... Camera phones have come down in price quite a bit recently - so much so that the Sony Ericsson T300 with the MCA-25 camera is now £100 (Orange Pay As You Go via mobileshop.com), compared to the £200 you'd have paid around Christmas. I decided to slightly overspend on a new gadget to ease the ... Read review
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...so much so that the Sony Ericsson T300 with the MCA-25 camera is now £100 (Orange Pay As You Go via mobileshop.com), compared to the £200 you'd have paid around Christmas. I decided to slightly overspend on a new gadget to ease the pain of phone theft a little!
APPEARANCE/ BUILD
Let's be honest... we all look at appearance first and features later, since so many phones are so similar now. Personally, I think the unique, ... ...also-rans in the mobile market, Sony Ericsson have come out with something that's sleek and almost space age! You'll be lucky to find a baby blue version anywhere, but even with the dodgily named 'Mystical Green' (read: black) housing, this phone is still an attractive object in its own right.
The keypad consists of all the usual buttons, plus a tiny joystick (yes, really!) and an odd slider switch on the left-hand side. Presumably ... more
Having recently had a phone stolen I started looking around for a replacement. Camera phones have come down in price quite a bit recently - so much so that the Sony Ericsson T300 with the MCA-25 camera is now £100 (Orange Pay As You Go via mobileshop.com), compared to the £200 you'd have paid around Christmas. I decided to slightly overspend on a new gadget to ease the pain of phone theft a little!
APPEARANCE/ BUILD
Let's be honest... we all look at appearance first and features later, since so many phones are so similar now. Personally, I think the unique, chubby, rounded design of the phone is surely it's greatest asset. In a sea of ugly, chunky Nokias and all the other nondescript also-rans in the mobile market, Sony Ericsson have come out with something that's sleek and almost space age! You'll be lucky to find a baby blue version anywhere, but even with the dodgily named 'Mystical Green' (read: black) housing, this phone is still an attractive object in its own right.
The keypad consists of all the usual buttons, plus a tiny joystick (yes, really!) and an odd slider switch on the left-hand side. Presumably the slider replaces Sony's previous brilliant invention, the jog wheel, found on earlier Sony mobiles and other products like MiniDisc recorders. I prefer the joystick over the jog wheel for novelty value and intuitiveness, but I have yet to find a practical use for the little slider switch. The keypad buttons are a little strange (tiny and oval-shaped) and if you're used to a Nokia they'll probably take a little getting used to.
Build quality of the phone is excellent though. All parts a smooth and solid, and fasten with a solid, satisfying meaty 'click'.
FEATURES
The T300 is a typical mid-range mobile with a colour screen, group features, multimedia messaging (an expensive version of SMS that allows you to create animations with sound and send them to friends via their mobile or their email address) and diary. It has all the usual bells and whistles - some useful, some not. Ringtones are the usual (mono and polyphonic)... sadly no hi-fi tones, although I did find those became an embarassing novelty on my last phone.
One feature I do like is digital voice recorder, where the phone can record calls or general speech. However, because there is no speakerphone function on the phone, memos and calls can only be played back through the earpiece, so the use of this feature is slightly limited. It's an interesting and potentially useful gadget.
And another thing - my favourite feature so far - is the built in IMAP client! It synchs perfectly with my webmail at FastMail.FM, and although I haven't tested any other services, I'm sure it would work just as well. I can't believe a phone at this level has IMAP capability, and I'm already wondering how I ever lived without it. For the technophobe, a 'normal' POP client is also included.
It's also worth mentioning that the phone is fully GPRS enabled, so all browsing/email can be set up this way and potentially save you a lot of time and money.
One thing I am a bit worried about is the memory allocation on the phone. Deleting items does not always free up all the memory it should; viewing pictures stores them in a 'cache' which cannot be cleared. Apparently this is a recognised bug.
Of course, the main feature of this phone is the MCA-25 Communicam, a tiny camera attachment which clips onto the base of the phone. The camera is bundled with the phone as standard now, and it's worth making sure you're getting the camera because it can cost up to £130 separately - more than both items cost me in the first place!
IMAGES
It's worth covering the MCA-25 camera on its own, I think; it's something I was interested in before I bought the phone, but there's not a lot of information about it online.
Once the camera is clipped on, you can use either the simple viewfinder on the camera or the phone screen to frame your images, and one of three buttons to take the picture, depending on the way you're viewing it and what feels most natural to you. The way images are displayed on-screen reminds me very much of the Gameboy camera - a jerky preview which looks pretty awful on the 256colour screen. Thankfully the end result (viewed on a PC) looks much better. Like the Gameboy camera, you can also add cartoony frames to your pictures, if the mood takes you.
The camera has its own internal memory which stores 10-100+ photos, depending on the resolution you choose (highest is 640x480 - lowest is 80x60). Pictures in daylight (outdoors or in a room with big windows!) are clear, crisp and a lot better than I had expected. Indoor pictures in low light are grainy, and the camera struggles to pick up detail in the dark. With the pixelly screen adding to the murky images, you may as well not bother.
Images can be transferred to your PC via infra-red without any additional software, or emailed/ sent via MMS to friends (costs up to 30p to email with GPRS, 40p to send via MMS).
