GSM is OK, but like any cell it depends on where you are at the moment as a technology goes the plus is that it is more international (Europe is only GSM) the two other choices (other carriers) would be CDMA (or 1x as it is also referred to) or iDen

CDMA 1X RTT is the biggest network in North America and has the most carriers
iDen is used by Nextel in the US and Telus in Canada. The nice thing about iDen is that it has a walkie-talkie feature so you can make a group page or a single page (just decide on who you want to talk to and click the button and talk or send a beep. Also depending on the plan you can also add internetworking, so if you are working on a job with other people on iDen you can add them to your walkie-talkie list.



mostly gimmick

- low res pics not good for any detail, but OK if you will see them on a telephones screen

- what will you do with the pic, if you send it then that is extra data charge (in most plans)

- if you do more then residential some places are starting to not allow them

- I don't know of any picture phones for iDen but there are for 1X and GSM


I am in Canada so I cannot talk US carriers, but the company I work for uses three carriers and all three techs. we use GSM for the guys that do a lot of international travelling, we use CDMA for guys that do a lot of travelling in the US and Canada or that don't do travelling and iDen for the security, maintenance.... groups (i.e. we replaced all the radios by iDen, no maintenance and you can beep and talk to someone no matter where they are because it uses a cell network) (also since iDen was built to replace walkie-talkies they have some models that are more industrial and robust and still look good)


most phones today have a phone book and stuff.

This message was edited by Anthony on 09/16/04 16:41 ET.