Anyone who would assume the existance of an analog land phone, is none too bright. Never underestimate the nerd.
I haven't had a landline phone in..months. Which isn't too long. But I never again plan on having a landline. And I think a lot of geeks are in the same situation that I'm in.
The iOpener was also planning on making it's money by selling the monthly service. Tell me, how would they make any money at all, if it had an ethernet card instead of a modem?
The whole idea behind that product, was for the customers to dial up using thier service, pay a monthly fee (under contract for a year or whatever), and get internet access through them.
We are talking about something different here. I definitely agree with the post above yours.
Ok, most americans don't have broadband access. But consider, do most people that buy this product have broadband? This is an extremely geeky tool. And last I noticed, most geeks have broadband. The people who have $400-$500 to spend on this thing, and other geeky products. probably have some flavor of broadband.
At the very least, it should have the OPTION. Personally, the only thing holding me back from buying one of these things, is the lack of ethernet. You see, I'm one of those increasingly large number of people who don't have landline phones AT ALL. For internet, it's cable (would have dsl, except we are just so damn sick of dealing with Qwest), and for phones, we have PCS.
I'm not saying its going to be the best way to go, but I can definitly see us using DDR on our desktops and notebooks. It just seems like the next step in the technology. Although personally, I would like to see leaps and bounds in memory technology, DDR doesn't seem like that much of a jump.
i think more people would've purchased the linux version, if the win32 binaries were available right away, even out of the box.
I know I bought it, to support the cause, but I still use win98 for games anyways. I had to burn a friends win32 version, and use that, with my cd-key. And another thing, is that even the win32 version didn't recognize the linux cd when it was in the drive. I didn't like that at all.
the dual-band ericcson is called the i888. Another one that no one's mentioned (for good reason) is the Bosch World Phone.
and depending on how long you plan on being over there, you may want to sign up with a provider over there, and not omnipoint. but that would be up to you. thier roaming rates may not be as much. (about $2.50/min is the usual for international roaming)
unfortunately, the US military uses the 900Mhz and 1800Mhz bands, so we here in the states, if we want to use GSM, were forced to pick another frequency. We picked 1900Mhz.
problem with that site, is that the only gsm provider they showcase is pacbell, which only covers california and nevada. i've written them to complain.
not a nokia. you are looking for a dual-band gsm phone. Nokia doesn't make them. the dual-band phones are big and bulky. here are a couple, the bosch world phone, or the ericcson i888. Try those.
I work for voicestream, and I can tell you, yeah, we are putting up coverage in Dallas. But I'm not sure about Chicago.
As for the North American Neighborhood plan, that applies only to digital roaming. You have to pay the $.60/min for analog roaming (first you have to make sure your phone does analog though)
if you are canadian, you are definitly going to want to go with Microcell. They have most of canada covered in GSM.
Just a quick little tidbit. Voicestream owns about 35% of Microcell. And because of that, they have traded technologies and the such. They have created the first cross-system call availability in the world. Meaning you can make a call in BC on Microcell's GSM system, and you can drive across the US/Canadian border still on the call, and down through into Voicestream coverage, without dropping the call. And automatically be switched to roaming. No other systems in the world are able to do that. pretty neat, huh?
There are 8k, 16k and 32k sim cards. But the 5190 is the only 5100 series phone that takes sim cards (i'm pretty sure). his friends phone was most likely from a different provider on a different network. CDMA/TDMA have the address books on the phone memory, not on a sim card.
really, thats not due to the phone though, thats due to the provider and all. looks like they have you area pretty much covered.
as for the placing calls thing, you may just have had it on line2 (two line compatibility on the phones, but if you only have one line piped into the thing, obviously you can recieve on both lines, but when you try to call out, and are on line2, the line you don't have, it won't let you). Sorry, thats the voicesream tech support guy in me talking.
the nokia 5100 and 6100 series, aren't dual mode out of the box. you have to buy an analog sleeve that fits between the battery and phone. but yeah. at least you have the option to do analog, which is moer than you can say for some phones.
first off, it is my personal pet peeve when people say "cell phone". It's not a cellular phone, it's a mobile phone, or PCS phone. The term cellular annotates an analog phone. Most people will know what you mean when you say cellular, but for people involved in the industry, it's quite annoying. I guess it's just one of those things you never can seem to shake. Like people using the term laptop instead of notebook. For me, "laptop" conjures up images of monsterous 286 laptops with b&w lcds and all that.
