Picking a New Phone

[Nessa]

After having my Motorola Pebl for 2 years now, I think it's time for a change to something newer. I have my service with T-Mobile and they've made me a pretty good offer to upgrade to a new phone at very very cheap prices. The list of phones they offer are here. Like I said the prices don't apply the way they are on that page. The main features I'm looking for, a lot of phones have: Bluetooth, Instant Messaging, Speakerphone, Camera & Video.

Any Suggestions?

[Brian]

How about Sidekick Slide? They are made by Motorola.

You get unlimited SMS, picture messaging, Instant messaging, bluetooth, Internet, etc.

I have Sidekick 3 (made by Sharp) with T-Mobile for almost two years now. I'm pretty happy with my Sidekick 3 (soon to be discontinued.) I was going to get Sidekick LX (also made by Sharp,) but I wasn't really impressed by its bulkness.

I have heard of rumours about T-Mobile rolling out 3G nationwide sometime this year (probably by Summer.) You might want to consider holding on to your Pebl (or get an inexpensive one) until they get more 3G-enabled phones on the market.

[sarahtowny]

Personally I like the Nokia N series, so that's what I ended up with. Have to say am very happy with it, and it ticks all the boxes you wanted on your new mobile.

[detn8r]

T-Mobile carries the older version of the Blackberry Pearl, I wouldn't touch it -- although the Blackberry Curves are SOO sexy!

[Jeff]

If you want a standard phone, I like Nokia and Samsung phones. Good features and well built. I've owned about four different Nokias and they were all solid performers.

My Samsung was a clamshell design and had really impressive features. As a company, Samsung is like the old Sony of the '80s -- good products with great features and innovation.

Your shopping list is pretty standard, so it shouldn't be too hard to find a phone that does all that. One thing that I really like, however, is Yahoo! Go. It's a really impressive set of mobile apps from Yahoo that is only supported on specific phones. I'm using an iPhone now, but if I were looking for a "standard" phone, I'd definitely look for one that was compatible with Yahoo Go! It's really well designed and works beautifully.

Here's an overview of Yahoo! Go, and here's a list of supported phones.

[detn8r]

Yahoo Go is preety sweet, Jeff! I'm adding this to my must have apps for Blackberry!

[patndoris]

I love my Samsung Blackjack. It has all the features you're looking for. Plus with the Laptop data plan it can be tethered to a laptop as a modem. The plans at AT & T are a bit pricey tho.

-Doris-

[Nessa]

First off I'd like to say THANKS to everyone who responded, I got more answers than I expected to get and that's great!

Brian: You really got me thinking with this. A sidekick seems great as you put it, and the waiting thing well that sounds like a reasonable thing too, if they really are coming out with a 3G series. Plus Motorola has never done me wrong in the past. You made it move to the top of my list!

sarahtowny: I've only had one Nokia phone in the past and I had no complaints except the plainess of it. (Of course this was way back when phones were only meant for phone calls and text messaging!) I'll check some of the newer versions out.

detn8r: A Blackberry did come into mind and my main concern was the issue I brought up about people telling me it freezes up oftenly, which you informed me you haven't run into that issue. Also if you tell me to stay away from the old T-Mobile versions of it, I shall listen.

Jeff: I've never had a Samsung phone before, so I'll read more into those. But thanks for the Yahoo! Go link, definately something I'd want on a phone, considering I do use Yahoo! on my mobile a lot.

patndoris: I can definately agree about the AT&T thing which is the main reason I've always been with T-Mobile. Yeah, AT&T does have the whole roll over thing, but for me it was always, "What's the point of roll over minutes, if you have so little minutes and use them all up so have none to really roll over!" (But that doesn't apply to everyone.) Although if I did have AT&T I'd definately go for an iPhone, something about touch screen just makes it so great to me. lol


Once again thanks for the great answers, I'mma keep looking into these phones now with new information in mind and hopefully come to a conclusion soon! Will definately update you guys if I make a choice.

[Ahren55]

A couple of my friends have the new sidekick slider and it's really nice.
I would go to a T mobile store near you and check out the different phones they provide instead of just picking one over the net.

[patndoris]

I got my son the Virgin Mobile Wild Card. It was about $99 and has camera, mp3, dual screens and full swivel out keyboard (albiet small) + bluetooth. You pay as you go for the plans and how well they compare really depends on how much you use the phone and for what.

But - I must say he absolutely loves it, and it really is a cute little phone. I guess it depends on your usage whether the Virgin Mobile plans are worthwhile or not, but I thought I'd toss it out here in case anyone might find it helpful.