FLASHING ATTRACTS GINGARO'S ATTENTION (Nokia 3100)

Member Name: Gingaro

Product:	Nokia 3100
Date:	20/02/04 (1527 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks good, loads of features, Triband and Java enabled

Disadvantages: ring tones can be rather quiet

Today I will be reviewing my new mobile phone the Nokia 3100. I took receipt of the phone three weeks ago after requesting an update from Singlepoint as my Nokia 8210 was starting to look dated and very worn due to amount of punishment it had taken over the past 12 months.

The phone cost me £19.99, but as it is a fairly new release from Nokia it does retail with most contracts from £100 - 150.

My main attraction to the phone at first was the actual look, it has a colour screen, can send multi-media messages and receive pictures. The features weren't really a consideration as most features are standard across the Nokia range.

The Nokia 3100 is a great looking phone. The picture above shows the white version. My 3100 is in light blue. Although the 3100 contains a lot of technology it is remarkably small measuring in at 10.19cm tall by 4.28cm wide making it just a fraction larger than the 8210. It only weighs in at 85g!!!!

My only gripe about actual build and look of the phone are the covers. Although the plastic facia are extremely scratch resistant and look great they are rather flimsy and I would be worried about it smashing to bits if the phone was ever dropped with any force.

The phone has polyphonic ringtones, colour wallpaper and animated screensavers. These features are amazing and set this apart from any other phone I have ever owned. The 3100 has a large number of quality pre-installed ringtones and images for use with the colour screen. Further ringtones and images can be easily downloaded from various websites via the WAP feature of the phone. The phone uses XHTML browser to view the web and this supports JPEG files.

The keypad is very well presented with the normal numbers, shortcut and navigational keys that allow movement both left and ri
ght, up and down when making selections.
Again, I could only find one fault with this part of the phone. The polyphonic ringtones, whilst sounding brilliant were very low and at times, calls could be missed. This is easily rectified though as the phone has a LOUD option which incorporates a reasonably loud ringtone with forceful vibrations.

The 3100 is marketed as the "Light Effect" handset and the phone to been seen with in a disco. This is due to software that has been installed which make the handset flash in time to the beat of your ringtone. It has to be seen to be believed, it looks so cool. In addition to flashing when ringing, the handset glows in the dark making it very easy to spot while the lights are out. The entire phone doesn't light up as such, but a visible strip is evident in a dark room. The screen itself is square measuring 2.73cm by 2.73cm. It is a high resolution, passive matrix colour display that supports 4096 colours within 128 x 128 pixels.

In addition to being WAP enabled (which is very easy to set up anyway) the 3100 is Tri-band and will therefore work in North and South America along with Asia.

The 3100 does not have a built in camera but it does have the software and ports to support a camera attachment that can be purchased separately. Personally I haven't opted to buy the camera yet, but I have received picture messages from friends and the quality is amazing. Although not the same quality as a digital photograph, images are clear and very colourful.

When making and receiving calls, the 3100 has a loudspeaker function which allows you to listen to the caller via the external speaker rather from the handset. I have only tried this feature once and found the sound quality to be a little muffled. Not a feature I?ll be using regularly.
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Another new feature to the 3100 is the Java supported games. The 3100 has three pre-installed games. Bowling, Beach Rally and Snake. The graphics and gameplay in Bowling and Beach Rally are fantastic with cool sound effects. In the past I have rarely used the game function on my mobile phone, but the 3100 does attract my attention now when I'm at a loose end! The 3100 isn't going to replace the PS2 on the game front but it is a nice feature on the phone. Further games can be downloaded onto the phone via the WAP function.

The 3100 has a built in antenna and call reception is crystal clear. Calls are made quickly and connection to the web takes under 10 seconds. The phone has the appropriate port to support a handsfree set however I am not yet aware of a cradle for cars that is available specifically for the 3100.

Text messaging is a painless operation. The phone has the normal predictive text which never seems to know what you are trying to write, but this can be switched off. The actual text messaging screen allows 5 lines of text which makes actual composition far easier.

The inbox can hold over 100 text messages for use as evidence at a later date! In addition to this, the phone also saves the text messages you send to others. I find this a very helpful feature as I can now wake up after a night on the tiles, check the messages I've sent the night before and start a pre-emptive apology campaign!