I'm happy with the camera. The phone doesn't have enough memory, but the camera's additional memory partially makes up for that.
CONCLUSION
I really like this phone.
The one major niggle is the delay in the keypresses, which make the phone a chore to use when in a rush. Also, the ringtones are FAR too quiet - by the time you've realised the phone is ringing, you've missed the call! This has happened more times than I care to mention.
Still, the T300 is well designed, well thought out and still great value for money. If you want a camera phone on a budget, you won't get much better.
-- update, june 2003 ---
I still really like my phone. Inevitably the gimmicky things like screensavers, voice recording etc have not been used much. The case has also proved to be a little prone to marking, I might have to invest in a new one soon.
I'm also not using the camera as much as I expected. This is partly because it comes off - it's easier to leave it at home because it takes up so much extra room and makes it impossible to put the phone in your pocket and sit down without the camera 'snapping' off. I have since seen a friend's £300 Samsung phone, with built in camera, and the screen is infinitely clearer and images are much sharper. His is an expensive model, but makes full use of photo messaging. This Sony Ericsson phone is a budget version and does not display pictures clearly at all (although once transferred to a PC, they look fine).
Still happy with my purchase, though, and still confident I made the best choice.
Advantages: Cool retro design Disadvantages: Camera not internal
...a detachable camera,or communicam as Sony Ericsson like to call it, this takes some rather ropey pictures, and is no replacement for a conventional cameras but is still fun for taking non-important ad hoc snaps.
The pictures taken are slightly grainy in quality and you need good lighting to take a picture that you can actually see, however, once taken the pictures can be stored in your phones memory, or sent via MMS to another MMS phone.
By the ... ...beyond a text message. An MMS can consist of a photo or short animation and sound, with the T300 you can even make a short recording of your own voice and forward it as parrt of the message.
If the person you are sending the MMS to doesn't have an MMS capable phone they will be sent a text message containing a password directing them to a website where they can view the message. The phone has an menu that is really easy to navigate, one click of ...
tyrone 19.04.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sony Ericsson T300
Advantages: Kewl Funky Fone Disadvantages: Does get warm when talking and picture memory
I had to eventually get a new fone as my last one was basically falling apart would run out of battery after less than an hour!
so decided to get myself a nicer fone and one that might actually stay in fashion for a little but longer!
Ive found that the fone is good fun! i havent registered it as a WAP fine yet though i keep forgettin!
Size and shape are prety reasonable! and i find that even after having the fone for a few months there are other ... ...havent noticed before!
loads of features....
Comes with 4 games which after you have played them awhile get boring ...but on the positive you can downnload more from the site!
Has WAP services which i havent had a chance to use yet! but i can imagine it may get quite expensive!
the phone book holds about 250 peoples numbers which is an added bonus! txt msgs can be saved aswell and it stores msgs you recieve in memeory so you can keep more than ...
ew2000_uk 28.03.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sony Ericsson T300
Advantages: feature-packed Disadvantages: not the best-looking phone
...The joystick is characterisic of Sony Ericsson phones. The 5D movement of the joystick helps you navigate menus very easily and I think i will miss it if i were ever to buy another Nokia.
A main selling point of this phone is its picture messaging capability. It is only possible to send picture messages with the camera attachment of course. Pictures taken with the camera show up on the screen like a horrific mess to be honest, but once transferred ... ...The 256 colour screen is a breath of fresh air from older monocolour phones but isn't anything stunningly good. That said, the phone wouldn't be the same without it and it does make the overall 'phone experience' a little more enjoyable.
Another big selling point for the T300 is its 24-channel polyphonic ringtones. They sound great. When you can hear them. They are easily drowned out by the slightest of noise - that's why vibration alert should ...
theman_uk_2k 20.06.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sony Ericsson T300
Advantages: It does what a phone should do Disadvantages: The annoying cursor
...I decided to try the Sony Ericsson T300.
I guess the main reason for this choice was for the colour display, which at the time sounded impressive. It had additional features such as tri band and the design of a cursor that made it stand out from its rivals. It has an optional plug in camera, polyphonic ringtones that to me sound ‘gay’, a changeable front cover, and the option to share images and themes through the infrared feature.
Its colour display ... ...when using the camera it’s not very impressive. Especially when the price of the camera was over the £100, you can buy a good digital camera for the same price (see my opinion on trust 820 LCD). It has WAP which phones would look out of date if they didn’t have. To me it’s not worth it as how often do you seriously use it? I maybe do once a month and that’s only to check the local train times etc. Other features that are there but never used is multimedia ...
dd4ag 19.05.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sony Ericsson T300
Advantages: Makes me look hard. Disadvantages: It doesn't make me hard.
...I bought meself a Sony Ericsson T300, which sounds more like a Dr Who villain than something I should carry in my pocket, but ho hum. The man told me it was good, so it must be. Right? Well...yeah, it is fairly good. Just takes some getting used to.
The phone was released last year as the masculine alternative to the popular T68i. Being as butch and full-to-the-brim with testosterone as me, I feel that this phone is a very suitable attachment to ... ...I had punched him square in the face first. Obviously.
