ICT and me

My mobile phone

Phone description and details

My mobile phone is called the Sony Ericsson K700i. It is silver, and it can be bought in several different colours.

The phone has a numeric keyboard that lights up when the buttons are pressed. It has GPRS internet connection and is WAP compatible. It can play polyphonic ring tones and MP3 format songs. It can also play MP4 and has a camera for capturing pictures and videos. The phone has a FM Radio that operates through a small satellite through headphones and is a tri-band phone (it can be used in 5 continents). It has a facility to SMS (Short message service) and MMS (multi-media message service). It also has SMS predictive text. It has Bluetooth and infrared technology. It weighs 96g and has a 65,000-colour screen. The phone has voice-dialling, can download games, music or video and has a vibration alert. It has a USB port and can synchronise contacts and calendar with a computer. Its talk-time lasts up to 240 minutes.

The Main Menu

Pressing the middle, round button once, accesses the main menu. It consists of 12 options; media album, orange live, orange downloads, camera, messages, radio, connectivity, address book, entertainment, settings, organizer and media player. To select an option you pushed the round button in the direction of the option required then press it down when you want to open that option. Media Album is basically a collection of all your media. All your; pictures, ring-tones, mp3 songs, videos, games and recordings are kept there. Orange Live is a list of links to points of interest on the GPRS internet. For example, it has a sports link if you want to find out fixtures or live scores on your mobile. Orange Downloads is another option full of links but the links in this one are for downloads only. The latest music and games released will be on the top of this list. The next option is Camera. A single press of a button on the side of the phone can access the option camera quickly. All the videos and pictures get saved in Media Album. ‘Messages’ is a pretty straightforward option. With this option you can create texts, view texts (sent, received or sending) create drafts. The Radio option is a giveaway from the name (it basically it accesses a radio link. The Radio’s major disadvantage is the fact that you can lose signal. Address Book is an extremely clear-cut option and can also be accessed by just pointing the round, middle up or down from the home screen. It is probably the most-used option on every mobile phone in the world. The Organizer option is full of tools that help sort out your everyday routine, including a calendar, task list, notes, applications, alarm clock, timer, stopwatch, calculator and a code memo. The connectivity option, in general, is just full of internet settings. It has the Bluetooth option that opens up a whole world of free sending and receiving files with any other Bluetooth device within the area.

How Do I Use My Phone?

Address Book

I use my mobile phone to contacts mainly my friends and family. I use the Address Book option quite a lot. I open it and type in on the numeric keypad the first letter of the name I am looking for. This saves me scrolling through it all. Or if I have recently dialled a number, I press the call button (indicated on the top-left of the keypad) and a list of recent calls appears on the screen. If I wanted to dial one of them I’d select it then press ...

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How Do I Use My Phone?

Address Book

Camera

The camera is one of my favourite features on the phone. I use it to take pictures and record videos of things I’d like to remember. For example, I recently went to London and went on the ‘London Eye’. I filmed most of it because I wanted to remember the views that I could see.

Bluetooth

I use the Bluetooth tool a lot. When a new song comes out rather than pay for the download I can send the song from my computer onto my mobile via Bluetooth. I also send a lot of pictures and videos through it. For example, if a popular video or funny screensaver is going round peoples phones I can just extract it from anyone who has a Bluetooth device switched on in range.

Media Player

I use Media Player a lot, quite often playing the songs I have received via Bluetooth. If was waiting for a bus and I was bored I would simply plug in my headphones and listen to my phone’s Media Player. It is basically a mini MP3 player but with less memory.

Media Album

I am always in Media Album playing back songs or videos I have been sent or recorded. I use it a lot to view my pictures as well, especially the most memorable ones.

Does My Mobile Meet My Needs?

My favourite feature my mobile has is its Media Player. I think it is a fantastic new addition to Sony Ericssons and mobiles in general. It is a very useful feature as I can use my phone as a MP3 Player.

Another feature I like is the camera. It is very useful to have the camera feature as it can substitute a normal camera. For example, if I have gone out and have not brought a camera with me I can simply use my phone to take a photo or record a video. I enjoy using the phone camera as well as it has become a fashion icon in today’s world of technology.

A disadvantage the camera has is its memory storage. When you first purchase the phone it comes with 35 mega-bytes of memory storage. In terms or storing data it could only store 7-9 in total, this is excluding videos, text messages and pictures. To purchase a memory stick with sufficient amount of memory can cost £40 or more. That is one third of the phone’s original price.

Another disadvantage the phone has is when listening to music on the ‘Media Player’ you have to listen to it out loud without headphones. If you want to listen to the music with headphones then you have to buy special ones that fit into the phone charger port. Yet another accessory you have to purchase to make use of all of your phone’s features.

The phone’s small screen can also prove itself a problem as well. It creates difficulty look at largely detailed pictures as you can not make out everything.

The phone could also have more protection. Only a few drops of water can ruin the screen or damage the inside of it.

Only a few years ago, if I was out I and I needed a lift I would have to walk to the nearest phone box and pay to phone home. Whereas nowadays if I am out and need a lift all I have to do is reach into my pocket and ring my parents. If I do not have my MP3 player with me and I want to listen to my music then all I have to do is reach into my pocket and listen to it via my phone. This is a recent addition to my phone technology, if a year or two ago I had gone out and not brought my MP3 player with me, there would not be a personal choice of music available for me.

