My old man's a dustman...actually, he's not, but he used to be! Anyway, this year, I asked him what he wanted for Christmas, and he said "a new mobile phone". Obviously, I'm the guy who knows what phone to get someone right? Well, you'd think, but with such a huge variety of phones on the market, some more details on exactly what type of phone he'd like really wouldn't hurt! So I asked him: "what type of phone are you looking for?" "A slider" he says. No more details were forthcoming! So, with just this to go on, and a budget of about £120, it was my job to play Santa and get my Dad the phone he wants (even if he doesn't know what type of phone he wants!) See which phone I got my Dad for Christmas after the jump. When deciding what phone to get my Dad, I thought about the type of bloke he is. First up, he's a bloke's bloke. No metrosexualism for him, so designer phones like the LG Chocolate were out - too poncey! Second, he likes his gadgets. Doesn't matter if he knows how to use them, it's all about the features and the numbers - number of megapixels, size of memory, number of different gizmos squeezed into the gadget. Then I had to consider the amount of cash to spend - £120 for a Pay as you Go model (no contract for my Dad - he doesn't use a phone often enough to justify the monthly expense!). Oh, and of course it had to be a slider, as that's the one thing he did tell me he wanted.
So with all of this in mind, I finally found the perfect mobile phone for my Dad for Christmas: a Samsung D600. The D600 is not a new phone - in fact, it's over a year old. But with such a limited budget and the need for a Pay as you Go phone, options were limited. Where the D600 scores as far as my Dad is concerned is its looks and its features. Samsung's phones are almost brutally minimalist, with black chiselled features that make the phones look like they've been hewn from (black) granite. This gives them the type of manly appearance that would appeal to my Dad (in other words, it's not poncey!) Better still, being a Samsung, it's got more features than he'll ever know what to do with, so bragging rights will certainly be his. Two megapixel camera with lots of options, MPEG 4 video recording, MP3 player, TV-Out, office apps galore and big QVGA screen. You can even view Excel files on the D600 through your TV, and I know he's going to love that (he'll never use it mind, but he'll love it!) So, the Samsung D600 is the phone that I got him, and I'd recommend it for all Dads this Christmas who are like mine (i.e. Men of the Seventies ;) How much he likes it, I'll let you know after Christmas. The Samsung D600 that I got my Dad is currently on sale at Phones 4 U Pay as you Go for £120. Obviously this is a sponsored link, but it's where I got my Dad's phone from, so it's a genuine recommendation :)