regfootball

a sales dude told me tonight that areas in question in the parts that i travel, actually do not have AT&T but alltel, but that AT&T was able to purchase the Alltel network in that area so AT&T will be assuming Alltel's network in that region, which will boost the coverage and such greatly. looked at some more phones this evening. the LG ENv series and versa all seem like nice phones. the side clamshell design i do not initially like, but there are some advantages to it and the keyboards feel high quality. of course i like the versa, but according to what i have read the Versa is not compatible with Ford Sync. Dammit, why else would i need bluetooth then if I can't get the phone to play nice with my car? The Versa and Env3 will fit my budget. I am sure I will miss a simple slider or clamshell phone but you really kind of need to consider a qwerty phone these days. The LG phones are really well made, but not particularly attractive. Had my wife look at the LG Xenon, Samsumg Impression, and Motorola Karma at the AT&T store. the impression and karma i like both. although the Karma seems quite like a chick phone. Really would like to get something Motorola but all their interesting phones seem old or out of date. Like the E8 rokr, or Zine. The new Rival seems junky. I really wish i could just get a simple thin clamshell like my samsung M500 with a little better web browser. simple small cheap phone but with lots of features and good quality. surfed some C&G on the iPhone. the pinch and swipe and the speed at which you can browse makes the web experience really nice. i tried facebook with a new samsung rogue via verizon and it really seemed pokey. not sure why.

sounds good. i just looked at the coverage map for the areas i travel to, and its basically a lot of roaming and spotty coverage. I probably don't have that option then.

even if a device has a micro sd slot it may not support max memory. check that. google has a chance to grow more products and market. but can the android phone play the 'x' number of seasons of friends or spongebob i have purchased through itunes....or winger videos, eh theres the rub. basically if i get a balls to the wall smartphone its gonna be an iphone. ...i.e. anything requiring a full data plan. but some phones and plans are such that they allow some data for cheap. that is where you can save the money. i was at the verizon store today. the samsung rogue did not impress me as much as i thought. the LG phones seemed to be the best verizon products. the env3 is free so it may win by default. the nokia twist is an interesting new twist on the cell phone. motorola karma is prob my favorite lite phone/non iphone from AT&T. Samsung Impression is wrth a look too.

our bosch dishwasher is incredible. others who have bought bosch say the same. quiet, no face controls.

yeah but what does the max memory come out too, and its OS is prob less efficient. by the time you pay for the phone and add memory later it costs more. and then you'd want a new phone anyways because technology keeps moving. good point on the battery however. at least apple is BASED in US. LG? iphone is really a true computer, a mini mac. you can even use it to control your home automation system in your house. it can be a remote for your itunes and apple devices in the house, probably for other devices as well through apps. web browser with pinch and swipe etc is easy to use. glass screen looks a lot better than plastic. problem is like all smartphones, its way too spendy.

in other words it would be a perfect phone for my 6 year old. thanks for the tip.!

live in the Mpls area which is well represented but travel a lot to ND and other plains type vacant areas.

right. that is the big problem. the cost. that becomes 130/35 bucks a month plus tax for two phones.

well i suspect apple realizes they created a monster with mobile devices and therefore i see apple not giving up without a huge fight. to do so will require less cost and exposure on more networks. i suspect apple is quietly in favor of this net neutrality being spoken about lately. because then, the platform and device become more important. the carriers are scared $h!less because their monopolies may be being starting to get broken. i would really like to take my itunes music and videos on my phone though.

that's a vibrator or something, not a phone, right?

tonight (haven't decided if i will open them yet), i picked up a couple of net10 motorola em?326g's. as far as i can tell, the only prepaid phones for reasonable price that have mp3, micro sd, bluetooth, decent camera, lite net. the phones are cheesy, but if they last me even six months, the net cost per is only 20 bucks after the free airtime is accounted for. since the G is in the suffix, they are gsm....which means in this area they are mostly likely mostly at&t network. since these phones i would not have a high expectation for because of price, i would mainly just want to make sure the call quality and reception and coverage are all acceptable. i actually use the camera and camcorder on my cell phones now a lot. the mp3 player a fair amount too with the bluetooth. i have stereo BT headphones, and also ford sync in the car. One reason i want the iPod or iPhone is so my kid can watch movies and spongebob on it in the backseat (no huge dvd player to lug so often) and stream the audio via bluetooth to the ford sync. Apple's new tablet device will be perfect to do that on a bigger scale when that comes out. a lot of where we travel is rural and for some odd reason verizon has insanely good coverage in those areas where the others do not. in metro area it seems pretty close to a wash. but we were at the bro in laws place last weekend which is basically in the middle of nowhere on gravel road and his kids were surfing on their phones, no issues at all. lots of the farm folk need the good coverage so i guess at least one company stepped up to the plate.

thanks for the tip. i am not sure it makes a difference, i just want to keep the cost down for a short period of time and not commit to A phone just yet since tech changes so much. in six months if i can afford the iphone and plan i would prefer to do that. thing is prepaid or no contract looks like it may cost as much or more. verizons prepaid interested me but the access charge is ridiculous. lots of the prepaid type phones lack features too. i actually tried hunting for some old phones to buy but people seem to want a lot for them.

the enV touch is definitely the class or the top of the class of verizons phones. its still not an iphone, but the env3, env touch and versa all have my interest. right now the samsung rogue is in the lead.

a buddy has a storm and loves it but also admits it hasn't been glitch free. plus the thing is HUGE!

