For anyone who loves cell phones...

[cbass2781]

Hi everyone!

I'm a student at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and I need to write a feature article for my journalism class. I recently bought a cell phone and am pretty interested in the new technology these days, so I stumbled on to websites like this one not too long ago. I was hoping to write about the "cell phone community" that exists online and maybe some of the individuals that make up that group. I have a few questions, and if any of you are interested in sharing some opinions, you can email your answers to me at cbass2781@hotmail.com or just reply here to my post. I do need full names, if possible, to document sources, but it's not necessary, or you can even make up a name if you like. Also, feel free to answer any number of questions you want--I'll take anything I can get. =)


1. Just for some intro information, how long have you been using cell phones and how did you find out about these online forums?

2. What is it about cell phones, in particular, that interests you? (sorry to be so general, looking for a wide range of opinions)

3. What is your general impression of the other members of these forums, and how much do you trust the information that is produced?

4. Also, I plan on using the release of the Samsung A530 (Verizon) as an indicative starting point, so any thoughts on the hype that preceded the release? Or anything else you can think of?


I don't want to overdo it, so I'll leave it at this for now... thanks for your patience, and I appreciate the help...

[ShoresGuy]

1. Just for some intro information, how long have you been using cell phones and how did you find out about these online forums?

I have been using cell phones since late 2000 when I got my first cell phone while at my previous university in southern Germany (which ironically closed and I had to transfer to another American university). It was a single-band (GSM 1800 Mhz) Nokia 5130 (similar to the old American Nokia GSM/CDMA 5100 series (5120, 5160, 5185(i) and 5190 to name a couple). But I've stayed with GSM since I am finishing up my degree in Europe and I have all of my extended family in Germany where GSM is the only standard available.

I found out about WirelessAdvisor.com through a Google Search and found Howard's Forums referenced in some of the WA.com posts. So I registered there as well. But I post on Howard's Forums or HoFo as we call it for short since there is a lot more going on there than here on WA.com.


2. What is it about cell phones, in particular, that interests you? (sorry to be so general, looking for a wide range of opinions)

I am fascinated by GSM cell phones more than anything since each manufacturer offers a wide variety of competing features such as integrated digital cameras, downloadable games/Java Apps and wireless connectivity between the phones and other devices equipped with IrDA (Infrared) ports. I also like cell phones for their portability/mobility and being able to stay in touch when away from home through text messaging, calling people and also most importantly traveling with a GSM tri-band phone which will work in over 150 countries around the world. I use Vodafone UK here in London (on GSM 900/1800 Mhz), E-Plus (GSM 1800 Mhz) when I'm in Germany and Cingular Wireless' GSM (on GSM 1900) with the tri-band functionality so all I have to do is put in the appropriate provider SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card.

3. What is your general impression of the other members of these forums, and how much do you trust the information that is produced?

WA.com is a wonderful forum to start with but it isn't very active so I only stop in here a few times a week. I spend a lot of my free time posting over at HoFo (www.howardforums.com) where there are over 25,000 members and at least 1,000 members are online at the peak hours. It is a wonderful site and many of us who post here on WA.com also post actively at HoFo since both sites complement each other. If the answer to a certain question isn't to be found here on WA.com, then most users will register and post their questions over on HoFo [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img].

The members of both forum sites are well-informed and know what they are talking about. Most are helpful and will know the answer to a person's question most of the time. There are of course some who will post nonsense but the usage of moderators (mods) curtail that problem and both WA and HoFo have active mods who monitor the forums for spam/nonsense posts. I trust the information contained in the answers most of the time if it answers the question of how to do something on a certain phone/model or what a provider (this is a plus on HoFo as there are both manufacturer and US/Canadian provider forums on the site which are very popular.) offers etc.

Sometimes there are things revealed on both forum sites which might be rumors or not immediately verifiable but for the most part the info posted on both WA.com and HoFo is reliable and honest.

4. Also, I plan on using the release of the Samsung A530 (Verizon) as an indicative starting point, so any thoughts on the hype that preceded the release? Or anything else you can think of?

Can't comment on this one as I have never used a CDMA phone or had Verizon as a provider.

Good Luck [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img],

ShoresGuy [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[tophergannon]

try posting this at howardforums.com

[cbass2781]

Thanks to all who responded, I appreciate the help!

topher- I tried posting it on there, but I was told that that would be thread crapping, so they didn't let me... that's cool though, I got more than enough responses from this forum... thanks for the advice!