Honda Civic of Cell Phones
Written: Aug 30 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Features, Ease of Use
Cons: Plain looking, Indoor connection intermittent
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| hakchang's Full Review: Nokia 8210 Cell Phone |
Just like the little ubiquitous car, the Nokia 5190 is functional and cheap, with enough flare to keep most users' happy. What's more is most of the times it's free with special promotions from the service provider for signing up on a 1 yr contract (I donated $20 to Special Olympics). The 5190 has a bit of everything for the casual user: phone directory, a collection of annoying ring tones, call log, games, clock, and even a calculator. This is simply the-bang-for-the-buck phone.
Pros:
1) User friendly panel and features. I barely had to read the manual to understand the logic and functions of the buttons. Four buttons allow navigation through the menu. To the left is a clear/go back button, the middle is the enter/select button, and two scroll buttons at the right. The large screen provides clear readable text, and makes navigation through the menu labyrinth more bearable.
2) Almost free - Many mobile phone services are giving these babies away for signing a contract. This is pretty good for a more than basic phone. But see con #3.
3) Customization - This is one of the reason why Nokia's are everywhere. The face plates can be changed to fit whatever mood you're in. There are the optional solid color face plates that Nokia offers, including the primary colors, plus two kinds of silvers, and a glossy black. One can also get more unique ones at small specialty shops.
Cons:
1) Cheap plastic feel. Ok, I know it's free.
2) Signal Cutoff - The transmission does not seem very strong indoors, and cuts off the connection without any warning sometimes.
3) Fees - This is more a knock on the service provider than on the phone, but consumers should be aware what the total cost is. For basic Pacific Bell Wireless service, there's a $30 activation fee plus $12 tax on the free phone. The tax is paid on site to the vendor, while the activation charge is added to the first bill. The $30 is waived if a 2-year contract is signed.
4) No belt clip included. It's a handy option that usually comes with other phones.
5) Rings - Although there are plenty of musical rings to choose from like William Tell, Fuga, Badinerie, Menuet, etc., most sounds awful with the high treble tone.
A tip on deciding which plans to choose is to start lower cost plan. One can never tell how many minutes they actually use until the first few bills come in. Remember, you can only change your plans upwards. Which means upgrading to a higher minute/ cost plans is easy, but once you upgrade, you're stuck with it phone the life of the contract.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
hakchang
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Location: Emeryville, CA
Reviews written: 60
Trusted by: 27 members
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