K750i Images

My Palm (M515) has been with me for the last 4 years. I started out using quite a bit of it - from the standard organizer applications to some MS Office editing via the wireless keyboard. I had some pretty addictive games installed as well. With quite a bit applications installed and data stored, I've not had the need to use the SD card expansion slot. Such was the efficiency of the Palm operating system. Try doing that with Windows Mobile. However as years go by, my needs changed. My use of the Palm has been reduced down to the usual Contact list, Calendar, and a few data files. Even though its form factor is pretty slim, it's still a little wide. After doing some extensive research, I thought a reasonably good mobile phone would be a good substitute.

My budget is less than RM1,000 and I'm done with the PDA built (so no Dopod, O2 mini for me). I'm willing to sacrifice the Office data editing (not needed) and EDGE and 3G (both over-hyped). A good camera and display would be fantastic, so is having an MP3 player, easy to use keypad, Java or Symbian o/s, expansion slot, bluetooth and IR. A radion would also be a bonus. My audition included the good looking Motorola L7 (nice looks and features but bad interface), the Nokia 6820 (built quality below par), my wife's K700 (crappy keypad but otherwise not too bad). Finally I settled for the K750i. Originally retailed at RM1490 when first launched about a year back, it now sells for RM900 which I thought was a good deal. It comes with all the bells and whistles including a very well reviewed screen and a 2-megapixel autofocus/built-in flash camera (best in class then and still one of the best for a camera-phone). I topped off the purchase by adding another 512MB memory stick. The camera functions are pretty impressive. Not only it comes with the above-mentioned flash, it has macro mode, burst, panorama, special effects, timer, digital zoom among others. Since the purchase, I've also loaded a few of songs and selected chapters of an audiobook into it. I've also found the stereo speakers to be very clear. the MP3 player allows you to select some settings from the equalizer but really just enabling the MegaBass is good enough. I've been syncing my data and calendar book from my notebook and so far I'm totally happy with the unit.

This evening the family went to Alamanda for a stroll. While Carbokid happily played at the park, Carbo Woman went power walking in her new NBs. I took the chance to test out the camera. Below are a few sample of the photos I took.

 

Macro with no white balance


Macro with white balance (image a bit more yellowish)

Panorama (this is an interesting shot). The camera actually splits the image into 3 and marks for me the borders for each shot so that I can align the next shot nicely. As it's too wide to post here, you can click here to view.

Black & White


Sepia


The fountain at the Alamanda


Playful fella

All in all I'm loving this phone. this certainly serves as an alternative to carrying a real camera while running, while I don't see myself doing that. In any case, going on family day trips need not involve bringing one along anymore. If you want to read the reviews, head on to the following sites: GSM Arena | Mobile Review | CNet