I'm playing with a new app on my phone right now--Soda-Pop Mail. It's a BREW mail network that allows you to check your mail from almost any POP3 network (including Hotmail and Yahoo!). I only downloaded the demo, which is good for 2 days...surprisingly, it only cost $3 for unlimited use, but uses airtime. I can't justify getting it on a permanent basis yet. But it's a pretty cool little app.

[giddy]Among the new games for my phone this month:

--Q-Bert
--Moon Patrol
--Uno
[/giddy]

Pimpin Phone 1: 2002-March 27, 2003
 

Pimpin Phone 1 (aka Sycamore's 3-month old Motorola T720 mobile phone) died suddenly today, at the age of several months. The phone apparently developed a defect, whereby the phone could not tell that its flip was open. Therefore, it would not operate, except for the outer display. It is survived by millions of other T720s, sold through Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile.

The good news: Verizon came through like champs...I took it to the store tonight, the tech looked at it, and said, "Let me get you a new phone...give me about 5-10 minutes to set it up." Now I have a new Motorola T720.

The bad news: They were not able to get the data to transfer from my old phone to my new phone. So, I have to deal with Verizon tomorrow in regards to getting credit for downloading the ringtones and games that were lost. Then, I have to redo all the options. Then, I have to redo my phone book...fortunately, I didn't have many numbers on it.

I knew that something like this could happen. Nextel used to have this problem all the time with their Motorola flips. I'm not turned off by it though...shit happens.

I'll never get a new phone until mine dies. My phone is an older than dirt ugly piece of shit kyocera 2035a. (I'd post a picture but my digicam is home and I'm at work but believe me it's ugly). But I've had absolulty no trouble with it. The only gripe I've had is that it last less than 5 minutes when I'm talking in analog mode but other than that it's a champ. Of course my friends all have the flashy new flip phones and they bitch and moan all the time about how pathetic they work and all the problem they have.

I also think flip phones have serious hardware problems but this is just an opinion with no fact to back it up. Of course my friends don't belive me and insist on passing up the cheaper non flip phones for a flip phone becuase they are worried that they willl press buttons when it is in there pocket. They don't believe me that the keyguard actually works.

The newer flip phones are much better designed, IMO than the old ones. For example, we used to get a shitload of insurance claims on Nextel I1000 and I1000plus phones, b/c the flip hinges would finally wear out and break. At one point, we denied any claims of that nature, considering it "wear and tear." Apparently, so many people were bitching to Nextel and Motorola (and to us), that our policy was changed to include such incidents, and the I1000plus was redesigned.

My phone is pretty sturdy, IMO. I'm not sure if it getting rain drops on it Wednesday night did it, or if something came loose, or what. All I know is that he looked at it for no more than a minute, asked me when I got it (mid-December), then said he would replace the phone. Given how fast all this happened, I hope this isn't some general flaw that is befalling these phones. If so, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Motorola are in a shitload of trouble...IIRC, it was the biggest selling phone in 2002 (thanks to the deep discount on it).

Pimpin Phone 2 (aka Sycamore's Motorola T720 wireless phone that he has had for less than a month) was laid to rest today at the age of a few months. Again, another glitch in the phone...this time, it would freeze up, with the only way to make it stop by taking the battery out. Again, replaced with a new phone.

Goddamnit, I was very careful with that phone. And goddamnit, if I have one more problem, I'm getting a different phone.

I know the gee whiz toy feature is no where near as good ... but just go for the cheap-ass nokia. It's a PHONE not your best friend. You want two things in a cell phone. Reasonable sound quality, and it should still work after you've dropped it out of your pimpin' coat pocket a couple of times.

The more sophisticated, the more fragile.

Sheesh.

amen

I have a Samsung A310 and it's been awesome. I think Motorola's quality has gone down the tube in the last few years. The last well-made and durable phone they made seems to be the StarTAC.

Anyway, the A310 is basically just a phone. It <b>does</b> have a lot of extra features, but most of them are really convenient and helpful. For example, it has an alarm clock that I get up to every morning. It has a calculator, which I use to calculate an exact 15% tip when the service has just been "okay" (otherwise I generally tip 30-50%). It's small, it's easily used with just one hand... and it's a flip phone, so the buttons don't get pressed (I keep mine in my pants pocket, so this is a <b>big</b> issue for me). All in all, I'm very happy with it. The only thing I don't like is that it uses a charging cable instead of a cradle, and I vastly prefer the cradle.

You're making me nervous Syc...
 

Hi,

Just came across your forum here via Google. You've been through 2 phones in the past 5 months? You're making me nervous.

I just got the T720 at the end of May from Verizon. As you say, it is a Pimpin' Phone. I just hope mine doesn't break down as easily as yours.

I do have a couple of gripes about it though. First off, you can't install wallpaper or ringtones outside of Verizon's proprietary "Get It Now" feature. This is unfortunate because if you make a ringtone or wallpaper yourself and want to put it on your phone, you're either SOL or you have to pony up some cash for some sort of WAP or "Get It Now" service. Very annoying as it prevents this phone from living up to it's full potential.

The other gripe is this phone doesn't come with any games whatsoever. If you want a game, you have to buy via "Get It Now." If I'm not mistaken, most phones come with at least some gaming diversion (i.e. Blackjack, Solitaire, etc.).

Otherwise, I like this phone.

Oh yeah. Syc, you mentioned insurance for this phone. I don't recall anyone offering me insurance. (I'm in California). I might have to look into that. Anyhow, good thread you have going here. I hope you're new phone doesn't take a dump on you.

Actually, I am now on my 4th phone. I had to get yet another phone 2 weeks ago--the phone just stopped working. When I asked the technician if they had received an unusual number of issues with the phone, I got some song and dance spiel..."I see all kinds of phones" type of shit.

The phones have a one-year warranty on them, which starts over every time you get another one. That's the one good thing. That covers you on mechanical failure.

As far as the insurance, I believe Verizon's service is run by Lockton. (I used to work for their former insurer, The Signal.) However, given that Verizon Wireless is a piecemeal operation (cobbled together out of several former wireless carriers), the cost/coverage/service may vary from location to location. For example, the way we handled Cingular claims in Pennsylvania (formerly Cellular One) was different than the way we handled Cingular claims in California (the former PacBell wireless) b/c of a similar piecemeal operation.

Maggie brought up the issue with BREW on Verizon vs. Java on AT&T. That does suck on Verizon's end, but AT&T service as a whole is just shit, so for me, it's a reasonable trade-off.

Just watch the phone carefully. Watch for issues with downloading/running games in particular. And watch the charger port...it's very sensitive sometimes. If you start having problems with it powering up or it blacks out while you're playing a game, take that bitch in to have a tech look at it.

And keep a hard copy of your phone book somewhere...this new phone is the first time that I haven't lost everything.

Good luck!