Saturday, March 22, 2008
Categories Are Up!
Looking for info on Pocket, Revol, MetroPCS, Boost Unlimited or CricKet? It is now a whole lot easier. I have gone back and tagged all posts about the carriers, so you can access them easily. Just click on the appropriate "Topic" on the righthand sidebar. Now to put up a topic about the mainline carriers...
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Pocket Phones Are Out (v3a and w385)
Yep, they're out now. Hot off the transport truck beds, the Motorola Razr v3a ($200, similar in function to the old 2005 GSM Razr from Cingular and T-Mobile...Cingular, not AT&T) and the Motorola w385 ($180, basically a no-frills Bluetooth camera phone but a decent one at that) are both making their rounds at a Pocket phone provider near you. That's $20 more for the v3a than MetroPCS (which seems to have lowered their price very recently on the phone) and CricKet (who recently introduced the v3a at $179.99) but you'll make up the price difference after four months of service or so.
I'd personally stick with the Motorola v323i ($170) or the LG 245 (now $130), or maybe shell out another $60 for the Motorola Razr v3m, but then again, these offerings put Pocket on phone parity, generally speaking, with the other unlimited carriers. Additionally, they look to be getting the Razr2 v9m and (as mentioned before) the Kyocera E1000 "Deco" in the relatively near future, judging by the references to these two phones on the ringtone\media download page on their site. Which would mean their phone selection would be every bit as high-end and current as anyone else's in the unlimited market, even comparing favorably with contract carriers as long as you don't count smartphones, which can be flashed to Pocket anyway if there is a need to do so.
Also, sorry for not tagging posts recently. I'll get back into that, and retroactively tag posts when I get the time to do so.
CricKet sells refurb'd Motorola v265s, expands into OK and TX
Continuing the tired tradition started awhile ago, CricKet is selling off some more refurbished phones. This time the phone du jour is the Motorola v265, for $50. Okay, back to snoring...
But wait...CricKet is expanding! Coming April 8th, Oklahoma City will have their service (isn't that the area with 1700 MHz coverage, or is that Tulsa?) and sometime, somewhere, Texas will get a coverage boost. Going beyond Loop 410 in San Antonio to compete with Pocket, anyone?
MetroPCS Wins in 700 MHz, drops w385
The results are out. Verizon won the nation on the C block of the 700 MHz spectrum auction here in the old US of A. AT&T got a lot of coverage too, but not the whole U.S. MetroPCS actually picked up some territory as well, so expect...ehm...quad-band phones sooner or later on their service. We're not talking GSM here...your MetroPCS phone will be operating on 700, 1700 and 1900 MHz service on its own network, and possibly 850 MHz elsewhere. This spetrum thing is going to be a mess if people don't watch out...
In other news, MetroPCS no longer lists the Motorola w385 camera phone as for sale on its website. Probably because they consider the ZTE C88 as a decent substitute. To which I say "whatever". The review of that phone is here by PhoneScoop. Oh, and has anyone seen the SLVR L7c lately on MetroPCS's site? Because it's there now and I don't recall it being there a little while back.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Boost Mobile Gets the KRZR
At $250, this phone is nearly twice the price of the next-highest-end phone, the Motorola w385, and over double the price of the entry level c290, but it may well be worth it. With this entrant, Boost Unlimited is now in the running with carriers like MetroPCS, Pocket and CricKet in terms of phone specs on the high end. Granted, MetroPCS and CricKet have units from Samsung for $180-$200 that are on par feature-wise with the KRZR, but, looked at from another perspective, the rouch equivalent in terms of style and substance would be the Rokr slider z6m, which is a good bit newer but also $300 or thereabouts. Don't even talk about the Razrs on each carrier...they're now the stripped-down "a" versions that don't even start to compare with the KRZR in terms of features offered.
One more thing: though you pay for the privilege of having such a network (to the tune of $10 extra per month, or thereabouts), that extra chunk of change also gives you an honest-to-goodness EvDO-capable phone on a high-grade, nationwide EvDO network! So for $5 per month you're getting the fastest web access available on non-contract service that I know of...the fastest, at least, for a network that covers anybody (the unlimiteds' small networks, and AT&T's small network, don't count here). As usual, Sprint's attention to data shines through. While the service admittedly isn't the higher-speed Revision A EvDO that is now rolled out on both Verizon and Sprint, there's only one phone that can take advantage of that service anyhow (I have that phone, the HTC Mogul on Sprint) and Verizon themselves put off Rev. A as unnecessary for a phone-based experience.
