arnuld

Haa... Thanks everyone Finally I bought MTS Blaze 5.0 from ebay @6750/- , will receive it in few days

So many replies. Thanks to all for clearing up my doubts. Two questions: EVDO take more battery than 1x ? (In GSM 3G drinks battery life likealmost 4-5 times faster comparing to 2G ) I cheked TATA data plans on some shop here in Hyderabad and they do not seem to differentiate between 1x/EVDO data plans. Is this how it is ?

Dude, that is a horrible thing. I use data 24x7, I can not afford being not reachahble 24x7. This is totally a deal breaker for me.

Dude, CDMA in India is almost dead in context of handset availability. If you need 1x/EVDO/LTE support then your only bet is imported handsents. For local/Indian/non-imported handsets, as far as I have searched , you gotta stick with EVDO Rev A almost all the time and Rev B with very very few and expensive handsets. Lack of handsets and the price of handsets forced me to switch to GSM otherwise I still like CDMA and even keep on thinking about swithing back to it everyday

ZTE S183, also known as MTS Striker C132 , I used this handset with TATA DOCOMO OMH CDMA SIM for a month. Here are the pros & cons: PROS: Signal Strength: I worked in SEZ IT Park in Chennai and all operators (AirTel, Idea, Vodafone) lack proper coverage and whenever there is a coverage then you don't get proper signal strength but this handset never had signal and coverage related issues. This can be attributed to both TATA and this handset. Call Clarity: Crystal clear call quality, no speaker issues, other side also could hear my voice fine. Loud Ringtones: It rings quite loud, you will not have problems in hearing it. Some ringtones do ring low, you have to choose a louder ringtone. CONS: No Vibrational mode: This phone has no vibrational mode. Very disappointing and that was the reason I stopped using it Horrible Ringtones: Whatever ringtones are there, they are horrible ones. Wallpapers: very few wallpapers are there, I think 2 and they too are bad like ringtones No expandable memory: It has mp3 player but no SD card slot. Build Quality: Pretty cheap build quality. I have used Samsung SCH-B339 which I had for 1500/- and this phone stands nowhere near to that in quality manufacturing at 1300/-

MTS Blaze 5 is available now @ebay for 8K. Jan 18th, 2015: MTS Blaze 4 is available @ebay for 4190/-

Yeah, I noticed that too. Only MTS Blaze 4.5 is available or I see MOTOROLA Razr XT907 and XT926 handsets, all way more than my budge plus I try to avoid imported handsets. I see ZTE Grand SII available from amazon India and I see specs and price are quite of a good match but anything more that 5 inches of screen is a no-no for me, I want a phone, not a monster:

Oh my... (1) and (3) are deal-breakers. I do not want my friends to hear a busy tone when I am online (1x problem) and I hate locked handsets. I really do not care about call block or GSM slot, even single CDMA SIM slot phone is fine with me. If I buy phone from Buy/Sell forum here then I will not face the issues in (1) and (3) ?

Hey Guys, Lava EG632 was launched yesterday and it is available on Reliance Online. Though the price price is dobule of MTS Blaze 4.5 but I do not see features/specs going double. Just check it out. It is nice to have a new CDMA samartphone launch once in a while

@Kapil Matey: Oh.. I get it now. Thanks. I have done the same to update my friend's phone. Glad to know it works with CDMA phones. @shreesh: I don't have much budget, so I think I will get MTS Blaze 4.5 from ebay here . I searched and read lot of threads regarding data working/not-working on imported handsets. I guess I will stick to Indian handsets. Any other recommendations for budget <= 7K ? Also, what about roaming charges on EVDO ? I got airtel currently and I have roamed in Punjab, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and there were never any roaming charges for 2G/3G.

Wi-Fi is totally different story, It is not part of the connection. Hence, using Wi-Fi will never pose an issue. How much battery EVDO eats ? I guess it is equilant to 3G in GSM and 3G eats battery so much that in 5 hours battery goes from 100% to 10% while 2G I can keep ON whole day on one charge.

get Lenovo.

Why does not OP try MTS Striker C131/132, available unlocked from ebay. Also ZTES183 from Reliance. I think both are same models manufactured by ZTE for MTS and Reliance. What is the OP's location ? If it is Hyderabad, then he can go to Hong-Kong market and meet Gupta g there, he is CDMA expert.

I am based in Chennai/Hyderabad and want to buy an Android CDMA, will use EVDO/1x on it 24x7. Will use TATA or MTS. Want RUIM based. I thought of buying MTS Duet II but it is locked to MTS network. I checked buyu-sell bazaar and everythign good is beyond my budget. Any suggestions ? My budget is 6-7K.

