I currently have a Nokia 6630, OK, now that everyone has stopped laughing. I have had it for 2 years and I think its at the end of its life, battery dying all the time, have tried a new battery and that does the same.

I dont want to spend much but obviously want a better phone, was considering the Nokia 6280 0r N80 of fleabay or second hand.

wish list is:
at least 2meg camera with flash
big screen for image viewing and video watching,
to be able to input mutiple numbers/info under one contact name
cheap to buy
not locked to or branded 3 or Virgin

any comments or advise gratefully recieved

Waddi

I tend to prefer Samsung and Sony Ericsson phones as I think they are quality phones. Sony Ericsson wont have that many big screens but camera and flash they have, also multiple numbers/info imput. lets set it out like this:

Most Sony Ericsson phones:

Have:
good/excellent camera's but varies depending on the phone.
Able to input multiple numbers/info am pretty sure
they are cheap, as you can get ones that go brand new from £40 but camera is ok as said camera varies due to dif phones.

Most of Sony Ericssons dont have that much of a big screen as nokia's do so that the only disadvantage in your case but has lots of gd features and gadgets inside.

Samsung:

They have a quite resonable size screen, they are stylish i wud say and i think they would of have all ur requirements but they dont have as much gadgets on it as Nokia's and Sony Ericsson do, so i would recommend a Samsung except the e900 or D900 which camera just aint good. they are good but u have to be still as a frozen pea to take a good pic otherwise u will get a distort pic or how ever you would say it.

So Samsung i would say wil have all your requirements so i vote Samsung.

Nokia's tend to be expensive unless your looking for second hand, an i have had some bad experiences with them, as the Nokia N70 i last had was quite large and slipery that i droped it numerious times an the screen jst went on me so i have had screens going lots so i gave up on Nokia phones.

Just wait for other oppinions tho, but then again if you decide to buy a samsung phone or any phone just make sure that u dont unwrap everything. The trick is buy a phone an make sure that the wrappers are all where they sud be and test the fone out and if you dont like it then jst simply return it in its original order and ask for a refund or change for another fone.

Samsung are better quality phone, my previous D600 is the best phone I have ever had (far better than Sony K750i).

I still have it and might consider selling it, but the screen is quite scratched.

It's the way you charge it that retains it's life.

With Ni-Cad (Nickel Cadmium) batteries (most older phones), they work best being fully charged and then fully depleated before being recharged again. If you overcharge the battery i.e. charge it ever night even when it doesnt need charging, it's life tends to lessen.
This applies to all rechargable devices which use Ni-Cad batteries.

Newer phones and devices use Ni-MH (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries. These are much better at coping with being over charged and hold their battery life longer.



same here, but im sure matty will big up nokia and totally dismiss any samsung compared lol.

i'd say d600 too, but as pomp says, camera is quite slow taking high quality pics

Tbh mate, forget every other phone looking at the wish list, you want the K800i.

1. No other phone on the market incorporates a real xenon flash. I wasnt aware that the D600 had a flash - it may have a little shitty LED light, but not a flash by any stretch of the imagination. The K800i is still to this day, by most mobile phone review sites, regarded as the best phone camera on the market, and is used as a benchmark for new phones to compete against. Its a 3.2 megapixel, has a decent sensor and although a lot of the Cybershot brand is spin, they have made a quality product. The Cybershot software however is quality, with features such as BestPic, Photofix and of course the PictBridge printing feature only usually found on proper digital camera's.

2. It has an incredible screen, its very big, perfect for watching videos (mine was the James Bond limited edition handset and came with trailers etc).

3. Im pretty sure all modern phones can do this.

4. It depends what you consider cheap. Cheap could be anything to anyone. If you mean cheap as in less then £50, then theres no chance with the K800i. But if you mean cheap as in around the £100 mark, there are plenty of new ones going on eBay from reputable power sellers for this price. Also, the price has started to be hammered by the release of the K810i (same phone, different buttons/style), and with the K850 on the way, the price is only set to drop even further.

5. K800's like every phone can come both locked or unlocked, and both branded or unbranded. Just check when buying. If you get the N80, it WILL be locked to the network, and its BB5 protection, so its an absolute pain to release the service lock (i dont think the market do it for instance).

