Less than 10K Touchscreen For Mom Within 2k-4k

kidrow

kidrow

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Touchscreen For Mom Within 2k-4k {Edit: Up To 6k}

Hi all,

My mom's SE w580i has started acting up & it seems that there's not much point in getting it repaired. So I'm on the lookout for a new phone. Although the budget is tight, she'd like a touchscreen 'cos that's caught her fancy this time around. (It was flip last time around, :p).

Wrt requirements:
1. Something that looks trendy/good (preferably white).
2. Usable screen - I don't think capacitive is an option in this budget, but if there's a more optimized resistive one. Also the bigger the better.
3. Ease of use - Mainly for texting (Soft Qwerty, if usable, would be a plus) & menu navigation.
4. Radio playback through it's speakers.

So which basic touchscreen would you recommend within the 2k-4k range (edit: & even up to 6k)? I've looked at various sites & come away absolutely confused 'cos there's so much on offer - Micromax x335, Psych, Nokia Touch n Type, Samsung Champ...... I'm open to all brands.

Thanks for your time. Much appreciated.
 
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if you can stretch budget by just 1k, capacitive touchscreen is possible: LG Cookie Smart & Samsung S3770.

In case 5k is too much, check these 2 QWERTYs: Nokia Asha 200 & Samsung Chat 527. problem with Asha 200 is that there is no horizontal key spacing wheras the Samsung one have nicely spaced rounded keys. And avoid any resistive touchscreen mobile. Other than the ancient Nokia 5230-5235 all resistive mobiles i have used can be termed as unusable. Nokia C2-03 (absolutely worst), Samsung Corby, LG Cookie, Samsung Duos Deluxe, etc.
 
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First, whatever you get for your mom, avoid if it has resistive touch. It will just lead to you getting another phone soon when the touch of the existing one dies. Especially true for the Nokia phones. I cannot proclaim on how horrible the touch is!

As for soft qwerty, I doubt if it will be available, as the screen size will be usually small. Instead, you will get virtual T9, IMO.

See if you can fit one of the older Wave devices in your budget. They might have wifi as well, so thats an added bonus.
 
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Samsung Champ would be good imo, Nokia's recent touch and type's are fail (Know the shopkeeper closely and he strongly urged me not to buy those models, if you still wish to, I had warned you!)
 
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Thank you all for your response.

I didn't realize that the resistive touchscreens can go bad over a period of time. All I had thought of as a disadvantage was that they are not as sensitive & hence not as user friendly, to begin with. In light of this, I see I could go 2 ways:
a) Either stretch my budget to ~5k-6k or
b) Just spend the minimum amount on an el cheapo phone (for eg, Micromax X335) & be prepared to save up & buy another few months down the line.
So I'd appreciate any suggestions at the 2 price points mentioned above.

From what I've gathered so far-
If I have to stick to a budget of less than 4k, the contenders are - Motorola EX128 & Samsung Champ Deluxe Duos
The Nokia Touch n Type is a no-go for sure
If I stretch my budget to ~5k, the contenders are LG Cookie Smart & Sam S3770 or Wave (not too certain about whether these phones will be available though)

Again, thank you all for the response. Thanks for your time.
 
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^That's an interesting option, for sure. But is it practically viable with the squarish form factor? Can't imagine taking a call on that! Still, will run it past her.

Any other suggestions at the 2k & 5k-6k price points? For instance, how does the LG Cookie Smart compare to the Samsung Star 3?

& why aren't there any proper reviews of the Cookie Smart & Champ Deluxe Duos & S3770? & can anyone suggest a site which is reliable for checking specs on whether the screen is capacitive or resistive?

Thanks, :)
 
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kidrow said:
Any other suggestions at the 2k & 5k-6k price points? For instance, how does the LG Cookie Smart compare to the Samsung Star 3?
Click to expand...

i know sooner or later someone will point you towards the newly launched Nokia Asha 305 but my suggestion, don't go for it. budget Nokia = trouble.

kidrow said:
& why aren't there any proper reviews of the Cookie Smart & Champ Deluxe Duos & S3770? & can anyone suggest a site which is reliable for checking specs on whether the screen is capacitive or resistive?
Click to expand...

I have used Samsung Deluxe Duos twice (aunt and cousin got it) and it is resistive. The screen responsiveness is extremely low (addicted to capacitive). Not sure if Cookie Smart T375 (remember the model no. multiple Cookie Smart exist) have capacitive touchscreen but most sites show it as capacitive. So its safe to say it is capacitive. Still try to get a hands on somewhere just to confirm.
 
