[BitPim-devel] current phone support

[The Doctor]

Hi,

I'm a happy bitpim user. I'm currently using a Sprint VGA1000 phone and am
rapidly approaching the date upon which I become entitled to get a new phone
on the cheap from SPrint. I somewhat concerned by the fact that the phone
support list on bitpim.org appears to be horribly out of date. I also know
from experience with other phpnes of family members that newer Samsung clam
phones like the A740 and A940 seem to work reasonably well using the VGA1000
setting. I have a few questions.

1) is there any more up to date grid of supported phones and features
somewhere that I can look at?

2) some of the newer phones appear to be dual digital band only. I cannot
seem to figure out exactly what this means on the Sprint national coverage
map. Can anyone interpret that? I do not want to be on a highway in the
middle of nowhere and have no reception. So far the VGA1000 has been pretty
good about that.

3) If there is no other support grid, some of the phones I'm considering are
the LG LX-350, the Samsung MM-A800, the Samsung MM-A900, the Samsung
MM-A920, and the Samsung SPH-A640

4) Some of these phones mention a USB cable that comes with. I assume this
cable is what bitpim would need.

5) What is the difference between J2ME platform and BREW?

Any experience anyone has with these phone would be gratly appreciated. If
it is not allow to have these discussions pollute this forum, please reply
directly to me.

Thank you.

[Stephen Wood]

Post by The Doctor
1) is there any more up to date grid of supported phones and features
somewhere that I can look at?

The grid at http://www.bitpim.org/help/phones-featuressupported.htm is
generated from the source code, so is up to date.

Post by The Doctor
2) some of the newer phones appear to be dual digital band only. I cannot
seem to figure out exactly what this means on the Sprint national coverage
map.

I think it just means that if you are in a place with no Sprint service, you
can only do digital roaming. Sprint does make terrible maps!

3) If there is no other support grid, some of the phones I'm considering are

Post by The Doctor
the LG LX-350, the Samsung MM-A800, the Samsung MM-A900, the Samsung
MM-A920, and the Samsung SPH-A640

My family will be getting new Sprint phones soon. We'll probably get at
least one Katana (Sanyo 6600) and possible an A640. That means I'll
probably be able to add phonebook support for those phones.

5) What is the difference between J2ME platform and BREW?
I'm not the one to answer this, but I'll say that unless you are going to
change carriers, you needn't care because Sprint is J2ME only. You may see
people here talking about the BREW file system on Sprint phones, but that is
really just an historical terminalogy. When the file system support in
BitPim was developed, the phones used were BREW phones.

A practical difference is that anyone can freely develop J2ME applications
and load them onto Sprint phones (using Vision), while BREW applications
need the permission of the carrier and probably an expensive developers kit.

Any experience anyone has with these phone would be gratly appreciated. If

Post by The Doctor
it is not allow to have these discussions pollute this forum, please reply
directly to me.

As I'll be upgrading soon, I don't mind hearing some opionions on new Sprint
phones. I want camera phones that are not Powervision. Reception,
mechanical reliability, and coolness are the important factors. I will try
to add BitPim support for the phones I get.

Stephen

[The Doctor]

FWIW, I've been comparing phones using
http://www.mobiledia.com/phones/samsung/sph-a640.html. You can alter the
manufacturer and model to find most phones.

I'm looking for something as reliable as the VGA1000 has been. What I would
like in upgrades are Bluetooth ( so I can use a wireless headset), an
external display, a fairly large internal display, more memory, a better
camera, and minimally the same range of reception. I imagine I would lose
the Analog Roam mode of operation if I choose a Dual Band Digital phone, but
I rarely see that now and it's not very useable anyway, so maybe I can live
without it.

I have a family contract with Sprint and as I look at their site I can't
figure out if I can get a Nextel phone and keep my current contract. Does
anyone know if that works? Nextel phones appear to have a user accessible
GPS that sounds like a neat feature.

Also, if phone has Bluetooth, can that interface be used by bitpim instead
of a cable interface? What sort of features does Bluetooth provide beyond
the wireless headset?

Post by The Doctor
1) is there any more up to date grid of supported phones and features

Post by The Doctor
somewhere that I can look at?

The grid at http://www.bitpim.org/help/phones-featuressupported.htm is
generated from the source code, so is up to date.

Post by The Doctor
2) some of the newer phones appear to be dual digital band only. I
cannot seem to figure out exactly what this means on the Sprint national
coverage map.

I think it just means that if you are in a place with no Sprint service,
you can only do digital roaming. Sprint does make terrible maps!
3) If there is no other support grid, some of the phones I'm considering

Post by The Doctor
are the LG LX-350, the Samsung MM-A800, the Samsung MM-A900, the Samsung
MM-A920, and the Samsung SPH-A640

My family will be getting new Sprint phones soon. We'll probably get at
least one Katana (Sanyo 6600) and possible an A640. That means I'll
probably be able to add phonebook support for those phones.
5) What is the difference between J2ME platform and BREW?
I'm not the one to answer this, but I'll say that unless you are going to
change carriers, you needn't care because Sprint is J2ME only. You may see
people here talking about the BREW file system on Sprint phones, but that is
really just an historical terminalogy. When the file system support in
BitPim was developed, the phones used were BREW phones.
A practical difference is that anyone can freely develop J2ME applications
and load them onto Sprint phones (using Vision), while BREW applications
need the permission of the carrier and probably an expensive developers kit.
Any experience anyone has with these phone would be gratly appreciated.

