Sony Ericsson W810i/300i

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Level 5

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Sony Ericsson W810i/300i

I read some of the threads from last year about the Sony Ericsson W810i. I'd like to wait for the iPhone, but I need a new phone now. Are people having good luck syncing this phone? Also, unrelated to syncing, is the call quality & reception as good as the reviews I've been reading say it is? Any input of any kind about this phone would be greatly appreciated. I was also considering the Sony Ericsson 300i, but reviews say the camera is terrible. I don't really care about a camera because I have a very nice Canon digital, but if the phone must have a camera, I want it to take usable photos.

iMac G5 PPC 20" 2GHz, 2GB Ram/400GB HD, iMac G4 15" 800MHz, Mac OS X (10.4.8), Airport Express, OWC 320GB FWHD, iLife 06, QT7 Pro, JBL Encounters

Posted on Jan 25, 2007 9:00 AM

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Answer 1

Jan 25, 2007 9:21 AM in response to Joe Gramm

The W810i is natively supported by iSync and sync perfectly with Address Book and iCal. Multiple phone numbers, email addresses, home & work postal addresses, web address, birthdays and notes are all synced to the phone.

The W300i can be synced using an iSync Phone Plugin from here and works exactly the same as the W810i once the plugin is installed.

I've never had any issues with call quality and reception on any Sony Ericsson phones. But that is more down to your network provider in many cases.

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Answer 2

Joe Gramm Author

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6,440 points

Jan 25, 2007 9:38 AM in response to Julian Wright

Thanks Julian for the reply.
That's great to know about the syncing. I might wait to mark the post solved in the hopes that someone will post & give a give a quick review of the phone, especially with ease of use navigating the menus. I'm looking for something "Apple" like in that regards. The trouble is I need a phone soon & even if I did wait for the iPhone, who knows what the call quality will be, as that is my main criteria.

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Answer 3

Jan 25, 2007 12:01 PM in response to Joe Gramm

I currently use both a K800i and a K510i, and have previously used a T68, T610, K700 and K750.

Personally I think the navigation and menus of SE phones is the best, and definately most Mac-like.

The main menu is a grid of 3 x 4 icons, which you navigate using the joystick. Then subsequent menus are list, pretty much like the iPod.

The best way to see the navigation in action is to try it out for yourself with one of the Sony Ericsson simulators e.g:
http://www.sonyericsson.com/trythephone/w810/

Also, if you want to make your phone even more Mac-like, try installing one of my Mac OS X themes from here:
http://mobile.feisar.com/themes.html

Hope that helps,

Jools

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Answer 4

firman

Level 1

25 points

Jan 25, 2007 12:20 PM in response to Julian Wright

Hi,

Do any of you know if its possible to move itunes music to the W810i using bluetooth (or any other method).

cheers
eric

PS. iSync worked first time.

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Answer 5

Joe Gramm Author

Level 5

6,440 points

Jan 25, 2007 1:33 PM in response to Julian Wright

Jools,
That's great. I think I'll go for it, but I will try the simulator first & look at your themes.

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Answer 6

Joe Gramm Author

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6,440 points

Jan 25, 2007 1:37 PM in response to Joe Gramm

Sorry, initially marked the wrong post Solved. I meant to mark Jools post as solved.

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Answer 7

Joe Gramm Author

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Jan 25, 2007 3:33 PM in response to Julian Wright

Julian I wrote to the moderator about marking the wrong post with a star, when I meant to mark yours. The star can not be removed, so I gave you 2 helpfuls instead. Sorry.

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Answer 8

mrtotes

Level 6

11,836 points

Jan 26, 2007 6:36 AM in response to Joe Gramm

I've just this week got a W810i (since the iPhone won't be here until at least Q4). The Syncing with iSync works just fine and I'm very happy with the device as a phone. I've just taken a photo as I sit here as an example (having transferred it via BT) - not great; I shall be carrying my 7.2Mpx Casio when I need to take photos!

Click to enlarge

I can't get the send SMS via AddressBook feature to work yet though (it does on my older Ericsson T68 so I'm not sure what's wrong). I got mine for free on a £18pm for 12mth contract with 512Mb MSDuo included.

