I have bought this new phone a couple of weeks back from Univercell, Bangalore. Do not go by their online pricing, it is without taxes, etc and the phone you will buy will be at least a few hundred Rupees more than that. After agreeing to purchase, they took around 15-20 minutes to sort my bill and send me out. I was excited, so did not mind the wait. The MRP on the box was 6800, and I paid 6150. Why the huge difference? I noticed this in many mobiles, there is no parity on the prices that are on the box and what you will pay. Even though the latter is lass, it makes you wonder if you still paid more than it is worth. I also bought a car charger, just in case. In fact, my decision to buy the charger was driven by my year-old LG Cookie, which needed to be charged every night or else, the next evening, it would sleep on you.
Why I bought this phone? My company gives me 6000 to buy a phone. And it has 3G (384kbps?). Do not ask me what I will do with it. I do not know. I just read a few days earlier that Airtel (my service provider) paid in crores to Government for the 3G rights - must be good. On further investigations, I learnt that you could already watch Doordarshan in MTNL/BSNL mobiles in 3G - what! I do not watch them on my TV; why would I pay to see them on my mobile?
Any way, back to 7230. It is a slider with not so sharp screen. And extra large digital clock that you cannot change. But everything else on this phone is good. Fast response of the software, good reception and the battery charges fast and lasts long (my first charge lasted 4 days, even with me playing around and going online to check my mails 2-3 times a day. In built links for gmail and yahoo mail work good. There is Nokia maps for you if you need it. The shop guy recommended a 4500 costing Samsung telling me that this phone does not have a camera in the front. I told him I would actually prefer if either did not have a camera at all. Sadly, that is not an option I have - any half decent phone has a camera. 7230 has a 3.2 MP one, but the snaps are not to my liking. Reviews told me that the music part is not great even though it has 3.5mm jack. I do not care since I do not use my phone for listening to music. What many reviews did not tell me is the phone reception - that is what I look in a phone! My experience is that the phone reception is very good. The ring tone is perhaps not loud if you are outside, but decent enough. The key pad is excellent to type. The keys are easy to handle and have a nice feel.
There is no touch screen, though. This is one more reason why I bought this phone. Last year, I bought LG Cookie because it was the most affordable touch screen. I like it also, but I found that the touch screen has its demerits. You have to handle it carefully and clean the screen almost always since the finger prints leave ugly marks. And it will start dialing when you clean. I had to get the screen changed once since it would not respond to my touch and even press. The LG service was the best service I got to date: they changed the screen in 15 minutes and did not charge me a Rupee. No questions asked- just took the phone and gave it back after the repair.
As of now, I am enjoying my 7230 and waiting for Airtel to launch 3G in Bangalore and hope to watch some thing other than DD.
Why I bought this phone? My company gives me 6000 to buy a phone. And it has 3G (384kbps?). Do not ask me what I will do with it. I do not know. I just read a few days earlier that Airtel (my service provider) paid in crores to Government for the 3G rights - must be good. On further investigations, I learnt that you could already watch Doordarshan in MTNL/BSNL mobiles in 3G - what! I do not watch them on my TV; why would I pay to see them on my mobile?
Any way, back to 7230. It is a slider with not so sharp screen. And extra large digital clock that you cannot change. But everything else on this phone is good. Fast response of the software, good reception and the battery charges fast and lasts long (my first charge lasted 4 days, even with me playing around and going online to check my mails 2-3 times a day. In built links for gmail and yahoo mail work good. There is Nokia maps for you if you need it. The shop guy recommended a 4500 costing Samsung telling me that this phone does not have a camera in the front. I told him I would actually prefer if either did not have a camera at all. Sadly, that is not an option I have - any half decent phone has a camera. 7230 has a 3.2 MP one, but the snaps are not to my liking. Reviews told me that the music part is not great even though it has 3.5mm jack. I do not care since I do not use my phone for listening to music. What many reviews did not tell me is the phone reception - that is what I look in a phone! My experience is that the phone reception is very good. The ring tone is perhaps not loud if you are outside, but decent enough. The key pad is excellent to type. The keys are easy to handle and have a nice feel.
There is no touch screen, though. This is one more reason why I bought this phone. Last year, I bought LG Cookie because it was the most affordable touch screen. I like it also, but I found that the touch screen has its demerits. You have to handle it carefully and clean the screen almost always since the finger prints leave ugly marks. And it will start dialing when you clean. I had to get the screen changed once since it would not respond to my touch and even press. The LG service was the best service I got to date: they changed the screen in 15 minutes and did not charge me a Rupee. No questions asked- just took the phone and gave it back after the repair.
As of now, I am enjoying my 7230 and waiting for Airtel to launch 3G in Bangalore and hope to watch some thing other than DD.
Comments
Post a Comment