Cell phone help.... please

[Westat1]

I am in the process of getting a new cell phone and am very confused as to which phone I should get.

I live in the DC area and have been told GSM / GPRS will work, but if I travel outside the area I could have problems.

Is it better to go with a TDMA phone for now and upgrade later?

Right now I am considering a Nokia 3360 phone or a Panasonic Versio. I don't use the phone very often, barely have the one I have now on, but don't want a POS.

Any advice?

[agerhart]

Do NOT buy that phone....last I heard they were being recalled.

I just upgraded to the GSM service with the Nokia 8390 phone [nokiausa.com], and I am happy so far.

[Westat1]

Which phone is being recalled? What about a phone that is tri mode, ie Siemens.

[agerhart]

The Nokia 3360 phone is notorious for problems and I was told that it was being recalled.

I am not familiar with the tri-mode Siemens phones.

[Tapolyai]

In North America there are several "standards" used for cell phones.

The most frequently used ones areCDMA, TDMA, iDEN, GSM.

The only company using TDMA is AT&T Wireless, and they are phasing it out in lieu of GSM. Problem with their GSM is they use a different frequency then everywhere else in the world.

My suggestion is that you pick the vendor first, then see what phones you can use with them. Most vendors will not allow you to use your own telephone. They want you to buy "theirs".

[Mike_Mackin]

Related Article [usatoday.com]

[Westat1]

I am heavily leaning towards AT&T because we get nice discounts from where I work. I talked to a someone on the AT&T site via live chat, and tried to get my questions answered but they were worthless. Seems to me the Siemens S46 is the best of all worlds.

[dingman]

Not necessarily a bad approach, but I did take the opposite. I decided which phone I wanted, and that determined my carrier. I suppose lack of coverage or excessive cost might have altered my choice, but more likely would have just made me put off getting a cell phone for another few years.

The phone is a Handspring VisorPhone - I already used a Visor, and I'll be damned if I'm going to manage more than one address book. The only other option would be a Treo (Warning: my brother in law tells me that they took the ability to search your address book by company out of the Treos!) or another integrated cell phone and PDA. It's a GSM phone, and I haven't had many coverage problems. Of course, so far I've taken the phone with me only to places I checked on the coverage map before buying or to Washington, DC.