Reaperducer

We're actually going to go up to Devon next week and take a look around. I understand the 2300-2500 blocks are full of grey market cell phone stores. A Bosnian girl I know got a fairly exotic handset from that area not too long ago

The problem with buying a phone in Japan is that very few Japanese phones work anywhere else, and the ones that do can only be bought with a contract, just like in the United States.

I went to Japan with the typical Western notion that everything will be an electronics wonderland over there, and that all Japanese have these magical phones that are so much better than American phones and so much cheaper. It isn't true. Airtime is very expensive in Japan, and very little on what's on the web sites ever shows up in stores or is available for order. I spent two months looking at stores and web sites trying to find a phone, and for the most part they suck just as badly as the average Nokia/Ericsson/Motorola fare. What you see on the web doesn't match up with reality.

Even more of a problem is that it's now illegal to sell cell phones to gaijin (non-Japanese people) who don't have a government-issued gaijin card. So, there goes all notions of buying a phone and bringing it back home.

Quote:

www.oki-ni.com has some Motorla V600 with designs from designers such as: Tanner Krolle, Eley Kishimoto and Gavin Turk. Each Design is only made in 20 pieces so you will probably be the only one in your city...

http://www.oki-ni.com/okini.storefront/EN/Catalog/1181

--- Original message by Berget__ on Aug 18, 2005 02:52 AM

Thanks for the suggestion. I'd shown my wife the V600 before, and she doesn't like the antenna sticking out of her phones. She thinks it makes them look too nerdy.

I'm not sure why they got so cheap so quickly. If i was an early adopter on that I'd be pretty angry.

I know the Razr is on T-Mobile and Ciingular in the U.S. I think the carriers realize the same thing that a lot of users do -- there aren't many great phones out there worth shelling out real money for, and people are holding on to their old handsets longer since number portability came along. I have an old Ericsson T68mc. It's beat to hell, but it still works and is very small. I just haven't found any phones that inspire me. My wife has a Z600 that I'll start using when I find something for her. It's almost twice as thick as my phone, but it's nice.

My wife wants a new cell phone.

The requirements are:

Bluetooth

Tri-band GSM or better

Very attractive/unusual looking.

I've been very disappointed with the phones I've seen in the store these days. They all look pretty much the same. The Motorola Razr and Razr Black are nice, but everyone's got them and because they're so cheap (I've even seen them free on Amazon with instant rebate) they've become really ghetto.

Nokia has an interesting phone that has no keypad, it uses a scroll wheel like an iPod, but at $700 it's a little out of my range.

I recently came back from Japan and was disappointed by what I saw there. The cell phone diversity doesn't live up to the hype unless you want a phone that looks like it was made out of Legos.

So, I appeal to all of you knowledgeable shoppers -- what phones am I overlooking that a fashion-conscious woman would like?

Don't forget the South Loop, Streeterville, and New Eastside.

The South Loop is an area rapidly turning from old warehouses into a liveable neighborhood of skyscrapers.

Streeterville is one of the city's fastest growing neighborhoods according to recent articles in the Tribune, and the views are great.

Then there's the New Eastside, which sprang up in the 60's and 70's, then was quiet for a long time. Now it's gotten two new residential towers, three more are under construction, and 12 more are planned for the next few years. This are is one of the mayor's special projects.