no idea when the N80 will be available on Vodacom.
 
N80 stock

I received my N80 from the CellC store in N1 City, Cape Town, via an upgrade to my contract. Other stores that I can recommend are CellC Rosebank Mall or CellC Killarney Mall.

I checked with them earlier today for stock availability for another friend. CellC definitely has stock. Free on the ActiveChat100 contract. Alternately, you can purchase the phone outright (cash) - no network lock or funny firmware for R5150. The store will order from CellC warehouse who will deliver the phone to the store within 4 days. I was there when they phoned the warehouse and confirmed stock availability.

The only other place that I know had stock was the official Nokia store run by Exactmobile. The store has now moved to Canal Walk shopping centre. Not sure if there is a similar store in Johannesburg. I think their price was R4995 - not sure of that.

The CellC model is silver in colour. The Nokia store model is black. Both look very sexy indeed.
 
CellC... I aint that brave yet... :( How you find them?

IYO, What are the alternatives if NOT the N80?
 
My history with cellphone companies - a long story

I started almost 10 years ago with a Vodacom prepaid account. I then took a Weekender contract from Vodacom. Subsequently, I moved to MTN when they promised me certain consecutive numbers (I asked by walking into MTN head office) and by offering me 2 months free subscription for changing over. All this was done when I was a student. About the same time, I managed to get invited to the CellC launch - here I was given a free Siemens phone (the first in the country with GPRS at that stage - I was hooked) and a prepaid CellC account with R500 worth of airtime.
After specialising, I needed a number that was easy for patients to remember. By this time, I had become very good friends with a CellC franchise store owner. He managed to arrange my current number for me (0843766337 - 084 DR M MEER - cool, huh?) and I took out an ActiveChat100 contract with him. I have just renewed and received my N80.
My wife has been with MTN, now is on a BusinessChat400 contract (average bill R2500-R3500 per month) and has a Vodacom HSDPA contract.

So, you can see, I have experience with all networks. The bottom line is that no one network will give you everything you need. VC and MTN have had excellent coverage and signal quality. They are market leaders and CellC launches similar products very much later then them. I preferred the quality of the VC network to MTN, but preferred the contract and data options of MTN.

Recently, I have been getting exceptional, individual service from CellC. Sure they have problems, but they treat you more as a family member than the impersonal service from the two giants. I complained of poor reception at home - a technician was despatched - his recommendation was that CellC install an external antenna at their cost - he constantly phones to keep me informed of progress. CellC's call costs are also very much cheaper for the business user. The cell reception and coverage has improved and their data services work well for me. I am happy with them at the moment. I dislike the fact that they only have EDGE and not 3G/HSPDA, but that will be rectified by the end of the year.

With regard to cellphones, each network has special deals with certain manufacturer's. And even with manufacturer's, the networks can have special deals with certain handsets. It's a bit of a lottery. An example is the "cheapness" of the N80 with CellC, where Nokia handsets were always cheaper on VC.

Basically, you need to ask yourself what you need and see who offers it. When you get it, you will have problems and will wonder why you did not go for the other option - but, the grass is not always greener on the other side.

Finally, 2 years with a cellphone is a long time - I don't suggest taking a specific contract out to get a certain phone. Take a contract that suits your needs and pay extra for the phone if necessary.

Mohammed

PS: I have had handsets from Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola, Siemens, Sony Ericsson and have used iMates, Samsung etc. I will definitely purchase a Nokia first, folowed by SonyEricsson, BenQSiemens are decent but not well established. I would not touch anything else.
If not the N80, I will go for the N91. Alternately, consider the 9300i. If you can wait, the SE P990i promises to deliver much, but also look at the K800, M600 or the W850.
Nothing else deserves any mention - that is why I only upgraded now, when my contract expired in February 2006.
 
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thx DR ;)
I am hinging on waiting till the phone I want comes, together with the contract I want.
Thx, much appreciated!! :D
 
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lilDeath said:
thx DR ;)
I am hinging on waiting till the pone I want comes, together with the contract I want.
Thx, much appreciated!! :D
Click to expand...
lilDeath - I went to the exactmobile shop in Canal Walk last night to go and check out some of the phones available ( as per the Dr !!! ) and let me tell you ......... That N80 is quite a neat piece of phone !!!!! Very very nice - I decided to wait until the Uselesscom decides to release the phone from testing and then get one. It should , at least in my theory , be just about free on a talk package and the phone retails for about R 5 300 and the 9300i retails for about R 6 600. You only have to pay in R300 on the 9300i on a talk package so the N80 should be pretty close to free............I think it's well worth a wait....... :D
 
I'm too lazy to read through the thread, and I don't know what the phone is called, but has anyone seen the new Sony Ericsson Walkman phone? Niiiiiiice! I have the w800i at the moment and saw someone in the cinema using his.

