Don't Buy This Phone: Cingular 3125, Your Apple Mac and A Candid Review

What is it about the Cingular 3125 and Mac users? My previous posts on:
  1. The search for a Mac/Apple compatible phone, which lead to the Cingular 3125 Windows Smartphone purchase.
  2. Finding MarkSpace, software that allows you to sync a Windows-based phone with your Mac.
are the most popular posts and have the search terms that land people on my blog day after day. Since I've now been using the 3125 for almost 6 months, it's time for a more candid review. Do not read on if you're a Windows defender.

Yes, I was able to set up Pop3 email, my Hotmail account, and sync the phone with my computer (yay for being able to call any business contact any time the mood strikes). But I also found that while exciting at first, the phone has become slow and hard to navigate with ease (like any Windows computer I suppose). It has repeatedly frozen, shut itself off for no reason, and decided that a battery life of less than a day when in standby is sufficient for a phone made in 2006.

As the mom of a toddler, I rarely remember to bring the camera, yet my cell phone is always on me. What a great way to capture those moments that will probably never happen again. To explain in more detail - my son's first mutterings of "Ma ma ma ma" when he was 6 months old are captured on my old cell phone. But ah yes, apparently a phone I got for free was better able to capture and send pictures and videos than the one I paid $500.00 for. To this day, I have never been able to send a picture to anyone - another phone or an email address, with the Cingular 3125. I just get errors - and I have tried different formats, different people, sending to different phones. This shouldn't be hard people!

Do I think I could probably run some sort of clean up to make the phone work better? Could I probably spend 20 hours learning the intricate workings of the Cingular 3125? I am not hard on my phone - I keep it protected, I don't let my son throw down the stairs. I promise you all I have not abused it. I haven't downloaded ANYTHING onto this phone besides text emails. Emails with attachments I don't even open, I just delete them. Even text-only emails I've stopped reading - on that small screen I'd much rather wait until I can hop on the laptop. And the last thing I want to do right now is become a cell phone programming expert. It's just not high on my to-do list.

So what's the verdict? I give this phone a big fat "F". If you're thinking about buying it, don't. If you just purchased it and can still return it, run back to the store as quickly as possible. And if you're a Mac user, wait until the iPhone comes out. If you're not, go for the free phone or buy a blackberry.

The funniest thing of all occurred just last week. While cleaning out our car in order to sell it, I came across my trusty, free phone I had "lost". I bought the 3125 to replace this one. $500.00 later I'm kicking myself and wishing I just had the old phone back. At least the battery lasted more than 12 hours.

Comments

Dylan said…
Agreed, 100%. I like the phone, sort of- it technically syncs with the Mac, and it technically works most of the time. But the pictures and video features are useless- mine goes so far as to randomly "lose" all of my pictures. Sometimes they come back, sometimes they don't. It's useless, random, and I can't wait to get rid of it.

Too bad- I like the form factor, and I like the size. But this phone is badly put together, and badly designed. No more Windows for me.
Anonymous said…
Perhaps you got a bad phone? I have a 3125 and it has run flawlessly for me. It does have some idiosyncrasies that could use redesign but for the most part I have been able to use mine as it was advertised. Oh yeah, my battery last for roughly 5 days including usage of bluetooth( usually a battery killer) of course my actual phone calls might not be as long as yours...

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