Extortionately priced girly pink phone :-) (Samsung SGH-G600)

Member Name: xjemloux

Product:	Samsung SGH-G600
Date:	08/06/09 (255 review reads)
Rating:

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I'm far from a technical genius but I've had this phone for over a year now so I figured I was more than worthy of writing my own review about it.

What attracted me to the phone initially was the fact that I could buy it in Pink - but it also comes in purple and basic black too.

What posessed me to spend £150 on a phone though I don't know?

The handset cost me £150 and because I was buying it pay as you go I had to buy £10 talktime on top. Half of my accessories were missing too, but because I'd brought it home and then went back in I had no proof that they were missing and have never had them but I have been happy enough with the phone itself anyway so felt no need to kick up a fuss. It is over a year since I bought this phone - I bought it within weeks of it being brought out so now the price is quite a bit lower being under £100. What an idiot I am eh?

I hadn't actually had samsung phones before but had been told by friends they did not have much memory so on top of the hefty £150 phone price and £10 top up I purchased a memory card as I knew I would be snap happy with the camera and possibly have songs on there too. If you are looking to purchase this phone and are only intending on using it for texts then I don't believe a memory card would be needed but if you do intend on using it for games, pictures and music then a memory card is a must.

On top of this girly pink - although it isn't a hot pink it is a darker pink and silver but it was girly enough - it owns a 5mp camera. This was the second point which drew me in - as at the time I had a bit of a fascination with photography. Well actually it was more taking photos while on nights out with the girls and photos of my twins when they were born. I don't know much about cameras either but I had been told that the higher the MP the better the picture so I knew this was good especially for a phone.

The phone fits neatly into my hand, it's a fair size and weight not bulky yet not too thin either. It is a slide up phone - which I know a few people have suffered problems with but touch wood I have had no problems with it and actually find slide up phones better as I walk around with my phone in my pocket and so many phones I have had have rung people whilst sitting comfortably in that dark hole I call my pocket. This phone however has not done such a thing - thank god!. The phone itself is stylish - not an over the top show off phone but not a basic out of fashion one either. It feels quite strong - which is good as a few phones I have had have felt so flimsy and probably could of been snapped easily.

Sometimes it is a nightmare when buying a new phone to set them up and even put them together - no need to get your toolbox out with this one though. It is simple to place the battery in and it is easy to slide over the back of the phone to close it and even slide it back off. So many phones I have have had the most awkward back which has took alot of strength and even brain power just to 'slide' the back off. As for setting up the phone itself well again this is just as easy, when you switch on the phone you are welcomed straightaway and the set up wizard launches immediately and guides you through it slowly allowing you to set up your basics such as your time, date and language.

When you slide open your phone you have two options to choose from Menu and Contacts. Contacts is self explanatory - if you choose this it brings up your list of saved contacts names and numbers. To save a contact all you need to do is type in the number and then either save to sim or phone depending on what you prefer. I won't go through every little thing that you can do with your phone as I don't use everything myself anyway but I will try cover the basics.

If you choose menu you have a few options to choose from -

Call Log;
The Call Log allows you to look at your recent calls that you have made, received and missed. You can delete all of this info to refresh it too. You can even opt for Call Mananger which allows you to see your recent call times and call costs.

Phonebook;
Yes you can choose this on your main screen but you can choose this via the Menu option too. This is where you can view your contact lists, rearrange them and edit them.

Music;
Pretty obvious what this is - this is where you can find all music you have listened to or stored and want to listen to. You can either listen to this music via the phone itself - on loud speaker as I say or via the headphones.

Browser;
This is what you need to go to if you want to browse the internet.

Messages;
Here you can create a text message, read your saved messages, sent messages or drafts of messages you've yet to send. I find despite having a memory card bought for the phone it doesn't actually hold alot of messages and I find myself deleting my inbox and sentbox at least once a week.

My Files;
Here you can find all of your personal saved files in specific folders, these include Images, Videos, Music, Sounds, Games & More, Other Files, Memory Card (whats saved on it) and Memory Status.