In short, with this higher-end phone you're getting a LOT more features, allowing for everything from MP3 playing (with a $20 MicroSD card that replaces a $70 iPod shuffle, and then some) to decently high-res picture taking and video capture, to high-speed web surfing...pretty nice for an unlimited-carrier phone (except when compared to the Razr2 on CricKet, which incidentally costs $380!). This is at a point where the other unlimited carriers have discontinued the KRZR (which sold for roughly the same price when it was available, sometimes even more) in favor of cheaper (albeit newer) phones. Granted, Sprint itself is offering the KRZR for $80 with contract, $230 without ($20 LESS than the Boost Mobile price) but this is a full contract-grade phone, complete with snazzy looks and tons of features, and I'm very glad to see it going unlimited with Boost.
Now can Boost Unlimited please go national!?! There's this little provider called CricKet who has the monopoly on cheap unlimited up in Colorado, and Sprint's network beats CricKet's any day of the week... :)
One more thing: though you pay for the privilege of having such a network (to the tune of $10 extra per month, or thereabouts), that extra chunk of change also gives you an honest-to-goodness EvDO-capable phone on a high-grade, nationwide EvDO network! So for $5 per month you're getting the fastest web access available on non-contract service that I know of...the fastest, at least, for a network that covers anybody (the unlimiteds' small networks, and AT&T's small network, don't count here). As usual, Sprint's attention to data shines through. While the service admittedly isn't the higher-speed Revision A EvDO that is now rolled out on both Verizon and Sprint, there's only one phone that can take advantage of that service anyhow (I have that phone, the HTC Mogul on Sprint) and Verizon themselves put off Rev. A as unnecessary for a phone-based experience.
In short, with this higher-end phone you're getting a LOT more features, allowing for everything from MP3 playing (with a $20 MicroSD card that replaces a $70 iPod shuffle, and then some) to decently high-res picture taking and video capture, to high-speed web surfing...pretty nice for an unlimited-carrier phone (except when compared to the Razr2 on CricKet, which incidentally costs $380!). This is at a point where the other unlimited carriers have discontinued the KRZR (which sold for roughly the same price when it was available, sometimes even more) in favor of cheaper (albeit newer) phones. Granted, Sprint itself is offering the KRZR for $80 with contract, $230 without ($20 LESS than the Boost Mobile price) but this is a full contract-grade phone, complete with snazzy looks and tons of features, and I'm very glad to see it going unlimited with Boost.
Now can Boost Unlimited please go national!?! There's this little provider called CricKet who has the monopoly on cheap unlimited up in Colorado, and Sprint's network beats CricKet's any day of the week... :)
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
It's Refurb Time at Pocket! Plus, reliability stats
Yep, they're selling good ole refurbished phones. Also, I got a quick look at what seems to be the trend on reliability on various cell phone manufacturers, from what defective phones passed by this one Pocket kiosk...:)
In the front display, there were a few different phones available, all refurbished, selling for $50. The phones were the Kyocera Milan, the Audiovox 8615 and the Motorola v262, if memory serves me. There was also the LG vx3200 at $55. None of these phones had any warranty or insurance-ability, so far as I heard from the person behind the counter there, but then again $50 is the deductible on insurance anyway, heh. Better to use the insurance protecting the likes of the Motorola Rokr z6m ($300) or the Razr v3m ($260).Or maybe the rather junky, but certainly better looking and feeling than its precursor (the Strobe) Kyocera M1000 "Lingo", at $200. The Strobe, by the way, is now $190 at Pocket...I'll go for the Lingo any day vs. the Strobe, but I'd rather touch neither.
Also of note was the Kyocera K342, priced at $139 before rebate, $99 after. Why? Because it'll randomly crash, says the person behind the counter, who has one. Typical Kyocera stuff though, and in this case you get what you pay for: great features (like Bluetooth and dual color displays), poor reliability (evinced by the brand name on the phone).
