Nokia 8290 + accesories for $45 otd with 1 yr plan at pac bell.

[joecool222111]

eh

 

[AtriumBruin]

i heard rumors that the 8260, (not the 8290) had worse reception than teh 6160 for ATT. does anyone know about this?

 

[goober529]

thx a lot anandtech and rol! =) i juss got my 8290 in monterey park this weekend for $40 OTD (although i didn't get an add'l faceplate for free.. the aftermarket one) but it's still a good deal for me! i was gonna get the family plan but i discovered that the phone would be over a $100 instead of $40.. does anyone know why it would make such a difference?? oh well.. no complaints here though.. i'm happy =)

 

[DannyLove]

i called the guy and he's located at 608 N. Atlantic Blvd. I'm heading there tomorrow, i just noticed that I'm 3 miles away from this guy, sweeeeeeeeet!!!!!

thanks for the original post ROL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Danny

 

[dc]

i'm interested.

dannylove, is he still offering the same stuff for $45?

 

[DannyLove]

i found some reviews regarding such issues AtriumBruin
from http://www.epinions.com
Reception--here was my big problem, perhaps due to the absence of an external antenna (8800 users?). I do not believe it is Cell One, because other folks I know with the service on 51/61s get it just about anywhere. The signal strength inside any building is rarely more than two bars, and often one, which makes outgoing calls difficult and most incoming calls uncatchable (going right to voicemail). This area, in my opinion is where the 7868 shines. Although plenty of places have bad reception all around, the Verizon Startac 7868 gets me clear calls in a stairwell and just about anywhere else. I'll eat the 10c long distance for a phone that makes and takes all calls.
Recommend to other potential buyers? No

The biggest problem that I had with this phone would be its reception. I have a quality long distance plan and am able to make and receive calls easily usually with this plan. I noticed that with this phone; however, that I was often unable to make or take calls when I was in enclosed rooms or spaces. The power levels weren't high enough from the phone's reception. Once I stepped outside, the power quickly came back and receiving calls was a breeze. This is not good for me though because I am often inside and it is imperative that I receive all calls while indoors. Most of these missed calls were forwarded to voice mail, which is nice, but this is still no substitute for missing an important call.

you be the judge

 

[? (=Þ)]

The thing is, you hear everything from eopinions. People who say one product/service sucks, and then others who say its great... I only go there to hear about the lil quirks and flaws about a product. Other people have claimed great reception, equal to a 6190.

 

[dragonash]

For NYC:
Free Nokia 8290 phone with one year service contract with Voicestream.
There are a few stores in NYC Manhatten Chinatown and in Flushing that are giving away free Nokia 8290 with any plan over $39.99 with Voicestream.
The phone comes with hands free kit and two face plates, blue and red.
No activation free required.

 

[DannyLove]

well, im not generalizing the whole idea that reception simply sucks on the 8260, im just clearing out that some rumors do exist, and from actual customers. By the way, i am pointing out the lil quirks and flaws about the product, and that just maybe be bad reception due to an absence of an external antenna. I dont know. I might just get the 8690 or +

dc: The first question i asked him was if he can get me all this stuff for $45 bucks and he said, yes. He seemed extremely busy, so he asked for my number to call back so he can answer my questions, but of course he never did, so i'm going down there sometime this week, maybe Wed, or Tues.

 

[neonitto]

ANybody know of any good deals on thie phone with pacbell service in the San Francisco BAy area?

Thanks

 

[abracadabra1]

how good is packbell anyways?
decent?

 

[abracadabra1]

any place i can find reviews on these babies?

 

[Ranger X]

Anyone from the Orange County area in SoCal? I don't want an LA number .. I was considering this deal but it may be too much of a hassle.

 

[rol]

For those of you in the bay area, you can sign up in LA for the phone and use it up here, and then switch to a norcal # after 6 months.

 

[w3b]

A friend told me that sometimes the frequency of your phone doesn't exactly match your provider's. This problem started on the 88xx series phones. Perhaps you can try taking your phone to the provider and check if the frequency matches. And this condition can also drain the battery (because of the internal antenna).

Anyway, I haven't actually confirmed it. So please correct me if I'm wrong .

 

[cHiCkEnNuGGeT]

darn!! i bought my 8290 for $130... i knew something wasn't cool with that. don't you hate it when you buy something, and see a much better deal the next day? argh.

 

[rol]

Ranger X

you can go to Little Saigon and run a pricematch on this deal. That aint too far from you- and if you dont know, Little Saigon is around Westminster-- Exit the 22 around Bolsa.m Just find any asian place and you should get a pretty similar deal!

 

[jarrick]

goober529: how did you sign up for another phone if you're already a pacbell customer? i would really like to know because i'm currently 6 months into my pacbell contract and i want a new phone.

jarrick

 

[goober529]

jarrick: well.. i really hope that this answers your question.. depending on how good your credit history is.. you can open another account under the same name.. (for me, i can open up to three... some people can have four even) the problem is that you will have two cell phone accounts.. unless you know of someone (family?) that want to take over your other one... what i did was have my little sister take over my original cell phone plan and i am paying for the new one.. otherwise.. if you want your original number and don't want to get another account, you will have to pay like $100 instead of $40... the $40 OTD deal is only for new accounts.. so it is not necessary to be a new subscriber to pac bell.. =)

 

[dude]

I have 6 phones on my account. I would have 7 but one of my friends transfered one of the phones to his own account.

Nothing to it really. If your credit looks somewhat good, they'll give it to you. If it's great, they'll let you put more phones on the account. Be careful though, make sure you can trust this "friend" 100% to cough the $ for the bill, and that they won't make $1000 calls every month.

 

[jarrick]

goober529: thanks for the info. i talked to the person at the store and they said i would have to pay $299 for the phone if i just want to change. all my friends already have phones so there's no one i could dump the phone off on. oh well, looks like i'll be keeping this thing for the next 6 months.

btw, anyone else having problems with their free nokia 6190s from monterey park? my lcd display shows funny characters sometimes, the backlight flickers, and the buttons don't always work well. i have a couple of friends who just got their phones a couple of months ago and now their mics/speakers don't work. they have to use their hands free kits just to talk on the phone at all.

jarrick

 

[dude]

Bring your phone to a shop, they'll fix the lcd problem easily. It's loose. needs a new piece of foam padding. Or you can open it up yourself and cut some hard drive packaging foam and put it in there. that's the same exact problem with the earpiece/microphone.

The keypad needs to be taken out and cleaned with soft damp cloth or it's shifted over too much and the membrane wont make good contact to the circuit board.

 

[goober529]

hmmm.. jarrick.. i still have my old nokia 6190 from last year and i also got it from monterey park (although from another location nearby) and it works just fine still.. except my headset doesn't work as good (gets loose)... btw.. thx dude for the info...

 

[Deciple]

hehe. thats coo .. hmm but my friend got his 8290 for free.. u just gotta know how to talk to someone. im gonna get my 8890 for $50 ... but yeah. if u have any questions let me know.. don't u love free mobile to mobile~~~~~~

 

[dude]

If the headset is loose, it's because of the little metal clips on the headset itself.

If you look closely, you'll see little hook like things on the headset. they are just getting bent out of shape or getting worn out. It's noral. Just get a new headset. The nokia ones are superior to the aftermarket ones.