One Hundred and twenty two opinions and I have had to resort to a mobile phone review. After a small spell as Category Assistant for Telecommunications last year I never thought I would even read one again, never mind write one. But I have had this little fella for a couple of months now, and ... Read review
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Advantages: Great Looks, Affordable and Functional Disadvantages: Fiddly Texting
One Hundred and twenty two opinions and I have had to resort to a mobile phone review. After a small spell as Category Assistant for Telecommunications last year I never thought I would even read one again, never mind write one. But I have had this little fella for a couple of months now, and feel obliged to write something about it.
Now, loyal customer that I am, when my 12 month contract was up with Orange, for the second time, I ... ...the 21st century telephone-ownership wise speaking. I have had an abundance of Nokia’s over the years, starting in 1994, with a phone the size of a house brick, and culminating in the Nokia 6210, which was an ok phone, if decidedly boring after a while. Common sense would have made me buy a 6310, as I have a proper car kit and the 6310 would have fitted. But that is so damn boring as a phone too, and so common sense went out of the window in favour ... more
One Hundred and twenty two opinions and I have had to resort to a mobile phone review. After a small spell as Category Assistant for Telecommunications last year I never thought I would even read one again, never mind write one. But I have had this little fella for a couple of months now, and feel obliged to write something about it.
Now, loyal customer that I am, when my 12 month contract was up with Orange, for the second time, I visited one of their stores and decided I would enter the 21st century telephone-ownership wise speaking. I have had an abundance of Nokia’s over the years, starting in 1994, with a phone the size of a house brick, and culminating in the Nokia 6210, which was an ok phone, if decidedly boring after a while. Common sense would have made me buy a 6310, as I have a proper car kit and the 6310 would have fitted. But that is so damn boring as a phone too, and so common sense went out of the window in favour of something a little original (for me, that is).
My objectives were to find something that was Bluetooth compatible, had a fancy GUI display for navigation, perhaps had a built in camera, and had polyphonic ringtones, because my husband reliably informed me these were the bee’s knees. Oh, and I didn’t want something ugly, nor did I want to pay the earth for it, poor student that I am at present.
Anyway, 1hr later and I walk out of the Orange shop with the Sony Ericson T68i. Pleased as punch because I didn’t have to pay anything for it on a new 12 month contract, keeping the same telephone number. And I did not get all the functionality I was looking for above, but then I did manage to walk out of the store without paying a fortune for an upgrade too, and money won out over geeky features in the end.
Looks ------- I like the look of this phone. It has a kind of feminine shape to it, if you get to look at one, you will understand what I mean. The screen is a great size, and you can always see the time in big digits, even when the phone back light is off. And I love the “arctic Blue” colour that surrounds the screen. Size wise it is perhaps 1cm wider than my outstretch palm, widthways, and so it is a good deal smaller than the previous model I had. Also what is new and different for me is a phone with a mini joystick instead of the Nokia navikey, which I have worn down on so many phones over the last nine years.
Orange Terms ----------------- With regards to selecting the phone, there is a 14 day trial period for new connection, although not for upgrades. You can also take out Orange Care insurance but at £5 a month, I would rather risk losing it. Tariffs obviously vary depending on what your usage is like. I also get 3 months free WAP access, but I havent had a session with my Personal Orange Trainer yet, and havent a clue why I would need that.
Some Key Features ----------------------- The screen can display full colour images and has a 256 colour display. It is also Bluetooth wirefree compatible, and this was a key factor for me, in that I can buy a wireless headset for the car now. It is a tri-band phone and therefore can be used throghout most of the world, and uses GPRS for internet access, although you only pay for what you download, which is absolutely nothing in my case so far. There is also a Chat feature, similar to internet access, although if I am frank, my hubby and I tested this out, and we are not sure why we wouldn’t just text really. It is straightforward to set the keylock and silence options, and also to determine the length of standby time and talk time you have left in your battery. Interestingly I am not sure how long the battery will last for when fully charged, but expect it is about a month….! My phone states it has 144 hours talk time left, and appears to be only half charged at present.
Using the Phone – Calls ----------------------------- There is nothing difficult here. The phone memory can store up to 510 names, and the Orange Personal Trainer very kindly updated my old contacts across for me. Otherwise storing contacts does not make use of the predictive text facility, which is probably a blessing in disguise really. You can also access the normal calls list to tell you who you’ve dialled, whose call you have missed and so on, from the GUI interface screen.
