Can he??

[turtle74 0]

P.S. most of the phones in the Philippines are AHEAD of the phones here in the US. However the edge is the US has crackberrys and iphones. But like Nokia 8800,n-series , REAL gold D&G motorola, technolgy is way ahead. The other problem is the PI's technology with they're support of the capablitlites of the phone is low. So phones are better but carriers are bad. But niether country has the ability to stream 3G for live video.

[RonMay 1]

Another issue is the tri-band vs quad band issue. Just because a phone is tri-band it may not be the same tri-band. The US still has a lot of towers using 850 mhz while the rest of the world uses a 900. The 1800 and 1900 bands are almost not an problem since they are in general rare, but a noticable difference is seen with the 900/850 difference. You'll notice you don't get a signal in rural areas with 950. A quad band is the safest route to go which covers 850/900/1800/1900. Another problem is internet use or GPRS. the phone has to be "configured" to use certain systems though the phone people tech help can try to walk you through the set-up most of the time if it's not a phone which they carry they don't know how to do it or they just don't want to. This becomes a problem with MMS. All the above responses have pretty much covered all of your other concerns. IF you really love him, you'll get him an iphone which is only available here.

so the way im reading it, its safe to buy another gift than a CP? i think so too

gosh iphone $500+ if AT&T plan and $600+ if buying outside... i surely love that for xmas!!!

[doug & angel 0]

Another issue is the tri-band vs quad band issue. Just because a phone is tri-band it may not be the same tri-band. The US still has a lot of towers using 850 mhz while the rest of the world uses a 900.

The 850 band will be gone when amps is shut down. You can download the FCC document on this here: FCC Press Release on AMPS shutdown [Word Document]

We won't get 900 in the US, but it doesn't matter as its being phased out too ...

[doug & angel 0]

P.S. most of the phones in the Philippines are AHEAD of the phones here in the US. However the edge is the US has crackberrys and iphones. But like Nokia 8800,n-series , REAL gold D&G motorola, technolgy is way ahead. The other problem is the PI's technology with they're support of the capablitlites of the phone is low. So phones are better but carriers are bad. But niether country has the ability to stream 3G for live video.

In the US get an EVDO modem from either sprint or verizon wireless. The performance is about the same between the companies, though the coverage outside metro areas is considerably different. Generally you'll get about .8mb/s through them .. roughly the same as consumer grade ADSL. just a little more latent, but more consistent throughput. Works just fine with video .. I use it with skype as well as sip video conferencing.

In the Philippines a 3G phone (my nokia E90 worked great) or a HSDPA modem ( I used one on the SMART network) The problem with throughput on these things is generally not the phone (or wireless modem) but the connection or the computer itself. If your expecting to get 3G speeds over USB 1.1 your in for a disappointing experience.

(Of course in PI the coverage is always an issue)

You are right about one thing, tech support is non-existent. Which I find ironic, with the number of tech support call centers sprouting up. When I had issues there with *their* network it was a maddening experience because not only did I know how to debug it, I knew how to fix it .. argh I can feel my blood pressure go up again .. time to post and move on to another topic..