Looking to the side of the kiosk we see a flier printed out in black and white. Pocket apparently bought a bunch of Kyoceras at fire-sale prices and now wants to sell 'em to consumers. The phones? The KX440 (which is kinda sorta okay), the KX424 (lame) and the KE414 (LAME!). These l'il guys are $69 new or $59 refurbished, looks like. I would go for the LG vx3200 at this point. Even when you count in what looks to be a Kyocera KX9c at $49.99 refurbished. I'll pass; that's the phone that, without a caller ID display, would happen to be the infamous Kyocera Oystr on Virgin Mobile. Spare me.
Oh and by the way, in case you were wondering where you could use your Pocket phone while roaming, it is on Verizon's towers, and theirs only. In short, do yourself a BIG favor and grab a Page Plus Cellular phone for next to nothing and use that. Your minutes will be about five times cheaper. Just forward to Page Plus when roaming and you're good to go, with airtime rates that make contracts a laugh (that's the point, right?) unless of course you miss features like unlimited text messaging or web access when you stray out of Pocket territory...
About the reliability stats, the quick rundown is that LGs and the high-end Motorolas are the most reliable phones, which is to be expected. Jumping to the low end (past some Audiovoxes and maybe a Kyocera or two, but probably not) are the Motorola v262 and, to an extent, the w315. At the bottom of the heap is the Kyocera K132, known on Virgin Mobile as the Marbl...except the Marbl is more reliable than the K132, which is an utter piece of junk as far as I, and anyone else, can tell, even though it looks cool.
Moral of the story on reliability? Buy the Kyocera K342 if you can stand your non-smartphone acting like it is running a beta test of Windows Mobile 6 with not enough memory available, in a word "crash". In a few more words "crash early and often". But hey, the phone is only $100 on an unlimited plan, with no contract, so whaddya expect? Or spare yourself and get an LG (on the low end) or a Motorola (on the high end). And always, ALWAYS, steer clear of the Kyocera K132 and such other nonsense, for the love of your sanity and your cell service.
In the front display, there were a few different phones available, all refurbished, selling for $50. The phones were the Kyocera Milan, the Audiovox 8615 and the Motorola v262, if memory serves me. There was also the LG vx3200 at $55. None of these phones had any warranty or insurance-ability, so far as I heard from the person behind the counter there, but then again $50 is the deductible on insurance anyway, heh. Better to use the insurance protecting the likes of the Motorola Rokr z6m ($300) or the Razr v3m ($260).Or maybe the rather junky, but certainly better looking and feeling than its precursor (the Strobe) Kyocera M1000 "Lingo", at $200. The Strobe, by the way, is now $190 at Pocket...I'll go for the Lingo any day vs. the Strobe, but I'd rather touch neither.
Also of note was the Kyocera K342, priced at $139 before rebate, $99 after. Why? Because it'll randomly crash, says the person behind the counter, who has one. Typical Kyocera stuff though, and in this case you get what you pay for: great features (like Bluetooth and dual color displays), poor reliability (evinced by the brand name on the phone).
Looking to the side of the kiosk we see a flier printed out in black and white. Pocket apparently bought a bunch of Kyoceras at fire-sale prices and now wants to sell 'em to consumers. The phones? The KX440 (which is kinda sorta okay), the KX424 (lame) and the KE414 (LAME!). These l'il guys are $69 new or $59 refurbished, looks like. I would go for the LG vx3200 at this point. Even when you count in what looks to be a Kyocera KX9c at $49.99 refurbished. I'll pass; that's the phone that, without a caller ID display, would happen to be the infamous Kyocera Oystr on Virgin Mobile. Spare me.
Oh and by the way, in case you were wondering where you could use your Pocket phone while roaming, it is on Verizon's towers, and theirs only. In short, do yourself a BIG favor and grab a Page Plus Cellular phone for next to nothing and use that. Your minutes will be about five times cheaper. Just forward to Page Plus when roaming and you're good to go, with airtime rates that make contracts a laugh (that's the point, right?) unless of course you miss features like unlimited text messaging or web access when you stray out of Pocket territory...
