Which cell phone? If you have one, please tell me about it!

[vegetarianshrimp]

Hi everybody. I have AT&T, and I'm eligible for a new phone (I think) for a discounted price with a 2 year contract. I want one with a full QWERTY keyboard, and a touchscreen would be nice. At first I wanted a refurbished iPhone (only $100), but you are required to buy a data plan that is $30 a month, so I decided not to get one. My next choice would be the Samsung Eternity, but that one is too expensive ($150). My third choice would be the HTC Fuze, but that one it way too expensive ($300). So, these are the ones im thinking of getting, so tell me your opinion, and if you have one of these, please tell me about it!:

Pantech Matrix (http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phone-details/?device=Pantech+Matrix+-+Navy+Blue&q_sku=sku3020343) ($80)
- Dual Slider, one numbers and one a QWERTY keyboard
- Supposedly breaks a lot (my sister's did, they replaced it for no cost)
- Easy to type on.
- Camera
- Pretty thick.

Samsung Propel (http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phone-details/?device=Samsung+A767+Propel+-+Red&q_sku=sku3290218) ($50)
- Square-ish, with a slide out QWERTY keyboard
- Supposedly hard to type on with big fingers, but mine are small, so probably not a problem
-Camera

LG Vu (http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phone-details/?device=LG+VU%28TM%29&q_sku=sku2490219) ($50)
- Touchscreen, with touchscreen QWERTY keyboard, not physical.
- Supposedly not as good as iphone. I probably won't get this one, because if I get an iPod Touch, I will get used to the wonderful touchscreen and OS, and get really mad at the Vu
-Mobile TV which i would not use
-Camera

Pantech Slate (http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phones/cell-phones.jsp?allTypes=on&feapaytype=standard&startFilter=false&allFeatures=on&allManus=on) ($30)
-Very thin
-Supposedly very good keyboard
-Not a lot of features, but I don't mind.
-Camera
-Not a lot of memory and no MicroSD card slot, which will annoy me, because I take a lot of pictures.

All of these have Internet, some 3G, some not. I don't really mind if they have 3G or not, because I would not use internet very often if at all.

So please reccomend one, and tell me about one if you have it! Also, if you have a phone from AT&T that you really like, please tell me about it!

Thanks!
vegetarianshrimp

[LookTJ]

I'm a Verizon consumer and have a Casio G'zone Type-S.

-Rugged
-A hook thingy so I can hook it to something without worries of losing it.
-Long battery life(I have left my phone's battery to die to the end without cause of memory)
-Flip style phone.

[will1911a1]

I had an LG Vu and got rid of it. It had issues reading files on my memory card, would randomly restart itself, and wouldn't play some mp3s. I went through two of them before going with a Samsung Eternity.

[miegiel]

A really old siemens M50, I've been keeping an eye on the freerunner (http://www.openmoko.com/) though. But it is still not ready for "normal" daily use :roll:

[ivaarsen]

Well, it seems to me you're going the right direction by staying away from smart-phones if you're not going to get a data plan.

I have an XV-6800. Windows Mobile 6.1. It's slow, horrible battery life, and I cracked the screen snowboarding, which renders it pretty much useless. STAY AWAY FROM THESE DEVICES. I hate this phone.

[whoop]

Is there information available on what mobile phones are hackable to run linux?

[miegiel]

Is there information available on what mobile phones are hackable to run linux?
Check the freerunner link in my post, it's the most open phone there is. Besides that phone there are some other phones that run or can run on linux. But most of them run a linux that has been (partially) locked by the manufacturer or by the service provider that sells them. However on some of these you are still able to replace the closed linux with a community developed linux. Here is a list (http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT9423084269.html) to get you started.

[vegetarianshrimp]

Thanks everyone for replying!


Check the freerunner link in my post, it's the most open phone there is. Besides that phone there are some other phones that run or can run on linux. But most of them run a linux that has been (partially) locked by the manufacturer or by the service provider that sells them. However on some of these you are still able to replace the closed linux with a community developed linux. Here is a list (http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT9423084269.html) to get you started.

I didn't see the Palm Pre on that list...

[amitabhishek]

A really old siemens M50, I've been keeping an eye on the freerunner (http://www.openmoko.com/) though. But it is still not ready for "normal" daily use :roll:

You are right! My company had ordered for 17 boxes for testing and I managed to use one of them for a month. My key observations:

a) Display was fantastic
b) The shipped firmware om.2007 left a lot to be desired
c) Hardware is underpowered for a nobel concept like this...
d) Stylus is really outlandish
e) Audio performance is decent only supports .ogg out of the box
f) No MS exchange support- a must for me.
g) Browsing exp. was good but try it on wi-fi!

I feel its not the software but the hardware that's holding this phone back. There are lot of good stacks available now-it now supports Debian stack, om.2008(Almost in Beta)stack, QTopia and finally Android. I think its worth waiting for its next release. Considering the price-hardware ratio(almost $400) its not even ready for an enthusiast like us.

[Orlsend]

You tell them no "Palm Treo" no deal.

[NormInNorman]

I just got an Eternity (for free - check out letstalk.com) and I love it. It has it's problems but overall works great and you only have to pay $15 for the data plan.

Anyone here able to get their Eternity to work with BitPim or something similar? I'd like to at least backup my contacts.

[Corfy]

I have a Palm Treo 755p which I got last summer, and I really like it. It has a QWERTY keyboard, it syncs contacts and calendar with Evolution perfectly, and there are loads of software available for it.

Unfortunately, I don't think the Treo 755p is sold anymore.

Fortunately, the Palm Centro is still available in some places. That is basically a Treo 755p in a smaller form factor. I personally think the buttons are a little too small, but my wife has one and she loves it. But then, she has smaller fingers than I do.

I will add that we are strange in that we did not get a data plan with our phones. Some smartphones you can't do that with, but ours we could.