Overview Compatible with TracFone prepaid cell phone service, the Nokia 2285 features a built-in mobile Internet minibrowser and plenty of phone and organizer features, all displayed on a five line, high-resolution 96 x 65 pixel screen. It's even color-customizable, with snappy Xpress-on covers (sold separately).
Calling Features
Used simply as a phone, the 2285 features Nokia's typical "candybar shaped" design and easy to understand navigation. Primary calling features include vibrating alert, voice dialing and commands for up to 25 numbers and/or menu items, as well as voice memo recording of up to 1 minute, among other features. Nokia also supports TTY/TDD (Telecommunication Device for the Deaf), and hearing aid support for the Nokia LPS-3 Loopset, (adapter and Loopset sold separately).
Messaging and Internet
The phone's cdma2000 1X microbrowser technology provides high-speed data transmission, email, and advanced messaging (text and graphics), the latter sporting predictive text input and up to ten text message templates and five graphic message templates. It's also GPS capable, for location based emergency services.
Organizer
The phone's organizer features include a phone book with up to 250 contacts with multiple numbers and text entries per contact; a full calendar with 100 savable entries/reminders; a to-do list with up to 30 savable entries; a calculator; currency converter; and an alarm clock with a snooze function. The organizer features can be synched up with your PC using the included Nokia 2285 PC Suite software.
Fun and Games
In addition to changing the front and back color of your phone with Xpress-on color covers (sold separately), the 2285 lets you choose from 35 included ring tones, download up to 10 new ringtones, or create your own ring tones using the included PC Suite software. You can also download Java applications, and play 3 games included with the phone: Snake II, Bumper, and Space Impact II.
Vital Statistics
The Nokia 2285 weighs 3.49 ounces and measures 4.26 x 1.96 x 0.88 inches. Its Lithium Ion batteries are rated at up to 3.6 hours digital talk time, and up to 11 days digital standby time.
1 tracfone..
I like my Tracfone so far. The tracfones are good for people who don't require heavy cell phone usage. Basically you have to keep the phone active by buying month or year cards. If you run out of minutes then you have to buy more of those too. [...]
2 Very good
I have owned this Nokia Tracfone for four months and I'm very happy with it.
The phone...
The battery doesn't last as long as they say it does. I get about 72 hours on standby. I use it for emergencies and those times when I'm out and need to call home. I really like that you can enable GPS for 911 calls. A very good option for me. The display is very bright (doubles as a flashlight for me in a pinch) and the functions are easy to navigate. The built in games are cheesy, but fun when you're waiting and there's nothing else to do.
Tracfone's service...
I have no problems at all. Recently though, every time I send a text message the system sends me back one that says "message delivered" and it charges me .5 units for it. After a few wasted units, I learned not to choose "view" and to just choose exit and manually go to text messages where the first 10 characters are visible and delete it without paying for it. To me, they're just trying to force me to use a whole unit on sending one text instead of a half unit. Overall though, I find that I get the minutes I pay for and the service is A+
3 The worst prduct / service ever
I purchased Tracfone in September of 2004 it stopped workin in November. After dozens of calls and on line request, my phone still does not work. I bought a one year plan and extra air time. Paid good money for a phone that does not work. I have spent so many hours on hold with customer servic trying to get the issue resolved. BEWARE DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY...
4 My review
this is great but they need to have a lot more of these ringtones for free
5 where can i find ringtones...
the nokia 2285 is a pretty neat phone. my only problem is downloading ringtones. i cant find any ringtones no matter how hard i try. other than that the phone is pretty great.
6 Tracfone Review
Hi, I believe this phone deserved a good rating. I have had tracfone for 2 weeks and I have used their promotions. If you are looking to spend 20 bucks about every 2 months and know how to use the promotions, this is the phone for you. To recieve 100 free minutes before you activate [...]
