V600 speakerphone and voice record

I started using a V600 I picked up from cheap, a decent phone for me, but jumping back to an older phone, things were a little different back then I guess. I cannot find speakerphone (commonly called integrated handsfree speaker) and it will not let me record voice.

In a call it doesnt give the SPEAKER on the right soft key, even though it is mentioned in the manual.

could my S/W, flash, flex, etc havbe anything to do with this? Can someone recommend the best MP, flash, flex, ect for an unlocked phone? I'm using TRIPLETS_G_0B.09.45R (B/L 07.D0) flex SE6424AXXT11D4

Now that my phone is unlocked, can someone recommend the best firmware to get the most out of my phone? I'm assuming it would be the newest of each, or at least the newest flex would help me?

All I require is that my phone remain unlocked.

thanke everyone, Andrew

ok, to anyone whos wondering whats was wrong, I checked the firware, and it was both a flash and flex that i ahd put on thet in attempt to hlp unlock my phone, and they werent even on the firmware collection list for the triplets,. dont aslk me where i got it, but I upgraded and although I dont get great reception, everything is running smoothly, voice record and speakerphoner shortcuts are working perfectly! if only i can find a way to listen to voice records on the speakerphone (as you would a mp3 ringer)