Whatever happened to "Cool Phones"?

[MJinZ]

Back in the day, you had these beautys out in the wild:

Then came the Razr crazes and stuff.

Now it seems everyone wants a chunk of full screen touch smartphone.

Now I really don't mind powerful smartphones, but I would love if someone could make something cool, like a Razr type phone with all the functionality of a Droid or whatever. I don't need those huge screens, would rather have a cool phony than a brick.

Even better, give me a good camera phone like ones Sony Ericsson makes, stuff it with autofocus, xenon flash, and a decent sized processor and sensor please.

I can dream?

 

[nickbits]

*barf*

 

[AstroManLuca]

*barf*

I think cell phone companies realized that wacky designs can only go so far. They're eye-catching for a few seconds, and then you actually use one and want to kill yourself.

You can't argue with the functionality of a large touchscreen. I'd say the Palm Pre is pretty good for a smallish smartphone. Very pretty and compact.

 

[Oil]

*barf*

I think cell phone companies realized that wacky designs can only go so far. They're eye-catching for a few seconds, and then you actually use one and want to kill yourself.

You can't argue with the functionality of a large touchscreen. I'd say the Palm Pre is pretty good for a smallish smartphone. Very pretty and compact.

Exactly, they might look cool but usability would be terrible. I can't imagine how frustrating texting would be on that Nokia D:

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

you know sony ericsson has always been making good featurephones.... too bad they don't really make it to the US....

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

First real cell phone, and was a brick. Loved that phone.

 

[zerocool84]

First real cell phone, and was a brick. Loved that phone.

That's pretty high tech for a first phone.

This was my first phone.

 

[rudeguy]

mine

then the upgrade to the smallest phone on the market!

 

[soydios]

First real cell phone, and was a brick. Loved that phone.

not only was it a brick, it was also tough as one. mine survived the bottom of a pool after a new battery.

you gotta admit, big screens are nice if you're doing more than 2G-era stuff with your phone

 

[Spoooon]

Samsung SCH 8500 was my first phone. I remember deciding to take advantage of the free month of mobile web. While I was in this sociology research methods class we got the news of the 9/11 hijackings (I think it was thought to be some horrible accident still).

Used the phone to get at what little info was coming out at


Regardless, it's good to see function coming first these days. Or rather, form is taking function into account.

 

[state 08]

My First phone:

Motorola T720

and my phone now:

Palm Pre

 

[MJinZ]

My First phone:

Motorola T720

and my phone now:

Palm Pre

How is the Palm Pre treating you? Do you have other smartphone experiences to compare to? It's one of my options for my next phone.

I just want the fastest freaking phone possible.

 

[state 08]

How is the Palm Pre treating you? Do you have other smartphone experiences to compare to? It's one of my options for my next phone.

I just want the fastest freaking phone possible.

I absolutely love my Palm Pre. My only previous smart phone experience was with Palm's last OS, when I used the Palm Centro for 2 years. I'm also very familiar with the iPhone seeing that many of my friends have it and also the fact that I've used an iTouch (which is essentially the same thing sans phone).

What really impresses me is that most phone manufacturers don't update their phones (if at all) nearly as much as Palm does. Almost 1 MAJOR update to the OS every 1.5 months. These updates includes new features, faster user interface, tweaks and better battery life. WebOS has definitely come a long way sine it's release this summer - It was lacking some basic features that most phones already have at the begining, but thanks to all the updates, it's caught up and then some. Also build quality has also improved. It wasn't the best, but Palm stepped up their game, and new Pre's since about November have been rock solid.

Yesterday, WebOS 1.4 was released, and now, along with the updates mentioned above, the Pre is flash capable - just waiting on Adobe's end to release the beta software to the app store.

As far as speed is considered - I have to give the edge to the iPhone. The iPhone feels just a LITTLE bit snappier, but that's not to say WebOS is slow. Also take into consideration that you can multitask on the Pre as well, which accounts for the slight better advantage the iPhone has over the Pre. But like I said, the UI snappiness is still improving!

Oh and it's cheaper than an iPhone as well when it comes to data/txt/mins on Sprint.

