Phone for a new doctor? Budget < 12K

[eddie]

Hi,

My best friend (kind of my kid brother) has just completed his studies to become a doctor and I want to gift him a cellphone this Christmas. My budget is really tight...max 12K and since I am a real n00b (read idiot) when it comes to cellphones I really need help.

* The main requirement from the instrument is that it should look really good but professional. Black is his fav colour so if it is available in that colour then it is preferred.
* Must have a good battery life.
* It should have decent organiser facilities.
* If he ever wants to install some extra applications...they should be available easily. Symbian phone?
* Everything else including camera, mp3 playback, FM etc. are optional.

So is there any phone available that fits the bill? I will be really grateful for any help that you guys can provide
TIA

[mehulved]

You can have a look at Nokia 6630 for a symbian phone. But it's -ve points are mono sound, no FM and bad camera.
Other phone you can have a look at is Nokia 5300 but I don't think it has Symbian OS.
Also, SE K750i and SE W700i are good phones in the range but since music isn't your priority you can keep them out but just in case you need to have a look W700i has good sound and K750i for camera. And SE phones are really good.

Go for the Nokia 6681 Black version. It has handsome looks, good quality screen, stereo music player, Symbian OS (can install compatible Symbian software and of course Java applications too), good quality 1.3 mpix camera with flash and sliding cover, EDGE Class 10 and has a very comfortable keypad. I think it'd suit you friend just perfectly and would make a great gift. Visit www.nokia.co.in to learn more about 6681.

[dhan_shh]

If a Doctor is requiring a Mobile,then it should be a "Windows Mobile",as there are excellant Medical software (atleast 1000 in number) available ONLY for WM (Skyscape,Medical Wizards to name a few).Gr8 support for all e-Book format.
There is NOT a single symbian phone which supports .CHM file,only WM does it.

[snake]

I suggest Nokia E60 as its the most professional.All kind of Connectivity features like wifi,bluetooth,ira.Symbian 9.1(S60 3rd Edition)And the best part 16million colours TFT screen nothin can beats its screen.But it does not have camera which according to me it doesnt matter as anyway mobile cameras are lousy and mp3 player in them are also same.You can never compare there quality with good DAP.So I suggest dont focus too much on all in one device but the device which can do its main purpose properly.And if u are looking for some FUN factor also I think nokia 5500 its has everything and its new model also.

go for either windows mobile or Motorola Ming

The thing is, moto Ming will give him "Note" & Scribling feature, this is better then typing things & notes, such as to do or reminders, at a very low cost, unlike other touch screen phones. U can also give him Nokia 7610 if it can be found under 12k

[Stick]

Nokia 6033

[eddie]

Thanks a lot for the reply guys. So kind of you
I have a few more questions for you though

1) @tech_your_future: Are Sony-Ericsson phones reliable? I have heard their build quality is not very good. Till date I have used only Nokia phones and moving to some other brand is a little scary for me. What are the -ve points of 6630 and that 5300 looks girly Are you sure you would suggest that phone? Which one phone between K750i or W700i would you buy?

2) @krazyfrog: Oh man...Nokia 6681 looks awesome!!! Thank you for that tip. I saw it on IndiaGSM and on the same page I saw N72. It looks great as well. Yes it costs 15K but what if I somehow increase my budget till that? Is there any better phone then N72 at 15K? What is so great about N Series?

3) @dhan_shh: As far as I know, all Windows mobile cellphones are very costly. Is there any WM phone available in my budget?

4) @snake: E60 costs >=18K I simply don't have that much of budget. On the other hand E50 looks a decent phone. What is your idea about it?

5) 6033? I couldn't find it any where...can you please link me to it?

Actually if you can stretch your budget upto 15k, then you can definitely go for N72. But if you can't, i'd suggest you stick with 6681.

[QwertyManiac]

Originally Posted by krazyfrog

Go for the Nokia 6681 Black version. It has handsome looks, good quality screen, stereo music player, Symbian OS (can install compatible Symbian software and of course Java applications too), good quality 1.3 mpix camera with flash and sliding cover, EDGE Class 10 and has a very comfortable keypad. I think it'd suit you friend just perfectly and would make a great gift. Visit www.nokia.co.in to learn more about 6681.

+1 but for a little slow processor.

N series are excellent AIO phones, great to possess one, and they are definitely better than N6681 plus they are 3G-Enabled. Futureproofing in mobile terms

go for N-series phones only if you want good video recording, else 6630 was all in all best symbian phone. E50 also goods look as per features and specifications.

First you decide you want symbian or not. you must consider extra weight and big size of symbian phones. non symbian phones are lighter in weight, smaller in size, works faster.

i have bad experience in symbian phones. one virus through MMC exchange caused loss of all my phone nos. i sold my 1month old N70 for 14.5K and now i am happy with Nokia6230i. without any worry for losing my data again.

