not just a chachka phone :)
Written: Feb 04 '01 (Updated Feb 10 '01)
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Pros: size weight won't snag
Cons: hard to grip
The Bottom Line: if you can get it for around 50 with only a year commitment i think its a good deal.
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| namatiga's Full Review: Nokia 8260 Cell Phone |
i got the 8260 three months ago from buy.com. it was 100 with a 50 dollar nokia "atm card" rebate plus a 20 dollar ecoupon. nokia ended up sending me a check for 50 so my net cost was 30 plus about 10 for shipping. interestly enough the cost of this phone went negative for a short time if you included the 75 dollar att rebate.
the calls are very clear except when just on the edge of its range.
the first thing you notice about the 8260 is that its tiny...not just small. however the mic does work well and ambient noise isn't a problem. i have really big hands though and i have to either hold it with my fingertips or grip it across the keypad.
not only is it small but it lacks a protruding antenna common on most other phones. because of this shape i carry the phone in the small pocket (the change pocket) of my jeans. in contrast all the other tiny phones i tried had snaggable surfaces.
the next good thing is the battery life. in digital mode it has lasted for three hours on one charge. in analog/tdma mode its a lot shorter..more on the order of an hour. but..and this is a big but..many other tiny phones are digital only so you are out of the network once you leave highly populated areas. in standby mode i find it lasts about 6 days with about 30 minutes of digital usage. also it recharges in about an hour.
with the 8260 you can send email easily. it has this T9 predictive input program that is trivial to learn and lets you write painlessly on the tiny keyboard. the problem here is that when people reply they tend to forget the phone truncates email at 150 characters.and thats including headers.
the sms is fun too if you have friends with sms phones. i found the messaging routine fun for the first 5 minutes then got bored of it...but you may not. kids in japan can crank out over 50 words per minute on this type of thing so it probably will catch on.
sorely lacking of course is WAP. you can rig up email alerts etc so you can get have some interaction with internet news sources. in any even wireless protocols are evolving and aren't real secure at this point.
the rings and vibrating alerts work well. also you can customize it for different groups of callers. its all about discretion ;)
the PIM function is good only for appointments.
one last thing....it comes with a hands free earphone. this thing kept falling out of my ear untill i put a cover on it that came with a friends jambra headset. now it works really well.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 30
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Epinions.com ID:
namatiga
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Location: boston ma usa
Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
i like gadgets
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