But back to the question at hand. I work technical support for Voicestream. So I would like to think I have more to base my opinions on than most. First off, let me tell you, the Ericcsons, they break. More than any other phones Voicestream offers. It'll probably break once while under warranty, and then you'll get it replaced, and then it'll probably break again when warranty is out. If you ask me, thats unacceptable.
Most likely, you've already decided on what provider you are going with. Each provider will have different model series available to them. That's due to the different technologies (CDMA, TDMA, or GSM). If you ask me, GSM is far superior than the other technologies. And thats not just because I work for the largest GSM provider in the world, Voicestream. Today, right now, most people would probably be better off with CDMA or TDMA, because GSM is still trying to cover the US. But have no doubt, GSM is the future. In Europe, everyone is on GSM. They actually put together a research committee to determine which mobile technology would be best. They came up with GSM, we copied them. Of course, they chose different frequencies, frequencies that we couldn't use here in the states because they were millitary.
But anyways, the Nokia's are the phone to get for most computer nerds. Customizable, small, cheap, durable. Another phone that most people overlook, is the Mitsubishi. Working tech support, I get these sorts of questions all the time, let me know if you have any, and I'll be sure to answer them for you.
yeah, I was at Good Guys, looking at the demo model, fiddling around with the controller. and I did something wrong, because it gave me an error. that error was because the demo set wasn't hooked up to a phone line. When are these companies going to learn, geeks need more geek options. I don't have a phone line at my house. I don't need it. I'm sick of dealing with the phone line company (monopolies=bad customer service). I have a cable modem for internet, and mobile phone for voice. Does it seem that strange that I don't have a phone line? Give us an ethernet port. I'd be happy with it. my prediction is that land phone lines (for voice anyways) will be soon replaced. So companies will see this scenario that I'm faced with more and more often.
i plopped down $20 as a down payment. and they didn't make me sign any isp contracts. If they make me sign an isp deal when i go to pick it up, i'm gonna raise hell.
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Anyone who would assume the existance of an analog land phone, is none too bright. Never underestimate the nerd.
I haven't had a landline phone in..months. Which isn't too long. But I never again plan on having a landline. And I think a lot of geeks are in the same situation that I'm in.
The iOpener was also planning on making it's money by selling the monthly service. Tell me, how would they make any money at all, if it had an ethernet card instead of a modem?
The whole idea behind that product, was for the customers to dial up using thier service, pay a monthly fee (under contract for a year or whatever), and get internet access through them.
We are talking about something different here. I definitely agree with the post above yours.
Ok, most americans don't have broadband access. But consider, do most people that buy this product have broadband? This is an extremely geeky tool. And last I noticed, most geeks have broadband. The people who have $400-$500 to spend on this thing, and other geeky products. probably have some flavor of broadband.
At the very least, it should have the OPTION. Personally, the only thing holding me back from buying one of these things, is the lack of ethernet. You see, I'm one of those increasingly large number of people who don't have landline phones AT ALL. For internet, it's cable (would have dsl, except we are just so damn sick of dealing with Qwest), and for phones, we have PCS.
I have no use for a landline phone.
I'm not saying its going to be the best way to go, but I can definitly see us using DDR on our desktops and notebooks. It just seems like the next step in the technology. Although personally, I would like to see leaps and bounds in memory technology, DDR doesn't seem like that much of a jump.
i think more people would've purchased the linux version, if the win32 binaries were available right away, even out of the box.
I know I bought it, to support the cause, but I still use win98 for games anyways. I had to burn a friends win32 version, and use that, with my cd-key. And another thing, is that even the win32 version didn't recognize the linux cd when it was in the drive. I didn't like that at all.
Yeah, but does it have Clippy the Paperclip that we all know and love? :)
they no doubt keep lawyers on salary anyways, why not put them to good use?
the dual-band ericcson is called the i888. Another one that no one's mentioned (for good reason) is the Bosch World Phone.
and depending on how long you plan on being over there, you may want to sign up with a provider over there, and not omnipoint. but that would be up to you. thier roaming rates may not be as much. (about $2.50/min is the usual for international roaming)
CDMA is in no way a standard for anything.
the 5190 and 6190 both do data IR.
unfortunately, the US military uses the 900Mhz and 1800Mhz bands, so we here in the states, if we want to use GSM, were forced to pick another frequency. We picked 1900Mhz.
problem with that site, is that the only gsm provider they showcase is pacbell, which only covers california and nevada. i've written them to complain.
not a nokia. you are looking for a dual-band gsm phone. Nokia doesn't make them. the dual-band phones are big and bulky. here are a couple, the bosch world phone, or the ericcson i888. Try those.
