Shouldn't unlocked cell-phones work in the US?

[dante]

I've been keeping an eye on cell-phone auctions on Ebay; particularly the Nokia 3310.

Most of the auctions say "unlocked" but also say "does not work in the US."

Any reason why it would not work?

[belac]

gsm frequency is different in US than rest of the world.  or at least it used to be. haven't had my second cup of coffee, so I have no interest in checking my facts right now :-)

[Kayla]

^ The frequency doesnt work with your carrier. You need to get a radio frequency that works with your carrier for 4g and other stuff.

[dante]

That sucks... All the older (desirable) Nokia bricks are outside the US..

[fohat.digs]

Nokia 3390 was the best cell phone I ever had. I kept using them with T-Mobile and buying them for over 10 years. Get the one with monochrome screen, and you can get a week of battery life if you don't talk too much. The only other thing it will do is text.

PS - you can get a headset too

[dante]

Nokia 3390 was the best cell phone I ever had. I kept using them with T-Mobile and buying them for over 10 years. Get the one with monochrome screen, and you can get a week of battery life if you don't talk too much. The only other thing it will do is text.

PS - you can get a headset too

Yes, monochrome is where it's at.  My current phone is a Samsung T-159 and I'll probably need to buy a few spares of those as well as those may be dying off.

FU touch screen!

[tp4tissue]

Um....  the nostalgia is Koo..  but it's not practical to txt on these phones,  and given how many people are becoming  Voice-adverse,   txting is really invaluable..

Best budget phone out IMHO is the nokia 521 or 520 on att.. 

It's pretty much fast enough for email, txt, and call..  everything else suxorz..  but you can still browse internet on wifi in a pinch, and it's still a modern browser.

+  it's only $50 on sale...  so they're basically disposable.

[dante]

Sorry - call me incompetent if you like but I can't handle touch screen.  I really need my tactile buttons!  Plus I like the way the low res monochromatic screen looked - totally serious I'm not leading you on..  I feel like I'm getting old and feeling the world leaving me behind - but I like what I like.

[tp4tissue]

Sorry - call me incompetent if you like but I can't handle touch screen.  I really need my tactile buttons!  Plus I like the way the low res monochromatic screen looked - totally serious I'm not leading you on..  I feel like I'm getting old and feeling the world leaving me behind - but I like what I like.

I suppose you're at the age group where you don't txt much..   

[dante]

Sorry - call me incompetent if you like but I can't handle touch screen.  I really need my tactile buttons!  Plus I like the way the low res monochromatic screen looked - totally serious I'm not leading you on..  I feel like I'm getting old and feeling the world leaving me behind - but I like what I like.

I suppose you're at the age group where you don't txt much..   

I text plenty - I have no issues using the buttons as opposed to the screen.

[tp4tissue]

Sorry - call me incompetent if you like but I can't handle touch screen.  I really need my tactile buttons!  Plus I like the way the low res monochromatic screen looked - totally serious I'm not leading you on..  I feel like I'm getting old and feeling the world leaving me behind - but I like what I like.

I suppose you're at the age group where you don't txt much..   

I text plenty - I have no issues using the buttons as opposed to the screen.

on the number buttons? or like a blackberry

[vun]

Sorry - call me incompetent if you like but I can't handle touch screen.  I really need my tactile buttons!  Plus I like the way the low res monochromatic screen looked - totally serious I'm not leading you on..  I feel like I'm getting old and feeling the world leaving me behind - but I like what I like.

I suppose you're at the age group where you don't txt much..   

I text more than I talk and I find touchscreen to be inferior to using the old physical buttons.
Also, when you have physical buttons you can type without even being able to see your phone, which comes in handy if you're at school or anywhere else you're supposed to keep your phone quiet and in your pocket.

Touchscreen is the worst way to interact with almost anything, only reason I have a smartphone is that a dumbphone can't do some of the things I need my phone for fairly often, like buying train tickets etc.

[belac]

Also, when you have physical buttons you can type without even being able to see your phone...

I can text without looking at my phone and its a touchscreen. as a matter of fact I'm typing this right now without looking. I don't see where physical buttons would be a help.  it's not like you're resting your thumbs on the home row or anything. it's the same muscle memory. I have used every iteration of cell phone design since bag phones and find a cell phone to actually be the best use case for a touchscreen (except maybe a tablet but that thread is elsewhere).

[Oobly]

Also, when you have physical buttons you can type without even being able to see your phone...

I can text without looking at my phone and its a touchscreen. as a matter of fact I'm typing this right now without looking. I don't see where physical buttons would be a help.  it's not like you're resting your thumbs on the home row or anything. it's the same muscle memory. I have used every iteration of cell phone design since bag phones and find a cell phone to actually be the best use case for a touchscreen (except maybe a tablet but that thread is elsewhere).

Tactile feedback for positioning your fingers? Quite important to me. I think my Nokia N900 was possible the best phone I had for messaging, with the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 a close second. Hardware QWERTY FTW. I prefer the landscape QWERTY boards to profile like BlackBerry and Nokia E72, etc. Space between the buttons helps my fat fingers find the keys.

Touchscreens are functional, but far from ideal for text input. Really hoping for a slide out landscape QWERTY back panel for Jolla to be released.