I too want to know about TATA CDMA's coverage regarding EVDO/1x in Chennai (Sholinganallur SEZ, (Special Economic Zone)). Anyone has firsthand experience in this ? Still deciding beween MTS and TATA

Any idea about how is the network quality and coverage of MTS in Chennai, especially around Sholinganallur SEZ (Special Economic Zone) region. What about the EVDO/1x in this region ? All GSM have poor signal strength/coverage here. I want to switch to CDMA.

Well, here in Chennai, TATA CDMA gives post-paid connections in every exclusive showroom. Just go there and get it but for pre-paid, you have to keep on calling them and asking if its available or not.

Has anyone bought a new TATA DOCOMO CDMA (formerly TATA Indicomm) prepaid connection in Chennai. I am totally unable to get one here. you can get any any new CDMA/GSM connection in 2 ways: you go to exclusive showroom/store you go to a normal shopkeeper who sells connections No shopkeeper in Chennai (at least the areas I have visited) keeps CDMA prepaid connections. Usually they don't have postpaid CDMA too. But everyone has TATA DOCOMO GSM connections. For exclusive store, look at the mail I have written to listen (at) tatadocomo (dot) com. Is there any 3rd way of getting a new connection ? ------------------------ mail begins --------------------------------------- Dear Sirs, I want to buy TAT DOCOMO CDMA pre-paid connection in Chennai, it is as difficult as finding an Alien. you may laugh but this is a serious commparison. None of the usual mobile shopkeepers/sellers have new CDMA connection (all of them have DOCOMO GSM connections to sell). Thereforem I went to 5 different show rooms (few major ones) and none of them have any CDMA pre-paid connection. I went to exclusive TATA DOCOMO showroom in: TAMBARAM, VELACHERY, T. NAGAR, THORAIPAKKAM (5th one I forgot) All of the stores say one and only one thing: "Sir, we don't have any pre-paid connection anymore. We sell only post-paid CDMA. If you want pre-paid CDMA, please call after 2/5 days and we will tell you." And when I call after 2 or 5 days I get the same reply. It is going on for 3 months like this. So, can you tell me how to get a new pre-paid CDMA connection in Chennai ? Thanks Arnuld ---------------------------------- mail ends -----------------------------------

Well, people here have recommended Samsung B229. I had very bad experience with it, its signals used to drop frequently while same RUIM will work fine in other handsets. I will recommend one of these 3 based on at least half an year of personal usage: Samsung Mpower Muzik F219 Samsung digirap Samsung B339

Well. I have used both TATA DOCOMO (CDMA and GSM), Reliance CDMA, Idea! and AirTel. I am in Hydeabad. When it comes to GSM, AirTel is best here. When it comes to signal strength and voice clarity, TATA CDMA beats all. AirTel has godd coverage here, customer service is quite good. SMS Plans and special talk time plans are quite expensive though. Every SMS or special talk time plan is double priced as compared to Idea. I left both Idea and Reliance because signal used to keep on dropping. TATA DOCOMO GSM has worst coverage of all. I liked TATA DOCOMO CDMA best of all put together, amazing coverage, awesome voice clarity, cheap plans, cheap call rates, cheap message and cheap special talktime plans, cheap 2G internet and customer selvice is not that bad (better than Idea and Reliance). Unfortunetly, you don't find much CDMA handsets in market. Go to flipkart, click on mobile section and 500 handsets will be shown. Just select CDMA from side-filters and handset numbers drop to 5 or 10, out of those only 2-3 will be to your liking.

That is nice gurugopal. I am really liking this idea of yours and I am in. I guess you will surely get more than 5 people, may be around 30. Hi-Tech city is a good area to be considered for a meetup, there is big CHUTNEYS in Inorbit Mall there. I am free on weekdays and busy on weekends evenings. I am busy with some course after 3 PM every weekend (till end of August), If it finishes before 3 then I am fine. But I guess everyone else will be free on weekends and hence weekends make good choice for meetup.

I am going to buy a handset with TATA Docomo CDMA connection. Can someone recommend something: QWERTY bluetooth budget 7,000/- That is all, I don't need a touchscreen or great cameras or even 3G. If QWERTY not there then Bar shape will work too (helpless on QWERTY CDMA, don't see anything except much overpriced Samsung m369 txt).

You asked him to stay away and the one you suggested above has 1 GHz Cortex A5 processor with Dual-SIM facility.

I am gonna buy 2 new GSM pre-paid connections, to talk to my fiance everyday for an hour. I bought TATA DOCOMO GSM earlier but its coverage was pathetic. Half of the times my number was out of coverage area as per my friends. Using Idea as of now but from last 2 months many times Idea refuses to make/receive calls. I heard AirTel is the best and these days every company provides 10p/min plans within same operator. There are Vodafone, BSNL, Reliance too. Any advice ?

I have an Idea number. I am unable to make/recieve calls most of the time. SMSs are fine. I called three of my friends who have Idea numbers and they reported the same issue. Idea CC (Customer Care) says they have server problems (which is a joke anyway). Has anyone experienced same in Hyderabad ?