Hi all, optus contract has run out, and looking to get a new phone with a new contract ($49 cap). Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions, Ive done my research but still not convinced (they all have pro's and con's). Just looking for a reliable phone with a nice interface and features, Symbian is preferable but not necessary.


Out of these phones, which would you recommend: http://personal.optus.com.au/web/ocaportal.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=Template_wRHS&FP=/personal/mobile/mobilephones/3gphones&site=personal

Also if anybody knows of better caps/phones from different providers plz comment :).

cheers

Nokia N73 -or- Sony Ericsson K800i with Vodafone

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K800i imo

my 6680 is pretty good, but im just waiting till the n95 so i can have gps maens

my 6680 is pretty good, but im just waiting till the n95 so i can have gps maens

I got a N73, Route 66 GPS receiver and run TomTom 6 for S60, works rather well FYI.

Edit: While sure its not a all in one device like the n95, it still is rather small.

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/8793/garage11220zk7.th.jpg

last edited by scuzzy at 16:43:02 13/Apr/07

im not actually getting it for the gps, thats just an added novelty, like the 5 megapixel camera :) i just like the look and the slide features of it

n95 will be phone killer for 2007.

ive been waiting so long, atm its still only purchase outright from telstra, so hopefully they will plan package it at some point

Yeah when I was looking for phones a few weeks ago, I looked at a demo N95, it was s*** f***ing hot, but not for some stupid price of over $1000.

Personally, I'd look at the Nokia E65 on 3's $49 cap. Great phone with an impressive range of functionality and even better, it's free on the $49 cap. You get a higher cap value than Optus and it also allows you to sign up for 3's X-Series (think: 500mb data for $20, 1gig for $30 or 2gig for $40 - there's other stuff too, but this was what I thought cool :D).

Even if you don't use it, it's a fair whack cheaper than Optus' $29.95 for 100meg :)

Anyway, that's my $0.02

I've been with 3 for about 18 months now and actually think I've got a pretty good deal with them. Also, I've never had them screw up my bill, whereas Optus tried to gouge me for $600. < /personal bias>

Cheers,
Ges

N95 or die

Hi, I am not even looking for a phone.

However I did notice one thing on wikipedia re: the N95.

On March 22nd, Nokia announced that the N95 started shipping in key European, Asian and Middle Eastern markets. Press release It will be available, in Australia, exclusive to the Three network, in late May / early June.

So looks like only on 3 and you have about 2 months to wait.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N95

why are we even having this discussion? k800i wins

Will a 3 network sim card work in a Sony Ericson K700i?

k800i is the king leonidis of phones

asif you'd buy anything sony

I'm in the same boat, but I need more PDA features so I'm still looking at the JASJAM/JAMin type things.

As much as I don't want to give MS any more of my hard earned duckets, I've used Windows Mobile heaps on my Ipaq and am quite familiar with it now - plus its syncing with Outlook is obviously the best.

How do those other OS phones go syncing with Outlook?

nokia and sony have pc suite sync software which syncs contacts, calenders and tasks.

SE w880i

absolute winner. and so skinny you can cut cocaine with it.

I guess what I should have asked before is:

Will a 3 sim card work in an old GSM phone? Does anybody know for sure if a 3 SIM w ill work in a k700i?

What is app support like for Symbian these days? Can you get like media players that play a variety of formats and s*** yet?

iphone

telstra are selling the n95 at the moment, the only thing is they say we havent 'fully tested it on our networks' which is why they arent plan bundling it

in 2 months it will be available on all the major networks i'd say.

k800i is the king leonidis of phones

qft

Deeda Pi is a Linux-based phone coming out hopefully soon. It is being touted as the real iPhone killer.

Will a 3 sim card work in an old GSM phone? Does anybody know for sure if a 3 SIM w ill work in a k700i?

AFAIK, no :(

Not entirely sure why, but my little brother had to try it the other week when he "accidentally" ran over his 3 mobile with a golf buggy :D

Cheers,
Ges

I'd go the SE K850i .. hear it's pretty good. That or the N63 or something.

that deeda pi looks awesome!
open source w00t
ballpark release date?

No idea on a release date. It's been in development since 2005 so hopefully soonish.

n95 looks so sexy. i got an n73, it's not too shabby i only got it for the rad camera though.

there's a new nokia i think it is that has 5mp camera, proper internet, and GPS navigation system. its like $1200 tho

gold star for le cock *rolls eyes*

Waiting for either Motorola Q (with Windows OS 6) or E61i.....

that E61i looks neato too. only 2mp camera though. depends if you want 5mp or push email.

w950i is the secks

last edited by ara at 14:12:02 16/Apr/07

how much does the n95 cost outright?

ebay prices show in the 1050-1200 range.

call me a noob but i recently scored an Eten M600+ from u know whomart for 600 bux. Does all the windows mobiley stuff and also skypes thru the wifi nice and has my standard GSM sim as well. no HSDPA but meh. no contracts n bulls*** either. I win.

