Taking Advantage of the Credit Crunch
In times of economic downturn, it can seem like there are few things to be grateful for. With all the doom and gloom that’s being spouted on the news, you may find yourself wondering what happened to the so-called light at the end of the tunnel. However, the credit crunch doesn’t have to mean the end of the world. If you are wise, you can take advantage of the economic situation and grab some great deals for things that you need.
Eating out. When times seem hard and you’re feeling the pressure, you should be able to take a little time for yourself without feeling the need to punish yourself for over-spending. When you need to treat yourself to keep your spirits up, why not take advantage of one of the many deals available at restaurants at the moment? With many places offering 2 for 1 vouchers or money off, you can eat out without feeling horribly guilty about it. Have a look at sites like MoneySavingExpert.com for the latest deals available.
Mobile phone deals. If you’re in dire need of a new mobile but feel like you can’t afford it, you might be in for a surprise. There are loads of great deals on at the moment aimed at encouraging customers not to give up on the industry. Visit the Vodafone website for a great selection of phones, like the Samsung J700 – available for £40 on pay as you go plans, you will also receive a £20 voucher for LoveFilm. Or, if you can afford to spend a little more, they are also offering a Talk 24 month price plan which is £35 a month, with which you get a free Samsung Steel phone, free Nintendo Wii and Guitar Hero game worth £239, and 600 minutes, unlimited texts and mobile internet.
Clothing sales. When you’re wardrobe looks like it could do with a bit of freshening up, and your clothes are looking a bit worse for the wear, why not take advantage of the many mid-season sales that are hitting the shops nationwide? Allowing you to buy your favourite items at a fraction of the price, if you wait for the sales before buying your new clothes you could save yourself a bundle.
Yes, the credit crunch has had an awful effect on the
Round up of the hottest mobile phones
Owning the latest mobile phone makes a statement in many ways. For the clued-up techy people among us it''s a chance to get your hands on the latest developments in mobile technology.
For some, having the latest mobile phone is about being ahead of the crowd and making a statement when it comes to phone fashion.
Whatever the reasoning behind it, there aren’t many of us who don''t wish they could be carrying around one of the latest phones on the market. We''ve selected some of the top mobiles available boasting endless cutting edge features such as sophisticated cameras, high speed internet connectivity and media players that will enable you to choose a handset that will meet your specific requirements.
Nokia n96
This handset is one of the latest to be created by Nokia, undeniably one of the leading names in the mobile phone industry, with enough features to rival Batman’s utility belt you’ll be hard pushed to find a more sophisticated and impressive handset. The Nokia n96 comes complete with a highly developed media system, which is compatible with the iPlayer, this enables customers to enjoy previously aired BBC radio and television programmes. In addition to this, the way in which the phone’s internal antenna and tuner are poised means that it will soon be possible to watch television in real time when the DVB-H systems begins broadcasting in the UK. The Nokia n96 comes complete with a 5-mega-pixel camera with Tessar and Carl Zeiss optics with an additional camera for video calling, high-speed Internet connectivity and inbuilt GPS that will rival any leading Satellite Navigation System. The phone also comes complete with a massive 16GB internal memory, which means you can download pictures, music and videos to your heart’s content!
LG KC910 Renoir
As the name Renoir suggests, this handset from LG is inspired by the leading light of the impressionists and comes complete with an impressive 8-mega-pixel camera, undoubtedly one of the best cameras available on a mobile phone. The camera comes with xenon flash, automatic and manual focus and a video recording function. The KC910 Renoir is also equipped with ‘Dolby Mobile’ which brings further depth and richness to the quality of the handset’s sound quality meaning you get an impressive phone, camera and media player all in one attractive package!
HTC Touch HD
This handset is particularly useful for those who often do business on the go; the handset has an easy to use touch screen with excellent colour and image quality. The handset is also equipped with high-speed Internet connectivity and advanced email functions such as the document viewer. In addition to these functions the HTC Touch HD boasts a high quality music player with FM radio, a camera, a broad game selection and a highly developed GPS, which is again, particularly useful for those who find themselves travelling a lot!
Try the Vodafone site for a great selection of mobile phone deals.
Internet phoning is in the palm of your hand.
With the launch of this new VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) cordless handset from Logitech, net calling appears to becoming mainstream.
The stylish phone allows Internet-based calls using the Skype online service, with support for call forwarding to mobiles, landlines and conference calling.
The colour LCD screen shows a list of Skype users, and phoning a friend is as simple as selecting a contact and pressing call.
The cradle remains connected to your PC whilst the handset – wireless to 50m – can be used anywhere in the house.
Best of all the online Skype service is free of charge, meaning that apart from the handset price of around £60 there’s nothing else to pay.
Whoever said “talk is cheap” was clearly quite correct.
Compare products and prices and find the best phone for you
First invented by Teri Pall in 1965, cordless telephones have become common place today. The first cordless telephones used the 1.7 MHz frequency. Today, cordless telephones come in four frequencies: 49 MHz, 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, and 5.8 GHz. However, is choosing the highest frequency the best way to go about buying a cordless telephone?
The earliest cordless telephones at 27 MHz were affected by poor sound quality and security and had limited range. Even when the 49 MHz phones came out, poor sound quality and eavesdropping continued to be an issue. It was possible for someone in range to pick up on the conversation using a radio scanner. Many baby monitors were also capable of picking up conversations from a 49 MHz cordless phone.
With the introduction of digital spread spectrum technology in 1995, it became more difficult to eavesdrop. This technology uses frequency hopping to spread the audio signal over a larger bandwidth. While the digital 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, and 5.8 GHz phones incorporate this technology to provide greater security, the 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz phones also fall out of range of detection of most radio scanners, making it really difficult for someone to eavesdrop on your conversation.
The 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz phones also improved the distance of using a cordless phone from the base. For instance, the Sony SPP-S2730 claims its cordless handsets can be used as walkie talkies up to 600 feet. In general, 900 MHz with spread spectrum cordless phone has a range of 200-1500 feet whereas its 2.4 and 5.8 GHz counterparts are closer to 300 to 2000 feet.
The 900 MHz phones are the most common cordless phones in use today. The 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz band are also being used by other devices such as Bluetooth, wireless LAN, and microwaves. So while the 2.4 GHz maybe a secure phone, it is also more prone to interference if the devices mentioned are in close proximity. The 5.8 GHz telephones on the other hand are less prone to interference as they are mostly used in military communications. Your microwave and wLAN will not interfere with it. However, it also requires more power and may drain battery life quicker than a 2.4 GHz phone.
The size of the antenna on the phone is also inversely proportional to the frequency; the higher frequency phones needing a smaller antenna and the lower frequency phones having a larger one.
So which one is the right one for you? The most common cordless phone in use today is at 900 MHz; however the 2.4 GHz provides more privacy but could increase interference if devices such as wLAN or microwaves are in use in your home or office. In which case, the 5.8 GHz may be a better option but the drawback of potentially shortening battery life could be an expensive option. In the end which pone to buy will depend upon what you are willing to live with: less privacy (900 MHz), more interference (2.4 GHz), or shorter battery life (5.8 GHz).
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