Nokia N91: Hard to beat!

The Nokia N91 is one of the top models in Nokia’s heavily promoted N series and has some of the best multimedia features ever seen on a mobile phone. There is a 2 megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss swivel-lens and a built-in flash effective for a distance of 1.5 metres.

The camera-phone can shoot video and record sound and also comes with a variety of shooting options like scene selection and anti-red eye effect. The bottom line is a camera-phone that can deliver pictures decent enough to be printed and quite close in quality to those of a point-and-shoot digital camera. The phone also has an excellent display with 256,000 colours and user-adjustable brightness.

The N91 comes with 10 MB of internal memory for running various applications but what makes it really special is the 4 GB hard drive which is capable of storing thousands of photos and more than a thousand songs. You can enjoy all that music on the included stereo headsets which come with a remote control. The N91 supports a wide variety of music formats including MP3 and WMA and provides several options for downloading and sharing music including wirelessly through Bluetooth.

Technorati Tags
Nokia | Nokia N91 | Nokia N-Series

Buying Mobile Handsets — Camera Phones

Because you carry your cellphone with you much of the day, your phone camera is a great way for capturing those unexpected moments when you don’t have your regular camera ready.

Most phone cameras produce low resolution photos of around 0.3 megapixels which are suitable for small screenshots but not for prints. However 2 megapixel models which produce decent 4 by 6 prints are increasingly common as are models which shoot video. Samsung, for instance, has many 2 megapixel camera models. Some of them come with video as well as a 2X optical lens and flash.

Once you have clicked your pictures, you can download them to your PC wirelessly through Bluetooth or Infrared through a USB cord or through flash memory cards using a card-reader. Ideally you want multiple options like the Nokia 3650 which has Bluetooth, Infrared as well as memory slots.

Phone cameras vary a great deal when it comes to features so you should always check if a particular feature is available. Examples of features available on some phones but not others include a flash, a self-timer and special colour options (like sepia and black and white).

Next: Advanced Buying Guide

Technorati Tags
Mobile Phone | Cellphones | Nokia 3650 | Samsung | Memory Card

Buying Mobile Handsets — Device Connectivity

The primary purpose of a phone is to connect with other phones but cell-phones offer a range of other options from connecting to the Internet to connecting wirelessly with other devices.

Modern cell phones can do many of the online activities that your PC can like web-browsing, e-mail and fax. An obvious constraint is the small screen size. The Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) has been specially designed for convenient online access for cell-phones. Browsing is done through microbrowsers like Opera Mobile and Pocket Internet Explorer. Some mobiles can also be used as modems for your PC or to send faxes.

Technologies like Bluetooth and Infrared enable cell-phones to connect wirelessly to nearby devices like your PC or PDA. Bluetooth is great for connecting to multiple devices and doesn’t require line-of-sight. Bluetooth headsets which allow you to speak and listen wirelessly to your mobile are also available. Infrared is used for one-to-one connections between two devices; its main advantage is low interference so that your message goes to the intended device regardless of other devices in the room. Ideally, opt for a mobile that packs in both technologies such as the Nokia 6600.

Next post: Phone Cameras

Technorati Tags
Mobile Phone | Cellphones | Nokia 6600 | Bluetooth | Infrared

Buying Mobile Handsets — Multimedia Features

In recent years, mobile phones have ceased to be devices for just making phone calls and have instead become versatile multimedia phones that act as powerhouses for video, music and gaming.

The most important feature for a multimedia phone is the quality of the screen; for instance the LG MM-535 comes with a bright, 2-inch, 262,000 colour screen for viewing video. Audio can be in the form of stereo speakers or included headphones (which fit in both ears unlike the usual cellular headphones). You can listen to MP3 files stored on your phone’s memory and some phones can also receive FM radio.

Cell phones can also be used for gaming and while the graphics are relatively basic, the games can be an enjoyable way of spending a few spare minutes. Some phones come with pre-loaded games like Snake and new games can also be downloaded from the Internet.

Note that multimedia consumes a lot of energy so make sure you buy a model with plenty of battery life if you intend to use multimedia features a lot.. Also check out the button layout for special multimedia buttons for, say, playing and stopping music or controlling game-play.

Next post: Connecting your mobile

Technorati Tags
Mobile Phone | Multimedia Phone | LG Mobile

Buying Mobile Handsets — Batteries

Your mobile phone battery may not be the most exciting feature on your mobile but it is one of the most important in ensuring that your phone is a reliable communication tool.

There are two main types of phone batteries: NiMH and lithium ion. NiMH batteries are more affordable while offering a decent battery life. Lithium ion batteries, while more expensive, weigh less making them ideal for cell phones and are also environmentally friendly since they don’t contain mercury or cadmium.

When buying a phone, check out both how much talk time and standby time (when the mobile is switched on but not in use) you obtain on a fully-charged battery. These range from 3 hours of talk and 150 hours of standby to around 9 hours of talk and 400 hours of standby on phones like the Sony Ericsson Z520a. If you like to talk for a long time, obviously talk time is important. If you travel a lot and regular recharging is inconvenient you might worry more about standby time.

Another factor that you should check out is how long the battery takes to recharge and whether a rapid charger is available.

Next post: Multimedia capabilities

Technorati Tags
Mobile Phone | Cellphones | Nokia | Sony Ericsson | Mobile Charger

Buying Mobile Handsets -- Design

In this, the first in a series on how to buy mobile phones, we look at what you should consider in terms of design of a handset.

Your cell-phone is probably the electronic gadget that you carry with you the most so it’s important to make sure you are comfortable with its physical design and overall feel.

There are two basic cell-phone designs: the clamshell phones which can be flipped open and non-flip, candy-bar phones. The flip phones offer more space and better protection for the screen. Non-flip phones are easier to use with one hand and have a simpler design with fewer moving parts. If you do buy a non-flip make sure it has a keypad lock to prevent accidental dialling when it’s in your pocket or bag.

Whichever type of phone you buy, you should check out the way it handles. Make sure it’s comfortable against your ear and that you can hear calls properly. The controls should be intuitive and the buttons themselves should be easy to identify and press. The navigating buttons are especially important and some phones come with a knob which makes for easier navigation.

Size and weight are also important and some recent phones like the Motorola V3, which is only half an inch thick, are small and still have decent features.

Some Popular Brands

Nokia | Sony Ericsson | Motorola | Samsung

Next post: Phone batteries

Technorati Tags
Mobile Phone | Cellphones | Motorola | Nokia | Samsung | Sony Ericsson