CDMA phone choice

We have a QUALCOMM by KYOCERA model number QCP 3035 but I believe that model has now be superceeded. We bought it on recommendation from a friend who sells phones, and discussion with a phone repairer and installer of car kits. He said that of all the phones on the market, he recommended the Qualcomm because they don't have problems. He had never had one in for repairs but has lots of the other brands in for repair. We have had ours since March 2002 and have had no problems with it, find it easy to use and get good coverage, especially with external car aerial. The only down side was the cost. They were more expensive to buy when we bought it and the car installation kit was also dearer than most brands, About $600. Brian.

Dave We have same as Brian - never a problem, good coverage & cable available for laptop connection which is a bit slow but handy to have. As with Brian - better coverage with car kit. Andy

Many thanks. David

Hate to do this, but CDMA? Well here's a thought:- find cheap Nokia that you like (with or without car kit - decide what & when you really need it?), then get yourself a new Ericsson R290 Satellite phone with no car kit ($1987 locally, $999 from UK on internet, or $500-900 on eBay auction from same UK company with 12 month warranty - he usually puts up one per week). Get yourself on a $15 Globalstar/Vodaphone plan & swap out the SIM from the cheapy Nokia into the Ericsson when travelling (so you only have the one mobile number & account). Turn Sat phone off when travelling, except once a day when you can strip off your messages & return calls as & when you decide (Sat phone on the $15 plan will cost about $3 per minute incoming & outgoing - hence keep control of who you talk to by using it to return messages only). Sat phone reverts to CDMA rates ($1 per minute) when in a Vodaphone mobile coverage area, so you may decide to remain incomunicado until you reach a CDMA coverage area, but you still have the ability to have secure emergency phone coverage available anywhere anytime (still with PLB EPIRB back-up, of course - can't be too paranoid). Just a thought (certainly cheaper alternative than full HF rig - pro's & con's with both, but even my 6 year old can dial 000 on the Sat & read the GSM co-ordinates off the Sat Nav - I doubt he could deal with radio as well). 10-4 Good Buddies Griff

Griff, That and a good antenna on roof of BT ......... MMMMmmmmm !!! Stop with the logic will ya !!!! [6dbgaingrin] Anthony

Hello all, We have used CDMA since early 1999, had three Qualcoms. The last one, a 3035 died after 14 months, now have a Nokia. We had a car kit for the first phone but now use a $10 12 volt plug into the cigarette lighter charger. Works just as well as the multi hundred dollar in car kits. We usually use an external ariel and have found coverage excellent. Coverage is continuing to be expanded. I intend to get a HF fitted for the next part of our holiday. Sat phones certainly have advantages but a HF lets you access a network that can be used for daily road/weather reports to organizing the drop off of spare parts. Direct access to the flying doctor is standard. All for less than $100 pa. Hope you get plenty of bush camping with your BT. John

I am replying to Griffyn's tips regarding Ericsson R290 Satellite phone. As our nick indicates we are a deaf couple getting ready our trip around Oz starting this Xmas. As a result, we are looking for a satellite phone that can retrieve AND send SMS as we cannot hear on the phone. We have GSM and CDMA phones capable of SMS, however we went into Telstra Shop to enquire about getting a satellite phone that can do SMS. They informed me that their satellite phones can retrieve SMS but unable to send SMS which is no good to us if we are trying to get the Flying Doctors. Anyone have any information about a satellite phone with SMS (Send and Retrieve) capabilities? Ta, DN.

Hi Griff, Have sourced an Ericsson sat phone as per your suggestion and already have a Nokia but don't follow the reasoning behind swapping the SIM from the Nokia to the Ericsson as I thought the telephone number was on the SIM. Could you clarify how you end up with one mobile number and one account.

No sweat. I'm only a one finger stupe when it comes to mobiles anyway. By taking the sim out of your Nokia, (which contains all your personal settings, phone book etc) and dropping it into the R290, as far as the Service Provider can see, its the same phone. So, no change in phone number & your billing carries on as though nothing had happened. If, on the other hand, you get a new SIM for exclusive use in the R290, you have to have a new (unique) phone number for that phone/SIM and, therefore everything needs to be duplicated. You can I guess add this as a second phone to your existing account, so at least you only get one piece of paper, but, depending on the carrier, you would probably still need to take out a seperate contract or upgrade your existing deal for this new phone (SIM). I've tried the swapping SIM thing & it seems to work fine. In a lot of ways, the phone is irrelevant - its the SIM that you have the Service contract for, regardless of where it's living at the moment. The ability to not have to give out yet another phone number was the most attractive aspect of this little technique. My business card already runs to 23 lines! Anyway, thats how it all works. I think. Griff

PS You'll have to contact Vodaphone/Globalstar to have the Satelite service "turned on", then - no worries. Happy Chatting/SMS'ing Griff

Dave, I have just been through all this 2 weeks ago when Dad was in Cania. He decided at the worst possible time, it was time to upgrade to CDMA as his VODA and TELSTRA service was 80% useless where he was 90% of the time! After much running around i found most salesmen dont have any idea about these phones and all try to sell you a digital model. I ended up purchasing the 'SAMSUNG RAINBOW', flip phone, new to the market. It has all the modern features that most other CDMA phones lack. Such as colour screen, GPRS, polyphonic ringers ect. It is based on the T-100 digital. The nokia is old, big and very slow. The KYSERA 2235 looked good but i could not find a full car kit to suit it. It also had a small aerial that Dad always seems to break off when working. I think CDMA is the way to go, it is cheap, reliable and the phones are just as good as anything else available. Our plan its around 22c per 30sec, which is alot cheaper than SAT phones. Just remember to buy before you go, It was hell trying to buy a phone in sydney and getting to where he was!!! GOODLUCK, ADAM

I also have TWO full genuine car kits to suit the Nokia CDMA phone for sale if anyone is interested e-mail me.....

Lookout, the newby has found a new area to ask questions! Techno Griff, if you do not have a CDMA phone, what do you do about email? Can you do POP3 email with your Ericsson R290 Satellite phone? Leaning to following in Brian and Andy's footsteps re QUALCOMM by KYOCERA. Best place to purchase? Raises a couple of more questions: Which provider gives the most coverage for a reasonable price? Satellite providers, CDMA providers, AND ISPs. Which ISP are Boggers using to send and receive using Outlook Express? It seems to me that if one is going to be safe and needs to be in communication with the world, you need both phones. The Telstra Iridium is still on sale for $995.00. Had a data kit but very slooooooooow. Perhaps this answers the question to Griff re internet; the Ericsson too has a slooooooooooooooow data kit. I know that CDMA is a lot faster - right? I am going to have to do the internet two-step almost everyday. tgintl/jay PS: You are soon going to hear from tgintl/Jackie asking about travel questions as she is our navigator having been around Oz three times in a hilux.