The alternative to a Nokia (Sony CMD-J70)

Member Name: ko196

Product:	Sony CMD-J70
Date:	27/05/02 (1721 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: small size, light, good build quality

Disadvantages: weak vibrate, ringer a tad soft

Here is a review of the Sony J70. Before I got this phone, I looked at various websites to find out people's opinion on the phone. I've had used several mobile phones - the Motorola mr30, the nokia 3210 and nokia 3310. In my review I will be comparing the J70 with the Nokia 3310, which is one of the most common phones around.

Below are the plus and minus of the J70 over the 3310.

Advantages & Disadv.
====================
Small size & light - the phone is smaller and lighter (about 90grams) than the 3310 making it much easier and more comfortable to carry around. This is one of the main reasons I got the phone.

Good build quality - the phone is well built. It looks professional and easily stands out against the 3310. Nice.

Intuitive menu - Like the Nokia, the Sony has an intuitive menu. My definition of intuitive is you don't need the menu to figure out how to use the phone. You can pretty much start using the phone straight away. Though i recommend at least reading the manual thru once to truly understand how to use the phone as some things are a little different to the Nokia (as you might expect)

Also, the menu system is as fast as the Nokia. For those of you who have an Ericsson you know what I mean. You won't need to wait after accessing any menu items.

It's got WAP - well, most phones like the newer 3330 has got wap... but i guess if you have the 3310 this would be a plus point. WAP is useful if you want to chk say, the formula1 results or weather forcast but if you want to use it to surf like you do on the computer, i think u should think again. I don't think it is meant for that kind of thing due to its limited bandwith.

Good buttons - the phone has good buttons. When you press them, you know you are pressing them. They give good feedback to the user.

Jog dial - like most sony products, the phone has a jog dial to allow you to go thru the menus quicker. This
is true to a certain extent. You see, the jog dial is on the left hand side of the phone. So, for a right handed person like me the most comfortable position to hold the phone is using the left hand. No much of a problem though but I think it would much better to just have a jog dial or jog stick on the keypad itself. However, after some time you get used to the jog dial. In this respect the 3310 buttons are much better placed and thought of.

Polyphonic sound - because of this, the phone's ringer is quite nice - kina like the sound you'd get from earlier game consoles. The are lots to choose from and it is sure to make people notice your phone. You can have specific ringer and sound (eg. for sms) as well. However, the phone does not have a composer like the Nokia. So if you like composing your own music, you will be disappointed. You can add sound to the J70 but you have to buy a data cable and get appropriate software. With it, you can compose and upload the new tune to your phone.

Volume - the volume of the ringer does not go as loud as the 3310. So make sure you put it right up. You should however, be able to hear the phone ringing in most instances.

Vibra alert - Like the 3310 the J70 can also vibrate. However, it is a little weak. Unlike the 3310 which can rattle itslef of the table. Though my wife prefers the J70 vibrate to the 3310. However, the sony does not allow you to use the ringer and vibrate at the same time. An oversight on the manufacturer's side?

Email - you can configure the phone to collect email from a pop3 account. I haven't tried it yes so i cannot comment. Note thought that the size of the email must be less than 2kb.

The phone has a calendar which is quite useful. It also has a calculator which i think is much better than the Nokia. The phone book takes 500 numbers! There is also a timer and world clock. The later being quite useful esp. if you go travelling.

Games - the
re are 3 games... i think. I don't play much games even on the Nokia. So, this isn't too important to me. However, compared to the nokia, the games are not very interesting. I am sure Sony could have come up with better games.

You can also use the phone as a modem with a data cable and software. Though you will be limited to 14.4kbps. Don't know how useful the phone will be as a modem but i forsee most people won't be using this feature.

The sound quality is very good. So is reception. I think sound quality is better than the 3310. And reception it is either a little better or the same as the 3310 which is sufficient.

Wallpaper - you can change the wallpaper of the phone. 3 are available. Like the ringer, you can add more wallpaper using a data cable. These are avaialable quite cheaply on Ebay.co.uk for about £8.00.

Battery life - as long as the 3310... which is more than enough

On the whole I am quite satisfied with the phone. If I had a choice between the 3310 and the J70, i would definitely choose the j70. So too would my wife. Hope this review will be useful to those who are interested in the J70.

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