1 Batteries are not available except thru Siemens at $216 each
Don't bother buying this phone unless you get it cheap! battery replacement is $216 thru Siemens repair depot only. This phone is a real orphan. Talk about a short life cycle!!!
I bought mine 2+ years ago and gave up on the phone portion (GSM coverage was lousy). With all the hype about good coverage I switched from TDMA phone back to GSM. Coverage is still bad. What is worse the battery doesn't hold much of a charge now and can't handle PDA and celular functions. As per the above, Siemens wants $216 to replace it plus a nominal 10 day turn around. AT&T / Cingular wants to know nothing!
2 very useful, but EXTREMELY unstable
Like one of the other reviewers, I also used to carry around my cell phone, my PDA, and my pager. This extremely useful device consolidated all three items into one. I love that part.
The PDA functionality is truly great, and I'm finding it more and more useful every day.
The only downside is that it's more UN-stable than the "crazy" girl I dated in college! :-) This thing reboots itself (generally at very inopportune times) at least once a day.
Many times it stops sync'ing with the PC, and I have to shut the PC off, manually reboot the PDA, switch the USB cableto a different port, and then boot everything back up. It's a major pain.
3 Excellent Phone PDA Combo
I love my sx56, I have taken it everywhere, snowboarding, skydiving, beach, everywhere. Mine has never broken, in fact it is the sturdiest cell phone I've ever owned. Once I upgraded it to the Windows Mobile 2003 OS it was even better. All the cool standard software was great. Plus I added the Microsoft Voice Command software and can make calls to all my outlook contacts by pushing one button and saying "Call so and so home", you don't even have to train or record the voice commands, it does it all by voice recognition!
4 large, heavy, fragile
I bought two of these, one for my wife and one for me. It was so large, heavy, and difficult to use the numbers to dial the phone, my wife didn't like hers. Therefore, when the VERY FRAGILE glass on the screen broke on mine after 5 months, I took hers. The glass broke on the seconed one after 3 months. I was just using it for normal calendar checking and phone calls - nothing rough. Stay away from this phone. BTW, it cost me $100 to purchase and they quoted $300 to repair. ATT doesn't sell them anymore.
5 Great PDA, horrible phone
I've owned this phone for about 18 months and if I hadn't paid so much for it I would have taken a hammer to it long ago. Even in the center of a large town I get lousy signal strength; people can't hear me and I can't hear them. The PDA works well and I bought it so I could carry my calendar and contacts with me and dial them directly with one tap...nice features, well worth the $700+ I paid...IF I could get a signal. Now I have learned this is because this phone doesn't work on the "third" GSM band.
6 Beware - no GSM850 coverage!
AT&T uses two frequencies for GSM service. Originally they only used GSM1900 but as the old analog and TDA 850 MHz networks are made obsolete they are being converted to GSM850. The SX56 supports GSM1900 (and GSM900 for roaming in Europe) but not the newer GSM850 service. As time goes on AT&T will enhance their GSM850 coverage but there are reports that they've done all they're going to do to improve GSM1900 coverage. So if you're lucky your service will be OK but if you have any signal issues with this phone it won't get any better
I have the TMobile version of this phone and it works well on the TMobile network since TMobile only uses GSM1900 across North America. But this SX56 version of the phone is sold "locked" to only operate on AT&T's network.
This is a problem with many AT&T GSM phones but it's particularly an issue with the SX56 because there aren't any suitable replacements (yet) with comparable functionality that support GSM850.
7 what is better. Pocket PC phone or a smaller form factor?
This is an excellent choice if you need to do lots of email and sometimes check attachments while on the road. Also good for sms and messenger, as it is easier to input text in the screen with the stylus than with the tiny keys of regular phones. But if your needs are more about reading email (not answering it) and having calendar and contacts synchcronized with your server or PC, a smartphone or any other new generation phone is a bettter choice because of the form factor. The big size is a price you have to be willing to pay for the luxury of working confortable in a bigger screen.
Agree with all the other reviews, the AT&T service is bad, but I have found that this phone has much better reception than the Orange smartphone and Motorola smartphones in the AT&T network.
If you are a frequent Intl traveler, be aware this is not a tri band phone... check the networks of the places you travel more frequently before buying this.
8 Pretty Good for the price I paid
I bought this phone directly from AT&T for 99.00 USD. And I love it, recently Siemens posted free upgrade to WM 2003. The best feature which I like during my limited use (less than week) is to take notes while talking to someone. I dont think this is possible in any other phone (unless you have PDA phone). Reception of AT&T in my area is pretty good so no issue with coverage. The only reason for giving 4 star is less memory and little bit big size than normal phone (but yes this is not a normal phone).
9 Great phone - Miss the phone pad
Terrific phone for business folks on the go. All the connectivity and apps you need in one hand. let me take that back. you actually do need 2 hands for perfect performance. That is the only thing I do miss. But am willing to sacrifice due to the great display.
Was lost in Jersey last week, connected to internet, found directions and phone to the location, made the call and then was able to jot down notes.
Hopefully with Cingular trying to acquire ATT it will speed up the improvement of the GSM service coverage. As you all know ATT is spotty, when the coverage is good it is good when it ain't it is horrible.
Would recommend this phone to anyone who wants to eliminate their PDA, synch with outlook, and access email/internet while on the go.
Would have been 5 stars if ATT service was better. But let's admit it, they all stink.
10 BEST DAMM PHONE OUT THERE
This phone is amazing, it is God's gift to us. It does everything I want in a phone and much much more. Sure it a little bit big but what can you say it performs a million functions. Listen I have had my share of phone, is by far the best. All I have to say is what more can you ask for....
11 Best thing since the cell phone
Used to have a PDA in one pocket, a cell phone in the other with a pager on my belt and my mp3 playet in my top pocket. In a word it sucked big time.
This got it all into one device, and my monthly bill went to $60.00.
40 for the phone and 20 for data on Tmobile.
Best thing I ever bought!!
12 Clunky and not very functional
This phone bills itself as "international" with two GSM bands, but on a recent trip to London and Dubai I could not get it to work at all and had to revert to my tri-band Sony Ericsson Ti68, so if you travel out of the USA think twice! Also, on weekends, I found the added size of the SX-56 needless and reverted to my smaller phone. Windows CE is less intuitive than the Palm OS - CE does not prompt for confirmation of entries, leaving you wondering if they were accepted. One great feature of the SX-56 is the speakerphone ability, not common in a handheld - but overall I would say stick with a Palm plus a small mobile phone.
