Any reccomendations for cell phones to use with 17" PB (bluetooth)

mangophreek · Jul 17, 2004

Hey, this is mildly mac related, but you are all very smart and technology oriented so you can probably help

I purchased a 17" Powerbook (with 5400rpm drive, 128mb video, ipod (cram and jam), isght, extra battery) on Thursday. It should be here sometime in the next few weeks.

I'm going to University in the Fall in Toronto (Canada). It's a joint program between 2 schools, 1 in the City bordering on North York (York University) and one in Oakville (Sheridan College). So I will be travelling within the GTA a lot. (Greater Toronto Area).

I need buy a new cell phone (current one was $12 with 4 months free service and has a 2 hour battery). I was looking between two service providers: Keep in mind its Canadian prices.

Rogers Wireless with a Motorola V600 (they offered me it for $399 because I am a current subscriber, regular price is $699, I can haggle it down if I say I'm going to swtich.) The plan is about $45 a month with 150 daytime minutes, and unlimited calling after 8pm and on weekends. (Thats with all the hidden fees).

The other phone is a Sony Ericsson Z600 from Fido on the new "City Plan". The city plan is $45 as well, but is a mobile-home-phone plan. It's unlimited minutes, anytime, to anywhere in the GTA. If someone phones me, while I'm in the GTA, that is free as well.

The problem is, I don't know how much I'll be using the phone (I'm guessing a lot). But I'm very partial to the V600 because my sister and best friend have the V300 which I like a lot. But the Z600 is very sleek.

Has anyone used either the V600 or the Z600 in general, or with a Powerbook? Which would you reccommend? Should I go for plan or phone?

Lincoln · Jul 17, 2004

Z600

Mangophreek,

If you are down to two phones the Z600 and V600, then the choice is simple, choose the Sony Z600 as this is the only phone supported by iSync:

http://www.apple.com/isync/devices.html

I bought a V600 and took it back in a day

, swapped it for a Nokia 6600. The V600's menu system was lacking (compared to the Symbian OS in the Nokia, I upgraded from a Nokia 3650) and the blue tooth wasn't very good either: PC or MAC. Finally the Nokia 6600 is supported by isync

and hence bluetooth on the mac wheras the V600 isn't.

However that was MY choice, phones are a very personal choice so as long as it is supported by isync, then it will be FULLY supported by Mac OS X.

Hope this helps.

mangophreek · Jul 17, 2004

Lincoln said:
I bought a V600 and took it back in a day , swapped it for a Nokia 6600. The V600's menu system was lacking (compared to the Symbian OS in the Nokia, I upgraded from a Nokia 3650) and the blue tooth wasn't very good either: PC or MAC. Finally the Nokia 6600 is supported by isync and hence bluetooth on the mac wheras the V600 isn't.

Thanks for the help. I keep getting mixed reactions about both phones. Whether the V600 lacks this or Z600 lacks that. I'd like to be able to afford something like a P800 or P900 but thats unreasonable. I think I'll end up with the Z600 (unless I can swindle a P800 for cheap out of them) if nothing new comes out before mid-August. But I'm still very partial to the V600.

live4ever · Jul 17, 2004

I use the SE Z600 and it works flawless with the Mac (PB with BT built-in). iSync, BT File Transfer, Salling Clicker, Blue Phone Menu all are great. I really like the menu layout on the Z600, the V600 is a great phone too but I guess its Mac support is lacking (from what I've read online).

Abstract · Jul 17, 2004

City Plan by Fido is godly for its price. But you didn't mention how much the Z600 would cost you, something I'd like to know.

mangophreek · Jul 17, 2004

Abstract said:
City Plan by Fido is godly for its price. But you didn't mention how much the Z600 would cost you, something I'd like to know.

Z600 is $250 from $400 on a 2 year contract -$20 referral from my sister.

V600 (Rogers) is $399 (from $699) on a 2 year contract.

Again, Canadian prices.

pimpslap · Jul 20, 2004

live4ever said:
I use the SE Z600 and it works flawless with the Mac (PB with BT built-in). iSync, BT File Transfer, Salling Clicker, Blue Phone Menu all are great. I really like the menu layout on the Z600, the V600 is a great phone too but I guess its Mac support is lacking (from what I've read online).

