New Gsm Connection With Lifetime Incoming?

[ani_meher 42]

I am looking for a handset for my mom. the basic requirements are:

1. the handset should have maximum battery life, atleast 4 days standby time.

2. the price <2.5k , or max 3k

3. Preferably motorola, as they have a service center in thane.

i m thinking about motofone. SMS is not at all required, so i guess the display can be accepted. but how about it's battery life n call quality. as it has two antennae and e paper display, both should be great, but what's the actual experience?

i m looking for a lifetime connection. i'd have gone for reliance, but they have stopped the lifetime incoming plan. and i m not impressed by those daily recharge required phones.

MTNL has an offer for govt employees, that give the lifetime incoming card for 440, that otherwise costs 900. so i m planning to go for that. is the network any good for mtnl? it was bad previously, but i guess they have improved by now.

any suggestions on handset/gsm operator in mumbai?

[raccoon 53]

Moto F3 does not have good reviews ...so think twice before buying it. IMHO, for a bit more, you could buy something way more decent like the LG B2060 ...with a 64k colour screen and GPRS, etc, which you dont need, but still the phone, in my opinion, is the best looking in the basic segment, with its metallic finish. I was getting it for Rs. 2,300 in Poona, about a month ago. Might be bit cheaper in Bombay. Samsung also has a decent offering in this segment, but the rubber keypad put me off. I haven't actually used these handsets ...just checked them out at the shop ...so I cant comment about durability, service, etc.

Just BEWARE of Nokia ...of which I am a totally dissatisfied customer ...I'v posted my experience in another thread recently, so wont repeat.

You could also consider the bundled offers by Airtel, Hutch etc ...you will get a better handset than the F3 with 2 yr validity and on-net talk time worth the full price of the handset. Not sure if they have that in Bombay though.

Edited May 16, 2007 by raccoon

[ani_meher 42]

actually i m really bored of LG n their miserable battery life, and the service center is quite far. motofone, i liked the design most, specially the display quality n ruggedness. that's y i m more inclined towards it.

are there any trump/dolphin users here? how's the network in mumbai?

[KumaarShah 143]

Go in for a nokia even though raccoon may have had a bad experience. Maybe the handset you buy for your mom would not have that many problems, so dont worry.

Nokia has the best UI amongst all other phones. It would be easy to use for your mom atleast. And the battery life of most brands of GSM phones are much much better compared to CDMA always. So go in for a brand which has the most ruggedness, ease of use and economical. On all these counts, Nokia wins hands down. Of course, there is the ASC problem always with Nokia. But one has to create a ruckus in the ASC and only then things move. In India you have to shamefully do all this to get your work done. You remain calm and composed, you will go nowhere.

As far as Moto is concerned, have you ever seen the recent calls list on any Moto ? you will not be able to tell whether you received or missed a call. take a close look at all features before you decide on moto. And yes I agree with raccoon on LG also. LG has excellent voice clarity, I have one LG C3400 which my wife is using for the last two years and no problems. Only problem with that phone is the SMS UI which is really horrible. Since you do not require SMS, LG may also suit your needs. But please check thoroughly before you jump in for any brand.

Thanks

[amitbt22 2]

Just give a look on motorola w205 Excellent (phone, Display Color Screen,Signal Strength,Battery compared to nokia & LG,good Polyphony) At price 2250 in my local place.I am using it & netime prefer over LG & Nokia w.r.t price & features & Quality of call & audio.

[raccoon 53]

khs123, cant agree with you on that. Nokia is now overpriced junk. It might have been known for durable phones before, but not now ...but we cant buy a phone in the past ...we have to buy it NOW! And they have proved that they are not concerned with consumer satisfaction or opinion either! Nokia is neither rugged nor economical!

I checked out the moto F3 at the shop, and frankly I was quite disappointed. The display was just not acceptable. I dont know how you say you like the display quality. Have you actually seen a working phone? Dont go by pictures! The reviews are not exactly positive either. As for the LG, the UI was not exactly "horrible" ...but it did not seem to have couple of the functions the Nokia had, like SMS "Send Later" function, etc. And yes, I certainly dont think you should compare CDMA LGs batt life with a GSM!

Motto w205 would be a far better option. But yes, if it does not have seperate lists for missed and recieved calls, then at least for me it would be a deal breaker. And khs, its not that you cant tell which is a missed call and a recieved call ...calls that connect (recieved calls) have a small "tick" mark in the icon ...so you can differentiate. But the mark is pretty small, and if an elderly person with poor eyesight is using the phone, then... tough luck! The main problem is that only the last entry for a particular number is logged ...so you cannot tell when and how many times particular person gave you a missed call, etc. This is how it is on L7, etc. Dont know if its so with all Mottos. I cant understand why Motto botched up on such a basic requirement!

Khs123, as for the voice clarity issue, I'v been told that (by very reliable sources) most basic phones have better voice clarity than upper end ones ...so It MIGHT not be that your LG has any significant edege over basic phones of other makes.

[ani_meher 42]

Thanks for the inputs guys.

As per reviews here, also supported by my friends, the display of f3 is below par. so i guess i'll put it out of question.

w205 seems good. but i m more inclined towards moto c168 with 1000mAh battery. as battery life is most important for me.

amongst nokias, i m eyeing 1110, 1101 & 1600, just because of their tremendous battery life. so current shortlisted phones are

moto: w205, c168

nokia: 1110, 1101, 1600

any suggestions on these?

