Cell phone confusion !

July 12, 2005 6:52 AM

What's the best cell phone I can buy right now in the United States that will sync with a Mac? I have some specific wants and am totally perplexed by the world of cell phones.

My cell phone contract with Verizon has just run out, and so I'm psyched to get a new phone. I've spent hours surfing around on the web and I just can't seem to make sense of all the phones out there. Ideally, I'd like my phone to:

- Sync with my Mac address book and iCalendar.
- Use Bluetooth not only for syncing, but for checking email.
- Be as small as possible.
- Have a good, usable interface.

I'm not that into cameras, IM, and other features like that. The best cell phone experience I've ever had was with a Sony Ericcsson T68i: really small, bluetooth sync (for contacts, anyway), and I could use it to check email wirelessly. Right now it seems like there are a zillion options, like Nokia Series 60, Samsung i700, Motorola V3, and so on, but I'm not sure which of these phones are available on which carriers, etc., and I'm not sure what's good with the Mac. It seems like there's this whole other thing too of ordering unlocked phones. At bottom, I guess I'd like to make calls and have access to my contacts and schedule on a relatively small phone.

Any advice or personal experiences with a great phone you're using with a Mac?

posted by josh to technology (16 comments total)

I'm also interested in this, and I'd like to add one more qualifier: - A web client that's good enough for me to read a few articles (Slate and Salon come to mind) on the train. My BB does this (and lets you save pages as email messages, which is a bonus), but lacks Bluetooth, as does the Sidekick, and neither plays well with my Mac.
posted by mkultra at 7:02 AM on July 12, 2005

The timing of this question makes it a bit tough to answer definitively, because just yesterday Apple released an update to iSync, the cell-phone synchronization interface for Mac OS X. Apple claims that this update supports a slew of new phones (the entire list of supported phones is here), but you're wise enough to know that in practice, not every phone will sync as well as the next.

As users take iSync 2.1 through its paces, I'd keep an eye on reader reports at such sites as MacInTouch and MacFixIt.

MacInTouch has an iSync reader report with a bunch of personal experiences on how well iSync plays with certain phones. The older messages might be especially useful to you if you haven't upgraded to Tiger (and therefore have an older version of iSync), but if you have Tiger, the MacInTouch report definitely the place to check over the next few days for iSync 2.1 reports. You should be able to get a decent idea of the current state of cell-phone synchronization on the Mac.

iSync 2.0 had a bunch of problems, so users have been eagerly awaiting this update. Once the dust settles from the update, it'll be easier to tell which phones play well with your Mac.
posted by TPIRman at 7:21 AM on July 12, 2005

My small personal experience:

I have the Nokia 7610 and although it is supposedly supported by iSync, I haven't been able to get it to work. I can pair it with my Powerbook, but it still says the phone isn't supported in iSync.

I've been really happy with the phone overall though, so hopefully this will be remedied soon.
posted by stefnet at 7:34 AM on July 12, 2005

I recommend my Sony Ericsson P910a. Sweet. The best combination of PDA and phone I've used, and I've used most of them. It may be more than you want, though.
posted by kungfujoe at 7:35 AM on July 12, 2005

Treo 650
Browser, SMS and email (imap or pop3)
uses iSync just fine.
The only negative is it's size.

I even use it with DUN (dial up networking...) when there's no wifi around.
posted by filmgeek at 8:01 AM on July 12, 2005

I'm fond of my Nokia 6620. Wouldn't web browse with it but for keeping in sync it's been great - I swore to myself 5 years ago I'd never again thumb 100 contacts into a new phone and this one has been the easiest yet to sync.
posted by phearlez at 8:08 AM on July 12, 2005

I'm going to second phearlez on the Nokia 6620. I had a 3650 previous to this and wasn't expecting much of a difference. Thankfully, I was quite wrong.

EDGE data = fast. The included Opera browser is useful for surfing some sorts of sites: blogs, graphic and ad-free sites. Haven't really surfed MeFi with it.

Sleeper feature: you can hold down the menu button and switch between apps. Like [alt|cmd]-tab for your phone. Makes all other phone software I've tried look primitive.

It meets all of Josh's parameters. I got mine from Cingular for $249 less a $49 rebate.
posted by therealadam at 8:17 AM on July 12, 2005

Are you staying with Verizon? You'd have better luck finding a phone with the features you want if you move over to one of the GSM carriers (TMobile or Cingular). There are only two Verizon phones with bluetooth (Moto v710 and Audiovox VX600).

