What year did you get your first mobile phone?

punisher5112 · 16-02-2019 1:02pm

Gonad wrote: »

Mine was around 1999-2000 Nokia 3100 or something like that . Also I think my first number was 087 . What network would that have been ?

Eircel

Joe_ Public · 16-02-2019 1:08pm

Remember seeing an advert in one of the evening papers for mobile phones for 4.99 in a petrol station on Shelbourne Road around mid 90s so went and got one.

I think it was Maxon phone (or was that name of the garage?) Anyway thing was huge, weighed a ton and antenna wasn’t far off a foot long. Still a mobile phone though!

Gonad · 16-02-2019 7:38pm

punisher5112 wrote: »

Eircel

That it twas .

punisher5112 · 16-02-2019 7:41pm

The eircel aeroplane is still at Dublin airport where they use it for training.

It's only very recently if I recall right that the painted over the ad.

alan partridge aha · 16-02-2019 7:47pm

https://www.google.com/search?q=nokia+mobile+phones+1996+ireland&client=ms-android-samsung&prmd=isnv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjBtf7_gcHgAhUiSxUIHfZdDCcQ_AUoAXoECAwQAQ&biw=360&bih=612#imgrc=JEEugnYNLY1QQM

1996 brilliant phone

Stone Gossard · 16-02-2019 7:56pm

In 1994 mitsubishi mt8 on the old eircell 088 analogue network.
I used to sell phones and had another previous to that for a year or 2... but can't remember what it was ...I think it was a Motorola microtac... memories!

lbc2019 · 16-02-2019 7:59pm

1997 - Motorola D160
088 2092450 (Not my current 7 digit number)

DopeTech · 16-02-2019 8:01pm

Around 2003-2004. Think it was the Nokia 3510i

LollipopJimmy · 16-02-2019 8:02pm

2000 - Nokia 5110, bulletproof, 16 year old Jimmy dropped it many times and the worst thing that happened was the battery fell off. It's still in a box in the attic and I reckon it'd still work

Grandeeod · 16-02-2019 8:04pm

1995. A Maxon.

maxon_epc590e

ForestFire · 16-02-2019 8:06pm

GBX wrote: »

1998 - Nokia 5110

This is the first I remember at least.

Was in 3rd year in college and got it when heading off on work placement.

Sleeper12 · 16-02-2019 8:06pm

1996 Nokia 8110. The banana phone. Relaunched after the first Matrix movie in 1999 /2000

AllForIt · 16-02-2019 8:12pm

Nokia 1998 or 99. Don't recall the model number. Loved playing snake at lightening speed. My hand got more and more sweaty the longer I progressed and would die for that reason as my fingers would slip due to the sweat. That's my excuses anyway.

Oops69 · 16-02-2019 8:15pm

the ericsson brick thing in 1995

Teddy Daniels · 16-02-2019 8:16pm

corcaigh1 wrote: »

Same number lol...fair play! Obviously an 087 number!

I've the same number since 1996 Nokia 1610 iirc.

kieran. · 16-02-2019 8:17pm

1999 Mitsubishi Trium bought me and the now wife one for Xmas!

appledrop · 16-02-2019 8:18pm

1999 Ericsson. Wouldn't have a clue about the model. All I know was that it was blue + we all got one in college with some special offer that meant we got €50 free credit. We thought we were minted. I'd say that €50 lasted for months. We would never ever ring each other during the day as cost so much back then on ready to go. So we all still used to agree to meet by arts block/library etc at set time. I think we were better off as people too quick to be late now as can call/ text with an excuse. Back then you would get an earful if you left someone waiting for more than 10 mins!

Rubberchikken · 16-02-2019 8:20pm

nokia 5110.
was a good phone. always the same number though. took long enough to remember it so wont be changing

Sardonicat · 16-02-2019 11:14pm

appledrop wrote: »

1999 Ericsson. Wouldn't have a clue about the model. All I know was that it was blue + we all got one in college with some special offer that meant we got €50 free credit. We thought we were minted. I'd say that €50 lasted for months. We would never ever ring each other during the day as cost so much back then on ready to go. So we all still used to agree to meet by arts block/library etc at set time. I think we were better off as people too quick to be late now as can call/ text with an excuse. Back then you would get an earful if you left someone waiting for more than 10 mins!