The bundled headphones are excellent and it plays .aac files (not the DRM ones); the FM radio works really well; it's small, light and feels a lot more robust than the T-Mobile MDAC it is replacing. I dislike the font used in the interface, but the images are very iLife-esque. Most of the custom 'Themes' on the web are unusable (this is probably because I'm used to beautiful cared-for UIs in OS X). You can transfer any files to the MSDuo card or the phone memory using Apple's BT File Exchange. If you connect it with the bundled USB cable it'll charge the phone and mount both the phone memory and the MSDuo card direct to the desktop.

mrtotes

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Answer 9

Jan 26, 2007 6:53 AM in response to mrtotes

SMS via Address Book requires a enabler for the latest Sony Ericsson handsets. They are not supported by default like your T68i. It's available here:

http://mobile.feisar.com/addressbook.html

Have you actually tried any of my Mac OS X Themes? All are very usable, and highly regarded by users!

http://mobile.feisar.com/themes.html

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Answer 10

Joe Gramm Author

Level 5

6,440 points

Jan 26, 2007 7:51 AM in response to mrtotes

As for the photo, I'm surprised because the W810i is suppose to have one of the best cameras in a phone. Is there a setting for action, because it looks like some movement in the shot.
As for syncing with my OS X address book, should I create a group folder of just the contacts I want sync with the phone.

I'm getting the phone today, so I'm asking these questions in advance. Sure I'll have more!

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Answer 11

Jan 26, 2007 8:02 AM in response to Joe Gramm

Yes, its always better to sync a sub-set (group) of your Contacts in Address Book.

Also, make sure that all your contacts have both a first name and a last name in Address Book.

Once you're happy with all your Address Book data, do a backup before syncing for the first time, and choose the 'Overwrite on first sync' option, not the 'merge' option in iSync.

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Answer 12

mrtotes

Level 6

11,836 points

Jan 26, 2007 8:15 AM in response to Julian Wright

Julian,

I've just bought your patch - many thanks - actually before I saw your reply; after posting in this thread it got me searching. So the SMS part is fixed. I'd wish Apple to do it but I wouldn't want to wish you out of pocket.

The theme is outstanding. Absolutely excellent, far better than the bundled ones and unlike most on the net I've found this week I can actually use it!

Many thanks and here's a star ★ (shame if can't help to get your L3).

Once again many thanks.

mrtotes

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Answer 13

Joe Gramm Author

Level 5

6,440 points

Jan 26, 2007 3:03 PM in response to Julian Wright

Any opinions as to buying the phone locked or unlocked. In the US, if I buy it from Cingular, the phone will end up costing about $20. vs $ 299. from Sony. Cingular only gives a 128 MB memory card vs 512 from Sony. I'll probably end up upgrading to 1G anyways. Any reason to go one way or the other, besides the price?

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Answer 14

mrtotes

Level 6

11,836 points

Jan 26, 2007 3:23 PM in response to Joe Gramm

I've got two T-Mobile UK icons on the 3 x 4 grid both for data services that I have no expectation of using. Unlocked, those annoyances wouldn't be there. Also an unlocked phone is worth a fair amount on ebay even a year later. 15mths ago I sold a 1yr old Nokia 6230 (which I unlocked myself when I wanted to use a Rogers SIM in Canada for a long trip) for £80 which considering I had not paid for it in the first place I was pretty happy with.

In the UK the 'Carphonewarehouse' sells discounted unlocked phones and they give you a Pay-As-You-Go sim card for whichever service provider will get you the lowest price for that phone which I did consider at £130. I'd go with the $20 buy the 1Gb card and then when you come to upgrade get the phone unlocked to up the retail value.

mrtotes

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Answer 15

Jan 26, 2007 3:37 PM in response to mrtotes

Even if you get a network locked and branded phone, there's always the possibility of unlocking it, and replacing the 'branded' firmware with the original generic Sony Ericsson firmware. (In this US particularly, unbranding may also re-instate features that had been removed by your network provider).

Unfortuately, you need a Windows PC to do this, but its straightforward and cheap. Have a look at the following third-party services:

www.wotanserver.com
www.davinciteam.com
www.totalmultiserver.com

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