Smart Phone review: Nokia 5230

Hi readers. This time I am back with a review of the latest smart phone by Nokia, 5230. This phone, with the trademark, “Dil ki baat ek touch se sunao”, has some really cool features which really does what it says. It has got a bold look, sleek design, attractive price and I guarantee it, if you buy one, people would not be able to resist themselves from having a glance at it. With its looks, its price is almost unbelievable. Read on.






First things first, operating system is the key factor which decides the usability, efficiency and UI of any device. And this one works on a Symbian S60, 5th revision platform which makes the UI quite funky and easy to use. Also, the thing I liked about this phone was that it could handle every memory card I put at it with great speed, stopping at nothing. Be it 1GB, 2GB, 4GB or even a 16GB one! The User Interface was quite responsive and usually one or two finger touches were enough to do common tasks such as checking your email or SMS or accessing the recently called list or even browsing the Internet. There is a quick access shortcut button to access frequently used media applications such as Music, Video, Picture Gallery, Browser, etc.

The Home screen is fully customizable; you can add upto 20 top dialed contacts with thumbnails for each one, on a contacts bar that is displayed in the top half of the screen. You can add shortcuts to 4 applications or web addresses on the bottom half of the screen. Or, you could keep it simple by just showing a contacts shortcut button and a dialer button beside it.

The phone also features A-GPS functionality which makes finding directions and getting to places easier than ever. One thing that may put off some users is the lack of wi-fi which means that 3G remains the only method of high speed data transfer and communication.

The 5230 comes with a huge 3.2 inch Touch screen TFT display, which is a treat to the eyes. There are 3 hardware buttons just below the screen which can be used to access the main menu, accept or end a call. There’s a proximity sensor which senses the phone’s closeness to the user during a call which then switches the touch screen ON or OFF, and which can be also used to snooze alarms, etc.

It also has hardware buttons for camera, volume, locking the touch screen. The battery cover also functions as a holder for the stylus which I found to be very weak and could break easily. Nokia has given a spare stylus with a wrist band, which I think is better than the original stylus.

Also, many of us try to protect the screen of our phones from scratches by using a transparent cover on it. However, the included Nokia stylus gives your cover a hard time by putting a dozen of such scratches on it every time you use it. But, the problem is not there when you remove the cover. Basically, the cover is only used to protect the screen from fingerprints of the user and not from the stylus. On checking, I noticed that the screen itself was stylus friendly and not a single scratch could be seen on it.

I wonder why Nokia does not call this phone “ExpressMusic” like its other series. This phone possesses all the features a good music phone except stereo sound speakers. It can play music upto 33 hours non-stop as boasted by Nokia. I don’t know if the figure is right, as I don’t have 33 hours to spare for testing it! The phone has a 3.5mm audio jack, which allows you to plug in your standard high quality headphones or PC speakers without the need of any adapter.

The phone has a 2 Mega pixel Camera that lacks flash and auto focus. But, it also comes with some advanced features such as self-timer, exposure settings, VGA quality widescreen compatible video recording, light sensitivity settings, sharpness, sequence image capturing, white balance, etc. Now, I am really impressed by the image and video quality as it was totally brilliant for a 2 mega pixel camera.



The Nokia 5230 series has two handhelds, 5230 and 5233. The difference between the two is that the 5230 has 3G, which lacks in the 5233 edition.



And now, I’ve kept the best feature for the last. The Motion sensor or the accelerometer, which can be used to play games using real life motion to the device and this is the principle behind the UI-auto rotation feature of the phone. Those who don’t know what motion sensor gaming is, let me tell you. You can play a motion sensor game by tilting your device left or right or up or down and the corresponding action takes place in the game too. You can play a motion sensor game right out of the box on a game called “ROLLER COASTER REVOLUTION”.

The verdict: On the whole, if you want to buy a new affordable phone that offers excellent value for money, then 5230 is the right choice for you. However, if you don’t require 3G then 5233 is a cheaper option.



Wait for my next review for the latest products.



All comments from readers are welcomed.





Thanks.



----------------

For a more detailed comparision between different phones, contact me at dhar.mrinal@rediffmail.com

"Why does my Windows 7 restart every now and then?"

If you keep asking yourself this question like I was few days back, well here's an answer. Your installation is a RC (Release Candidate) one which expires on 31 March 2010, and which was designed for testing how softwares would run on the new OS. I think you have Windows 7 Enterprise installed as it is the RC verision of the software. The thing which...

