I'll name that tune in two.... (Ericsson A2618s)

Member Name: mreyre

Product:	Ericsson A2618s
Date:	11/01/02 (285 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: play 3 highly addictive, but simple games, have a choice of 12 ringtones, have a choice of accessories

Disadvantages: doesn't make the tea for you in the morning, buttons are a bit too small and indented for frantic text-messaging, far too many functions for novices like me!

I have recently purchased a new mobile phone (the Ericsson A2618s) , and was soon amazed how much mobile phone technology has moved on in the last year. If you are really up to date with mobile phone technology, then I suggest you skip this review, as I may be stating the obvious. However, if, like me, you are a complete novice to mobile phone technology, this review is for you!

Anyway, last Christmas (year 2000) I was bought a Motorola Orange m3788e phone. They were on special offer in Argos for around £25 at the time. With pay-as-you-go cards, this was quite a cheap way for me to phone home if I was going to be late from work, as an emergency option, etc.

Then I discovered text messaging – an even cheaper way (an addictive way) to communicate with my friends. My trusty m3788e was easy to operate and to my knowledge, you could only type in characters in upper case. If I missed a call, then the handy “voice mail” icon would light up and I could listen to the all too familiar ladies voice saying “You have 1 new message….”

However, just before Christmas (in other words, on its first birthday!), my trusty m3788e decided to lose its “charge”. I would charge it up overnight, switch it on in the morning and by lunchtime the battery would be flat. I got fed up after about 2 weeks of this, so in the sales I decided to look for a new phone.

Naturally, they no longer make the same model any longer (as is usually the case with modern technology). I still wanted a pay-as-you-go phone, as I only occasionally need to use it. I trawled the many mobile phone shops looking for a cheap deal and was amazed how much these phones had risen in price during the last year. I was also amazed to find out how incredibly unhelpful the sales advisors were to someone who just wanted a cheap phone. OK, if you sign some contract or other, the companies virtually give the handset away free, but I did not want to be
tied to a contract. In the end, I gave up looking as in a funny sort of way, there was lots of choice, but not really what I was looking for.

Last week, I had a spare half-hour so I popped into the “Orange” shop in King’s Lynn. The cheapest phone was the Ericsson A2618s, at £49.99. I concluded that I would have to pay this, to get sorted with a new phone, but was a bit unhappy about having to pay so much. The phone came with a £5 credit voucher to get me started, which makes the price £44.95 really, so that didn’t seem too bad. Then, I discovered that inside the box was a “hands-free” kit. Having never had one of these before, I could see where it might come in useful. (Why does the phone always ring when you’re in the loo, or in the bath? – a perfect solution!)

Anyway, the sales advisor was very helpful and I had to wait a while for the phone to be registered, I also got yet another Top-Up card, for use in Tescos, etc. Following the lady’s advice, I charged the phone up for 16 hours and then had a play around with it!

Initially, I was amazed by how completely different this phone was to my previous one. The graphics were outstanding! By pressing the arrow keys, this revealed a menu with little pictures at the top of each one, with lots more sub-menus within them. I was only used to a few functions on my old phone, so was really amazed. I followed the really useful and completely idiot-proof instruction manual (complete with Orange cover, in case I forget!) to enter all my phone numbers into the “Phone Book”. The handset has a “Yes” and “No” button which is a really simple and effective way to navigate your way around. Many of the choices had little “radio” buttons to selct and deselect the option you require.

Then I discovered the hidden “toys!” I had no such luxuries on my faithful m3788e. The first “toy”
I found was the melodies. I only had a choice of 3 tunes on my old phone, well, imagine my amazement when I discovered at least 12 different ring tones! We spent the rest of the evening playing “Name that Tune!” If I could read music, I apparently also have the luxury of making my own tunes up, by pressing the appropriate letter names.

The second “toy” I found was the personalisation of the Welcome screen. Instead of saying “Orange”, mine now says, imaginiatively “Hello, Chris!” Stunning.

The third and final “toy” was the Games!! Wow! A choice of 3 amazingly simple, yet completely addictive games. They are as follows:
a) Tetris – minus the annoying theme tune, you have to turn the handset sideways, somewhat bizarrely, and slide the shapes into a tessellating pattern.
b) E-maze – like Pac-Man, but the graphics are too small for my liking.
c) Erix – by far the best game and one which I had previously unheard of. It’s like a cross between “Tron”, “Missile Attack”and “Breakout”. The devilishly simple game involves you taking control of a little blob, whilst two other little blobs bounce around the screen. You have to make 75% of the screen go black by filling in shapes with your little blob. If one of the bouncing blobs hit your line then you are dead and have to start again. I would be interested to know other dooyooer’s highest scores on “Erix!”

I’m sure there are zillions of other functions available to me on this handset, 75% of which I will never use. It amazes me that technology has moved on so much, that in 2002, 21 years after the ZX81 was invented, that up and down the land people are playing a game on their mobile phones with simpler graphics than the ZX81!

It was Victor Papanek in his book “Design for the Real World”, who said “designers need to design
for our wants, not artificially created wants”. Although technology has without a doubt moved on a pace, did I really have to spend £49.99 on a design which all I need it to do is to make a phone call, not to chase bouncing blobs around a screen?

Summary: