Text communication devices
May 22, 2005 6:50 PM Subscribe
A coworker is looking for some kind of text-messaging device that she can use to keep in touch with her boyfriend. Few specifications.
She wants it to be reliable (obviously), as inexpensive as possible, and capable of keeping a lot of messages received and sent. Any suggestions? (It doesn't have to be a PDA, and being only capable of sending between the two of them - not to multiple people, isn't a problem.)
She wants it to be reliable (obviously), as inexpensive as possible, and capable of keeping a lot of messages received and sent. Any suggestions? (It doesn't have to be a PDA, and being only capable of sending between the two of them - not to multiple people, isn't a problem.)
I feel like one of the phone companies will give you unlimited text messages for a small flat fee- I know it's not T-Mobile. Verizon, maybe? I don't know.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:05 PM on May 22, 2005 [1 favorite]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:05 PM on May 22, 2005 [1 favorite]
You'll pry my RIM 950 from my cold, dead hands, but it might be slightly high end for your use. I'd hesitate to suggest using a phone, even though the devices are considerably cheaper -- typing on a phone sucks.
posted by majick at 7:31 PM on May 22, 2005
posted by majick at 7:31 PM on May 22, 2005
Typing on a phone does indeed suck, that's true- to get the letter S, you have to press the 7 key on my phone 4 times. Totally ridiculous.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:34 PM on May 22, 2005 [1 favorite]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:34 PM on May 22, 2005 [1 favorite]
got a motorola A30 from amazon for negative 50 bucks after rebate with 1 yr tmobile service -- the unlimited text message plan, indeed, is available with Tmobile (or close to it -- I know they *used* to have it -- it might now be like, 300 for $5 now or something).
the motorola a30 flips open to reveal a full (and, in my experience, very usable keyboard -- excepting the fact that they decided to make the , key require an "alt" button push, and that I keep getting "O" and 0 confused when I type in numbers, leaving me with 9s where 0s should be).
be warned: ime the reception is not as good as other tmobile phones, and the fucker breaks easily -- i shattered the lcd face within a month (i punched my phone because I was mad that it wasn't getting service -- not the brightest idea, I know -- and it was apparently enough force to break the screen). that said, for text messaging, this thing is totally badass.
the service will run about $45/mo.
posted by fishfucker at 7:50 PM on May 22, 2005
the motorola a30 flips open to reveal a full (and, in my experience, very usable keyboard -- excepting the fact that they decided to make the , key require an "alt" button push, and that I keep getting "O" and 0 confused when I type in numbers, leaving me with 9s where 0s should be).
be warned: ime the reception is not as good as other tmobile phones, and the fucker breaks easily -- i shattered the lcd face within a month (i punched my phone because I was mad that it wasn't getting service -- not the brightest idea, I know -- and it was apparently enough force to break the screen). that said, for text messaging, this thing is totally badass.
the service will run about $45/mo.
posted by fishfucker at 7:50 PM on May 22, 2005
oh crap. the motorola a30 doesn't store lots of text messages -- it maxes out around 20-30 (no idea why, since there's WAY more memory in the phone than that). you might look into the sidekick II. they're really slick, nice to type on. Downsides: big + you have to pay extra for their service plan (like, up to $20 extra, if I remember correctly).
posted by fishfucker at 8:05 PM on May 22, 2005
posted by fishfucker at 8:05 PM on May 22, 2005
Response by poster: They were looking into using more of a text-only service, so they could have the ease of a keyboard-like setup. But thanks for the ideas so far - I'll make sure to pass them on to her.
posted by itchie at 9:58 PM on May 22, 2005
posted by itchie at 9:58 PM on May 22, 2005
Best answer: Look into getting the Sidekick2. You can get data service for about $30/month. The device itself holds 100 txt messages (that includes both Inbox and Sent) and the sim card can hold 30 or so. The $30/month is for unlimited data - send/receive as many txt msgs as you want (although maybe there's a limit in the 1000s??). However, the SMS app is kinda bare bones (you can't for example include a sig) but that's because you have email if you need better features. And with the web browser on it, she can browse andpost to AskMe all day. Oh, and it has a full qwerty keyboard - much easier than using a typical phone keypad for text.
posted by gluechunk at 10:15 PM on May 22, 2005
posted by gluechunk at 10:15 PM on May 22, 2005
Oh, and I meant above that you can get data-only service for $30/month. You don't have to get a voice plan too. (If you do get a voice plan, the add-on data plan is $20/month.)
posted by gluechunk at 10:21 PM on May 22, 2005
posted by gluechunk at 10:21 PM on May 22, 2005
As far as I can tell, it's been discontinued, but the AT&T Ogo (pictures) looks right up their alley. Motorola had a similar product, but it only worked within 40 feet or so of your computer. Seems like there'd be someone else who is still selling a product like this.
posted by hootch at 11:05 PM on May 22, 2005
posted by hootch at 11:05 PM on May 22, 2005
RIM 850/950 (as mentioned above) is exactly what my wife and I used for this purpose when she went on a trip a couple of years ago and she didn't want to have to sign up for a mobile phone.
posted by mrbill at 11:43 PM on May 22, 2005
posted by mrbill at 11:43 PM on May 22, 2005
Any Series 60 mobile phone (the n-gage is probably the cheapest) will allow you to run a IM client like Agile Messenger to chat via a data connection to any of AIM, ICQ, MSN and Yahoo, possibly others.
posted by krisjohn at 1:29 AM on May 23, 2005
posted by krisjohn at 1:29 AM on May 23, 2005
For simple textmessaging a cell phone is fine.
And before you go for that sidekick, you might want to look for more opinions. Some people loathe them.
posted by justgary at 11:19 AM on May 23, 2005
And before you go for that sidekick, you might want to look for more opinions. Some people loathe them.
posted by justgary at 11:19 AM on May 23, 2005
I like my Motorola A630 GSM. I folds lengthwise into a keypad. It also can be used with a bluetooth wireless headset.
It's smaller than the sidekick. Some people think talking on a sidekick is like having a brick next to your head.
posted by drakepool at 12:14 PM on May 23, 2005
It's smaller than the sidekick. Some people think talking on a sidekick is like having a brick next to your head.
posted by drakepool at 12:14 PM on May 23, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by bonaldi at 7:03 PM on May 22, 2005