7 Truly, Let The Buyer BEWARE!
I cannot speak for the other reviewers, perhaps they had better experiences than me. On 12/3/04 I purchased two of these phones for myself and my wife along with two one-year service 300 minute cards. I promptly went home, charged them for the required twenty-four hours and then all hell broke loose!!! I sucessfully registered one of the phones and updated it with the new minutes. The other phone, the EXACT model would not register and would not accept the minutes. I called the customer service line, which will truly test your patience and make you understand why outsourcing is a TERRIBLE idea, and the representative walked me through one-hour of codes...all of which were deemed invalid...not to mention the $149.99 pre-paid card I purchased was invalid as well. At that point the representative, who I could not understand (and not because I am deaf or hard of hearing)told me both the card and cellphone was defective. I returned the cellphone to place of purchase and received another one. I kept the cell battery from the "defective" one, installed it in the new one and tried again. You wanna gues what happened? 'INVALID', is what the daggone computer screen kept telling me!!! "Defective" I screamed, "How can this be when I JUST bought the thing?" I asked myself rhetorically. So, I got back on the horn and called the job-outsourced customer service line and as soon as the representative answered I knew there was going to be problems. Already seething with anger over the trouble caused over one cellphone and a pre-paid card, I had to once again endure a one-hour phone call that would have taken only minutes had the job not been outsourced. So, she walked me through the pleothera of codes and at the end of the hour long conversation she said the inevitible, "your phone and card are both defective". Are they reading from a script? That's the same thing the other guy told me. Now, the kicker, ladies and gentleman. Remember I told you that the first one I purchased was successfully activated? Well, I could not make or receive calls, for THREE WHOLE DAYS!!!! Drum-roll please....I called customer service again...went through a series of codes...at the end I was told (not defective this time) "Sir, I don't know what to tell you, that is really strange." That's all, "strange"!!!! I just spent $420.00 and that's all?! I was so infuriated and beside myself that I was late for work that following monday. I jumped in the '84 LTD, didn't even bother to open the door - I did it Dukes Of Hazzard style, and sped to the place of purchase breaking all land speeds. I got there and was told that the card was non-refundable. I'll be double-dammed!!! After haggling and threatening to stage a sit-in/sleep-over, I was finally refunded the full amount of my purchase. All of this trouble for this model of phone and the pre-paid cards. I wish I could have scored this item in the negative. Along with the phone and the irritation it caused, it's not worth it.
8 Best cell phone for preteens and teens!
Well, to start off, I would first like to say that i am a 12 year old boy. A lot of my friend shave a cell phone, so i really wanted one too. The most popular was the virgin Mobile cell phone company, but after doing research, i found that my little nokia 2285 tracfone was the way to go!
SERVICE- Although nobody on the tracfone customer service phone line is very good at speaking english, they are efficient and are very helpful. Adiding minutes to the tracfone is totally easy. Also, with my model of tracfone, the reception is absolutely exellent, and the calls are always clear.
THE PHONE- This phone beckons "hold me", it's user friendly shape calls "play one of my games", and it makes all of my friends say "pshaw" to all of their Virgin Mobile flip phones. It's 3 games are very cool, it's voice activation is an amazing feature, and the customization is very uniqye. Although the web browser doesn't work, the text messaging is super fast, and emailing works like a charm. the large, bright display is also a mojor plus. The calendaer and alarm are also very efficient and user friendly, and have come in handy many times.
All in all, this is one of the best electronics I own. I would definately reccomend it to anyone. Also, register your tracfone online and they will email you a lot of free minutes. This is a free promotion that every tracfone owner should take advantage of!!!!
9 Tracfone Customer Service is AWFUL
Do not buy Tracfone service. It's fine until you have a problem with the service and then you are in trouble. I had Tracfone service for 2 years. I had no problems with the phone during that time. When my phone, however, recently went dead and could not be recharged, things changed drastically. I could not get an answer from Tracfone customer service about if/how I could buy a new phone and roll my minutes to the new phone. The customer service reps didn't understand my question, couldn't answer it, or at times gave different answers on different days. I am switching to Virgin Mobile's pay as you go service. It's cheaper, the customer service reps are friendlier and definitely more knowledgeable.
10 Good phone with adequate, but not ideal, service.
The 2285 is a perfectly decent, if basic, phone. Here are a few things you'll want to consider before buying:
* When roaming outside your "home area," you get charged double minutes -- 2 for 1. I don't know how the person who posted a review earlier managed to travel from state-to-state without any roaming, because that's not possible on my model.
* After 10 seconds you get charged for a minute of time, even if the other person doesn't pick up. You'll want to get good at timing the rings if you're hoping to conserve minutes.
* The 2285 can be synced with a PC using a data cable, but not with a Mac -- at least as of the time of this review (August 2004).
* Even when you buy the phone cards with a lot of minutes, one-year service, and double minutes on future cards, the calls are expensive if you use the phone a lot. On the average, I'd say between 20-30 cents per minute. However, if you only use your phone occasionally, this can still be much cheaper than having a non-prepaid plan. It also means fewer surprises; I've found a lot of cell companies do not give you accurate bills. (Sprint is especially egregious -- charging customers for services that are supposed to be included. Read your bill, folks...)
All in all, I'm relatively happy with the phone -- it is what it is. I bought it to tide me over until some company issues my dream phone, at the right price, with an incredible rate plan.
