Jul 16, 2004 01:51 PM
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(Updated Jul 16, 2004 01:57 PM)
When my dealer showed me the Samsung C100 last October, it was a completely new set few people had heard about. It hadn't been officially launched in the media either. I have to admit it was love at first sight when I looked at the cool 3D animated coloured graphics and ringtones, not to forget the slimmest body ever (hell... slim is in these days, whether on girls or phones, right guys? ;-)
Packing a very slim body, the C100 isn't all that short in length. It still remains among the slightly longer phones, akin to the R220. Even then, that doesn't matter anything to someone like me who goes by features, not just looks. Thought it was not mentioned anywhere in the phone's box, I knew it wouldn't have MMS . At a price of Rs. 8,400/- (as of Oct. 2003) you'd expect at least MMS in this phone but nope. Well never mind because I live in a small town where no cellular operator provides MMS.
The ringtones of the C100 are the unsung heroes... no one has given enough credit to the ringtones when they are actually using better music technology than the latest Nokias etc. The phone comes with 38 ringtones. The ringtones themselves are 40-voice tones (compared to 16 or 32 voice ones in Nokia) which means they can playback 40 channels of sound simultaneously. Those 40 sounds can be various instruments, drums, flutes etc, and also WAVE samples... i.e. the sound of birds, human voices etc! That would make it a true delight for an advanced user who likes to download/create polyphonic ringtones. Being a cat-lover, I simply loved the cute 'Cat's Dance' ringtone.
Samsung phones come with multicoloured service light LEDs. This one comes with a bright one that supports 7 colours and grabs a lot of attention at night, as it blinks like a firefly. Some ringtones are able to make the service light blink with random colours based on the beat patterns. A cool idea by Samsung! The screen isn't big in size. It's rather small compared to other phones of this size, but features one of the most interesting display. It supports 65,000 colours which makes any wallpaper you upload really sexy, and the human skin tones are reproduced very well. I was completely blown away and couldn't wait to own it. The menus consist of 3D animations... another cool thing I have not seen even in much more expensive phones. I compared this to the Nokia 6610 and the menus seemed pretty boring there, compared to the C100.
The reception and voice clarity is excellent. It works decently even in low-signal areas. The C100 has other standard features which I won't write in detail about. It has an IrDA (infrared) port, GPRS & WAP support, calendar, schedule, organiser, alarm clock, Java games (though the game processor is a bit slow and you cannot upload new Java games through Infrared or serial cable... you have to have WAP access). There's a good collection of wallpapers, picture messages, sounds and emoticons for the EMS standard.
Now the NOTs... i.e. the factors which go against this phone (and I do mean they really hamper the chances of this otherwise excellent phone):
Standby time and Talktime aren't that good.
The phone seems to have a heat-up problem, if used for a long time. When the phone overheats, the service light starts blinking in yellow and if you still continue using it, it shuts down and then you have to wait for a while before you can continue using it. What the hell!!! If you are one of those who talks to a girlfriend all night, you know you might have a problem here :(
The SMS editor is the worst I have used in any phone. When you are typing in small letters, you will not be able to type a semicolon! You will have to switch to Caps mode and then press '1' until you get to semicolon, and then switch back to small letters to continue ur message. There are more such irritants and for anyone who uses SMS extensively, you will often get irritated and find yourself cursing the Koreans. The Samsung legacy continues of keeping a long delay between character repetition so you still have to wait 2 seconds if you want to type, A, and C using the same button. This delays typing in manual mode, compared to the fast editor of the Motorolas and Nokias.
Go for the Samsung C100 if you require a multimedia powerhouse of a phone and want lots of ''oomph'' value to show off. Go for it if you are a normal user and not an SMS junkie. As an entry level colour handset, this is the best choice for anyone who is planning to upgrade to a colour phone with the coolest ringtones in the world.
Personally, I choose Samsung because they make reasonable good phones at reasonable prices. The designs are innovative but not overtly gay, like the Nokia. For some strange reason, the Samsung displays are also crisper than a Nokia. So go Samsung!
