As my trusty 3310 neared retirement age, I decided I needed to replace it with a somewhat younger model. So I searched the shops for something suitable.

My criteria were simple:
1. It had to be a nokia with similar operation to to 3310.
2. It had to have WAP.
3. It had to be on Vodafone, as I wanted to keep the same SIM card.
4. It had to cost significantly less than £100.

So armed with these requirements I went shopping and found the 3100, on vodafone pay as you go (PAYG), on sale in Argos for the very reasonable price of £59.99.

The Packaging


The phone came in a box adorned with a dance floor with people dancing, so obviously its aimed at the party animals among us. With this being a vodafone PAYG this box was enveloped in a red sleeve with a picture of the actual phone on it.
The sleeve displayed the following features of the phone:
*Phone flashes in time with ringtone
*Multimedia messaging
*Java games
*Animated screensavers
*Handsfree speaker
*Colour display
*Can be used in five continents

In the box

Being the impatient so and so that I am, I opened the security sealed box the minute I got home.

Inside the box were the phone itself, the battery, a charger, and several instruction books. After reading the couple of pages of the instruction books I discovered I was going to have to wait until the next day to play with new toy as the battery needed to be charged for 16 hours.

So what does the phone look like??

The phone itself is a pale blue colour, with glow in the dark detailing. I believe that it is also available in pink and white versions but these are harder to get hold of. And yes the keys really do flash in time with the ringtones, no more fiddly flashing keypads to insert.

There are the standard alphanumeric buttons along with a 4-way direction pad, the begin call (green handset), end call (red handset) and two hotkeys.

The phone measures 42.8mm x 101.8mm x 15.2mm and weighs 85g, so pretty small and compact, but not so small you're in danger of losing it.

The features

Most of the features are accessed via the menu, so I'll explain them in the order they appear on the menu.
Hany tip : If you leave the cursor over an option a handy info screen appears explainly the function of that option.

1. Messages
This is where you can access your, text, multimedia, voice and info messages. There is also an option for changing message settings.

2. Call register
Here you can find info on:
* Missed Calls
* Recieved Calls
* Dialled Numbers
* Call Duration
* Call Costs
* GPRS Data Counter
* GPRS Connection Timer

You can aslo delete recent call lists.

3. Contacts
This is where you manage your contact list.
In this menu you can:
* Search
* Add Contact
* Delete
* Copy
* Alter Settings
* Create Speed Dials
* Create Caller Groups (ie family, work, friends, etc.)

4. Profiles
This gives a number of profiles for using the phone in different situations. For example: You're in an important meeting and you don't want the lastest pop tune blaring out when when you get a call, so you set the phone to the silent profile and it will simply vibrate when you get a call.

5. Settings

* Personal shortcuts.
Here you set what the right button does, by default it takes you to contacts but you can change it to take you anywhere within the menus.

* Screensaver
This is where you choose your screensaver and decide how long it is before it comes on.

* Time and Date Settings
This is where you set the clock and date

* Call settings
Here you can set up call divert, automatic redial, speed dialling, call waiting, summery after call (tells you how long the call was, or much much it cost), and send my caller identity (whether you want people to know its you calling or not).

* Phone Settings
Where you set up phone language, automatic keyguard,Cell info display, welcome note, network selection, confirm SIM service actions, help text activication, and start-up tone.

* Display Settings
Here you can personalise your phones display by choosing different graphics and themes.

* Tone Settings
Here you can personalise the different sounds your phone makes, for example the ringtone, message alert tone, whether the phone vibrates or not.

* Security Setting
Where you can set the different security functions, for example PIN code and call barring.

* Restore Factory Settings
To put your phone back to the out of the box settings

6. Alarm Clock
Here is where you set the alarm clock function and which tone you want to be woken up by.

7. Gallery
This is where your downloads are stored, by default there are two folders, Images and Tones.

8. Calender
A handy calender for staoring those important dates.

9. Games
The phone comes with three games
* Bowling
* Snake Ex2
* Beach Rally

10. Applications
For storing any applications you've downloaded.

11. Extras
* Calculator
* Countdown Timer
* Stopwatch

12. Services
This is where you access the internet.

13. Goto
Bit of a weird pone this with links to other parts of the menu system

14. Vodafone
Links to vodafone wap channels.


Actual Use

The first thing you're going to want to do with this phone is personalise it, and beleive me there is so much you can do to make this phone your own. From changing the case, to the ringtone, screensaver, wallpaper, colours on screen and even choosing a ringtone for your message alert.
However the tones and graphics that come with the phone are pretty naff. But there are some good FREE sites for downloading these, which are easily found by searching google.

There are four ways of making a call:
1. Enter the number and press the green handset button
2. Go into contacts and choose who you are going to call, then press the green handset.
3. If you have previously called someone, you can press the green handset button, scroll to the person you want to call, then press the green handset button once more
4. You can asign a phone number to any of the keys 0-9 then hold that number down to speed dial.

Once you've started your call, reception through the in-built antennae is crystal clear, although you meay need to adjust the volume (I found the default rather low). Another handy function is the speaker phone which I found perfectly clear.

I found the GPRS function didn't work on my phone, but thats probably due to the area I live in as other GPRS phones don't work here either. But the WAP function is more than adequate, is works at about the speed of dial up. I find it costs me approximately 10p to download a ringtone.

Battery life is good. I need to charge mine every two to three days with pretty heavy useage. A nice touch is that there are now seven bars in the battery life indicator, which means you have a much clearer idea of how much power you have left.

Prices

This phone is available on most networks and the price varies from £60 - £100
I bought mine on Vadafone PAYG from Argos for £59.99

Accessories

There are a number of accessories available including:

Data cable,: for computer connectivity
X-Press on covers : to personalise the phone
Headsets
Camera


Conclusion

This phone is a good introduction to the world of multi-media phones. Although obviously targeted at the younger age group, its a smart edition to anyones handbag or pocket.

I've tried to make this review as informative as I can but if there's anything else you want to know please ask.