Cingular Service/Nokia 6340 in Kansas City

[frazzled]

I apologize if this subject has already been beaten to death but I have questions that can only be answered by those with experience.

I have been a Verizon/Startac user for years. I am do not like their current equipment offerings. This week while strolling through my local discount warehouse store I was offered a Nokia 6340 and Cingular service. I decided to come home and read first. I have read very positive comments in this forum about the Nokia, and very negative comments on other forums. The negative comments speak of software and hardware issues. (Inadvertant power downs, lack of seemless system transitions, calls answered when any key is pressed, undocumented features.)

I would like to know if I will notice a difference in the Cingular service locally and nationally? I would like to know whether or not the Nokia is ready for prime time? I would like to know, if Cingular has good coverage/service, would I be better off parked in an Nokia 8265i until there is better working GAIT technology available?

[bobolito]

I cannot tell you about Cingular coverage in your area but I can tell you that the 6340 is NOT ready for primetime. It is a technology struggling to take off right now so you are better off staying away from it. I highly doubt there will be another GAIT phone coming. At least this year everyone says there won't be. I experienced one too many times the power-off issue and the terrible buzzing. Now, this doesn't mean all units have this problem, but it means there are a lot of 6340s with those problems so whether or not you want to risk becoming an unhappy customer is up to you. My recommendation is to stay with what works: the 8265i.

[BG1811]

I had a 6340 and then a 6340i with Cingular. I have had cell phones since the bag phone days, more than twenty five years. IMO the 6340 is the worst piece of junk that ever came down the pike. I experienced every kind of problem you could think of with those two phones. I now have a Kyocera 7135 and switched to Verizon. IMO, Verizon's service beats Cingular on every count. Until the GSM build out gets complete I think there are going to be constant problems.

[frazzled]

BG1811 -

I am an experienced user also. When did you own the 6340s and what were the firmware versions? I am having a hard time deciding whether or not some of the complaints about this phone were a result of early startup problems that may have been worked out.

What is obvious is that people either have an intense hatred for this phone, or they love it.