melly

i would like a small phone that is compatible with the RL...

i was considering the motorola razor, or the nokia 6620.

i have have trouble in the past with the motorola startac flip phones with the hinge/electrical connection intemittently cutting out. i have always have good luck with nokia....

any suggestions?

thanks.

Mark

vp911

Mark - any particular carrier you want to stay with? Do you prefer flip or candy bar style? Do you care if the signal strenght and battery life show up? (If so, you can't use nokia - they dont display batt life and signal strength)

melly

i am curently ATT- will prob need to be cingular.

i like flip style but i have had 2 motorola startac fip phones that kind of crapped out.

size/battery life is probably the most important - i just want to be able to use the HFL. dont care if i cant monitor batery life/signal on the RL.

i am leaning toward the razor because of its size........

vp911

IMO I wouldn't get the razr. I have used 4 and they are all crappy. Reception isn't all that (many people claim it is top notch, but it is not) the software is slow to respond and often crashes.

If you don't mind a candy bar style phone - get the nokia 6230b. By far the best phone I have used for reception. bt works well with the HFL except for batt life and signal strength.

If you want a flip phone, I would strongly reccomend the moto v635 (you would have to order it from abroad - or on ebay or something) they don't sell it locally. But you could keep your current at&t plan without extending your contract. It is a good all around phone. I loved mine.

If you don't mind switching services - I would say that verizon is probably top notch for reception in most places. AT&T can't compare to the vzw I have had the last few months. The e815 is a great phone - I also like the vx8100 that I have been using the last few days. The e815 gets better reception though.

Let me know if I can help anymore or help narrow it down even more.

DCRL

vp 911, sorry you have not had good experiences with the Razr. But I can tell others that from the experiences I've had, no finer phone exists for the money (especially with the deals on that unit right now). I and friends all have the Razr and no problems whatsoever. None of ours have "crashed", the reception is spot on (at least over Cingular in the D.C. area and up the East Coast), and nothing about the phone is "slow". However, the camera is decent but not the super resolution some new phones offer. And Motorola's menu system does take some getting used to. But, in our experiences, there have been none of the problems you relate and we've had the Razrs since they first came out. Maybe it's locale?

spacklebucket

I have actually had just the opposite experience with Nokia and Motorola. Yes, I have had a flip phone or two crap out when the connection at the hinge went bad, but that was only after the phone got pretty old. I stopped buying Nokia phones years ago when I got two Nokia lemons in a row. Could have just been bad luck, but I never had major probs with any Motorola phone until they took enough abuse to just crap out.
Anyway, I'm using the E815 and its working really well. I have yet to set up the AcuraLink thing, but someone else on this board has. Its small enough to fit in my front pocket and the battery life is outstanding. So, my vote is for a V710 or E815.

melly

i appreciate the info.

i live in a smaller town in and around mountains. reception is a big deal for me..... this is going to be a difficult decision.

vp911

Your best bet is to use the trial period with each company. You already have AT&T so you already know what the cingular coverage will be like (AT&T/Blue side already uses Cinuglar/Orange towers).

I wouldn't go to t-mobile (they just don't have nearly the coverage as the other companies).

I would sign up for verizon through somebody (maybe amazon to get a good deal on a phone) use your 15 day trial period and use your phone where you normally would. Then decide which company provides better reception. After determining the reception factor - then look at the phone choices based on the company you choose.

vp911

It is by no means a bad phone - I have just used superior phones. It may be that I just have higher expectations out of a phone. I have used various software/firmware versions for the razr and compared to other phones the menu system has a slight lag. It is not very noticable unless you are specifically paying attention to it. The reception drops (using actual scientific numbers - not just bars) if for example you hold the phone lower down (where the internal antenna is). The camera is decent - but like you said, not anything like some of the new phones. On the other hand I don't really use the camera ever.

It is by far a great phone. I love the design and the keypad is awesome - but I know based on feature implementation there are better phones (e.g. the razr does not have edge for high speed web - on the other hand most people probably don't use it so they don't care.)

In my overall experience with AT&T/Cingular they have good coverage in most places - but rural places the CDMA (sprint/verizon) beat out the GSM carriers.

