AT&T 3125

The first thing you'll notice about this phone is its style. It's thin and compact like the Motorola Razr. People will notice this phone. Parts of the outside are ribbed and rubberized for a good grip. There is a large outer screen and music control buttons on the front. It feels solid in your hands, not light and cheap. The hinge also has a solid feel to it. The main screen is large and bright - this is where you'll realize that it's not a regular cellphone.

There is a windows "Start" icon in the lower left hand corner of the main screen, along with your Windows Smartphone home page. Across the top are your last 5 used applications. There is no touch screen, you will have to navigate with the directional buttons. This may take some getting used to if you have a Windows PDA. The buttons are all on one piece of etched metal. They are easy to use, although at times they make a hollow sound when pressed. I especially like the "Home" and "Back" keys that quickly take you exactly where you think they should.

Text entry is standard number pad or T9. You really should give T9 a chance if you haven't before. If you're entering mostly text, it makes things go faster. That said, there is no easy way to enter data on this phone. It doesn't have the QWERTY keyboard that most other smartphones have. If that's what you want, you have many other choices.

You shouldn't have to manually enter most of your information since this phone comes with Active-Sync allowing you to synchronize with MS Outlook email, calendar and contacts. There is no support for Notes, however. You can also transfer files and music to the phone and it does serve well as an MP3 player. For this you will need to get a micro SD memory card. The phone has a version of Internet Explorer that does a decent job of handling different websites. You have the option of viewing the page in one column or scrolling around the full page.

My biggest complaint is the slot for the memory chip is behind the sim chip and battery, so it's not easy to swap out the chip. One other complaint is that the phone has a proprietary jack for data and sound, so you will not be able to use your standard USB cables, headphones and wired hands free devices. Fortunately, these are included with the phone. Hopefully, someone will come up with an adapter that allows standard headphones and hands free. It does have bluetooth, of course, so the connector isn't that big of an issue if you are into the wireless hands-free devices.

One other feature of this phone stands out to me - it serves as a wireless modem through its USB cable, as long as you have a data plan. If you have a laptop you can access the internet wirelessly from anywhere you have a cellphone signal. Do a search to find out how to set this up. The info is on Cingular's website and contains necessary account/password information. Also note that the drivers for the modem are quietly hidden on the CD that come with the phone.