(always a topic sure to generate discussion...)

My current cel phone, an Ericsson T39m, is almost two years old and is failing in a large number of ways. It's time to be replaced. I originally bought the phone because, at the time, it was the only lightweight phone (~80g) that could synchronize calendar, contacts, and all that with Microsoft Outlook. Even though my phone has Bluetooth, I think I've only ever used it once, and that was to play "tennis" (Pong) with a guy who happened to have the same phone.

I've been looking at all the shiny new cel phones, and I'd thought that the Nokia 6200 (tri-band, but has two U.S. GSM bands and only one European band) was going to be the right answer: nice Nokia GUI, light weight, and who knows, maybe I'd use the whizzy EDGE high-speed data support. My father got one. I played with it. The GUI was great, but the build quality wasn't there. You squeeze, it squeaks. I doubt it could survive a three-foot fall onto concrete.

Then, a few weeks ago, I ran into a friend with a Nokia 5100. While it has the same basic electronics as other Nokia Series-40 phones, it has this crazy rubber case that makes it somewhat water resistant and drop-proof. My friend was demonstrating by happily tossing the thing onto the ground. It's around 100g, which is slightly bigger than my current phone, but not a tank like the various "smart" phones. Another unique feature is its two-LED flashlight. While it doesn't have Bluetooth, it does have Nokia's new "pop-port" which gives you USB for your computer. Right now, it's running around $280 at GSMPhoneSource. I decided to go for it. It's currently back-ordered, but I'll probably have it soon.

This also means that you guys have a day or two to possibly talk me out of this phone. As far as I'm concerned, the things that matter to me are:

- durability (my last phone has suffered several problems resulting from dropping it)

- light weight (fitting in my pocket)

- calendar synchronization (buzz -- you've got a meeting in five minutes)

I could care less about having a camera-phone, I doubt I'll ever surf the net from it, and I don't need my phone to sing the star spangled banner to me when it rings. It is nice, however, to be able to receive calls in Europe (where I may go once a year on business), although I could see myself jumping ship to one of the CDMA services if the phone was right.

Thoughts?

You were setting yourself up with that opening line. I guess I'll try and rescue this thread from oblivion before it sinks any lower.

First off, I'd highjly reccomend converting to the bluetooth lifestyle. I couldn't live without it, so I don't see how anyone else could. I personally don't use the syncing features, but imagine not having to worry about plugging your phone in anything to sync it....

Aside from being perhaps the worst naming choice for a new nokia phone, the 5100 looks nice. I'm not sure if I like the looks of the case, but then the Nokia page shows it with a lime green case. The rubberized case seems like it would be a great idea, but how well does it slide into a pocket? I solved my scratched phone problems years ago by keeping my phone in the pocket with my wallet, and my keys and change in the other pocket.

I'm currently lusting after the Ericsson 610/616. I always carry a camera with me, so the built in camera means nothing to me. The size and design are much more attractive than Nokias, but I'm not sure if they've got the interface up to the responsiveness levels that really make my t68i annoying to use.

What carrier are you on? Some are currently rolling out 850mhz gsm, which should provide much better coverage. If yours is one of these, make sure your phone supports it.

Matthew

First off, I'd highjly reccomend converting to the bluetooth lifestyle

I've heard some comments about bluetooth and WiFi not getting along very well (interference etc, as they are on the same frequency band). Anyone have any observations? I have a very WiFi-intensive household, and my only experience with bluetooth was with the first Ericsson headset models, with absolutely awful sound quality

All I can say is that I've never had a problem using them side by side. I don't regularly use them at the same time, but I do occasionaly. My main bluetooth application is my bluetooth car kit which I've become more and more dependent on.

Matthew

The rubberized case seems like it would be a great idea, but how well does it slide into a pocket?

When I was playing with it in person, it fit into my pocket just fine. Plus, the key feel was surprisingly good.

What carrier are you on? Some are currently rolling out 850mhz gsm

I'm on T-Mobile, whose U.S. network is 1900MHz. AT&T Wireless and Cingular are deploying 850MHz. If I didn't need to replace my dying phone now, I'd wait for one of the new quad-band phones to come out.

The SonyEricsson phones look fantastic in theory, but I've read a lot of grousing about the poor quality of radio reception. I've been told that my T39m is much better than the T68i or later phones. If that's true, the new ones must be just awful. Also, before I owned the T39m, my previous phones were all Nokia, and I miss the fast, responsive Nokia UI.

According to some fairly major testing by 802.11 vendors, Bluetooth can kill 802.11 networks in some situations, mainly due to the fact that it has a much higher response speed so it can grab any empty airtime.

I have played with Bluetooth and 802.11 a bit and don't notice much effect. As yet I have not seen any Bluetooth product that I rate as worth the price, although I like the idea of a Bluetooth hands-free kit for the car, so I can leave the phone in my pocket and it'll just work.

My tuppence worth - the Nokia 6210i is pretty solid, tri-band, GPRS, very fast interface, voice recognition, withstands multiple drops to concrete and being run over, but admittedly it gets upset when dropped into a tank of diesel and not retrieved for 2 days

But then I don't like any non-Nokia phones, they all have issues I can't put up with: the slowww t68i, fiddly brakable Siemens, odd Motorola interface etc etc etc

I recently installed a wireless network in a place that has a BT keyboard and mouse, and the person on the wireless end didn't have any trouble, but that wasn't the end with the BT. Would the BT generally affect the receiving end, sending end, or both?

Now that's a good question - from the docs I have it appears that laptops etc using 802.11 which are near the BT devices are more likely to have a problem - for example:

User A ------ 802.11Access Point --------- User B ------ Bluetooth

User A is less likely to be affected than User B. I have no data on what distances make this effect a problem, and as said before, I haven't really noticed any issues I could put down to Bluetooth interference in real life.