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Review: To begin with, I should say that I haven't owned a phone since my ol' Nokia 3210, so perhaps I'm not the best judge of a new model... but take my review for what it's worth... Let's start with the blatantly obvious things first: this phone just looks terrific! The aesthetic standard and build quality are top-notch, resulting in a sturdy-looking and -feeling phone that perfectly houses its wealth of features. The phone is completely unisex, and I've seen both men and women happily using it. The design allows for a good grip whilst opening, browsing through and actually using the phone (once you figure out how to avoid the side volume/call reject and camera buttons). The dinky 'clamshell' design also means that you'll never have to worry about locking your keypad again. The features of this phone are numerous and handy. Obviously it does the typical phone and text functions as well as any other phone, but the menu browsing system is quick and efficient (far simpler than that of my sister's Sony Ericsson T610), as well as fairly customizable. I'm still getting to grips with the hotkey shortcuts and I suppose that after I master these, navigation will be even easier. The quality of the camera is superb for the size of the overall product. It rates far better than most other phones I've had experience with, though I imagine that the next-gen phones coming out now will probably be of a higher standard. Transferring the pictures to computer is said to be a tricky process (involving an IR dongle), but to be honest, it's something I don't see myself doing a lot of -- I have a proper camera for that. More and more now, I'm using features like the organiser and alarm clock in the mornings, complete with a greater selection of alarm tones than you'd probably ever need. Slight annoyances include the empty folder sounds (not sure if they can be deactivated) and the camera shutter sound (which can be turned off by means of a hidden menu -- search the web for solutions), but honestly, these can be overlooked considering the package as a whole. Buying online was fast and painless (once you get over the slightly steep price -- though a good £35 cheaper than in shops) and once the phone arrives, you simply call up Orange, register it and stick on some credit. Simple! | 
mobile phones
