Continue with CDMA or port to GSM - Plz suggest mobiles for each

boogeyman

Adept
Hi Guys,

A family member of mine has been using Reliance CDMA since quite a long while. Now his handset is on the verge of dying. I had a look at the different options for CDMA handsets and the choice is really limited. Not looking for anything fancy. Budget is Rs. 2-3k. Can be extended to 3.5k max. Nokia/Samsung feature phone will also do. No micromax/karbonn please. Speaking of Nokia, have they completely stopped manufacturing CDMA handsets?

On the other hand, I was thinking of porting the number to GSM and then taking advantage of the wide range of handsets there. How does this option sound? In this case please suggest a cheap prepaid provider too along with the handset. Usage is about 15-20 mins of outgoing calls per day and 20-30 SMS per month.

Thanks in advance
 
I ported from reliance CDMA to reliance gsm, guess what, bad connectivity.
I prefer to stay on the CDMA part. If you want gsm, try porting to other network which is solely performs the gsm alone.
 
I ported from reliance CDMA to reliance gsm, guess what, bad connectivity.

You're the first person to say that. Reliance CDMA >>>> Reliance GSM.

JFYI, technically CDMA > GSM. The network of CDMA is much better than GSM. The multiplexing technique used in CDMA makes it superior to GSM. Thus, more is the range of a CDMA tower, eventually strong network. Also, call drops are much less than GSM.

@OP- From what I have used, Samsung makes best CDMA sets. LG are simply cr@p. I don't even know any Nokia CDMA sets. Sadly, there aren't much options available for upgrade. Though, IIRC there's an S2 for CDMA :p
 
I was using Reliance cdma for nearly 8 yrs. only last year I ported to MTS. There has never been a call drop. Even in the interior building the signal will be good. Call drop will be frequent in GSM particularly when you are travelling. This is not so in cdma as transfer from one tower to another is seemless. As suggested by JuGGa Samsung has got some good handsets from low end to fairly good ones. Spice has some decent phones.
 
You're the first person to say that. Reliance CDMA >>>> Reliance GSM.

JFYI, technically CDMA > GSM. The network of CDMA is much better than GSM. The multiplexing technique used in CDMA makes it superior to GSM. Thus, more is the range of a CDMA tower, eventually strong network. Also, call drops are much less than GSM.

@OP- From what I have used, Samsung makes best CDMA sets. LG are simply cr@p. I don't even know any Nokia CDMA sets. Sadly, there aren't much options available for upgrade. Though, IIRC there's an S2 for CDMA :p

Consider CDMA are for people who use the phone only for talking and some txt whereas the gsm are for people who does more than talking. This is how the current phones available.
 
@boogeyman in your case, your total usage seems to be 20 minutes per days. I prefer you to switch Docomo and activate the 1/2 paisa per second and get a gsm phone.
 
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I would suggest that your family member sticks to the CDMA connection as the usage you mentioned is bare minimum. Unfortunately, nokia had stopped manufacturing CDMA devices. I found one here NEW NOKIA 1508 CDMA MOBILE @ LOWEST PRICE. | eBay but it is totally overpriced. Try finding a phone at local shops/ nokia stores. I had Samsung Guru cdma phone which was my most favorite phone. The keyboard was soft and nice and music was amazing. There is some samsung mpower phone on flipkart for 2.6k. Check it out Samsung Mpower Muzic F219: Price in India, Reviews, Specification: Flipkart.com
 
You're not looking for a high end handset, so there's no reason to switch.
Just go to the Reliance showroom, and choose from whatever they have.
I'm in the process of porting out of Reliance CDMA to Airtel GSM (moving because I wanted to upgrade to a dual-sim Android and my CDMA phones battery life had come down to less than 5 minutes talk time), but I've never had a problem with my CDMA connection. I'd have stayed if there were decent mid-range handset options, but since there were none, I'm porting out.

Within 3.5k you're not going to get a great GSM handset, and by porting you're probably going to move to a network that'll have issues, so just stay with Reliance, and buy any CDMA handset available and enjoy great connectivity.
 
There are chinese or semi chinese players like Maxx, Micromaxx etc., making good handsets for the CDMA range, your choices are limited due to the budget :p
I suggest you to raise your budget a bit and look for deals on ebay, alternatively you can import phone from USA and get your number activated on it.