Calendar;
Possibly the easiest option offered on the menu it is your very own portable calendar where you can view dates and add events etc they way you would on a paper calendar however this is way more convenient.

Camera;
Once you click on this your camera screen loads - here you can play around with the options provided to alter your images. You can either take a photo buy pressing the middle button on the handset or there is a button on the side of the phone which has a tiny picture of a camera on it.

FM Radio;
To use this you do need your earphones plugged into the phone - once plugged in you can listen to the radio and change the station the way you would with a CD player etc.

Applications;
This is one of the busier options providing you with more to play with such as Voice Recorder, you can edit images and have a little fun with them, bluetooth for when you want to share files and folders with other people instead of sending them via messages such as Picture Messaging, World Clock, Calculator - again just like the calendar very convenient whilst out and about, converter, timer and even a stopwatch.

Alarms;
This allows you to set an alarm for your preferred time to wake up or maybe to remind you of something you need to do. I find this brilliant and it has stopped me having to purchase an alarm clock - which is good especially after the hefty price I paid for the phone.

Settings;
This is the option which allows you to play about with your phone, you can play around with the profiles, the screens on the phone you can change to colours and patterns you prefer. This is where you can set the time and date and even change your volume.

The camera is what tends to buy people in - oooh yes a 5mp camera - you can purchase digital cameras with less mp than this so it must be good right?

Wrong in my opinion! Yes the screen is a fair size and things can be seen clearly - sometimes. It also has a flash for your night pictures which is useful if you are clubbing alot or you tend to do more in the night and want to take pictures for memories. You can change the settings of your camera - such as size, background, colour (black and white or colour) etc but the process of taking an actual photo takes an awfully long time. You almost need to be psychic to know a few minutes in advance that you are going to see something you really want a photo of and then click your phone before it even happens as it takes a long time to load and then take an actual photo so more often than not your photos will be blurry and not even what you wanted in the first place. Despite having all these options to be able to play about with photos that you take I find the only time the phone takes good photos is when there is decent lighting around and the object you are taking a photo of is complete still.

Next time I purchase a phone I will be checking there and then the contents of the box to make sure I have the accessories I am supposed to have. If I'd have checked there and then I would of had everything I should of which would include -

The phone itself
A plug in charger
Headphones - which can be used to either listen to music you put onto the phone yourself or to listen to the radio
A CD - this is your instructions for your next accessory which is;
USB Cable - this is to allow you to transfer pictures from your phone to your pc and also transfer photos and music from your pc to your phone.
A few booklets - instructions - your network providers info etc.

Yes the price tag for this phone was extortionate at the time but it has definitely been money well spent for me. I have had the phone coming up two years now and it has survived knocks, drops and bumps, it has sent 1000's of messages for me without the keypad messing up - like it has with many other phones I have had. I have been able to block numbers from texting and calling - which was a complete bonus just the other month when I found it. I have found it extremely easy to use and it has served it's purpose for me extremely well. Really I only wanted the phone for the camera and text messages. The camera was my main letdown - I only really wanted it to take photos of my twins which was great when they were newborn and didn't move but as they got older the camera was just too slow for me to capture THOSE moments. The texting however has been more than pleasing, the buttons are fairly flat and I thought it may be a problem as I have chubby fingers but I have been texting now for over a year with this phone comfortably.

I have found the phone extremely easy to navigate and find what I am looking for. The options it offers you are fairly straightforward and very easy to understand without having to search through an instruction booklet.

One thing I don't like about the phone is the fact I can't change the text message tone to one of my own uploaded songs instead I have to choose from the tones provided which as you can imagine aren't all that groovy - not as bad as Nokia mind lol.

I probably could of bought a cheaper phone for the text messaging purpose - but I have been really pleased with this phone and would reccomend it to people - especially now the price has lowered significantly. The battery life has amazed me too - I am forever browsing the internet and playing on games - yet the battery life can sometimes last me a week before it even starts to flash to warn me of a low battery.

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