 

[MJinZ]

I absolutely love my Palm Pre. My only previous smart phone experience was with Palm's last OS, when I used the Palm Centro for 2 years. I'm also very familiar with the iPhone seeing that many of my friends have it and also the fact that I've used an iTouch (which is essentially the same thing sans phone).

What really impresses me is that most phone manufacturers don't update their phones (if at all) nearly as much as Palm does. Almost 1 MAJOR update to the OS every 1.5 months. These updates includes new features, faster user interface, tweaks and better battery life. WebOS has definitely come a long way sine it's release this summer - It was lacking some basic features that most phones already have at the begining, but thanks to all the updates, it's caught up and then some. Also build quality has also improved. It wasn't the best, but Palm stepped up their game, and new Pre's since about November have been rock solid.

Yesterday, WebOS 1.4 was released, and now, along with the updates mentioned above, the Pre is flash capable - just waiting on Adobe's end to release the beta software to the app store.

As far as speed is considered - I have to give the edge to the iPhone. The iPhone feels just a LITTLE bit snappier, but that's not to say WebOS is slow. Also take into consideration that you can multitask on the Pre as well, which accounts for the slight better advantage the iPhone has over the Pre. But like I said, the UI snappiness is still improving!

Oh and it's cheaper than an iPhone as well when it comes to data/txt/mins on Sprint.

I'm on SERO so if I get the Pre on Sprint, I lose it and the great deals.

I think I'm going to look at the Palm Pre Plus on Verizon. I get a discount through my firm on Verizon, though Sprint has not given me any problems before.

 

[vshah]

my first:
http://www.tradebit.com/usr/techgeek/pub/9002/9064430_t28.jpg

next this:
https://bestprice.nuxit.net/catalog/images/Sony-Ericsson-T68i.jpg

followed by a t610i
http://www.cellink.com.au/products/images/T610i.jpg

and then a k750i:
http://www.cantstopthebleeding.com/img/sony0802.jpg

and then a g1:
http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/mobile/images/g1-hpp.jpg

and finally a nexus one
http://www.uncrate.com/men/images/2010/01/google-nexus-one.jpg

 

[rudeguy]

how many antennas did you break off that t18?

Awesome phone...terrible design



edit:

Oops. You had the 28. That had the upgraded antenna design.
t18:

 

[vshah]

yeah..t-28 was a great phone, i still use it for travel sometimes.

 

[IcePickFreak]

Nothing is cooler than the zach morris phone.

 

[destrekor]

First phone:
Motorola 120C

Second:
Samsung A670

Third:
Motorola V710

Fourth:
Samsung A990

Fifth:
Samsung Omnia i910

Sixth (current):
Motorola Droid
this one is win! :awe:

Comments on each:
Motorola 120C. eh... it could make and receive calls, and SMS! Good phone for the 15 year old me.

Samsung A670:
fancier than the last. Color! Mobile web?! Thus began the interweb addiction.

Motorola V710:
nicknamed "high-res." Massive screen. Insane build quality. Amazing reception. Massive screen.

Samsung A990:
"phone-camera." Impressive photo quality. Fun to waste time by flipping screen around endlessly. Terrible ADD affliction ensues. Nice build quality too, withstood the abuse.

Samsung Omnia:
touch screen! Resistive touch screen. WinMo6.1... at first I was like :awe:, then I was :\. Introduced to flashing ROMs, and thus began the modders addiction. WinMo6.5 beta brought me to be like , much more finger friendly at that point. Started to get that itch for the phone to let me do what I wanted. The thirst, it couldn't be quenched.

Motorola Droid:
"nirvana." Was great with default specs, got introduced to the idea of a phone doing what I wanted... mostly. Introduced to simple modding with the leaked December update, and jumped in rooting when ROMs started getting mature and stable. Can't turn back now, it's like crack.

The Droid is just win on all fronts. Impressive reception (this is Motorola's constant achievement), high build quality... it just feels like a tank. Keyboard is "meh", but serves its purpose for lengthy typing. Otherwise touch screen response provides very fast typing on virtual keyboard.

The Droid stays...
until quality LTE phones arrive.

