TRIband or 3G/CDMS+TRIband for WW coverage?

[LGB]

I have a triband telephone, and will soon start flying more or less globally. Are there any countries where there are no 900/1800/1900 coverage, but only 3G? In other words, will I gain anything at all by changing to a combined 3G+triband?

Thank you

[Tinstaafl]

No 3G only that I can think of. Be aware that the US & US influenced countries also use 850MHz for GSM. Whilst 1900MHz will give you some coverage, in many areas you will need 850MHz as well.

I have a triband 900/1800/1900 that I brought to the US when I moved here but its coverage isn't as good as it could be. I'm now getting a quad-band phone - a Motorola MPx220. Windoze unfortunately but I can't justify the cost for the A780 with the Linux OS. AFAIK, only Motorola does quads + one or two of the high end PDA manufacturers with a combo PDA/phone.

[LGB]

Thanks, thereisnosuchthingasafreelunch. There is also no such thing as a free phone! When you write quad, is the fourth 850 or 3G then? Nokia does at least one tri+3G, the 6630, but I think it has not been released in the US yet. But since I have no use of 3G for now, I'll stick to my triband 6310i. With that I have had success in the US, even years back when the phone was all new.

I was more thinking of countries I haven't been to yet, when they could be imagined to go straight from nothing to 3G, but I haven't found any yet.

So I'll stick to my triband for now ...

[Metro man]

Have a look at this site http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/index.shtml

Looks like Japan and South Korea are 3G only. A tri band will do for most places though, cheaper and easier to find than a quad band.

[LGB]

So there were 3G only areas, I thought I'h heard so, thanks Metro Man.

[BEagle]

I'd advise you to stick to the excellent 6310i until the 3G UMTS becomes more widespread.

Virtually every European businessman seems to have a 6310i because:
1. It looks smart
2. The batteries last for ages
3. It doesn't have silly kiddy-gimmicks like cameras, gaudy graphic displays, silly frog ringtones, MP3 players or other 'kewl yoof' nonsense.
4. It's a good, simple, effective telephone - 'two and a half G' GPRS, so you can programme in an aviation Wx site and get the latest TAFs and METARs. Very handy, that!

Incidentally, quite a few places are now banning camera phones over concerns about industrial espionage!

[LGB]

Hi Beagle,

I totally agree. I do not see they sell it anymore, yet I see it all over, just as you say.

A very good feature on some newer Nokia phones, including the 6310i, is the "time limited profile". I have one profile called "Sleep", which has all signals turned off, also vibrating function. The display flashing is all that remain. When I want to sleep and not be disturbed, I set use the temp profile in night mode to end at the time I think it be reasonable I can be reached again. Then the alarm time to when I really need to get up. In this way, I sleep a lot better knowing my phone cannot disturb me, and I do not have to wake up early to turn the phone on, it does so from the temp profile.

For my Nokia 6310i, I use a shortcut of menu 3-3-3-3, that gets me straight to where I enter the time (the night profile must be profile number 3).

Also very useful!

Regarding GPRS and weather. I use sms and a subscription to www.wxsupport.com because I find it so troublesome with GPRS. First one has to find an operator in the country who supports GPRS. Then all the local settings must be installed. Finally, when connecting, it says "establish GPRS subsription first" which I have. Bldooy useless! WHY can't they just enable it for all networks, make the phone find one that works automatically, instead of all that techno cpra!

I don't want GPRS for WAP, I want it to check email on my notebook. Presently I use internet cafes (still necessary in the year 2005!), or a rare time wireless when it cost less than overprice.

[Tinstaafl]

The quad-band phones I referred to are GSM only, able to use 850, 900, 1800 & 1900 MHz. Now that I'm in the US I need a phone for work & my tri-band T39 lacks the US 850Mhz frequency, reducing coverage. We wanted quad-band instead of a US-specific phone so we have coverage when in Oz & UK.

Yesterday I got a Motorola MPx220 (Windoze....blegh! I'm already annoyed at the way some things are foisted on the user or can't be changed but it was on special for new customers) for the frequencies, MP3 player, memory card slot & ability to view Word & Excel files. I really, really wanted the Linux operated A780 but availability is almost non-existant & prices sky-high.

My other half got the Motorola V551. I suspect it has a better interface since it's not hampered by M$. I think she prefers the MPx but she wasn't eligible for a new customer price so that left the V551.