11 Good Phone, BAD SERVICE
I have had a Nokia Tracfone for 2 months and have had nothing but trouble with the Tracfone service. The phone itself is fine, it is a good little phone for the money. However, I have had to make multiple calls to Tracfone over the two months of ownership. This last time I called because the phone would dial out automatically to a company called Roam America and ask for a credit card before I could make a call. I called Tracfone and they said that my numbers are mismatched and that I would need to call back tomorrow because the department that handles this issue is only open between 9-6ET. Also, beware the service will switch to roaming without notice, pinging you for double the points. Oh well, you live and learn.
12 TracFone doesn't care about customers - Nokia Rocks though
TracFone customer service is horrible. I bought a TracFone and 1 year of service with 260 minutes in February, 2004. My phone worked for 3 weeks and then stopped receiving incoming calls. I can still make outgoing calls, but when someone calls me they get an error message before any rings even happen.
I have contacted TracFone and the FCC regarding this matter and TracFone has been HORIBBLE. They don't care at all. If I send them an email, they tell me to call customer service. If I call customer service, they tell me to send an email. No one wants to help solve the problem.
I would stay as far away from TracFone as possible. AT&T GoPhones are pretty good and the Virgin Mobile pre-paid uses the Sprint system so it's not too bad either.
Also, I urge you to do this. Call customer service of TracFone, AT&T, and Virgin BEFORE YOU BUY YOUR PHONE and see how easy it is to get a human and if that person speaks the English language as their native tongue. In the many attempts I've made to TracFone's customer service, each time I get an operator it is someone who can barely speak English and their background surroundings are VERY loud. It's hard to understand and hear them. I believe this company is run very poorly.
13 The TracFone service, and the Nokia 2285
I agree with most of the previous reviews on TracFone. It is a great wireless service if you're not planning on talking too much. Minutes aren't cheap, but there are many deals available so you should have no trouble finding the right one for you. Before you buy a TracFone and commit yourself to their service, I recommend doing some research and reading through as many reviews as you can find, because while it is a good service, wonderful for emergency purposes, it is definately not for everyone. You need to be very patient, because there are a few drawbacks where time is concerned. During activation, there is a huge sequence of numbers that you are required to punch into the keypad, and everytime you redeem airtime, you go through the same process. Overall though, I find that there are really no huge problems or hassles to deal with. At least not with this phone, the Nokia 2285.
Reception is great, and I find that almost everywhere I go, even in this small town, I have great signal and the service is always available. The free voice mail is a much appreciated perk as well.
The Nokia 2285 phone is a good mobile phone with some nice features. It can actually double as an organizer, if you plan on using it for anything other than conversational purposes. The games don't cost you any airtime, so the only thing you are using when you access the other features of the phone is battery power. Units are only subtracted when you make or recieve a call, or use text messaging. I've actually found that this phone helps me stay organized in more ways than one. It's a great tool, for a reasonable amount of money.
Also, I've done quite a bit of research on TracFone, before I myself decided to buy one, so I know a good deal about the service and can probably answer a few troubleshooting questions if you're having problems with customer service. =)
I guess I'm going to do as everyone else here has done, and offer to refer new customers to the service to earn us some free airtime. We will each get 100 minutes, $30 worth of airtime, for no cost. It's a win-win situation for both of us, and I find that it is a good way to save you some cash.
Feel free to contact me at silverwingc@yahoo.com for a referral, or questions. I check my e-mail several times a day, and will be glad to help anyone out there in need of it. :)Thanks, everyone! Hope my review helped!
14 Tracfone; The phone that just makes perfect sense
This is one great digital cell phone for the money that lets you have a great sense of security for when you our your love ones are on the road.
This phone is the most practical way to be safe and stay in touch with each and everyone of your love ones.
This prepaid plan is good for anyone who wants a nice phone that has nice features and dont need a ton of minutes to talk on. For more info visit http://www.Tracfone.com
I bought two of these phones for my daughters from Amazon for less than $75 for the pair so they can easily contact mom or dad if an emergency should arise.
We recieved the phones in less than a week and I activated it each phone on the internet in 15 minutes and recieved 20 bonus minutes for each phone for doing so.
Since my daughters are will be traveling to and from college dad and I tested the phones by driving up to our daughters college campus and I can safely state we always had a good signal with no roaming the entire time which was more than one hour away from our residence. The reception was always quite excellent.
Another great feature my husband and I love about this phone is the abilty of the phone to display the number of minutes left in the bank right on the main display screen. This is great so we can purchase additional minutes for each of our daughters without being too much of hassle for them.