In the high school I work at verizon barely gets a signal inside, AT&T gets perfect coverage inside. It really is a matter of tower placement for bigger cities. I get excellent coverage with all carriers in and around my house - except with t-mobile.

Rich in NC

After quite a bit of U.S. travel with myself, and quite a few colleauges, I found Sprint to have the best overall coverage.
Anyway, I was convinced enough to switch. Very few places I go where Sprint isn't.

vp911

I agree, I had sprint for 2 years and they worked well for the places I travelled within the US. My only complaint was their in-building coverage was lacking a bit compared to verizon and at&t.

It is my understanding that with sprint you can pay an extra $5/month for free roaming - basically allowing you to use the verizon towers (and their partners) wherever there is no coverage by sprint. The only BT phone you can get from sprint is the slider LG PM325 - or the Treo 650

gbriank

Melly:

Give VZ a try....from what I remember (days working at VZ), there are 3 towers in your area. There shouldn't be any issues with reception in your area (not sure how it looks north of you).

Marc S

i just got the motorola E815 and i love it. a little bulky but it does the job

lbfcpa

Agreed. Bought one in July and it is fine.

jehazel

I have been with Sprint since '97 and really like their service. As long as you stay along a major road you will pretty much have coverage. Get off the beaten path and I've found myself roaming. Not really a problem for me since any travelling I do is in a major city and generally routed along major roads.

The phone selection for Sprint is poor though (in terms of Bluetooth capability). The Treo they have is nice but very bulky and somewhat pricey. They also have the LG (has to be close to the worst brand on the planet!!) PM 325. It is a little slider phone and feels VERY cheap. Pricing isn't too bad - it retails at around $230 but Sprint is good about offering promotional prices all the time. I picked it up for $70. I ended up dedicating this phone to the car so I've got it in the center console with a charger plugged in all the time. It's a universal charger (the PM 325 does have the universal port...) so I can charge my regular phone with it when I need to as well... The PM 325 also comes with a built-in camera and flash but I haven't tried it at all.

My regular cell phone is a Sanyo RL-7300. It is a flip phone and probably the best flip phone I've ever had. I did have a couple different models of the Motorola StarTacs so I know where you are coming from. This RL-7300 works really great and feels very sturdy. No bluetooth on the 7300 though

bkw

Wife has the Sprint LG Slider phone on Sprint - nothing displayed on the info screen.
I have the Blackberry 7250 on Verizon - Battery life and signal strength displayed on the info screen.

gleek

bkw-

I have teh Blackberry 7290 on Cingular and the battery and signal strength shows, but the caller id does not work.

Does it work on yours?

How about with the RAZR?

bkw

CallerID on my 7350 does not work either.

jeremysm1

I have the Verizon Blackberry 7250 unit and it shows both the battery and signal strength. The caller ID also shows up too.

I did notice that if my phone is placed in the cupholder or in the ash tray area (in front of the gear shift) then sometimes the phone will dial, connect, but the conversation is only half linked--meaning I would have to pickup the phone to talk and listen. So, what its doing is still being able to dial and connect/disconnect, but not work for voice. STRANGE.

I've also noticed that if I put the phone on the middle armrest, it has never faltered. So, I just went to Best Buy to day and purchased that semi-sticky pad so I can put my phone on the center arm rest and not have it slide off.

Has anybody experienced this problem too?

Yumcha

Has anyone tried to use a Sony Ericsson P910 with the car?

Spazz

I have the Blackberry 7520 for Nextel. Work great with my bluetooth headset and reception is pretty good.

jtassy

I had problems with my Moto V878 (import) and I've noticed that many Motos have terrible quality control/design issues, I currently have a RAZR and it is great. Regardless of the number of bars, as long as I have reception, the sound quality is great. (I'm with T-mobile if that matters at all)

Good luck on your decision

NorCalRL

I just paired up the Motorola E-815 with no trouble once I figured out the first instruction.

No joke, here it is:

"You must press and release the HandsFreeLink talk button on the steering wheel and wait for the beep before you speak."

