**REWRITTEN** Not New But Not Bad (Philips in general)

Member Name: sy2kgbr

Product:	Philips in general
Date:	31/10/00 (125 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good selection of features, choice of colours, ability to send pictures to other Savvy users.

Disadvantages: No interchangeable covers or line breaks in messages.

Over a year ago I bought my Philips Savvy on a pay-as-you-go contract with Virgin Mobile. It's not cutting edge design anymore, but it hasn't aged too badly.

Since I got my phone through Virgin Mobile, it has a dull blue fascia. However I am aware that you can purchase a Savvy in more brighter colours. It really depends on where you go for your phone. (When you buy your phone, be aware that the colour isn't going to change - you cannot purchase interchangeable covers for it unlike a Nokia, for example.)

The Philips Savvy comes with standard features such as an address book and caller ID, but it does have a few nifty gimmicks as well. If you send a text message to another Philips phone, then you can add an emoticon. If you try to send a picture to someone without a non-Philips phone, then they get the text equivalent, e.g. [picture of rainclouds] turns to ;;;

A Biorhythm Calender is also included. This is really a very simplified horoscope. Enter your birthdate and the current date to be informed of your love, success, chance and energy levels.

The phone is duel band, so you can use it abroad on holiday. Do be aware however that this will usually incurr a roaming charge from your mobile phone company. The exception to this rule is of course emergency calls. With the Savvy you can make an emergency call even if your phone doesn't have a sim card inside. (International emergency - 112)

Furthermore, I have voicemail and voicedial. When you put someone into your address book, you can decide whether you want to put them onto voicedial or not. If you do want to, you can record a short name for them. This does not necessarily have to be their real name - if you want to call your friend 'Taxi Service' then go ahead.

Voicemail is basically like an answering machine. When your mobile is switched off, your callers are diverted to your box and asked to leave a message. (Also like an answering mac
hine they just hang up on you and leave you with a recording message of nothingness.)
TIP: On the 1 button of your keypad, there's a symbol that looks like two Os with a line connecting them. This is the symbol for voicemail. It's standard throughout the entire Philips range. When you have Voicemail, this symbol should flash at the top of your screen to alert you. I just have to hold the 1 button down to retrieve my messages.

There are about 20 different ringtones - for the boring adult in you, go for "Special"; for the child in you, go for "Donald"; and for the teenager in you, go for "Dream". You can also choose 'Vibrate' on its own, or 'Vibrate and Ring'. This feature does work - I find it invaluable when I'm in a lecture because that way I can tell if I have a message/call without anyone else knowing and becoming distracted.

In short, the Savvy is a durable little phone that no one would be ashamed to own. Your decision on whether to purchase one or not should probably go down to price. If it's on special offer, then go for it. Otherwise go for one of the latest Nokias if it's in your budget.

[Dimensions and weight: 129x48x24 mm, 144 g]

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