Oooh a shiny new friend all for me! Thank you! Thanks to everyone who has read my Izzie review and t...
Oooh a shiny new friend all for me! Thank you! Thanks to everyone who has read my Izzie review and the others, I am working to return the reads :) Thank you! Lou.xxxx
Member since:11.05.2003
Reviews:64
Members who trust:35
Sony Ericsson C510 Phone
About a month ago I was sitting here doing my usual "spend too much time on Facebook" when one of the little ad's at the side of the page caught my eye for a free phone with certain traffifs on 3 network, having been on O2 for ages I was slightly wary of 3 as I have heard bad press about them, but I decided to have a look anyway and after reading about this C510 phone I decided to give them a go. Within 2 days I had my new phone delivered and was busy setting it up, ready to discover a Sony Ericsson with a difference.
The phone loaded up as a normal mobile does, after waiting a few minutes I started making my way through the menus and slowly personalising it. The first thing I noticed was the Menu screen is almost identical to the previous Sony Ericsson phones I have had, the menu screen consists of the following:
The 12 main areas of the main menu screen are:
• Messaging • Media • Alarms • Contacts • Radio • Calls • Organizer • Settings • Planet 3 • Favourites • Entertainment • Cyber-Shot (Camera)
Messaging The messaging area is the area for when you want to send texts, multimedia messages and emails (if your network allows you to). To typ a text you are given the choice of non-predictive or predictive texting, I personally prefer predictive just because I find it a lot quicker, although when you try and type a word that isn't in the phones' dictionary it can take a little longer as you have to type the word in using non predictive text. Other than that very minor detail the messaging area is simple and easy to navigate.
Media The Media area is a shortcut for viewing your photos, videos and listening to any music you have uploaded to the phone. There is a settings area where you have the option to view the above in portrait
or landscape mode, however if you tilt the phone on its side in this mode you will find that the image flips on its side too. This feature was new to me on this phone and I have to admit that it kept me amused for a little while!
Alarms The alarms area is as it sounds really, you will find 5 seperate alarms each with its own settings are for selecting an alarm tune, volume, snooze time and the days you want them to go off on. I found the alarm to be quite sufficient enough to wake me without the need for any other alarm.
Contacts. Contacts section you will find all your phone numbers. Contacts has a settings area where you can choose how your contacts and numbers are displayed and also add details such as 2nd phone numbers, email addresses and personal addresses. Easy to use and navigate with the bonus that contacts can be sent via bluetooth so when you do decide to change your handset then you can simply bluetooth your contacts across if you don't have them saved to your sim card.
Radio If you have a set of Sony Ericsson headphones you can plug them into your phone and listen to the radio. I have tried this option and found it easy to tune in and store the stations I like, the sound quality is pretty decent too. I dont use this function very often though as I prefer to use my mp3 player instead.
Calls Theres not a lot to say about the calls area other than you will simply find a list of all your Dialled, Received and Missed calls and the times that these calls were made.
Organiser The Organiser contains your My Stuff folder, Video Call, Calendar, Tasks, Notes, Synchronisation, Timer, Stopwatch, Calculator and Code Memo. I wont go into them all in detail as they're all simple and easy to use little extras really. The My Stuff folder gives you access to pictures, videos, ringtones, themes and most things which you have stored on your memory.As I have said in a previous Sony Ericsson review I have mixed feelings about Code Memo and I don't use it as this is where you use the phones memory to store important personal numbers, credit card details, pin numbers etc, all protected by a security code which you choose. I have used the video call area simply to see if it was any better than the last time I had video calling and to be fair the picture quality was a big improvement but I still felt ridiculous so I haven't used it since!
Settings This is the area for changing any tones, volume, call settings, times and dates, Bluetooth, display settings, and so forth. Basically if you need to make a setting change to anything on your phone but your not sure where to go then this is the place.
Planet 3 Planet 3 is the area of my phone where I can log onto 3's website and check information about my bill, check my current bill and see my remaining call allowance and messages aswell as browse the Planet 3 pages for any downloadable items.