I kept pressing the normal Voice Recognition Control on the steering spoke. The HandsFreeLink button is between the spokes at about the 8:00 o'clock position.

Once I figured out which voice button to press it was smooth sailing.

Although the phone chart at Acura shows that the battery control doesn't work with this Verison phone, it appears to be activated.

So far, so good.

Dave

NorCalRL

Well, I spoke (or wrote) too soon.

The link works just fine. The problem is that using hands free makes it sound like I'm under water when I'm on the phone.

Any scuba divers have an answer for this?

Dave

vp911

I don't have this problem... I know the for the other person who is talking to me it soudns like I am using speakerphone. My suggestion would be to try to play with the volume to find a good setting.

NorCalRL

Maybe that's a better description of what people at the other end are hearing. It reminds me of the original cell phones.

It's a little scratchy with some background wind noice.

Is anyone with the Motorola 815 getting high quality sound when they use Blue Tooth with their RL or is this the best that we can expect?

Dave

vp911

Its pretty much the best you can get.

jftjr

If you're on a GSM network (tmobile or Cingular) you can get deals on unlocked BT phones on the web. I picked up a brand new, unlocked (use any sim card) SonyEricsson k700i for $219, and I have seen the RAZR going for $300.

The k700i works fine with my RL... including signal strength and battery. I'm having fits with AcuraLink, though, on tmobile.

NorCalRL

Thanks VP911.

I just wanted to confirm that before I started the return and exchange process.

Maybe I'll try a Bluetooth headset.

Anyone have experience with using one on an E815?

Regards,

Dave

vp911

I used the Jabra 250 as well as the HS850. Im a big fan of the jabra - was very comfortable. The HS850 was also very good though.

NorCalRL

Thanks a bunch.

That's exactly what I needed to know.

Now I have a starting point. I'll head over to a well known on-line store to see what the opinions are on these headsets.

Dave

vp911

Let us know what headset you decide to get.

Well, you have verizon, have you considered the extra $10/month to use the onstar device as your phone? The sound quality (IMO at least) is better with that.

NorCalRL

Thanks for the info on the HS850.

I have a friend who has the older 810, which I just tried. It sounds much better than the RL's Bluetooth sound.

I'm going to go ahead and order the HS850, which is the replacement for the 810.

The OnStar option won't work for me because it would be an additional phone number and I receive many of my calls on my cell phone, which I would still need to answer.

Dave

vp911

You can forward your cell phone calls to your onstar device (no charge as its considered in-calling). When you leave the car you can disable the forwarding (in my phone I have it as a speed dial option). If you forget to disable the forwarding, after a few rings the call is transfered back to my regular phone anyways. Just an idea.

R J Poseidon 6

Are you sure about this?

ASP

NorCal, et all.

I have a handful of Bluetooth headsets for sale if you are interested.

PM me for details.

acurafox

I have had better luck with Sony Ericsson phones regarding Bluetooth, which may be due to their involvement in early definition of the Bluetooth standard. My primary phone is a Treo 650, which works fine (no signal strength or battery display, tho), but it took some work to get there, and I still don't have the capability for my car to phone hme via the Acuralink outbound message feature. My SE T637, OTOH, worked perfectly the first time, including all service features (indicator, signal strength, battery level, Acuralink outbound messages). If you don't need PDA functionality, I highly recommend the T637, which was (and is) a very robust and reliable phone.

vp911

I agree with acurafox on his T637 reccomendation. It is top notch and very reliable with the BT. Although, if you are going to get GSM and don't mind the lack of signal strength and battery life - get the Nokia 6230b. AMAZING reception. By far my favorite all time phone (and I hate bar phones)

Pierce Dunhill

Just got my RL and shopping for a Bluetooth phone. From what I've read here, there is no catagory killer, particularly since I am a Verizon user and won't change.

I'm told there will be a verizon razr phone in the fourth quarter of 2005. It will have blue tooth, so may be worth waiting for.

Anybody know when it may arrive? Thanks

vp911

The e815 is a killer phone. I love it. The razr *SHOULD* be out in november. (Should being the key word)