Trust me its full of protein and nutrients!! (Siemens SL45)

Member Name: Mcdaddy

Product:	Siemens SL45
Date:	29/03/01 (1238 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A wap browser, gameboy, phone, filofax and walkman all in one!

Disadvantages: A bit expensive!

All I have to say is that this phone deserves a good nod and rub of the chin. Siemens has been classed as the handset underdog for a while now, with its failing attempts to market itself more at the 'business' users market. As a result their handsets are often over looked over to the more attractive and fun Nokia and Ericssons (even the much improved 35i series!).

But with the launch of the long, and eagerly awaited SL45, Siemens have definitely made a comeback in the eighth round.

Just with the first visual impressions of the phone you can see that Siemens have finally worked out the perfect combination of small, slick and sexy. And the SL45 clearly fills all of these criteria. The phone is slightly bigger than the Nokia 8210 due to it having an external aerial (WHY???), but it is slim, lightweight, and an eye catching silver all over. But the fun does not really start until you turn the phone on.

The first thing you see once turning on the phone is an entertaining graphic which flashes repeatedly, and if the penguin that swims around is not to your cool and hip image then you actually have the choice of choosing an additional 5 start up sequences, ranging from cosmic to terrain. Once the phone has logged on to your respective network the layout on screen is neat and extremely easy to follow. They have a nice clear battery in the right hand top corner so you can keep an eye on the old power status, and in the opposite corner you have the trusty signal strength bars. Along the bottom you have the date and the time. You then have the customary menu key, and also a hotkey, which you can toggle as to what menu or function you desire it to perform, i.e. direct access to WAP, address book, MP3.

Menu access is easy, either by hitting the dedicated menu button or by pressing right on the four way touch pad just below the screen. This also allows quick access to your phonebook by pressing down. Once in within the menu you are sw
amped with a multitude of different applications and sub menu's, but once you have got a hang of the navigation and start to remember where everything lives, the system is quick and very easy to use.

Some of the menu options include changing the animation at the beginning, and also the ability to change the standard screen to the all-popular screen graphics that you pay a fortune for on the Internet. Other than that you have the usual menu's which allow you to edit your personal settings and access the all popular wap browser which is powered by phone.com (the same browser that Motorola use incidentally!) Also Siemens have included some fun games, including the highly addictive 'Whack'.

However I think the main selling point for this handset is going to be the sheer power it is capable of. It contains a removable/interchangeable 32MB data card, on which you can store Dictaphone messages, bitmaps for your screen animation, but most importantly of all MP3 files! The phone comes supplied with a cradle that allows you to synchronise the handset to your P.C and then copy MP3 file directly onto the handset. You can also import/export your phonebook and calendar entries, which allows you to keep an interactive hold on your busy life. But back to the MP3's! The quality is excellent, and stereo headphones are supplied to listen to the songs which you decide to upload to the memory card. Removal and replacement of the MP3's is extremely easy to do, and Siemens have very wisely given the owner the ability to delete the pre loaded music files that they have put on the card. This allows the user to create more space for their favourite tracks.

Another thing that I have to praise Siemens for is that instead of trying to rip off the people that have bought their sexy bit of kit by not supplying them with all of the required software to create the connection you need to your P.C, they have made the wise choice of supplying everyth
ing within the box. By doing this the user will be able to have the confidence that they can sync the information on their handset whenever they want to without having to download the usual modem drivers that are associated with other handsets (not mentioning any names Nokia!).

You may think that with having all of these functions and capabilities the battery on this phone is only going to last long enough to make two calls and listen to an MP3. This thankfully, and surprisingly, is not the case. The battery life on the handset is exceptionally good, I have had it for four days now, using it to its full potential, and have only just had to put on charge, and the battery wasn't even completely dead yet! The recharge time is around 3 hours, which if you think about it is standard nowadays across all of the batteries that are out there.

All in all this handset truly was worth the wait, it is, as it has been described, the best media phone that is currently available on the market. However it is very expensive, but at the end of the day with the quality that they deliver in the SL45 they are just in doing so.

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