Hehe, the 6630 was a good phone tbh, I had one a few years back and it was the best phone Nokia made until the N93 came along. The only problem I ever found with it (apart from the usual problems associated with phone camera's) was that the camera suffered from vignetting, but my 6680 did also, so I assume it was to do with the lens/sensors they were using at the time.

Still, for a Symbian phone, it was fast.

Joe, I dont generally recommend Nokia's as they dont make the best phones in many sectors. However, if you want the highest end phones that do everything, Nokia is the ONLY way to go without getting a PDA, if you want a simple phone that just does the basics and does them well, Nokia is again the ONLY way to go. Nokia's also dont excel at any one aspect, however when it comes to Symbian phones, considering Nokia are responsible for the whole S60 source nowadays, and they have the most experience, then Nokia's are the only way to go for Symbian, except if you want S90, where the P900 etc are better, although some Nokia E series phones are arguably as good.

Huh? Lol, Joe, no phones have used NiCd for maybe 10 years now, and Li-ion has been the chosen technology for the most part since the millenium, even my Siemens S25i, which was released in 1998, has a 750mAh Li-ion battery. NiCd isnt even a good a technology for phones, as they are low power draining, dont require surge currents and dont need to have extremely low levels of self-discharge, which basically wipes any advantages of NiCd out and puts at a severe disadvantage when compared to higher capacity Li-ion and NiMh.

In my experience, my K800 was a beast for battery life, its officially quoted at 15 days standby time. If you use it on a GSM network (ie. not 3), then it will offer upto about 8 hours talktime. If you wish to use it on a UMTS network, then like most phones, the battery life will decrease significantly, it will drop to around the 2hr 30 mark for talktime, the standby time remains about 15 days though.

The beauty of the K800i is that you can select which network standard to lock to, so if you are on any of the GSM networks, you can use it in GSM mode for awsome battery life, or UMTS if you want the features that brings with it (of course phones like the D600 can't handle UMTS anyway).

I think the D600 and K800i are about equal when it comes to GSM talktime battery life, although the K800i has slightly better official ratings (maybe 20 minutes longer), they are both around the 7 hour mark.

The K800i is about 2 days longer standby time then the D600.

BTW, whether the phone is NiMh or Li-Ion, their charging systems are very advanced, and do not allow "overcharging" (not that it happens on Li-ion anyway). Once the battery is fully charged, most phones simply trickle charge, except for the odd one or two which instead just stops the charge altogether.

Nokia N95 super dooper smiley smashing fone!

but i think im the only one that likes it

Its arguably the best Symbian S60 phone on the market atm, it deffo has the widest range of features and applications as standard, and deffo contains the most up to date technology.

The only problems it has its its price tag (which is the same for all high phones to be fair) and the fact whilst it does a million things, it doesnt particualy excel in any single aspect/feature.

For the price tag of N95, unless I required the GPS, id go for the N93i myself, but the N93i is a lot bigger phone, thanks mainly to its 3x optical zoom camera. I love the screen options on the N93/N93i though.

I assume with the N95 being Nokia though, it will still have crystal sound quality on calls however??

Camera with D600 can't compare with K800.

The D600 is about 2.5 years old now, it was released a similar time as the K750i but was IMO a far better phone.

For a cheap cheap phone I would recommend one, if you have a bit mor then i would recommend a K810i or even a D900

haha yeah, sorry my bad. I've not had many phones and I just remember my first one having a Ni-cad battery and it was utter shat.

Li-ion batteries still dont last long when you charge them when theyre not fully discharged.

Yeh i like the D600's always wanted one but neva got around to getting one,
then I ended up with a e900 some how (shrugs). The D900 has quite a
big screen but if you use the camera alot i wudnt recommend it for indoor
but outdoor be ok i think.



