Sony Ericsson W800i - Vodafone - Pay As You Go Walkman Phone - Free Weekends Offer*

 

 

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I've had this phone for about a week now and have been pleased with it so far.

This phone comes with a huge amount of features and gimmicks so if you are a technohead and love this kind of thing, then this phone will be right up your sleeve.

The GOOD:
It's burnt orange and off-white in colour, so you won't lose it in your bag.
The camera is great - clear, takes nice pictures and there are loads of options to change the size and edit it before sending on either as a picture message or downloading to your pc for printing. My sister's boyfriend took this phone and used it for all their holiday pics, then came home and printed them out on the pc using Kodak glossy paper and you would never have been able to tell that they had all come off the phone!

The screen is a good size so you won't find yourself squinting, and the colours are really great - sharp and clear. The menus are really easy to navigate and there is always an option for More Info to tell you about a particular feature. There are lots of screen savers/ wallpapers/ themes etc but I found all of them unspeakably naff so I would get on and get your own on there. I have kept the default Sony Ericsson default theme on mine which has the Sony Walkman logo flashing across it.

Text messaging is easy and it has the T9 dictionary option and when it suggests a word, it brings up 3 possible word options in a little drop down list that you scroll through and click to select - just like a pc really. Also, i like the way that text messages are presented - you get them in a little white box thing that looks like you;ve received an email. It's a gimmick but I fell for it.

Radio function. It has RDS and stereo but you have to have teh handsfree kit connected (This is supplied in the box) in order for the radio to work. You can programme your stations by automatic or manual scrolling and it is marvellously simple to use (did not even read the book for this bit). The reception I got was very clear, but you have to be careful not to obscure the handsfree cable to the earphones as this acts as the antenna for the radio and if you interfere with this, you can experience white noise. I really really like the radio function, it's so easy to use and it's also on the main menu so you don't have to scroll through to find it. You can have it maximised on your screen or you can minimise so just the icon appears on the main standby screen.

I love the fact that you can be listening to the walkman and/or the radio and as soon as a call comes in, it stops playing and the ring will come through your earphones. Same as if you want to ring someone, you can minimise the walkman/radio, look up your number, dial, chat and then go back to listening.

It has a million other functions - alarms, games - the games are really good - you have quadrapod which is like tetris only the dropping items are musical notes in different colours. Very addictive.

The NOT SO GOOD
The bloomin joystick is a nightmare. It is annoyingly inaccurate selecting either the option above or below etc and you have to click dead on centre and quite firmly for it to register your option. I hate it frankly - hopefully they'll look at this issue on the next model.

The walkman sound is FAB (earphones look good and sound great) and you can play music thru earphones or through the loudspeaker (although using LS has implications for the battery life) but the reason I put this under the not so good category is because the manual provided is very basic and doesn't give you any info on how to label your song choices - if you can connect to the net whilst already using the USB port for the phone, you can import the artist name/song titles etc but i can't, and have to enter this info manually - however i couldn't work out how to do this and so now all the songs I have on my phone are labelled Track 01, Track 02 etc which is incredibly annoying and I won't be giving up my lovely idiot proof video ipod just yet.
the software was tricky to download and caused my pc some confusion. It took me about 45 minutes to get through looking at the manual, getting the software loaded up, rebooting and then working out how to get the musc off the cd and onto the phone and I found it quite hard work so I am not sure I'll be in a hurry to download more stuff frankly. I'll stick to radio.

The screen in sunlight is very tricky - I can't see a damn thing.

Overall, I am very pleased with this, it is really small - fits in the palm of your hand and feels nice and smooth (apart from the slight raised bit at the back where the camera sits). It has a lens cover which is excellent and a light (which can be used as a torch incidentally) and it is well presented and nice to look at. If you can deal with IT stuff, you'll be fine with the walkman, it's just that I've been spoiled by the simplicity of apple's far superior Itunes software.

You get a memory card, usb cable, handsfree kit and earphones in teh box. there is no case with this - it said there was in teh description under product.

If I had my chance again, knowing what I do about this phone, I would buy it over a second time. The good points far outweight the slight niggles and I don't see myself parting iwht this in the near future (unless it gets nicked of course). Even the burnt orange and off white casing looks kinda funky and cool in weird retro kind of way. I like it. I would recommend.

I've had this phone for a couple of months now and let me say that it is simply superb. The picture quality is amazing for a phone and the audio quality is really really good. Compared to the k750i there is an obvious difference in the battery life in that the w800i lasts a lot longer as it should being a primarily music oriented phone.
There is a minor downside though, the Disc2phone software which comes with it may be simple to use, but it isn't so user friendly. I didn't find this a problem since I've been able to access the memory stick via the USB cable using Windows XP just by dragging and dropping the files on to the folders, it is that simple. If your computer supports USB 2.0, then transferring complete albums is just a matter of seconds. Similarly, the orange colouring casing of the phone may not appeal to all users, yet that hasn't distracted me from giving this superb gadget five stars.

Who could believe this is a phone when you read about it. The new sony ericsson range is here. Everybody who has heard about this phone wants one they're so popular that they are always out of stock well vodafone are anyway. My husband had to wait a few weeks about 5 i think to actually get his hands on one.

New sony ericsson's range.
The new Sony Ericsson's range has finally been brought out in the UK. Sony Ericsson's have brought out Walkman phones you wouldn't think that a phone could hold so many tracks. My husband last count was 57 full music tracks and is still counting and a lot of memory is left. This range is not flip phones any more and the new w900i is soon to be released in the UK which i think is pretty much the same as the w800i.

