I have a current plan with Cingular and I have T720. It is about to be up and I am thinking of getting a new phone. I do not want to change my carrier (cingular) but I was wondering what are some good phones with compatibility to the TL that are around the price of 200. Also, has anyone traded in the old phone you have now for a bluetooth phone at a lower price? Thank you

I am also a noob in terms of phones. I do not understand why you would have more than one carrier. I think someone said they had both T-Mobile and Cingular. And I also checked ebay for pricing but also found that some listings said the phone was "unlocked." Can someone please explain these thigs for me.

 

I would go with the Sony Ericsson 637, it is a great bluetooth phone. As far as why someone would have service with 2 carriers? Beats me, maybe one is a business paid line and one is a personal line. Locked phones mean that they will only work with a SIM card from the carrier for which the phone is locked. An unlocked phone will work with any carrier's sim. For example a Cingular phone that is unlocked will work with a T-Mobile Sim card. However, if the same phone were locked it would only work with a Cingular phone. Also, unlocked phones may not work as efficiently as locked phones. They could have problems with roaming and and potentially battery life.

 

I too, have Cingular as my mobile telephone carrier and may I suggest the Sony Ericsson T616. This is a nice, slim, mobile phone with bluetooth. From all I've read this mobile telephone is compatible with your TL.

By now it should retail for less than $100.00.

 

I was looking at the T637 just a little while earlier. I will take a look at T616 as soon as I find the time.

Thanks a lot guys

 

With Cingular...the 616 has been discontinued. The 637 is its replacement. They look very similar. However, the 637 has a better screen and antenna/receiver. Otherwise they are very similar.

 

I have Cingular and have the 637.... works great with the TL! They also have a clamshell bluetooth phone (if you are so inclined)...

 

nah i dont mind whether it is a clamshell or not. as long as it works with the TL i'll be cool with it. how much did you pay for the phone?

 

The Sony Ericsson T637 is an amazing phone. You can grab one off of ebay from an e-merchant for about $200. That's $50 cheaper than the Cingular store wants. The Motorola V600 is another option but judging from what people have said, I'd stay way from it. Another good phone to look at is the Siemens S56. For general overall good use, features, eye candy, and reception, the T637 is your best bet.

 

gali,

Which Bluetooth, clamshell phone does Cingular carry? Can't figure it out from their web site?

 

T637 is great. I really like mine!

 

The T637 on the Cingular is $99.00 after $50.00 rebate, with a 2 year contract.... Don't know if you are a Sam's Club member but they have the phone through Cingular for $99.00 before $50.00 rebate, and were offering additional 25% off the phone. Plus you can get the deal with just a one year contract. So basically if the 25% deal is still on the phone will be just 25.00.

 

Appreciate that info. My plan with Sprint is up at the end of the week and seeing as they don't have any decent bluetooth phones available I may check the Sam's Club/Cingular plan out.

 

[QUOTE=Oswald Vater]Appreciate that info. My plan with Sprint is up at the end of the week and seeing as they don't have any decent bluetooth phones available I may check the Sam's Club/Cingular plan out.[/QUOTE


I'm still debating, I have Alltel, which for me has good coverage- but no bluetooth phones at this time and doesn't appear to have any to come out in the future... The Sam's Club/Cingular deal is pretty good, just think their gsm coverage wont be as good as what I have now... The thing I like is that with Sams you can just do a one year contract, also Cingular has a 15 day trial period, Sams told me they would give me a new number, I can try it out if I don't like it just return it and get money back- probably just pay for any used airtime- if I like it and want to switch to Cingular they will then port my current number over, so I will keep my old number... btw, Sams also charges activation fee of 18.00, Cingular store charges 36.00.

 

I don't recall the exact clamshell they had... I went to a local Cingular store, and at the time (about a month ago), they recieved 3 new phones, the T637, one clamshell w/Bluetooth, and one clamshell w/out bluetooth. I have had motorola clamshells my whole cellular life, so, wanted a different style. So sorry, didn't pay too much attention to the clamshell models.

As for the phone, it was free! Well, I paid $50 (+tax) on the phone, and I received a $50 mail-in rebate. So basically, I paid tax for the phone. It was a no-brainer purchase. If I recall correctly, the clamshell with bluetooth had the same rebate going on. This rebate was only if I took the $39.99/month calling plan though, which is what I was going to do anyway.... I had to sign a 1-yr contract though (which is pretty standard, I guess)

T637 is a great choice. I have to give props to mobilezen for helping/andwering all my BT/celluar/etc questions!

Oh, and it's qali (with a "Q") ...

