View Full Version : What was your first mobile phone?
stuckinthe80's
28-10-2010, 19:54
The first mobile phone I owned was a Motorola MR30 on Orange. I got it on contract in 1996. The phone was brilliant at the time and I think it was specifically made for the Orange network.
Anyone else have one of these phones? If not what did you have first and which network were you on?
Trickyvee
28-10-2010, 20:41
The beautiful Nokia 5110 on the now defunct BT Cellnet. It had interchangeable covers. Mine had a yellow cover. 1999.
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stuckinthe80's
28-10-2010, 20:43
I had one of those too Tricky! Again on Orange network but on the orange network it had a different model number. Can't remember what it was like. I'm sure someone on here will know!
stuckinthe80's
28-10-2010, 20:46
Had a thought. Could have been known as a Nokia '402' on Orange.
A red vodafone PAYG thing, around 1997 or 1998 I think.
Trickyvee
28-10-2010, 21:20
Had a thought. Could have been known as a Nokia '402' on Orange.
I've just been consulting our old friend Wiki and that is indeed the case. It also reminded me of the snake game that it had. So simple but hours of fun.
Richard1978
28-10-2010, 21:22
The beautiful Nokia 5110 on the now defunct BT Cellnet. It had interchangeable covers. Mine had a yellow cover. 1999.
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My Dad & a few other people I knew had those. Interchangeable covers were a fad for a few years, I've still got a catalogue or 2 from a company called Mobile Style that sold many different ones.
He had to give it back when he left his job, but still has an even older mid 1990s Nokia that's so big the SIM card is the size of a credit cart. I'll try & get a picture of it.
My first Mobile was an Ericsson A2628s, which I still have & it still works. From Mobile Style I got a Bertie Bassett cover for it.
It was also on BT Cellnet, which became O2. I was still using the original SIM until a couple of weeks ago in another phone but when I switched networks & took the number with me it stopped working.
Marine Boy
28-10-2010, 23:04
Mine was a vivid blue motorola in 2001. The colour seems almost compolsory! LOL
My first was a Bosch. Can't remember the model but it was a transparent bright orange one and i'm pretty sure that Orange was the network.
must be honest ive never had a mobile and ill never get one.
im happy with a landline.
stuckinthe80's
29-10-2010, 07:12
I've just been consulting our old friend Wiki and that is indeed the case. It also reminded me of the snake game that it had. So simple but hours of fun.
I had totally forgot about that snake game!! I was mildly addicted to it at one point I think!
I don't know what phone my first mobile was but it was but it was a brick compared to mobiles today!
I never wanted a mob. Then I went on a first Aid course at work and felt the need for one in case I bumped into an injured person nowhere near a land line. It was a Nokia(not good with model numbers/names.....same with cars)
Richard1978
29-10-2010, 13:40
I resisted getting a mobile until they became cheap, & also I got a job that needed 2 buses to get to, so I needed to let my parents know I was running late.
Originally I was thinking about getting a Trium Mars, but Index were out of stock & offered me the Ericsson instead.
Trickyvee
29-10-2010, 16:55
My life in mobile phones...Nokia 5110, Nokia 8210, Sony Ericsson T120(?), Motorola Pebl, Nokia 6300 and my newest, (just acquired today!) Samsung Monte.
Richard1978
29-10-2010, 17:50
I got a Samsung Monte just a couple of weeks ago, when I switched from 02 Pay & Go to a T-Mobile £10 a month contract.
stockportyears
29-10-2010, 18:05
No idea on the model, but it was Motorola, and my provider was Cellnet. Usual brick, with a superfluous looking aerial sticking out the top. It was 1996, and there was an enclosed competition with the phone to win tickets to a Euro 96 football match by completing the slogan 'I chose Cellnet because'. I wrote 'do I not like Orange', as it was around the time of Graham Taylor's advert, sent the entry off and forgot about it. Then a month or so later, I got a card backed stiff envlope through the post, no idea what it could be, opened it to see a letter headed 'CONGRATULATIONS!' and dipped into the envelope again to find 2 tickets for the Old Trafford Euro quarter-final! Maybe no-one else had entered, but my slogan had won. The game turned out to be Germany v Croatia, which wasn't a very good match, but it was still nice to experience some of Euro 96 for free thanks to Cellnet.
