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In parts irrelevant outside USA (Reply to this comment)
by knilaus
It seems to me the comments made about analogue/digital-facilities are largely irrelevant for the non-American audience.
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Apr 26 '01
3:41 pm PDT
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As the owner of a Motorola 501.. (Reply to this comment)
by ASourdough4,  in Electronics
...thanks for the excellent overview of what is new! Handy and thought provoking.
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Apr 12 '01
1:16 pm PDT
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Excellent review! (Reply to this comment)
by kboo
With the #1 point: finding the right service provider. I had a similar problem- although Sprint, Voicestream and others claimed to have service "everywhere" in the tri-state area, they didn't. In the end, we were left with the choice of ONE provider that had the coverage we wanted, and that ended up dictating our choice in phone.
(Unfortunately I wish we were as happy with our service provider as we are with our phone!)
:)
kboo
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Apr 10 '01
9:25 am PDT
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StarTac CDMA/TDMA (Reply to this comment)
by cowboyind
Yes, that is very true that the StarTac is actually many different phones, depending not only upon whether the cellular provider uses TDMA or CDMA but the frequency band they operate within. As you explained in the opinion, most service problems are not the fault of the phone but are instead related to a weak signal from the service provider. My StarTac is a CDMA model operating on SprintPCS, and calls are usually of excellent quality, but occasionally in fringe areas you still get the characteristic "digital echo" (sometimes called TCQ for "trash can quality" since your voice sounds like it's coming from the bottom of a trash can).
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Apr 07 '01
7:41 am PDT
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very good advice all around... (Reply to this comment)
by jkkelley
...and I wish I'd had it when I went shopping for one. Nice job.
jk
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Apr 06 '01
5:46 pm PDT
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Re: a+lot+of+good+information+here... (Reply to this comment)
by coffeeaddict
Thanks cowboyind, you bring up a lot of good points. As a matter of fact, I've tried a lot of different manufacturers and as you said, motorola seems to make the most sturdy phone. I guess I should also have added the fact that different service providers use different digital formats, such as TDMA or CDMA, with each company touting that theirs is better. In any case, there are slight variations in each motorola startac phone that is it be used with each type of service.
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Apr 06 '01
5:21 pm PDT
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a lot of good information here... (Reply to this comment)
by cowboyind
There is a lot of good information here; it's very true and sad that digital service is still so spotty. Just as you say, buildings seem to present the biggest problem. I am not sure why.
One thing to consider overall is the company that made the phone, and to me the choice here is simple: Motorola. I have owned five Motorola phones over the last several years and if I've ever had problems, they were fixed free. Even when the problem was clearly my own fault, as it was once when I dropped a phone onto concrete and it broke.
And even though based on current research it's unlikely that radiation from a mobile phone is a significant health risk, a person is prudent to minimize his or her exposure to it just in case. Here again, Motorola is the leader. The Digital StarTac has the lowest exposure. (Digital phones in general have lower power levels than analog so should in most cases reduce exposure to radiation.) Of course, use of a hands-free headset as suggested in this opinion will reduce exposure effectively to zero, regardless of which phone is being used.
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Apr 06 '01
5:12 pm PDT
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