Nokia 6300: Full Metal Jacket without Paying Much

Pros: Simple No Brainer Phone that Leverages on Nokia's Strength in Mobile Communications

Cons: Goodness....NONE! Maybe the small buttons..

Opinion:
Excuse me...how many people out there really use 3G connections HSDPA network access?

How many people out there thinks that that stupid 'torchlight' can be seriously called a camera 'Flash'?

Get real...these 'Cons' are just that...Cons to make you part with more money without using them much in Singapore...hell maybe even in SEA.

This phone is really a no frills phone but does really good in most of the features

a) The camera though not fantastic it is useful for snap shot...and honestly flash or no flash it really does not matter(come on! You actually like the image quality of camera phones? the cheapest Point and Shoot does a better job!)

b) The media player I would say...is really on par with most of the MP3 players out there...not the top end but good enough to churn out really good sounding vibes through the ear phones for both wired and A2DP bluetooth head sets.

c) Phone calls and SMS fantastically well....it is a Nokia...this is what it does really well consistently

d) No battery sapping useless features and applications!! Hurrah!! Battery juice can last more than 3 days now!!

e) Screen is big enough for most things and it is really bright.

f) Aluminum casing. If this is not classy then I really doubt your taste. The whole phone feels robust thanks to the casing.

g) As of today...this Phone is OUT OF STOCK...goodness!! That says something about this phone. (and I do NOT represent Nokia). If I can get this phone on top of my Dopod U1000, this phone really convinces me of its quality.

h) It uses S40 Operating System...ultra stable...no hang ups (read: S60 OS still hangs badly)!!

One WORD: If you do not need 3G/3.5G and also do not need overpriced camera phones (read: N93i). Do yourself a favour, save some money by NOT getting useless features and get this phone.

Ricoh GX100 - Ex but Good Camera Control

One has to admire Ricoh's ability to produce some interesting and capable cameras for the prosumer market. Building on the success of last year’s GR Digital, Ricoh now has the Caplio GX100.

At first glance, the GX100 has not changed much from the Digital in terms of physical dimensions. What has changed dramatically is the placement of the flash.

Unlike normal point-and-shoot cameras, Ricoh's G series has adopted a pop-up flash mechanism to house its flash so that the flash is not easily by your fingers while holding the camera. The grip is too, thanks to the well-spread out buttons within the reach of my thumb and fore-finger.

To keep the GX100 small and compact, it does away with an Electronic View Finder (EVF). Ricoh solved the problem by having a box-like attachment to the camera that allows shot composition under harsh sunlight conditions that might otherwise overwhelm the LCD screen. Together with the pop-up flash housed just above the lens, the whole camera just looks like a shrunken Digital SLR. Neat!

On to the crux of usage — camera controls and image quality.

The GX100 gives full control with aperture, shutter and manual settings for various shooting conditions and is armed with a fast 3X zoom lens of F2.5-4.4 rating to allow more light to be recorded by the sensor.

The camera also comes with a hot-shoe that allows third-party flash units such as Sigma EF 500 ST or the Sigma Super DG to be fitted onto the camera. As the external flash cannot be used concurrently with the EVF is installed so the only option is to use the built-in flash. As the external flash settings cannot be controlled by the camera, the flash has to be manually enabled which in turn increase the setup time when taking shots.

Users who are still not accustomed to manual settings can opt to use the camera's 'P' (program) mode or the eight scenes mode. What differentiates Ricoh from other cameras in its scene mode selection is the inclusion of a “Skew Cor (correction) Mode” and “Text Mode” for times when you are without pen or paper and want to record some text, say, on a menu. (plausible?) What these two modes do is to correct the image in such a way that makes it easy to read the words in the image, though I am not really impressed with its usefulness.

With such a 1/1.75" (or about 14 mm diagonally) image sensor that has 10 megapixels on it, sensor noise in the images can be easily seen from ISO 200 onwards. For image clarity, you would then be confined to the least sensitive settings (ISO 80 to ISO 100). This is where its fast F2.5 lens is helpful — by allow more light to pass through the lens and unto the image sensor.

That said, the Caplio GX100 produces photos that are nothing short of stunning with superb skin tone capture, bright colours and well-exposed pictures. The image quality is actually quite close to an entry level DSLR if the ISO setting is not high.

I am also quite taken in by the camera's 1cm Super Macro mode that reminds me of my old and yet excellent Fujifilm S602Z Pro with its ability to take dramatic close ups of flowers and insects.

What irked me about this camera is that every time I need to switch it on, first removing the lens cap to allow the lens to be extended each time I want to view some pictures. The noisy zoom mechanism did not impress either.

The GX100 is not cheap: at $999.00, the camera is even dearer than Canon's G7 and Leica's C-Lux 2, both of which sell for $969 and $980. Accessories such as a wide conversion lens with adaptor to capture more subjects in an image, will set you back by another $236. Also, with full accessories, it is not far from an entry-level camera such as the Nikon D40x or Canon 400D though one has to contend with a DSLR's bulkiness. So for those who wants better camera controls and yet able to accept the size of the camera, the DSLR is the way to go; otherwise opt for the Ricoh that does not take up luggage space.

Nokia N76: Ho Kua Bo Ho Chia

Seems like someone is copying someone. That was my first reaction when I saw the Nokia N76.

Black, thin, metallic trims, mirror-finished external screen, laser-etched keypad — all that is so Motorola Razr, though the N76 is somehow just missed the mark when compared to the more swanky looking Motorolas.

Nokia may have sensed that the clam shell design can be improved and introduced the N76. To give the Finnish company due credit, it has always produced phones that are great communication devices in terms of voice clarity and an intuitive navigation system, although its menu and content display is getting more cluttered with the introduction of thethe new S60 operating system. The operating system although not perfect, and not as user friendly as the S40 operating system, it is still comparatively better than some competition. What really concerns me more when it comes to Nokia phones is the usability and the placement of the ports, screens and buttons; and to some the design of the phone itself.

Although design can be subjective, I find that the N76’s laser-etched metallic keypad design has failed to lift the overall design of the phone. That said, the buttons do have some tactile response to it so keying in messages and dialing numbers is easy and felt comfortable.

The N76 has two screens for this clam shell phone; the main LCD screen on the inside and an external screen on the cover. Ladies might find the mirror-finished external screen cover useful when they want to powder their noses.

What disappoints most with the external screen is the size. At first I thought the LCD screen size would match the mirror finished screen cover but in actual fact it is a mere 160 by 128 pixel screen; so small that I find limited use for it.

The N76 does have good features such as the easily accessible media buttons on the cover, a fairly loud speaker at the bottom end of the phone and a 3.5mm stereo phone jack for music listening pleasure. I welcome the use of the 3.5mm phone jack but the main problem is with placement of the phone jack which is right on top of the phone. The head phone wires actually hinders the full extension of the phone when opening the cover. A better place to put the port would be at the side or the bottom of the phone.

Speaking of which, opening the cover by flicking my thumb requires some weight training as the hinge is pretty tight and making it worse was the lack of space for my thumb to dig underneath the cover to pry open the phone.

Lastly the poor implementation of the miniSD card slot cover is the proverbial last nail hammered into the N76's coffin. It is ill-fitting, made of plastic and juts out like a sore thumb on an otherwise smooth phone casing. Makes one wonder why the cover is needed in the first place.