The grandfather's choice (Ericsson R320s)

Member Name: tomshanks

Product:	Ericsson R320s
Date:	16/06/03 (142 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Uncomplicated to use with a good number of features, Big, clear screen, Decent reception

Disadvantages: External aerial, Rather large by today's standards, but thin, Difficult to grip whilst sending text messages

Earlier this year, I had a request from my 85 year old grandfather to obtain him a new mobile phone. His old Ericsson A1018s had died, and he was in need of a replacement. In between the time of the A1018s' death and obtaining his new R320s, he attempted to use my uncle's Trium Mars, and failed due to the relatively small keys. I knew that fashion was not going to be a criterion in my grandfather's choice of mobile phone. What was needed was something which had a large screen and big buttons, which meant an old phone, but also something which had the features that one has come to expect in a modern phone, such as predictive text, WAP and vibration alert, in case my grandfather ever wanted to use them. Being no technophobe, he still drives a manual car, used to use a word processor, and used to e-mail me through his Sky box, so it was essential that he be kept up with things in case he wanted to know what they were, and then he could be shown. The phone also needed to be incredibly easy to use, for which the A1018s certainly qualified, having a total of five menu buttons (yes, no, up, down and cancel for backspace in a text message). This order was looking taller and taller by the minute.

The logical choice may have been a Nokia, but with my grandfather's stiff hands, the last thing that I wanted was something which he would be unable to turn on in an emergency, due to the on/off buttons designed not to turn on in a handbag, which is the sole use for my grandfather's mobile phone. When he goes out on car trips, there are often problems with his Ford Escort, and he may sometimes be travelling on remote roads in the Peak District and Wales, so the phone needs to be reliable, with good reception and a good battery. Any other manufacturer's phones have now grown quite small, and have relatively complicated menu systems compared with Ericsson and Nokia for such an occasional user as my grandfather. It was by chance that I stumbled across a

n auction for 10 Ericsson R320s phones on Ebay, and after looking at the specifications, I knew that this was the ideal phone for my grandfather.

Although it looks rather dated now, the R320s still represents part of the excellent styling which has been a feature of Ericsson phones since the appearance of the T20. Designed for business use, the screen is in good proportion to the rest of the handset and it is still one of the slimmest phones around. The screen is lit in a comfortable blue-green, rather than the more common luminous green, which is very pleasant to behold. One can just imagine such a phone in the hand of a businessman or woman as they hold a briefcase in the other, and stand in a station concourse checking departure times. It is surprising to see that this phone was the starting point for the R380s PDA/phone combination, and thus is the ancestor of the new Sony Ericsson P800. A more illustrious descendant could not be obtained.

Those who are used to the five-button Ericsson menu system will initially experience a little disorientation given the eight-buttons here, which subsequently copied for other Sony Ericsson phones, such as the T65, R600 and the new T200, but I am happy to report that it works very well, although the one-touch Internet access button is largely superfluous given that my grandfather is on Pay As You Go! Merely pressing right accesses the menus, and it is very easy to get through them indeed. Text messaging is a little different to other manufacturers, although it is soon easy to work out that going all the way down a message will get to the options quickly. The main problem is not the software of the phone in texting, it is the design of the phone itself. Being thin and lightweight is all very well, but it means that typing messages is hard work, as the phone is wide, and being so thin with a metal back means that the normal purchase that one has on a thicker phone with a plastic back cannot be replicated.
For m
y grandfather, who does not use this function, however, this is not a problem.

The ringtones of the phone, although not as good as the later T65, are certainly good enough to stand out. They number only 14, but business users would not worry about this, and they can always be edited with the composer, which seemed easy enough to use. Tetris, the old Ericsson favourite, also makes an appearance on this phone, and it is just as good as ever. Along with it is something called Klondike, which looks like a card game, but I could not quite work out what to do with it. The one gripe with Ericsson is that the games are buried in the menu system, and they are rather difficult to find! If there is one thing which would be a candidate for the 'My menu' section on the R320s, it would be the games!

In terms of charging and reception, the phone appeared to get a better signal in my house in Winchester on Vodafone than any other phone I have ever had there. Whereas the Trium Eclipse I currently have, and before that the Trium Mars, sometimes struggled in certain areas, the R320s will always maintain a good connection, and the slider volume control on the side is very useful The battery, which is shared in common with the T28/T29 series models, seemed to hold a good charge, and my day with the phone seemed to have little effect on the indicator, despite using all the functions and making calls on it frequently.

The R320s also has WAP, an infra-red port, for exchange of things such as V-cards and connection to a laptop. I did not get a chance to use the WAP on the phone, but I imagine that it would have been rather good with such a big screen. The voice-memo function also gives away this phone's heritage as a business tool, and although it is not my thing, I am sure that it would have its uses if I ever used the phone for work. Voice dialling was also a feature, although I am not a great fan of this system since it means that I have
to talk t
o my phone before making a call!

Ericsson did themselves proud with this ultra-thin response to the Nokia 7110. It has excellent battery life, good looks and is packed with useful features. It is also very easy to use, and looks to be reliable enough for the occasional use which my grandfather puts it through. Those of us who are younger and do not need the business features will find fault in the external aerial, tall design, and lack of more ringtones and games and in the text messaging, but for business users, and the older generation, this is hard to fault. I thank my grandfather for giving my the opportunity to test out this excellent phone.

Summary: