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30 Aug 2001
Ericsson T39 Mobile Phone and Bluetooth Headset Review
by theVooner
It was theVooner’s birthday this past weekend and I thought I would buy
myself a present. As you know from my last review, I was pretty disappointed
in my mobile phone. Well, that’s all the incentive I need to go buy a new
phone. Until now, there hasn’t been a new one that I want.
 I
recently saw Tomb Raider and I was reminded that Ericsson
had a Bluetooth headset a la Lara
Croft that you can buy today. I wasn’t initially interested in it because
the headset looked big, you had to attach a big plastic thing on the bottom
of Ericsson phones to use it, and it was expensive (about US$200). Nevertheless,
the headset is really cool and I want to be theVooner Craft - gadget galore
tomb raider (she had a lot of cool stuff eh?).
Ericsson though just came out with a new phone, the T39.
This phone is being touted for its GPRS capability (that’s 2.5G to you
techie-folks) and also for that fact that it has Bluetooth built-in. That means
no attachment to use a headset! The phone also is a very useful tri-band GSM,
which means I can use it in Asia, Europe and the US. That and the fact that
you could buy the kit together here as a “special edition” had me
sold.
 After
some phone calls and a bit of arm-twisting (they said it was “sold-out”),
I managed to have my mobile phone provider in Hong Kong deliver one to me.
Form
 Well,
the T39 looks fairly like lots of the older Ericsson T-series phones. Not much
has changed. I still think the screen is too small. But, as opposed to the Sony
MZ5, this is a super light, super thin phone. The color of the “special
edition” was this dark blue/gray unit. I understand though that you can
get it in other colors though I think this one looks the best. I like the way
the phone looks even though it probably won’t win any design awards. In
particular, the antenna again is a biggie. The buttons are also really small
and not as sensitive as I would have liked. I imagine someone with big fingers
would get really irritated.
 The
Headset though is really cool. It looks really neat though I have to admit it
does feel very strange on your ear. Plus, you’re likely to attract a lot
of attention from people who will look at you strangely. Nevertheless, it does
make you feel really high-tech. I like it though I know I look like a geek.
It’s something you definitely will not leave dangling on your ears, and
those of you, like me, that wear glasses may find it a little difficult to put
on and take off. Still this would be useful for some of you commuters that like
to chat while driving.
Function
 The
T39 is just like any other mobile phone. Reception was very good. The menus
though are more difficult to navigate (as say versus the Nokia) but very similar
to the others (like the Sony). This Ericsson though is much more comprehensive
in terms of what functions are available. Games, calculator, SMS, Profiles,
etc. -- you get all the usual functions. In addition, the T39 is supposed to
have a much more comprehensive PIM but hey, who cares, I have an iPaq for that.
Now for the cool part, the Headset -- it is a lot of fun. The Headset rings
when the phone rings and you can answer calls by pushing a button on the back
of the Headset. You can also make calls from the Headset through voice dialing.
I tried this and it works pretty well. So I was pretty much able to stick the
phone in my backpack and the Headset in my shirt pocket. Whenever a call would
ring, I would just reach for my Headset. It was much more convenient and faster
than searching for my phone. Plus, I got to look like a true cybergeek for 5
minutes. The Headset is awesome
 So
what about the GPRS? The much-slated 2.5G is here and I got to try the services.
So far, mixed results. I was impressed that the speeds at which I could “grab”
data - it’s much better than before. But I was disappointed with the applications
that we could use. WAP-like services still sucks. Do I care to browse the same
silly content, but just faster? I don’t think so. The same news/weather/content
is just as weak fast as it is slow. Until GPRS can start offering applications
and content that we can use, we won’t care about the speed. One of these
days, I’ll try the computer data link and see if I can transfer files or
something. I suspect I will be disappointed.
Factor
 So
it all boils down to the T39 as a mobile phone. For that reason the T39 is a
winner. It works more than adequately for that purpose. In addition, the Headset
is really cool. I like feeling like a geek version of Lara Croft though I don’t
think other people think I look as cool. If you are going to buy the T39 for
its mobile phone functions along with the Headset, then Ericsson (for perhaps
the first time) is a very good choice. With the headset, it’s also managed
to raise the fun factor manifold. If you’re thinking that GPRS is going
to be the next development of wireless data, then you’re probably going
to be pretty disappointed. Phones, applications, screens, services, whatever
-- this isn’t very good. For its data services, it’s definitely a
waste of time. All in all though, because this is after all just a mobile phone,
its got to be the newest ESSENTIAL buy.
I’m pretty happy I bought it.
theVooner can be reach at theVooner@yahoo.com.
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