Cingular 8125 Initial Review

[Steven2420]

The Best Cingular has To Offer

by Steven2420 Feb 14, 2006

I have had many phones in the past year, with the best one being the Nokia 6682. UNTIL NOW!
This PDA/Phone leads the league in features. It takes a while to get used to a new platform, but if you have ever used a PDA,(I have a Dell Axim, then the adjustment is not that hard. I have Cingular service in Miami, and the RF on this phone is amazing. I have tried the Treo 650, the Razr V3, Motorola V551, Motorola V400, Nokia 6620, Nokia 6230i,and a few others. If you are a professional in any type of business where contacts, appointments and e-mail are extremely vital....This is your device.

PROS:
Sturdy casing
Solid feel
Bright and Sensitive Touch Screen
Very Good battery life, not better then Nokia, but very few batteries are!
Stereo Headset is awesome
Loud speakerphone-great volume
Excellent Bluetooth Sync w/Moto 850
Great sync with Microsoft's ActiveSync 4.1, (PC suite is a better program)
Tons of memory built in, optional mini sd to add more.
Sliding keyboard is cool, helps answer e-mail rapidly. It is NOT A SIDEKICK! This is a professional device.
Great priceonline from Cingular, that is rare! Hundred's more bought elswhere.
None of the dreaded Cingular-got-a-hold-of-me-Software Bugs, yet!!!

CONS:
Camera is a tad bit less then 1.3 MP,for sure
Display is a little hard to read on a sunny day.
Would have been better if they included a mini sd in the package, even 128mb's would have been nice.

Overall, this is a very nice phone. A great camera would have deserved a 5, but I did not buy it for that. Good investment for the $$$$$.

Steven2420

[azcellphonejunkie]

Nice review...I love my K-Jam, which is essentially the same as your 8125.

[Charlyee]

Very nice review, thank you. PDA Phones are not for me and I have tried a few, including the Siemens SX66 just before I got the 6682 in September. I am glad to see that you are happy with it and it is working out for so well for you.

[walkguru]

Wirelessly posted (Walkguru's: Nokia6682/2.0 (3.01.1) SymbianOS/8.0 Series60/2.6 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

Sounds too complex for me. I guess ill stick with my 6682.

[Steven2420]

Originally Posted by Charlyee

Very nice review, thank you. PDA Phones are not for me and I have tried a few, including the Siemens SX66 just before I got the 6682 in September. I am glad to see that you are happy with it and it is working out for so well for you.

Thanks AZ and Charlyee, the phone is awesome. AZ, did you buy a larger mini sd card? If so, what size and brand.

[budney]

Nice review Steven.

The speakerphone on my PPC6700 isn't great though. I still like it more then my PPC6600.

What are you planning to use the miniSD card for?

I just bought (recieved today) a 1GB Sandisk card on eBay ($58 w/ shipping). I normailly put a few CDs worth of mp3s on it and I still have room for pics and a program or two.

[azcellphonejunkie]

Originally Posted by Steven2420

Thanks AZ and Charlyee, the phone is awesome. AZ, did you buy a larger mini sd card? If so, what size and brand.

512mb...I got it from work from the staples catalog...no idea on the brand...

[Steven2420]

Originally Posted by azcellphonejunkie

512mb...I got it from work from the staples catalog...no idea on the brand...

HUGE RETRACTION ON PRIOR REVIEW------OOOOOPS


Well, you guys are not gonna believe this....time to "Eat Crow". I am returning the Cingular phone tomorrow. I have said many many times on this forum that no one should buy a phone from Cingular, now I eat my words. Cingular has a way of taking a great product and ruining it with their "Fixes". The phone freezes all day, e-mail program sucks, and I am just so disgusted. I wanted to love this phone so much, but I can't. Back to the Nokia 6682, sorry for all the hype guys...MY BAD!!!!!

[azcellphonejunkie]

You mention that the phone freezes and that the email program sucks...Is there something specific that it is doing/why it is so bad? I know most people have to reset thier phones about once a day or so with a WM phone, but I don't really ever have freezes. It's all about managing the memory of the unit...

[Steven2420]

Originally Posted by azcellphonejunkie

You mention that the phone freezes and that the email program sucks...Is there something specific that it is doing/why it is so bad? I know most people have to reset thier phones about once a day or so with a WM phone, but I don't really ever have freezes. It's all about managing the memory of the unit...

AZ,

I am sure that your phone will have NONE of these issues. Remember that Cingular has a reputation for "Handicapping" software that manufacturers put in phones. I was ending programs on a constant basis to conserve memory, that did not help. I have always done that with my phones. When I set the e-mail program to search for e-mail every x amount of minutes it did not work. I wish I had bout the phone from I-mate or Q-teq. I am happy yours works, I really did love it!

