First off, as an aside, I'll be getting the Sanyo Katana from Total Call Mobile (yes I know it's expensive but yeah) soon and will be of course reviewing it here. I hope to get the black one, because in my opinion all the other colors are just as plasticky (that's why this phone is on prepaid and you don't see the metallic Razr) but black is a little more refined...
Anyway, the subject of this post: Tracfone is coming out with some new phones soon! Thanks for posting the tip, Chris; I wouldn't have noticed for awhile on Tracfone's site...heck, the Nokia 1112 still isn't out online...gues they're waiting for Nokia 1100s to sell out.
Anyway, there are three new models coming out soon. And yes, they're all GSM. :( I know it's sad for people who actually want a great signal everywhere, but for thos epeople (including me) the LG 3280 is okay for what it does...
Speaking of CDMA, the Nokia 2126 refurbished phone deal is now gone. If you want that "twofer" deal you now have to use the Nokia 1100 option.
Anyway, two of the three phone models are (whether this is a surprise or not I'll leave up to whoever wants, as it looks like LG is now a Tracfone manufacturer over Nokia) made by LG. And the third one is made by Motorola. What are the models?
- Motorola w370
- LG 1500 aka C1500
- LG CG225
First off, the Moto:
This phone looks nice and sleek, and will be Tracfone's thinnest flip to my knowledge, at a svelte 0.75 inches. Okay, it's no Razr, not even a Krzr, but it's a bit thinner than the LG phones that Tracfone also says are coming soon so hey...oh and yes it is designed to be like the Krzr so maybe, just maybe, people will mistake this phone for the Krzr (but probably not).
The phone is like its cameraphone sibling the w375 in...well...pretty much everything! There's no Bluetooth on the Tracfone model (of course!) but otherwise it has the same features as the w375, sans camera. Which include an okay-sized screen on the inside and wierd message-waiting indicatiors on the outside (though they do look cool...but I'd rather have a real external display). And the phone has web browsing (ka-ching for Tracfone...limited and not free for the moment) too, plus a two-way speakerphone...which pretty much rounds out this phone. My price prediction? $50-$70...I'd be surprised if it was cheaper, less so if it was more expensive, but it should hit around that range alongside the Motorola v176...or maybe not alongside it...maybe more expensive with its slim profile...
Next up, the LG C1500...er...1500 (this isn't such a short post after all)
Note that this phone has been discontinued by Cingular. Whereas the Motorola hasn't been released by anyone. Which means that this is a slightly older phone already, but that's okay; you don't really need a whizbang phone to take advantage of what little Tracfone ahs to offer. What the phone does have to offer is a half-duplex speakerphone, web access (or at least it should have...unless Tracfone took it out of the firmware for some wierd reason), an external caller ID display (with a color background, which is interesting, but not a real color screen, which is actually a good thing for battery life and visibility). The screen is smaller than the Motorola, and the phone is thicker, but it does have that external display (the first GSM Tracfone to have one, and the first color flip of any Tracfone breed for this feature actually). So I'm guessing it may sell in the $50-$80 range.
Lastly, but not least, the LG CG225...
Which has been continued by Cingular...er...AT&T recently but looks to be a pretty nice phone, considering it's a Tracfone. It is basic, with no color external caller ID display, and no real whizbang features, but it does raise the bar on Tracfone (rather than Razing The Bar on Cingular). It looks good in the black casing, it has a camera that is probably quite decent for its resolution (VGA), it has an external display, it has a speakerphone, it has web...what more can you want from a Tracfone at this point? Pretty much zip, so I'm thinking that this phone will also raise the bar in price...maybe $80-$100, and it'll probably stay there too. As opposed to the Motorola c261, which has halved its price in the year or so it has been out (it has been that long!?!).
Well, there you have it: Tracfone is coming out with some new phones. If anyone wants reviews on them, they have only to click on some ads and I'll be happy to oblige. Heck, if enough ads are clicked, I may give away the phones after I've reviewed them!
7 comments:
It seems there has been a pattern over the last 3 years with tracfones...they'll release about 6 GSM phone per year and only 1 CDMA phone per year, which sucks cause I use and prefer CDMA over GSM...the CDMA phone doesn't come out til the Fall (Oct. or Nov.), so I'd be surprised if a CDMA model came out before then...So look for all new tracfones coming out in the near future to be GSM only, that has seem to be the pattern as late...Thank you.
Heads Up...
The ringtones page on the TracFone website is updated and reorganized. The page looks a little different and it is now much easier to search for ringtones and graphics. Also the music tones (true tones) section is up but there is nothing under it.
Heads up...(2)
the tracfone data page also mentions something about games (awesome) and it is as i speak being uploaded with real music ringtones that are a little more expensive then polyphonic (8.97 units for my C261).
Ill keep posting with more updates and the data services.
What does CDMA and GSM mean? I have no idea!
when are these phones supposed to come out?
No one knows the exact release date on these phones...one day they're not there on the store shelves and the next day they are...I am guessing anytime now, just keep checking your stores and websites.
what do CDMA and GSM mean?
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