CDMA emits lower radiation btw
 
AFAIK there are some Samsung Corby models which you might give a look once. They should b around the 5k price mark. Also cheaper cdma models are quite useless in terms of features so ask the man to upgrade and get a better phone
Sent from my SGH-i917 using Board Express
 
Thank you all soo much for your replies.

You're the first person to say that. Reliance CDMA >>>> Reliance GSM.

JFYI, technically CDMA > GSM. The network of CDMA is much better than GSM. The multiplexing technique used in CDMA makes it superior to GSM. Thus, more is the range of a CDMA tower, eventually strong network. Also, call drops are much less than GSM.

@OP- From what I have used, Samsung makes best CDMA sets. LG are simply cr@p. I don't even know any Nokia CDMA sets. Sadly, there aren't much options available for upgrade. Though, IIRC there's an S2 for CDMA :p

The only option I see in budget is: Samsung Mpower Muzic F219: Price in India, Reviews, Specification: Flipkart.com
I was asking about Nokia since they dont scare techno-phobes :D

I was using Reliance cdma for nearly 8 yrs. only last year I ported to MTS. There has never been a call drop. Even in the interior building the signal will be good. Call drop will be frequent in GSM particularly when you are travelling. This is not so in cdma as transfer from one tower to another is seemless. As suggested by JuGGa Samsung has got some good handsets from low end to fairly good ones. Spice has some decent phones.

Like I mentioned above, this seems to be the only decent option: Samsung Mpower Muzic F219: Price in India, Reviews, Specification: Flipkart.com

boogeyman in your case, your total usage seems to be 20 minutes per days. I prefer you to switch Docomo and activate the 1/2 paisa per second and get a gsm phone.

Hmm, will give it a look-see

I would suggest that your family member sticks to the CDMA connection as the usage you mentioned is bare minimum. Unfortunately, nokia had stopped manufacturing CDMA devices. I found one here NEW NOKIA 1508 CDMA MOBILE @ LOWEST PRICE. | eBay but it is totally overpriced. Try finding a phone at local shops/ nokia stores. I had Samsung Guru cdma phone which was my most favorite phone. The keyboard was soft and nice and music was amazing. There is some samsung mpower phone on flipkart for 2.6k. Check it out Samsung Mpower Muzic F219: Price in India, Reviews, Specification: Flipkart.com

Yea, thats the only option I see as well. Thanks

You're not looking for a high end handset, so there's no reason to switch.
Just go to the Reliance showroom, and choose from whatever they have.
I'm in the process of porting out of Reliance CDMA to Airtel GSM (moving because I wanted to upgrade to a dual-sim Android and my CDMA phones battery life had come down to less than 5 minutes talk time), but I've never had a problem with my CDMA connection. I'd have stayed if there were decent mid-range handset options, but since there were none, I'm porting out.

Within 3.5k you're not going to get a great GSM handset, and by porting you're probably going to move to a network that'll have issues, so just stay with Reliance, and buy any CDMA handset available and enjoy great connectivity.

The reason why the budget is so low is since he only wants a simple phone. He's old and touch screens aren't his cup of tea. He wont even use the radio/mp3 player on it. It will be strictly for calls/occassional SMS. The only reason why I'm thinking of porting is that for 3.5k if you have 10 decent CDMA handsets, for the same amount you have 100 in GSM.

AFAIK there are some Samsung Corby models which you might give a look once. They should b around the 5k price mark. Also cheaper cdma models are quite useless in terms of features so ask the man to upgrade and get a better phone
Sent from my SGH-i917 using Board Express

No touch screens :(

There are chinese or semi chinese players like Maxx, Micromaxx etc., making good handsets for the CDMA range, your choices are limited due to the budget :p
I suggest you to raise your budget a bit and look for deals on ebay, alternatively you can import phone from USA and get your number activated on it.

CDMA emits lower radiation btw

I'll check out the Samsung one above. If it doesnt suit him, I'll consider the Micromax, Karbonn, etc ones
 
Alright guys, I've more or less decided to port to GSM. Would be getting a Nokia 100 most probably since he seems happy with it.

