Jose_R.A.M
03-31-2006, 03:59 PM
From ABC news
The Nokia 1100 is the most basic phone you can get today, but that isn't a bad thing. It works on Net10's prepaid network at attractive rates, and it is an excellent choice for making simple voice calls.
The very light (3.3 oz), thin (4.2 by 1.8 by 0.8 inches) Nokia 1100 feels like a toy, an impression enhanced by its buttons: Instead of being separate, the 1100's buttons are bumps on a continuous plastic membrane. The blue and silver phone isn't ugly, though, and it will take a beating.
Simple phones like this are all about voice quality, and the 1100's is strong. Reception is very good on the Cingular/Net10 network (read on for more information on Net10), and voices come through loud and very clear. I heard a touch of background hiss, but no more than I hear on many phones. I got more than 10 hours of talk time before running out of prepaid minutes. Based on that, this phone should last a week or more on standby.
The 1100 has few frills, but they're still, well, frills. Ringtones are piercing little one-note-at-a-time ditties, but you can select from more than 20. There are two games (Snake and a Mario-style platform game), an alarm clock with multiple reminders, a calculator, a stopwatch, and a little flashlight in the top of the phone. The flashlight is great for finding your keys in the dark. The very basic menu system is easy to use.
Two things I didn't like: the lack of an external volume button (common on many Nokia phones) and the 250-number phone book. Yes, that's 250 phone numbers, not 250 contacts, because you can only put in one number per contact.
There's no speakerphone, Bluetooth, international roaming, downloadable anything, or even a headphone jack. That doesn't really matter. This phone is simple, and it works.— Continue Reading
The World of Prepaid
The 1100 is available on several small regional carriers, including Centennial Wireless and Cincinnati Bell, and three prepaid carriers, Net10, 7-11 Speak Out Wireless, and TracFone. The three prepaid carriers are MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators), which buy minutes wholesale from the "big four" carriers and resell the minutes with their own phones and services.
The prepaid carriers let you recharge your phone by purchasing physical cards in stores or by entering your credit card number online. Recharging my Net10 1100 via the Web was quick and easy; the minutes automatically dropped into the phone.
Net10 is an excellent choice for basic voice callers who use between 150 to 400 minutes a month. Its rate plan is very simple: 10 cents per minute, with 5-cent text messages and coverage across both the T-Mobile and Cingular national networks. International calls to more than 40 countries cost just 15 cents per minute.
Net10's purchase structure makes it ill-suited for users who need less than 150 minutes a month. The smallest number of minutes you can buy is 300, and those minutes expire in two months. Buying larger cards doesn't get you a cheaper rate, but the bigger cards take longer to expire. If you want a year's worth of service at once, you must spend $300 on a 3,000-minute card, which means committing to an average of 250 minutes a month.
Aside from the extremely basic 1100, Net10 currently offers the Motorola C155 ($59.99), which has a color display and downloadable ringtones; the Nokia 2600 ($89.99), which has a color display and speakerphone; and the Motorola V171 ($89.99), Net10's only flip phone. All the phones come with $30 worth of airtime.
Net10 isn't for geeks. Though you can send and receive text messages, the selection of ringtones is limited, there are no downloadable games, and forget about multimedia or PC data services. And Net10 phones and service are locked together, so you can't use phones from another carrier or take your Net10 phone to another operator. But if all you intend to do is talk and text, Net10's simple rate structure and affordable phones are very appealing.
We can't recommend TracFone, another carrier with the 1100, because its plans are confusing and expensive. TracFone uses several different technologies and a network of providers, so coverage varies depending on what phone you buy and where you buy it. That's totally unacceptable. And the service is pricey, generally costing 20 to 30 cents a minute.
We'd recommend instead that infrequent users go with T-Mobile's prepaid plan, which offers a $100 card with a year's worth of service and 1,000 minutes.
If you don't have $100, buy your Nokia 1100 from 7-11 Speak Out Wireless (at 7-11 convenience stores), which uses the Cingular network. Speak Out charges 20 cents per minute and 10 cents per text message, which is double Net10's or T-Mobile's rates. Its international rates are also much higher than Net10's—they start at 39 cents per minute. But it has a 125-minute card for $25 that lasts a year, making 7-11 Speak Out an extremely low-cost option for very infrequent users.
Whatever carrier you go with, the Nokia 1100 makes a good basic, second, or emergency phone for buyers who only care about voice calling.
Generate a side by side features comparison table of the Nokia 1100 and several other mobile phones.
