racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

I arrived home with a flat cellphone battery the other night, and as I was turning it on while charging yesterday morning, the SIM got blocked (perhaps the phone’s “enter” button suddenly got stuck and keyed in blank PINs thrice in succession. Unfortunately, I seem to have lost my PUK slip, and my only recourse was to try those cellphone shops in the malls (or the Greenhills bazaars) if they could retrieve the PUK.

Unfortunately, no one was able to do that. I decided, instead to get myself a new SIM and a new phone to come with it, and visited Memo Express (an official distributor of various brands like Nokia, Motorola, SonEricsson, Samsung). I was thinking about getting a Motorola SLVR L7, but it would cost me PHP 10,000. Even if I could pay for that on zero-percent interest installments, I decided against it, since I’m no longer much for higher-end phones these days.

I just need something with basic functionalities, since I now rely on iCal and Google calendar for my scheduling needs. My ToDo lists are mostly in iCal and web-based apps, too. And I especially need something that I wouldn’t have to fumble with while driving (easy-to-activate/one-touch built-in speakerphone is good).

The Nokia 1112. Basic, but Decent

So I decided to get a Nokia 1112 for PhP 2,300 (with Globe SIM and one-year warranty). It’s small, easy to use, has a week-long battery life and won’t break the bank. I point out on bCellphones some key reasons why I think this one is a cool phone, despite the lack of capabilities or features that its more expensive brethren can offer.

Here are some shots of the 1112

Out of the box.

Simple, but it does the job!

New Mobile Number, Too!

I have to update all my calling cards and web contact details, since I’ll probably won’t be able to have my old SIM unblocked. My new number is +639275360123.

I’ve owned a handful of Nokia phones, from the most basic of analog units, to mid-range and even some higher-end models. Nowadays, though I’m not really much of a Nokia fan as I’ve never really liked the Nokia interface, which I found too clunky (but it seems to work well with everyone else). And I started to have a preference for Siemens phones since about three years back (but now I hate them, and I’ll explain later why). Now, I use a Smart Amazing Phone SmartPhone, of course unlocked, updated with a different firmware (I-Mate), and hacked to hell.

At any rate, I’ve lost interest in getting the latest in mobile telephony lately–I used to change phones every so often, but I’ve moved on to better stuff (laptops!).

The Story

This evening I accompanied my brother, B.A., to buy a phone–his Siemens M65 gave out on him a month ago and the Siemens S45i I loaned him also gave out just a couple of days back. So he thought of getting a cheapo, no-frills phone for the meantime, just so he can have something to call and text with. So after checking out the available models and much consultation with me (the supposed mobile phone expert), he got the low-end Nokia 1100 for PhP 2,700 (about US$ 45; with one-year official Nokia warranty). It’s something that won’t get anyone drooling with envy or having palms sweaty with excitement. It’s cheap, it’s nothing fancy. But it just plain works.

Somehow the thought of just having a basic phone with a long battery life comes as quite an exciting concept to me. You can just leave it in your bag, pocket, man-purse, or glove compartment (but not in tropical weathers) and not have to worry about losing juice in the middle of nowhere (unless you haven’t charged for a week) or dropping it and scratching that precious shiny new gadget surface.

No Headaches

In short, a cheapo Nokia won’t give you headaches. That’s unless you get hit on your head with it. But it probably won’t give you as much as a bump as with the older, brick-type phones (an example of which is the Motorla Micro-Tac UltraLite of the mid-1990′s, which I still have lying on my desk, for memories’ sake and as a toy for my kids).

And I think that’s what the 1100 was designed for. A quick check with Wikipedia says the 1xxx series (eleventy zero zero? How the heck are you supposed to pronounce that?) is supposed to stand for “ultrabasic.” Do check out the Wikipedia entry for Nokia phones if you fancy learning more about Nokia model nomenclature and model availability through time.

While we chanced by a handful of cheaper models, too (the Motorola C1xx series, which retails for about PhP 1,500 or US$ 30, for instance), B.A. opted for what he considered a more trusted brand.

So here’s to cheap, durable, mass-oriented mobile phones!