1400 from telstra

and that is why telstra are a pack of... er community leaders.

Holy s***, $1400 for a phone!??? What on earth does it do??

My T610 is still running strong. :)

LOLOLOLOLOLOLO

K880i is lame, buttons suck penis.

K800i is sexy

I like the way trog pays out sony ericsson (probably most reliable brand) and then says hes waiting to get a f***ing imate!

trog is just anti sony anything.

Will a 3 network sim card work in a Sony Ericson K700i go through the wash and still work?

lol ericssssssssson is s***e, my god, why were they invented.

trog is just anti sony anything.

It's not like I don't have reasons

Which are?

I'm in the same boat, but I need more PDA features so I'm still looking at the JASJAM/JAMin type things.

I bought a Jasjam off ebay trog, $650 delivered.

$1400? what a rip

I bought a Jasjam off ebay trog, $650 delivered.

How's it working out for you?

How's it working out for you?

Great little bit of hardware, so much aftermarket software for it, the wifi is fun too =] Slide out qwerty keyboard is good too, I always sucked at the normal phone ones ;D

Great little bit of hardware, so much aftermarket software for it, the wifi is fun too =] Slide out qwerty keyboard is good too, I always sucked at the normal phone ones ;D

does TCMP work on it?

edit: actually, that's not it - trying to find it now; it's a cool media player for Windows Mobile. I had it on my ipaq but I left the thing uncharged and the battery ran out - when that happens it awesomely deletes all the software on it.

edit#2: maybe this is it, though the page doesn't load for me.

last edited by trog at 21:33:55 16/Apr/07

This is currently the best media player for windows mobiles. Although there's a few issues with the HTC devices at the moment (Jasjam is one). Despite that it's a fantastic piece of software =]

Just found out i can get the n95 outright for $999 through my work's deal with vodafone.

This is currently the best media player for windows mobiles. Although there's a few issues with the HTC devices at the moment (Jasjam is one). Despite that it's a fantastic piece of software =]

That just looks like a derivative of TCPMP (especially considering TCPMP stands for "The Core Pocket Media Player"). Looking around I find it oddly suspicious that the TCPMP site is down and has been for a while. There's a backup site though which appears to have all the binaries.

i got my n73 for a lil over 400 bux.. for the money its all i need and more

was able to listen to tunes when i was away for 3 weeks.. has a decent camera and i just changed my number to the telstra network which will be on 3g in may for pre paid phones

woot woot and its quad band so i can use it when i move to EU

Trog , I have the Dopod 838Pro, which is the same as the Imate JasJam ( They are both the HTC Hermes).

I got mine, stinky bought one soon after and 2 other guys at work have bought it. We have loaded WM6 on it which actually makes it even better, better features and a lot faster.

Iv recently had the chance to play with the dopod 810i (HTC Trinity) which is the same as the Jasjam minus the flip out keyboard. Instead of the keyboard, they have installed the antenna for the GPS chip, so it works as a portable GPS unit. I installed TomTom on it, worked fantastic.

If you want to know anything about it let me know, iv spent hours playing with it, reading about it and unfortunatly know a little too much about them :P

For instance the Hermes has a built in GPS unit but no antenna :(

these devices sound real bulky

dont you guys care about the lines of your pants?

or do you all have man bags for carrying them around?

If you want to know anything about it let me know, iv spent hours playing with it, reading about it and unfortunatly know a little too much about them :P

I guess a) How much are they? b) Can I just drop my Optus SIM card in there and have them work?

I bought my jasjam several months ago (and threw my optus sim in to it no worries. Later i had optus upgrade me to a 3g sim).

Just upgraded to WM6 Black Pro 2.5 which is much nicer than the initial wm6 rom i was using earlier. The hackers are doing great work with wm6, don't miss out on it - the version i was using didn't support video calling or windows live, which is now all supported by black pro 2.5

On a side note, I have a brand new 1 day old still in pack never used (apart from store owner unlocking it for me yesterday) K800i in brown colour, if anyone's interested in taking it off my hands?

for eg. if i bought samsung blackjack which runs wm5 smartphone version, can I upgrade the os on it to full version wm5 or wm6. As our database sync software wont work on smartphone os.

heh we just put up a promo on the front page of ausgamers for the new nokia n95 and it sounds f***ing awesome: built in GPS, wifi, bluetooth, RealPlayer (ahaha who cares), 5mp camera.. the page is a bit light on tech specs but it looks pretty cool

i just wanna know how long the battery is going to last on that sucka..

sounds like the phone has gone beyond the battery technology available to it.. and it will end up being plugged into the wall/car/insert plug type for 90% of the time.. which doesnt sound very mobile...

i have been looking for battery details but it seems a bit light on detail

i have got the N95 i have had it for about 2 weeks now, and its awsome! came with a 1gig micro SD card. you can download maps for GPS from the nokia site for free and the media player is pretty good. also it has a 5 mega pixel camera and its absolutly awsome. also battery life isn't bad lasts me abut a week depending on how much i use it.

