what is the difference between gsm and wcdma?

theevilmonkee · #1 (**permalink**) 08-02-2008, 07:04 PM

i see the terms "gsm version" and "wcdma version" come up alot in discussions about the rafael but i don't know the difference. i've tried google, but couldn't find help. so what's the difference? which version is supposed to be better.

the_goldentiger · #2 (**permalink**) 08-02-2008, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theevilmonkee

i see the terms "gsm version" and "wcdma version" come up alot in discussions about the rafael but i don't know the difference. i've tried google, but couldn't find help. so what's the difference? which version is supposed to be better.

mmm CDMA. I think WCDMA

http://www.tech-faq.com/wcdma.shtml
http://searchtelecom.techtarget.com/...213842,00.html

http://www.tech-faq.com/gsm.shtml

theevilmonkee · #3 (**permalink**) 08-02-2008, 08:52 PM

yeah i saw both those pages when i searched, but i still don't know exactly what the difference and which is better (if there is a better one).

EtherealRemnant · #4 (**permalink**) 08-02-2008, 08:58 PM

There aren't separate GSM/WCDMA versions... all of the "GSM" versions are WCDMA - HSPA devices with GSM as a fall-back.

CDMA, on the other hand, is a completely different device.

the_goldentiger · #5 (**permalink**) 08-02-2008, 09:24 PM

correct GSM, Devices use SIM cards
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-sim-card.htm

ilkhan · #6 (**permalink**) 08-02-2008, 10:47 PM

WCDMA = HSPA = 3G GSM - the worldwide device, tri/quad -band, SIM cards, ATT/US t-mobile
CDMA = sprint/VZW, basically US only, available sept/november.

Theres 4 devices people are interested in. GSM diamond, GSM touch pro, CDMA diamond, CDMA touch pro. only 1 (GSM diamond) is really available, GSM touch pro is im not sure, CDMA diamond looks to be sept 2, and CDMA pro looks to be october/november.

Almost all of the current confusion comes from not having known codenames for each of the 4, just diamond/raphael codenames (which dont seperate out radio versions. Think Apache vs Wizard. Mostly the same phone, just easy to ID as GSM or CDMA based on the name.)

holo · #7 (**permalink**) 08-03-2008, 08:58 PM

aye CDMA will only run on CDMA carriers and same with the GSM version - it just depends on what carrier you want to run it on. sprint/verizon/alltel/qwest are all CDMA and at&t/t-mobile are the two big GSM carriers for the US. In Europe GSM is pretty much the standard and most (all in many countries) are GSM. careful getting an overseas GSM version as these afaik will not do 3g data in the US even on at&t/t-mobile (at least at the moment).