Great article....
Really informative...

The article does nothing for people unless they are a Cingular or T-Mobile customer, which my company is not (phones cannot "cross" from one provider to another).

It would be much better to include a list of all major wireless carriers with the best one or two products from each and then compare them to each other. You would provide much better value this way.

I agree with Chris. Someday we will be able to use any phone on our preferred wireless provider. It took several decades however to get to that point with wired networks. Why should the wireless service providers dictate which phone I can use on their network!

Samsung’s Blackjack; My computer in My Hand

The time has finally come! A computer, wireless network independent!
This little computer has met and exceeded my technical appetite. WIFI ready and network addressable! Why should executives have to buy special additional network specific device service plans? Your cellphone/pda/music device/remote computer should operate just like your laptop. The Blackjack is the first device I have purchased ( $300!) which gives me the ability carry my laptop in my pocket and remain connected to the database.

When you get this baby, you might forget that it also send’s and receives voice calls!

Joseph A. Montione
Founder: GTOpendatabase L.L.C.
A Solutions Provider

And where is the iPhone on this list?

This article takes a *very* narrow view of what a "smartphone" is. Where's the review of the Nokia E70? It's certainly the best phone they've made in the last few years.

And by the way- phones certainly *can* cross from one provider to another. Any GSM phone can be used on any GSM network, as long as it's not locked- and it's easy to unlock a phone.

Wireless service providers underwrite much of the cost of a device which is offset by your subscription. Go to any wireless software provider retail outlet and ask them how much the device you want will cost without a service plan...be prepared for sticker shock, that $99 phone with a plan may retail at over $300 without a plan. Or go and price an unlocked phone from a third party retail outlet. Wireless service providers perform other work on the network itself and quality assurance, safety and other tests on the devices on their networks. All this costs money. As in oil and the price of a barrel, there is more to the cost of a device than consumers realize.

Now, as someone suggested, if you want to buy a device that will work on any / all networks, you should talk to the handset manufacturer, tell them you want a smart phone with worldwide access, an 8-band GPRS/GSM/CDMA 2G/3G/4G etc. phone that will work on any/all networks for around $500 retail. They will probably laugh at you!

The Nokia device may be the best in the review and have a global phone, but what good is all that if I cannot buy one in my home state of South Florida? Go to the Nokia website and try Miami and Palm Beach. It is simply not available. An odd situation for a "Global" device.

I went to Nokia's online store to see if I could purchase an E62 using a Miami, Fla., mailing address. I typed in a Miami zip code (33130), and went through the various steps all the way to where I'd enter in payment card information.

As far as I can tell, you can purchase an E62 in Miami, FL.

Simply visit the Nokia online store's E62 page, type in the Florida zip code and follow the purchasing steps. It worked for me, though I did not enter payment card information to complete the last step.

AS

Good article....

Chris, I have the Palm Treo 750 and use Verizon Wireless. It is a great device.