What the phone looks like.
The Sony Ericsson's w800i is a small phone none flip fits into my hand i would say about 7cm high. 3cm width now that is a small phone. Screen is not small just about right. Buttons are close together with a little joy stick in the middle. You have a camera shutter on the back the same as in the k750i and the camera will only go on when you move the switch so there is no danger of taking a picture of your inside pocket. Three is a switch on the side to take pictures and auto focus. Volume button is also at the side along with the walkman buttons as well. The phone has a orange band all the way around the edge and is white on the front and back.

The features.
When you turn the phone on you have two options you can have just the walkman on or phone and walkman. sorry there is another option or just the phone..

The camera/video
The camera is on the back of the phone and is protected by a shutter just like the k750i. It's a 2 mega pixel camera with 4 x auto focus zoom. You Can use the camera side ways and upward as normal. When taking a picture you can use auto focus just like a digital camera would. The video is about 5mins long so good length for recoding and it's very clear same as the camera you can use this side ways and front way as well.

The radio
The radio you can program manual and auto set it as well. The hand free works as the aerial. It's FM radio and where we live it's clear as a normal radio. The radio will only work with the hands free plug in. You can have it on loud speaker If you wanted to.

The Walkman
The walkman on this phone is outstanding there is not another phone on the market today that has the memory of this phone and the sound quality. At the last count which was yesterday it had 57 full songs on now i would of thought that would be better then a CD player as you don't have to change Cd's. The walkman is set out into tracks, artists and now playing. Very easy to use once you know how to.

The CD needed to change music from your PC to phone.
This CD comes free and is very easy to install. But have found out that it's a lot easier to send them by blue tooth very quick

The Sony Ericsson's comes with a 512mb duo stick memory card in the phone and you also have memory on the phone as well. It has all the usual features of any phone. Messages, sms,email,vioce,mms. The phone is tri so you can use this phone in the us. We know that it's not very big and it only weighs a mere 99g. Also has the other features of other phones like alarm clock, voice dialling, voice command, picture call, themes and you can even have a full song for a ring tone as well. The phone also has blue tooth and infer red. This phone is not a 3g phone but around where we live you can't get 3g anyway.

The box.
The Sony Ericsson's come in like a sweet tub box. It's got an orange lid and it's made of very hard plastic. Just set out like a sweet tub though. The front is clear and you can see what the phone is like before you get one.

Price and where to but one from.
Well at the moment you can get this phone on contract, well when they are in stock anyway. We had to pay £100 for this phone and that was through vodafone. You can get them free on other networks unlocked to every network as well. Not available yet on pay as you go but you can buy them sim free i think you may be able to put a pay as you go Sim card in them but not sure. You can pay anything from £335-£400 depending on where you but one from.

Overall.
This is the one phone that is on the market today that has everything you could wish for in a phone. In my opinion it's better then a CD player as you can put all your favourite tracks on the phone and you don't have to change the CD over and you don't have to skip the tracks you don't like either because you don't put them on. Is still pricey though but it has only just come out so with like any phone they are always expensive to start with. Not sure if they are bringing it out on pay as you go but as soon as i find out then i will add it to this review. The camera is outstanding and will take some pictures for this review when i know how to add pictures. The camera also has a light on as well so that if you are taking pictures in the dark then everything is lite up like daylight. Amazing to think what mobile phones will be like in 5 years time i mean there is not a lot more they could add to phones really when you think about it. We download all of our music from kazaa and some of them are pretty big files and the last count was 57 with still a lot of memory left, It speed is outstanding when you send them through blue tooth. In my overall opinion this is one pretty impressive phone.

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2.0 out of 5 stars The BAD!
I got one of these for my birthday today, it worked this morning when i had a quick muck about annd i thaught great, awesome phone, looks smart, good features. Read more

Published on 28 Nov 2006 by Rojo

4.0 out of 5 stars sony ericsson w800i
i got one of these phones about 10 months ago pleased with most things
But the thing i think lets it down is the ear peace volume i got good hearing but i struggle to hear... Read more

Published on 30 Oct 2006 by P. M. Outlaw

4.0 out of 5 stars Sonyericsson w800i- debranded and unlocked from orange
[...]
Camera very good, 2 meg and autofocus, as good as dedicated digital camera's were just a couple of years ago!! Read more

Published on 12 Jun 2006 by tittiesandbeer

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Features but possible joystick problems.....
You can see why the joystick has been changed on the w810i because about 40% of people I know who have w800i's have had joystick problems. Read more

Published on 29 May 2006 by Mr. S. Keppie

5.0 out of 5 stars At last: all the electronics you need in your pocket
I've long been tired of carrying around a PDA, a phone, an MP3 player and (personal favourite) an FM radio. The W800i is a fine solution. Read more

Published on 21 April 2006 by 100wordreviewer

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent i pod killer
Well let's start off for what the phone is ment to be. The walkman on this phone is utterly supurb. Since i got this phone in the middle of febauary i have not used my i pod once... Read more

Published on 27 Mar 2006

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic phone, and yes you can do unlimited video record.
When I bought this phone I was a bit wary, being a hardcore Nokia user and seeing a few dodgy reviews. Read more

Published on 7 Mar 2006 by M. Lyons

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing phone, without a doubt.
Received this phone for xmas and haven't had any problems at all, it's by far the best performing phone I have ever used and it is certainly feature-packed. Read more

Published on 21 Feb 2006

5.0 out of 5 stars yes m8 exellent phone
well what can i say ive had this phobe 4 about 2 weeks and it is the best phone ive ever had i have been reading up on it and although people say that it looses mp3's... Read more

Published on 13 Feb 2006 by prodriver8

4.0 out of 5 stars Help Required Please
I have recently purchased this mobile and it seems to be an amazing phone although I have not had it for too long. The thing that I am unsure of is the video capacity. Read more

Published on 25 Jan 2006

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