My next phone, i'm sure.
 
You really want to wait for the W850

TheYak said:
I'm too lazy to read through the thread, and I don't know what the phone is called, but has anyone seen the new Sony Ericsson Walkman phone? Niiiiiiice! I have the w800i at the moment and saw someone in the cinema using his.

My next phone, i'm sure.
Click to expand...

Go to post no 74 in this thread:
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=561554&postcount=74
 
Cool! Thanks for that man!

I'm sure it was the w850 that this guy had, but the big button in the middle was different. They're advertising this phone all over Cresta and it wasn't the one that twisted open.

*is confused now*
 
naw, it wasn't the twisty one... although, it might have been, cinemas are dark. *shrug*

Still, it looked like a cool phone. I've grown quite attached to my w800i, it's a really nice phone. The only thing that I don't like about it, is that the PC integration isn't as... easy as Nokia's. Other than that, it's really cool and funky and I've gotten used to the menu system as well, which I thought was going to be a problem
 
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CIS said:
lilDeath - I went to the exactmobile shop in Canal Walk last night to go and check out some of the phones available ( as per the Dr !!! ) and let me tell you ......... That N80 is quite a neat piece of phone !!!!! Very very nice - I decided to wait until the Uselesscom decides to release the phone from testing and then get one. It should , at least in my theory , be just about free on a talk package and the phone retails for about R 5 300 and the 9300i retails for about R 6 600. You only have to pay in R300 on the 9300i on a talk package so the N80 should be pretty close to free............I think it's well worth a wait....... :D
Click to expand...
NICE, will check it out!!
 
I spoke to a friend of mine which owns 5 VodaShops, apparently vodacom is fasing out the N-Series cellphones, except the latest one (N80 me thinks). They having to much **** with it.
 
Jeeva said:
I spoke to a friend of mine which owns 5 VodaShops, apparently vodacom is fasing out the N-Series cellphones, except the latest one (N80 me thinks). They having to much **** with it.
Click to expand...
WOT??
This cant be right.
Even the very awesome N70 and wot about the new N-series ones coming??
 
i can understand vodacom phasing them out, i baught my phone on a vodacom weekend everyday contract as the phone was kinda released in sa..
after a week i had a problem with it. took it to nokia, and got the firmware flashed and now its 100%

my mate had the same prob, he has two N70's one from mtn and the other from vodacom, brand new after a week the the phone packed up, and after 2 months the phones motherboard was replaced... and the mtn phone is still 100%

ok... now, why did the vodacom phones mess up... you get the phones out of the box with the lovely vodafone firmware installed, and vodafone printed all over the phone, the one at the back i have happily scratched off :P
My mate used to work at nokia, the vodafone firmware can often damage the phone!
The vodafone firmware i was unhappy with out of the box because, the lovely screen saver always keeps just pitching up, after changing settings, was irritating and often messed up the vodacom4me website

ok...

i doubt it will happen tho, the N-series is going to be all the main phones of Nokia, all coming with the symbian op system they are the best phones, good features and multitasking, thats the reason i will never chyange phones from nokia smartphones, multitasking is the way to go, listen to music, have mxit open, mig33 open, agile messenger (msn, yahoo all the main messengers) and play a game at the same time.. got to love it

i love my N70, just want to get a new cover, to get rid of the vodafone cover, mohomed, can u hook me up?
my lesson learnt, dont buy a phone that doesnt have the orig firmware on.. nokia releases the phone with a specific reason, why load your crap on it!!

gar.. i hate vodacom now, so glad my main contract is with mtn
 
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Interesting, thx for that SB.
Is it not possible to ask for the phone without the vodafone stuff on?
Maybe if u dont take a contract ??
 
whether you buy it on contract or prepaid with vodacom it will be the crappy vodafone firmware on it

ATTENTION!! IF YOU HAVE THE VODAFONE FIRMWARE, TAKE YOUR PHONE TO NOKIA AND ASK FOR A FULL FIRMWARE UPGRADE, TAKE OUT YOUR MEMORY CARD WHEN U TAKE IT
 
lilDeath said:
Interesting, thx for that SB.
Is it not possible to ask for the phone without the vodafone stuff on?
Maybe if u dont take a contract ??
Click to expand...

Nope, but you can flash it yourself - there are quite a few guides out there on flashing the phone (upgrading/downgrading software) via your Datacable
 
TheYak said:
Cool! Thanks for that man!

I'm sure it was the w850 that this guy had, but the big button in the middle was different. They're advertising this phone all over Cresta and it wasn't the one that twisted open.

*is confused now*
Click to expand...

W900i Perhaps?

I got mine about a month ago, and it is quite cool. I missed my p910i a lot though, so now I carry around both phones. (To much info on the p910i to transfer, like notes and stuff.......)
 
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