The overall rating of a review is different from a simple average of all individual ratings.
Advantages:
Call and reception quality, bright easy to read screen, good battery life for a 3G phone, outstanding value for money as part of PAYG 3 package .
Disadvantages:
A little bigger than I was recently used to, battery cuts out with VERY little warning, Idiosyncratic menus and instructions .
I'm back on the net now with access virtually 24/7 so be expecting new reviews and the same old att...
I'm back on the net now with access virtually 24/7 so be expecting new reviews and the same old attitude. Regards-Peter.
Member since:25.07.2004
Reviews:64
Members who trust:6
Well before Christmas of last year I had just had my Orange phone cut off due to an unfortunate mix-up so in the meantime I had to find a solution to my mobile phone needs which didn't cost £250 .
Now I'd had some previous experience of 3 and hadn't been too happy, hence switching to Orange. So off I toddled round Wolverhampton looking for a value for money package and found it in the 3 concession in Superdrug, Wolverhampton. The first thing I noticed was a queue about ten long(!) and the Concession Manager coming towards the counter with a big pile of boxes. And yes that queue was all for the NEC e616v. for the buy of the year..
I paid cash and a twenty minute wait for mine -at the prinvly sum of....£44.95...£44.95??? YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!! Well , I am and that included 50 minutes of air time and £5 worth of access to 3 services.
So after getting it home,what had I got for a near blind impulse purchase?
One Handset,
One standard battery (1100mah) and one Extended Battery (1800mah)
One SIM package
Charger,headphones, USB lead for for connecting to a PC and PC software.
Full instuctions.
After inserting the SIM and placing the phone on charge (2-3 hrs for the Extended Battery and 1-2 hrs for the Standard Battery), the moment of truth.
I turned on the handset, to be greeted by a bright snappy colour display which was a little confusing at first, this was cured by several reads of the instruction manual. And the first call went through to a friend's mobile who was on 3. Despite me living in a borderline area for coverage the call went through straight away, no drop, no cut-off and was loud and clear. It's an often misused statement but it was truly "Clear as a landline"!
After topping up with a £5 text voucher, I found the text messaging a little awkward, having been used to an excellent system on the Nokia 6310i I'd previously owned. Again,that has improved with practice.
Other facilities include a position locator termed AGPS (advanced gobal postioning satellite)-again a little fussy but when it works it's very good, a small built in torch which is a useful touch, video calling between 3 phones which I don't use, a camera which is very good for the type of phone it is 640x480 pixel resolution, memory stick for storing photos etc and downloading directly onto a PC, Bluetooth for using an optional cordless headset and all the call facillities such as call waiting/barring/divert etc you could ever wish for.
In use this handset has proved a formidably efficient tool giving excellent recepion and call quality from the 3 network, very good battery life for a 3G phone (24hrs standby for the std battery and 36hrs for the extended battery) and has also come with 3's staggering value for money PAYG package. Tell me who is doing 500 minutes of cross network calls and 75 text messages for £30?
And the drawbacks?
Well I had a dreadful time over Christmas and the New Year with dropped calls but this was down to 3's pathetic network,but admittedly it's getting better round Wolverhampton. The menus are also idiosyncratic(those of you used to Nokia handsets are going to land with a bump!!) and the battery low warning is far too sudden-about 30 sec of talk time before the handset cuts out. Also the use via PC is is not the most straightforward-I've struggled with downloading pics onto my pic file. Again,not a fault of the handset but I wish 3 gave longer than 30 days before their vouchers expired.
Stll you can't have everything!
Overall, this phone would have been good at it's original £200 price mark-at £44.95 3 may has well have wrapped it up in ten pound notes.
If you've got good 3 coverage where you use a mobile and want an outstanding value-for-money package then look no furthur!
BUY OF THE SEASON!!!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I like your review ... to some extent.
You mentioned a good battery life as an advantage then ruined it by commenting on the short warning.
(Bluetooth Headsets are not Cordless, they are wireless)
It would be nice if you went into detail about the AGPS system, like what exactly it is, how much it costs and what it does for you.
Layout is very well done though.
If you could go into more detail about the AGPS system then I'll change my rating.
DannyBoy108 08.03.2006 16:37
Just the same, bought because it was so cheap. But now am very disapointed, it has been nothing but trouble both with regards to the network and the fact if you do not switch the phone off once a day it refuses to accept incoming calls without me knowing. I would say it has put me off of 3 for a long time! I am purchasing a new phone now and it wont be on 3 or even an NEC.
ianlynn01 29.05.2005 20:04
Just like me, amazed at the price . I compared it to some phones with a much bigger price tag and found it was more funtional. Not bad for less than £50.00
3 brings together video calling, video clips, location based services and amazing content to browse and download. 3 has great offers and a huge range of the 3G handsets. Visit the 3 Shop to find more info. on offers
Dear Ciao User, We are sorry we can't show you any offers on this page for the product you have selected. You can find offers here: 1 - out of offers for NEC E616
Advantages: Pretty Much Everything Disadvantages: Screen gets easily clogged with dust, battery life is pretty average when you watch videos/use the camera, build feels a little flimsy
DAylen 17.04.2006 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Nokia 6280
Advantages: Cheap good quality phones (at least in my experience...) AWESOME Value-for money, range of advanced services Disadvantages: Per minute billing, top up lost after thirty days, variable coverage and network quality (though this has improved recently),0800 and 0845 numbers NOT included in your regular allowance.
peterkinxl5 30.03.2005 (30.03.2005)
·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
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