cellrater

Can you believe it? – I have been so busy with work I haven’t even bothered to buy a new phone in almost 6 months! My current handset is a Sony Ericsson S500i which is amazing by the way (except for some cracking keys but that’s a different story). The problem is, I am ITCHING for a new handset. At the moment I am eyeballing two nokia phones: the Nokia N95 (8gb) and the Nokia E90.

The N95 is hands down, AMAZING, and has everything I would ever want in a phone except for the full size keyboard. Honestly that is the only real fault I can give it, the only other thing would be its size but its not much bigger than my old N80 so I think I can live with that.

A full size keyboard has been beckoning me though, and although some of the new blackberry phones are looking good I just don’t think I could handle the tiny qwerty setup. That being said, as far as qwerty phones go the E90 is the grand-daddy of them all with a grand-daddy of a price to boot… around $900.00! It also has a huge beautiful screen which would be great for watching movies away from home.

Decisions, decisions… I almost talked myself into purchasing one of the new sidekick LX models today but decided against spending 300 dollars on a phone that is subpar for my standards. I know I would just be bored with it in 2 weeks anyway, no point in extending my contract on a locked phone.

Someone please help me, what would you choose? The powerful and beautiful n95 or the ultimate but HUGE E90?

Popularity: 51% [?]

So apparently AT&T is going to be selling a new variant of the LG Shine (the successor to the ever so popular chocolate series). I had the opportunity to own the original shine model and the first thing that stands out to me is that the new Shine (AT&T) no longer has the scroll wheel on the front below the screen. Instead AT&T has gone with a boring 5 way nav button like every other phone.

Now don’t get me wrong, the shine wasn’t the worst handset I ever owned, if nothing else it is definitely a gorgeous phone and all the pictures you have seen don’t do it justice. The brushed metal and reflective glass screen are as beautiful as they are easy to get dirty. The thing is though that the shine didn’t really have a lot going for it, and maybe I am just biased having owned so many smart phones, but it just kind of struck me as a middle of the road kind of phone. The only real reason to buy this phone for the price they are selling it for is if you just want something pretty and the scroll wheel (although kind of a gimmick) was a big part of the style and allure of the phone. Once you add on the locked down AT&T operating system and you take a mediocre phone to kind of lame.

I don’t know, maybe I am being to harsh on the LG shine. Sure it comes with a 2 mega pixel camera, HSDPA and video share support but are any of those features really so great considering the phones price tag?

My dislike for the shine may also be due to the fact that I only owned the phone for 3 weeks before dropping it for the first time off my desk one evening. The first and only drop ever received by this phone which caused the mirrored glass screen to crack on each end. I have owned a lot of phones in the past year, and have dropped the occasional handset but I have never had one crack a screen… I think the worst part about it is that the shines looks were all I really cared about, and the mirrored screen was the biggest part of the novelty so having a glass screen killed the last ounce of respect I had for the shine. Lets hope that AT&T took the time to beef up the screen issue before they hit the streets.

Have any of you purchased a shine? Let me know what you think about it.

Popularity: 51% [?]

So I guess my last post was on July 9th; almost 5 months ago. Its really strange that almost half a year has passed so quickly… Every week I tell myself that I will be working on cellrater again, and every week I come home exhausted and drained. I had the day off today and felt like writing so I sat down and logged into the admin for the first time in a long time and saw that there were 180+ pages of comments waiting to be looked at. I have spent the last hour of my life deleting spam over 3,000 comments of spam, it is insane.

Anyway, I think I have removed all signs of spam and things are looking up. It is almost a new year, so its time for me to buckle down and give this another go.

For some reason, cellphones have become my obsession. This blog is dedicated to that obsession; but its not just any phones that you will find here. I personally am not interested in the hundreds of low end models, and to be quite honest, most American handsets bore me. There are enough places to get information on the phones stocked by the top American carriers, if thats what you are looking for then this probably isn’t the best resource for you. My passion lies in the lesser known GSM phones that you typically wouldn’t find at your local T-Mobile or AT&T so that is what you will find here more than anything. Now, I have been known to toss in an article on a RAZR or the iPhone every now and then if it merits attention but my goal is just to highlight phones that interest me and hope that you (the reader) will enjoy looking and discussing the technology and these handsets from around the world.

So here is to a new year on Cell Rater (wish me luck)

Popularity: 41% [?]

