http://www.arcx.com/sitesYou'll find all sorts of cellular related items here, geared primarily for the Southern Ontario market. My cell phone reviews should be useful to anyone who can buy the specific models from their local providers. I also include site location maps for all 4 of the providers in this area.2006pcsguide@rogers.comMon, 03 Jul 2006 18:19:58 GMTFeedSpring - http://feedspring.com/Fri, 08 Jan 2010 03:31:04 GMThttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rsshttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Nokia%20N86.htmThe Nokia N86 is new slider model from Nokia that essentially offers a more modern alternative to the old N95. It offers pretty much the same features, but it includes a faster processor and an 8 megapixel camera.pcsguide@rogers.comFri, 08 Jan 2010 03:30:51 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Jawbone%20Prime.htmThe Jawbone Prime is a Bluetooth headset that allows you to talk hands-free without attaching any wires to your phone. Note that your phone MUST have Bluetooth for this headset to be of any use to you.pcsguide@rogers.comSat, 03 Oct 2009 18:27:10 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Blackberry%20Pearl%20Flip.htmThe Pearl Flip is a variation on the popular Blackberry Pearl line (so named because of its use of a pearlescent thumb wheel for navigation). Unlike most Blackberries, which are candy bar style, this is a flip model. This is only a 2G GSM phone, and so it doesn’t support UMTS voice, nor does it support 3G data. It does support EDGE, but if email is your primary use of data, then the speed of EDGE shouldn’t be a major issue.pcsguide@rogers.comSun, 30 Aug 2009 17:51:23 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/HTC%20Dream.htmThe HTC Dream (otherwise known as the G1 in the US) is the first smartphone in Canada to be based on the Google Android operating system. I got a chance to play with a Dream for a couple of hours and this mini-review represents my impressions of the phone over that period of time. I’ll try and get one for a more in-depth review at a later date.pcsguide@rogers.comFri, 12 Jun 2009 22:45:11 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Nokia%20N85.htmThe Nokia N85 is a phone that can be best described as an updated N95. It has all the same features as the N95 in essentially the same package. However, the N85 is physically smaller and has a more rounded and polished look. It also sports the Feature Pack 2 edition of the S60 3rd Edition operating system, which adds a few nice touches to an otherwise excellent phone.pcsguide@rogers.comSun, 29 Mar 2009 20:16:00 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Nokia%203120%20Classic.htmThe Nokia 3120 Classic is a Series 40 phone not presently offered by any of the providers in Canada, but it supports 850 MHz and 1900 MHz, and so it is well suited to use in Canada or the United States. It seems to have no relationship to the old Nokia 3120 that I reviewed just over 4 years ago and I really have no idea why Nokia is recycling model numbers.pcsguide@rogers.comThu, 19 Mar 2009 17:25:42 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Nokia%201680.htmThe Nokia 1680 is the newest low-end phone from 7-11 Speakout Wireless. It sells for more than the previously-reviewed Nokia 1208, but in my opinion (as you will soon discover) I don’t think it is worthy of this position in the lineup.pcsguide@rogers.comSat, 17 Jan 2009 01:44:21 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Blackberry%20Bold.htmThe Bold is the new top-of-the-line Blackberry, offering all of the expected Blackberry features in one package with a high-resolution display.pcsguide@rogers.comSat, 13 Sep 2008 19:52:16 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Nokia%201208.htmThe Nokia 1208 is a small candy-bar style phone offered in Canada by 7-11 Speakout Wireless. Despite its small size and lack of high-end features, the 1208 is actually a very competent phone that I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone interested in a no-nonsense model.pcsguide@rogers.comThu, 14 Aug 2008 19:08:38 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Nokia%20N95%208GB.htmThe Nokia N95 8GB is the most recent iteration of the much-hyped Nokia Smartphone. This model is now being carried officially in Canada by Rogers and they’ve recently dropped the price to $199 for a 3-year contract to match the Apple iPhone 3G. Nokia bills the N95 as “Canada’s Smartest Smartphone”. I don’t know about that, but it’s still a pretty good phone as you’ll see.pcsguide@rogers.comFri, 01 Aug 2008 21:28:49 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Apple%20iPhone%203G.htmThe iPhone it seems has risen to a status above its true station in life. The iPhone is perceived by many as gift from god (which may be why it garnered the nickname The Jesus Phone). However, it’s still just a phone, and so in this mini-review (which was performed over a period of 2 hours at Square One in Mississauga) I attempt to look solely at this model’s suitability as a phone. I will however comment on auxiliary aspects of the phone where applicable.pcsguide@rogers.comTue, 29 Jul 2008 18:37:12 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Nokia%20E51.htmThe E51 is a slender and thin Smartphone from Nokia the sports many of the features found in some of their larger PDA models (but without the full QWERTY keyboard). The E51 therefore looks more like a standard candy bar cell phone, but it processes many of the features expected from higher-end models.pcsguide@rogers.comTue, 03 Jun 2008 17:18:41 