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Re: Help me pick my new cell phone
So its about that time, i;'ve had myu current phone (LG125) for about 2 and a half years and i'm gonna go and get an upgrade, I;m starting to drop calls and its jut starting to get old and out dated...its been a great phone and i'n considering getting another LG....however i heard that LG's wuality has dipped a bit with the Chocolate series
anyway here are my 3 choices and a bit of review for each from CNet.com as well as images of each one..and for the tech savvy i've included links to the tech specs
if it were you which of the 3 would you prefer...all things considered? I know most people prolly just go pick one...i had a couple duds for phones so now i research a bit before buying...
Motorola W385
CNet review
The good: The Motorola W385 has a sturdy, user-friendly design, great call quality, and integrated Bluetooth support.
The bad: The Motorola W385 has a low-resolution internal display and average photo quality.
The bottom line: The Motorola W385 is a dependable cell phone without confusing bells and whistles.
Specs: Band / mode: CDMA2000 1X 1900/800; Combined with: With digital camera; Weight: 3.9 oz
Performance
We tested the dual-band (CDMA 800/1900) Motorola W385 in San Francisco using the Verizon Wireless service. Call quality was very sharp with no static, fade-outs, or interference. What's more, voices sounded natural, and there was enough volume. On their end, callers reported no major issues save for a minor amount of wind noise. Speakerphone calls were satisfying as well and had more than enough volume.
The W385 has a rated battery life of 4 hours talk time and 18.3 days of standby time. Our tests reveal a talk time of 4 hours and 5 minutes. According to FCC radiation tests, the W385 has a digital SAR rating of 1.54 watts per kilogram.
Full Specs
http://www.telusmobility.com/on/pcs/han … w385.shtml
Samsung U540
CNet Review
The good: The Samsung SCH-U540 has admirable music quality and a generous range of features including 3G support, Bluetooth, and a speakerphone. Call quality was decent too.
The bad: The Samsung SCH-U540 has a dull design with a flat keypad and an average display. Also, video and picture quality was unimpressive, and it lacks stereo Bluetooth.
The bottom line: Though it has a couple of strong points, the Samsung SCH-U540's design and performance don't quite do its feature set justice.
Specs: Band / mode: CDMA2000 1X 1900/800; Talk time: Up to 210 min; Combined with: With digital camera / digital player
Performance
We tested the dualband, dualmode (CDMA 800/1900; EV-DO) Samsung SCH-U540 in San Francisco using Verizon Wireless service. Call quality was decent overall, though voices sounded a tad hollow; almost as if the sound was coming from across a room. It wasn't a huge problem but voices didn't always sound natural. There was plenty of volume though, and we experienced no interference from other electronic devices. Also, we had no problem getting a signal.
On their end, callers said we sounded fine with little distortion or static. They also reported acceptable volume, even when we were in a noisy environment. Speakerphone and Bluetooth headset calls were about the same; calls were quite loud and neither party had much trouble understanding the other. We had less luck when calling a voice-automated service, however. We had to repeat ourselves a few times to be understood, even when we were in a quiet room.
Music quality was quite satisfactory. The stereo speakers provided a decent output and the audio quality was good. Also, we had no issues hearing the music even when we were on a busy street. Still, we prefer using a stereo headset, albeit a wired one, for the best experience. Just remember that like most cell phone speakers the audio can be a bit bass heavy; this isn't the type of crystal-clear sound that will rival your home stereo system. The EV-DO connection remained strong for the most part; it took about 2.5 minutes to download a 3.7MB track, which isn't bad. Video quality wasn't as good. Though videos weren't pixilated and never paused for rebuffering, they were a bit jerky and the voices didn't quite match the speakers' mouths.
The Samsung SCH-U540 has a rated battery life of 3.5 hours talk time and 8.3 days standby time. We managed to eke out a talk time of 4 hours, 20 minutes in our tests. According to FCC radiation tests, the SCH-U540 has a digital SAR rating of 1.34 watts per kilogram.
Full Specs
http://www.telusmobility.com/on/pcs/han … u540.shtml
LG380
CNet Review
The good: The LG Wave is a small, lightweight handset with a bevy of features that include a megapixel camera, a music player, stereo Bluetooth, and EV-DO support.
The bad: The LG Wave has slick buttons and touch-sensitive music player controls.
The bottom line: The LG Wave is a simple yet stylish phone with midrange multimedia features and an affordable price point.
Specs: Band / mode: CDMA2000 1X 1900/800; Talk time: Up to 180 min; Combined with: With digital camera / digital player
Performance
We tested the dual-band (CDMA 800/1900; EV-DO) LG Wave in San Francisco using Alltel's service. Though call quality was pretty good, callers could still hear slight background noises, and reported that our voices sounded a little tinny. Speakerphone volume level was fine, though there was still an audible metallic echo effect. That said, we could still hear each other clearly. We paired the LG Wave with the Plantronics Voyager 520 without any problems.
The LG Wave has a rated battery life of 3 hours of talk time, which seems rather low. However, our tests did reveal a talk time of 4 hours. It has a rated standby time of 8 days. According to FCC radiation tests, the LG Wave has a maximum digital SAR rating of 1.08 watts per kilogram.
Full Specs
http://www.telusmobility.com/on/pcs/han … _380.shtml
Re: Help me pick my new cell phone
I would go with the Motorola . The thing that stuck out for me was how it said it has great call quality. Thats the one thing I hate about my phone, sometimes when I'm talking to someone they sound all monotoned. Like ya know how the teacher sounded in charlie brown? Thats what most of my calls sound like.
Re: Help me pick my new cell phone
ok so i went to the store and actually held onto all the phones and talked to the people there
all in all...everythign considered...the samsung was the most impressive of the 3...the LG felt like a toy...the motorola was cool but since it was gonna cost me more than the samsung and i wouldnt have had a mp3 player in it i decided against it
the LG shine was really cool BS but i couldnt bring myself to spend $100 on a phone when the one i got ending up being free with nearly the same features
thanks for the input everyone 
all 3 of ya :haha
anyway i bitched and moaned a little bit about being a long time client with telus and stuff and i got a few perks out of it all
they are going to add the activation fee ($25) to my account as a credit, then they game me $50 credit to my account cuz i said well you gave me a credit for the samsung...why can't I get one for the shine as well? so they added it over the client care phone call...then i get free caller id for the tenure of my 3 year contract for free .... and i also get unlimited text and photo messaging for free for 3 months
so all in all i did alright. it basically boils down to me not having to paying for my plan for 3 months so thats cool and my phone was free of charge as well (reg price $250)
the only thing that sucked was i had to buy a $25 sd card for the mp3 player, downloads and camera storage ...
Re: Help me pick my new cell phone
So this proves that I got home by 9:30 last night... hahaha
Anyway, I only recommended the Shine because it's the one I have and it's the best phone I've ever used. Having to pay an extra $100 probably isn't worth it, especially with the ones you get for free. It's nice that they gave you all those extra incentives. I didn't get jack shit when I renewed and upgraded in November.
- A Private Eye
- Rep: 77
Re: Help me pick my new cell phone
I think you've made the right choice. I've owned motorolas and samsungs and samsung is by far the better make imo, I found motorola really unreliable, I've not had a problem with my current samsung in all the time I've had it which is about 18 months (hopefully I've not just jinxed that!).
- luckylittlelady
- Rep: 20
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