I have a Siemens sx 56/ pocket pc/phone with Cingular carrier who recently did a "frequency change" in my area, which apparently is not compatible with my model. I can get a signal 25 mi from my home, which is where I work, but no longer within 10 miles or at my home at all. I live in a rural area and depended on that service for safety/travel issues.


I live in the Louisville, Ky area+60 mi radius--not much travel

My current model came with microsoft office programs (word/excel) and these are very important to me

web browsing/email would be very handy--I currently have these but due to slow processor/service, I rarely use them.

prefer a keyboard or stylus format

Could this Siemens model be used with another carrier or is there a better geographical area for service/phone reception where I might find an interested buyer?--is it truly out-of date?

I have read here now about the sim card and carrier changes which sound like options--but I also have decreased battery life. Is it worth the trouble of swithcing carriers and getting a new battery or what would be the best comparable and affordable replacement on the market these days?

There is an upgrade model of the sx66, which has a little better battery life, built-in wireless (for connecting to wireless networks not companies), and basically all the same features of the sx56..

the battery life on the sx56 was horrible, but then I got the 3600mah battery from amazon.com and before I would be lucky to get the phone last til 5pm, now you can go a day without charging it, very convenient...

If you do switch carriers, you can unlock your phone for any company that uses a sim card so it doesn't include Verizon, Nextel, Sprint, etc... There are plenty of threads out there that show you how to unlock your phone for a different carrier...

thanks for the info--I searched for the battery on Amazon and didn't have much luck--perhaps unavailable now? When did you purchase yours and what was model #/manufacturer, etc?--does it use the same chargers as the original?

Model # 99HL0007-00

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...=UTF8&v=glance

I got free shipping on it, so it was just 70.99.... The title says "700mah" but its really the "1500mah" (the bigger battery)... the built-in one is 1700mah, so you're basically getting double the life...

oh yeah, and once you connect it, when you put it on your cradle or an adapter to charge the batteries, it charges both for the original and the extended battery for you...

fyi, it does make the phone a little bulky, but it's worth it for the longer battery life...