Am not sure about the D600's with flashes but on the e900 ther is a setting you
can either make it flash or make the light turned on permanent

So to make things clear all the phones menstioned above are:

Samsung D600 - Around £80 brand new
Samsung D900 - About £120+ brand new

Sony Ericsson K750i - Around £80 brand new
Sony Ericsson K800i - About £130 brand new

(Prices are from Carphonewarehouse website so its around that price range but i wudnt
say its fully accurate)

Theres more but Matty jst natters an throws a bunch of expensive phone models on. . I missed the nokia's because there expensive as ever! N95 is like £460+

The most in favor are:

Samsung D600
Sony Ericsson K800i

It just depends on the price as Matty has said but overall Matty wud win with the choice of the K800i as it is a far better phone but for the amazing value of the D600 you cant beat a bargain

Ahem, excuse me Gnaeus, it was Whelan who bought the Nokia's into play lol! I didnt mention them till he mentioned the N95.

To be fair to the N95, it is that price tag simply because technically, it is far superior to the K800i/D600/D900, I mean it even has a GPS chip and EU mapping software on it. Not to mention the powerful processor and large high res screen etc...

But its a totally different phone, aimed at a totally different market.

K800i
had a go with one of these, great camera but the screen is too small and I'm pretty sure the k800i doesnt have mutiple input for one contact.

Matty, I notice you say you had a 6680, do you still have it, is it for sale?

Waddi

No sorry matey, got rid about 2 years ago, I used to love Symbian phones, had the 6600, 6630, 6680 and then the N70.

But I got the K800i cos I realised all I use a phone for really is making calls and sending texts. Sold me K800i for £320 just before Christmas lmao!

didnt think the 6680 was symbian...

I mainly send texts, few phone calls, take photos, view 3mp photos that have been taken on my digital camera then transferred to my phone via my laptop, view lengthy video that has been converted to 3gp, listen to mp3's but would like to be able to listen to WMA aswell.

Yeah, the Symbian Series 60 phones started with the Nokia 7650, then the 6600 came along which really started the Symbian success story, then the 3650, then the 7610 and 6670, then the 6630, then the 6680, then the N70/N90 and onwards and upwards, and Nokia made Symbian such a success and so popular, that now they are actually responsible for the whole S60 format, and any manufacturer that wishes to use S60 has to get it from Nokia now.

is a Nokia 6288 worth £90?

Ref E-bay for price guide or google

Anyone got a BenQ-Siemens EL71, are they any good?

BS arnt too bad, for the most part they are quite high tech, but since about the 5x series, a lot of products were rushed to market and the phones "can be" (not always the case though) quite buggy.

I used to love Siemens mobiles, the phones were rock solid and they were real innovators until about late 2002 (they had an impressive line of firsts including first colour screen, first MP3 player phone, first slider phone, first MMC phone, first WAP phone [albeit WAP1.0] first GPRS phone, first HSCSD phone, first quad band phone, first phone incorporating GPS etc..), then they just kind of lost their way.

BS went bankrupt at the end of January (Benq bought Siemens Mobile in 2005, but branded as Benq-Siemens until 2008 as part of a marketing strategy) so there is no support offered for the phones now, so any problems that do exist, will remain for good.

Just something to be aware of.

im selling this one, did me fine :- http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=013&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=230152473628&rd=1&rd=1

Sorry sanchez fella, that doesnt meet my wish list....


Anyone have any dealings with a Sony Ericsson W850i, What are they like?

i was playing about with my mates W850 the other day, it is exactly the same as the K800i, but a little more bulky in the hand. It also feels slightly less in the way fo build quality, more plasticy and less stylish (in my humble opinion).

He used to have a K800i and was moaning because the camera's on the W850 isnt as good even though its a newer phone.

The reason for that of course is because the K800 is built around its camera, whereas the W850 is built around its MP3 player (hence the K800 is a CyberShot and the W850 is a Walkman).

Dont be fooled though, the K800 uses exactly the same software and DSP as the W850 for its MP3's, the only real difference is the W850 has slightly better spec headphones included (thats not saying the ones with the K800i were cheap in way, they were quite expensive, to give you some idea of what I mean, if they were to be bought in the shops they would be like £15 - £20, whereas the W850i would be like £20 - £25).

The screensize on both phones is the same, as is the rest of the software and hardware, except the camera of course, the K800 is far superior.

Between the two I would go for the K800i and my mate agreed with me. Although having said that, he has had 3 W850's cos he keeps losing phones lol, so he keeps going back to them (dunno if he has it insured though, which would be the reason he keeps gettin the same one instead of going back to the K800).

I'm keen on a slider tho.....

