What a cute little mobile!! (Nokia 3310)

Member Name: Sarah_Louise

Product:	Nokia 3310
Date:	21/05/01 (58 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some good features, cute!

Disadvantages: Could have more new features in relation to other Nokia's

My dad has recently just purchased one of these phones, (and after all the flack he gave me about the Nokia 5110 being a waste of money! [I bought one ages ago!])

So, me being his favourite daughter and all (well only - but hey, never mind!) :P
I've been able to have a mess around with it! (very trusting of him there!). I'll run through the menu options:

~ Phonebook ~

There isnt really anything unusual or new here. You get the usual options of:
Search, Add, Erase, Edit, Assign tone, Send a birthday card, Options, Assign Speed dials and Voice tags.

~Assign tone~
allows you to specify a certain ring tone for each individual person in your phone book - which is I guess particularly handy should you not want to talk to someone in particular! (Mind you then again, if you had about 80 people in your phone book like moi, then either you've got an excellent memory, or you'll have forgotten who's assigned which tone!)

~Send business cards~
Doesnt really need explaining this one, pretty self explanatory, even to someone who had never picked a mobile phone up!

~Speed dials~
You can set keys 2-9 with numbers that you can call simply by holding down that key - personally I cant really see the point in this, apart from perhaps in an emergency. But then thats where the 999 service comes in handy!

~Voice tags~
These are where you configure your voice dialling options. Again, personally I cant see the point, but its just another gimmick to make the phone see I suppose!

~Options~
Has the options of how you want the numbers in your phone book displayed - e.g. you can see just the persons name, or the name and number.
Also you can view how much space you've got left in your phone book - i.e. how many numbers you have in it and how many are left free.


~ Messages ~

Under this menu is the general SMS (short messaging service)
options on all mobiles.

The Nokia 3310 allows your text messages to be 459 characters long - which was a surprise to me, becuase on all other phones Ive seen, well my Nokia 5110, the usual number of characters is 160.

If you send the message to a phone that doesnt have that facility the 3310 will break up the message into seperate parts.

So if someone sent me a message on my 5110 from a 3310 which happened to be longer that 160 characters is would read something like:

"Linked: 1/2" - for example.

However, one disadvantage of this extra text space is the fact that you are charged per part you send, so its not necessarily better than any other mobile in that respect. After all I could send upto 3 messages, covering 480 characters and be charged 30p - just the same as a 3310 would be....even though I simply sent seperate messages.

You have the usual options of:

~Inbox~
(For the advantage of any people who neither use email or a mobile i'll explain the idea of the inbox and outbox!)

The nibox simply holds the messages you've recieved.
(The one's you havnt deleted that is!)

~Outbox~
This is where you can store the messages you have saved (after writing them), ready for sending.

~Write Messages~
This doesnt really need explaining does it?!

~Picture Messages~

You now have about 14 or 15 instead of the 3210's 3 picture messages.
It also has some "smileys" that you can edit and insert into any text - rather than the ordinary picture messages, that are only a picture - you cannot type anything with them aswell.

You also have, like the 3210, this predictive text input feature. I tried typing a message using this facility enabled, however personally I find it quicker just typing in the normal format. After all its only programmed to pick up "correct" words, not the normal slang/abbreviati
ons used in SMS messages so to me it seemed quicker without. Good idea never the less!

~ Chat ~

I wasnt allowed to waste all my dad's credit - so I never used this feature! :(
However basically what the idea of it is, is the fact that you type, just as in SMS messages, and it is similar to the likes of AOL, MSN, Yahoo, etc etc "Instant Messages" services.
(Except its cheaper on the internet!)


~ Call Register ~

This includes things like on most mobiles:

~Dialled numbers~
This doesnt really need explaining! (it holds up to about the ast 10 or so calls you've made)

~Received calls~
Again, doesnt really need explaining. This is basically the last 10 or so calls you've received.

~Missed Calls~
Pretty self-explanatory again!
This holds up to about the last 10 numbers that you have missed.

~ Tones ~

Oh yes, the famous mobile curses! All them ring tones!!

With the 3310 you can do all the normal stuff to the tones:
~change your ring tone~
You have around 30 ring tones on this phone (which is surprising, considering its predecesor had 40!)

~Change the volume~
Self-explanatory this! Like all Nokia's - you can choose which volume you want.

~Change incoming message alert~
You can choose which sound you want played when you receive a message.

~Compose your own tones~
Like the 3210 this, you can either download off the net, (or pay rediculous money from things advertised in papers!) or you can become musical and attempt to make one you're self. Quite nifty - but they never sound right. Some nifty idea's though, for example the "#" key = a sharp note. So it isnt very very basic features. Just like the 3210 though really. Only difference being, you can save 7 new tones on the 3310, but you could only save 1 with the 3210.

~Vibrating alert~
Like some ot
her phones on the market, you can be discrete and set it to work in this mode!

~Screen saver~
Just like with many mobiles now, including most Nokia's, this is basically to over-ride the operator logo (hence looks more interesting!)


~ Settings ~

Generally you can change the
~Phone~
Things like "language", "cell info display", "welcome note", "network selection".

Only thing that might need explaining in there is the "welcome note" - this is basically a thing you can type, that will appear each time you switch the phone on.

~Call~
Including "automatic redial", "own number sending" "call waiting options", "speed dialling",

Only thing that could need explaining here is the "own number sending" - this can be turned on or off, its basically like dialling the 141 number on a land line before the number you're dialling.

~Security Settings~
PIN code request, change PIN code setings, etc.

~ Games ~

Yeaaaaah! - the best bit!!
On this mobile you get:

Snake II, Pairs II, Bantumi and Space Impact.

Snake is by far the best!! Dont understand Bantumi - hence I gave up on that pretty quick! Space Impact is ok - but nothing in comparison to Snake!

One nifty feature available on the 3310 that you cant do with the 3210, 5110 etc is the fact you can set the impacts in the games to vibrate! (Bit like on a Play Station!)


~ Calculator ~

Doesnt need explaining! However, its not exactly suitable for all you maths whizz kids out there, if you're after the square root of 97, then id not waste your money on this mobile! It only has the standard
/ * - +
operations. Nothing new here than any other Nokia phone.

~ Clock ~

here you can change the date and/or time

set an alarm clock - whic
h like the 5110 can work without the need for the phone to be switched on. Also has a countdown option and a stopwatch facility.

~ Reminders ~

Never bothered with this so cant really comment, from what I could gather it basically told you a reminder (stands to reason really!) of whatever you had programmed in.


~ Other points of information ~

~Screen size~
A decent size, which is what I like about all Nokia phones. Its not one of these phones, I could mention a few!, that can only have 1 line of display at a time. Nothing new incomparison to other Nokia's though. Worth mentioning though.


~Fascia's~
Like many other Nokia mobiles, the 3310 can incorporate the XPressOn covers idea. Basically they just click into place, you can have plain colours, pictures/themes, flashing ones, transparent one, one's with sliding key guards on, one's with flips to guard the keys. (The list is endless really!)

Only one disadvantage I can think with this mobile, and that is the fact that you can't get flashing arials for it! Purely because the 3310, like the 3210, has an internal arial instead!! Mind you I had one on my 5110, it didnt work very well though, so ive swopped it back!

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