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Nokia%205200.htmThe Nokia 5200 is a tri-band (850, 1900, and 1800 MHz) slider phone and is presently offered on both Fido and 7-11. It’s a bit cheaper at 7-11, selling for just $150, but you can get it at Fido (with no contract) for $200. It offers an MP3 player with an included 1 GB MicroSD card (which may be replaced with up to a 2 GB card). It also supports A2DP Bluetooth stereo headsets.pcsguide@rogers.comTue, 03 Jun 2008 17:18:00 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Nokia%202760.htmThe Nokia 2760 redefines the sort of features one can expect in a low-end phone, by offering a camera, Bluetooth, FM radio, and MP3 playback in a phone that sells for only $125. However, just how good a PHONE do you get for that money? Sadly, not that great.pcsguide@rogers.comSun, 16 Dec 2007 05:15:27 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/UMTS.htmThis article describes what UMTS is, how it relates to GSM, and how it compares to existing CDMA systems.pcsguide@rogers.comMon, 05 Nov 2007 19:17:33 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Ericsson%20K850i.htmBefore I begin this review, I wish to confess that I went into it with extremely high expectations. After being so impressed with the sound quality of the z710i I thought that a top-end Sony-Ericsson would at least be the equal of its lesser brother. I’d also read some rather amazing things about the 5-megapixel camera on this model. My comments might therefore be a bit negative-sounding when they probably shouldn’t be, but I’ll try and keep my personal disappoint out of the review.pcsguide@rogers.comMon, 05 Nov 2007 19:16:30 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Nokia%206120%20Classic.htmDespite its somewhat familiar numeric designation, the 6120 Classic has nothing in common with the old TDMA model with which it shares this number. The 6120 classis is a GSM Smartphone using the Symbian operating system.pcsguide@rogers.comFri, 24 Aug 2007 20:07:08 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/HTC%20P4000.htmThe HTC P4000 is a Windows Mobile device (though sadly only Windows Mobile 5, and not the most recent version 6). As usual, my reason for testing the device is NOT to look at its suitability as a mobile computing platform, but rather at the quality of the built-in cellular phone.pcsguide@rogers.comWed, 04 Jul 2007 20:44:57 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Nokia%201600.htmThe Nokia 1600 is a basic no-nonsense low-end phone offered by 7-11 on their Speakout Wireless service. There’s no camera, no MP3 player, and no expansion memory slot, but there’s plenty of features for those looking for just-a-phone.pcsguide@rogers.comWed, 27 Jun 2007 17:11:46 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Editorials.htm#WastingBandwidthThis editorial talks about the new data applications that wireless providers are hawking and why they are wasteful and prone to increase the cost of service in the future.pcsguide@rogers.comWed, 18 Apr 2007 18:51:00 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Ericsson%20z710i.htmThe Sony-Ericsson z701i is a quad-band GSM clamshell phone that’s loaded with lots of features like a good-quality 2 megapixel camera, built-in MP3 player (with external buttons), GPRS/EDGE, and as you’ll soon see, excellent audio and RF characteristics.pcsguide@rogers.comSun, 11 Mar 2007 17:48:05 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Motorola%20i880.htmThe following test was performed only indoors, because I wasn’t given very much time to try the phone out. My primary goal during the test was to compare it to the i580, which I personal own. The two phones are in fact extremely similar, and so I recommend that you read my full review of the i580 first, and then read this mini-review to find out what’s different in the i880.pcsguide@rogers.comFri, 09 Feb 2007 22:11:09 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/LG%20TG800F.htmThe LG TG800F is the GSM version of the Chocolate. While Fido doesn’t seem to use the name Chocolate on their web page, the box and user guide for the phone do refer to it as such. The big selling point of the chocolate line is its use of touch-sensitive keys for many of the buttons on the phone (though the numeric keypad is still a standard mechanical type).pcsguide@rogers.comMon, 15 Jan 2007 19:21:07 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Palm%20Treo%20700wx.htmThe Treo 700wx is the CDMA Windows Smartphone edition of the Treo 700. As usual, this review is not to critique the non-phone aspects of the device, which means I won’t pass judgment on the Windows operating system or on any of the data-centric things that you can do with this model. My focus, as always, is on the phone portion of the device.pcsguide@rogers.comSat, 13 Jan 2007 07:06:55 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Nokia%206233.htmThe Nokia 6233 isn’t presently available through any of the Canadian providers, so if you want one you’ll have to order it online or buy it at a retailer that carries one.pcsguide@rogers.comFri, 01 Dec 2006 01:59:23 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Ericsson%20W300i.htmThe Sony Ericsson W300i is a low-end quad-band GSM phone. It sports lots of features that make it seem higher-end than it really is, such as a camera, MP3 player, Bluetooth, removable memory stick, voice activation, and speakerphone.pcsguide@rogers.comThu, 23 Nov 2006 22:28:07 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Motorola%20i850.htmThe i850 is one of the newer breed of iDEN phones that possesses the greatly-improved