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kidrow said:
^That's an interesting option, for sure. But is it practically viable with the squarish form factor? Can't imagine taking a call on that! Still, will run it past her.

Any other suggestions at the 2k & 5k-6k price points? For instance, how does the LG Cookie Smart compare to the Samsung Star 3?

& why aren't there any proper reviews of the Cookie Smart & Champ Deluxe Duos & S3770? & can anyone suggest a site which is reliable for checking specs on whether the screen is capacitive or resistive?

Thanks, :)
Click to expand...

I gave it to 1 of my sister (808 Model, lower cousin of 810) and she loves it. I can guarantee your mom will get compliments for this phone :p
 
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Thank you all for your feedback.

sam811 said:
i know sooner or later someone will point you towards the newly launched Nokia Asha 305 but my suggestion, don't go for it. budget Nokia = trouble.

I have used Samsung Deluxe Duos twice (aunt and cousin got it) and it is resistive. The screen responsiveness is extremely low (addicted to capacitive). Not sure if Cookie Smart T375 (remember the model no. multiple Cookie Smart exist) have capacitive touchscreen but most sites show it as capacitive. So its safe to say it is capacitive. Still try to get a hands on somewhere just to confirm.
Click to expand...

paarkhi said:
Using Samsung champ, not satisfactory
Click to expand...

So the Samsung Champ isn't really an option then. @paarkhi; Are you talking about the screen alone or other aspects as well?

I'm a bit surprised though that resistive screens despite being that troublesome, don't seem to reflect on sales. Practically everyone seems to be buying budget touchscreens & are apparently very happy. Guess there's not enough awareness yet of screens losing sensitivity sooner rather than later. Does using a stylus make any difference?

montsa007 said:
I gave it to 1 of my sister (808 Model, lower cousin of 810) and she loves it. I can guarantee your mom will get compliments for this phone :p
Click to expand...

I have bookmarked this as an option, though I suspect my mom is more attracted by the larger screens on touchscreens, more than anything else. I think it's more to do with fancy menus, seeing videos full screen & such.

Seems to me that the options in the 5k-6k range so far are - LG Cookie Smart T375, Samsung S3770, Samsung Star 3, SE Walkman Mix WT13i (all with capacitive screens). Besides, there's also the Micromax Ninja/Punk/Aisha which look good on paper (not certain about the type of screen though).

Any further suggestions, recommendations will be appreciated. Mnay thanks.

PS: What is the durability/life expectancy of a touchscreen phone?
 
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kidrow said:
Thank you all for your feedback.
PS: What is the durability/life expectancy of a touchscreen phone?
Click to expand...

Purely depends on the usage pattern mate and theres no concrete average timeframe to it. (Ex. Phone dropped, smashed screen etc.,)
Am not sure how your mom uses it but some ladies just stash the phone in their purse which has jewellery, coins, keys etc., killing the display while some women carefully use it making sure not to leave any fingerprints after use.

P.S. - Just remembered a comment from my sister in law "I'd love to buy a white phone but with my usage pattern it'd become colorful in a few days as I touch my phone with oily hands etc.,", I was like "I need to puke"
 
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montsa007 said:
Purely depends on the usage pattern mate and theres no concrete average timeframe to it. (Ex. Phone dropped, smashed screen etc.,)
Am not sure how your mom uses it but some ladies just stash the phone in their purse which has jewellery, coins, keys etc., killing the display while some women carefully use it making sure not to leave any fingerprints after use.

P.S. - Just remembered a comment from my sister in law "I'd love to buy a white phone but with my usage pattern it'd become colorful in a few days as I touch my phone with oily hands etc.,", I was like "I need to puke"
Click to expand...

^Heh heh. Knowing my mom, she's gonna treat it with kid gloves. (I'll swap phones if she doesn't, :))

But what I meant was the life expectancy, on an average, when used with due care by an average user. I realize that there's a certain category of phones which are meant for rough use & whose usp is a good build, & touchscreens are definitely not one of those. I also realize that mileage will vary (you very well might be that one unlucky chap who gets a dud). But still.... Any indication of an average expected life would help satiate my curiosity, :).
 