Me And My DVD Player

My DVD Player’s features

My DVD Player’s official name is “Wharfedale WMTS-6801 DVD 5.1 Micro System”. DVD stands for Digital Versatile Disk. It is a 35 watt system and is PAL and NTSC compatible. Another feature is its DVD/CD/JPEG File/ CD-R/ CD-RW/ MP3 with Progressive scan. It has Search, memory, pause, skip and repeat functions. It also has a 5.1 channel output with Dolby Digital and base, treble and balance control. The Output sockets include S-Video, Coaxial Digital, AV out/in and SCART. IT has buttons on the actual central console for controlling The DVD Player has a headphone socket and coloured co-ordinated leads for easy connection. It comes with a remote control that requires AA batteries which are supplied anyway. Its dimensions are; size main unit (H)14.8, (W)18.5, (D)28cm, size speakers (H)21.2, (W)15.5, (D)17.5cm, size rear speakers (H)8.7, (W)8.7, (D)8.7cm, size centre speakers (H)8.7, (W)8.7, (D)8.7cm, size subwoofer (H)21.2, (W)15.5, (D)24cm.

How I Use My DVD Player

I use my DVD player for playing DVDs and have set up the speakers all over my room for a better effect for surround-sound. As my DVD Player has surround-sound I have a mini cinema in my room. When I play DVDs in it I turn of the lights and turn the speakers up full for the best effect.

I also use my DVD Player for playing music CDs (Compact Disks). I like R&B music that sounds best when the bass it turned up full. I use the Treble and Bass adjustment feature to best suit the music I am listening to.

With the various input/output ports situated at the rear of my DVD Player I have connected my television, digital-box and video player to it. I use this whenever I play a video, watch my television or digital-box because with the surround-sound it gives a better experience in viewing. My DVD Player’s remote is my most used feature. On there are all the options, play-modes, volume buttons etc. I use the remote to control the DVD Player if I am the other side of the room, rather than getting up to press a button. I do not really use the central console buttons as the remote is always by my side. I use the other SCART and digital ports at the back of the central console so I can plug my MP3 player in to it to give a better experience than just headphone music.

How My DVD Player Meets My Needs?

My DVD Player is an excellent piece of technology and I use it all the time. One brilliant feature it has is its surround speakers. They give me a proper cinema experience in my own room. It also gives me a better experience listening to my music and the speakers can be turned so loud I can feel the floor vibrating; this is good because I like very loud music. Another excellent feature is the SCART lead ports where I can plug my Playstation and MP3 player into. They are very handy as when I play my Playstation it actually brings the game I’m playing to life.

The only disadvantage the DVD player has is that it isn’t practical. For instance if I wanted to take it in another room in the house so I could watch a DVD somewhere else it would mean unwiring everything and carrying it through, this would all take a long time whereas a normal DVD player you would just pull out the plugs and off you go.

My School Computer

Features

My school computer is made by a company called Search Machines. Its hardware and features includes:

Qwerty Keyboard with a numeric keypad
Indicator lights (one indicating power and one indicating disc drive usage)
A mouse with buttons and a scroll wheel
A desktop case with a floppy disk drive and a CD ROM drive (Compact Disk Read Only Memory)
A 15” monitor
A power, reset, open disk drive, and volume buttons on the Desktop case also a headphone port
On the monitor there are volume, treble, bass, power, menu buttons and headphone and microphone ports
Its system is the
Its on a local area network
Has a Broadband Connection to the internet
A 40GB hard disk size and 256MB RAM
1.4 GHz Processor

Its software includes:

CD ROM Player
Mozilla Firefox Internet Browser
Outlook Express
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Publisher 2002
Windows Media Player

How Do I Use My School Computer?

Monitor

I use the Monitor to look at the work in progress. I also adjust it’s settings to meet my needs. For example, if the screens to bright I’ll change the brightness.

Internet

I use my school computer for all sorts of work. I use the connection to the internet for research for most of the subjects I do. If I have to do an essay, I look on the internet for anything helpful. I use the search engine ‘Google’ to search for what I am trying to find.

Media

I use two main Media Players in school. I use CD ROM Player if I just simply want to play music in a presentation. However I use Windows Media Player for more than that. I use it to play videos to show to a class in a presentation.

Microsoft Office

Microsoft office includes; Microsoft Word, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Publisher.

I use Microsoft word for a lot. I use it for creating reports and making letters. I use Microsoft Access for creating databases. My Dad owns a car business and too keeps track of fellow traders and customers we keep their details in a database through Microsoft Access. Microsoft Excel is another programme I use a lot. In some subjects I enter data into a table in Microsoft Excel and make charts and grids to illustrate the results. I use Microsoft Publisher to make labels and posters. I made a ‘Please Knock’ sign for a teacher’s door and I made labels for all of my books. I use Microsoft PowerPoint to do presentations for lessons, for example I had to do a presentation in PE on fitness to the class, so I used Microsoft PowerPoint to make things easier.

How It Meets My needs?

The school computer does meet my needs. It has its advantages and disadvantages.

One advantage is its easy-to-use Microsoft Office. The whole package is extremely easy to use and as I use them all a lot this comes in handy. The auto-spell correct feature on Microsoft Word is brilliant and is something I use all the time, it saves me from looking up words in the dictionary all of the time. I use the Outlook Express programme (email) to send work home or receive work from home. Whereas before, I would have to pop home and save my work to a floppy disk (unreliable) and take it in to school. Another good point is the broadband connection to the internet. I also use this, a lot. There are two internet browsers on the computer (Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox). I use Mozilla Firefox rather than Microsoft Internet Explorer. I find it easier to use and as it has site tabs at the top of the screen I can use it more efficiently. The internet has its problems though, as it takes a long time to load up some internet pages. I use the internet to do research on things when I am doing my work, before the internet I would have had to go to the school library and spend several tedious hours looking up information in big books and encyclopaedia.

A major disadvantage the computer has is its speed in opening and closing programmes. Sometimes It can take up to five minutes to open a programme where as it should just open straight away. This is pretty useless as it delays me doing my work or it sometimes even crashes and loses my work.

Overall the computer is extremely straightforward to use and easy to save and find my work with.