| The Cell Phone Handbook: Everything You Wanted to Know About Wireless Telephony (But Didn't Know Who or What to Ask) (Cell Phone Handbook)by Penelope Stetz  (13 customer reviews)Paperback: (Aegis Publishing Group, Ltd.)
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Editorial ReviewsBook Description Cellular phones have gone from a gee whiz curiosity only a few years ago to an indispensable communications link for more than 50 million U.S. subscribers. Despite cell phones' enormous popuarity, until now it has been difficult to get reliable, objective information on which to base purchases and maximize performance. |
Reader Reviews |
 An useful book on cell phones, Sunday, August 14, 2005One of the good books in the market about cell phones. As the title indicates, the book is targeted to the average user. It has some useful tips on understanding cell phone services in the North American market. A good understanding of the American market is important even for people in other countries. How many times I've been asked by folks in Australia and UK about global roaming, multiband, and multimode phones. |
| Excellent guide for newcomers, Tuesday, October 14, 2003 When I started a new job as a salesman for a software company offering solutions for the wireless communications market I bought this book. The result: in a few days I caught up with my colleagues and was able to very properly conduct myself in sales calls. I am buying a third volume, because the first 2 I gave to my customers. The last one, to a friend of mine who became IT Manager of a large communications company. He keeps it permanently on his credenza and it is his most frequently checked reference. If I could give Ms. Stetz more than five stars, I would. |
 why do you want this book ???, Sunday, April 14, 2002Enjoying this book depends on why do you want to buy it ??? .. if you are looking for general engineering information .. this book is not what you are looking for .. although it have some general information .. I think it's not sufficient .. but if you are just interested in knowing your mobile phone better and know some very basic concepts about the mobile phone networks.. you will enjoy this book .. I did enjoy reading some of the chapters .. it's easy to read book .. but people who do not know any thing about communication will find a little bit difficulty in understanding some concepts .... It's all your choice .. !!?? |
| Technology made simple and fun, Thursday, March 21, 2002 Although you don't need to know how your cell phone works any more than you need to know how an internal combustion engine works in order to drive a car, it does help when it comes time to select a phone and service. This book will give you essential information for selecting the phone and service plan that's right for you. It does so in clear language, explaining technical details in a way that is not only understandable, but is actually fun to read. The author has a thorough knowledge of the industry and a gift for writing. That alone makes this book invaluable. I appreciated the way that phone features and accessories were clearly explained. More importantly, I like the way Ms. Stetz navigates you through the confusing maze of service plans and options, which cuts through the confusion and makes you a more informed consumer. This is especially important when it comes to selecting a provided based on their technology. While the average consumer may thing that terms like GSM, TDMA and CDMA are not important, I can assure you from personal experience that they are. It also is important to know whether or not the provider you're considering has an all digital network or also has a mix of the older cellular technologies and digital because the ones with the old and new are less likely to impost roaming charges if you are in an area where digital service is unavailable and you have a phone that will switch modes. The providers that have only the newer digital technology will likely impose roaming charges if you go off their network, despite the advertising claims of for "anywhere" and "one rate". Armed with the information in this book you'll understand the fine print and can make informed decisions when selecting a provider (of understanding the costs of switching to a new provider). If you're the type of person who is curious about how things work, then you're in for a treat because the book digs into details. Like the parts about phones, features and options, and service plans, the book sorts out the complexities and clearly explains them. You need not have a technical background (or even a technical mindset) to understand the book. I personally enjoyed learning about how the networks operate and what happens behind the scenes. |
| Provides a good history and knowledge of cell phone systems, Saturday, August 19, 2000 Ever wonder what people did for portable telephony before cell phones? Ever wonder how cell phones came about and how they have developed? Ever wonder how a cellular system works? Ever wonder what the difference between cellular and PCS is? Or digital vs. analog? Or a dozen other questions regarding cell phones? Then this is a good book for you. This book tries to answer just about every question you could have about cellular phones and the technology associated with them, and it does a pretty darn good job of doing so without having to have an engineering degree to understand it all. |