I am currently studying photography at a college and was told about ciao by a friend. I have written...
I am currently studying photography at a college and was told about ciao by a friend. I have written a few reviews and i am just hoping to meet a few people and make a little money.
Member since:08.10.2006
Reviews:7
Members who trust:1
Intro
I bought this phone on contract just over a week ago and it is definitely the best phone I have had so far. My previous phone was a Samsung D500, which was a good phone, check out my review, but it was nothing compared to this digital masterpiece. I will not be going into vast amounts of detail in this review purely for the ease of the reader. I will try and explain in detail all the key features and quickly go over the standard features.
In the Box:-
Your Handset Your Sim Your 1GB memory stick pro duo Your USB cable Your Handsfree set Some headphones And lots of books about how to use all the features.
MP3 Player
The main reason for getting this phone is that you want to listen to music (it is a walkman phone after all). It has Walkman 2.0 for enhanced music. The MP3 player is incredible, it is very similar to an iPod, with its 1GB card (you can get up to 8GB cards) that comes
as standard in the box and the computer software that will compress the files to a much smaller size without compromising on audio quality. You can make your own playlists, browse by artist, track or album and store up to 1000 songs on the card. I have only got 50 songs on mine currently but I am putting more on everyday. The colour scheme in the MP3 is very stylish and you can have visualisations or flashing keypad lights that actually flash to the beat of the music. You can change the equalizer settings - normal, Bass, Mega Bass, Voice, Treble boost. The music through the loudspeaker sounds surprisingly good for a phone but it is still a phone and does sound a little bit tinny. However as the handsfree set has a universal headphone socket you can plug your own headphones in or the ones that come in the box. I plug mine into my Hi-Fi and the sound it blows out is incredible! It supports the following file types (audio & video): MP3, MP4, 3GP, AAC, AAC+, Enhanced AAC, AMR, MIDI, IMY, EMY and WAV. I don't know very much about IT but all this certainly sounds good!!
Camera
There are two cameras on this phone. One on the front for video calling (the phone is 3G) and one on the back for normal photographs. The camera is good, there are better camera phones on the market but the 2MP camera certainly does the job. It has 4x digital zoom. I have taken lots of photos and I am very happy with the results. It has night mode, self-timer, and a few effects; Black n White, Negative, Sepia. You can even change the white balance if you are very into photography like me. There is no auto focus as on Sony Ericsson's previous models however. The video recorder is also very good quality and there is software included so you can view the videos on your computer. The images and videos are very easy to organise. You can make and name new folders and move songs, videos and pictures into them making it easy to find the picture or video you are looking for.
Screen & Keypads
The screen is very good. 2 inch 262,144 colour TFT 240x320 pixel screen and yes it does look as good as it sounds, lol. It is very crisp and clear and the colours are very strong. Apparently it has a light sensor that adjusts to the lighting conditions of where you are. Pictures and videos can be viewed landscape which looks very good as the screen is bigger than most other phones. Games can be played in landscape but this is awkward due to the fiddly keypad. The directional keys look very nice but can be difficult to use (especially after a few beers, lol). The up button is very close to the Walkman button so a lot of the time you are turning on the Walkman instead of pressing up. You do get used to this after a while though. There is a button to get onto your shortcuts, which you can change. The access to the Walkman MP3 player is easy as I said, and if you get the phone you will be pressing it a lot.
Entertainment
The games on this phone have very good graphics. It comes with a very good but hard racing game, one with musical notes similar to Tetris, and one where this animal jumps around. Very strange. Obviously you can download games that you want although it is very expensive (£5 per game). It has TrackID software that identifies songs when you put your phone up to the radio or stereo for a few seconds. I have used it a lot and it is very good but costs around 20p I think. It has VideoDJ, PhotoDJ and MusicDJ on there that just edits your videos, photos, and music. I use the photo one a lot and it is just a very simple version of Photoshop. It has a Bluetooth 2.0 remote control. This is very clever and I use it all the time. It connects with your computer and acts as the mouse. You can move the cursor, click, double click, and even scroll all from up to 10 metres away. You can also use it to control the Media Player, i.e. play, pause, trk forward, trk back etc…
Organizer
This section contains your alarms, applications, calendar, tasks, notes, timer, stopwatch, light and code memo. The alarm is fairly standard but it wakes you up! In the applications there is interesting Face Warp software that will make people look like aliens or professors. Funny but weird. There is also Music Mate software that provides a metronome beat or tuning tools for tuning guitars and pianos. The calendar is nothing special really but it does the job. It is clear, simple and easy to use. All the other features explain themselves.
Connectivity
It has 3G, Bluetooth, Fast port, GPRS, PC Synchronisation, and UMTS.
The rest
It has a radio that you can have on loudspeaker or through headphones. You need to have the handsfree set plugged in to act as an aerial but it is good quality sound and good reception. It has a flight mode option so you can use the MP3 player while you are on a plane without crashing it!
Anyway, I am extremely pleased with this phone overall and would highly recommend it to any into music looking for a new phone. It is very expensive so I would recommend getting on contract as I got it for free. I hope I have been helpful in your decision-making. Ciao!
Hey there, good to find another W850-fan! Great review, concise but informative. I'm always pressing the walkman button by mistake - very annoying, I wish they'd bring back the joystick! Anyway, did you know you can download free games from www.sonyericsson.com? Well you do now! Cheers Tom
Shoka 23.10.2006 15:18
Good review, I think you've laid out the information very well so its easy to read.
reddragonflame87 23.10.2006 14:31
This is a very well written review. And, even though it is a bit of a shameless plug, I will be checking out your Samsung review after lunch!
850W of room filling sound from a central speake Get stunning Sony sound quality from your more
iPod o Built-in upscaler generates a 1080p signal via H USB playback and recording for your favourite mp S-AIR Ready - an optional extra that enables you
Advantages: Brilliant features, great sound quality,takes a right beating and it's easy to use. Disadvantages: Your pockets will buy stuff off the internet,camera isn't the best of the best.
Oct 23rd, 2006
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