Having realized that my requirement is for a good mobile phone and not for a camera phone, I decided to switch from the Nokia 6230 to a Nokia 6610 for the following reasons:
After using the Nokia 6230 for a period of 4 months I find that though the phone is excellent but the photograph quality is very poor and though you have the advantage of attaching the photograph of a person to the phone book entry – one needs to make sure that the photographs are taken outdoors in sunlight or under extremely bright conditions otherwise the photograph quality is poor.
Also, the phone features between the Nokia 6230 and the Nokia 6610 were almost similar in terms of both offer:
Tri-band Operation
MMS
GPRS
HSCSD (High-Speed Circuit-Switched Data)
WAP Browser
Stereo FM radio
Integrated Handsfree speaker
Automatic key guard
Customizable and timed profiles
Monophonic and Polyphonic ringing tones
Wallpaper: Full-screen color image
Screen saver: Digital clock
Clock, alarm clock
Calculator, currency converter
Stopwatch, countdown timer
Connectivity options: IR and cable
Downloadable personal applications via Java™ technology
SMS (up to 150 text messages or 50 picture/concatenated messages)
Calendar notes (up to 250 entries)
To-do list (up to 30 entries)
Images (10 preset, all removable)
The difference between the Nokia 6230 and the Nokia 6610 is that the Nokia 6230 has the following additional features:
the 6610 one can store upto 300 contacts with 5 entries per contact
However, despite having mentioned some of the additional features of the Nokia 6230 – I must admit that other than the Camera I have not used any of the other features and do not miss the Camera at all as I hardly used it due to the poor photograph quality. Also, the Nokia 6610 is priced at almost less than half the price of a Nokia 6230. Besides, I was lucky a friend was looking for a Bluetooth Nokia phone and I was able to get a good price for my Nokia 6230.
The weight of a Nokia 6610 is 84 grams and the approximate Talk Time that I get is 3 hours with a stand by time of 2 to 3 days.
I would like to request all who are bitten by the Camera Phone Bug to really consider the following:
Assess the features that you need and will use in a Mobile Phone.
Consider buying a Digital Camera with mega pixels instead of a Camera Phone
Check the photograph quality in low light not in bright tube light conditions.
If one is still interested in a Camera phone make sure the mega pixels are correct and the Camera Phone has a built in flash.
Keep in mind whether you want a mobile phone or a Camera
I must mention here that the price for a Nokia 6610 being shown under MS Shopping is Rs. 15, 819.00 whereas the Maximum Retail Price for a Nokia 6610 in India is Rs. 9, 959.00. I had reported this error to Mouth Shut about a week ago but no action has been taken by them till date.