you reap what you sow (Samsung SGH-D600)

Member Name: cheesycal

Product:	Samsung SGH-D600
Date:	09/12/05 (9017 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: has many features mp3 player, can view documents, 2MP camera, v.good quality video

Disadvantages: no infra red

If you've read my review of the sony ericsson k750i, you will know that i gave it to my brother since i was quite happy with the e715 that i had. well..you reap what you sow or what goes around comes around and all that malarkey cos my brother got himself a samsung d600 and gave it to me!!! amazing huh? anyhoo lets start this review. I think i'll compare this to the k750i since these two will be the big contenders in everyone's mind

Looks+design

Samsung d600 is the follow-up to the incredibly successful d500 of last year and maintains the slide design of its predecessor. in terms of design it has had minor tweaks to make it look sleeker and more sophisticated. the screen is a lot bigger and the camera, which used to be on the inside of the slide mechanism, is now on the back of the phone. comparing it with my friend's d500, it is also a bit thinner and the corners and edges are slightly softer. The dimensions are 96 x 46.5 x 21.5 mm and is therefore very comfortable in the hand. In comparison the k750i is 100 x 46 x 19.5 mm. the weight is about the same too, k750i is perhaps a fraction lighter. Like all samsung phones, the battery serves as the back of the phone ie. without a cover. The sliding mechanism feels very nice and has a auto finish thingy which means that it completes the action for you. please dont confuse this slider to the siemens ones....siemens ones feel so tacky and flimsy. D600, as did the D500 before, feels very solid and i hope will have the longevity that the D500 is known to have. I have only one gripe about the design...the camera is on the back of the phone which makes it susceptible to scratches. the lens is indented but sharp points could still scratch it.


Features+Performance
There is an abundance of features in this model, improving on the D500 of last year. I'll just make a list so its easy to see:

31x41mm (2"), 240 x 320 pixel TFT colour screen
2MP camera with flash
Video recording with sound
Quad-band - you can use the phone anywhere in the world!
SMS MMS email support
Bluetooth
Picsel Viewer - you can view word documents and all other office documents, .pdf files etc!!
Upgradeable memory with "hotswap" (i think its called hot swap..means you can change the memory card without restarting the phone...)
TV output - share your photos on a big screen!
And general features on most modern phones eg voice memo, calculator etc.

Screen+user interface
The screen is a lot bigger on the d600 than on the k750i. Samsung phones have a reputation for having the best vibrant screens in the market and d600 upholds this. the screen on k750i looks a little ragged and pale in comparison. the screen is able to display 262K colours as is the k750i's but the d600 does it better! it has a 240 x 320 pixel viewing area compared to 176 x 220 on k750i. all pictures and graphics look amazing on this screen!

the menus are very easy to navigate around in and is designed to show off how amazing the screen is. every subsection is clolourful and well animated.

2MP CAMERA:
The camera can be activated with one button and you dont have to slide the phone up to use it. You can select from various sizes and qualities. there are lots of settings you can play around with such as ISO and brightness and contrast. the camera functions very well outdoors but the quality isnt as good indoors compared to the K750i. However, the overall quality is great and is good enough to view on the computer or tv. you can also select frames from the traditional to comical to put over your photos.

Video:
the Video recording is excellent in D600. i was really surprised by the quality of the image and also of the sound. you can record for as long as you have space. K750i has terrible video recording and even my 3 year old samsung e710 had better video recording. you can donwload the video to computer and it will still look brilliant there. i suppose you can also hook it up to the TV with the TV output!!! you can also download videos from your computer to view on the D600 and the playback is also perfect!

SMS MMS and email are pretty much standard. I find that the MMS is a lot easier to use on D600 than the K750i but usually that kind of stuff is due to personal preference.

MP3 player
D600's mp3 player is quite simple with the stop, pause, play skip rewind fastforward functions. but the graphics are nice and you can see the equaliser fluctuating to the music. you can make playlists or just repeat, shuffle or repeat all. you can play the music through the stereo sound headphones which also double up as your handsfree or through the loudspeaker. you can also use the mp3s as ringtones. samsung have done very well to make the mp3 player easy to use. K750i has a pretty poor mp3 player, much too basic even for general use.

Picsel viewer:
This viewer allows you to look at MS office documents ie word, excel powerpoint etc on your phone. you can also view .pdf files. you can zoom into the documents so you can see the words perfectly. K750i does not have this feature. Of course, you can use your TV output to view these files too!

Games:
D600 supports all java games and so has all the capabilites of the K750i. you can download games from wap or even from the computer and transfer it through bluetooth or cable. bundled with the phone are three games freekick, forgotten warrior and arch angel. first is a freekick game in which you have to indicate how to kick the ball into the net..very good fun. change the spin, where on the ball you want to kick, height power etc. forgotten warrior is a simple platform game and arch angel is a flying game. all fun but there are better ones to download!

Calls:
D600 works very well as a phone. the speaker is very crisp and sounds are very accurate and loud. you can also switch on Voice Clarity which makes it crystal clear and even reduces background noise. K750i also has good sound but it doesnt have Voice Clarity and hence D600 performs better! I havent had any problems with reception with the D600.

Memory expansion:
unfortunately, samsung do not give you a memory card (a micro SD card) and you have to make do with the 72MB onboard memory. the microSD cards (formerly called transflash cards) are very small and quite cheap (512MB for £30?) and i got myself one so i can watch videos on the move! K750i have micro memorysticks by sony which are slightly more expensive and a lot larger but they give you a 64MB stick free with the phone!


Summary:
The D600 has a lot of features and have missed out only one thing: infra red. but with bluetooth, infrared is pretty much redundant which is probably what samsung thought. TV output,wireless photo printing (which i didnt mention above)and picsel viewing are three features that won't be found in any phone and make the D600 more desirable. in the two weeks that i've had it, i havent had any problems with it and i am still impressed by it. I sleep with it under my pillow so that whenever i wake up, i can look at it! just kidding. but it is such a joy to look at and also to play with. The only thing i dont like is the fact that i had to buy the microSD card myself, i wish samsung had put one in for me.

D600 vs K750i.
For me, the D600 comes out on top. For the small time i had the k750i, i could feel the buttons becoming very loose and in overall, i felt the k750i felt a bit tacky. D600 feels solid in the hand and even after two weeks of intensive use, it still feels sturdy. the candy bar form of the k750i is very plain and i wasnt a big fan of it. the slide mechanism on the D600 is amazing and so fun!

the camera on the K750i is slightly better and has more features. however, the D600's video capturing capabilities are untouchable and for me certainly makes up for the camera's shortcomings. having said that, the camera is very good and clear enough for wallpapers on your computer. actually, the screen on the d600 is better and when viewing photos on your phone, the quality on the d600 seems a lot better than on k750i.

I would definitely recommend this phone over any other in the market just presently. it has lots of features as i mentioned above and also looks amazing. you should be able to get this phone for free in most contracts over £25 or you can buy for pay as you go for £300 or so. (it makes sense to buy contract for 12 months!) BUY IT!!!!!!!!!!! or not..i would feel more special if noone else got this.. :D

Summary: Excellent phone with features galore! Looks amazing too!

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