Mobile Phones and Sharetrader Access

[peat]

The link below is overly technical but 2G is the GSM specification intended for providing mobile communication for voice,
and 3G is the specification for mobile communication with enhanced capabilities for mobile users other than voice. eg video calling, internet browsing etc

http://www.differencebetween.com/dif...3g-technology/

a 3G phone may well be constantly updating its location using GPS or checking for new email etc.. which all drains the battery.

theres no free lunch Snoopy

[Snoopy]

The link below is overly technical but 2G is the GSM specification intended for providing mobile communication for voice,
and 3G is the specification for mobile communication with enhanced capabilities for mobile users other than voice. eg video calling, internet browsing etc

http://www.differencebetween.com/dif...3g-technology/

a 3G phone may well be constantly updating its location using GPS or checking for new email etc.. which all drains the battery.

theres no free lunch Snoopy

Very informative link, plus I'll have to go back and further investigate that 'www.differencebetween.com' for other things. It looks useful. Thanks peat.

For those who don't need super internet functionality, 2G does look to be the way to go. More than doubling the battery life seems a more than worth it bonus, especially as handsets seem to be less too. 2G is a free lunch for this hound dog.

SNOOPY

[Heke]

Sorry to stick my oar in again Snoopy. Viewing Sharetrader is an internet activity. 3G is more suitable.
Once you start playing on the internet, the additional features are a must.

[CJ]

Sorry to stick my oar in again Snoopy. Viewing Sharetrader is an internet activity. 3G is more suitable.
Once you start playing on the internet, the additional features are a must.

Agree.

2G is fine if you only want voice. You really need 3G if you want any sort of internet connection. The downside being it does suck the power as it requires a stronger signal.

On the iPhone, I think you can turn 3G off so if you want to conserve battery and you know you wont be using the data connection (or just receiving emails which can happen slowly in the background) it could be an option. That might raise my battery life from about 14 hours to over 2 days.

I remember back in the day when the mobile race was to get a phone as small as possible with a standby of over 2 weeks (incl the occasional call). Now they seem to want them as big as possible (5.2inch screen anyone??) with battery lifes that doe even last 12 hours.

[Snoopy]

Appreciate the feedback very much Corporate. The thing is I am not sure I do want a phone for browsing the web, or more to the point I am not sure I want to pay for one to do that! I raised my question in the context of having to get a new phone before the Telecom CDMA is turned off. And I got to thinking that if I do need a new phone should I raise my sights a little higher?

I can see myself checking e-mails on the run, maybe flicking off the odd reply. Perhaps I would fire up the phone and look at sharetrader in airport waiting lounges. But as for watching videos on You Tube, well I don't need that functionality on a mobile. I am not sure I really need a top of the line phone given what I want to do with it.

Nearly three months since I started this thread so I thought I would let you guys know what happened.

After lots or procrastination going into shops in NZ and Oz and pushing buttons and talking to assistants, I have settled on a Nokia C3-00. I ended up buying a parallel import. I would have gladly paid $50 more if I could have found this phone for sale in Christchurch. But after looking all over the city I couldn't find any for sale. I ended up 'saving' $50 and buying over the net from an outfit in Auckland. Heaven help me if I have a warranty claim I guess! I am still getting to know the phone, and haven't yet put a Simcard in it. But it looks like it will serve my needs well.

Opened up the latest issue of Consumer Magazine and saw the C3 finished bottom in the latest smartphone test! Probably if you consider 'smarter' to be better that is the correct rating. But I think Consumer was missing the point. A $150 phone is not going to compare well with phones costing up around $1000!

My mission for this phone was for it to primarily be 'just a phone', but have a bit of WiFi adaptability should I need it. I don't know for sure how long the battery life will be between recharges. But early indications are it will last me for a week. One week would be a fantasy dream to one of those blocky iPhones! Of course battery life should be helped by the fact that the Nokia C3 is only 2G.

I have hooked into sharetrader via WiFi at the local public library and it worked. Actually the phone spluttered a bit on the first attempt. But once I put a memory card in it (the GSMarena site said the Nokia C3-00 came with a 2GB microSD card as standard by mine didn't), everything worked smoothly. It is probably not the fastest loading device but it gets there. Looks like a decent calculator is part of the Apps package too, which is something I wasn't expecting. I will report back further when I finally connect up to a network!

SNOOPY

[Lizard]

I see we just got mobile phone version! Much easier to read.

[Snoopy]

My mission for this phone was for it to primarily be 'just a phone', but have a bit of WiFi adaptability should I need it. I don't know for sure how long the battery life will be between recharges. But early indications are it will last me for a week. One week would be a fantasy dream to one of those blocky iPhones! Of course battery life should be helped by the fact that the Nokia C3-00 is only 2G.

I have hooked into sharetrader via WiFi at the local public library and it worked. Actually the phone spluttered a bit on the first attempt. But once I put a memory card in it (the GSMarena site said the Nokia C3-00 came with a 2GB microSD card as standard by mine didn't), everything worked smoothly. It is probably not the fastest loading device but it gets there. Looks like a decent calculator is part of the Apps package too, which is something I wasn't expecting. I will report back further when I finally connect up to a network!

I took my new Nokia C3-00 phone overseas as an engagement present. The phone is now fully 'engaged' with the two degrees network! Of course two degrees does not have their own cellphone towers overseas. Nevertheless when I touched down in Hong Kong airport a text arrived informing me how much my phone calls and texts sent from Hong Kong would cost me. And ditto when I arrived in London. I was impressed. The phone recognized both the Orange Network and T-mobile (both 2G) at different locations within the UK.

I plugged into the free WiFi at Hong Kong airport, and did that modest little phone fly. Internet pages from anywhere seemingly up in a flash! I think this proves the point that a phone rich in memory is only as good as the network it is operating on! The free WiFi at Heathrow was nowhere near as impressive in speed. Plug the Nokia C3-00 into a fast network and you have little need for a high powered (memory rich) phone.

WiFi does drain the battery a lot faster of course. But I recharged after four days after significant WiFi use (some 4 hours total). For the last bit of my trip when I didn't seek out WiFi, the phone went for a week without needing charging. I was very satisfied with that.

So far my little phone is living up to my expectations, which admittedly were not high. Nevertheless given the price I paid I am very happy.

SNOOPY