I think I know the mindset of most of the people who would be reading this article.
Most of them would be reading this article before buying a cell phone. I too read a lot of reviews before I finally went in for one. After all I don’t figure in the list of those people who change their cell phones regularly.
So I wanted to buy a phone which had all the features and something which also fitted my bill. I was confused with the reviews I read. All the reviews talked good about their phones and how their lives suddenly changed. What a crap!But some were good too. So my first advice, read all reviews but decide on your own.
I started off with a budget of Rs.5000. I wanted a colour display phone and the most important feature I desired was a good organiser. I had a previous phone, Siemens C45. It wasnt a colour display phone , but it was a good phone. I liked its organiser the way it worked. I lost it hence I had to purchase a new one.
With these things in my mind I started off. Went online and read reviews. Also talked to friends. Went to the market and started checking out pieces.
Note : when you go to the market or shops, try not going into very huge showrooms. Because the models are usually priced higher atleast by a margin of 600 to 1000 rupees. Also if possible take a friend who has a cell phone so that you can use his sim card to check the phones. Most of the shop keepers say that they dont have a sim card and they cant show you a demo. Insist on a demo.
With my budget, I narrowed down to 2 models, Samsung C100 and Sony Ericsson T130. I didn’t like the screen of the sony phone. I compared it to the display of a Nokia phone. I ruled out Sony only because that I didnt like the display. People are free to choose here.
Samsung c100 has 65000 colours. I said wow. Then I saw that there is no MMS feature. I said crap!
Whats the use of having 65000 colours and not being able to send or receive MMS.
Also one of my friends had this phone and when I talked to him he said that there were compatibility issues regarding WAP and infrared. I ruled it out immediately.
I decided that I will go for in for a Nokia model only now.There were other models available but as to what I feel there are only three companies one should go for i.e. sony, samsung and nokia. My earlier phone was Siemens but I wasn’t able to download ringtones and it wasn’t playing many of them due to compatibility issues. With Nokia you can trust them as far as compatibility is concerned.
Anyway now my choice was Nokia 3100. I enquired the prices and they varied from 6500 to 7200. And then my eyes fell on NOkia 3200. My first reaction, what a crappy looking phone it is?
Then I came home , went online , checked out the models.
I saw the features of nokia 3200 and believe me I was stunned.Because the price difference wasnt much between 3100 and 3200 and 3200 had all the features, radio, camera, voice recorder, infra red etc. I was impressed with the features it had to offer. The looks werent good at all but it doesnt matter .The phone will be be in my pocket for most of the time and who cares about looks.
The features of Nokia 3200 are as follows :
a>Messaging Capabilities
1 Multimedia Messaging with full integration of text, images and audio clips.
2 Multimedia messages can be sent between the Nokia 3200 and other MMS3
enabled phones or to an e-mail3 address.
3 Voice recording for storing audio clips or use as ringing tones, then send them
further via MMS3.
4 Phone book contacts with images.
b>Imaging Capabilities
1 Integrated Digital Camera2 for instant imaging and personalization such as Cut-
out covers1(via PC Suite), wallpapers & business card attachments.
2 Viewfinder function uses the color screen as camera finder.
3 Picture taking and automatic saving into phone memory.
4 Gallery for storing images taken with camera or received by MMS3.
5 Image Upload capability for uploading the images to a server or to your own PC4.
6 Enhanced picture editor for modifying the images on the phone.
7 Self-timer function (10 seconds).
c>Built-in Stereo FM Radio
You can listen to your favorite tunes on the built-in stereo FM radio through the
headset or the integrated hands-free speaker.
d>Display and User Interface
1 High-resolution, passive matrix color display.
2 Supports up to 4096 colors within 128 x 128 pixels2.
3 Four way navigation provides excellent and easy usability.
e>Connectivity
1 Send/receive pictures, graphics, sounds, install applications with Nokia PC suite5.
2 EDGE3 for powerful internet/xHTML3 browsing, messaging (email3, MMS3, Instant
Message3), content download, mobile gaming and other online applications.
3 With GPRS3, there is no need to dial-up. You can make your data transfers via
your ’’always-on’’ connection with GPRS3.
4 xHTML3 browser for a better browsing experience
5 Integrated infrared for wireless communication between phone and PC and other
infrared device4.
f>Other Features
1 Tri-band phone - GSM900/1800/1900. That means you can use the phone in USA
too.
2 Profile settings for adjusting the phone to the environment and lifestyle.
3 JavaTM capability for downloading JavaTM applications and games and storing
them into the phone memory.
g>Flashlight
Find your way in the dark with the Integrated Flashlight. Ha ! Its not that bright
but its handy enough.
It has 1Mb internal memeory which is shared by all applications.
The best part it weighs only 90 grams.
Also you can design your own covers , cut it using a phone cutter provided with the phone.
I immediately started working on my dad and increased my budget to 8000.
Then what I wanted was a shop which gives me the phone at a reassonable rate.
Note: If you dont want the insurance or warrantee for the phone you could save upto 1000 bucks.But you have to ask the shop owner ’’ bina bill ka kitna ’’. He would understand.Now dont go into orange and bpl showrooms and ask this. You wont get it there. For people who want a warrantee like me ( I dont trust modern tech, it can fail any time without any reason) this is not an issue.
I stay at Thane, So I went into all the shops and enquired. I even asked my friends at Vashi to enquire over there. But luckily Thane proved to be cheaper.
Prices vary a lot for the same model. The price varies from 8000 to 8800 and sometimes even to more than 9000. But the reasonable price is around 8200-8300.
I got it for Rs.8000. If somebody wants the phone from Thane let me know and I will be glad to help you out.
I have been using the phone for nearly a month now and I am enjoying all the features.The radio is proving to be very handy especially during the criket matches.
As I said the keypad doesnt have great looks.The no. keys are joined. One has to press the upper part of the key for a no. and the lower key for another no.But trust me its very user friendly. You will get used to it in minutes. Nokia spends a lot in making phones which are ergonomic.
A few dissapointing sides : I tried to use the infrared with other phones like Nokia 6800 but it didn’t work. Probably I didn’t use it correctly or maybe it works only with a pc infrared transreceiver. I still have to test this feature. But I trust Nokia and believe that it will work too.
Otherwise the phone is a masterpiece. I used to wonder why this phone is priced so low.Then I realised that it was the looks. Many of my friends dont like the looks of my phone. They say it doesn’t look sleek and hi tech. I said I don’t give a damn. For me it looks cool,