YOU SHOULD AVOID: Dont try to crack the activation process of the 7 installation simply because of 2 reasons: It is illegal & It is NOT possible. Yes, Microsoft has taken better measures to enforce activation process in 7 and you computer will continue to restart after 2-4 hours every time you use it.

How to print a test page in Microsoft Office Word (2000+)

First, u gotta ensure that a new document is opened in MS Word, remember, an existing one wont really work. So, type in the following line there: =rand(a,b)  where 'a' and 'b' stand for your choice of integers. press the enter key. Voila!! a random set of sentences will be generated there.

Digital Cameras

The camera started its life as a black and white film based one, which were replaced by the colour film cameras. Usually, the people at that time trained themselves for years together for being able to take goo looking photographs. In this era of technology and development, every person who has a camera can claim to be an amateur photographer. With the advent in technology, digital cameras have evolved as a boon for a common man who wishes to capture the precious memories of his life. Speaking of Digital Cameras, there are mainly two types of cameras available, the DSLRs for the professional ones, and the simple point and shoot cameras for everyday use. The choice of buying a DSLR or a P&S depends upon your needs of photography. For Publishing purposes or professional photography that requires extreme details and sharpness in a picture, go with DSLRs. However, for a everyday and portable use, P&S cameras score higher than DSLRs. Most of the manufacturers and people boast of the high megapixel count on their digital cameras. However, this must certainly not be the reason for you to buy that 25 MP camera... If  in the right hands, a 6 MP camera produces excellent results. Also, look for the type of sensor used in the camera : CCD or CMOS. A CCD camera usually shows better results but it may be a bit expensive than CMOS sensors. A CMOS sensor is usually larger in size than a CCD sensor, hence resulting in larger number of pixels getting exposed by light thereby resulting in a sharper image. However, every coin has two faces.. If you buy a CMOS based camera, there are less chances of it to fit in your pocket. :(  Yup, all those ultra portable digital cameras that you see use a CCD sensor. Dont worry, I'm also coming towards price also. The DSLRs can cost from 40,000 to more than 3,00,000 INR. However, a basic P&S camera just costs about 10,000 INR.

Will be continued...

going to sleep now.. gud night every1....

Shutdown a PC on your network

shutdown a pc thats in your network. whether wirelessly or via lan.
The first thing you gonna ensure is that your pcs are connected to each other. Then on your computer, first go to My network Places. Then click on View Workgroup Computers on the task pane on the left side. Remember the name of the pc that you wanna shut down. then, click start>>run>>type"cmd".(without the inverted commas). a command prompt window will open. type shutdown -i . It will open up a window asking you for the name of the computer that u want to shut down. Add the names of all the computers. type a comment in the text box. set the time interval between the notification to the user and the shutdown. click on ok. IF U HAVE ADMINISTRATOR PRIVILIGES and u did just as i told u, then the computer will show a message telling that it will shut down.
------------------------------------------------

Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)

Hi guys. just another post about ics. ics stands for internet connnection sharing. Actually there are two ways to share an internet connection over ur network. first, purchase a cheap and affordable harware called internet gateway device that can route the internet traffic to all of the connected computers. the second and free method is to use ICS, a service that allows you to share your connection without any additional hardware. This can be done over a wired(LAN) or a wireless network and u can share dialups as well as high speed broadband connections. But however it does not work over bluetooth PAN networks. I will be discussing the ICS method of sharing internet connection. FIrst of all, i mention the list of requirements for ICS.
1, A Host computer with a internet connection to share with other computers on the network.
2, a second computer, that is connected to the host PC via LAN or WLAN.

Thats all.

To begin with,
i have to mention that ive tested this process on Windows vista, xp and windows 7. although i believe that this will work on linux as well, but ive not tested it.

Using the secret file manager in blackberry

So, all of us want RIM to incorporate a file manager in Blackberry devices just like the one in nokia and sony ericsson ones. After 2 months of using my blackberry, i discovered a file manager duplicate in my device. So, for all those who want to manually install *.jar files to your blackberry without the OTA feature of the device, this is a boon.
It all goes like this:

1. Open the media application in your blackberry and click the Menu button.
2. Select the Explore option
3. A screen will be displayed showing two options: SD card(if any) and Phone memory

(STEPS 4-7 are for those who need help installing *.jar files to your handheld.)

4. Copy the *.jar file to the desired directory through a computer
5. Browse to the directory where the *.jar files are located
6. Click on the file to install it and complete the setup procedure
7. Your application will appear in the downloads folder in the home screen of the handheld.

----------------------------------------------