About the reliability stats, the quick rundown is that LGs and the high-end Motorolas are the most reliable phones, which is to be expected. Jumping to the low end (past some Audiovoxes and maybe a Kyocera or two, but probably not) are the Motorola v262 and, to an extent, the w315. At the bottom of the heap is the Kyocera K132, known on Virgin Mobile as the Marbl...except the Marbl is more reliable than the K132, which is an utter piece of junk as far as I, and anyone else, can tell, even though it looks cool.
Moral of the story on reliability? Buy the Kyocera K342 if you can stand your non-smartphone acting like it is running a beta test of Windows Mobile 6 with not enough memory available, in a word "crash". In a few more words "crash early and often". But hey, the phone is only $100 on an unlimited plan, with no contract, so whaddya expect? Or spare yourself and get an LG (on the low end) or a Motorola (on the high end). And always, ALWAYS, steer clear of the Kyocera K132 and such other nonsense, for the love of your sanity and your cell service.
Monday, March 10, 2008
AWS Phones, Here We Come
Why are we talking about the new 1700 MHz AWS (Advanced Wireless Services) spectrum in a blog about unlimited cell plans? Because it's being used by CricKet, of course.
To be precise, it is being used by CricKet, MetroPCS, US Cellular and Verizon, to be exact. Two of which are unlimited carriers; how interesting. This is probably due to AWS being pretty close to the PCS spectrum in use by these companies, so they already know how to optimize their networks for high-band cellular, I suppose. But then why aren't Sprint and T-Mobile in the mix, or did the article I was reading about AWS just forget to mention them?
Anyway, CricKet, in two markets (Tulsa, Oklahoma and Las Vegas, Nevada) is finally making use of the AWS spectrum it snapped up in 2006's auction. The first phone to get this service (the first tri-band CDMA phone to see actual duty, in fact) is the rather low-end UTStarCom 7126. The little guy has indicator lights instead of an external display, and features only 1xRTT data (nothing high-speed) but it does have Bluetooth, and for talking away that's pretty much all you need anyway. the price hasn't been announced for this phone yet, and it isn't up on CricKet's website yet either, and it probably won't be for another few months, while the AWS networks are finished up and made ready for service. But it's interesting to watch.
Oh, and if you're wondering about what other cellular goodies are going to be tri-band CDMA, here are a few models that have passed the doors of the FCC, bound it seems for CricKet and MetroPCS, who would seem to need the new frequency the most (due both to coverage and capacity constraints...nobody roams on them to my knowledge so the AWS spectrum for only their service makes more sense than would a normal cell carrier):
To be precise, it is being used by CricKet, MetroPCS, US Cellular and Verizon, to be exact. Two of which are unlimited carriers; how interesting. This is probably due to AWS being pretty close to the PCS spectrum in use by these companies, so they already know how to optimize their networks for high-band cellular, I suppose. But then why aren't Sprint and T-Mobile in the mix, or did the article I was reading about AWS just forget to mention them?
Anyway, CricKet, in two markets (Tulsa, Oklahoma and Las Vegas, Nevada) is finally making use of the AWS spectrum it snapped up in 2006's auction. The first phone to get this service (the first tri-band CDMA phone to see actual duty, in fact) is the rather low-end UTStarCom 7126. The little guy has indicator lights instead of an external display, and features only 1xRTT data (nothing high-speed) but it does have Bluetooth, and for talking away that's pretty much all you need anyway. the price hasn't been announced for this phone yet, and it isn't up on CricKet's website yet either, and it probably won't be for another few months, while the AWS networks are finished up and made ready for service. But it's interesting to watch.
Oh, and if you're wondering about what other cellular goodies are going to be tri-band CDMA, here are a few models that have passed the doors of the FCC, bound it seems for CricKet and MetroPCS, who would seem to need the new frequency the most (due both to coverage and capacity constraints...nobody roams on them to my knowledge so the AWS spectrum for only their service makes more sense than would a normal cell carrier):
- UTStarCom 7176
- UTStarCom 8076
- Samsung R430 (might show up on US Cellular or even Verizon, or might not)
- Samsung R210a
- Kyocera S4000 (might show up on US Cellular)
- ZTE C79 (probably MetroPCS-exclusive)
- Huawei M328 (probably MetroPCS-exclusive)
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