Sony T68i

[MacUser1]

My mom is in the market for a new cell phone, specifically a phone that can be easily connected to her computer and that will work in other countries. She uses a 500 MHz iBook with Jaguar and iCal, Address Book and iSync and Bluetooth, so the connectivity isn't a problem. However, I personally don't know anyone who owns the phone. I'm sure several people have the phone here on the forums, if they do, could you please share you experiences with the phone? She'll be purchasing a new phone on the October 12th. Thanks.

 

[RBMaraman]

If she needs a phone that will work in other countries, she will not need a cellular phone. What countries will she be in? If she plans on using it outside of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, she will need a SATELLITE phone. Cellular phones, such as the sony ericsson T68i, only work on certain frequencies within the US (maybe Canada and Mexico if it is included in the plan). Satellite phones are the ONLY types of phones that work all over the world. The phones are very expensive and the monthly plan prices I've seen range from $300 per month to $1500 per month.

 

[TheT]

Originally posted by RBMaraman
If she needs a phone that will work in other countries, she will not need a cellular phone. What countries will she be in? If she plans on using it outside of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, she will need a SATELLITE phone. Cellular phones, such as the sony ericsson T68i, only work on certain frequencies within the US (maybe Canada and Mexico if it is included in the plan). Satellite phones are the ONLY types of phones that work all over the world. The phones are very expensive and the monthly plan prices I've seen range from $300 per month to $1500 per month.

ehm...:cough:... NO!
If she doesn't want to make trips to some really strange countries, she'll be just fine. The T68i is a triband phone, so it will work in the US, Canada, Europe, China... wherever they have cell phones right now

 

[sparkleytone]

anyone that i have known or read about with the phone has said its the best phone they have ever owned hands down. get it off of amazon.com and you can get it for $50 after rebates.

 

[ftaok]

Originally posted by TheT
ehm...:cough:... NO!
If she doesn't want to make trips to some really strange countries, she'll be just fine. The T68i is a triband phone, so it will work in the US, Canada, Europe, China... wherever they have cell phones right now

Just to elaborate, if she's gonna be based in the US and does some travelling to Europe and Asia, she'll need to use a GSM phone. In the US, T-Mobile (formerly Voicestream) uses that system. AT&T uses it in certain markets and so does Cingular. Make sure the phone is a tri-band and has a changeable SIM card. The cell phone people will be able to help.

I'm sure that the Sony/Ericsson T68 has a model that is GSM.

 

[vixapphire]

the T68i experience

Yes, the t68i is a GSM phone, and it has a changeable SIM card.

I just bought one to replace an older Ericsson flip-phone.

Hands down, the sound quality of this phone is superior to anything I've heard. You can hear everything, and it's as if the person were in the car/room with you. Great.

I don't know whether it's AT&T or Ericsson or what, but I have always suffered from dropped calls out the azz (last phone was dual-band); unfortunately, this phone appears to be no better at keeping a connection - it may actually be somewhat worse in some parts of town (I live in LA).

The color display and joystick are nifty for the gadgeteers out there, but pretty damn useless on a phone, unless you're willing to pay up to 3 cents per kilobyte (from AT&T) to transfer (send/receive) data. That is nonsensical.

I miss my old phone's simpler operation - the T68i requires several more steps through layers of menus to complete some of the tasks that seemed closer to the surface on my older phone. Of course, this may be inexperience talking, and once I get up to speed on this thing (not much of a telephone talker am I) I may swear that it's the quickest, easiest thing to do since learning to pee standing up.

There's my two bits in response to your request for user comments! regards,

vixapphire

 

[RBMaraman]

Originally posted by TheT
ehm...:cough:... NO!
If she doesn't want to make trips to some really strange countries, she'll be just fine. The T68i is a triband phone, so it will work in the US, Canada, Europe, China... wherever they have cell phones right now

ehm...:cough:...sorry!!!

I didn't realize that the phone was triband. Sorry for providing incorrect information. Now that I know that, I may have to get that phone. Thanks for the information, and once again, sorry for providing incorrect information.

 

[MarkW19]

T68i

I'm using the T68i with 10.2/bluetooth/iSync/iCal and it works like a dream. The SMS feature is so cool ;p

It's actually a T68 upgraded to the T68i software, and the difference is amazing - colour is used a lot more, and the speed of the phone is a lot better. Lot of nifty features, good quality, great battery life (esp considering the colour screen!). As many others have said, certainly the best phone I've had - the Nokia 7650 (picture/MMS phone) is cool, but a bit too expensive and too big - more like a PDA. The T68i is so small, but packed with so many features - arguably the best mobile phone in the world at the minute!

 

[MacUser1]

Wow!

Thanks for all of your help. She will mainly be using it in European countries. I think that will go ahead and purchase it soon. Thanks again.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Some sites for support on Ericsson phones

Esato.com is the number 1 worldwide site that I've found as a user for help, support, trying out new wap sites and many other things.

http://www.esato.com from your home cpu and for wap, free ringers tones downloadable directly to phone, themes & screensavers for many ericsson phones=free! even for the T68m/i get the "i" version for ultimate customization.

I personally have the Ericsson T39m but want a T68i.

other sites
http://www.tsixtyeight.com

 

[cb911]

is it easy to upgrade the T68 to the T68i software? how would one do this?

 

[MarkW19]

Originally posted by cb911
is it easy to upgrade the T68 to the T68i software? how would one do this?

I don't know about Australia, but if it's the same as the UK, you just take it to any Authorised Ericsson Service Centre and they'll do it for you free of charge, takes about an hour to do. Makes your phone a lot faster (SMS is now useable!) gives you a lot more features (MMS messaging, picture phonebook and lots more).

Give Ericsson a call in your country to find out the number of ur local centre

 

[uhlawboi80]

well i just have to point out that this system, at least for now simply does not look good. I wanted to switch to AT&T and had considered the nokia phone. after the Apple and Sony/Ericson announcement i thought about getting the T68i...THEN i looked at the coverage map. it may be a "triple band" phone but the GSM/GPRS map shows no coverage for lots of places i go..ESP NYC. now, AT&T doesnt say what the other "band" is but it does make a distinction btwn the sony and nokia phones and the Siemens phone that works on GSM and standard existing networks (TDMA). it also specifically says that you can use the siemens off the GSM network and doesnt say this about the T68i.

point? if you plan on traveling much in the country check the coverage map...the GSM coverage is just really crappy right now!

 

[cb911]

Originally posted by MarkW19


I don't know about Australia, but if it's the same as the UK, you just take it to any Authorised Ericsson Service Centre and they'll do it for you free of charge, takes about an hour to do. Makes your phone a lot faster (SMS is now useable!) gives you a lot more features (MMS messaging, picture phonebook and lots more).

Give Ericsson a call in your country to find out the number of ur local centre

so it should be free? cool! i sure hope it's the same here in Australia.