I work for voicestream, and I can tell you, yeah, we are putting up coverage in Dallas. But I'm not sure about Chicago.
As for the North American Neighborhood plan, that applies only to digital roaming. You have to pay the $.60/min for analog roaming (first you have to make sure your phone does analog though)
you are full of it. Everyone should buy a mobile phone. It has repaced my land line. I don't have to go through US West any longer (YES!!!)
if you are canadian, you are definitly going to want to go with Microcell. They have most of canada covered in GSM.
Just a quick little tidbit. Voicestream owns about 35% of Microcell. And because of that, they have traded technologies and the such. They have created the first cross-system call availability in the world. Meaning you can make a call in BC on Microcell's GSM system, and you can drive across the US/Canadian border still on the call, and down through into Voicestream coverage, without dropping the call. And automatically be switched to roaming. No other systems in the world are able to do that. pretty neat, huh?
There are 8k, 16k and 32k sim cards. But the 5190 is the only 5100 series phone that takes sim cards (i'm pretty sure). his friends phone was most likely from a different provider on a different network. CDMA/TDMA have the address books on the phone memory, not on a sim card.
really, thats not due to the phone though, thats due to the provider and all. looks like they have you area pretty much covered.
as for the placing calls thing, you may just have had it on line2 (two line compatibility on the phones, but if you only have one line piped into the thing, obviously you can recieve on both lines, but when you try to call out, and are on line2, the line you don't have, it won't let you). Sorry, thats the voicesream tech support guy in me talking.
the nokia 5100 and 6100 series, aren't dual mode out of the box. you have to buy an analog sleeve that fits between the battery and phone. but yeah. at least you have the option to do analog, which is moer than you can say for some phones.
It wasn't a 6190. 6190 is GSM, AT&T is not.
first off, it is my personal pet peeve when people say "cell phone". It's not a cellular phone, it's a mobile phone, or PCS phone. The term cellular annotates an analog phone. Most people will know what you mean when you say cellular, but for people involved in the industry, it's quite annoying. I guess it's just one of those things you never can seem to shake. Like people using the term laptop instead of notebook. For me, "laptop" conjures up images of monsterous 286 laptops with b&w lcds and all that.
But back to the question at hand. I work technical support for Voicestream. So I would like to think I have more to base my opinions on than most. First off, let me tell you, the Ericcsons, they break. More than any other phones Voicestream offers. It'll probably break once while under warranty, and then you'll get it replaced, and then it'll probably break again when warranty is out. If you ask me, thats unacceptable.
Most likely, you've already decided on what provider you are going with. Each provider will have different model series available to them. That's due to the different technologies (CDMA, TDMA, or GSM). If you ask me, GSM is far superior than the other technologies. And thats not just because I work for the largest GSM provider in the world, Voicestream. Today, right now, most people would probably be better off with CDMA or TDMA, because GSM is still trying to cover the US. But have no doubt, GSM is the future. In Europe, everyone is on GSM. They actually put together a research committee to determine which mobile technology would be best. They came up with GSM, we copied them. Of course, they chose different frequencies, frequencies that we couldn't use here in the states because they were millitary.
But anyways, the Nokia's are the phone to get for most computer nerds. Customizable, small, cheap, durable. Another phone that most people overlook, is the Mitsubishi. Working tech support, I get these sorts of questions all the time, let me know if you have any, and I'll be sure to answer them for you.
yeah, I was at Good Guys, looking at the demo model, fiddling around with the controller. and I did something wrong, because it gave me an error. that error was because the demo set wasn't hooked up to a phone line. When are these companies going to learn, geeks need more geek options. I don't have a phone line at my house. I don't need it. I'm sick of dealing with the phone line company (monopolies=bad customer service). I have a cable modem for internet, and mobile phone for voice. Does it seem that strange that I don't have a phone line? Give us an ethernet port. I'd be happy with it. my prediction is that land phone lines (for voice anyways) will be soon replaced. So companies will see this scenario that I'm faced with more and more often.
and my hub is full. so i have to go buy an additional one.
yes, but did you notice the PIZZA key down there by the spacebar? :)
i plopped down $20 as a down payment. and they didn't make me sign any isp contracts. If they make me sign an isp deal when i go to pick it up, i'm gonna raise hell.