Richard1978
29-10-2010, 18:23
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From left to right right, Ericsson A2618s (2001-2004) Nokia 3510i (2004-2008) Nokia 2630 (2008-10) & Samsung Monte (2010+)
Trickyvee
29-10-2010, 19:12
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From left to right right, Ericsson A2618s (2001-2004) Nokia 3510i (2004-2008) Nokia 2630 (2008-10) & Samsung Monte (2010+)
Impressed that you still have them all. I don't have my first one. Mam still uses the 8210, the Sony Ericsson might be with my parents too but unused as it never got unlocked, I've still got the Pebl and obviously the 6300. This touch screen on the Monte takes a bit of getting used to though, but it's pretty cool. I'm on a £10 a month contract too so I don't have access to all the bits and bobs but I can live without those. Teenagers, on the other hand, don't seem to be able to!
Austin Maxi
29-10-2010, 19:29
I was very late to the Mobile Phone party. I resisted having one for as long as I could, then, 4 years ago my brother-in-law gave me a secondhand Motorola. It had the 'Bananaman' theme as one of it's ringtones. It only lasted a month-or-so before expiring, but by then I'd realised the advantages of having one. I went out and bought my first new mobile - a Samsung, and last year I replaced it with another Samsung - a J700 (I think, haven't got it in front of me now).
FLYING SAUCER
29-10-2010, 19:50
Glad someone brought this subject up!
My first phone was the trusty old Motorola M3788 - bought in May 2000 and you are not going to believe this! I still use it everyday now ! Im in love with the thing, it gets a good strong signal anywhere, reception is so clear, people do look at it and laugh though (I can take it!)
I shall be gutted if anything happens to it, I am looking for a nice new case for it but it's so old and huge im struggling!
glad someone brought this subject up!
My first phone was the trusty old motorola m3788 - bought in may 2000 and you are not going to believe this! I still use it everyday now ! Im in love with the thing, it gets a good strong signal anywhere, reception is so clear, people do look at it and laugh though (i can take it!)
i shall be gutted if anything happens to it, i am looking for a nice new case for it but it's so old and huge im struggling!
respect!:cool:
stuckinthe80's
29-10-2010, 20:12
Glad someone brought this subject up!
My first phone was the trusty old Motorola M3788 - bought in May 2000 and you are not going to believe this! I still use it everyday now ! Im in love with the thing, it gets a good strong signal anywhere, reception is so clear, people do look at it and laugh though (I can take it!)
I shall be gutted if anything happens to it, I am looking for a nice new case for it but it's so old and huge im struggling!
I can't believe no one started the thread sooner! It just dawned on me last night to do it!
Richard1978
29-10-2010, 20:47
The first 2/3 we hardly cutting edge when I got them, & by the time I bought a new one they weren't worth anything as a trade in.
As they all still work I've kept them for spares, & didn't have the heart to put any into a recycling bin.
My sister has had a contract for many years & my parents have all her old phones, my Mum had lots of problems when she gained a Sony Ericsson after years of using Nokias.
vanhelsing
30-10-2010, 12:47
An ORANGE Motorola which could only send and recieve text messages and could make my own ringtone (Mine was a siren). Even better, I could get a free video as part of the offer as well.
vanhelsing
30-10-2010, 12:51
The one I have at the moment's a 2nd hand O2 XDA2 mini pocket pc.
Richard1978
30-10-2010, 14:42
My Ericsson had a composer, which was common on phones until polyphonic ringtones & mp3 playing phones came along.
I remember someone where I used to work had a Sony that could use sound samples as a ringtone, though the quality was low.
Trickyvee
30-10-2010, 18:48
Before I gave my mam the 8210 she had a little phone - I can't even remember the make think it was something obscure, but it had a composer and I put the close encounters of the 3rd kind tune on it :D
scotchmist
12-11-2010, 03:57
I was determined to get along without a mobile phone as I regarded them as moronic and another addiction! However I landed myself a job in lower management with the NHS in 2003 and felt that the phone would go with the image....yes! I'm shallow just like everyone else! I actually thought that it would be surplus to requirement....twas a Nokia 4410 and it became my favourite toy never leaving my side. I'm now onto my fourth..the Sony Ericsson Elm and I've changed networks twice. I could not live without a mobile now....and totally despise myself for being such a moron!!