 

Motorola V400 - flip phone without bluetooth (amazing phone which you can flash to have v600 software but no bluetooth still...it is a combination firmware/hardware feature)

Motorola V600 - flip phone / quad band w/ bluetooth. The pimp of all phones. If you don't need the 850mhz band, I HIGHLY recommend the Sony Ericsson Z600, you will be pleasantly amazed as I was when I had it.

Sony Ericsson T637 - A few of my friends have this. Cingular sells these unlocked so if you're in need of a phone no matter if you're on T-mobile/Cingular/AT&T, get it! It's an awesome phone if you're looking for a simple replacement with a kick.

qali: thanks for the compliment. I've actually been doing more research lately along with work and school and there are a couple cars that might tear me away from getting the TL but I'm still saving so time & research will tell.

 

Yes I am a Sams club member. Sams club is pretty badass. My mom got the Averatec 3200 series laptop from them for a little over 1000. Great laptop. I will check out if they will have the deal still for the phone. Thank you dheel

 

Just came home with a cingular plan and the SE637. Got it for a $100 at Sam's (out the door) with a 1-year plan (450 rollover minutes, unlimited N/W) for $40. My phone number ported over from my former Sprint account to the new one in less than 2 hours! I am very pleased with this phone so far but haven't set up the bluetooth in the TL yet. That's my Saturday afternoon project. I'll let everyone know my experience.

 

Did you get unlimited N/W minutes, I was thinking it was 5000 mins. with the 39.99 plan.
Also, did you get the $50 rebate, if not they have the form on the Cingular website.
... I was wondering if you have tried the phone with a cigarette power adapter, with my current phone it will turn on and off when I crank and turn the car off.
Thanks for any info.

 

From what I understand, the agent told me even the 5000 min plans were coming back as unlimited. In any event, for the amount of calling I do, 5000 is basically unlimited for me. 2nd, I did not get the rebate. The price was without. However, I will check the website and see if I can still qualify for it. Thanks for that info. Finally, when I plug in the phone, I am using the power adapter inside the console, not the one in front of the shift lever. I think the one in the console is fully powered all the time while the shift lever one is only on when the ignition switch is on. It may be the other way around. I know the manual has the info, I'm just too lazy to look it up. Try the other adapter and see if it helps.

 

As promised earlier, my SE637 is now fully paired with the TL. Other than a few voice recognition glitches on my part, the pairing went smoothly and I must say that this phone works great with the car. It has added a whole new dimension to the TL experience. If you're still looking for a bluetooth phone, I can heartily recommend this one for use with your car.

 

I just bought the T637 and got Cingular service. I bought it from Amazon.com where after rebates, I'll be getting $50 back for the purchase. I only need minimal minutes, so I opted for the $29.99 plan for 250 minutes. I don't live on my phone and hate being bugged on it for anything other than important calls.

I could've gotten $75 back by going with AT&T on Amazon's site, but they didn't offer a $29.99 plan (yes, I'm cheap...hehe).

Oh, and this was with a 1 year contract as well. No 2 year garbage for me.

 

T-Mobile > Cingular > AT&T is the heirarchy I live by. T-Mobile has the cheapest plans and great coverage where I go around the metroplex. Cingular is awesome too and has fantastic phones. AT&T, well they are the last provider on the list...too many nightmares. haha.

 

I would've gone with TMobile, but no T637 with them and I didn't like the Bluetooth phones they had available - too bulky/goofy looking.

 

I used a T637 with T-Mobile for a bit. Of course you wouldn't get any deal on it as you would have to buy it at full price. I love my rate plan though. I get almost unlimited everything for $50 a month.

 

Got the T637 this past weekend from Sam's, with Cingular. The 25% off sale was over, but got the phone for 50.00 after the rebate. The phone works good, paired easily with TL.
Only problem I have is with the Cingular coverage, Interstate driving seems to be fine, but out of the city seems very weak. I can't even use it at my house, no service at all. Can go outside and barely get a signal, then even sometimes you can get a signal and then go back later in the same place and not have a signal at all? I assume At&t would have the same coverage and roaming?
... Think I will probably be returning my phone during the 15 day trial period, luckily I kept my Alltel service and number, so I wont lose my old number.
Guess I'll to wait to when some CDMA provider can come out with a bluetooth phone that has better coverage.

 

new firmware for the T637 is due out within the next 3 weeks.

 

what is the new firmware suppose to improve on the T637?

 

not sure yet.

 

Just got the T637 yesterday...it only took one try to get the TL to find it and it was up and running.
Everything works! Great sound. Bluetooth is really awesome and with the TL it makes talking and driving effortless.