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Phone Features - Must Haves, Unnecessaries, & Beyond...
By CheshireKat
@CheshireKat (564)
United States
February 5, 2008 9:51pm CST
It seems like every day more and more options are added to what was once the general, practical 'mobile phone.' Now not only can you make calls, you can send texts, pages, e-mail, pictures, play music, navigate around town and... Well, you get the idea.
Is it ever too much?
Are there features on your phone that you can honestly say that you never (or rarely ever) use?
What features does a phone have to have before you will consider it?
Alternately, what you will want when/if you upgrade?
(For my purposes 'features' can be anything from the abilities listed above to a full keypad for texting. It's anything you want your phone to have.)
3 people like this
10 responses
@ratyz5 (7808)
• Philippines
6 Feb 08
I'd usually consider the other features of mobile phones when I'm gonna buy a new one since, if I'm going to spend my money, I might as well get the best out of it.
Regarding features, all I need is the default phone capabilities, the other features that I'd think around would be image capturing capability, video playing capability, or music capability ^_^ but most phones can really all do those things so I'd just have to consider how long the battery would last for each feature then.. ^_^
@CheshireKat (564)
• United States
7 Feb 08
I hadn't even thought to mention the battery life, that's definitely true as well.
A phone still isn't very useful if it just gives out after every call, or ever picture that it takes. (I had a camera that did that, needless to say I didn't keep it very long :P)
Thanks for responding.
@wondericequeen (7876)
• Hong Kong
6 Feb 08
*laughs* That's so true! For cell phone, I don't really need a lot of different functions because I find myself never really utilize them anyway. The most important thing of course, I need to receive and make calls and be able to use the text messaging. For other functions, they are not a must for me and I could live peacefully without them.
@wondericequeen (7876)
• Hong Kong
6 Feb 08
*laughs* I text and call at the same time depending on my mood, but definitely I don't use it for internet! The screen is way too small and I still prefer to sit in front of my computer to surf the net!
@aesopm (306)
• Indonesia
6 Feb 08
Must have feature:
1. Call
2. SMS
3. Alarm
4. Calender
5. Radio
6. Camera with auto foucus
7. Calculator
8. Speakerphone
9. Phonebook with min.500
10. Organizer
11. GPRS (internet connection)
Unnecesaries feature:
1. Games
Beyond
1. TV
2. HSDPA or 3G (High speed internet connection)
3. PTT (Push to talk)
@moneyandgc (3428)
• United States
6 Feb 08
My cell phone has a slide out keyboard and a fully functional keyboard on the touch screen. It has Windows Mobile, so I can use excel, word and power point. I never use any of them.
I use my email all the time on my phone though. I also text, use the camera and surf the internet.
If I had to choose one feature my phone has that I would never use, it would be the Bluetooth. I just don't like using headsets.
@SukiSmiles (1991)
• United States
6 Feb 08
I got a Razor II last year and I really like it. I do not use the navigation system or the music (someday I might buy the cord & software but it's around $80 - I refuse to buy music I already have), but I think I use all the rest of the features. I tried a phone with a full keyboard and I didn't like it because it felt heavy. I returned it for the Razor
@ppartee (12)
• Puerto Rico
6 Feb 08
Quite honestly i don't really use the extra features on my phone. Of course, they were important when I was shopping for a new phone, but once I had the phone with the features I wanted, I don't use them. The camera I would say could come in handy, but honestly I have used it 3 or 4 times in the last year. The most important feature of a cell phone is a great signal in order to receive and make all calls.
@CheshireKat (564)
• United States
7 Feb 08
I can definitely side with you there, nothing is more annoying than when my friend's iPhone, with it's big price tag & snazzy features, is incapacitated due to no signal. .
@crazynurse (7482)
• United States
6 Feb 08
My children love to laugh at me because I don't understand how to use the features that my cell phone offers! I can make a call out and can answer a call. Beyond that, I could care less! I did say one night in a crowd of people that I wished I had some better ringtones. Someone asked if my phone had 'bluetooth'...I said 'no'...as I didn't know what that was! Later, when my phone rang and I got it out, they laughed and said "yes, you have bluetooth, your phone is the same as mine." They took my phone and did something and sent me some ringtones! Ha!
@somu007 (51)
• India
6 Feb 08
mobiles were invented to communicate with each other.these features have been added very lately....but according to me it is not necessary to have these things in my mobile.the cameras there are not as good as the handycams now,the music system are not as good as the i-pods....and so on.we can say that now a days mobile devices are an assemble of mediocre objects.better to use the original thing than to use its implementation in other devices.
@ctrymuziklvr (11057)
• United States
6 Feb 08
I only use my cell phone to call a cab when I'm out and I seldom leave my apartment unless I absolutely have to so I don't need any features at all. I have used my phone to send text messages maybe 3 times in the 2 years I've had it but that's it. I used to have a phone with all the bells and whistles but I never used them and gave the phone to my son who uses everything!
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
6 Feb 08
I got a cell phone when I was house-hunting out of state--standing outside at a pay phone in a snow storm wasn't much fun! I kept it for safety and so my kids could always reach me, as they're in college now and staying with their dad.
I bought a pre-paid phone that I add minutes to at two month intervals to keep the phone on. $15 a month, no frills and I don't even know if I can get text, don't care. Cheap and basic! I wouldn't know what to do with all those other features if I had them, although being able to access the net would be nice for directions and phone numbers. I don't need it, though.
