I need a new phone. My old, tiny, justa phone is going dead. A friend 
gave me a 2007 "smartphone", which I've been using for a few weeks, but 
the old thing has a weak battery, diminished structural integrity, and 
no car charger.

I don't have a data plan and don't want one, but I have made extensive 
use of the smartphone's calendar and note-taking applications and the 
ability to text with useful speed.

Two problems:
I don't want a big phone. And with so many choices out there, I'm having 
a Hell of a time finding the useful, small phones with usable (don't 
have to hit a key three times to make one letter) keyboards. Any 
suggestions? I found the Blackberry Pearl, which leads to my second problem.

T-Mobile apparently doesn't sell the Blackberry Pearl and, even if they 
did, would require my purchasing an expensive, useless to me data 
package. I have found phones "unlocked" on ebay. Will these "just work" 
if I insert my sim card?

  -Shay

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shay wrote:
> useful, small phones with usable (don't 
> have to hit a key three times to make one letter) keyboards. Any 
> suggestions? 

Google images for "phone keyboard" and then read reviews of the models you find?

> I have found phones "unlocked" on ebay. Will these "just work" 
> if I insert my sim card?

There are (in the USA) a number of different carriers with different 
frequencies. There are also a number of protocols in use (but few that use 
SIM cards, so that's probably less of a concern). You'll want to figure out 
what frequencies are supported by your carrier in places you're interested 
in going (900MHz? 1.2GHz? etc) and protocols (GSM, I assume?) and then 
assure the phone will work.

Most of the smarter phones will handle all the frequencies in the country 
they were built for. If you travel internationally a lot, you might want to 
cover even more frequencies.

I.e., the variables that matter to the network are the protocol and the 
frequency. If you get an unlocked phone that can do 900MHz GSM, and your 
carrier supports 900MHz GSM, it should work.

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Serving Suggestion:
     "Don't serve this any more. It's awful."

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On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 18:29:51 +0200, shay <sha### [at] nonenone> wrote:

This looks quite nifty:
http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/finder.php

-- 
-Nekar Xenos-

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