Camera cell phone question/poll

[BigSmooth]

My fiancee and I are going to switch carriers soon and we'll be getting new phones. I am considering several models, some of which have cameras.

The phones that do have cameras are typically larger and/or more expensive, so I'm curious to see whether or not people think camera phones are actually useful, or just a "gee-whiz" feature.

 

[samgau]

I have couple friends who have one, and as far as I can tell, they rarely use the camera feature once the novelty aspect wore off....
Still I personally think it can be pretty handy in a pinch...

 

[Saulbadguy]

Its handy. I like it.

 

[NutBucket]

If I didn't like the camera I wouldn't have bought another camera phone to replace my first one

 

[Maximus96]

my samsung E715 has a camera with flash. its not bigger than other ones at all and it was free. this is for tmobile by the way. it takes VGA resolution pictures, comes in handy when you need it.

 

[Nevada]

i have the sony ericsson t616. i think i only took like 3 pics that i actually used for some purpose.

 

[Reel]

My friend has one and it isn't as good at taking pictures of hot girls walking by as you think. We tried for quite a while to figure out how to make the simulated camera shutter sound go away. We were unsuccessful so now people look at you every time you click it to take a picture.

 

[BigSmooth]

Originally posted by: zaku
my samsung E715 has a camera with flash. its not bigger than other ones at all and it was free. this is for tmobile by the way. it takes VGA resolution pictures, comes in handy when you need it.

That's actually one of the models I was looking at.

Yes, it's small and cheap, but it's not as small or cheap as the non-camera Samsung E105. The E715 is larger and 20-30% heavier than the E105, plus it's about $100-150 more expensive right now. I don't see too many big advantages to the E715 except the camera so that's what brought this whole question up.

 

[dpm]

If price is an issue then forget about it. I don't know anyone who has used it more than about a dozen times.

 

[BigSmooth]

Originally posted by: dpm
If price is an issue then forget about it. I don't know anyone who has used it more than about a dozen times.

Price isn't a big issue, I just don't want to spend extra on something I'll never use.

Of course, the presence of a camera is not going to be the only deciding factor on which phone(s) I end up getting, but I just wanted to see what people thought about the benefit of having one.

 

[Maximus96]

I got the E715 for free after rebate, can't get any more cheaper unless you're looking to make money after rebates. it might be a bit heavier, but at only 3.4oz ( i actually put it on a scale), you won't feel like you're carrying a brick in your pocket. and i also put it next to a e105 to compare the size difference and whatever it was it was minimal.

 

[BigSmooth]

Originally posted by: zaku
I got the E715 for free after rebate, can't get any more cheaper unless you're looking to make money after rebates. it might be a bit heavier, but at only 3.4oz ( i actually put it on a scale), you won't feel like you're carrying a brick in your pocket. and i also put it next to a e105 to compare the size difference and whatever it was it was minimal.

I think T-Mo has dropped some of their rebates, unfortunately. I don't see the E715 anywhere for less than $100 or $75 AR if you're lucky. Meanwhile, you can get an E105 for more like -$50.

I agree that the E715 is not a big phone, but the E105 is really tiny. Both are much smaller than some other phones on the market.

 

[Maximus96]

check out those authorized dealer phone shops. my GF and i got ours from an asian shop. she got the T610. we signed up for the family plan and both phones were free. i know amazon still wants around $100 for the E715 last time i checked. also, the 715 does not have a protruding antanea, less parts to accidently break. IMHO, i think the only thing the E105 got going for itself is its negative price. i looked at it and thought it was just a cosmetic upgrade from my S105. and its not even a new design, just a copy of the A500 or A600 from samsung for sprint.

edit:

Go Athletics!.

are you in oakland? if so check out Freecom in chinatown. thats where we got ours.

 

[BornStar]

I got the T610 and almost never use the camera. The picture quality isn't very good so it's kind of pointless. OTOH, it's just one more feature that my phone has and it's already one of the smallest phones out there. I don't think I'd like it if it was much smaller.

 

[brtspears2]

Don't like the camera on my T616, terrible pictures.

 

[Maximus96]

the SE cameras take very low resolution pictures, the E715 takes 640x480.

 

[thomsbrain]

i don't see the point, but i don't have one. maybe if i did, i'd see the light.

 

[BigSmooth]

Originally posted by: zaku
check out those authorized dealer phone shops. my GF and i got ours from an asian shop. she got the T610. we signed up for the family plan and both phones were free. i know amazon still wants around $100 for the E715 last time i checked. also, the 715 does not have a protruding antanea, less parts to accidently break. IMHO, i think the only thing the E105 got going for itself is its negative price. i looked at it and thought it was just a cosmetic upgrade from my S105. and its not even a new design, just a copy of the A500 or A600 from samsung for sprint.

edit:

Go Athletics!.

are you in oakland? if so check out Freecom in chinatown. thats where we got ours.

No, I'm in Portland. No MLB here so the A's are my surrogate team (I have an aunt in the bay area and we used to visit every summer and go to A's games).