Member - Banjo (SA) replied:

I bought the Kyocera 3245 CDMA from Telstra because of feedback on this forum. Even Telstra said it was their superior CDMA performer (they were selling the lower priced Nokia at that stage) - there is some adverse comment here and there about Nokia CDMA - I have a personal contact who swore off CDMA because of his Nokia model's performance - The Kyoera is a winner - hangs onto the connection in dodgy areas quite well, while others would drop out it seems. A good runner in the city too. Whatever.........

Glenno replied:

I love my Nokia 6225. Picked it up when Telstra were giving $200 cash backs, so it made it a fair bit cheaper. I cant compare it to other CDMA's but I just love that it never drops out compared to crappy GSM. I love talking in the elevator whens others are cutting out.

And the rural coverage rocks. Went a good 1100km's west of Brisbane before I started to loose coverage for more than a minute or two.

Cheers,

Glenn.

BenSpoon replied:

Pedro,
I run those and the Kyoceras at work on remote sites, and the signal between them seems to be no more than random. last week I was getting calls and making them on my noikia 3105 when a kyocera in my other hand could not. prior to that it was the other way around- I have noticed the kois, phantoms and other kyoceras seem to get damaged more often, but a big part of that seems like "deliberate accidents" ie: a new model phone comes out and suddenly all the mill rats accidentally drop their old kyoceras into thickener tanks and are requesting the flash new model.

I went nokia because they have proven their reliability after seeing their phones run over, soaked in listerine, smashed against walls, dropped down stairs etc anbd work the next day. That, and the car kit is compatible with new and old nokias and will be for yonks to come.

Looking at the WA CDMA map, Telstra shows CDMA car kit reception for 20-30km max outside of broome.... planning on doing any out of town travelling whilst there?

cmilton54 replied:

Have phantom KE414C paid $293 from ringing Telstra direct, plus $200 bonus. Could pay out right or on monthly plan no interest.
Cheers
Charlie

Muddy 'doe (SA) replied:

Have a Nokia 6225 and have been surprised at the places where it will get signal when others struggle. Will do me.

Muddy

Richard replied:

I purchased a Nokia 6255 a couple of months ago. I is the first bluetooth CDMA phone available. Seems to work as well as my old Hyundai Gulliver which I had for about five years. It has all the fancy stuff but I got it to dowload emails to my bluetooth PDA on the fly.

Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) replied:

Peter ,, go for the 6225 Nokia for an extra 2 bucks a month, you get radio and camera and heaps more, still from Telstra and cdma.. its a better phone.. Michael

mattlobie replied:

Hey Peter,
I've got a 3205. It's replaced my old Samsung N105 (I think that's the model number). I went to Nokia mainly for extra battery life. A lot of mates of mine have digital Nokias and the battery life is unbeatable. The standby battery life is *supposed* to be up to 10 days. I dunno if I've got a dud battery or what, but mine's flat out lasting 3 days, and I don't use it that much. I should get onto Telstra about it. Haven't taken it too far out of town yet but coverage seems comparable to the Samsung. I'm a little sceptical about the lack of aerial though. I was always under the impression that CDMAs needed clear air between them and the tower and the idea of the aerial was to keep your head out of the way. Dunno.

I also considered the 6225 but ended up choosing this. Whoever said that the 3205 doesn't have a camera and a radio needs to get their facts straight because mine sure does, takes good quality pics too. It's got a colour screen too. The features were pretty comparable to the 6225 for my needs. It's got WAP, which I use a fair bit. It's got a flashlight which is actually very useful. It's two led's on the bottom of the phone. Provides more than enough light to find something in your tent or bag in the middle of the night and it doesn't seem to drain the battery very heavily.

The thing that made my mind up is that the 6225 only has a 6 month warranty on the battery, whereas the 3205 has 12 months. I'm pretty sure they use the same battery, so no idea why, but that's the go.

The 3205 is also available on the $20 plan you mentioned with the 3 minute free option. I use the 3 minutes all the time, incidently, very handy. I also talked them into giving me a lifestyle pack thingy for free - car charger, hands free and leather case. I use all three very often. Whichever model you choose, try to get one of those.

So, in conclusion, I'm happy with it apart from my battery issue. I'm sure it must be faulty. This is my third CDMA phone and it's coverage seems comparable to the last two. The last two were both Samsungs, by the way.

Let me know if you have any questions.

matt

mattlobie replied:

Also, I came across these items on eBay today. They might interest you. I haven't seen or used either so I have no idea what they're like. Might increase your coverage in the car though.

External Antenna Adaptor Cable
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=6400994106&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

7dBi Heavy Duty CDMA/GSM Antenna
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10364&item=6400408943&rd=1

matt

Mainey (WA) replied:

Peter
I have a Motorola V810 CDMA flip phone, small enough to fit into the pocket and not be noticed, about the size of a box of matches. Works well in the city and the “bush” where there is reception, has camera and internet capabilities.

As to "all you will need" is no real service here in the bush anyway, depending where you call "the bush" I suppose, so unless you want a phone you can use in the city also, why get into any contractual arrangements for a large CDMA phone.

A good CB radio is probably more useful in many ways.

Member - Jeff M (WA) replied:

We have the Motorola with a Genuine car kit and 6db Spring base antenna. It's absolutally brilliant. We got it on a $50 plan with Telstra and got the Genuine car kit for $50 on the first bill. The high gain antenna was $130 from Dick Smith.

My mate has just got one of the Nokias this week, looks the good, simple but easy to use and most likley fairly reliable. I was under the impression that even when used with a genuine car kit the Nokia's did not have the facility to utilise an external arial which may be something to watch out for. Check with nokia though, this new model might be different.

Member - Peter R (QLD) replied:

Matt, and Jeff
That part , according to a fitter here on the Gold Coast , can be used to fit the Nokia 6225 , to an outside aerial.
Also checked with Genuine Mobile Accessories in Brisbane and they sell a Patch Lead for $29 with postage at $8.50.

Mainey,
will be using the phone back in the city but take your point.

Thanks again to all for the ready assistance
Pedro