Surely you mean £50? We didn't change to euro til 2002

Strumms · 17-02-2019 12:19am

Just found this while doing a clear out. About 20 years old, wasn’t a great phone but as cool as **** looking, still is in fact.

Wheety · 17-02-2019 12:22am

98 or 99. An luminous green Alcatel.

jimbobaloobob · 17-02-2019 12:23am

1999
Didn't know what text messages were for about 6 months until I asked someone why there was an envelope icon flashing on the screen all the time.
Still have the same number and had the same SIM card up until 2017

endacl · 17-02-2019 12:42am

LollipopJimmy wrote: »

2000 - Nokia 5110, bulletproof, 16 year old Jimmy dropped it many times and the worst thing that happened was the battery fell off. It's still in a box in the attic and I reckon it'd still work

Probably wouldn’t even need to charge it.

donotvalidate · 17-02-2019 12:47am

2000. A Mitsubishi Trium with a flip down bit for speaking into and a pull up aerial. I was da bomb..........site

touts · 17-02-2019 1:31am

December 1995

https://m.gsmarena.com/ericsson_go_118-97.php

I remember going into an eircell store and I had a choice between the old Analogue 088 network or the new digital 087 network. Then I could pick out the phone from a selection of three or four different models. Then the guy behind the counter pulled out an A4 sheet with a list of all the available numbers he had. I could go down through it and pick a number I liked and that I thought would be easy to remember. Then he rooted through a box and got the aim that matched the number. Took about 4-5 days before it was active.

Still have the same number. Pretty sure the phone is in a box somewhere around the house.

punisher5112 · 17-02-2019 2:18am

touts wrote: »

December 1995

https://m.gsmarena.com/ericsson_go_118-97.php

I remember going into an eircell store and I had a choice between the old Analogue 088 network or the new digital 087 network. Then I could pick out the phone from a selection of three or four different models. Then the guy behind the counter pulled out an A4 sheet with a list of all the available numbers he had. I could go down through it and pick a number I liked and that I thought would be easy to remember. Then he rooted through a box and got the aim that matched the number. Took about 4-5 days before it was active.

Still have the same number. Pretty sure the phone is in a box somewhere around the house.

Was it 087654321

200motels · 17-02-2019 12:34pm

punisher5112 wrote: »

Was it 087654321

A Ericsson from speak easy in 1998 and I still use the same number.

Stone Gossard · 17-02-2019 12:53pm

200motels wrote: »

A Ericsson from speak easy in 1998 and I still use the same number.

Were you an early bird or a night owl ?

willowthewisp · 17-02-2019 12:55pm

1999, Panasonic. If i am right it wa one of the first vibrating phones.

17-02-2019 12:57pm

1996. Ericsson GH388. A superb phone.

return guide · 17-02-2019 1:07pm

1990 - Used to carry one of these around in a Tesco bag, needed it for work in London. A company used to rent them out,had to get rid of it after a few weeks - cost a fortune on calls and rent. Back to the BT phonecard.

https://goo.gl/images/VZ7r3B

The high horse brigade · 17-02-2019 2:01pm

Grandeeod wrote: »

1995. A Maxon.

Same for me. I could stir my coffee with the antenna

OldMrBrennan83 · 17-02-2019 2:02pm

All those T9 keyboards were the death of spelling and grammar.

waxmelts2000 · 17-02-2019 2:06pm

1996 Panasonic and still have the same number !

Blazer · 17-02-2019 2:07pm

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

1996 new job, new phone

Nokia 5110

Same, 1996.
Only problem was I was the first of my friends to have one so apart from the parents and the nana there was no one else to ring

flazio · 17-02-2019 2:35pm

Ericsson GF768 on Eircell RTG in 1999.
Still have the number.
My dad had a blue one as his phone. When he upgraded to a Nokia 5110 he didn't like it so took my red one. Anyone ever make up their own network logos on e-merge.ie
My dad also has his original number, sort of, his 087 number had 6 numbers before needing to add a 2 to the front of it. I remember his sim card used to be the size of a Telecom Eireann call card.

