Cellphone advice requested

[Bounty]

My trusty old phone isn't feeling well, so I'm looking around for a replacement should it decide to give up and die. It's a 5-year-old Z600 which does everything I need it to do, but the range has been discontinued, so I'm open to suggestions.

Now, I use my phone for calls, SMS, and as a backup clock; nothing else. I don't game, I don't browse, I don't take snapshots, don't need a calendar or organiser; I just need a phone. No-one seems to make those any more. My wish list - well, my "must have this or no deal" list - is this:

- Reliability. My current phone has swallowed sand and water, been through the wash, travelled Europe, got dropped more times than I care to remember, but it's still ticking. I expect no less from a replacement. I need a phone that laughs at mud, not one that goes on the fritz when your backpack's a bit soaked.

- A suitably large memory or a a card slot, especially for texts. The Z600 has just a few hundred kilobyte of space and I have to backup and wipe my texts every few days, so the more space the merrier.

- At least tri-band, ideally quad-band.

- Bluetooth with decent synchronisation software and ideally Wammu compatibility; backing up my phonebook and messages is an absolute must.

- An easy-to-read screen

- A clamshell body. I'm willing to settle for less, but since it'll be stuck in my jacket pocket with keys and whatnot, I don't see how I'd get by without having both the screen and the keyboard covered. The first person to suggest putting it in a sock can go eat a razor.

Everything else - camera, MP3 functionality, radio, WAP, all that fluffy shit - is entirely superfluous; I've got dedicated devices for those.

I've been looking for a phone that matches this myself, but the ones that get close always have some sort of flaw. If what I want can't be done, so be it, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

All the current array of Nokia phones and what not have all that "fluffy" shit you speak of. I think it boils down to how much you are willing to pay.

[Losonti Tokash]

All the current array of Nokia phones and what not have all that "fluffy" shit you speak of. I think it boils down to how much you are willing to pay.

There's also the fact that Nokia phones, while ugly as sin, tend to be fucking invincible. I accidentally dropped one out of a car going 45 mph down a hill and came back a couple hours later to try and salvage the sim card. Little did I know it had all of 2 tiny scratches on the back and worked perfectly until I got another provider.

[Bounty]

The 3110 Classic comes close, but it's a bar, not a clamshell. Are they really durable? My sister used to have a... 1100 or something that shat itself the first time it rained.

I'm hoping to spend under €100, so low-to-lower-midrange. You'd think that should be easy, but at that pricepoint you're either looking at dual-band or crappy kiddie phones with coloured lights and 4MB memory.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

The 3110 Classic comes close, but it's a bar, not a clamshell. Are they really durable? My sister used to have a... 1100 or something that shat itself the first time it rained.

I'm hoping to spend under €100, so low-to-lower-midrange. You'd think that should be easy, but at that pricepoint you're either looking at dual-band or crappy kiddie phones with coloured lights and 4MB memory.

Most of the Nokia phones I have used are generally pretty durable. I'm pretty much a Nokia user, though the sole Sony Ericsson I used was a piece of shit.

[Soontir C'boath]

Are they really durable?

I know someone who's had a Nokia for years (old b/w screen type) and he'll deliberately do things like throw it against the wall to try and break it with no luck.

[Losonti Tokash]

Are they really durable? My sister used to have a... 1100 or something that shat itself the first time it rained.

My girlfriend dropped hers in a glass of water and didn't realize it for an hour or so. Once it dried off it worked fine.

[Bounty]

Thing is, I really don't trust non-clamshell phones, especially the screen. My phone often shares a pocket with keys or coins, and I don't want to scratch it up in the first week.

I've also found out that I do still have a backup phone sitting in a drawer, but it pre-dates WAP by a few years and with no working charger, I'll have to wind it for three minutes every time I want to send a text.

[Phantasee]

I've also found out that I do still have a backup phone sitting in a drawer, but it pre-dates WAP by a few years and with no working charger, I'll have to wind it for three minutes every time I want to send a text.

I hope you're joking.

[Stark]

Thing is, I really don't trust non-clamshell phones, especially the screen. My phone often shares a pocket with keys or coins, and I don't want to scratch it up in the first week.

Nokia phones have very durable screens. There are plenty of reasons to avoid clamshell phones, and simply trying to protect the screen isn't a very good reason these days. Nokia have several very cheap 'low-end' phones that do what you need without unnecessary moving parts, and they're built solidly.

[Bounty]

I've also found out that I do still have a backup phone sitting in a drawer, but it pre-dates WAP by a few years and with no working charger, I'll have to wind it for three minutes every time I want to send a text.

I hope you're joking.

I'm not. The mains charger has disappeared, and the only Nokia charger I have is a manual crank. It works, but it's murder on my wrists.

There are plenty of reasons to avoid clamshell phones

I admit I've missed the last five years of cellphone tech, but the last time I bought a phone for myself clamshells were the way to go. Your screen and keys are protected, they generally have a bigger screen and better-spaced keys, and they look a lot better. Did candybar phones get that much better?

[Havok]

I've had a RAZR since they came out (I wanted something really slim as I hate having shit in my pockets.) It's been pretty damn durable. I'm like you. Phone calls and texts, although I do use the camera quite a bit.

