[peterjspencer]

Our kid (my brother for the southerners on here) is after a new phone and hes asked me to do some research. Since I got my M600 9 months ago I lost interest in whats going on in the Mob phone market as had my new toy to play with, so need a bit of a pointer please chaps.

He just wants a phone. Nothing clever. He wants to take occasional photos and he needs a big address book. Size isnt really an issue, and neither is bluetooth. Ive told him to look at the Nokia 6300 in the meantime which gets good write ups, while I look around at others for him. The only downside of the 6300 may be grainy picture quality although that seems to be subjective, depending where you look.
Anyone any suggestions similar to the above ?
Thanks

[Tejstar]

How about the SE W880i? Although the keypad may be a concern. My sister has the 6300 and it really is a lovely phone (much faster than my N73) and has a design that will not get old imo.

[banjo21]

I got the 6300 yesterday it beating the Sony 880i in a two horse race. The decision was basically price £140 for the Nokia and still £280ish for the Sony.
Both look the part and are slim (my sole two criteria).

The Nokia is pish easy to use - as most Nokias are.

Note the camera is poo in poor light - the picture looks like its been scratched a thousand times (hard to explain) but in good light this morning it was fine.

Just got to get it unlocked for use on Virgin today - damn thing came as O2 locked.

PS. RTFM I guess but anyone know if can use UK mobiles in Cancun, Mexico?

[Tejstar]

It has tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support, so use in Cancun should be no problems!

[loz_the_guru]

got secrets that cant leave Cancun?

[peterjspencer]

Thanks for the replys. Have looked at the W880i and looks good. Brothers a bit of a Nokia fan though so will probably go for the 6300.

The 6300 is a great little phone, as stated above is easy to use, and has a quality feel about. The camera is OK, but at the end of the day you buy it to use as a phone!

[banjo21]

Still voting for the 6300 here after 48 hours

Note: much to my surprise my local 'unblocker' bloke in the market couldn't de-brand it so that I can use my Virgin SIM. So I'm stuck on expensive O2 PAYG for a month or two until someone gets the updated unblock SW sorted
Make sure you get one for the network to be used.

[Tejstar]

Can you not call O2 and get an unlock code from them, they'll normally charge you £20-£30.

[banjo21]

I did try that matey - they said no can do until 12 months with them - even on PAYG - I dont think they understood really. tbh most of those call centre peeps dont know what they're talking about.

I expect the unlock SW will be out in a month or so and I can do it on the Web/Market for a fiver then.

They do have crap reception and extortionate fees on O2 though - I think they obviously just dont want PAYG custom.

[Tejstar]

Originally Posted by banjo21

I dont think they understood really. tbh most of those call centre peeps dont know what they're talking about.

I agree. I tried the same on T-Mobile recently and they didn't know what I was on about!

[Clank1969]

Ok, heres a question.
According to the Nokia website, the 6300 isnt a 3G phone but uses 'EDGE' technology.
Anyone know the difference?
I basically just want to be able to make a phone call 2 years down the line with the same phone and with the same clarity of connection.
Clank

[Tejstar]

Edge (EGPRS) is an extended version of GPRS whilst 3G is based on WCDMA. Totaly different technologies. Edge is sometimes refered to as 2.5G.

The 6300 should be able to use both Edge and GPRS so I don't think you'll suddenly not be able to use your phone in a couple of years!