It also includes voice mail, call waiting, caller ID. You can setup and access your voicemail from a regular phone and never use your prepaid minutes.
So far we have found the battery life is quite long because a digital phone uses very little power.
To add more minutes to your phone you simply purchase tracfone cards and punch in a few codes and 'voila' the minutes are added. I find the cards are not too expensive you can buy cards in various minute combinations.
Start out with a 20$ card which is the cheapest or you can go up to 150$ card which is the most expensive which you will receive double minutes.
Thanks for reading my review and if you have any additional questions before you buy or activiate feel free to contact me at my husbands e-mail address: rvegola@comcast.net
Also If you want to get 100 free minutes just email me at rvegola@comcast.net and I will make sure you get an email with a code for 100 free minutes.
Do not activate your phone until you have this code. This is the referral promotion from Tracfone and is the only way to get your free 100 minutes.
15 Love the service, hate the phone
We actually have had 4 tracfones in this family & have been with the company almost from its start. Service from the company has improved dramatically during this time; calls to the company are now answered quickly, the website always works, all much improved. The only real downside at this point is what a pain it is to add time online--so sloooow. Requires a commitment of at least 15-30 minutes of time without fail, at least on a dial-up connection. Some family members now have Virgin Mobile where they essentially just push a button and Virgin sends more time--until tracfone can do that, Virgin might be the better company.
Cost of this type of phone is reasonable when you consider that your actual comparable cost of any other cellular plan should be the total monthly bill, with all those taxes and extra charges, divided by the number of minutes you actually used. We refigure this often and for our usage we always come out better with this service or Virgin Mobile.
BUT this particular little phone stinks. Many dropped calls, doesn't send or receive text mails like it should, lousy reception in fringe areas where previous tracfones were fine, battery doesn't last as long as it claims it should, no port for an external antenna. Some of these problems could be due to the carrier tracfone is using in our area (Verizon) but that has always been my tracfone carrier and these are new problems since I bought this phone. Target has a 90 day return policy on these and I intend to take it back. Just wish I knew which tracfone would be better--we are pretty sick of our big clunky Nokia 5200's, but man, they were reliable.
16 Not good for those who live and work in different areas . .
Because of the random way in which Tracfone's local calling areas are assigned, my town, Emmett, Idaho (a bedroom community for the much larger city of Boise, 30 miles away) is not in the same local calling area as Boise. Therefore, those of us who work in Boise and live in Emmett are faced with a dilemma: Do we choose to roam while at home or while at work? (Calls cost twice as much when roaming.) I chose to roam while at home. Unfortunately, I've had the phone for three weeks and have yet to receive roaming service, despite more than a dozen calls to the Tracfone service center. These very polite but very puzzled people couldn't seem to figure out a solution to my problem. Finally, I called the Office Depot where I purchased the phone and was told that in order to roam, you need to punch in a certain code while in your local calling area, then turn the phone off for at least 30 minutes. After that you'll have roaming ability until you return to your local calling area again. This procedure must be repeated every time you want to roam, which in the case of a commuter is every day ~ not exactly convenient. Why the Tracfone service center reps didn't tell me this is a mystery. Anyway, caveat emptor to potential Tracfone buyers ~ it's a good deal if you don't need to use the phone outside of your local calling area very often, but a pain in the neck if you do. And be sure to look at the local calling area maps in the Tracfone.com website before committing yourself ~ you might be in for an unpleasant surprise.
17 good for the money
I bought this phone at walmart for $40.00 dollars and i got the free air time that came with it and i did the refer a friend to get a 100 extra minutes "units". The only thing that i dont like is the fact that my area doesnt support text messaging otherwise i like the phone alot.
18 My Opinion
This specific model of tracfone is nice but, it does have a few flaws. For example, there are very few websites that allow you to find free ring tones as to where the other models have quite a few websites. Although, the small light weight size of the phone makes it convienent to carry around and not make it look noticeable. There are many nice features as far as the calendar, organizer, games, phone book in detail, etc.
19 Horrible Service from Tracfone
One afternoon last week I discovered the cell phone number given to me a year ago had stopped working. Overnight I was unable to call the number from my land line and get messages or forward calls from home to the cell phone. Tracfone customer service blamed the carrier and did not resolve the problem after many many calls and complaints. They basically do not care if you have problems with their product. No one speaks english sufficiently enough to communicate with. After a week of not being able to use the phone to get voice mail or forward calls from home I was forced to throw it away. I would think long and hard before signing up with Tracfone. Buyer beware!