:Edit:
ill link a pic tomorrow dont have any i want to post on the net..
:Edit 2:
only thing is i dont think you can get it from optus yet and telstra dont have any plans for it you can only buy it out rite (which is what i did)im on optus and it works fine, cant use some of the advaced features (not to sure what exactly) cause optarse havent figured out how to charge for them. c***s!

last edited by TufNuT at 22:11:28 01/May/07

last edited by TufNuT at 22:36:21 01/May/07

you can download maps for GPS from the nokia site for free

RLLLLY? That is awesome, for how many cities/countries?

How big is the phone itself, I found it hard to get any idea of the size from the website

the phone isnt one you would put in you pocket cause you dont wanna scarch the screen, its a little wider than and N6233i (i love the screen) you get he maps from http://www.nokia.com/A4353385 um i think most countries are available i have only downloaded Aus so far cause just East Aus is 160MB.. the phone is really light.

here is a pic taken with my phone

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/1817/01052007011fd7.th.jpg

hmmm Pic quality doesnt look as good as the other pics i have taken..

last edited by TufNuT at 22:26:55 01/May/07

are you going to tell us how much it cost you, tuff?

1k i got it cost price

last edited by TufNuT at 22:36:53 01/May/07

So what navigation software does it run? is it just a nokia plot-your-position-on-our-maps program or is it Tomtom for S60v3?

The N95 uses Gate5 for Europe and AGIS for Australasia. It comes with the base version of AGIS's NavPhone application and then you need to download the maps you are interested in from Nokia's Smart2Go service. The maps are free. Maps are stored locally. It can display your position on a map and also search for addresses and can provide routing with turn-by-turn directions.

You will eventually be able to track phones from phones as well as the internet for a monthly fee. Voice navigation is also available for a subscription fee.

The AGIS Navphone software works for many different phones and brands but you would then need to pruchase it. Very much like Tom Tom. It also can use built-in GPS, bluetooth GPS receivers and it can use cell triangulation if you don't have a GPS facility.

Triangulation gives you about a 100metre accuracy and over time this narrows down to around 10 to 20 metres (GPS is 8metres). The trinagulation facility is called GPRX. It also works inside buildings and tunnels whereas GPS does not.

GPRX does not use the tower's base stations to calculate your position like Optus's FindA and Telstra's UandMe (both which provide only approximately 400metre accuracy). It performs the task inside the phone and will use everybodys towers to range fix. Thus more towers for caluclating position and thus more accurate.

Nokia bought a stake in AGIS (which is a Singaporean company) last year and thus why they use AGIS's Navphone software for Australasia.

i would/am getting the w950i
W950i

touch screen, 4gb memory card :) heaps of other cool s***

does the GPS use data that you get charged for or is it free?

GPS data is free. Map data is free. Search and routing functions when using the latest N95 firmware is free.

Some Fat Informative Bastard

Quickshop has the Nokia n95 for $1089 at the mo and that page has a s***load of info re its specs etc....man it aint a phone, its an everything!

yes mongie, we heard you the first time

We got a Nokia 5500 sport for one of our guys. Great little phone, heaps of features ect. I think they are now 0 dollars on a $49cap

So what navigation software does it run? is it just a nokia plot-your-position-on-our-maps program or is it Tomtom for S60v3?

What's the difference, as a newb GPS user?

what do we need GPS for again?

are we all going sailing sometime soon?

um i think most countries are available i have only downloaded Aus so far cause just East Aus is 160MB.. the phone is really light.

that's double the size of TomTom's maps for the whole of Australia, What additional information apart from streets does it have?

MORE DETAIL PERHAPS?

what do we need GPS for again?

when you get assaulted at the gay club and dumped in remote bushland, you will want to find your way back, I guess.

i pretty much know where i am at most times by looking around when i go places and not staring at my phone unless im making a phone call

and if im in the car i use a fangled device known as a "refidex"

im not allowed to go out to clubs (gay or straight) anymore

and surely if im getting assulted, wont the assulties take my big ass phone so they can look cool in front of their mates?

