Dilemas in buying a phone

[twr7cx]

As some of you may know from reading my other threads, I've been looking into buying my first Symbian phone. I've paid off my bills (car registration, etc.), and got enough money to buy a boxed Nokia 3650 handset, new handset cover/housing/case, bluetooth USB PC adapter, and larger memory card off eBay.com.au.
BUT, all of a sudden the 3650's are going for anything up to $300.00 (including postage)! When I was looking at them 2 months ago, you could get them for just over $200.00 with postage, I even bookmarked a few of the auctions, one went as low as $160.00 - and these are from sellers with resonable/decent feedback, etc. So it looks like I need to save a bit longer, I mean I can afford the handset, but not the extras (new cover, bluetooth, memory card), and I want them to experience the full potential of Symbian!
So I remembered about the Siemens SX1, and searched for them, and there's only a few, but they seem to be less than $100.00 more expensive than the 3650's and you get much more phone (and both have a stupid keypad layout).
Is there any others I should be looking at (e.g. Sendo X - but I can't find any of these!)? Is there anywhere else i should look to buy one (I find the service providers, Optus, Telstra, etc. too expensive)?
I really just want something to show me what Symbian is all about, as I'll upgrade again early next year to a newer/better model if I like it - as I'll have a decent job then because of finishing Year 12!

[twr7cx]

Was bored, so I thought I'd get some prices of the Symbian models on eBay.com.au, these include postage and are roundabouts/averages based on 'Buy It Now''s and past sales/ended auctions:

Nokia 3650 - $200.00 - $300.00.
Nokia 3660 - more than the Nokia 3650's - very hard to find
Siemens SX1 - $300.00 - not many about.
Sendo X - ? can't find any
Nokia 6600 - $500.00.
Nokia 7610 - $650.00 - $750.00.

I'm not going to consider a Symbian Games Console (Ngage, QD) or one with no expandable memory (7650).

[gophermaster]

Then by all means go for the 3650 if you can find one cheap enough!

But, it does not really show the full potential of the Symbian phones as it was one of the earliest model Symbians, still quite good though.

[yuppo]

The 3650 is a great phone, well worth trying to find. $200-$300 sounds like the right price, any cheaper and it's a total bargain.

I'd have to disagree with gophermaster here. The 3650 was the first Symbian to show it's full potential (the 7650 being very limited with only 4Mb). It can do pretty much anything the 6600 and ngage can do apart from play a handful of games (albeit good ones) and it's practically indestructable.

[Neophyte88]

Waitfor the 6630 and buy that one.

3650 is fossilized,6600 is ancient & 7610 is already old. Things go fast these days so buy older phones is just a waste of money & effort.

[twr7cx]

The reason why I'm not going all out and buying the lastest model Symbian phone is because I havn't had a chance to really use one yet, I mean it may turn out that I get the 3650, think that all the extra advanced features are over kill on a phone...
I'll be upgrading my phone again, so weather of not I like the 3650, will lead to weather or not my next phone is a new realease Symbian phone.
Although since I've always been one to play with my phone (from operator logos, to adding games, etc.), I'm sure I'll love the extra stuff I can do with a Symbian handset.
By the way, is the Nokia 6260 flip phone a Symbian?

EDIT: Just did a search and found out that the 6260 is Symbian. This is the phone I think that'll suit me best! Looking for one on eBay.com.au right now.

[twr7cx]

Found a 6260 for sale, but for $1,300.00 I don't think I'll be getting one for a while...

[gophermaster]

Unless you get an insanely large paycheck, you will almost always be left with "yesterdays" equipment.

[twr7cx]

Well, my persistance paid off, I got a Nokia 3650 in almost new condition for $235.00. A tad more than I was hoping to pay, but it comes with a plug and play car kit, so that makes me a bit happier! :-D
Just gotta wait for it to arrive now!


Unless you get an insanely large paycheck, you will almost always be left with "yesterdays" equipment.

A very true statment, but yesterdays technology doesn't worry me so long as it's sufficent for my needs and what not...

[gophermaster]

Nice. Welcome to "Symbianhood." Lol. You won't be dissapointed with Symbian. (Although it can have some errors, being a much more flexible system then all the rest.)

[fnvillafuerte]

Well, my persistance paid off, I got a Nokia 3650 in almost new condition...

Welcome to Symbian! Enjoy your new phone, just remember we're here to help you explore it to its maximum potential.

Ü

[smpballa240]

hell yeah to the 3650. I love mine; it's so much better cause I got it for free when it was new (amazon.com had a deal where if you bought the 3650 with t-mobile or at&t you got 300 dollars in rebates wOOt). Possibly the best buy I've ever made. Anyway, hope all the info you got in that other thread helped. And don't worry about the tech. gaps, the 6600 and 3650 are almost identical, and the 7610 isn't that great a step above 6600. Even the 6630 isn't any kind of revolution in symbian phones. Wait till the next generation to upgrade.

[twr7cx]

I just bought a Nokia 6600 aswell, so when the 3650 gets here I'll put it back on eBay.com.au and get my money back - hopefully! :eek: In the last few days I've managed to have a playaround with a few 7610's and a 6600, and even saw a 7650. I really liked the 6600, and thought it was good value for money, and I knew that the 3650 key pad would shit me to tears, as Telstra give me 100 free text messages every weekday, I don't thinK i could handle typing them on the 3650's circular key pad.