A non-mobile-techy's view on mobile phones.
The Nokia 1100 is the most basic phone you can get today, but that isn't a bad thing. It works on Net10's prepaid network at attractive rates, and it is an excellent choice for making simple voice calls.
The very light (3.3 oz), thin (4.2 by 1.8 by 0.8 inches) Nokia 1100 feels like a toy, an impression enhanced by its buttons: Instead of being separate, the 1100's buttons are bumps on a continuous plastic membrane. The blue and silver phone isn't ugly, though, and it will take a beating.
Simple phones like this are all about voice quality, and the 1100's is strong. Reception is very good on the Cingular/Net10 network (read on for more information on Net10), and voices come through loud and very clear. I heard a touch of background hiss, but no more than I hear on many phones. I got more than 10 hours of talk time before running out of prepaid minutes. Based on that, this phone should last a week or more on standby.
The 1100 has few frills, but they're still, well, frills. Ringtones are piercing little one-note-at-a-time ditties, but you can select from more than 20. There are two games (Snake and a Mario-style platform game), an alarm clock with multiple reminders, a calculator, a stopwatch, and a little flashlight in the top of the phone. The flashlight is great for finding your keys in the dark. The very basic menu system is easy to use.
Two things I didn't like: the lack of an external volume button (common on many Nokia phones) and the 250-number phone book. Yes, that's 250 phone numbers, not 250 contacts, because you can only put in one number per contact.
There's no speakerphone, Bluetooth, international roaming, downloadable anything, or even a headphone jack. That doesn't really matter. This phone is simple, and it works.— Continue Reading
The World of Prepaid
The 1100 is available on several small regional carriers, including Centennial Wireless and Cincinnati Bell, and three prepaid carriers, Net10, 7-11 Speak Out Wireless, and TracFone. The three prepaid carriers are MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators), which buy minutes wholesale from the "big four" carriers and resell the minutes with their own phones and services.
The prepaid carriers let you recharge your phone by purchasing physical cards in stores or by entering your credit card number online. Recharging my Net10 1100 via the Web was quick and easy; the minutes automatically dropped into the phone.
Net10 is an excellent choice for basic voice callers who use between 150 to 400 minutes a month. Its rate plan is very simple: 10 cents per minute, with 5-cent text messages and coverage across both the T-Mobile and Cingular national networks. International calls to more than 40 countries cost just 15 cents per minute.
Net10's purchase structure makes it ill-suited for users who need less than 150 minutes a month. The smallest number of minutes you can buy is 300, and those minutes expire in two months. Buying larger cards doesn't get you a cheaper rate, but the bigger cards take longer to expire. If you want a year's worth of service at once, you must spend $300 on a 3,000-minute card, which means committing to an average of 250 minutes a month.
Aside from the extremely basic 1100, Net10 currently offers the Motorola C155 ($59.99), which has a color display and downloadable ringtones; the Nokia 2600 ($89.99), which has a color display and speakerphone; and the Motorola V171 ($89.99), Net10's only flip phone. All the phones come with $30 worth of airtime.
Net10 isn't for geeks. Though you can send and receive text messages, the selection of ringtones is limited, there are no downloadable games, and forget about multimedia or PC data services. And Net10 phones and service are locked together, so you can't use phones from another carrier or take your Net10 phone to another operator. But if all you intend to do is talk and text, Net10's simple rate structure and affordable phones are very appealing.
We can't recommend TracFone, another carrier with the 1100, because its plans are confusing and expensive. TracFone uses several different technologies and a network of providers, so coverage varies depending on what phone you buy and where you buy it. That's totally unacceptable. And the service is pricey, generally costing 20 to 30 cents a minute.
We'd recommend instead that infrequent users go with T-Mobile's prepaid plan, which offers a $100 card with a year's worth of service and 1,000 minutes.
If you don't have $100, buy your Nokia 1100 from 7-11 Speak Out Wireless (at 7-11 convenience stores), which uses the Cingular network. Speak Out charges 20 cents per minute and 10 cents per text message, which is double Net10's or T-Mobile's rates. Its international rates are also much higher than Net10's—they start at 39 cents per minute. But it has a 125-minute card for $25 that lasts a year, making 7-11 Speak Out an extremely low-cost option for very infrequent users.
Whatever carrier you go with, the Nokia 1100 makes a good basic, second, or emergency phone for buyers who only care about voice calling.
Generate a side by side features comparison table of the Nokia 1100 and several other mobile phones.
A non-mobile-techy's view on mobile phones.