It has put up with my motorcycle everyday of it's life, including getting soaked in the rain and it is still plugging along just fine. It gets reception every where, even when surrounded by all the metal shelves, parts and scaffolding in my building at work. It is a flip phone, but does have an outside screen, but other than just getting finger prints on it, it holds off scratching very well. I also drop the god damned thing all the time, like today, twice, and while the battery and the battery cover do pop off and out, it starts back up just fine every time.

[Bounty]

I have looked at the RAZR, but its memory capacity isn't all that great. It looks cool, but I don't think it's the phone for me - I'd probably sooner get a Samsung E210.

[Havok]

I have looked at the RAZR, but its memory capacity isn't all that great. It looks cool, but I don't think it's the phone for me - I'd probably sooner get a Samsung E210.

I'm not even sure what the memory capacity is. I know it has a card slot for memory but I've never needed it. I guess if I was storing all the pictures and text that I get and send it might be a problem, but as it is, I clean house every week or so.

[Stark]

I had a razr until I dropped in in the toilet during a night of drunken debauchery. Both Nokias and Sonys survive such treatment.

And yeah, candybar phones got heaps better. I still have a fourth-gen iPod (well, I gave it to JSF but it's on it's last legs) and it's screen scratched at the drop of a hat. Modern phones and iPods alike don't have this issue at all, and protecting the keys strikes me as utterly useless (phones autolock). I'm currently using a 3-4 year old Sony until iPhone prices stablise, and I've never had any screen scratch/key damage problems ever, and this is an ancient handset by today's standards.

Well, the thumbstick thingo is fucked. But hey, thumbsticks are fail, we all knew that.

[Napoleon the Clown]

See if your provider offers discounts on phones when you do stuff with your cell plan or order online. Verizon, for example, gives you massive discounts when you order online, though you need to renew the contract to get a new one. My brother got a Razr for free when his old phone crapped itself and died on him. If your provider does something like that, you'll have a pretty good sized list of phones you could get for very cheap or even free. And most would be pretty good.

[Bounty]

See if your provider offers discounts on phones when you do stuff with your cell plan or order online.

There isn't really such a thing in Belgium. It's illegal to lock you into a plan or provider when you buy a phone, so while we don't have locked phones, we also don't have provider discounts on the new price save for the standard ones the store wants to set. besides, I'm on a prepaid plan, it's as bare-bones as it gets.

[Bounty]

So I was standing there in the store all ready to get myself a Nokia Vanilla 1000 when the little gadget whore I've got locked away under the stairs started whining. And I though, "poor little gadget whore hasn't gotten lucky since that fling with the iPod. Maybe he deserves a treat?".

So yeah, I'm looking at a smartphone now. 300Mhz processor, quad-band, 3G-enabled, SymbianOS, two cameras (apparently you need a second one for videoconferencing or something), movie and mp3 player, and there's a secretary stuffed somewhere in there because it's already taken one of my calls and transferred it to the landline.

Frivolous expense? Maybe - but I got all that with a €450 discount. Got myself a Z8 (stop laughing in the back!) with a MicroSD card and a copy of Bourne Identity for €89, which isn't too shabby. Apparently this model was a real Edsel when it was launched, but I've already ripped out the firmware for something less primitive and bolted on a task manager - that should keep it ticking. I lost the Dutch iTap in the process, but I've never even trusted T9 (damn AI trying to think for me...) so it's not a big loss.

So thanks for all the advice, but my gonads had a more convincing argument.

[Ypoknons]

I'll be honest and say I don't really buy into "I just need a phone, no fancy shenanigans" crowd ... nevermind, I just read your post. I'm glad you got a smartphone. The banana phone nonetheless but I'm glad someone got it ... how is it?

[Ypoknons]

If your provider does something like that, you'll have a pretty good sized list of phones you could get for very cheap or even free. And most would be pretty good.

I would disagree with the last statement. I think the carrier subsidized model in the United States is responsible for keeping cellphones around $200 in the American mind, keeping out premium phones, unlike the rest of the world where more high-end models are easily available. Only recently have American received via carrier more premium phones, notably the iPhone. Furthermore, the carrier subsidized model causes most phones sold in the States to be locked, so when you do travel or switch carriers, you need to get them unlocked. Of course, Sprint and Verizon phones are CDMA and there don't work elsewhere in the world, except for a few special travel models.

[Bounty]

I'll be honest and say I don't really buy into "I just need a phone, no fancy shenanigans" crowd ... nevermind, I just read your post. I'm glad you got a smartphone. The banana phone nonetheless but I'm glad someone got it ... how is it?

Not bad. Everything seems to work, and while the interface has a few odd design choices (like the soft keys swapping functions at random) it is fast and easy to use if you pay attention. I'm not sold on the keypad yet, but that's probably because the Z600 had very tactile "gumdrop" buttons while the Z8 has flush ones with not much feedback.

The screen is gorgeous, audio is pretty good even through the phone speaker, and it hasn't crashed yet. Success!

ETA: truth be told, I wouldn't have considered this phone if it hadn't been on sale for €peanuts. It's way overspecc'ed for me and it gets bad reviews, which is a huge red flag, but a phone that's also a better MP3 player than my MP3 player and a backup camera for the price of a bottom-shelf Nokia? I'd have been insane to ignore it.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Phones are ridiculously cheap after the telco subsidy. Generally, new Nokia phones come with Symbian and what not. I just got an E51 (without camera because of workplace issues) for free. Quite a nifty one, though the Quality Control leaves a little to be desired.