Tag Archives: nokia

Mobile phone cameras are improving…

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Well, today I took my Nokia 3120 Classic out into the lovely snow and decided to take some good old snaps – partly because other people wanted to see them, but mostly because I wanted to test my phones camera.

And, frankly, I am amazed at how much mobile phone cameras are improving. My 3120 Classic has just 2 megapixels and flash, but it takes fantastic shots. Shutter response is not quick due to slow phone processors, but as long as you aren’t moving fast, it takes digital camera quality photos.

And when I’ve taken the shots, I can shoot them over to my PC either via USB or bluetooth.

I’m really loving how I no longer need to worry if I have forgotten to pick up my camera (or in the most common case of mine, forgotten to charge it up!!). As long as I have my phone, I’ve got no problem. My 2GB memory card will cover a couple of thousand 1600×1200  images so I’ve got no problem for space.

And by no means is the 3120 classic the lead in mobile phone cameras. There are 5 megapixel phones which take much better pictures, but the 3120 classic proves that you don’t have to burn a huge hole in your pocket to get good mobile snaps.

Review: Nokia 3120 Classic on 3 (UK)

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I recently bought myself a brand new Nokia 3120 from 3 (Three). Here is a review for the item and 3 itself.

Delivery was relatively good. No fuss. Ordered last Thursday and the phone arrived Saturday lunchtime in the post. Packaging was good and nothing was damaged.

When it arrived, I charged it up for a couple of hours and it was ready to go. Threw in my new SIM card and fired it up.

It’s easy to set up. The phone will ask about the date and time, and when you’ve done that call 444. They say the phone will be activated within 24 hours but mine was activated 5 minutes later. Once 3 have sent you the text confirming the account is active and your £10 introductory top-up had gone through, you are ready to do what you want.

The phone itself is fantastic for the money. I paid £80 at three.co.uk and I got free delivery, £10 free top-up, a free £10 accessories voucher which I used to buy a 2gb memory card (you must speak to the online customer service BEFORE ordering your phone to get the code required), free Windows Live Messenger to download and use as much as I liked, as well as free Skype (however this is not available on the 3120 yet – they say it will be in the near future). Update 3.2.09: I can now get Skype on my phone – I am not sure if it officially supported, but 3 let me download it and it works fine.

The only downside I can find with the phone is that the battery life isn’t fantastic. Bluetooth and 3G will drain the battery like a rocket. If you use a lot of mobile internet or bluetooth, you will only have enough juice to last a day or two. Less frequent users will get up to 1 week.

The flat12 tariff on three is very good. Calls and texts are 12p per min/each. Internet is £1 per MB unless you get an addon, TV and unadvertised radio is 49p per day (requires 3G coverage), and video calls are 50p per min (requires 3G coverage).

Verdict: Get the phone, it’s very good for £80 but watch out if you are a frequent user as battery life isn’t fantastic.

Is Nokia’s new Comes With Music worth it?

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If you want a straight answer, then no. I doubt Nokia will have this deal last very long, because frankly Nokia is making quite a gamble.

So this is how it works. You pay £129.95 and you will get a Nokia 5310 XpressMusic and a 1 year subscription to Comes With Music. Well first of all, the 5310 is a phone that’s over a year old now. You can have N95 8GB if you would rather have that, but still the N95 is beginning to show it’s age now and more modern technology is already beginning to replace it. Besides, if you’ve only got two phones to choose from a  lot of people will just move onto something else.

The N95 Comes With Music edition will knock you back £400 and with that you’ll get an 8GB model, all the “bells and whistles” of the N95 and the year of “free” music.

Oh and by the way don’t forget this “free” music doesn’t cover data costs so you still have to pay for some plan to get a fair rate for downloading music or you are going to end up with a massive phone bill.

Nokia is in my opinion taking a huge gamble here. Lets say someone downloads 1500 songs over the course of the year and each song was to cost £0.79. Well that totals to £1185 so how Nokia is making a profit here I would love to know.

So overall I think Nokia is not only risking a huge loss, but the poor choice of phones and the risks of data costs make it pretty much useless to most people.