Tired of having to ring up tedious £5 a minute numbers just to get the latest ringtones? Tired of scouring the Internet for free logos? Lord knows I am, and after a long night of looking on every search engine on the web, I had nearly given up all hope of finding some free sms ringtones. That was until I found this site.
Usually when you find a site that advertises ‘absolutely free ringtones and logos’, you pick the thing you want, only to be told of a number you have to ring up. Not this one.
On some good for nothing sites, you get told to register before hitting you with the news of having to pay for tones. Even one where you have to register and it is free is heaven sent. On this site you don’t even have to commit any of you vital details (i.e. name, address, age etc.).
Some sites only offer you a few measly logos for free (R.I.P Bolt Blue), and make you give up some of your hard earned Dosh just for a tune.
CBFMobile (or free-ringtone-free-logos.com as it is registered on Ciao) does none of the above. In fact, this is the kind of site that every cheap skate (hello Deano) has had dreams about.
It’s hard to look past the fact that the ringtones that they offer are diabolical to say the least. CBF’s rendition of our National Anthem, ‘God Save The Queen’, sounds like they have randomly thrown together a few notes and stuck it on. This is not the only one where they are wrong. On the Iron Maiden classic, ‘Run To The Hills’, they are on the right path, but a few notes last too long, and some are off tune.
That’s not to say that they are all rubbish. CBF have done a fantastic job of turning the legendary (to die hard Nintendo fans at least) Super Mario Brothers theme tune into a tone.
The logos have to be the best part of the site. There are 1,00’s upon 1,00’s of logos for your use. Unfortunately, many of them are a load of crap. Many of them look like amateurs have done them. If you want a logo of something, you want something relevant to it, not just a shabbily written word. These hamper the logos part, and you have to heave yourself through loads of pages full of crap if you don’t know what you’re looking for.
For those of you who know what you want, there is a search engine on the front page, which brings up ringtones and logos that are to do with your key word.
Now, before I go onto the front page and other downfalls of the site, I’ll tell you what criteria you will need to supply to get your free ringtone or logo.
Matthew’s Recipe For A Free Ringtone or Logo
Ingredients: Pc With Internet Connection Nokia phone
1) First turn on the computer and go to CBFMobile.com. 2) When you get there, search for the logo or ringtone you want for your phone and click on it. 3) Look at the logo/ listen to ringtone (from your speakers) and select continue if it is ok. 4) Where it tells you, type in your phone number (note: only available in US and UK) and select continue 5) Then choose the make of your phone and press continue. It will then ask you for the model, when you are satisfied, select continue. 6) Now it will ask you for a ‘verification code’ which appears above the box which you should put it in. 7) After choosing ‘continue’ wait until you hear your message tone, and you have got your tone or logo!
Sorry for that little detour, now back onto the opinion.
Before I leave the logo part of the site, I should tell you one part that is outstanding; they can convert your photos into logos. Yes, you can have a loved one on the front of your phone forever. This service, like the rest of the site, is perfectly free.
Another service on the site is free sms. I have never really tried this out, but from what I have seen, the service seems to be fast, free and easy. The site also offers E – mail, chat, message boards, a place to help you through the site.
The last part is a place called ‘volunteers’. CBF is, surprisingly, run by volunteers who give up there own time to help the site. For there work, they get credits, and with the credits they can get special things. You can apply to be a volunteer and be a slave to the site.
Now that I have done the features of the site, I shall give you a run through of getting round the site, it’s layout etcetera.
Navigation
Overall, getting around the site is pretty easy, once you get past the complicated front page. The navigation bar at the top of the screen makes sure that you don’t get lost, with all the features clearly up there.
Layout
The layout and design of CBF is pretty poor. I think this is down to it not making it money through people paying for the ringtones. It could also make it a lot simpler, with a lot less complications on the front page. I think that I would of lost many visitors because of this, and this is a major downfall of the site.
Amount Of Advertisements
There are far too many advertisements, which really let the site down, but I can forgive them for that, seeing as they don’t charge. Once you are ordering your tone, or searching for that logo you want, there is only one advert a page.
Speed
The site loads quite fast, and you rarely have to wait for a page to load (or maybe that’s because I’ve got broadband. Hahahaha!). It does have a tendency to make Internet Explorer crash though.
How Fast Are The Logos/Ringtones Sent?
The longest I have had to wait for a logo or ringtone is 10 minutes. Most of the come in at least 30 seconds. Sometimes it even sends it twice, so if you mess up the first time, you get a second chance.
Other Things You Need To Know
The site only sends logos and ringtones a certain amount at a time. After that amount has been sent, you have to wait for 10 minutes for the next batch to be available. I have no idea why they do this, but for whatever reason, it is really annoying when you have just put in all your details only to be told to wait for the next few minutes.
How They Could Improve…
A redesign of the site, making it slicker and easier to get around. If they cut the ‘waiting time’ between batches of logos/ringtones down, the annoyance factor would be a lot less. A bit of advertisement would also get awareness of the site up.
Overall
The site has its flaws, but so do the great sites, and a site with no imperfections is not worth reviewing. If the site covers up some of its bad parts, it could become one of the greats.
By the way, if you didn’t already know, the sites name is CBFMobile.com, not Free-Logos-Free-Ringtones.com, although, you can still get to it from there.
I want to point out many of the logos and ringtones are made by amateurs - try creating your own.
DrDebs 06.07.2002 05:41
v.informative op!.. but unfortunately i'm in a tiny country called New Zealand and am having a hard time finding a site that will give me freebies down under! any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, that is if you know of any for us kiwis?! sigh, dr d.
superpricee 24.06.2002 15:42
I'm off to have a look - I was mega-distressed when BoltBlue stopped the free logos, and I'm direly in need of a new one!
Jun 18th, 2002
very helpful by (100%):