I must be one of the very few people in the world that does not have a mobile phone or have any plans at all to buy one :)
Mulletino
29-12-2010, 05:26
This is my first Mobile (Sony CM-R111), still in its box:
http://www.mattys.net/retro/phonesmall.jpg
It was on Cellnet and I got it in 1994 (I think). It was quite small for the time (especially compared to the suitcase "field radio" things my bro had in the 80s) and a fun phone, except there was no screen so you even had to remember which numbers you'd put where on speed-dial!
:o
Try having this for a first phone - http://www.wikinoticia.com/images/gizmovil/cdn.gizmovil.com.files.2010.11.IMG_0835-640x480.jpg
Actually, it was pretty funny. It came with a watch which lit-up when I received calls / texts.
Brer Bunny
11-01-2011, 21:23
I have had three mobiles 1. Orange paygo motorola about 3/4 inch thick.
Then I took a break from mp's
2. Orange paygo Samsung 1/2 inch thick
Took about 3 yr break from mobys
3. Orange paygo Nokia 1/4 inch thick
I still have it buried somewhere in the house... I really ought to recharge it for emergencies in my car!
Justfound mine, Bosch 509e dual
http://www.ciao.co.uk/Bosch_509e_Dual__87210
Just found this which coincidentally is from my local Uni. May jog some memories.
http://www.cntr.salford.ac.uk/comms/mobile.php
FLYING SAUCER
16-01-2011, 04:01
Wow Thanks for finding this info packed site - My old phone does TXT & CALLS and that is all I need - no pictures, my old Motorolla (still on line) will get signals anywhere unlike all my mates new phones !!! and new phones, well, they are not as clear to read, resolution is an issue!
chilligrape
05-02-2011, 21:08
Mine was a Vodafone MN-1, in 1997. It was red and I loved it! I remember looking through the menu's and wondering what the 'messages' menu was for! Now I send hundreds a week :)
walnut_whip
12-03-2011, 18:50
My first was a Motorola MT9 - can't find it right now so no pic
2nd was this one:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a15/af135/Random/IMAG0220.jpg
Just wish I had chargers for both just to power them up again!
Mine was a Ericsson GA628.
http://www.cntr.salford.ac.uk/comms/resources/artefacts/mobilephones/ericsonga628.jpg
It was huge, and the aerial used to stick in my leg all the time.
walnut_whip
13-03-2011, 14:26
Mine was a Ericsson GA628.
http://www.cntr.salford.ac.uk/comms/resources/artefacts/mobilephones/ericsonga628.jpg
It was huge, and the aerial used to stick in my leg all the time.
Huge? I had that one too and it was positively small compared to older phones! The one in my pic took the old size (credit card size) SIM card!
My current phone is a little larger than a credit card and about 10mm thick. Most of that size is screen. Compare that to the dimensions of the GA628 (http://www.gsmarena.com/ericsson_ga_628-105.php) which weighed in at 130 x 49 x 28 mm and it becomes the biggest phone I ever owned.
tonyfinster
16-03-2011, 10:06
mine was the wonderful pocket filling lump that was the motorolla D520.
Had it given in 1999 and it was on the fledgling vodafone network.
I remember the ariel stub on top had a pull out whip extension that was not actually functional, it was just a design throwback to those analogue brick phones.
http://www.oldmobil.hu/forum/index.php?action=vthread&phonex=motorola-c520&included=1&forum=16&topic=114
grhaffdd
23-05-2011, 04:05
Seimens C25, I still have it. I don't use a phone and it has made maybe one or two calls I suppose it still works;-)
.
I have never had a mobile phone and don't particularly want one.
I got a Bosch (cannot remember the model of it) in 1995 on Vodafone. The coverage at the time was pretty poor. I can remember having to keep the phone upstairs in order to get a signal.
battyrat
26-11-2011, 20:49
Nokia 3310,second hand.Packed up about a month ago and now have a second hand nokia 3330.I only want a phone,nothing else.But saying that it's dam annoying when it goes off and I am out doing a little scrumping or foraging,and don't want to be noticed,lol.Another reason to turn the dam thing off when I am out.Emergencys only.That's all it is for.
Mine was a BT Cellnet phone, the first type.
nuttytigger
27-11-2011, 11:18
Philips C12 on BT Cellnet in 1998, then have went through 16 phones and now on an iPhone 4
My parents had mobiles long before I did- they had two matching Motorolas under the old BT 'One 2 One' package, though I can't remember the exact models. They got them in '97, I think my Dad still has his somewhere- they had little stubby aerials.
