Questions

[AsphyXiation]

Well at the moment i have a nokia 8250, i don't really need a new phone but i'd like one.

I don't understand this internet thing at all, Can you be anywhere and just decide to use the internet on your phone and go on ANY site? eg: I could be in school, and come on this site and read the latest posts/check my hotmail etc..

Which phones have this and how much would it cost to use the internet/how does it work?

Also i'm interested in the wallpapers and stuff like the mp3s and videos how does all that work? Can someone basically explain all the features that you get on the big coloured lcd display phones and tell me which phones have what features?

I'd like a phone with:

MP3 Player
Videos
Wallpapers
Internet
and all the other handy little stuff

what would you recommened?

[theecspec]

Hi AsphyXiation,

Well, you can access the 'net' on WAP enabled phones. But a WAP page is not the same as a WEB page. Companies that have WEB sites have been creating equivalent WAP sites for people to use. i.e. Yahoo! has a WAP site where you can check your mail. The reason you can't view WEB pages, and therefore all your favourites, is for two reasons.

a) the amount of data needed to be downloaded would be huge; and bearing in mind you will probably never download at more than 30kbps at the best of times, it would take ages, and

b) WAP pages are writtenin a different language. WML, not HTML.

So, a standard WAP connection is like using dial-up at home. Your phone dials a number, connects to the remote server, and begins to download your home page, (which will be your service providers, eg Orange or Vodafons' Vizzavi!).[This is 2G speed]

You are charged per minute here. Depending on your tariff, these minutes will be taken out of your monthly allowance. Orange at the mo have a deal where you can dial up and look at as many sites as you like for £4per month.

Alternativley, there is another way to access WAP. GPRS, (General Packet Radio Service).[This is 2.5G speed].
You can view all the sames sites etc, there are only three main differences,

a) You are charged for what you download and upload. Good because you can sit there reading an e-mail, or writing it, and take as long as you want because you aren't being charged per second

b) It doesn't dial a number so you will still recieve calls and texts

c) Its faster.

Orange charge me £4per month for 2Mbs. I check my e-mail several times a day, get train times, read quirky stories on Ananova, and its more than enough.

The best way to get into WAP is to use it first for a bit to see if you like it. Oranges' homepage has a serach facility, or you could go to Yahoo! at http://uk.wap.yahoo.com/raw?, where you search for stuff you like, save them to your Bookmarks, and view them whenever you want.

If you end up using it all the time, then GPRS will save you money.

Some high-end colour pohnes have a built in HTML viewer, meaning you can view real web sites, but bearing in mind their are written for screens with a resolution of 1024x840 and your phone is a fraction of that, you wont be able to see much. WAP sites are in colour on colour phones, and are made specifically for mobiles.

If you search any mobile site for colour screen phones, details will be given their of what they can do. Phones with cameras enable you to set that picture as a wallpaper; you can download them from WAP sitees;get them sent to you; or use software to draw your own.

Let me know if this is any help.

[AsphyXiation]

thanks that helped heaps

Can you get wap with a prepaid? and what about the videos and mp3 players? Sorry i have an 8250 and i'm not to used to these new features.

[theecspec]

You can have WAP pre-paid. It will have its own per minute charge, usually around 10p, and comes off you balance after you've topped up.

With regards Video and mp3, thats just up to the phone you have. You can make your own video, or phones with memory cards, ie SonyEricsson P8/900, Orange SPV/E100/E200, means you can download a video off KaZaA or WinMX or something, compress it, or use software to do it, and put in onto your memory card and stick it back into your phone! I watched an episode of Friends on my mates SPV in the summer!!! The same goes with mp3's. With these types of phones, you will get a cable to hook it up to your computer. Once you've installed it and run the software you were given, there will be the facility to put mp3's into the phones memory(or the memory card) so you can listen to then later, or use them as ringtones!!!!!

[Daedalus]

the best deal that covers everything theecspec just said above will be coming this Christmas from Orange.
The phone I've just purchased on contract, the Orange SPV E200 (see picture to the left of this post), is coming out on Pay as you Go (or prepaid, theres no difference, just different companys call it different things, but it's still the same) this Christmas for £279.99.
Now although that seems like a lot, it's a fraction of it's normal price, which would be around £400 to have it just on it's own so you can put a prepaid sim card in it. Plus, most other phones around that price can't even come close to what it does. It's got:

-Windows Media Player (like you get with Windows on your PC) that plays wma's/mp3's and video's.
-Built in digital image and video camera
-Allows you to use .wav and .wma files as ringtones (so like mp3 ringtones)
-Large, full colour screen (65,000 colours TFT)
-Allows for WAP, GPRS and even full Internet browsing (tho that costs alot more)

and basicly anything else you could ever need.
The problem is, if you've been using your Nokia for a long while, you might have become very used to the menu and the E200 is a big step up from that, a very big step. Even I'm still trying to get used to it :)
But other than that, it's a great phone, and if you want an all singing all dancing machine, then this is it (well, the cheapest one on prepay anyway).

[mcanic2k]

I got an mpx200 and heard that you can use the wma/mp3 files as ringtones, but i've tried numerous ways and none of them work....
Does anyone know how i can do this???

Mcanic2k..!>! :battle:

[Daedalus]

I got an mpx200 and heard that you can use the wma/mp3 files as ringtones, but i've tried numerous ways and none of them work....
Does anyone know how i can do this???

Mcanic2k..!>! :battle:

if its anything like mine (both use Smartphone OS) then you'll need to save the wma's/wav's in Storage --> Application Data --> Sounds.
You might need to actually create the last folder because it does'nt normally exist. It won't play mp3's tho, just wav's & wma's. And it might not work on your phone because it used the Smartphone 2002 Operating System, where as mine uses 2003.