I just got a v600 the other day because my SE t616 flaked out on me. I really love the phone, but the Mac support isn't where SE's is...yet. It is not iSync compatible because it uses a newer, open source syncing protocol called SyncML that iSync doesn't support (iSync uses and older IR standard). However, since newer phones are coming with SyncML (from SE and Moto and others) then SyncML compatibility with iSync is virtually inevitable. Right now with the v600 I can connect to the internet on my PB via bluetooth modem and send/receive files. iSync and Salling Clicker are the only two apps that don't work now, but I'm sure iSync eventually will and I hope Salling Clicker will eventually too. Having said that, I bet Apple won't integrate SyncML in iSync before Tiger comes out.

kgarner · Jul 20, 2004

I would recommend a Sony Ericsson phone. I have a T610 myself, and it is great. I am sure the one you are looking at will be great too.

Vanilla · Jul 20, 2004

This probably isn't much help but if you can get hold of a SE T610 you'll be sorted. I have one and it works beautifully with my Pbook.
Vanilla

mangophreek · Jul 20, 2004

Thanks for all the input. I went to a Fido store to try out the Z600 and it kind of irked me. Like, it just felt funny in my hand, but I'm sure I'd get used to it pretty fast. The only other available blueooth phones form Fido are the P800 and the P900 (both SE) which are way out of my price range (about $400 Canadian). I'm still not sure what to do, I think I'll end up going for the Z600 but I need to go to "The Telephone Booth" and swindle some free accessories out of them... I got my friend Dave a free DVD player, second phone, car charge, headset and belt clip/carrying case (all free) for $50 less than another store was offering just the phone. I am king of bargaining.

dav · Jul 22, 2004

The Z600 is about the same thing as a T610, except a different form factor.

V600 is a terrible phone compared to SE products.

criana · Jul 22, 2004

I have the SE T616 and use it as a bluetooth modem with my PB. It works great. Setting up with iSync and copying over my addresses was almost too easy, I couldn't believe it when it just worked

Abstract · Jul 22, 2004

So both require 2 year deals, the SE Z600 is $150 cheaper than the V600 , and the SE syncs better with Macs........ I don't see the problem.

mangophreek said:
Thanks for all the input. I went to a Fido store to try out the Z600 and it kind of irked me. Like, it just felt funny in my hand, but I'm sure I'd get used to it pretty fast. The only other available blueooth phones form Fido are the P800 and the P900 (both SE) which are way out of my price range (about $400 Canadian).

You mean $400 MORE than both phones, right? That thing costs a bit more than $400.

mangophreek said:
I'm still not sure what to do, I think I'll end up going for the Z600 but I need to go to "The Telephone Booth" and swindle some free accessories out of them... I got my friend Dave a free DVD player, second phone, car charge, headset and belt clip/carrying case (all free) for $50 less than another store was offering just the phone. I am king of bargaining.

Oh, and I didn't know the Telephone Booth allowed for bargaining and haggling. Do you have to sign your phone contract through them to get these things? I'll have to look into that the next time I buy a mobile.

pimpslap · Jul 23, 2004

dav said:
The Z600 is about the same thing as a T610, except a different form factor.

V600 is a terrible phone compared to SE products.

That's a pretty subjective comment with nothing to back it up. I really like my v600 and prefer it to my SE t616. The camera is nicer, the display is nicer, the reception is better and mp3 support is available on the v600. The only drawbacks to the v600 vs. a SE (the t616 specifically) is that Motorola's have a unique phonebook setup (that I haven't really gotten used to yet) and the fact that iSync isn't yet compatible with the v600's Bluetooth implementation.

dav · Jul 23, 2004

pimpslap said:
That's a pretty subjective comment with nothing to back it up. I really like my v600 and prefer it to my SE t616. The camera is nicer, the display is nicer, the reception is better and mp3 support is available on the v600. The only drawbacks to the v600 vs. a SE (the t616 specifically) is that Motorola's have a unique phonebook setup (that I haven't really gotten used to yet) and the fact that iSync isn't yet compatible with the v600's Bluetooth implementation.

What I should have said is that the V600 has a terrible bluetooth implementation compared to any SE phone's seamless integration. I do agree that the Vxxx phones have better cameras, etc.

Out of curiosity: How much did you pay for the V600? For the price, I believe that the SE phone is better (Better OS, etc.)

PHARAOHk · Jul 23, 2004

I have a sony t616 and it doesn't integrate that well with address book. It does not copy over e-mail to the phone in an easy to use way. To look at e-mails you have to edit a name to find the e-mail address deep in the menu. Maybe that is different on other phones but the calendar kind of sucks too on the sony.

