What does the word ’’Swapping’’ mean to you?
This is what me and my best friend (rit_gary on MS) tried. There was a grudge initially. Should we or should we not? Both of us were proud of our beautiful possessions, and yet we wanted to experiment. And swapping is not a new concept. Ok it calls for a big sacrifice but the fun, the thrill, the ecstasy and THE TEMPTATION. And besides it was going to be between friends and we could both trust each other, could we or couldn’t we? So we discussed it at Chowpatty while we were sober, then we debated over a couple of drinks. ’’It’s not Indian’’, we argued. Possessiveness over temptation!
’’Let’s just do it’’
So I gave my Nokia 6210 to him and he handed his Nokia 3315 to me, for 1 week. (hey, what were you thinking? Hee hee)
Two phones from same company but a different league, altogether. And mine was old, whereas 3315 is a new addition from Nokia. So there’s bound to be some comparisons here.
«« FIRST IMPRESSIONS »»
The 3315 seems to be some modification over 3310 model and has similar dimensions... and bulge. But this one is more attractive. The top portion is white and remains constant with the screen and buttons, whereas rest of the body happens to be one of the Xpress-on covers. This one was pale blue, but I liked the other maroon one, which looks damn neat and bright against that white top. The keys look metallic but not truly metallic, ...er...confusing. Actually, when lit up, they look translucent with a beautiful green glow. Also the keys look fused together. But hey unlike my 6210, there is no green and red key (answer/reject). Also there is one Navi-key for a central menu as against my two keys for left/right menu system. So I did have problems initially, especially the in-call functions. Most other features are typical Nokia, so with some adjustments you get used to it. The battery size (BLC-1) is different from my long and slim BLS-4 one but lasts equally longer.
One more noticeable difference was that this model has screen saver.
«« WHAT I MISS IN MY 6210 ’’’’
a. Picture Editor: Hmm ok yes, I can use the software provided, but that’s on my PC. With 3315, you can use the phone for editing the picture, which can be saved as template for picture messaging or as screen saver.
b. Ringtone composer:Like 3310 this feature is retained here. Though novel in concept that permits one to be different from other several million Nokia users, by having their own tunes, I didn’t like it. And the music I tried was pathetic. So I gave up on being new Rehman in the making. It’s better to download these rings. What was unique though, is that even messages can be allotted some ring tone instead of the beeps.
c. SMS Chat:It has support for long SMS messages, unlike mine and then one can scroll through the conversation history through another unique mode of chat. I don’t know how Orange charges but if its Re.1/chat sms, I am doomed. I mean talking on the phone would be more worthwhile.
c. Keypad lock:I know you’ll say...ridiculous all Nokia has this one. Yup! But what I like is that the keypad locks automatically after some time. With my absent mindedness, I miss this lil feature the most.
«« WHAT ELSE IT DOES HAVE»»
T9 predictive text. It is useful at times, though with our Hinglish and typical slangs, this can get on nerves. It has support for Hindi language.
It has vibratory alerts, silent, meeting mode besides the ring.
Games, the same old Nokia but new ones like Bantumi and Space Impact (wish they added the new ones like racket).
Quick dialing, voice dialing is typical, but this one has something call fixed dialing that restricts outgoing calls to certain numbers in a list only. So you can ensure that your GF calls only you or her female friends you know. (Girls can use it similarly...hee hee)
It has call forwarding, barring etc and security features that we all know of.
It has a calculator (only basic use), calender and reminder functions. It has clock and something that I wonder about - ’’Stopwatch’’. Why a stopwatch in cell phone? A bit perplexing!
«« WHAT IT DOES NOT HAVE »»
From the above it looks like a normal phone with a few tweaks that would make it a BETTER normal phone. But look at all new phones and their features. The new 7650 could leave you drooling. Nokia 3315 does not have WAP and so it does not have GPRS. Come to think of it, it does not have communication abilities - no infra red, no cable to PC, no fax/modem, no Bluetooth. So it’s going to be quickly outdated (for rest of the world).
But lets us look at Indian perspective. WAP is not so cool, as by itself it’s a lot of expense. WAP with GPRS is better option but is currently offered by BPL Mobile only. I have still to hear of Bluetooth’s usage in India. So J2ME and its applications like multimedia messaging and 3G are still quite far away.
So leave alone all those big terms for the snobbish, the rich, the celebs, who may want to show off their underutilized smart phones. That still leaves out several million people who would love a simple phone with nice goodies packed, and at an affordable price. And Nokia 3315 delivers just that !
«« OVERALL »»
With an official price tag of Rs. 6, 500/- there is no need to turn to the gray market. So NOKIA has wisely launched this product that addresses a huge mass. I highly recommend it for the basic user.
Guess, it’s time to swap back...our phones i.e.