[geeks] a cell phone that doesn't suck

[der Mouse]

> It was a phone designed for use as a phone, and that's what I want to
> replace it.

Well, I don't know how suitable it might be for your purposes, but I
use a Nokia 5190, and part of the reason is that it's primarily a
phone.  It has other things - a basic clock, for example - but they are
very much ancillary to its principal function as a device to place and
receive voice calls.

You won't find one new - NOS, maaaybe - and it's large by today's cell
standards.  But I like a phone that at least approaches the size and
weight of a traditional wired phone handset (I have a Nokia 3100b; it
is definitely smaller than I like).  And while they can be
provider-crippled, they are comparatively easy to de-cripple, or find
pre-de-crippled.  It is GSM, though, which limits your provider choice
(and North American GSM only, no European-band GSM - the 190 part of
the model number appears to mean 1900MHz band; there's a European
version called the 5180).

Even if you want one, though, where to get it is another question.  I
got my first one from the guy I took over the service from.  After I
ran mine through the laundry by mistake, a friend gave me his, which
got knocked around a busy street for an hour or two of traffic after it
fell out of his bag; it worked if you didn't need to look at it but
didn't work for anything requiring the display (you could answer calls,
you could dial blind, but the display was toast).  I swapped my display
onto his phone and no joy.  A friend of mine who ebays found a 5190 in
a batch with a couple other phones for me; I swapped displays and
voila! a working 5190.  Then, the plastic ears that hold the battery on
were worn/chipped enough that the phone kept turning itself off in my
pocket.  So I slathered epoxy on them, then edited them down with a
pocketknife and dremel.  I've now got a very satisfactory phone. :)

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