Sunday, December 24, 2006

Samsung Sync A707 3G cellphone:
I said goodbye to "Hello Moto"

I bought a cool silver Motorola Razr a few years ago, on the very first day Cingular sold it. Last Spring, I gave the silver Razr to my wife, and got a cooler black Razr for myself.

A few weeks ago, the sexy, sleek and easy-to-lose black Razr disappeared. I liked my Razrs, and I could have gotten a replacement Razr for just $50 with my insurance plan. But now that Razrs are being used by cops, kids, and even pay-as-you-goers, it is decidedly less cool than it once was. It was time to shop for a new toy.

I have no need for QWERTY-keyboard-equipped Blackberries, Blackjacks or
other PDA-like phones; but I did want something cool.

I did some research, and was quickly impressed by the new A707 "Sync" from Samsung. Its 2 megapixel camera takes better pictures than the Moto Razr. It plays music and TV shows, works on four bands, uses 3G technology, does Bluetooth, and has a slot for a micro SD card. The display is super-sharp, almost like a pocket-size plasma, and the giant-size phone number display is great for eyes that are no longer 20-20.

For now, Cingular is the only carrier offering the phone, and prices range from $50 to $350, depending on contract conditions. I wasn't due for a special price, so I bought it on Ebay for $199 plus $10 for shipping, but without $12 sales tax. I took the phone (which has Cingular logos on it) to the Cingular store. The nice folks there provided a SIM card at no charge, entered the phone in their system, copied the dialing directory from my wife's phone, and it works just fine. Cingular charges $50 for a half-gig Micro SD memory card. I bought a one-gig card at Staples for $15. It will hold lots of music and photos


NOTE TO CINGULAR: The phone is much slimmer than the 1.02 inches you show on your website; and the software you provide for connecting the A707 to a PC doesn't work with the A707. I had to call Samsung, and was instructed to delete the software from my PC, and download another program, that was labeled for use with (GASP!) T-Mobile. CLICK for more.


NOTE TO SAMSUNG:
I doubt that the flippy cover for the charger cord and headset will last more than a week. It can be difficult to open the phone with bare hands, and it's impossible with gloves on.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My choice is my Sprint Treo. There are no limitations to what this phone can do. Sure it's a phone, web capability, mp3 player, video player, video camera, camera, and much much more! Now, I have tom tom navigation software and it's the perfect GPS device. Can't wait 'til it comes out with a house cleaning program!