Using the Phone – Texting -------------------------------- Now I have to admit, this took a lot of getting used to. Perhaps that is because I didn’t read the instructions, and have never used predictive texting before either (you getting the impression I am a total luddite or what?). Anyway, after a few days, I sort of got there, with the texting, although I often send a blank reply to an incoming text, because all you have to do is nudge the little joystick. So I must have wasted a few of my monthly inclusive texts that way. But I have now figured out the principles of the predictive text thing, and it is quite handy most of the time. You can of course switch this off, and I am still trying to figure out what to do if you try and key a word using predictive text, which is not in the phone’s dictionary. Oh, I miss my Nokia…
Using the Phone – Multimedia Messaging -------------------------------------------------- This allows you to send text, photos pictures and sound in the one message. If you send something like this to a non MMS phone, the recipient will get a text inviting them to the website to check the message. You can attach the Communicam to take photos to send to your friends and family. The Communicam is about one third the length of the phone, and simply plugs in at the bottom.
Customising the Sony T68i --------------------------------- You can select from a choice of around 60 different pictures for both the background and screen saver for your phone. This is useful to both brighten it up and perhaps to distinguish your phone from someone else who has the same model. You can also change the ring tone, volume and type of alert. There are a total of around 20 ring tones, and none of them sound that great, to be honest.
Games -------- There are a total of eight built in games for the phone. AS these are very different from what I have played before, I have struggled with them. There is a help screen to tell you what keys do what, but I think this could be enhanced if it also told you what the objectives of the game were! There is a battleship one, which I have managed to figure out, and one called Erix, which would probably appeal if you like the Snake games. The card games though, I have no clue how to play!
Organiser ------------ The phone contains some organiser features inclouding a calendar, space for notes and alarms, a stop watch and a timer, and a calculator, all straightforward to use.
So to summarise, I have not been disappointed in my phone, although the texting aspect has been a little difficult for me to work out. All in all,a great little phone, and especially for a freebie.
Advantages: Does everything, fun and easy to use. Disadvantages: Not very durable.
...keypad, and the usual big Ericsson 'Yes' and 'No' buttons, which makes using the phone very easy. It also has a little plastic joystick for scrolling up and down menus. This means you can control almost everything on the phone using the one tiny joystick/button. People have said that it looks a bit odd though, and with time it becomes less responsive.
BATTERY
Ericsson have yet again made the battery part of the back of the phone (i.e. it isn't ... ...to my old phone, an Ericsson T20. It seems that the colour screen is a big drain on the battery- although this is replaced with a screen saver after a few minutes of not using the phone to save battery life. The T68 also has a handy feature in that it always tells you how much talk time and standby time it estimates you have left e.g. mine currently says;
Standby time: 253h
Talk time: 12h 2m
Which is really useful, although it becomes very inaccurate ...
father_jack 02.09.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Ericsson T68
Advantages: Amazing features, technical wizardry and fancy gimmicks Disadvantages: Slow handling of text messages; very, very nickable
The Ericsson T68, Ericsson's flagship mobile phone, provides a veritable feast of features. Available from some shops free on contract, the reasons not to go for this phone have diminished further.
About the size of a Nokia 8210 and the same weight, the T68 scores above the Nokia in just about every field. Firstly, it is far sturdier. Ericsson have a knack for making phones that just don't break, and you can try as hard as you like to bend this ... ...off. This is because Ericsson have realised that Xpress-on covers may look cool, but they simply don't make phones resilient. The battery clip is strong, too, and it just won't break. It's even an improvement on previous Ericsson designs.
Starting with basic features, the Ericsson performs above par. Earpiece volume can be set from whisperingly quiet to deafeningly loud, call quality is among the best I've experienced, and the display is clear with ...
kurowski 12.05.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Ericsson T68
Advantages: Smaller and lighter than most phones Disadvantages: expensive
...be carried in all pockets. Ericsson have now followed Nokia's lead, and got rid of the aerial!
User interface: Ask any nokia user what they like best about their phone, and menu will appear many times. The Eric's menu is clear and easy to work around, especially with the integrated joystick. There is a shortcut key, meaning the most common functions are only two key presses away.
Display: The display is bright and colourful and easy to read in ... ...little bit of setting up!). The theme's are good, and ceratinly makes the display easier to see in difficult conditions.
Bluetooth: Worked first time with my palm pilot, and also the ericsson bluetooth headset.
All in all, a fantastic one, which will take some replacing. Well done ericsson! ...
pefidler 21.08.2002 (28.08.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Ericsson T68
Advantages: Stunning looks and brilliant functions Disadvantages: Sluggish and complete with a terrible battery life
...are delivered. One idea that Ericsson has is a ‘sent messages’ menu where you can view the text messages that you have typed and who you have sent them too. This is a brilliant idea and one idea that Nokia lacks (to my knowledge). You can store messages that you use often in the ‘templates’ menu. This is ideal, as you don’t have to keep typing out the same message. The phone can accept longer text messages from people and can also send longer text ... ...a modern Ericsson such as a T68i then you can send animations and mini sound clips to them within your text message. This is a brilliant idea as it brightens up a text message.