Quickly- have to switch to a new carrier and get new phones despite having decent plan and phones i am ok with. Looking at Verizon, AT&T. Or Net10 or Tracfone prepaid. due to cost. My current service is Qwest which is actually Sprint. In town here its good. But where we frequently travel, we sometimes roam and never get data that often. SO's family is mostly on Verizon. Verizon store is a mile from my house. Coverage maps indicate Verizon has superior service in the home, and where we travel a lot. In our general metro area, Verizon and At&T are both fine. I have not checked T Mobile. Plans- Verizon seems to nickel and dime more than AT&T. AT&T has 'A-list'. Free wifi at starbucks. Can prob get AT&T plans a tish cheaper for my situation, but overall plan pricing is more dependent on features. Verizon seems to have more wifi braodband devices available which may come into play down the road. AT&T of course has the iPhone which is what i really want, but cannot justify the cost of the phone or plan right now. Having apps and iPod on the phone would really be nice instead of some klunky piece of $h! phone. Thinking of going prepaid for a few months just to delay the inevitable. Net10 looks simple. Not a lot of features and $h!ty phones but it could work for 6 months or so. Virgin mobile looked great until i found out it was Sprint, which would mean i lose data when i travel to relatives (Your results may vary). Current line of thinking is get 2 cheap verizon phones as phones and a basic plan. Buy an iPod touch to satisfy techno lust using wifi instead of the phone. But then suffer being locked in to phones i didnt really want for two years. Kind of like a bad car lease.....like being stuck with a camry. Blackberries, I would like a Pearl Flip but otherwise if i was getting a smartphone i would have a lot of choices i just don't know much about. plan prices for balckberries i would just get an iphone anyways. what is everyone's input on their phones and carriers and anything useful to share. I feel like i should go with the carrier and coverage and local store close....and suffer with lesser devices (Verizon) instead of AT&T (lesser price plan, better phone choices, free wifi at places) etc. Haven't heard much about T mobile. I have shopped used phones to run no contract on a plan but craigslist sellers price their phones way too high to make sense. thanks in advance for everyone's experience with this, I'd like to get the skivvy on what carriers are doing well and not.

did pontiac unload their apparel this cheap?

like they designed it all for bike riding metrosexuals. like greg lamond meets crate and barrel.

i may buy a couple mugs and shirts later. i'll let you know.

rio 5 is quite a bit cheaper so even though they may be the same 'size' the rio is in a different class to the consumer. price price price

saturncollection.com may pick up some cheap travel mugs and a t shirt or two.

Kia Venga photos

i would have seriously expected a 30% or higher take rate on the manual. maybe with sales going down to sustainable levels, and now that the old ladies that hang out at the donut shops have bought them, maybe more of the serious Fit fans will push that manual take rate back up. but if you think of manual cars in general, 15% is actually a very good take rate compared to what i thought i heard, 6% in the open market. call me crazy, but pushing a steering wheel button is not a complete replacement for a shifter and clutch.

as much as it seems i am trashing the fit, i'm not. but i agree on the automatic. the gearbox is quite good on the Fit, why wouldn anyone want an automatic? it just seems to me that the Fit albeit a good car, is oversensationalized. kind of like the prius. it has one trick. in honda's case, two. the fit handles well. and it has a larger than you would expect cargo area that is flexible with magic seats. i don't think either of those two traits should make it such a starlet in the market. most of the cargo area is if you fold the rear seat bottom up. if you compare accessible height, width, and depth of the cargo area of the fit to other hatches or small wagons, with the rear seat up, the advantage is not really there. as far as the car handling well, yes it does, however, there are other compacts and cars in that price range that are almost or really close to as nimble, and offer more solidity and refinement. So that is my beef with the car. Not that the car is bad, its not. I just don't think its a completely well rounded package. I'd love the Fit if it were 2-3 grand cheaper. Once you start looking at horsepower, noise, interior, styling, solidity, build quality, space, you generally can find a more well rounded machine for the same money. That's why the Civic exists though. If they stuffed a Civic motor in the FIt, the mpg would prob not go down much. Give it a six speed, put some sound deadener in the car. Give it a decent dashboard (there's not much they can do about the styling at this point) and then I think it starts to be something that can be more than a narrowly focused vehicle. I am kind of waiting to see how Kia's Fit clone turns out, if they sell it here, and how cheap it is and how it performs.

was near your neck this past weekend. its wet up there! BISON sure are sucking ass this year, aren't they?

thats a skewed analysis. the mazda3 sales will include speed which skews the number. also i am comparing the 2.0 mazda3 to the fit. the 2.5 mazda3 will again have higher transaction prices, but will also have a lot of options that the fit doesnt, like leather. leather is prob a frequent option on the 2.5. also i am guessing the automatic is a much higher take rate on the 2.5 the take rate of the 2.0 manual on the mazda3 will more closely approximate the take rate on the fit. the 2.0's real world mpg will be closer to the fit and will not be skewed by the 2.5 automatics and speed turbos either. i don't always trust fuel economy.gov as their sample rate is never that large. even if the fit scores 33-35 mpg, the 2.0 mazda will score at least 30 mpg, and chances are the mazda3 will be cheaper to insure than an 'H' car, offsetting the marginal different in fuel economy. i think most folks if a gun was to their head would get the mazda3, even if it cost slightly more. mazda 3 25/33 mpg. fit 27/33 not much diff. only thing 2.0 not avail on the HB. at least you don't get the loud cabin with the 3. almost 18 grand for a car with only 117 hp? sounds like a rip off to me. can't even use the H excuse on that one. If honda gets 18k for a Fit routinely then they should be offering a 150hp version on one of its models. yes, i know, it still won't have torque even if they did that.