1 question, is it possible to copy the contacts from the CDMA handset to Nokia GSM handset using the SIM? I know that the CDMA SIM will not work on the GSM handset. My question is whether a CDMA SIM can be used to just copy the contacts on to a GSM phone?
 
No the cdma sim cannot be used in a GSM phone even to copy contacts. I will still say stick with cdma, I have ported to GSM and regretted it. Its not like you need 3g or anything. Stay cdma
Sent from my GT-I8350 using Board Express
 
What was the previous handset?
Sent from my SGH-i917 using Board Express
LG RD 3530 - http://www.cdmahandsets.com/reliance-handset-lg-3530.html



---------- Post added at 01:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:01 PM ----------

No the cdma sim cannot be used in a GSM phone even to copy contacts. I will still say stick with cdma, I have ported to GSM and regretted it. Its not like you need 3g or anything. Stay cdma
Sent from my GT-I8350 using Board Express

Man! It would be a pain to transfer 400+ contacts :unsure: . Might have to stick with CDMA just for this reason alone :(
 
How about getting a SIM card reader? AFAIK, those can read both, GSM and CDMA UIMs too.

BTW, Ill check and find out, i have a Reliance CDMA card which has been ported out to Vodafone. Shall plug it into a Samsung phone and check :)

---------- Post added at 10:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:25 PM ----------

Checked a Reliance CDMA card with a Samsung Guru E1410. It can read all the contacts from the SIM. The number has already been ported out.
 
How about getting a SIM card reader? AFAIK, those can read both, GSM and CDMA UIMs too.

BTW, Ill check and find out, i have a Reliance CDMA card which has been ported out to Vodafone. Shall plug it into a Samsung phone and check :)

---------- Post added at 10:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:25 PM ----------

Checked a Reliance CDMA card with a Samsung Guru E1410. It can read all the contacts from the SIM. The number has already been ported out.

Thanks for that, mate. I did some R&D and figured out another way. I found this site: LGMobiles.com Now it has PC suite for RD 3530 and I was able to connect this phone to my PC using my own Optimus 2X's data cable. So now I have the contacts in a CSV and I can import them to my Optimus 2X. From there, I would be able to copy them in the new GSM SIM card and then voila, onto the new phone :yahoo:

Of course, if the CDMA card is readable in the new GSM handset as you found out, I'll have much fewer hoops to jump through :D
 
Thanks for that, mate. I did some R&D and figured out another way. I found this site: LGMobiles.com Now it has PC suite for RD 3530 and I was able to connect this phone to my PC using my own Optimus 2X's data cable. So now I have the contacts in a CSV and I can import them to my Optimus 2X. From there, I would be able to copy them in the new GSM SIM card and then voila, onto the new phone :yahoo:

Of course, if the CDMA card is readable in the new GSM handset as you found out, I'll have much fewer hoops to jump through :D

Upload the contacts to Google, if possible. That will ensure some redundancy.

As for USB, I did some googling, but was short on time, so skipped it. :p
 
suggest a cheap prepaid provider
The best plan you can get is from Vodafone.. I have been using the plan since one year.. Port to Vodafone with 43 Rs for 3 months plan.. This is available only if you port from other carrier.. Plan is you recharge for 43 Rs and get 3 months validity.. (Have to recharge again for 43 after 3 months to continue the plan, don't forget).. All local calls including landline: 1 paisa per 2 second (30 paisa per minute).. All STD calls including landline: 2 paisa per 3 second (40 paisa per minute).. Daily 100 SMS free ( No extra charge).. No rental no other cost.. Works like a charm.. Main thing is per 2 second pulse.. If you call somebody and talk for just 10 second, only 5 Paisa gets cut, whereas in normal plans you lose whole 40/50 paisa.. Hold on for a while before buying X1-01.. My friends have it and have some problems with it.. Will ask them in detail and post..
 
How about getting a SIM card reader? AFAIK, those can read both, GSM and CDMA UIMs too.


BTW, Ill check and find out, i have a Reliance CDMA card which has been ported out to Vodafone. Shall plug it into a Samsung phone and check :)

---------- Post added at 10:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:25 PM ----------

Checked a Reliance CDMA card with a Samsung Guru E1410. It can read all the contacts from the SIM. The number has already been ported out.
strange, it did not work with my micromax, anyway good for the OP
 
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