Simple, reliable, retro (Nokia 3410)

Member Name: kiss_me_now9

Product:	Nokia 3410
Date:	30/09/09 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use, changeable covers, reliable and durable

Disadvantages: Bit big, very few modern features

I had a 3410 in the early part of 2003, before it died an untimely death after a freak thunderstorm at Thorpe Park led to it dying a waterlogged death!

Being a trend setting teenager, I also loved the fact that the entire early Nokias had the option of changable covers, ranging from popular TV shows to cutesy images. It takes a little while to figure out how to get them on and off, but once you've got it, you're sailing! The actual software on the phone was somewhat basic; no camera, no colour screen, big buttons and the classic Snake game were the main features but it was functional and probably what I think of as one of the last of the pure function mobile phones. It had a max memory of 20 text messages and had a bit of a fit if you tried to recieve more than two at a time but that was part of it's charm!

The 33/34 series were affectionately known as 'bricks' round where I lived, but despite this rather odd nickname, it just made them all the more appealing. I remember a time when nearly everyone I knew had a 3410, 3310 or 3330. There is something very comforting about the chunkiness of this handset; it feels very safe and reassuring in your hands. In our current age of mobile phones getting thinner and smaller, it's nice sometimes to reminisce on how they used to be and how durable they were! My 3410 went down a flight of concrete stairs and survived without a scratch. My current phone was dropped on a wooden floor and the paint has started to peel away.

I would love to own another one of these phones - maybe dig out my old Winnie the Pooh cover - as you knew exactly where you stood with it. No, it couldn't sing, dance, boil a kettle and send a text message all at the same time, but it was reliable and easy to use. If you are a technophobe and you can get hold of one these handsets, then it's definitely worth the retro feel as you can't do much to break these - even if you do waterlog it, leaving it to dry out before turning it on (a fact I simply didn't know at the time!) for a while will normally give you a working phone again.

Summary: A lovely little 'brick'

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