Favorites OK, this is possibly the most used area of my phone as this contains all what I would view as the best features. To start with when I got this phone part of my contract deal was unlimited free internet and MSN, and the Favourites area is the place to find these applications among quite a few others which I have recently found out are also free for me to use. The 3 Favourites area gives you free (depending on your service plan) access to Google, Yahoo, Skype, Email, MSN, Bebo, Facebook, You Tube, Myspace, BBC, Various games sites, Ebay and My3. My main uses are Facebook, which is pretty simple to use, you just log in when prompted and providing you select to save then your log in information will be stored and next time you click in you will be automatically logged in, once logged in it is kind of like a mini version of Facebook with a news feed and links to photos and profiles. Obviously services are limited however it is a great way to stay upto date! I dont really use any of the other features in this area, simply because if I did then I would constantly be using my phone as there is so much choice. I did find it useful though when I was camping as I was able to read and send emails as well as have a little chat on msn while relaxing by the tent. At this point I'd like to point out that other than feeling like you are constantly typing a text message then msn feature is almost as good as the real version and it even shows display pictures!
Entertainment In Entertainment you will find even more links to the features already mentioned such as Facebook and Email. Aswell as this you will find Video DJ, Photo DJ and Music DJ, these areas all allow you to pick your item (photo, video, music) and edit it, this can be amusing to have a play with but it's nothing special! There is also a Location Services area which gives you acess to Google Maps, I have literally only just discovered this while writing about it here and have just had a play to see what it is like and to be honest it is like having google maps off your computer except it's on your phone, you can even ask it for directions! OK I'm going to stop playing now as I'm getting distracted!
Cyber-Shot Lastly we have the camera. The camera is a Cyber-Shot 3.2 Mega Pixel one. You can access the camera by either using the menu key or by sliding the shutter on the back of the phone to the side to reveal the lens. The camera is simple to use, it options for self-timers, black & white, frames, multi shot and a settings part for things such as shutter sounds and quality settings. The quality of the photos taken is excellent, however you cannot zoom in while taking a photo unless you change the setting toVGA which unfortunatly makes the picture more grainy. The Video record funtion is also very high quality too, I have recently been to see Pink and Girls Aloud at the NIA in Birmingham and I got some fantastic videos of them along with very clear sound quality.
** Other Information **
Now we've got the main part of the phone out of the way I'll just quickly cover anything I might have missed such as Bluetooth and USB cables. The phone comes with built in Bluetooth, which is simple to use and a great way of sharing pictues and ringtones without the expensive data charges you would get for sending them as a message. When I got this phone it came complete with a USB cable which enables me to be able to remove and add files such as pictures and music with the ease of simply plugging in the USB cable and following the on screen intructions. This is overall a fairly simple procedure.
The Battery life on this phone is very good, it lasts me for about 3 days with almost constant use due to it having facebook and facebook being my addiction! Using the camera can drain the battery life a lot quicker if used constantly as I have done in the past on nights out and things.
Problems So far (touch wood) I have encountered no problems with this phone and I am really pleased with its performance and all it's features.
Overall All in all I think this phone looks great, it is lightweight and slim, there are some fantastic features including a great camera. So far this phone is performing well to all of my needs and I would give it a big thumbs up and recomend it to anyone :) Thanks for reading :)
Pictures of Sony Ericsson C510 Cybershot
Sony Ericsson C510 Cybershot
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Love Sony Ericsson phones ... spent a year with a Samsung and am counting the days till upgrade time !!! Fantastic review ... will return with an "E" for you (please remind me).
Advantages: Strong signal reception, long long battery life, internet with a wide range of features Disadvantages: Small buttons, irritating dictionary feature.
Advantages: Strong signal reception, long long battery life, internet with a wide range of features Disadvantages: Small buttons, irritating dictionary feature.
Advantages: A great phone, good features. If you like Sony Ericsson phones then you'll like this Disadvantages: Not great picture quality. No Free Games. Not many extras on the phone
exceptional by (9%):
very helpful by (91%):