 

[Deeko]

My phones, in order:

Panasonic EB-TX210 - it was kinda nice, but I didn't keep it long

Nokia 8290 - Everyone I knew had a 3390 or 5290, the tiny 8290 was super cool in my eyes...of course they all prefered their 3390 because it had snake 2!!

Ericsson T68m - this phone was awesome, WAY ahead of its time. One of the first phones with a color screen, always-on (GPRS) internet, bluetooth, etc. It also was light as a feather and a TANK! I would be like "hey look at how cool my phone is", and then throw it against a wall.

Nokia 6610 - Solid enough, nothing flashy but it worked well.

Nokia 3220 - Basically the 6610 with a camera and annoying flashing LEDs on the side

T-Mobile (HTC) SDA - My first smartphone. The SDA kicked ass. It was kinda buggy, but it was a smartphone in a standard candy bar form factor, which I thought was ideal.

T-Mobile (HTC) Dash - When my SDA died (under warranty), T-Mobile replaced it with the Dash. The Dash is notable as its the only phone I owned longer than a year. Solid device, introduced me to QWERTY phones.

Nokia N95-3 - A beast, but it never lived up to its potential since I was on T-Mobile and it didn't do 3G with them. Great phone though, still the best camera I've had on a phone to date.

Blackberry Curve (secondary, data-only for work) - I used the Curve as a work phone. It did the job for browsing and emails.

T-Mobile (HTC) G1 - Picked up the G1 on launch day...you guys think Android has problems now? haha. Actually I thought the G1 was the perfect blend of technologies at the time, while everyone was fawning over iPhones, me and my touch screen-hating ways found this is a happy medium.

Palm Pre (for 2 weeks) - Liked the phone, but battery life was AWFUL. Not acceptable.

Blackberry Tour (for 2 weeks) - Liked this phone too, but not enough to switch to Sprint.

HTC Touch Pro 2 (for 1 month) - I was getting a free Imagio so I figured I'd "test the waters" with a Touch Pro 2, since they're virtually the same other than the keyboard. Ended up returning it (and selling the Imagio) when I realized that while it was a solid device, I liked the year old G1 better, and I sold the Imagio because I knew there's no way I'd like that better than the G1 either.

Motorola Droid - Since the G1 was still my favorite phone on the market, and the Droid was a G1 on steroids, seemed like the logical next step.

I'm missing a couple in there. I had some crappy Siemens phone after the T68, it was a temporary fix. I also had some Samsung flip phone in between the Nokia 6610/3320, but didn't like it so I went back to the 6610.

I have a problem.....and I'm already planning on dumping the Droid as soon as something I want comes out.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Hey I wish I could be like you and dump my Droid when the Desire comes out for NAM frequencies! Hahahaha.....

T68! I remember that. I thought that thing was so small and cool. My friend had one and used IR (yes IR....) and we lined up my Pocket PC with his phone to transfer a 4kb GIF file. It took a WHILE....

 

[I Saw OJ]

Exactly, they might look cool but usability would be terrible. I can't imagine how frustrating texting would be on that Nokia D:

I had the Nokia 3650 for a long while and didnt have any issues with texting. It was a pretty sweet phone, one of the first that took still pictures and video plus an IR port. I still have it in a drawer someplace too.

 

[DivideBYZero]

First ever mobile phone:

<...Too much to list in between...>

Current Phone:

 

[Deeko]

Hey I wish I could be like you and dump my Droid when the Desire comes out for NAM frequencies! Hahahaha.....

T68! I remember that. I thought that thing was so small and cool. My friend had one and used IR (yes IR....) and we lined up my Pocket PC with his phone to transfer a 4kb GIF file. It took a WHILE....

Yea the T68 was pretty awesome.

I'm leaning towards replacing the Droid with a Windows Phone 7 device, but that relies heavily on the actual hardware...but having a Zune + Zune Pass, that integration would be awesome. Plus, as much as I like Android, its getting...boring? Looking for something fresh.

 

[foghorn67]

not only was it a brick, it was also tough as one. mine survived the bottom of a pool after a new battery.

you gotta admit, big screens are nice if you're doing more than 2G-era stuff with your phone

Loved that phone. That and the RAZR that replaced it are my two favorite phones. Both of those went on to folks that had a phone with an expired warranty. They still work great today.