In which case, id either go for it, or wait for the next generation which may feature the same camera hardware as the K800i.

Unfortunatly at present Sony havent decided to place the K800i camera into a slider - its a bit of a surprise really, they should have done it with the K810 instead of the stupid buttons they used.

what would you go for out of:

SE W850i
Nokia 6688

I would love a Nokia N80 but the price is too high!

do u want one on contract ?

no, PAYG or sim free.

Id go for the SE out of them two tbh, as the SE's always trounce Nokia's for battery life. Dunno why though.

As for the N80, I was looking at getting one last year (I could have had that instead of the K800i) but was put off by the pathetic battery life - even compared to other high end Symbian phones its absolute bollox.

Take a read on the Mobile Review forums to see the amount of people complaining about battery life lol.

well considering the death of the battery on my current 6630 is the reason Im looking for a new phone, I'll think I'll stay clear off it then.

how much credit u put on a month, and wot ur caals/txts like ?

I dont call much at all, mostly txt, put £10 every month (if that often)

oh ok, just got my n95 on contract with o2 today.. £35/month, unlimited calls to any o2 mobiles, 600 txts and 6oo cross net minutes a month...

I use my phone more as a multimedia device with a built in phone, than a phone with built in multimedia. was considering a t-mobile vario

In that case have you considered the Toshiba Portege G500? Its totally awsome as a multimedia device!

Matty can we take that as praise or something else?

<And that's a joke>

they look ideal, how much and where from?

Expansys have it listed at £199 so I think thats probably a bit steep for your price range. Unfortunatly, Toshiba arnt an established OEM in the UK yet, so there isnt many places stocking them, and their not widely available even on contract.

I have heard of people getting ahold of them on Ebay for around the £130 mark before today though.

199 is a bit of a push. was looking at about £100, £150 if it was new from a shop with a garauntee etc

Ill keep me out for ye then fella until ye get a phone. Im not sure how low they wil go within the next month or so.

That Expansys price includes a free 512MB memory card - nothing much but better then nout I suppose.

Im thinking along the same lines as you, £199 is a lot for a phone, if it were £150ish it would be far better deal and I would be seriously interested then hehe!

I cant get one when I upgrade in October as o2 dont do them

Well, I finally got my new phone, its a N80 on 3 PAYG.

woohoo

(just the camera to get now)

Iv got a Sony Ericsson W910i on 3 contract

£25 a month and i get :

750 Texts
150 Mins
£5 Download
25 Pics Msgs
25 Video Mins

I text more than anything so thats a good plan for me

I Only have Sony Ericsson phones cause i think they are mint and i get on with them well

Get a P1i.

I have a p.c at home so no need for one in my pocket

Best phone there is... I had a play with one when I was looking at what phone to get... boy the double qwerty key's really work!!

Battery life aint shit either, as is usually the way with the Symbian's, and it has the seemingly current "in thing" touchscreen.

Im happy with my K800i personally, the camera still can't be beaten, but this has the same cam without the Xenon flash or CS software, if I were to change my phone, regardless of the multimedia features, id get the P1i.

You have a 5mp cybershot dont you ?

Im yet to find a sony phone with anything tho, All the ones i have always seem to have one things missing, Weather its the light/flash, Walkman etc etc,

Still very good phones tho

The P1i has pretty much everything...

K800i camera (shame it didnt have the flash not a massive loss though got a crappy dual LED flash), Symbian, Pretty much Walkman software for music, Excellent internet abilities; excellent qwerty keyboard idea, touch screen, decent battery life, cant really think of anything it lacks other then the actual cyber shot software (this can be fixed) and the xenon flash.

I got the K800i; the 3.2mp Cyber-shot; its somewhat better then the K850i in a lot of lighting condition's and the AF can be a touch dodgy on the K850i. There isnt a lot to choose between them, but the 850i probably takes the crown on megapixel count, although it has a glass lens and on external cover (has an internal one to protect the matrix from sun) on the camera, so the lens is VERY prone to both scratches and dirt/fingerprints.

Also, the K850i is a somewhat tacky looking design; the K800i isnt very "style-freak" loveable, but it at least looks smart and classy/upmarket with its normal looking keypad, reflective screen and brushed aluminium front etc...

