Is this a good first high-end cellphone?

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jakobjkraft

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Mar 11, 2009
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Was looking at this as my first high, or high-ish-end entry into cellphones. I love the coverage I get from my current Net10 phone (me and my wife were the ONLY people who had a signal in the Grand Canyon and the phones were programmed to work best in New York!) and I love being contract-free but I'm tired of web-browsing being such a chore, with their phones threadbare internet offerings and annoying limitations. Net10 sister company Straight talk is finally coming out with an Android phone (http://reserve.straighttalkandroid.com/) but it's camera is not even as good as the camera on my Motorola EX124G and Straight Talk has no international service at all, which I need.

Prepaid carrier Virgin Mobile's recent Motorola Triump looks awesome in terms of specs, but I hate that Virgin is tied only to the Sprint network and the deal they have with them doesn't allow for roaming, really limiting their coverage. With Net10 at least, they have deals with AT&T and T-Mobile towers, and allow for roaming which is why their coverage is so good.

So I was thinking I need to get an unlocked phone first, then make a careful decision which carrier -- preferably prepaid, really hate contracts-- I choose. And a GSM phone, is that a mistake? I travel fairly frequently around the US, and go abroad maybe once every two years, so would it matter whether it was GSM or CDMA?

Anyway, this is the phone I was looking at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B003NCX6ZS

If it's unlocked, it shouldn't be hard to find a decent carrier, right? Or do certain carriers not accept models they did not brand? Sorry for the newbish questions, I just got so frustrated now with my current phone and am hoping to grab something else fairly soon.

Any thoughts or info would be greatly appreciated -- thanks in advance!
 
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J

jakobjkraft

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Mar 11, 2009
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S

s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
9,427
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For $30 more than that original Galaxy S, you can get an up-to-the-second Galaxy S2. Pretty obvious which is the better deal.
 
Pliablemoose

Pliablemoose

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
25,195
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Just find the refurbished Nokia e71, it's the only GSM phone you can get from Straight Talk.

Any AT&T iPhone or Android phone should work fine.
 
Bateluer

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
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Had to Google the specs on that phone.

Samsung Galaxy Precedent comes pre-installed with the out-dated Android 2.2 Froyo OS, powered by an 800MHz application processor, featuring a 3.2-inch touchscreen display with 320 X 480 pixels of resolution, equipped with a 2 megapixel camera with video recording capability, boosted by 384MB RAM, microSD card slot to hold memory expansion up to 32GB, MP3 player, Bluetooth, 3G, micro USB 2.0, 802.11 Wi-Fi connectivity

Read more: http://gadgetian.com/22697/samsung-...ecifications-and-price-details/#ixzz1WODz88Rq
Click to expand...

This is not a high end phone. Looks like it has a faster processor than the common LG Optimus One/C/V/U/Vortex models that are on every carrier, but the Samsung only has 384 MB of RAM compared to the 512 on LG's models. I'd find another option, the Precedent is a low end phone.
 
J

jakobjkraft

Member
Mar 11, 2009
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Bateluer said:
Had to Google the specs on that phone.



This is not a high end phone. Looks like it has a faster processor than the common LG Optimus One/C/V/U/Vortex models that are on every carrier, but the Samsung only has 384 MB of RAM compared to the 512 on LG's models. I'd find another option, the Precedent is a low end phone.
Click to expand...

That's what I mean, a prepaid company FINALLY getting an android phone but it's not even that good. Virgin Mobile now has the Motorola Triumph which is a high end phone but their coverage is spotty as hell.
So I figured I should just stop waiting for the best prepaid carriers to come out with decent phones and buy an unlocked phone and figure out which carrier to go with later.
 
superccs

superccs

Senior member
Dec 29, 2004
999
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Just pretend in your mind that ATT and Verizon are HIV and syphilis.

Sprint and TMo both offer really good rates, I recommend an HTC android phone over the samsung or motorola ones...

The HTC Sensation is on the top of my list.
 
Bateluer

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
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jakobjkraft said:
That's what I mean, a prepaid company FINALLY getting an android phone but it's not even that good. Virgin Mobile now has the Motorola Triumph which is a high end phone but their coverage is spotty as hell.
So I figured I should just stop waiting for the best prepaid carriers to come out with decent phones and buy an unlocked phone and figure out which carrier to go with later.
Click to expand...

Triumph is a first gen Snapdragon, same hardware as the HTC HD2, Nexus One, Droid Incredible, etc. Not really high end any more, but still a cut above the Optimus One models.

I would like to play with a functional Triumph, the dummy floor models seemed to be pretty well built though.
 
T

tfinch2

Lifer
Feb 3, 2004
22,114
1
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Bateluer said:
Triumph is a first gen Snapdragon, same hardware as the HTC HD2, Nexus One, Droid Incredible, etc. Not really high end any more, but still a cut above the Optimus One models.

I would like to play with a functional Triumph, the dummy floor models seemed to be pretty well built though.
Click to expand...