Well Motorola Continues to evolve its successful RAZR line with the V9, also known as the MOTORAZR2. The phone has been recently launched in Korea for $500+ but to be honest I am not really too excited. I will say that the new phone is a much nicer upgrade but I was bored with the RAZR line 2 years ago and not even a 2 inch external touch screen will make me excited for this so-so phone. Overall the phone is upgraded through and through from its 2.2 inch internal display that has twice the resolution as the original RAZR, 2 mega pixel camera, microSD slot and of course bluetooth. All in all, its still a nice looking phone in a thin shell and if you are looking for a simple upgrade to your worn and tired RAZR then this is definitely a step up but my first opinion is to just keep stepping. More photos after the jump…


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Popularity: 100% [?]

It was my brother actually who pointed me to the first photos and information for the new Nokia 6500 phones. His favorite? The 6500 Slide. My first impression was that it was kind of simple and boring, like a watered down N80 but as I have been watching videos and looking at photos of the new handset I have to say that the design has really grown on me. The clean, simple lines make the phone look incredibly modern and sleek. So far I have been seeing it online for $400-$600 bucks which I think is a bit high. If I could find one around 350 I think that I would definitely consider picking one of these up. Boasting a 3.2mp camera, microSD slot, 20mb of internal memory, EDGE, 3G and bluetooth 2.0 you really cant go wrong with a phone like this. More photos after the jump…

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Popularity: 64% [?]

What is it about the Haier Elegance that makes me want to buy one so much? Is it the MP3 capabilities, or the built in FM radio? Maybe its the HiFi headphones or bluetooth stereo transmitter? It might be its glossy, mirrored finish or maybe its the fact that its so tiny it fits inside the palm of your hand. Seriously, this phone is tiny and I am loving it. When I first started looking at its pilled shape and tiny dimensions I have to admit the first thing I thought about were those stories of prisoners bringing phones into prisons up their… keister… but lets be honest, if you had to sneak any phone up the poo chute it might as well come in black, have a glass screen for easy cleaning and it should be tiny as hell. Check, check, and check.

Honestly though for under 200 bucks this GSM phone has been on my to-buy list for about 2 months now and everyday I find it harder and harder not to buy it. I think this is a great back up phone or lipstick phone for ladies on the run. Although its about the size of a lipstick container it doesn’t come across as TOO feminine, I wouldn’t have any problem sporting this handset as an extra phone in case I was hitting up the bars for the night.

Popularity: 62% [?]

Ok seriously, I know that there were lots of phones with touch screens before the iPhone, but I think that’s what has really started the trend with some of these manufactures to add more touch screen features to their cellphones. Now Pantech has decided to create a slider but leave off the bottom/under buttons and replace them with a Second touchscreen. I guess it’s a whole lot like a Nintendo DS in that aspect. You can check out some interesting features over at akihabaranews

Popularity: 63% [?]

I just mentioned the other day that I don’t really care to watch TV on my cell phone but apparently manufacturers are thinking differently. Check out this Bravia TV Phone, with its sexy red accents and huge 240×432 LCD screen (16:9). Supposedly there is GPS, a 2mp camera, video recorder, Micro SD slot… Seriously what more could you ask for. Hopefully this thing will hit shores eventually, I would gladly throw down 700 bucks for something like this.

Popularity: 76% [?]

Never one to sit on the backburner of emerging technologies, Samsung Korea announces its SPH-G5800 supporting T-DMB services and TPEG functions. TPEG stands for Transport Protocol Experts Group which basically means it provides information on traffic jams. Also included in the little slider is a 2mp camera, mp3 player, e-dictionary, photo/video editor, T-DMB module, document viewer and a 1.98” display.

Popularity: 64% [?]

I usually stick to the big brands when purchasing cell phones (Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, even LG) but every once in a while a phone manufacturer will produce something that I have to admire even if I am not familiar with their products. This is the case with the Haier Elegance. This Tri-Band GSM phone features an integrated MP3 player, FM tuner, and a voice recorder in a tiny capsule shaped shell. I have seen photos of how small this thing is and I have to say I am jealous, I was on the Haier website earlier but couldn’t find a way to buy it (probably a good thing – my bank account could use a break!). With a supposed $299 price tag, this unlocked phone comes in a 900/1800/1900 Mhz and 850/1900 Mhz setups and despite missing a camera its small size and shininess make it something to keep an eye on.

Popularity: 68% [?]