[ashnik]

If u want nokia then only think of 6630. BTW it has stereo sound. i use 6630.
Gr8 phone, but w/o FM. also has more phone memory than 6680/81.

But the best bet is SE K750i..U can use Walkman headphones with it. Looks much better than W700i. Also W700i lacks the Autofocus which is very very imp for close ups..I gifted it to my bro few months ago....He is an engg student.. and a funny thing .... he just clicks the photo of friend's assignment instead of zeroxing it, saves a lot of pocketmoney. Autofocus helps.
If he is not going to use symbian OS...then K750i it is !!

[Stick]

Originally Posted by eddie

Thanks a lot for the reply guys. So kind of you
I have a few more questions for you though

6033? I couldn't find it any where...can you please link me to it?

Sorry for typo, it is 6300

[Aberforth]

Originally Posted by tech_your_future

You can have a look at Nokia 6630 for a symbian phone. But it's -ve points are mono sound, no FM and bad camera.
Other phone you can have a look at is Nokia 5300 but I don't think it has Symbian OS.
Also, SE K750i and SE W700i are good phones in the range but since music isn't your priority you can keep them out but just in case you need to have a look W700i has good sound and K750i for camera. And SE phones are really good.

Agreed. Build quality of Sony Ericsson w700 would be as good as N70 but as I've owned w700 for two months I wouldn't know. If you want a phone for a doctor I'd recommend one from the N series rather than Sony Ericsson w700.

[eddie]

Actually I don't know if I want Symbian phone or not. The reason being that I don't know what advantage a Symbian phone will have over other phones!!! I just want my friend to be able to install a few applications if he ever wants to. Are such applications available for non Symbian phones? Can we install extra games and such things on phones like K750i/W700i/5300 etc?

Also, I don't think he will be recording many videos so does that bring any advantage for him in N Series? I have been going through lots of threads in this forum and looks like K750i is recommended by almost everyone. I am not considering 6630 as I feel it has become seriously outdated but another phone that has caught my attention is 6233. Has any one had a look at this phone? 2MP Camera, FM, 3G?

Currently I am looking at N72/K750i/6233/6681 (in that order or preference). Please tell me the reason why Symbian phones are so popular and give a little insight regarding 6233.

[mehulved]

Best thing about symbian is that it has huge no. of apps. and I don't think any other OS on the mobile platform has so many apps. But it has a huge downfall that it can get affected by viruses too, if the user isn't careful.
On the other hand java doesn't have as many apps as symbian phones. But, I don't really think he'll miss much of the functionality of symbain. There are no viruses for non-symbian phones AFAIK.
If you are going for non-symbian phone go for K750i. But since you said camera, music and stuff are last in your priority then I feel you should keep K750i out. As well as 6233 cos it's not a Symbian phone.
So, that narrows to N72 and 6681. Well go for N72 if you can really extend the budget otherwise 6681. Well IMO, you won't really miss anything with 6681.
BTW, what's so outdated about 6630? It has everything you need good battery life, symbian, 3G enabled. Very decent specifications. Compare it to 6681 which doesn't have 3G. I am getting 3G into equation cos that's what you want but I really doubt if people will be using 3G anytime soon. 6630 in fact has more internal memory than 6681. I don't see how 6630 is outdated when 6681 isn't. Here's a comparision http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3...&idPhone1=1046
Now if you say N72. Yes it will definitely outclass 6681. Comparision between the two http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3...&idPhone1=1046.

[reddick]

Go for 6681 dude...cool phone n within ur budget...ur DOCTOR SAHIB gona love it

symbian phones are usefull in case you want to view word/ excel/ power point files on phone. else there is not any significant application which you will miss in non-symbian phone. but as said earlier symbian phones are prone to viruses.

I have used 6630 and N70 both. main difference i found in features was video recording. in N70 it was 352x288 px, in 6630 it was 176x144 px. rest of the features doesnt make much difference. further the keypad of N70 was not comfortable - very small size keys, hard to press. for camera N70 has 2Mpx, 6630 has 1.3Mpx (which is more than enough for 6"x4" size printouts)
6681- whats great about it over 6630? and 6681 has plastic transparent buttons with cheap look.

[busyanuj]

for the budget and requirements you ahve, the Nokia E50 should suit you fine. It's got a 1.3mp cam, sleek design + usual refinements and symbian OS.

symbian's OS main use? while you're lisetning to a song, simultaneously you can check your messages, or view your phonebook or do other things.... in one short and sweet word... it allows multitasking.

or you can also try the Nokia 6233. 2mp cam, traditional nokia os, stable software.

[snake]

ya E50 is good choice too go for it

[Stick]

As your friend is Doctor and now days Doctors to have to much pressure of work so as per me give him phone which is ALL ROUNDER with FM and MP3 which help him to hear his favorable music even as short as for 5 minutes too.

