Phone Buyers Guide

Well, we all know about the RAZR as the popular phone and for crackberry fans, the two phones to get are the Blackberry 7105 and the to drool over Blackberry 8700, but what have the Koreans been up to. Here’s a quick overview of hot phone is you want to get one of them. In the US, the new phones are nearly always launched on a particular network, so I’ll divide the world into the four big networks but to summarize the recommendations. First for data oriented phones, they are the Blackberry 7105, Blackberry 8700t on T-mobile.

For traditional mid-tier nice function phones, Samsung SGH-T809 on T-mobile, the Samsung MM-A900 on Sprint, the Motorola V3c on Verizon and Cingular, the LG 320 which is the first UMTS phone.

h3. T-Mobile

These guys don’t have the latest phones but have a food good ones according to “PC Magazine”:http://www.pcmag.com/compare_products/0,1943,,00.asp?a=164390,138562,158827,154520&pt=4&sid=1713, but they are unlockable so they are usable overseas which is a big plus, plus although their coverage isn’t super great and they only have GPRS their plans are cheap. Here’s a rundown of what they have that’s cool and I apologize for the incredibly hard to understand version numbers, but besides the first generation RAZR, they have ta pretty cool Samsung model

!CoolTechZone.com – Samsung SCH-A950 Cell Phone: An MP3 Player as Well. The A950 has an MP3 player and stereo speakers built in. It is chubbier and colorful and only on Verizon and is free if you buy from letstalk.com. It is EVDO and has a tranflash card, but only a 1.3Mp camera. The main issue is the “software”:http://reviews.cnet.com/Samsung_SCH_A950/4864-6454_7-31592301.html?ctype=msgid&messageSiteID=7&messageID=1527915&cval=1527915&tag=uolst on the device is just terrible for music performance.

And then there is the half a choice if you really don’t like the Blackberry but want a texting device in the “LG VX9800”:http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1865639,00.asp. This is a big phone and its main claim to fame is that it has a keyboard inside the clamshell and is chubby at 4.6 inches x 2 inches x 1 inch and a monster 5.2 ounces. It has a 160×128 screen on the outside and then flips open to a 320×256 on the inside with a full keyboard. Unfortunately, the email program only supports IMAP or you run a redirector program on your laptop to get Outlook. It also supports VCAST video and has an MP3 player as well. It’s $149 from letstalk.com

h3. Cingular

Since both T-mobile and Cingular have GSM networks, but Cingular locks their phones, the only reason to consider them is because there are exclusive devices deals or if you want the high speed UMTS network. They have a few more days where they will have the Blackberry 8700

The most interesting phone is the :”LG CU-320″:http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=773808&page=2&pp=15. This is a UMTS so a high speed phone that is a slider design, $200 directly from Cingular online. 1.3Mpixel camera, 172×144 display, Transflash, MP3 playback. Another one that is coming is the “LG CU-500”:http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=1630 of which little is known.