Might Not Want To Be Stuck With This Phone In A Pinch!
Written: Feb 27 '01 (Updated May 20 '03)
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Pros: Lightweight, Small, Easy to Carry/Pack, Fairly Rugged
Cons: Poor Signal Reception
The Bottom Line: If you can deal with some static in analog signal areas, I really don't think you can beat this phone for price, size and ease of use.
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| jps246's Full Review: Nokia 5180 Cell Phone |
Okay, I will admit it, I am a cellular phone junkie. At this point in my life, I really don’t think I could do without one. I have had a phone for the last 4 years and I cannot even imagine what it was like before I had one. If I am driving and I have forgotten my phone, all I can think about is what happens if the car breaks down and I need to get a hold of someone (not as if we didn’t deal with these problems before the advent of cellular phones).
I got my Nokia phone a little over a year and a half ago and have been using it ever since. The phone has gone driving all over New England and the Mid-Atlantic with me, it’s gone hiking, camping, canoeing and been carried in my pocket just about everywhere. I have never had a problem with the construction of the phone. It has stayed together and has yet to break, even with several big drops and some crushes while we were out in the wild.
The accessory car charger for the phone is a good deal too, as the charge on the phone can disappear pretty quickly with heavy use. I generally keep the phone off unless I know someone is going to call or if I am calling someone. Otherwise, the charge will wear out in about 12 to 24 hours, depending on the amount of calls made. When out hiking or camping, I keep the phone packed away and use it only for emergencies (or those calls just to let someone know where I am). If you were to keep it on, the charge would be gone when you needed to use it. When kept turned off, the phone holds the charge very well and loses very little while it is turned off. It will however eventually lose its charge, so I would not expect to depend on it for a two-week expedition into the wild unless you had other methods of charging it or replacing the battery pack.
When in areas with digital coverage, the phone works very well. Conversations are clear and crisp and there is little static during a conversation. In areas where the digital coverage is skimpy or nonexistent, static and reception become a problem. Even with strong analog signal strength, there is often static or breaks in the conversation due to the phone. This intensifies while in a car and can make it impossible to use with low signal strength. Quite often when there is only a little bit of a signal, the phone will be unable to dial out.
I think a lot of the signal coverage and strength depends on your carrier. I live in Maine and have US Cellular as a carrier. They have done a fairly good job at providing some sort of digital coverage throughout most of the state (at least portions with some population). As long as you can get something of a digital signal, the phone works much better than if it is just running with an analog signal. So if your area has plenty of analog signals, but few digital signals, you will probably have trouble with the phone and get quite frustrated with signal strength, but if the situation is reversed, you probably won’t notice any problems.
For those of you worried about brain cancer and radiation from portable phones, I would probably not suggest this phone for you. The antenna is built into the phone and is not separated from your head by that much distance. In addition the antenna runs parallel to your skull, instead of projecting away from it like I have heard suggested. It does worry me somewhat and I tend to curb the use of my phone, or try to hold it away from my head when listening to someone. I am planning on purchasing the headset so I can have handless operation and be able to keep the phone away from my head.
I have never changed the faceplates, but you can switch between colors.
The phone is fairly inexpensive. I paid $25 dollars for it when I signed up for a year of service with US Cellular.
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Other cell phones I have reviewed:
LG VX4400 - http://www.epinions.com/content_100374122116
Audiovox CDM135 - http://www.epinions.com/content_50552016516
Motorola V120c - http://www.epinions.com/content_84884622980
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 25
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