Doctor Sahib get recharged within 5 minutes and change is Mood too, you will get lot of bless from Patient and there relatives who make there Doctor charge very fast.

I don't think Busy Doctors have any time to use Symbian, even some time I found they have no time to attend phone.

So if he is too Busy Doctor or you think that he will be than give him Music Phone by Sony Ericsson.

[dhan_shh]

I became totally enthusiastic when it comes to Doctor and Mobiles,I agree with you Windows mobiles are expensive.If they are economical(like imate SP3 10.9K) they may not support all software.I would suggest you to stick on to older Symbian v8.1 (like 6630 or N90 or N70) rather than latest Symbian 9.0(Nokia 3250 or N5500 or E50 or N73) as older has more software time tested.

[eddie]

Thanks a lot for such intuitive answers guys. I could never even imagine to have gathered so much knowledge myself by searching/googling. You guys rock.

@Mehul: You got me there mate. That "outdated" comment about 6630 came from my dislike for its shape. It has this weird pot-belly that looks really...well weird

I get the point about 6681. Also, 3G is not something I want. Not at all. According to your comments it seems that a black 6681 is probably the best choice for me. On the other hand K750i also confuses me. He is not the kind of guy who would go to a PC and try to install something new. He might ask me to install something for him but not by himself.

Can someone please tell me how easy it is to find applications for K750i? BTW my choices are now down to 6681 and K750i

^^
As far as applications are concerned, 6681 is much better than K750i. K750i can only install java apps while 6681 (being a Symbian OS based smartphone) can install compatible Symbian apps along with Java apps. 6681 is light years ahead of K750i in this aspect. But K750i does have its own advantages and does many things better than 6681. But since they are not your priority, i won't be listing them.
So as before, i'd still suggest you stick to 6681 (black).

[mehulved]

Well if you want that more apps can be installed then definitely go for 6681. I have no clue as to it's cam but I am sure K750i has a better cam and maybe sound too. But, for anything else 6681 will go better. And since N72 was there on your list earlier. I'd say go for it if you really want to spend too much, which I feel that the phone's not really gonna used that much. Specially if that's his first phone. It will make him quite a satisfied user with 6681.

[infra_red_dude]

hey eddie what kinda apps wud mostly be used on the phone? let us kno... we can then tell you the availability of the apps.

one more thing to consider is that, can he afford to format the phone in case of a virus attack (symbian phones)?

Actually this whole 'virus' thing in Symbian phones is blown terribly out of proportion. For most people virus is probably the first word that comes to mind after hearing/reading Symbian. And all this because of stupid rumours spread by people who probably know nothing about Symbian phones. I've been using a Nokia N-Gage QD for the past two years. And in all these years i've never come across any major problems caused by viruses. There was once this CommWarrior which got in my phone, which made my phone restart a few times and all. But it was nothing that my Anti-CommWarrior could not handle. And my phone was back to normal in a blink of an eye. No formatting done. No data lost. No nothing. I am a regular college going student and like many others like me, i do a lot of sending/receiving of files via bluetooth every single day, even sometimes to people about whom the only thing i know is their bluetooth device name. But still apart from the one incident mentioned above, i've never encountered any 'virus' problems in two years. You might think i'm lucky. But that is not the case. Actually the no. of viruses for mobile phones are few enough to be counted on one hand. All the major ones even have an equally effective anti-virus available for them. So there is really no need to worry. So i'd like to take this opportunity to tell all the people reading this post to not shy away from symbian phones and consider other alternatives just because of this stupid virus threat. The number of advantages that symbian offers is even more than the letters in CommWarrior So don't worry, be happy and use Symbian.

[infra_red_dude]

thats exactly what i'm trying to say. is he comfortable wid installing and using an AV? i'm saying this coz my uncle (a businessman) bought a symbian phone. he used it as a handy li'l digicam and used to transfer clicked pics to his laptop via bluetooth. BT used to be on most of the time... and a lot of .sis files also got into his phone....

he's a busy man.. he cudn't afford to clean the virus everytime which had become quite freq (not just from one location). so he gave up the symbain phone and bought a java phone. coz all he needed was a good cam, music phone.

so analyse ur usage wisely. every feature has its pros and cons.

[kalpik]

Exactly, this virus thing is blown out of proportion. Just dont accept any files from unknown people! And even if you have accepted any file, dont open it! Even if you open it, you will be asked 2-3 times whether you want to continue! Then if you take so much pains to install a virus, you get what you deserve

[eddie]

OK so N72 is out of picture but last night I was reading the reviews of 6681, K750i and E50 on gsmarena. Well I must say that I am seriously confused!!! All three phones are simply awesome and at very reasonable price. Where 6681 and E50 have Symbian OS...K750i is an excellent all-in-one type phone. I guess the only way left to decide now is to go to various shops and actually look-feel how they are in real life.

I am indebted to you guys for giving so much insights