Post by The Doctor
If it is not allow to have these discussions pollute this forum, please
reply directly to me.

As I'll be upgrading soon, I don't mind hearing some opionions on new
Sprint phones. I want camera phones that are not Powervision. Reception,
mechanical reliability, and coolness are the important factors. I will try
to add BitPim support for the phones I get.
Stephen

[·· ħþø ··]

Post by The Doctor
I'm looking for something as reliable as the VGA1000 has been. What I
would like in upgrades are Bluetooth ( so I can use a wireless headset),
an external display, a fairly large internal display, more memory, a
better camera, and minimally the same range of reception. I imagine I
would lose the Analog Roam mode of operation if I choose a Dual Band
Digital phone, but I rarely see that now and it's not very useable
anyway, so maybe I can live without it.

I've heard good things about the A900 -- been looking at getting one
myself. Only thing is is that it tends to have skimpy battery life, so
I'd invest in a car charger as well.

Post by The Doctor
I have a family contract with Sprint and as I look at their site I can't
figure out if I can get a Nextel phone and keep my current contract.
Does anyone know if that works? Nextel phones appear to have a user
accessible GPS that sounds like a neat feature.

I've never heard anything about mixing phone types in the same plan;
give customer service a call and ask, I guess. As for GPS, several
Sprint phones have the GPS feature, but it looks to me more like a
novelty than a viable tool.

Post by The Doctor
Also, if phone has Bluetooth, can that interface be used by bitpim
instead of a cable interface? What sort of features does Bluetooth
provide beyond the wireless headset?

Bluetooth-enabled computers and PDA's can communicate with your phone,
and I recall reading something in these archives about people using BT
with BitPim. I would think that as long as you have the problem driver,
you're golden.

[David P. Zimmerman]

Post by The Doctor
Hi,
I'm a happy bitpim user. I'm currently using a Sprint VGA1000 phone
and am rapidly approaching the date upon which I become entitled to
get a new phone on the cheap from SPrint. I somewhat concerned by the
fact that the phone support list on bitpim.org appears to be horribly
out of date. I also know from experience with other phpnes of family
members that newer Samsung clam phones like the A740 and A940 seem to
work reasonably well using the VGA1000 setting. I have a few
questions.
1) is there any more up to date grid of supported phones and features
somewhere that I can look at?

This question has been answered else where.

Post by The Doctor
2) some of the newer phones appear to be dual digital band only. I
cannot seem to figure out exactly what this means on the Sprint
national coverage map. Can anyone interpret that? I do not want to
be on a highway in the middle of nowhere and have no reception. So
far the VGA1000 has been pretty good about that.

Normally, if you want analog capability you need to have at least a
smidgen of an external antenna. My LX350 has that smidgen and has the
ability to access both digital and analog service.

Post by The Doctor
3) If there is no other support grid, some of the phones I'm
considering are the LG LX-350, the Samsung MM-A800, the Samsung
MM-A900, the Samsung MM-A920, and the Samsung SPH-A640

My LX350 is NOT supported by bitpim except in the fact that you can use
bitpim to read from its files system. You can not write to the phone's
file system using bitpim. This read capability allows me to pull
pictures I have take on the phone off onto my computer. That makes the
camera feature of the phone usable.

Post by The Doctor
4) Some of these phones mention a USB cable that comes with. I assume
this cable is what bitpim would need.

This was a marketing/advertising blunder. That cable they are talking
about is provided when you get their system for printing out pictures.
It does not come with the phone. USB cables are available, I got mine
from one of the many dealers on EBay. Since no software completely
supports the LX350 it is not usually listed but the cable for the LG
VI125 is the same one as for the LX350.

I think it was asked if Bluetooth can be used by Bitpim. I will tell you
that on the LX350 it CAN NOT be used. The LX350's bluetooth works fine
for headset usage and you can transfer address book entries by it but
that is all. There is a rumor that you might be able to use bluetooth on
the LX350 for wireless modem operation but I have not confirmed this. I
know that you CAN NOT transfer pictures, or ringers via bluetooth on the
LX350.

Post by The Doctor
5) What is the difference between J2ME platform and BREW?

Someone earlier said that Sprint uses the J2ME file system but on my
LX350 it says brew in part of the file systems's structure. I do not
know if this definitely means the LX350 uses brew or not as this phone
is not supported by bitpim at this time. As I said earlier bitpim does
allow read access to the LX350's file system. This is because bitpim
supports most CDMA phones for file system access., the LX350 is CDMA.

Post by The Doctor
Any experience anyone has with these phone would be gratly
appreciated. If it is not allow to have these discussions pollute
this forum, please reply directly to me.
Thank you.
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