Motorola phones have a horribly designed address book. Instead of having a phone book with the names, selecting the name, then the number all the numbers appear at the top level of the applcation. You end up with entries like Mom - cell, Mom - work, etc.

You might want to take a look at the SE 710a. Bluetooth, web, 1MP camera phone, decent form factor. I had the first gen 60 series Nokia and it was a beast to haul around.

Check out Howard Forums and Phone Scoop for a more information. Finally this is a cool little app Cell Phone Finder
posted by srburns at 8:20 AM on July 12, 2005

I am almost certainly planning to switch to T-Mobile (I really liked them when I had them as a carrier) or Cingular from Verizon, so the Nokia 6620 is looking good....
posted by josh at 9:09 AM on July 12, 2005

There are only two Verizon phones with bluetooth (Moto v710 and Audiovox VX600)

This isn't true. The brand-new Samsung SCH-i730 - the phone of my dreams - supports Bluetooth and 802.11b. It's a Pocket PC phone, but it's more phone-size than PDA-size. I hope they release a camera version soon.

Pocket PC phones can be used with Macs, although the integration isn't as smooth as with a PC as far as I can tell. There are third-party products that can be used for Mac-PPC integration.

I spent about an hour playing around with this in the store, and the whole thing is very impressive - lots of features, well-constructed, EV-DO speed, etc. I actually spent about fifteen minutes reading MeFi using the Picsel browser it comes with - it was a very pleasant experience!
posted by me & my monkey at 11:37 AM on July 12, 2005

I'll put in another recomendation for the Nokia 6620. Mine's been no trouble syncing with my PB (Tiger). If you like the whole camera phone thing, you might want to look at something else. Also, as has been noted, it's not great for browsing, either. Other than those (minor to me) issues, I'm digging mine. Got it for $200 on eBay.
posted by cryosis at 12:10 PM on July 12, 2005

A couple of months ago I switched from Verizon to Cingular so I could get a phone that works better with my Powerbook. I mainly wanted Bluetooth so I could use it to connect when I couldn't find a wifi hotspot.

When I made the switch, I got a Nokia 6230. Bluetooth, camera, etc.. Does everything except play nice with iSync. This wasn't a big deal as I could manually copy over the contacts I wanted from Address Book.

I just gave the 6230 to my wife a couple of weeks ago and got a Sony Ericsson 710a. Very nice little phone. The screen is gorgeous and the 1.3 mp camera takes much better pictures than the Nokia did. Apple also claims that it works with iSync on Tiger although I've yet to try that. It is exactly what I wanted.
posted by rglasmann at 1:38 PM on July 12, 2005

I also love my 6620 *but* if you can wait a little while longer the Nokia 6682 will soon be available and it rocks. The 6682 has significant improvement in the Series 60 interface/applications (especially the multimedia gallery) and like the 6620 it'll support EDGE. Oh and it has a megapixel camera.

Re; Verizon . . . be sure that "bluetooth support" is for more than just "connecting with a headset you buy from Verizon"--they're notorious for locking down features which is yet another reason to stick with a GSM carrier.
posted by donovan at 2:39 PM on July 12, 2005

Re; Verizon . . . be sure that "bluetooth support" is for more than just "connecting with a headset you buy from Verizon"

Yeah, right now you can't use the Samsung as a Bluetooth modem, but most of the other profiles are currently supported - the other exception is the stereo headset profile, which practically no device supports, I think. But fear not, even as we speak people are figuring out how to enable DUN.
posted by me & my monkey at 3:57 PM on July 12, 2005

Another recommendation for the Nokia 6680/1/2. Indications are that it works with iSync 2.1.

It has this brilliant standby screen that displays your meetings, memos and birthdays. Orange, for one, have replaced this with their own custom screen, so if this feature is a must-have, make sure your network isn't crippling it in this way.

It has built-in mail client (POP and IMAP). I've set it up so I can access my 1and1 mail over IMAP. It doesn't handle HTML mail though; you'll need a third-party application if you need this feature.

The 6680 can synchronise over Bluetooth/Data cable. The manual indicates that the 6680 can function as a modem over Bluetooth/data cable.

As typical of Symbian devices, the interface is excellent and a joy to use. It's pretty chunky though: about the same size as my iPod.
posted by Boo! at 7:11 AM on July 13, 2005

T68i sucks. Get an unlocked T637 off eBay.

If you don't like it, I'll buy it from you. :P

(speaking from experience)
posted by esch at 6:28 PM on July 14, 2005