I didn't have a mobile until my 40th birthday in May 2004, when I was given a little Sendo as part of a Virgin 'pay as you go' package. I loved it, and was using it up until two years ago when it finally had to go into retirement in the bottom drawer. I now use a 2005 Nokia 5060 that I got second-hand on eBay.
spuggybridge
03-12-2011, 18:19
Had a nokia 3210 work phone, you could drop it, kick it, throw it and it would still work, crakin phones back in the day
vanhelsing
03-12-2011, 21:49
The one I have at the moment's a 2nd hand O2 XDA2 mini pocket pc.
Whose connection died (I couldn't reconnect it) so I had to get a Windows drivenmobile, a second hand Windows mobile 6.1 HTC Blackstone (I still had the SIM and SD cards) and at least headphones,re dead easy to get for it.
I can recall these when Joey on Bread had one and one from a scene in Only Fools and horses, but that was about 1992 I think. Regards Joey's Phone, I think sometimes he had a Car Phone or a Cordless one which was similar to a Mobile in those day's, not as I knew the difference until year's later.
I also recall Mr Hargreaves on Grange Hill in Series 15 (1992) trying to install a Mobile Phone in his car, which would be similar to Joey's I think, attached in the middle before Mobles became how they are now.
After this the next "big thing" I knew about Mobiles was when I was young, me any my Mum picking up a Mobile for a friend's daughter who had lost it while working in a Holiday Camp - that'd be about 1993 I think.
What can other members recall about 80s Mobiles or the first time you knew of one (say an advert or it on Tv say)? :)
shilton dipper
12-02-2012, 21:26
my first phone was the Maxon MX-3204 / MN-1
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I was given one of these for work late 1980's
Panasonic portable analogue mobile phone. The handset detaches from the the main unit. It weighed about 3kg with battery.
No sim cards or pay as you go in them days.
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themilkman
05-01-2013, 19:15
Really can't remember now as it was about 1997 :confused:,all I know is that it was with orange and it had an aerial at the top that you pulled out :D............not quite the same as my Blackberry I'm using atm.
Beach Life
06-01-2013, 12:52
A cherry red virgin mobile (think it was made by Alcatel and was well made) and I paid quite a lot of money for it in approx 1998. Sadly it broke so I got a replacement (see pic below). I never saw the film even though I fancied the actor! It was much heavier than my previous one and I was on the look out for the next one! Mainly ones made for Virgin. My favourite Virgin one was by Siemens which was a pebble type phone with a mirror inside, camera video etc. I still have it but now I have HTC Windows phone which is great!
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Trickyvee
06-01-2013, 14:49
Mine was a Vodafone MN-1, in 1997. It was red and I loved it! I remember looking through the menu's and wondering what the 'messages' menu was for! Now I send hundreds a week :)
originally manufacturers dithered as to whether to include text messaging on phones. They thought it was a throwback to pagers and that nobody would use text messages if they could speak instead. Wrong!
Richard1978
06-01-2013, 14:56
On my Mum's first phone (a Motorola from Orange) you could only received texts on a "Pay As You Go" package.
I never remember pagers getting that mainstream compaired to America, it must have only been a brief period before mobiles came down in price.
Did you know it costs nothing to the network provider to send a text? The radio masts that pings your cellphone to tell where it is sends data, as well as your phone pinging back to the mast. The extra space left over from these pings is 140 characters worth of data.
Trickyvee
06-01-2013, 19:08
On my Mum's first phone (a Motorola from Orange) you could only received texts on a "Pay As You Go" package.
I never remember pagers getting that mainstream compaired to America, it must have only been a brief period before mobiles came down in price.
Only knew one person who had a pager, a deaf friend, around the time I got my first mobile.
Richard1978
06-01-2013, 20:45
Only knew one person who had a pager, a deaf friend, around the time I got my first mobile.
I remember my Dad had one for work for a couple of years before getting a mobile to replace it & his carphone.
One or 2 friends had them at college.
my very first mobile was the Vodafone MN1, i had the blue one
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NDgwWDY0MA==/$T2eC16RHJIQE9qUHsjdPBQw4pvkh-Q~~60_1.JPG?set_id=8800005007
My friend had that blue phone. I remember thinking how sleek and modern it was. I had a good chuckle when I saw that picture.
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