The Triumph has an MSM8655, which is a second-gen processor. Same as the Thunderbolt and Incredible 2.

I switched to it from an Evo, and I don't regret it at all.
 
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Bateluer

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
tfinch2 said:
The Triumph has an MSM8655, which is a second-gen processor. Same as the Thunderbolt and Incredible 2.

I switched to it from an Evo, and I don't regret it at all.
Click to expand...

I stand corrected. Triumph gets bumped up a little higher, in my book. :)

Virgin uses the Sprint network, I think? And without Verizon data roaming?
 
vshah

vshah

Lifer
Sep 20, 2003
19,003
24
81
Bateluer said:
I stand corrected. Triumph gets bumped up a little higher, in my book. :)

Virgin uses the Sprint network, I think? And without Verizon data roaming?
Click to expand...

correct, virgin operates on sprint towers only. coverage outside major metros is pretty spotty.
 
hanoverphist

hanoverphist

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2006
9,867
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Bateluer said:
Had to Google the specs on that phone.



This is not a high end phone. Looks like it has a faster processor than the common LG Optimus One/C/V/U/Vortex models that are on every carrier, but the Samsung only has 384 MB of RAM compared to the 512 on LG's models. I'd find another option, the Precedent is a low end phone.
Click to expand...

itsw a rebranded global omnia. the i9000 was the european model of the i900 omnia that originally came with windows mobile 6.1. i had never seen it with android, kind of cool that they ported it. but yes, it is old hardware. solid phone tho, my i910 still works well. my kids play with it on wifi, and i still use it to mess around with old winmo apps i liked. screen is way too small now that ive been spoiled by my droidX tho. the camera is top notch tho, i really miss it.


edit: those specs dont even match what is in the original link... they match the old winmo i9000

Technical Details

Network: HSUPA 900/1900/2100, EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900.
Samsung Android 2.1 (Eclair). Android Samsung UI (Multiple Homescreens).
Processor: 1GHz CPU Speed.
Dimension: 64.2 X 122.4 X 9.9 mm (119g)
Memory: MicroSD(Up to 32 GB).
Android Browser: Flash Lite3.1.
Display: 4.0-inch WVGA(480x800) 16 M SUPER AMOLED, mDNIe(Mobile Digital Natural Image engine). Multi-touch zoom. Light sensor, Accelerometer sensor, Proximity Sensor, Digital Compass.
Camera: 5.0 Megapixel AF camera, Self Shot, Action Shot, Add me, Cartoon Shot, Smile Shot. Video: HD Video Player & Recorder (1280 x 720) @ 30fps codec: DivX, XviD, MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV, VC-1 format: 3gp(mp4), AVI(divx), MKV, FLV, H.263Sorenson
Music: Music Player with SoundAlive. 3.5mm Ear Jack. MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/OGG/WMA/AMR-NB/AMR-WB/WAV/MID/AC3/IMY/FLAC/XMF
Battery (Standard) Li-pol, 1,500mAh, Talk time : 2G/769 minutes, 3G/391 minutes, Standby : 2G/750 hours, 3G/625 hours

Memory: MicroSD(Up to 32GB). Android Browser: Flash Lite3.1.


not a bad phone overall.
 
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UNCjigga

UNCjigga

Lifer
Dec 12, 2000
25,499
10,133
136
A good first smartphone that's often overlooked: iPhone 3GS. Especially if you buy a slightly used one off contract.
 
A

alent1234

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2002
3,915
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0
unless you get a discount, what's the point of not going subsidized? not like this is one of the screaming demon new phones coming this year
 
U

uli2000

Golden Member
Jul 28, 2006
1,257
1
71
If you are wanting to stay with Net10 you are out of luck. Net10 locks the SIMs to the phone they were sold with with a PUK code. Net10 is the only one with that code, and they ain't sharing it. You cant even use a net10 sim with another net10 phone, let alone an unlocked phone.

http://www.net10.com/faqs/index.jsp
 
I

ImDonly1

Platinum Member
Dec 17, 2004
2,357
0
76
I believe net10 is the same company as straighttalk.
Also, with straight talk if you buy a nokia e71 it has an unlocked sim which you can put any att phone in it. Refurbished e71's were selling on the st website for $100, and you need to get a $45/mo plan. They use the att network.

If you want something else, h2o wireless has a 250mb data plan (unlimited talk, text) for $50/mo. Or they have an unlimited talk, text, data plan for $60/mo. It also says they include international calling. All you need is to buy a sim card for $1 for h2o wireless. They also use the att network.

The android phone you are talking about on straight talk uses the sprint network.

If you want something else that is cheap try virgin mobile and their $35/month plan if the sprint network is good for you and get a motorola triumph.

That galaxy s you linked will work in any network that has att 3g bands. Like the straight talk thing I listed above and h2o wireless. Notice in the description it says unlocked phone which means it will work on any carrier that support's its 3g bands. But $600 for a galaxy s is a rip off. Barely used galaxy s2's are selling for $550 on xda-developers.
 
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