When I eBay'd for the second version of the N-Gage, it was new and the type of phone that has the pre-paid minutes. I obviously needed it for the book, not the phone part, since I already had one. It has some amazing and a large number of games for it (among several disasters), but the device itself is a bit too underpowered and weird to work as a game machine. I like though how Nokia has continued to release games for it and is committed to the N-Gage platform, but integrating it into their regular phones going forward (as it should have been in the first place). I obviously can't recommend it over a PSP or Nintendo DS, but it is the most recent decent competitor. Anyway, it's an average cell phone and an average game machine, so unless you get the one where you add your own pre-paid minutes, I wouldn't bother (though software is dirt cheap for it these days, especially on eBay, save for the new stuff, like Civilization; the downside is that support in the game stores is now dropped).
As for the Cingular 8125, you talk like any other cell phone. At the top is the ear speaker and the mouth piece is a tiny hole at the bottom. Typical. The one thing I don't like is you press your face to the touch screen side, so you can get a bit of cheek grease (hey, I'm Italian) on it. Maybe your "t zones" are not quite as bad as mine. ;-) It comes with stereo ear buds as a hands free talking and music listening thing, or, you can do what I do and just use a decent wireless bluetooth ear piece (I use a cheap, but reliable Plantronics model). As a phone, it actually works and has a good speakerphone too.
As for the keyboard, it's the same as any other thumb keyboard, like on the Blackberry or other portable device. The advantage with this one though is that the keys are fuller sized, so you can type quicker than is typical on those things (figure around 30 WPM or so). It's not touch typing, but you can't do that in portable situations anyway. Of course you can always have a full-sized or portable wireless bluetooth keyboard if you were inclined to write a book on the thing (it has all the standard Pocket PC stuff, like Pocket Word and Excel).
It's not cheap, but it is worth it as a true all-in-one. I think I ended up paying around $300 after rebates and 2 year service agreement.
As for mistake dialing or leaving it on, most phones - even this one - has a "lock" button or link - which stops accidental key presses.
I bought a few cell games for my Nokia 6820, like "Sexy Poker" and "Chessmaster", and downloaded a few mini-Java applets and games. This particular phone has access to the world of Pocket PC games, emulators and I believe even many cell phone games (it fully supports Java, which is big for cell phone games). You're right though, with cell phone games, once you download to the phone, you're pretty much stuck.
*************************** Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
When I eBay'd for the second version of the N-Gage, it was new and the type of phone that has the pre-paid minutes. I obviously needed it for the book, not the phone part, since I already had one. It has some amazing and a large number of games for it (among several disasters), but the device itself is a bit too underpowered and weird to work as a game machine. I like though how Nokia has continued to release games for it and is committed to the N-Gage platform, but integrating it into their regular phones going forward (as it should have been in the first place). I obviously can't recommend it over a PSP or Nintendo DS, but it is the most recent decent competitor. Anyway, it's an average cell phone and an average game machine, so unless you get the one where you add your own pre-paid minutes, I wouldn't bother (though software is dirt cheap for it these days, especially on eBay, save for the new stuff, like Civilization; the downside is that support in the game stores is now dropped).
As for the Cingular 8125, you talk like any other cell phone. At the top is the ear speaker and the mouth piece is a tiny hole at the bottom. Typical. The one thing I don't like is you press your face to the touch screen side, so you can get a bit of cheek grease (hey, I'm Italian) on it. Maybe your "t zones" are not quite as bad as mine. ;-) It comes with stereo ear buds as a hands free talking and music listening thing, or, you can do what I do and just use a decent wireless bluetooth ear piece (I use a cheap, but reliable Plantronics model). As a phone, it actually works and has a good speakerphone too.
As for the keyboard, it's the same as any other thumb keyboard, like on the Blackberry or other portable device. The advantage with this one though is that the keys are fuller sized, so you can type quicker than is typical on those things (figure around 30 WPM or so). It's not touch typing, but you can't do that in portable situations anyway. Of course you can always have a full-sized or portable wireless bluetooth keyboard if you were inclined to write a book on the thing (it has all the standard Pocket PC stuff, like Pocket Word and Excel).
It's not cheap, but it is worth it as a true all-in-one. I think I ended up paying around $300 after rebates and 2 year service agreement.
As for mistake dialing or leaving it on, most phones - even this one - has a "lock" button or link - which stops accidental key presses.
I bought a few cell games for my Nokia 6820, like "Sexy Poker" and "Chessmaster", and downloaded a few mini-Java applets and games. This particular phone has access to the world of Pocket PC games, emulators and I believe even many cell phone games (it fully supports Java, which is big for cell phone games). You're right though, with cell phone games, once you download to the phone, you're pretty much stuck.
***************************
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.