P990i gets FCC approval

[666joe]

Finally its here.....

Nearly a year late but loaded with features - I have high hopes

http://www.mobilewhack.com/reviews/sony_p990i_approved_for_the_usa.html

[KeepItClean]

.

No quadband/north american version??:eek:

I was a huge fan of the old 910, and am eagerly anticipating this handset to be announced stateside.

[jayesh]

ahh well let the lack of 850 complaints start

[carcomptoy]

LOL well you can't help it...it is unfair that we are basically forgotten most of the time by the manufacturers. How would you like being left out and tossed to the corner, eh?;)

[BT@HOME]

How widespread is the need for 850? It was only a few years ago that many people "needed" a triband phone for "world" coverage. Now it appears that 850 is the one to be requested, and 1900 is just expected. So how much of the country can you cover with just a 1900 band phone?

[crazyze]

Americans should have been more keen on cell phones 8ish years ago :p

[jayesh]

i think they were... their regulating authorities decided to go their own way .... thats about it.

[jayesh]

from what ive heard unless u are on t-mobile and barring the main metros just 1900 is not good enough. i recall the amount of complaints against t68i on the rf a fone i used for 2 yrs nearly without issues and had zero complaints against

[Thai]

Jayesh is right. If you don't use T-Mobile, then the second you step out of a main metro area, you need 850.

But what sucks is that T-Mobile's coverage in increasing. But they are only increasing because of roaming partners and renting towers for areas outside the metro. And those towers are 850.

I can't use the majority of TMO's new towers because they are now adopting the 850 standard.

I'm a TMO/Verizon dealer and have been told that they are trying to make sure all their phones are triband, if not quadband. Except the Sidekick, of course.

[crazyze]

But why did Americans decide to regulate in an odd way? Is there something about the 850 that makes it vastly superior over 1900. Because in the end it has meant the US have to lag behind the rest.

Also by now they should realise the problem with 850, why do they not heavily promote 1900 towers?

[carcomptoy]

The thing is, 850 has greater range and so it's easier to provide coverage with 850 as it covers more ground than 1900, meaning less tower density meaning less maintenance. And I think 850 was being used for something else before only less than a decade ago, so they only just started using 850 this decade.

Even with Cingular, I think having a 1900-only phone will suffice as like jayesh said most of the 850 usage is constricted to rural areas, although I think TheZodiac had said that when T-Mobile started partnering up for 850 roaming, some of their 1900 licenses were swapped in metro areas, meaning that there might be 850 use within a metro area. But no one knows for sure.

[Thai]

There are 850 towers in town just to help cover up and weak/dead spots.

The reason 850 was used was because it was available. THe FCC hadn't clear up any other bandwidth for mass consumption. Blame the regulations for which bandwidth we get to use.

[jayesh]

oh well from what i have seen there will be more quadbands down the line from nokia and company so i guess it will become a moot point in some time like it did with tribands

The 850/1900 3g problem is another cropper altogether

[DarkElf]

finally..just couldnt wait anymore..

[carcomptoy]

The 850/1900 3g problem is another cropper altogetherUGH don't me get started:rolleyes:

Hopefully in the 3G Auction T-Mobile will get the golden 2100MHz, but I won't get into that here.

[crazyze]

UGH don't me get started:rolleyes:

Hopefully in the 3G Auction T-Mobile will get the golden 2100MHz, but I won't get into that here.


When are the contracts up for grabs?

[Arne Anka]

The thing is, 850 has greater range and so it's easier to provide coverage with 850 as it covers more ground than 1900, meaning less tower density meaning less maintenance.

You could have used the 900 band as the rest of the world and got rid of the problem you have today. But 900 is reserved for the military in US as I understand it. Correct ?

Now it seem you are going to have same problem with the 3G as with the GSM since the band used in US is not the same as in the rest of the world (again).

The history seem to repeate itself be it TV, mobile phones or other telecommunication standards. US always seem to prefer to go their own way (unfortenately) for one or other reason (its really pitty).

[Thai]

Well if the rest of the world had told us that they were gonna use 900, then maybe we wouldn't have reserved it for the military!

:P

[carcomptoy]

Also weren't cordless home phones on 900MHz too?

[Arne Anka]

Well if the rest of the world had told us that they were gonna use 900, then maybe we wouldn't have reserved it for the military!


The 900 band has been used for mobile telephony since mid 70:tis. Initially it was used for analog mobile telephony (no widely speared) and later it was adopted to be used for GSM (standardisation started 1982).

With other words, the problem has not been lack of knowledge or time to adjust, but rather the will to do so.

Also weren't cordless home phones on 900MHz too?

Those use the 2 GHz band (same as WIFI and Bluetooth).

[DarkElf]

and we never get to use the sidekick....

[carcomptoy]

Those use the 2 GHz band (same as WIFI and Bluetooth).Now they do, but before they were only 900MHz:cool:

[Thai]

I was kidding.

[KeepItClean]

Upon further inspection, 1900 seems to suffice in the US for most major locations (NYC, South florida, LA, Chicago), however, in smaller areas the 900/850 bands dominate.

For example I have a friend who goes to school at the university of iowa and his triband phone does not work there. (Formerly lived in California with no problems accross the entire state).

So i guess it depends on the user. I couldn't think of a time i would require use of 850/900 band.

My question is that, hypothetically, if i had a quadband phone, would my signal strength increase? Currently i have a triband w/ no complaints w/ signal.

[Thai]

I'm from Des Moines, IA. I have a bunch of friends in Iowa City (where the University of Iowa is), and go up there all the time. It's a two hour drive, but it's worth it for the partying.

Anywho, I've used my M600i and my K750i (among other phones) up there with barely any problems at all. Most of my phones are 900/1800/1900, so I must be using the 1900MHz towers. The times I've had trouble are when I'm in some of the older, bigger buildings.

Who's your friend's carrier? I use T-Mobile.

BTW, your signal strength might get better if you have both 850 and 1900. Since no towers use 900 or 1800, it's useless to have those two bands. Having quadband wouldn't matter. Having dual band (850/1900) would, however.

[carcomptoy]

He knows that, but I think he's referring to having the additional 850MHz.

[Thai]

My bad.