Phone question

[confus-ed]

I've got £150 or so (gotta read it all to see why) to spend on a camera, come video, come mp3 'thingee' with decent storage (or can be added to) .. I also need a new phone.

I hardly use my phone, as long as folks can ring me, thats fine & I currently have a 100 min inclusive tariff with 02 running at £18 a month - I never ever use the minutes .. so as I was shopping for a camera come video come mp3 thingee anyways & i'm thinking - have phones got good enough yet for me to think about maybe buying/re contracting on one of those instead...


show me some examples if you think there are... or solutions that involve the least spending of money !

[Cleetus]

You guys should be getting stuff up to a year before we do, so I would keep looking around, you should have some good options. Only problem will be the price.

[gazzak]

I have a phone with a 1 megapixel camera and video. After the initial honeymoon period I never use it because basically it's not very good.

After Christmas I got me a Nikon Coolpix 3200 digital camera and 512mb sdcard, (£110 ish). It takes superb photos and fairly good video. 250+ photos at top quality and I use it every day. Forget the phone option, buy a cheap one and spend the rest on a digital camera/video. If I get time this evening I will post pictures and video to prove my point.

[confus-ed]

I'd forgotten its 'a crime' to go & ask technical questions when shopping - some of the looks I got for daring to ask about what I was buying .. sheesh! ..

..I never use it because basically it's not very good..

On the level of condescention I could stand, before having to leave the shop before I killed someone , I think I agree with that ...

( I want it to take better snaps/movies than I 've got now in a 1megapixel 'no name' camera with very poor movies & no sound - so I guess all improvement is relative)

Really I was hoping for a 'phone nerd' to show up & reel off a load of specifications, which the blokes at all of the phone shops, seem blissfully unaware of - I can't even find sites that review phones in this level of detail - everyone seems interested in what they look like & not what they do !

[NooNoo]

I'm afraid that sums it up. There is a guy that drops in chat every now and then BigIki.... he fixes them. The problem is that they bring a new model out weekly, it's impossible to keep up. Cameras on phones are crap - anything less than 3mp you are going to hate.

If you want movies, then get a dv video camera - they all take stills or you can frame grab off the movie with movie maker or pinnacle or whatever. I have the Olympus cz750 - fabulous camera but the movie is rubbish and qt only format. Sorry Ed - you are going to have to either admit defeat and buy a great phone (read expensive) and put up with the video/pic quality or buy the right tool for the job!

[Archer]

I'd forgotten its 'a crime' to go & ask technical questions when shopping - some of the looks I got for daring to ask about what I was buying .. sheesh! ..

Most places are the same be it a computer or a phone store cheap labour and low training levels.As NooNoo has already said your going to have to sort your priorities out do you want a good phone,a quality image or good video footage.Multi tools are the same in any feild they do several jobs fairly well but none of them as good as a dedicated piece of kit.

[TripleRLtd]

I couldn't agree more with this sentiment:

Multi tools are the same in any feild they do several jobs fairly well but none of them as good as a dedicated piece of kit.

That being said, you might want to wait a couple of months -ed.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...10/tc_nf/31106

Samsung Shows Off High-End Camera Phone

Samsung is showing the first mobile phone with a built-in, seven-megapixel camera at the CeBIT trade fair this week. Up to now, camera phones have topped out at five megapixels. With its new product, Samsung is introducing a combination device that rivals the resolution capabilities of high-end, stand-alone digital cameras.


To achieve widespread adoption, camera phones need to have the features available on stand-alone digital cameras, Yankee Group analyst John Jackson told NewsFactor.



"This can be accomplished," he noted, "but they still won't displace the market for digital cameras."



Convergence Experiments



Like other smartphones, camera phones are experimental, Jackson noted. However, those that have less than three megapixels offer limited utility. In addition, certain features of a digital camera simply are not practical on camera phones -- optical zoom, for instance.

[Archer]

I did read the other month that the Japaneese market has had megapixel cameras for a year or more its a waiting game as in any technology.

[Cleetus]

I did read the other month that the Japaneese market has had megapixel cameras for a year or more its a waiting game as in any technology.

That is the big deal...
Japan gets stuff almost 2 years before we do, and europe gets them up to a year before us. So actually, what you guys are about to get, makes us drooooooool

[NooNoo]

That is the big deal...
Japan gets stuff almost 2 years before we do, and europe gets them up to a year before us. So actually, what you guys are about to get, makes us drooooooool

Oh that's what that gloopy stuff is

[3fingersalute]

Oh that's what that gloopy stuff is

**phew** - I was worried!

[confus-ed]

No actual suggestions for what to buy then ? ... I think I've concluded I'd like the kind of thing Trip was on about earlier (I should imagine that lots of folks would like one too ! ), but I can't find anything even approaching those kind of specifications (well not without it having three 0's on the end !)

I think though this is the way phones will go, & transform themselves into multifunction devices, trouble is the networks want all that transmitted cross network at silly rates, while I, like many, would want that moved into a pc for further work..

Anyways, it looks like I'm looking for a camera now ! any suggestions ?

[NooNoo]

Olympus cz750 is what I have for stills
Crappy dv capable hi-8 handy cam for video... whats the budget?

[confus-ed]

... whats the budget?

Now I'm sure I just got a message from you all about clarity & ability to interpret stupid/dumb posters ? .. now I'm sure I can fit into both categories on occassion , but which part of

..got £150 or so (gotta read it all to see why)..

& then my ongoing network cost of £18/month was too hard to extrapolate into a maximum of about £366 - that being £150 + 12x £18 ? ..

in all fairness you don't really know what calls I might make - but you can get the ability to receive calls on pre-pay for 6 months for a tenner, so a full year might be just two of them ..

Up to say £350 .. but its got to be 'bloody good' for that

[NooNoo]

The thing that makes or breaks your price is the optical zoom... you get 5mp for 200 quid but long optical zooms zooms up the price