An excellent member of the Nokia family
Written: Jan 08 '04
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Pros: Attractive design, satisfying features, the backlight!
Cons: seems everyone has one, TDMA??
The Bottom Line: I love this phone. I'll use it until it dies, or until I'm offered the next step in mobile technology for free.
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| sipecannon's Full Review: Nokia 3560 |
As cell phones become cheaper, smaller, and increasingly capable of doing everything for you, I hang on to the frugal end of the bandwagon, getting a free, yet cooler-than-anything-I've-had-thus-far, device. As is probably true for a lot of people, I can't.. and won't.. burn three hundred dollars on the latest breaking technology. Rather, I bide my time and wait for the Superphone of today to become a deal in twelve months. The 3560 sort of fell into my hands under these circumstances.
It was free. It had the features I needed. It looked sharp. Plus, Nokia has a great reputation for durability and long life. My girlfriend's Nokia is at least five years old, and it's neither had any problems nor needed a battery swap. Thus far, my 3560 has been a true performer. Its 6.5 hour talk time and 9.5 day standby time has carried me through weekend excursions where I forgot to pack the charger. I prefer to carry in pockets rather than in belt clips, and its size and weight are perfect for that. It does have internet browsing and download capabilities, but I never need those features. The true heart-stopper for me was the backlight. I was used to the old-fashioned dull yellow backlight, which necessitated second glances and some guesswork, so to behold for the first time the wondrous white energy bursting forth from the entire screen and from each button with equal intensity was quite an experience for me. Even the tiny alpha characters under the numbers on the keypad are perfectly clear. And the colors are great. Did I mention this phone was free?
The call quality with this phone has been just fine. Especially for a device without an external antenna, 99% of my conversations have been excellent. The only drawback with sound quality is something that (I think) is supposed to be inherent to TDMA systems. Sometimes the sound isn't mutually fluent … that is, if the person on the other line is still talking and I begin to talk, I don't hear the other person anymore. It's as if the system can't handle completely fluent two-way traffic. I realize this sounds pretty undesirable, but it doesn't happen all the time, and I've gotten used to it. So it's not a problem worth striking the 3560 from your list. Besides, my knowledge of mobile technology goes no further than using my phone, so there could be other factors influencing the problem.
Aside from a PDA and a built-in camera, I can't think of any important feature lacking in this phone. Other reviewers have covered this device with flying colors, so I won't mention every feature here. I love the customizing options, including color schemes, profiles (meaning how you want the phone to ring/vibrate, ring volume, etc.), and wallpaper. My personal favorite is the Bach E major Partita found in the "Gallery" section of the phone, a folder full of ring tones and wallpapers. The phone book is also pretty efficient, with a "Find name" feature that's the best I've used so far. And if you're hands are tied, the voice-activated dialing function is simple to use… all one needs to do is press and hold the "Contacts" button for a second.
Tiny complaints not worth considering as CONS:
Though the calendar gives me a lot of options, I find that actually navigating through dates on the calendar can be tedious. Some cell phones have a four-way scroll button, allowing up, down, and side-to-side movement. The 3560 is a bit restricting in that way, allowing (at least, in the calendar) only side-to-side movement. So if you want to get to a date three weeks away, you either have to spastically press the scroll button repeatedly and go through each date through each week, or you have to manually enter the date you want to skip to. Not a big deal. Just a small annoyance.
The alarm clock is great… it's sufficiently obnoxious to wake you up, but not so much that you hate the phone for a while. However, the 3560 doesn't give you the option to choose a ring tone for the alarm sound. If the default alarm sound happens to be entirely ineffective at waking a particular heavy sleeper, that person can't tune that option to find a louder and more obnoxious sound. The alarm works for me…I mention this only because my previous phone had some great GET-OUT-OF-BED ring tones I could use, since I'm a pretty heavy sleeper.
IN SUMMARY:
I love this phone. I'll use it until it dies, or until I'm offered the next step in mobile technology for free. Its positive traits far outshine any small quirks it may have. Since everyone seems to have the 3560 these days, I suppose you could get a unique faceplate. But why lose that gorgeous silver face? I, for one, am perfectly content.
Recommended:
Yes
Recommended for: Stylish Trendsetters - Hip and Trendy
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Epinions.com ID:
sipecannon
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Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 0 members
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