NewbridgeIR · 17-02-2019 2:42pm

Late 1995, Ericsson 118 as mentioned above.
Have only had three more phones since then
2000
2005
2016

Alun · 17-02-2019 2:51pm

Amateurs the lot of you ... I had one of these ...

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/VINTAGE-MOBILE-PHONE-PHILIPS-PWR9040-NMT-900-RARE-/253376757801

... back in 1990 when I lived in the Netherlands. Wasn't even GSM, but on an older network called NMT.

flazio · 17-02-2019 3:13pm

Alun wrote: »

Amateurs the lot of you ... I had one of these ...

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/VINTAGE-MOBILE-PHONE-PHILIPS-PWR9040-NMT-900-RARE-/253376757801

... back in 1990 when I lived in the Netherlands. Wasn't even GSM, but on an older network called NMT.

088 was NMT, 087 (and subsequently 086, 085 etc) were GSM.

colm_mcm · 17-02-2019 3:16pm

1999 - Motorola D520 on eircell “Ready to Go”
Complete with ‘my eircell number is 087_______’ stickers

Think the brother got his in 1998 - a Philips Diga.

We only discovered texting by accident. It wasn’t really promoted at the time IIRC.

colm_mcm · 17-02-2019 8:01pm

willowthewisp wrote: »

1999, Panasonic. If i am right it wa one of the first vibrating phones.

I had one of those too! Think it had a backlight that could be green or red, also some weird animation thing.

lbc2019 · 17-02-2019 8:19pm

Blazer wrote: »

Same, 1996.
Only problem was I was the first of my friends to have one so apart from the parents and the nana there was no one else to ring

The 5110 wasnt releasef til 1998

lbc2019 · 17-02-2019 10:55pm

Hello Moto

jimbobaloobob · 18-02-2019 12:29am

I reluctantly got a phone back in 1999. Never went the mini call. Did anyone get a life get a minicall?

bigtimecharlie · 18-02-2019 12:33am

Defo 1997 remember jue to the bird that was by my side at the time. Motorola but can't recall the model.

tedpan · 18-02-2019 7:10am

flazio wrote:

Ericsson GF768 on Eircell RTG in 1999. Still have the number. My dad had a blue one as his phone. When he upgraded to a Nokia 5110 he didn't like it so took my red one. Anyone ever make up their own network logos on e-merge.ie My dad also has his original number, sort of, his 087 number had 6 numbers before needing to add a 2 to the front of it. I remember his sim card used to be the size of a Telecom Eireann call card.

Are you sure? The gf768 was released in 97, the T10 came out in 99, same look with an updated screen and features. Maybe you bought old stock?

Pinch Flat · 18-02-2019 7:12am

1996 Motorola startac. Didn’t work indoors so if someone called, you had to make your way outside ASAP.

leche solara · 18-02-2019 4:23pm

Got the Philips Diga in I think 1998. Won it on a radio competition the day that Eircell launched Ready to Go. First prepaid offering by any carrier in Ireland. Bought a big leatherette protective case with a snap fastener - thought it was the bees knees.

Rob C · 19-02-2019 10:01pm

1996 and it was the Sony 'Mars Bar' phone.

Didn't even have a screen

Still the coolest phone I ever had.

$_86.JPG

AMKC · 19-02-2019 10:49pm

Got my first phone around 98-99. It was a piece of crap NEC phone. Got it via some tokens off a newspaper lol. Then replaced that with a Mitsubishi Trium for free from the bank when I got my first student account. Thought it was great. It was like the communicator from TOS

After that it was Nokia's all the way for a while.

What year did you get your first mobile phone?

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