audio performance that I first encountered on the i580. The i850 is a low-end iDEN model, while the i580 is a high-end phone, but both have similar audio and RF characteristics. Careful with the numbers however, as it is easy to confused 580 with 850.pcsguide@rogers.comWed, 18 Oct 2006 15:55:36 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Motorola%20PEBL.htmThe Motorola PEBL is a stylish, if a tad impractical, phone offered by Fido. It is the first phone from Motorola that I’ve tested since the days of the P280/V60 that possesses Motorola’s excellent audio and RF qualities.pcsguide@rogers.comTue, 17 Oct 2006 16:10:05 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Nokia%206061.htmThe Nokia 6061 is a no-nonsense entry-level phone offered by both Fido and 7-11. While it doesn’t have the great audio quality of higher-end Nokias, or glitzy features like a camera, or an MP3 player, it still offers solid performance and plenty of power for a reasonable price.pcsguide@rogers.comSat, 07 Oct 2006 17:33:58 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Nokia%20N80.htmThe N80 is one of a series of slider phones from Nokia that incorporates the Symbian operating system and provides a host of PDA-style functions in a device with a phone-like form factor. The N80 is not presently offered by any of the Canada providers, but it can, like any GSM phone that supports the frequencies using in North America (850 and 1900 MHz), be bought through a retailer and used on any of the GSM providers in North America.pcsguide@rogers.comWed, 04 Oct 2006 17:44:44 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Pantech%203200.htmPantech is a name unfamiliar with most North Americans, but they’ve been around making cell phones for quite some time (usually for other name brands). The PN-3200 is the first model to be marketed under their own name here in Canada and it gets them off to a fairly good start.pcsguide@rogers.comMon, 02 Oct 2006 04:47:07 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Nokia%206126.htmThis a new Nokia clamshell phone offered to Canadians through Fido. Nokia hasn’t really started to make clamshell phones until just recently, but the 6126 proves that they got the right idea right away. The model I tested was provided courtesy of TelecomZombie (that’s his HowardForums name).pcsguide@rogers.comTue, 19 Sep 2006 21:26:38 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/LG%208100.htmThe LG 8100 is multi-media phone that supports a 1.3 megapixel camera, an MP3 player, streaming audio and video, and it has a price tag to match. However, as you'll read in this review, it fails in far too many core aspects to worth what they're charging for it.pcsguide@rogers.comThu, 07 Sep 2006 00:50:23 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Nokia%20E50.htmThe E50 is quad-band phone that attempts to provide PDA-style functionality with the small form factor and weight of a standard cell phone. Nokia has succeeded in doing this nicely, but they’ve had to make a few compromises along the way that I’ll discuss in greater detail in the review.pcsguide@rogers.comSun, 03 Sep 2006 18:22:58 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Rogers-Hamilton.htmThis site was already operational, probably for the last couple of months. It carries an ID of 3345.Sun, 13 Aug 2006 14:34:17 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Rogers-Toronto.htmThis site appeared in the Industry Canada database a couple of weeks ago, but I hadn't yet had a chance to check it out. The site is currently operationaly with an ID of 3984.Fri, 04 Aug 2006 21:15:03 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Motorola%20i580.htm#PhotosI collected together some of the better photographs I've been able to take wih the camera in the Motorola i580 and I've added them to my review of the phone. Follow the link provided in this entry to view those pictures.Fri, 04 Aug 2006 07:00:25 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Nokia%206265i.htmThe 6265i is one of the newest CDMA model from Nokia. Like some of their recent clamshell models, this one too departs from the norm for Nokia, who generally build candy bar phones. The 6265i is a SLIDER, which means that the top and bottom halves of the phone slide to make the phone longer and reveal a hidden keypad. This is one of the best Nokia CDMA phones out there, and sadly one of the last, as Nokia will no longer be developing its own CDMA models.Tue, 01 Aug 2006 19:46:58 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Motorola%20i580.htmThe i580 is a rare combination in the phone world. It’s a ruggedized (mil-spec) phone that also has consumer-friendly multimedia capabilities such as 1.3 megapixel camera, an MP3 player, and a gorgeous TFT display. It’s a bit bulky by some people’s standards, but it feels rock-solid and gives you the impression it could withstand being tossed off the CN Tower. There are plenty of multimedia phones out there that offer similar (or even better) features than the i580, but they couldn’t hold a candle to it for ruggedness. Bottom line is this is easily the BEST iDEN phone in ages, and among the best phones PERIOD.Tue, 01 Aug 2006 19:45:23 GMThttp://www.arcx.com/sites/Nokia%20E61.htmThe Nokia E61 is a PDA-style phone that uses the Symbian operating system. This phone is not sold by any of the GSM providers in Canada, but it can be purchased at many of the online retailers, or (I’m told) at Bongo Wireless in the Toronto area. The E61 is a quad-band phone, which means that it supports both 1900 MHz and 850 MHz for North American use.Tue, 01 Aug 2006 19:42:57 GMT