Presumably by reading this opinion you may have some intention of purchasing this glorious piece of high-technology. It’ll set you back a few week’s wages, but boy, is it worth it!
I kid you. The M3788 is quite possibly the most basic mobile phone still currently available on the high street and through mail order. What is the purpose of this opinion, then? Well, there is a very good purpose. Despite it’s age and lack of features, which I shall come to shortly, there is still a large market for this very phone.
Made by Motorola, one of the lesser phone manufacturers, the M3788 is by no means the epitome of sleek design and it won’t win you any points in the cool department either (a bit like owning Puma trainers in the 90s). It’s a very chunky phone and for me, this is it’s greatest downfall. Women will find it bulky in a handbag while many men (who do not wish to appear homosexual - and by saying that, I am not being homophobic, just stating the common perception - by wearing it off a clip on their jeans) will find it simply too large to fit in a pocket. The latest models are disturbingly small, and on the celebrity scale, the M3788 is Vanessa Feltz to the Nokia 3310s Calista Flockhart.
Size is not everything though, especially if you do not mind walking around with a large bulge in your pockets all day. In terms of features, this phone again comes in at the lower end of the market. It is really a year or two out of date, a phone which would have been cutting edge back then but is now sorely lacking in comparison to it’s rivals.
Nonetheless, there is something to be said for it. I have owned this model for just over six months now, and have had no problems whatsoever with it. Apart from the back cover sliding off in the first weeks I owned it - a problem which mysteriously remedied itself - it has stood up well to the wear and tear of being my companion on many drunken nights out. The LCD screen is well protected and even heavy scratching somehow does not appear too damaging.
As I mentioned, it is limited in it’s feature set, but has all the functions you really need - it can call, answer and make bleeping noises. To be honest anything beyond this is superfluous and often just to cater for the Ali G generation. It can store, I believe, 90 numbers in memory and has SMS capabilities, although none of the advanced abilities (such as predictive typing - a feature making a mockery of the SMS addicts if ever there was one) of newer models.
Unlike the (in)famous Nokia models, the M3788 cannot be programmed with customised ring tones or screensavers. Some might say this is a good thing, but the popularity of the model means many occasions crop up when you are not sure who in the room has just recieved a message - as the SMS tone cannot be altered at all. There are a choice of ten bog-standard ring tones, the French Ring being my personal favourite (anything but Rock DJ is what I say).
Interfacing with your phone is done through one of two ways - either through the small menu key, which in conjuction with a number gives you access to the nine most commonly used functions, or through the heirarchical listing of functions accessed through a pair of arrow keys. This is all very simple stuff and even the biggest technophobe among us would struggle to get lost here.
Battery life has been better than I had expected from the horror stories I had heard - typically, after a three-hour charge (or overnight), I will be able to run the phone for just over a week if I switch it off at nights. Leaving it on standby constantly gives me around four days operation, which is adequate.
The phone’s main advantage is it’s price. I purchased mine six months ago for £30 on the Orange Just Talk (pay as you go) scheme, and more recently I have seen it available using other networks for as little as £20.
If you are simply looking for a cheap phone to make the occasional call and send/recieve SMS messages, the M3788 is currently the best option. It is not so widely used for no good reason, and I imagine you’ll find it does everything you need, without breaking the bank. Those looking for a feature-packed phone would do well to stay clear, but for the majority the M3788 is more than adequate. Comes highly recommended.