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Mobile phone buyers' guide - what a laugh! |
goldenface
Joined: Dec 17, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Liverpool City Centre
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Mobile phone buyers' guide
The mobile industry is pushing a vast array of new services but do you really need them? Richard Taylor sets out what you should be looking for in a good phone.
Most mobiles now come equipped with a camera
The first thing to consider is how your mobile will fit into your lifestyle.
For example, businessmen on the go, or road warriors as they are known, will likely suit a more heavy duty handset like a powerful smart phone with built-in satellite navigation, a big screen for web browsing for checking your diary or sending and receiving emails.
Fashionistas on the other hand should look for something less complicated and with a little more of the fun factor - with the options to personalize with screen covers.
Think carefully about the design.
Clamshell and slider designs mean you can protect the screen and keys - though they tend to be bulkier than the traditional candybar design.
It is also definitely worth trying out the keys - and onboard keyboard if there is one - especially if you are fat fingered like me.
Spend some time too exploring the interface.
Is it intuitive and easy to navigate? And is the screen decent and with text large enough you can read without a magnifying glass?
The words kitchen sink spring to mind when it comes to phone applications these days. But which ones will you really use?
Snap shots
On-board cameras are all the rage. But though they are standard-issue, be warned. The lenses are usually cheap, and despite various options which might look enticing, resolution is still low - around a megapixel or so.
Do not assign your MP3 players to the bin just yet
If you are in any way serious about photography, look for one of the crop of upcoming cameraphones, with far better resolutions of two, three or more megapixels.
That means you can get a reasonable quality print - though do not expect it to replace a stand alone stills camera, despite what the salesman tells you.
Now one of the biggest pushes over the past year has been mobile music with the industry telling us your handset can now consign your bulky MP3 player to the history books.
But here too do not be fooled in by the marketing, the fact is that most devices cannot replace a dedicated music player.
Transferring songs onto the device can be slow and fiddly, and downloading new songs through phone networks can also be outrageously expensive.
If you do want to use your phone as an MP3 player, at the very least check that it has either a standard headphone socket or at least that there is an adaptor available.
As importantly, think about where you are going to store all your media - be it music, photos, videos, emails or any other data.
Most have very little storage so consider getting a model with a slot for additional cards.
And also bear in mind that using a phone to do so much invariably means one thing. Battery drain.
As a general rule the brainier your phone, the thirstier it is too.
If you want to use your handset to transfer data then think about connectivity.
Infra-red is slow; Bluetooth is where it is at these days - it means you can sync your data easily to another phone or PC and use a wireless headset too.
Connecting to the wider world of the internet will mean you will need a mobile with good support for data.
If you are taken with the idea of watching live TV on your phone or streaming music videos then look for a 3G handset.
If you are simply after basic web browsing or sending emails then slower technologies like GPRS should suffice.
And a word of warning - check your network supports these technologies too and at what price to you.
One final thought - it is amazing what a new battery and screen cover can do to resuscitate your existing model.
So before going to spend your money ask yourself this: "Do I really need a new handset?"
(where does this guy go shopping for his phones? toys-r-us?, ..
clamshells are bulky?
transferring songs is slow and fiddly?
and what is a phone with good data support??
Who would want to buy a mobile phone after reading this?!  )
[ This Message was edited by: goldenface on 2006-08-05 18:25 ] |
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whizkidd
Joined: May 14, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: India
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Was that a buyers guide or a "how and why to avoid" guide lol
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Johnex
Joined: Nov 26, 2002
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From: Stockholm/Sweden
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That is an odd guide  I feel sad now
Naw.....just messing with you 
Very weird guide!
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Luke-the-magic-man
Joined: May 31, 2005
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just guna try to get some lego now and build that guys ideal phone lol
Check out my sales  I am a mac fanboy  . I will honor Laffens gift of P990 flip free avartar, but I sold the p990  |
shaliron
Joined: Jan 15, 2006
Posts: > 500
From: Melbourne, Australia
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Well, I sure hope people don't actually follow this guys advice.
A wooden spoon is a spoon made from wood. Source: WikipediaWinner of: Best Thread (Huge SE Portfolio) 2007, Best Post (Huge SE Portfolio) 2007, Best Signature 2007, and 2nd Best Nickname 2007. |
mcrosser
Joined: Oct 11, 2005
Posts: > 500
From: Peru
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Well, at my house, everytime I tell my mom I would like a W850 next, she goes like: Do you really need another phone ?? look , you already have one (T630) and besides, you only need a phone to make and recieve calls ONLY. My dad is also in the same ways. Before my T630 I had a T226 and the only way I could have gotten my hands on my current phone was to pay it all myself, and here in Peru it's a bit expensive because Europe phones are rarely seen. My mother always tells me, before I buy or do anything, ask myself a question : Do I really need it ??? It's so true, but I just let myself be taken by what my mind tells me, and I know I'm not the only one, mostly young people 
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max_wedge
Joined: Aug 29, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Australia
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hehe. I no longer own an mp3 player (battery leaked and I haven't bothered replacing it) - though I do have the HBM-30 headet/mp3 player still but I never use it. My phone has more mp3 storage than any mp3 player I've owned.
No longer own a digital camera besides my phone (gave my 2MP kodak to my sister), yet still have taken 3500 photos in a year!
Yep, if I listened to his advice I'd still use be using the T610
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aragorn666
Joined: Mar 18, 2006
Posts: 229
From: ------+------MIDDLE EARTH-----
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oh my god what a
O seeker ! KNOW wHAt YoU SeeK AnD tHEn SeeK. |
jepherberich
Joined: Apr 25, 2006
Posts: 473
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(snipped)forget it, found em here (/snipped)
not to go off-topic, ive gone from t610 > k700 > k600 > w550 > w800 > w810 in a year, and thinking about getting a w850. now i asked myself, do i really need a phone that has an inferior camera module? no. do i want one? i have yet to answer that question.
[ This Message was edited by: axilom on 2006-08-06 10:50 ] |
carkitter
Joined: Apr 29, 2005
Posts: > 500
From: Auckland, NZ
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The trouble with writing a buyers guide like that is that by the time its published its already obselete.
I love fully-featured phones, but most people I encounter just find them intimidating and confusing.
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max_wedge
Joined: Aug 29, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Australia
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yep, I see many people with handsets who don't even know they have an mp3player or can send email. They choose a phone just because "it looks nice"
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renesis
Joined: Mar 25, 2006
Posts: 204
From: Gualey, DR
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Amen, Max. Thats a generalised rule even here in the Caribbean.
This message was posted from a T630 |
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Posted: 2006-08-05 19:24
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