MORE DETAIL PERHAPS?

I don't know how much detail you need for bends in the road, but to know if it has got neat s*** like point of interest for shops and restaurants and other cool places would be pretty good to know.

Edit: s*** who knows, they might just be really inefficient at storing map data. I mean if TomTom can get the WHOLE of Australia in under 85 meg...

last edited by scuzzy at 16:15:47 02/May/07

i suppose its one of those gadgets that people will scratch their head going when will i ever need to use this i.e. kerosene lantern, incandescent light bulb etc. the next thing you know it will be all over the place...

Sometimes you make good posts infi, but this was not one of them.

Its a top end phone, its not for everybody, and it has a lot of features jammed into the one device.

Its the same as anything, HDTV for example, most people buy 42" or there abouts, but that doesn't mean they don't still sell HUGE ones for the top end of the market.

mongie is on the cutting edge ok

i was more specifically referring to the GPS functionality.

just like airbags in cars, or any cutting edge feature, it is introduced in the top models first and then as affordability increases is rolled out in lower models later.

gps is one of those basic functionalities that will permeate our world as the technology becomes cheaper. but not everyone will enjoy it via a $1,000 phone thats for sure.

Infi, it's called convergence. Why buy two items a GPS and then a phone if you can have both in one unut. If you bought a comparable phone then a comparabale GPS unit it would be costing you more.

You will see more and more of this occurring and it can ony be a good thing. If you want to use the N95 as a in-car GPS unit telling you when to turn etc then by all means subscribe to the Voice Navigation add-on.

It would be great if you are going to a city or place you haven't been to before, such as a business trip to Sydney, Melbourne etc or even if you are a tourist going overseas then all you need to do is download the free maps for that country and off you go, instant referdex.

Eventually the service will be extended to include shopping centre layouts etc. These will automatically download into your phone as you walk through the door. Handy if you want to find that particular store.

With the phone tracking it will be handy for security, lost or stolen scenarios and employee tracking for mobile work forces. Care for the elderly would be another scenario, as would tracking your kids if your concerned about their whereabouts and locating friends.

You will be able with an upgrade to the N95 use it for creating geofences. Areas you create by drawing a polygon which can alert you to when you enter the geofence or exit the geofence. Good for keeping an eye on say children if you want to know when they have reached school and when they have left if you're a parent. Another case would be it would alert you when a friend is in the area or when you are within an area and letting your friends know. Same goes for couriers and the like. Customers would know when the courier is in the area.

Traffic reports will also be available at some stage as these can be transmitted to your phone in real time and alert you to changes in routes for your convenience. Traditonal GPS can't do this. You have to pre-download the data as traditonal GPS units are not connected to a central mobile communications service, ala GSM. Think how handy that would be when driving home all of a sudden the phone alerts you to a traffic accident that just happened and plots you an alternative route well and truly in advance.

So the phone could be used both in a commercial or personal application.

I know another feature AGIS has put into the application is terror alerts for emergency and defense services. They are doing this for the Singaporean government. It's called NavCrisis.

Anyways there is lots of applications for it, just use your imagination.

Infi, it does not just work with the high end phones, it will work with any Symbian or Java based phone. Nokia have just released it in their top line model first. If you go to Nokias Smart2Go website you will see it will work for various models. The N95 is just the first.

If you look at AGIS's web site it will show you that it works for other manufacturers phones and you will be able to see which models. From low end to high end.

As I said before you don't even need a phone with a GPS receiver you can use the triangulation facility. It is not as accurate but it certainly is still a very functional application. You just wouldn't use it for in-car navigation.

The link is www.agis.com.sg.

last edited by Some Fat Bastard at 16:37:28 02/May/07

hey u got not resistance from me. i am totally sold on convergence. it just takes time for this technology to filter down to the masses.

i am referring back to spook's post doubting GPS' application. i firmly believe it will have multitudes of uses that will be filter into every aspect in our lives.

I agree it will take time but it will eventually be commonplace. One of the extra costs in the N95 is the GPS receiver. Most phones that have in-built GPS receivers are expensive.

You could reduce the cost by buying a phone without GPS and pruchase a GPS bluetooth receiver. I think you can get these for under a $100 now. The only problem is you have two devices to carry around. But the software does work with them.

I would be inclined to not worry about a GPS receiver and use the triangulation personally. I don't have a need for in-car navigation but it would be handy as a replacement for my referdex. Espcially for routes.

last edited by Some Fat Bastard at 16:52:18 02/May/07

GeoFence

I want to stab whoever coined that word.

Geofence is a common term used in the transport industry, so you could go and stab Lindsay Fox.