Sorry for extending my review this long. I am just trying to put as much as I know.The 8000 characters thing is actually killing me.
This is the third part of Desire, Want, Need => Mobile Phone. The other two parts can be found at
Part I
https://mouthshut.com/review/Choosing_a_Mobile_Phone-68424-1.html
Part II
https://mouthshut.com/review/Choosing_a_Mobile_Phone-68426-1.html
Memory:
There are three kinds of internal memory.
SIM Memory: This is where all your contact list and messages are usually stored.
Phone Memory: This is an additional memory in your phone in which you can store contact list, images, sounds, ringtones, messages etc.
Phone memory can be Unshared or shared.
Unshared(allocated): Each application is allocated with its memory size. Say message will have some 60k in which you can store some 60 messages of 160 character size. Sony Ericsson T610 has a unshared memory.
Shared: There is a total memory size which is shared by all applications. You have 10 messages and 10 pictures, or 1 picture and 100 messages. Nokia 7650 has a shared memory.
External memory: This is the memory card which can be inserted into the phone. Usually this a feature available in higher end phone. SD Card or an MMC Card are compatible cards. An MMC card can also be used on a digital camera. N-Gage comes with ROMs. These are again MMC cards which have games burnt on it. So you cannot write anything on it, but can play the games.
Photophone book:
This is one dazzling feature. Just take a snap of you friend (if you don’t have a camera phone, transfer a pic from your comp) and attach it to the contact list. Whenever he/she calls up, the name and the photo will be displayed. So it will be easy for you to remember him/her when the name does not ring the bell.
Band
The band is the frequency at which the network is available. India has two bands 900 MHz and 1800 MHz. 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz are the four frequencies available in GSM.
Single band: Nokia 5110 is a single band phone which supports only the 900 GSM. So it cannot be used with other networks.
Dual band Nokia 3310 is a dual band phone which supports 900 and 1800 GSM.
Tri band Its supports both the band and a one extra band also. This can be used in other networks. Nokia 6230 is a tri band phone.
Quad band Supports all networks. Motorola V600 is a quad band phone.
Usually dual band phones in USA does not support networks in India and Indian ones don’t support USA. This is why quad band phones were introduced. When you select a triband phone, make sure you choose the three bands which you need.
Radio:
This is a choice you have to make. If you want your phone to tune in FM Radio, choose on with it. The first phone from Nokia which had a radio was a 8310. But with the radio chip, the reception got distorted and Nokia had to rework on the phone. These days, there are not much problems, in a phone with built in radio.
The final decision:
Decide whether you want to go in for a GSM or a CDMA phone. Its just the a technological option. There is no cost difference though. In India, you cannot change service providers so easily once you are in CDMA, but in a GSM its as simple as changing the SIM card. The basic difference in a GSM and a CDMA is that you are always logged in to the network in a GSM, and logged in only when making a call in a CDMA.
Thank you for your patience.