Not to mention the price difference lol... £79 for the K800i or £289 for the K850i!

I wish i went for a cyber shot phone cause i use my phone more for taking pics than anything else and this phone i got now is mint for music etc etc but has only got a 2mp cam with no light or anyhthing, Its a music phone really but i like my slide phones witch is why i got this one aswell lol

Yeah, the Cyber-shot's are the business when it comes to taking photo's; another thing they excel at is battery life, even when using the Xenon flash!

The problem with Slide phones and thin phones is the optic's are always "just" crammed in, so they wont be able to offer much in the way of a camera until the other component's of the phone get smaller.

As ye say, there's always a trade off.

It's official: the award for the most gimmicky mobile phone feature unveiled this year goes to ... Sony Ericsson!

The latest instalment in its successful Walkman series has plenty of neat features, but the first to get a plug on the W910i product web page is the so-called "shake control" function.

Sony Ericsson's publicity reps were so rapt with the feature, its W910i information packs were sent to media encased in a cocktail shaker ("Now you can shake it with ...").

So how will this whizbang mobile innovation revolutionise the way you use your phone? Get this: holding down the W910i's Walkman button while tilting the handset left or right lets you cycle through songs when in music player mode.

It's cool for the first five nanoseconds, before you realise it's easier to - wait for it - press one of the navigation buttons on the handset instead.

Clearly, shake control is right up there on the 2007 mobile gimmicks ladder with the LG Shine, whose claim to fame is its ability to morph into a mirror when the screen is switched off.

Thankfully, the built-in motion sensor on the W910i has another, more useful application. Like the iPhone, the handset automatically switches between horizontal and vertical screen orientations depending on how you hold it.

Horizontal mode is particularly useful for watching movies and playing the bundled games, both of which you'll want to get stuck into after experiencing the large, crisp 2.36-inch screen.

But as its name suggests, the W910i is made for music. In Walkman mode, an elegant Playstation 3-style menu interface lets you browse through media and create playlists, just as you would using a dedicated MP3 player.

The built-in 35MB of memory doesn't allow for too many tracks, but included in the box is an expansive 1GB Memory Stick Micro card that can be upgraded down the track. Furthermore, the built-in FM radio tuner stands by to provide fresh tunes should you tire of your own collection.

Included in the box is a Memory Stick Micro adapter for plugging the storage card straight into a regular computer USB port, bypassing the need for a special card reader. Tracks are then loaded on using Sony Ericsson's intuitive new Media Manager software.

Uniquely, a feature called SensMe automatically sorts music based on the mood it evokes (happy or sad) and the tempo (fast or slow), plotting tracks on a dual axis graph. It's more of a novelty that anything else but aids in building playlists - for instance, when making a playlist for exercising you'd pick songs that are both "fast" and "happy".
The general design of the phone is pleasing, save for two glaring oversights. Keys are well-spaced horizontally but too close together vertically, so it's easy to hit the wrong key when bashing out an SMS.

And the headphone port, typically found on the top or bottom of most music players, is inconveniently located on the left side. With the headset plugged in, this makes the phone significantly wider in your pocket.

Some slider phones feel cheap and fragile but the sliding mechanism on the W910i is smooth and controlled. At 50mm, it's wider than most newer models but the handset makes up for its waistline blowout by being fairly thin (12.5mm) and lightweight (86 grams).

The W910i is a 3G phone but, of course, 2G networks are supported as well. For those on 3G, a camera on the front of the handset lets you make the most of the extra bandwidth via video calls.

Photos taken with the 2-megapixel camera on the back of the device are underwhelming - the lack of a flash and auto-focus feature mean images often turn out dark and blurry. More serious photographers would do well to check out Sony Ericsson's Cyber-shot phones, which rival basic stand-alone digital cameras.

Sony Ericsson's spec sheet says the W910i's battery will last through nine hours of talking and 350 hours when on standby, but talktime drops to 3.5 hours on 3G networks. With moderate use of the camera and music playback functions, we had to charge the phone about once every two days.

Bottom line: Gimmicks aside, the latest update to Sony Ericsson's Walkman range is a powerful, if expensive, multimedia phone that could replace your regular MP3 player in a heartbeat. But don't throw out your digital camera just yet.