Plus the screen is impossible to see in the sunlight. I used to like it but am going to get something different as soon as possible.

AdamZ · Jul 23, 2004

Get a Sony E. for sure

Any person who has a Mac and a bluetooth cellphone needs to use Sailing Clicker. It allows you to control your Mac from your cell phone, iTunes, Iphoto, DVD, Quicktime, Keynote, ect, even your Eye TV. Check out on its website which phone you can buy is compatible. This is the only piece of Shareware I have ever purchased. http://homepage.mac.com/jonassalling/Shareware/Clicker/ I wish Apple would integrate even more with cell phones. If they arn't going to build there own, perhaps they could pick a particular cell company and make an OS that we could buy for it.

IJ Reilly · Jul 23, 2004

Seems like this thread topic comes up weekly at least.

The T61x models are discontinued. In the US, this phone was recently replaced by T637. Much improved screen.

Romeo is a freeware application with much of the functionality of Saling Clicker.

http://versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/18573

dav · Jul 23, 2004

IJ Reilly said:
Seems like this thread topic comes up weekly at least.

The T61x models are discontinued. In the US, this phone was recently replaced by T637. Much improved screen.

Romeo is a freeware application with much of the functionality of Saling Clicker.

http://versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/18573

T610 + TFT Screen + New Case = T630/637

Go for the K700, some say it is the T637 successor..

TreeHugger · Jul 23, 2004

kgarner said:
I would recommend a Sony Ericsson phone. I have a T610 myself, and it is great. I am sure the one you are looking at will be great too.

Vanilla said:
This probably isn't much help but if you can get hold of a SE T610 you'll be sorted. I have one and it works beautifully with my Pbook.
Vanilla

I third that.

adrianjt · Jan 4, 2005

hi

first post, talented forum

my se k700i, which features an imac in their marketing propaganda, isync via bluetooth easy enough, but to get photos out (or files in i assume) ive got to send them via email or something (havent bothhered yet, its got 41mb of ram i think), there is no other way so apple & se said, hopefully you people from the brains trust know better??

Applespider · Jan 4, 2005

adrianjt said:
hi

first post, talented forum

my se k700i, which features an imac in their marketing propaganda, isync via bluetooth easy enough, but to get photos out (or files in i assume) ive got to send them via email or something (havent bothhered yet, its got 41mb of ram i think), there is no other way so apple & se said, hopefully you people from the brains trust know better??

Course there is - I transfer themes/pics/sounds regularly. Particularly since my k700 takes pictures that are too big to be received by some Nokia phones.

You've got different options depending on whether you do it from the Mac or from the phone.

From the Mac
From the Bluetooth icon in menu bar, click on Browse Device (with Bluetooth on on Mac and Discoverable/On on k700), it will bring up a box with your k700 showing and you can click through the k700's file system and get photos out. (you might have to pair the device first - I can't remember since I've had the phone for 6 months). You can also use the 'Send File' dialogue to send pictures/themes/sounds back to the phone. You may have to accept the file on the phone

From the Phone
Take the picture - choose More -> Send ->Bluetooth and it should pick up your Mac as an option to send it to. Again you may have to accept the file on the Mac

PS Although we encourage newbies to search and use existing threads, for something like this which is quite different from original thread, feel free to start a new one!

jadam · Jan 4, 2005

If you want a good phone, I would say, get a Motorola MPX220, I have the Motorola MPX200 and it works rather well with pocketmac phone edition and isync. The Motorola MPX220 has bluetooth and a 1.23megapixel camera, it happens to be a very nice phone.

kasei · Jan 4, 2005

criana said:
I have the SE T616 and use it as a bluetooth modem with my PB. It works great. Setting up with iSync and copying over my addresses was almost too easy, I couldn't believe it when it just worked

How did you manage to setup your T616 as a bluetooth modem with your PowerBook?

DJY · Jan 4, 2005

The T610 and my 17" PB work very seamlessly!

Although on the weekend I did see one of the new Motorola Razr V3's!
WOW! Very cool looking phone - one that matches and compliments my PB very nicely!!!!!

So as soon as I see that that one works iva iSync I think that will most likely be my next phone!

Any reccomendations for cell phones to use with 17" PB (bluetooth)

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