Unlike the 8210, the 3100 has a choice of sound alerts when messages arrive including a very eerie echo effect beeping.

As I stated earlier, I don't yet have the camera attachment so I can't yet comment on the MMS sending feature of the phone.

Other standard Nokia features on the phone include:

Call R
egister

This is an extremely useful function. Call register records all the calls you have received, missed or dialled along with the number, date, time and length of call. Not only does this let me see who has been playing with my phone, the call duration meter that totals up all the calls I?ve made helps me to keep track of the free minutes I use and keep my bills down.

The call register feature also tracks your use of the GPRS data network which stores the WAP sites you have visited but also records how long data takes to be transferred to your phone.

Contacts

The Contacts book contains all personal numbers saved to either the phone or SIM card. Numbers and names can be easily added and deleted. As the 3100 can be used to send e-mails, the ability to record e-mail addresses and home numbers has been added.

Favourite numbers can also be added to a speed dial listing. Personally I don?t use this function as it can be difficult to remember which contact has been allocated a certain speed dial number! It can be quicker to actually use the search function in the contacts book to locate the person you want to call.

Profiles

This is the features used to personalise your phone. Ringtones can be changed here, screensavers set and wallpapers chosen.

The 3100 has 6 preset profiles which can again be altered. As the polyphonic ringtones can be quiet at times I use the LOUD profile personalised with my own ringtones and sexy wallpaper.

Settings

The Settings feature allows personal shortcuts on the phone to be changed.

The display can be changed so that the screensavers takes longer to kick in, the time and date can be altered and the phone can be restored to its factory settings if you accidentally change something
you shouldn?t! A very useful function for a technophobe like me!

Alarm Clock

The alarm clock is a self explanatory feature. The alarm works based upon the time setting on the phone obviously and can be programmed to go off at any time. When activated, a bell appears in the right hand corner of the screen.

The alarm can be changed from a monotone bleep to an upbeat tune from your ringtone gallery. I find it much better to wake up to a nice melody rather than a drilling sound at the side of my head. The alarm will continue to sound until it is switched off.

When sounding, the alarm will make the phone flash in time with the beat of your alarm tone. A snooze function is also present on the alarm and this will reset the alarm to go off 10 minutes later.

Gallery

This feature allows you to view your image or tones galleries. You can browse wallpapers saved to the phone or listen to a prospective ringtone.

In addition to viewing galleries the feature allows folders to be created for data downloads. Personally I haven?t found any need to add any further folders and I have downloaded a number of images and tones via WAP to the phone.

Calendar

The calendar is a useful feature to the 3100. It allows appointments and events to be recorded. An alarm can then be set which will sound prior to the date as a reminder.

I have started to use this function as a large amount of text can be added to a date.

Free flowing notes can also be added, which could in theory be used as a kind of diary should you need to keep details of your day.

Extras

Included within the extras feature is the calculator, stopwatch and countdown timer. I find this a useless feature on the phone as the calculator is extremely fiddly and I have never had any need t
o a stopwatch or countdown timer!

Services

The services feature is used to link up to the internet using the WAP technology. As I said earlier, the WAP access is fast at contacting to my selected homepage. The services function also allows favourites and bookmarks to be stored for later use.

The 3100 uses a lot of technology and I was surprised when I opened the box and removed the battery. It is tiny, much thinner than the battery to a 8210. The official Nokia website states that the battery to a 3100 when fully charged should remain charged for 170 hours when on standby due to a power saving mechanism that reduces power use when not used for 5 minutes. From a personal point of view, I have found that I have to charge the phone every two to three days and the battery bars do get wiped out if the games are played for any length of time.

Overall I am extremely chuffed with my upgrade. Apart from the flimsy covers and quiet ringtones I cannot find any faults with this phone. It has never crashed (unlike my 8210), the features are presented in a colourful and bright way, the screen picture quality is fantastic and the phone itself takes calls without any problems. This phone is just downright sexy.

The 3100 is a phone for everyone. If you want or need a camera phone, the attachment is available at additional cost and due to the programming this phone can be personalised in every way imaginable. If you?re a game freak and need gameplay even when away from home you?ll love the clip on game covers which make playing easier.

Worth every penny.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDE D

Thanks for taking the time to read and rate.


Steve :o)

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