The handset is about 4 inches long and 1.5 inches wide, about the size of a garden pixie. About the same weight as well. You can get facias in a dark brooding green or a deep pensive red. Nothing girly and pink or light blue, no siree. I quite like the look of the phone; it has a very ‘retro’ feel to it, almost like a small 70s remote control. It has all sorts of excting things on it, like...buttons ...
spob 07.02.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sony Ericsson T300
Look & Feel
Durability & Robustness
Battery standby time
Value for money
Range of features
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this accessory came free with my sony ericsonn t68i, and i can see why... the photos it takes are shabby, low resolution, and terrible, i can hardly make out what they are meant to be and they inevitably get deleted moments after creation, horribly pixellated. the only possible advantage i can see is its attractiveness, like most sonyericsson products it is nice to look at. but i see little point in wasting £50 on a duff accessory, i would reccomend saving the money and putting it towards a new phone, the new range of sony ericcson's produce infinitely superior photos, or maybe get a cheap little digital camera, there are many reviewed on this site. in three words: DO NOT BUY! ...
Advantages: Great user interface, good looker, sony ericsson, walkman Disadvantages: usual sony ericsson faults
Having been a sonyericsson user mainly all my life, i know the strengths and weakness of the company. Unfortunately, i think the sonyericsson w800 has become a stereotype of sonyericsson weaknesses. Having had the sonyericssonT610 and the T300 gradually break during usage, and seeing this happen to my friends T610 also, i would have thought that SonyEricsson would have fised the problem. The joystick on all sonyericssons will break at some point in time of the phones life.
Having said all this, the phone does have many good qualities. For example, the innovation of actually having a walkman on the phone is a great idea, not that i use it as much as i should, but the walkman is of great quality, and you can store many songs on the memory stick. Having a 2 mega pixel camera on the phone can also come in very handy. Just ...
Advantages: everything that you will need for a small price Disadvantages: no bluetooth, not 3G
I got my phone around Christmas after my SonyEricssonT300 was becoming out of date and the battery seemed to be faulty. I brought my phone in a high street store, not a specialist phone shop and it cost £80, after getting it out of the box and playing around with its features from the camcorder and camera to its Java games like super real tennis I found I liked this phone more that I anticipated. It was meant to hold me over until I had the money to buy a new mobile, but with its sunning large screen easy to navigate (sonyericsson) menu it was everything that I looked for in specs and looks. Its MMS (multi media messaging) is tricky to set up, but once sorted, fun to send photos or even movie clips of where you are to friends and family. This phone is worth having as a mid-range option suited to all ages. It also can withstand being ...
Normal, Meeting, In car, Outdoors, Portable H-free, Home, Office
Additional Features
Intelligent Typing (T9), SIM application toolkit (STK), picture editor, closed user groups, photo album, downloadable JAVA applications, melody composer
Phone memory
Phone Book Capacity
250 names & numbers
SIM Card Based Directory
200 names & numbers
Missed Calls Memory
10
Dialed Calls Memory
10
Received Calls Memory
10
Messaging & data services
Cellular Messaging Services
MMS, EMS, Nokia Smart Messaging, SMS
Supported SMS Functions
SMS Chat, concatenated SMS
Mobile Email Client
Built-in
Supported Email Protocols
POP3, IMAP4, SMTP
Data/Fax Capability
Built-in
GPRS (General Packet Radio Service)
Built-in
High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD)
Built-in
Internet Browser
Built-in
WAP Protocol Supported
WAP 2.0, WAP 1.2.1
Messaging / Data Features
WAP Push
Security features
Phone Lock
Yes
Keypad Lock
Yes (manual/automatic)
SIM Card Lock
Built-in
Restrict Access to Phone Book
Built-in
Organiser
Alarm Clock
Yes
Alarm Clock Modes
Once, daily
Reminder
Built-in
Event Qty
100
Calculator
Basic
Additional Timer Functions
Countdown timer, stopwatch, snooze
Display
Type
LCD display
Technology
TFT
Line Qty
8
Display Resolution
101 x 80 pixels
Colour Support
Colour
Colour Depth
256 colours
Display Indicators
SMS indicator, divert indicator, GPRS indicator, missed calls indicator, alarm clock indicator, IR port indicator, signal strength, keypad lock, battery meter
Display Illumination Colour
White
Multi-language Menu
Built-in
Features
Wallpaper, screen saver, backlit
Memory
User Memory
600 KB
Connections
Connector Type
1 x DC power input
1 x data port
Miscellaneous
Included Accessories
Power adapter
Manufacturer's product description
Clean design, distinct lines, a full-color screen and quality materials make the T300 stand out from the rest. And under the surface lies the beauty that makes the T300 best in class - an amazing array of features. It has the latest mobile messaging - MMS, along with text messaging with pictures and sounds (EMS) and picture messaging. It even has its own e-mail support that lets you use your T300 to send and receive e-mail messages wherever you are. You can change the covers and screen content to suit your style and preferences. The T300 has fun sounds, pictures and games, and whenever you want, you can use WAP to download new multimedia content from the Web.
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