[azcellphonejunkie]

I do love my phone! Too bad the Cingular versions don't work as well...

[Steven2420]

Originally Posted by azcellphonejunkie

I do love my phone! Too bad the Cingular versions don't work as well...

Well, after allot of frustrating nights, and learning that I know VERY LITTLE about Windows Mobile 5, the person that helped me the most was you AZ. What an awesome amount of knowledge in one area. I have decided to keep the phone and list by Nokia 6682 on eBay--(Charlyee cringes again). NO more reviews till I learn the product inside and out....Thanks AZ!!

[azcellphonejunkie]

Glad I was able to help!

[AJE]

I have had this phone for a day now and things seam ok! I will keep you posted if things change. It is definately a cool phone. I can't decide which I like better this one or the Treo 700? The Treo is pretty awesome too.

[weathersinc]

Have you found an external antenna connector for it yet. That is the only thing hold me back from it... well that and no Fast Foward since I only get service at home when the wind blows the right way.

[Steven2420]

Originally Posted by Steven2420

Well, after allot of frustrating nights, and learning that I know VERY LITTLE about Windows Mobile 5, the person that helped me the most was you AZ. What an awesome amount of knowledge in one area. I have decided to keep the phone and list by Nokia 6682 on eBay--(Charlyee cringes again). NO more reviews till I learn the product inside and out....Thanks AZ!!

Sad to announce the CRASH AND BURN of the 8125. The PDA/Phone/Paperweight is dead, White Screen and all, and on it's way back to the ever growing Cingular graveyard to be disposed of.

Still waiting for Noika Flip!!!

The End Of a Sad, Sad, but predictable Cingular Story!!!!

Stick a fork in this thread Boys------IT'S DONE!!!!!

[budney]

WOW! Sorry to hear hear about your problems with the 8125. I wish I would of been around here the past few days (moving). All HTC device are very customizable, to the point of making them unbranded. I would of directed you to xda-developers.com & pdaphonehome.com for some extended reading on how to make your 8125 sing. Good luck with you 6682, it to is a great phone.

[Steven2420]

Originally Posted by budney

WOW! Sorry to hear hear about your problems with the 8125. I wish I would of been around here the past few days (moving). All HTC device are very customizable, to the point of making them unbranded. I would of directed you to xda-developers.com & pdaphonehome.com for some extended reading on how to make your 8125 sing. Good luck with you 6682, it to is a great phone.

Thanks Budney, I did read allot on xda-developers and found it very intriguing. At some point I was going to do a few mods, but it didn't live that long. Oh well, no more sadness. I lose NOTHING going back to my 6682, still the BEST phone I have ever owned.

[blazinasian]

i just got my 8125 today and i love it. sorry to hear about yours, but i guess cingular cant please everyone at once. thanks to xda-developers, in the first 3 hours of receiving the phone (while charging), i was able to unlock the device, change tons of registry stuff like enabling WLAN G mode, and installed a ton of software.

i must say this is the BEST phone ive owned, but it has only been about 12 hours so we'll see how it works out in a couple days

[ptroost]

I also have a Cingular 8125 which has been working great for about 3 weeks now. Today I received a Holux GPS Slim 236 and installed Bluetooth Tools from http://www.bluetooth.jazztel.es

Unfortunately, the phone has no started to freeze with about 45 seconds of starting up. I went in and uninstalled Bluetooth Tools but that may have been a red herring. I have turned off Bluetooth entirely and tried a number of things but I can't restabilize the device.

Any suggestions?

Thank you!

[Steven2420]

Originally Posted by ptroost

I also have a Cingular 8125 which has been working great for about 3 weeks now. Today I received a Holux GPS Slim 236 and installed Bluetooth Tools from http://www.bluetooth.jazztel.es

Unfortunately, the phone has no started to freeze with about 45 seconds of starting up. I went in and uninstalled Bluetooth Tools but that may have been a red herring. I have turned off Bluetooth entirely and tried a number of things but I can't restabilize the device.

Any suggestions?

Thank you!

Why don't you do a back-up and then a hard reset. That will restore it completely and you will just have to reinstall other programs. Good luck!

[budney]

I will second the idea of doing a hard reset, the only way to fix it now.

[azcellphonejunkie]

I love hard resets. They make the device feel like new again. You can then pick and choose the different apps that you want on the device, and can really tweak it to make it great!

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by azcellphonejunkie

I love hard resets. They make the device feel like new again. You can then pick and choose the different apps that you want on the device, and can really tweak it to make it great!