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kidrow said:
^Heh heh. Knowing my mom, she's gonna treat it with kid gloves. (I'll swap phones if she doesn't, :))

But what I meant was the life expectancy, on an average, when used with due care by an average user. I realize that there's a certain category of phones which are meant for rough use & whose usp is a good build, & touchscreens are definitely not one of those. I also realize that mileage will vary (you very well might be that one unlucky chap who gets a dud). But still.... Any indication of an average expected life would help satiate my curiosity, :).
Click to expand...

Usually a year or two. Now I know a senior guy in my office who used a nokia touch and type (the one that was promoted with a table tennis advert), which went kaput in 4 months (the touch started acting very weird, the moment you touch the screen, it'd run all the way down, it stopped accepting touch at certain points), since it was purchased without a bill, he didn't bother repairing it. My boss used the same phone for 3 days, hates touch lol.

Another friend of mine is using HTC Wildfire, pretty sure its over 1.5 years old as its out of warranty, maybe more older, now it doesn't accept touch at certain points, you have to turn off the screen and then turn it on back to try your luck, has dropped the phone several times.

Again all depends on how you use it and how is the build quality of the phone.

I visited my local shop (who is a friend) and was looking at Nexus without warranty, I was curious as to how people buy it, without warranty?
My friend told me this "What spoils a smartphone these days?"
I said "You drop it, or you spill baby oil over it or you smash it on the wall?"
He responded "Yep, that's why this sells like hot cakes without warranty coz these don't spoil unless you want them to"
I found the reply satisfactory, I hope someone else does too.

P.S. - Am very tempted to buy android again after I saw the Jellybean and project butter, but I fear I may not be comfortable with touchscreens :(

AMG said:
Micromax X445: Price in India, Reviews, Specification: Flipkart.com


I do sort of like this one.

Not sure about Micromax, though.
Click to expand...
LOL, 0.3MP primary camera, and bro it is micromax, aka china maal :p
 
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montsa007: Thanks for the feedback. I'd say then that I'll be happy if the next one lasts about 1.5-2 years. My better half's LG Optimus P500 is about 1.5 yrs old now, & still working fine (touchwood). So I guess I can expect a minimum of 1.5 yrs.

I'm leaning towards these 3 currently: {more or less similar with a few differences highlighted in parentheses}
LG T375 (2mp cam, unsure of presence of soft qwerty, multi-touch screen),
Samsung Star 3 (3mp cam, soft qwerty but only in portrait mode),
Sony Walkman Mix (3mp cam, screen higher res, but touch not as responsive {?}), no soft qwerty)

Any final suggestions or recommendations of nay one over the other? Thanks!
 
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^Nokia's recent devices have REAL been horrible & are going down, specially the low end range, I donno what they feed their designers & engineers for breakfast (Had purchased a new Asha 200 for an office employee, 1 month later (few days back) he has earpiece problem weird sound during calls, thankfully he can get it repaired as we have the bill, I hope the Nokia service center guys don't throw tantrums), having said that proceed cautiously. I used to be a Nokia fanboy until 2009, I had a few repeated horrible experiences and I never purchased a Nokia ever again, never will :D.

The Samsung Star 3 is a good choice :)
May want to see this - Spice M-6800 FLO: Price in India, Reviews, Specification: Flipkart.com (Again, am not sure of your openness to mirchi mobile)
 
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comp@ddict said:
I would say go for the ASHA 305. Looking great!

Nokia Asha 305 full touch lowest price dual-sim specs review | Gadgetronica
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply mate. But that's one with a resistive screen. There's been enough red flags raised about resistive screens in the posts above already. So much so that it's prompted me to increase my budget by 1k-1.5k. If I had to buy a resistive touch, I'd probably go for a Micromax 'china maal' & save money, or at the most a Samsung Champ. Again, thanks for your response though.

---------- Post added at 02:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:33 PM ----------
montsa007 said:
The Samsung Star 3 is a good choice :)
May want to see this - Spice M-6800 FLO: Price in India, Reviews, Specification: Flipkart.com (Again, am not sure of your openness to mirchi mobile)
Click to expand...

Surprised that you are suggesting 'china maal', :p. But then again, I'm veering away from resistive touch. If I do go down that road then there are loads of options!

Glad to see a +1 for the Star 3. I am leaning towards it. There's a few reviews around & the broad conclusion is that it's a decent buy for the price. As for the LG T375, there's no English review I've come across yet. So I'm a bit wary. But if I can get it for a lot lower than the Star 3, I might go in for it!

Thanks for your reply, yet again!
 
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