I know what you mean. Though I don't care particulary for the camera in my Nokia 7650, I do like it's colour screen. It's just a nice addition. I don't think I would ever buy a phone that has a monochrome screen again.

I have found no phone with a colour screen with battery life even 2/3 of my 6210i. I have also never found one with a clear, sharp screen - and I have been through the entire Nokia and Ericsson ranges.

I see no need for pictures, games or anything like that - I just want to see the number I'm calling, and for it to be a phone.

You wouldn't think I am generally seen as a 'gadget boy' or early adopter of technology, would you? I just need it to have some functionality I need.

My old Ericsson T39m had a greenish screen which was mostly readable but pretty small. My new Nokia 5100 has a larger color screen that I run almost entirely with black text on a white background. It's easier to read my calendar entries and to select and dial numbers while in a bouncy car. Battery life for the two phones is about the same.

I turned off the silly color wallpaper and I deleted the Java games. I need all that extra memory for contacts and calendar entries.

My concern with current cel phones is the general shoddy construction. Back in the old days, when cel phones were heavier, they were tanks. Drop 'em. Smash 'em. They were built to last. Most new phones have squeaky plastic cases. My aforementioned Ericsson fell three feet to a concrete sidewalk and it nuked the microphone. After that, I could only talk using a headset. Grumble. If it worked in the U.S., I'd probably want a Nokia 8910i. If you put comparable guts into a Vertu body and didn't charge thousands of dollars for it, that would also be attractive.

That is another one of the reasons I like the nokia 5110, 6110, 6210 style. They are so much more robust than the competition. I have seen one killed by dropping into a vat of diesel, and one of my kids managed some good damage with a bradawl, but basically they are tough as old boots.

The N-Gage:

the screen is pretty good, certainly better than my 3560, and it has some nice built in features, BTH, tri band, radio, MP3 and the game engine, but it lasted less than a day before being packed up and put in my desk.

Pros:
- The game engine is pretty good, I got Tomb Raider with mine and it is certainly playable, if you are the type of person who normally carries a gamebay or similar this could be great for you.
- built in BTH, so you can connect to stuff, only I don't have any other BTH stuff so it is not much use to me. If this was a phone I was using I would get a BTH headset as you look a moron using it without a headset (see cons)
- the built in MP3 player and radio could be good, only I have a Karma, so I don't need another MP3 player.
- Build appears good, keys have reasonable feedback, and it feels reasonably solid, but I only used it for a few hours so I don't know how it would hold up long term.

Cons:
- No keyguard - I looked everywhere, I even read the manual, but I still cannot find it.
- You look like a moron when you make calls on it without using a headset, due to the earpiece and mic locations you need to hold it with the thin edge of the phone aginst your head, check this out for a more accurate idea.
- The games are on MMC size cards, and you have to turn off the phone and remove the battery to change games.
- Only one MMC slot, not a big deal, only the MP3 player has no memory of its own, so it needs MMC memory, so you have the choice of music or game.
- The voice recorder also needs MMC memory to store stuff.

Conclusion:
I am not a game player, I only use my PS2 for watching DVDs, so why would I want to carry a portable gaming device round with me, just give me a smaller phone, and this one can stay in my desk.