| Author |
3G better than p800? |
Coolio787
Joined: Jul 01, 2002
Posts: 62
PM |
will 3g phones be better than p800? what are advantages and disadvantages? should i order a p800 now, or wait for 3g phones to come out? when are they expected to be released? any article i coudl read about 3g?
thanks
conrad |
|
|
simon69c
Joined: Feb 24, 2003
Posts: 177
From: Southampton, UK
PM |
Depends what you want your phone to do! 3G adds a whole load of new service possibilities like video calling, better location based services, high speed data connections and a whole load of other enhanced services.
The P800's main limitation is that it connects via GSM/GPRS which limits its connection speeds. 3G phones are on a much faster system (UMTS in the UK). Of course 3G is very much in its infancy in general and so the hardware has yet to reach the same maturity as GSM and so the first 3G handsets are fairly bulky compared to their GSM counterparts. Even the smallest 3G handsets are as big or bigger than the P800! Battery life on 3G handsets is also pretty shockingly bad since the 3G hardware guzzles power.
To see what sort of things 3G offers you could check out www.three.co.uk (the UK's newly launched 3G service) and look at the sort of services they offer. They have only launched with three handsets which are all (IMHO) pretty bulky and crud! I will be waiting until more handsets become available and the services begin to mature. I suspect by the end of this year the Z1010 will have been released and moving to 3G will be a more viable possibility (for me at least). |
jplacson
Joined: Apr 21, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Philippines
PM, WWW
|
And remember, just cuz it's 3G doesn't mean the connection is ALWAYS going to be fast. I'm on cable, and there are times my GPRS connection is faster! And the faster the wireless connection, the faster your provider can charge you per KB.
What pisses me off is that right now, GPRS networks are only operating at HALF speed!!!!!!! They are intentionally holding GPRS back so that the speed increase from GPRS to 3G will be more noticable... telcos are afraid that if GPRS is run at full speed (115kbps) ... most people won't see the need to "upgrade" to 3G.
The P800 can handle speeds of 85.6kbps download and 21.4kbps upload. It may not be 2mbps, but it's more than enough for most people... right now, packetvideo can stream in smooth video with a 30kbps GPRS connection. 21.4 kbps upload is more than enough for video conferencing.
And compare the units for 3G right now... even the  Z1010 doesn't have half the features of the P800...it's just faster.
Think of it this way...
2.5G phones are like BMWs, Mercs, Jaguars... fast, lots of features, affordable, good looks.
3G phones are like F1 cars. Really, really fast... really, really expensive... bare bones... and don't really look that good... and you can't use them everywhere. |
mrj82
Joined: Sep 26, 2002
Posts: 256
From: Mississippi, USA
PM |
jplacson: Thats one of the best comparisons I've read in a long time  . |
simon69c
Joined: Feb 24, 2003
Posts: 177
From: Southampton, UK
PM |
Totally agree - superb analogy. |
Lopio
Joined: Feb 07, 2003
Posts: 266
From: Cebu City, Philippines
PM |
very informative!
This message was posted from a P800 |
jplacson
Joined: Apr 21, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Philippines
PM, WWW
|
 hahaha... thanks guys! I really feel that way about 3G. It's great if they could upgrade it seamlessly from GPRS... thing is, they can't. They expect us all to buy expensive, bare-bones handsets...what for?!!?! So we can see our boss??? So our client can find out why we're really late?!?!?! I don't think so! 
3G is over-hyped...even more than WAP was. Telcos brand 3G as the holy-grail or something... it's nothing more than faster data-rates...PERIOD If you want a realistic analogy... it's SLOW WLAN. Nothing more.
Right now, I'm very happy with my P800...and I will NOT get the Z1010 when it comes out. I'd rather have the T610. I want a phone that allows me to use ALL its features. Not a phone that I can only use in the heart of London or Germany... at certain times of the day...to call the other 5 people in the world who have a 3G phone as well... until 3G networks are FULLY operational, a 3G handset, will perform like an old GSM phone.... and remember... VIDEO CALLS ONLY WORK IF THE OTHER PARTY HAS A 3G HANDSET & IS ON A 3G NETWORK AS WELL So don't get suckered by these Telcos! 2.5G is more than enough for 99.9% of the mobile population... for the rest of you... EDGE works just fine (EDGE piggy-backs onto existing GPRS networks and offers 380++kbps speeds)
Video calls shouldn't eat up bandwidth... we need better end-to-end compression... this way, video calls won't cost much more. What Telcos want is broadband, so that we wont think about compressing our video calls... this way we transfer more data... and we pay more for the same call... just cuz THEY want us to. |
mrj82
Joined: Sep 26, 2002
Posts: 256
From: Mississippi, USA
PM |
I'm sure for that video call to work not only would it have to be with two 3G phones but probably on the same network too. And I'm very happy with my P800 all the phone I could ever want . |
KasaR
Joined: Apr 20, 2002
Posts: 52
PM |
look at the battery life on the NEC e606 phone that "3" in the UK are offering:
Battery life (approx*):
Standby: 41 hrs
Talk time: 121 mins
Video call: 63 mins
and you gotta remember that manufacturers times are generally wildly overstated. this means you gotta recharge your phone every night. i have left my t68i for upto 5 days without recharge!
|
geo2k
Joined: Dec 26, 2002
Posts: 307
From: UK
PM |
I have to charge my T300 every night! Whats the battery like on the p800? Im thinking about getting one next week (hopefully)
This message was posted from a T300 |
jplacson
Joined: Apr 21, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Philippines
PM, WWW
|
3G charging every night??!?! with ratings like that... try 2x a day! well.. Nokia users should be used to that!
I get 24 hours on my P800 with extremely heavy use (TipicME on the whole day, surfing for news/traffic, few calls, 30SMS, Bluetooth ON)
2 days with normal use, Bluetooth ON
3 days normal use, Bluetooth AUTO |
andrew99
Joined: Nov 29, 2001
Posts: 254
From: london
PM |
@jplacson
How long does your P800 battery last for video calls  ? |
jplacson
Joined: Apr 21, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Philippines
PM, WWW
|
HAHAHAHAHA!!! Funny!
Like I said... video calls are way over-rated. I once thought that when everyone I knew had a webcam & braodband... we'd always have video calls. Right now, my webcam is off... and I usually just do normal text chat with my friends.
It would be nice to have... but not really that essential... not essential enough for me to give up all the other functions of my P800, and pay 3x the cost of a regular voice call. |
Coolio787
Joined: Jul 01, 2002
Posts: 62
PM |
thanks everyone for replying to my post! im DEFINETLY going for a p800....... but 650 bux is a lot for a 15 year old.... i have a t68i and ive been looking for someone on the board who is willing to buy a t68i from me and supply me with a p800 at a discounted price. I REALLY WANT THIS PHONE! if anyone knows anyone who wants a t68i and has a p800..... just PM me
thanks again!
conrad |
andrew99
Joined: Nov 29, 2001
Posts: 254
From: london
PM |
@jplacson
Re: video calls, I agree not essential all of the time. But definitely invaluable some of the time.
Another nice thing about 3, is that they have a service to make video calls from the handset to a pc plus webcam. Which gives it a wider reach than it might otherwise have had for a while. Could be quite a good corporate draw as well.
It's all a matter of what you want, and what you are willing to give up to get it. Money, size, battery,...
|
|
|
Posted: 2003-03-28 02:59