Great minds AZ, I was just going to say that . It also gets rid of all the unneccesary files that are taking up memory but are not needed, and got downloaded over time with the various applications.

[budney]

A hard reset is good if you havn't done it in a while and your device isn't quite the same. But it stinks when you just got you device working & performing great, when something happens like a bad downloaded program or a corrupted program make you do it. And for some one who is new to PPC it can be very discouraging.

[nKrypteD1]

Well I'm very sad to hear of the bad 8125 experience, I've had mine for 2 months now, and let me start off saying I haven't unlocked it or tweaked it any way. I have, however, installed a ton of apps and added a 1gb sandisk minisd card filled with music... I don't use the push email clients because I just don't have a need for the split second email notification, the builtin client checks every 15 minutes, good nuff for me. The form factor is nice, aside from the fact that the screen is already taking some wear and it's less than 2 months old and has been handled nicely (I use eye glass cleaning pads to clean the screen not brillo just fyi.) I don't like the fact that the phone is so much harder to use on this than say on my old razr, but it's a price I was willing to pay for the full featured internet browser, access to email, access to a full qwerty keyboard, and the plethora of applications. Plus the no nonsense look of this phone really goes good for your outward appearance if you're a business person (hey the w600i was cool but looked too much like a teen's phone at company meetings.) The headphones, in my honest opinion, suck compared to the ones I got from sony, they are way too large and well to put it lightly the microphone placement is right below the left ear bud which is a pain in the neck. I have had problems with the device dropping not only calls but the entire network mid call before, it's worked itself out so I think it may have had to do with an app I was trying out before the only hard reset I've ever done. Hmm what else can I say, in comparison to normal devices the sticker shock is kinda high and if you're looking for a sidekick this phone isn't for you, this is for those of us who stay on the go full time (I stay on the road 4 days a week at minnimum) and feel the need to utilize whatever technological knowledge you have.

[jamilowry]

Now I am completely confused!!!! I have been trying to decide on the 8125, but now I don't know. Can anyone help. I am in need of a device that allows for email, document retrieval/manipulation, calendaring, contacts, phone. I live in a small area where the only provider who owns towers here is Cellular One. I like the 8125 because of the slide out keyboard, but it also needs to be fairly durable because I travel a lot. I would also not like to spend an arm and a leg to get this device. I thought I had decided on the 8125, but I am afraid it will not work well or will tear up fast. I am cell phone/technology challenged, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Second question also, does it matter if I buy a locked or unlocked device if you can pay appx. $40 to have one unlocked? Thanks again. JL

[weathersinc]

Unlocking the 8125 is simple. See the directions here: http://www.htcwizardweb.net/node/170

[nKrypteD1]

Originally Posted by jamilowry

Now I am completely confused!!!! I have been trying to decide on the 8125, but now I don't know. Can anyone help. I am in need of a device that allows for email, document retrieval/manipulation, calendaring, contacts, phone. I live in a small area where the only provider who owns towers here is Cellular One. I like the 8125 because of the slide out keyboard, but it also needs to be fairly durable because I travel a lot. I would also not like to spend an arm and a leg to get this device. I thought I had decided on the 8125, but I am afraid it will not work well or will tear up fast. I am cell phone/technology challenged, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Second question also, does it matter if I buy a locked or unlocked device if you can pay appx. $40 to have one unlocked? Thanks again. JL

I can stop you there, the 8125 is GSM only, US Cellular is CDMA. However, US Cellular has some decent blackberry's, check your area to see if Cingular or Tmobile roam in your area, if it's roaming only I suggest Tmobile who also has the 8125 (as the MDA.) There are CDMA phones that are the same as the 8125 (HTC Wizard) such as the HTC Apache (Sprint PPC 6700.)

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by nKrypteD1

I can stop you there, the 8125 is GSM only, US Cellular is CDMA. However, US Cellular has some decent blackberry's, check your area to see if Cingular or Tmobile roam in your area, if it's roaming only I suggest Tmobile who also has the 8125 (as the MDA.) There are CDMA phones that are the same as the 8125 (HTC Wizard) such as the HTC Apache (Sprint PPC 6700.)

nKrypteD1, the OP wrote Cellular One and not US Cellular, and as you know Cellular One is a GSM provider so an unlocked 8125 will work fine on it...

jamilowry, you either need to buy an unlocked 8125 or get one unlocked as previously mentioned. The other alternative would be to buy the QTEK 9100 which is the unlocked unbranded version of the 8125 but it would cost you more. I had the QTEK and was quite happy with it.

Hope this helps