[coolrajiv 1]

Thanks for the inputs guys.

As per reviews here, also supported by my friends, the display of f3 is below par. so i guess i'll put it out of question.

w205 seems good. but i m more inclined towards moto c168 with 1000mAh battery. as battery life is most important for me.

amongst nokias, i m eyeing 1110, 1101 & 1600, just because of their tremendous battery life. so current shortlisted phones are

moto: w205, c168

nokia: 1110, 1101, 1600

any suggestions on these?

Hi,

I would recommend Motorola C168.... very good display, loud ringtone & a very good battery life..

[ani_meher 42]

well guys, a good news. actually i was looking for a gsm mobile coz my mom's lifetime incoming mobile N2112 was lost last thursday, and since it is still not in my name, i couldn't block it. that's why i decided to shift to gsm. luckily, that mobile was found today morning, in a bag at home. must be put there by someone in hurry, and maybe as it went out of network, all i could hear is ringtone. u can read this in the post 'Is the handset lost'?

so as the mobile is back to us, the hunt for new mobile is stopped now. thanks for all ur help. this discussion may prove useful to someone who needs to buy a low end high battery life GSM handset.

thanks again friends.

[KumaarShah 143]

khs123, cant agree with you on that. Nokia is now overpriced junk. It might have been known for durable phones before, but not now ...but we cant buy a phone in the past ...we have to buy it NOW! And they have proved that they are not concerned with consumer satisfaction or opinion either! Nokia is neither rugged nor economical!

You have strong feelings against Nokia because of your bad experiences with them. I have stated as per my experiences with NOKIA ASC. Believe me, you have to shout and create a ruckus, only then things move at Nokia. Maybe Chennai is Nokia HQ thats why they are quite OK here. However much you may state to the contrary, Nokia will always remain number one because of their easy UI. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

I checked out the moto F3 at the shop, and frankly I was quite disappointed. The display was just not acceptable. I dont know how you say you like the display quality. Have you actually seen a working phone? Dont go by pictures! The reviews are not exactly positive either. As for the LG, the UI was not exactly "horrible" ...but it did not seem to have couple of the functions the Nokia had, like SMS "Send Later" function, etc. And yes, I certainly dont think you should compare CDMA LGs batt life with a GSM!

I never stated anything about Moto's display. And the UI of LG, I referred to was only for SMS. And I have stated about the battery life of GSM phones being better than CDMA, what is wrong in comparing that?

Motto w205 would be a far better option. But yes, if it does not have seperate lists for missed and recieved calls, then at least for me it would be a deal breaker. And khs, its not that you cant tell which is a missed call and a recieved call ...calls that connect (recieved calls) have a small "tick" mark in the icon ...so you can differentiate. But the mark is pretty small, and if an elderly person with poor eyesight is using the phone, then... tough luck! The main problem is that only the last entry for a particular number is logged ...so you cannot tell when and how many times particular person gave you a missed call, etc. This is how it is on L7, etc. Dont know if its so with all Mottos. I cant understand why Motto botched up on such a basic requirement!

I fully agree with you on the above.

Khs123, as for the voice clarity issue, I'v been told that (by very reliable sources) most basic phones have better voice clarity than upper end ones ...so It MIGHT not be that your LG has any significant edege over basic phones of other makes.

Yes I have also noticed and agree with you about the basic versus upper end phones. As regards the voice clarity, I have no issues with you. For all that I know, you may be right fully.

[raccoon 53]

I never stated anything about Moto's display. And the UI of LG, I referred to was only for SMS. And I have stated about the battery life of GSM phones being better than CDMA, what is wrong in comparing that?

Khs123, I guess due to lack of clarity in my post, there has been some misunderstanding! I wasn't adressing you when I commented on F3's display. I was reffering to ani_meher's positive comment on its display quality!

I fully comprehended that your comment about the LG UI was directed at its SMS interface. I did try to compose a SMS on the LG in the shop, and did not find the UI to be exactly horrible. I just found it to take a few clicks more to get a job done (efficiency)...and it lacked some functions that the Nokia had. But then as a whole the LG has stuff which the Nokia dosen't. So its subjective... Of course the UI could have been changed since you are talking about an older LG, and I had checked out a current one.

As for your comment that GSM phones generally have a better batt life, compared to GSM ...I was in fact supporting your statement ...not refuting it!!

As for my "feelings against Nokia" of course, I speak from my experience. Of course everybody else is entitled to their own! In fact, its not just my own experiences, but a lot of my friends have faced/are facing problems with their Nokias ...and now have similar feelings against Nokia that I have. And these very people were staunch Nokia proponents in the past! Notably, this is more so with current models ...otherwise for the older models ...we all know how durable they are/were. And UI and stuff will be of no use if the damn phone dosent work ...LOL!!!

[KumaarShah 143]

^^^

Points well taken now. Matter closed.

Thanks and yes it was enjoyable.

[manishag 17]

for life time users now one more good news that if customers is opting for new no. he only needs to recharge the no with 495 and he will get Rs 10 talk time and free incoming for the lifetime. this time new life time will have STD to UP and Bihar @ rs 2 per minute. Airtel and IDEA already launched not sure about the HUTCH. available in delhi

[raccoon 53]

Any idea about what mobile to mobile (local) tariff they are charging?

[manishag 17]

yes M2M local is Rs 1.99 per minute