The fun and games section is superb as this is where you can personalise your phone. You can change the menu colour and also pick for an impressive array of backgrounds. You can also draw your own pictures. This isn’t as hard as it sounds as the phone has a small joystick ...
Nina85 13.03.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Ericsson T68
Advantages: Good size, nice and light, lots of features Disadvantages: Slow operations sometimes, T9 predictive text less than helpful
The Ericsson T68 looks like a cross-between the Nokia 32XX and 33XX series and the 72XX and 72XX series phones with curves! Its light weight, a good size, so you won't have to carry it around in a brown paper bag. Using your T68i ============ Most people have used the GUI (menu system) of the Nokia phones and there's not much out there easier to get to grips with. So you might find it hard to get used to the Ericsson interface at first, typing text ... ...so odd, but after about 2 -3 weeks your know your phone like the back of your hand. Aesthetics and Ergonomics ==================== Dimensions are 100 x 48 x 20mm, it's a little bigger than the 72XX series phones, but you won't complain because there's so many more features - Wow! I thought they were actually a bit small really - a bit of a girl's phone! Style - sleek, sexy, curves, comfortable to hold for hours, you won't have to keep changing hands! ...
TimboEngineer 02.06.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Ericsson T68
Look & Feel
Durability & Robustness
Battery standby time
Value for money
Range of features
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Advantages: It is small and compact. Disadvantages: Not all of the features always work.
I received the Sony EricssonT68i for a birthday
from my parents. I was so excited becuase I had wanted a new mobile for a long time. When I ripped off the wrapping paper and saw what the gift was I was so happy. I left on to charge while I opened the rest of my presents. When the battery had charged I turned it on on the quality of the colours on the screen was excellent. The menu looks exellent and is very well animated. It is very easy to use and the user manual is very helpful. The phone has loads of great features and great games. It is also good because it is small and compact. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good quality mobile. ...
Advantages: Good phone Disadvantages: Can't think of any right now
Well this phone is my old phone and I personally found it quite good. It has bluetooth and infrared which are good and you can also buy quite a few features. It doesn't have a camera but you can buy it as an accessory and there are many other things you can buy aswell. The keys are very good and it is easy to use and to text. The options are simple and you can usually tell what you're doing. I would recommend this to others if you want a good phone. There aren't any other covers you can get for the phone i don't think but it is still quite stylish and a good phone. This concludes my review on the Sony EricssonT68i. ...
Advantages: Good range of functions Disadvantages: Terrible reception
I have always had Nokia phones but because my friends decided to get the T68i I though I'd give it a go and persuaded Orange to upgrade me (usual price £149) - what a mistake!
The phone has some great features:
-The five dimensional joystick makes drawing pictures and gaming easy.
-The phone dimensions are 100 x 48 x 20 mm.
-The screen size is 34 x 28 mm.
-Bluetooth wireless technology
-Built-in modem
-Calendar
-Contacts
-E-mail (POP3 & IMAP4)
-Games
-MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service)
-MMS templates
-Mobile chat
-Picture Phonebook
-Phonealbum
-Sync ML
-Synchronization with PC (min req: Win®98, NT4.0, 2000 or WinME)
-Vibrating Call Alert
-Voice Dialling
-Wallpaper download (optional software required)
-Screensaver
-Predictive text input
All these features may sound great but the phone has ...
The Ericsson T68 has a color screen, a natural feel and a menu that you move easily through without lifting a finger. Using the four-directional thumb joystick, choose a symbol on the icon desktop and instantly view primary feature options. And when you're not using your T68 you can have a high-quality color background picture filling the screen. T68 is a fast and powerful phone and a revolution in usability.The T68 is a versatile messaging mobile phone. Have a new e-mail sent instantly to your mobile phone from any POP3 e-mail account on the Web. Read and reply, compose and save. When sending text messages, you can insert fun pictures and sounds. Writing is easy. T68 has predictive text input. The T68 has WAP for easy mobile Internet and GPRS for speed and the convenience of being always connected. The T68 lets you access thousands of useful and fun online services. And when using mobile banking and shopping services, confidential information is safe to send. The T68 connects without cables to other Bluetooth devices within range. Synchronize and share information with a PDA or laptop. Or enjoy the complete handsfree and cablefree comfort of a Bluetooth headset. The T68 can also connect via cable and infrared. Versatile calendar and contacts features make the T68 an effective organizer. You can store names, addresses, e-mail, phone numbers and notes. Calendar and contacts data can be synchronized with a PC making sure all things are up to date.