Fugly CDMA

October 12, 2005 7:28 PM

I’d love a RAZR-cool phone, but I can’t find one for CDMA!

I scoured phonescoop.com looking for design-first handsets. The Motorola V1150 and SLVR 8, Samsung Blade, and Nokia 6170 are all attractive—and all GSM. I guess the Nokia 6235 doesn’t hurt my eyes, but it’s still $250 USD for no real useful features for me. All this research has got me pining for some fancy foreign phones. Lastly, I’d gladly sacrifice aesthetics for some affordable WiFi.

Can anyone recommend a phone model I should consider?

Besides eBay, is there anywhere to shop for “unlocked” phones?

Is there anywhere to get Asian phones, and is it worth the trouble? (Apparently, South Korea has a CDMA version of the RAZR V3?)

Are any WiFi-enabled phones (that don’t cost more than some laptops!) available now?

Is it any trouble getting your carrier to reprogram competitors’ phones?

posted by glibhamdreck to Technology (4 answers total)

Verizon is supposedly getting the RAZR soon, according to Engadget.
posted by zsazsa at 8:15 PM on October 12, 2005

Amazon sells unlocked phones, including the RAZR.
posted by cali at 12:36 AM on October 13, 2005

I have a 3? year old Sanyo SCP-6400 that still gets comments. Candy bar form factor, super super thin. None of the new bells and whistles though (color, camera, bluetooth, etc). Can be used as a modem though, which is nice. Only cool in the thin area, but boy is it thin.
posted by true at 4:26 AM on October 13, 2005

Are any WiFi-enabled phones (that don’t cost more than some laptops!) available now?

i-mate JAM
Treo 650
(both require add-on WiFi via SDIO)

Nokia 9500
(built-in WiFi)
posted by blag at 9:56 AM on October 13, 2005