Sony Ericsson W700i - great phone!! (Sony Ericsson W700i)

Member Name: denise40

Product:	Sony Ericsson W700i
Date:	30/12/07 (172 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great features, attractive phone

Disadvantages: Can turn on camera by accident

Having always purchased Nokia mobiles in the past I was quite backward about looking at Sony Ericsson makes. After my brother bought the Sony Ericsson W700i I changed my mind and went out and bought one myself.

++MAIN MENU++

In the main menu there is the following options:
- Shortcut to O2 website
- Internet Services
- Entertainment
- Camera
- Messaging
- Walkman
- File Manager
- Contacts
- Radio
- Calls
- Organizer
- Settings

++SET-UP++
To start off with it is very simple to set up all you have to do is put the sim card in, turn on your phone and the Sony Ericsson sign will come up and then a start-up menu will appear. You can choose to either start the phone or use the music only feature (this will bring up the Walkman only). If you are putting the sim card for the first time you can choose what language you want to use then a setup wizard will appear. This will let you view some useful tips. For example the back key will return you to the previous screen, what will take you to standby etc. Then it will let you select the time and date and then you can choose a ringtone. Once your setup wizard has completed it will ask you do you want to view a short Demo tour video about the phone. It's a short advertisement really which last about 29 seconds. That's all there is to setting up your mobile!

++ACCESSORIES++
The mobile comes complete with a phone charger, software, computer connection lead (USB), headphones and memory stick (256mb).

The charger is slim and the end (which you connect to the phone with) has two fragile pins. I'm constantly worried about getting these pins broken.

The headphones are surprisingly good quality and when you use the radio feature they act as an antenna. There are different sized earpieces so you can adjust them accordingly.

The memory stick is only 256mb which is quite small however you can upgrade and buy a larger one (2GB roughly 20pounds). As I only use my phone for putting the odd song on and taking a few photos I didn't feel this was necessary.

There is Bluetooth which is simple to use, an infrared port and synchronization.

++CAMERA++
The camera is 2 mega pixels. I feel the quality is good a lot better than I expected and it's very easy to take a photo. There is a button on the right hand side that you use to take photos. It mimic's the layout of a traditional camera. Plus there is a small mirror on the front so you can take photos of yourself. There is a sliding switch which opens the lens of the camera, opening this will automatically start up the camera even if the phone is locked. This has its good and bad points. It means when you want to take a photo quick you don't need to go in and select the facility each time however quite often you could have your phone in your pocket and the switch is opened and your phone is on the camera facility and you are not aware. This wastes your battery and you can have taken a lot of photos of your pocket which is not very useful!!

In the main menu you can also choose the camera facility (it is a picture of a camera). You can take videos as well as photographs. There are several shoot modes to choose from. This is a facility I have just realised is available. You can choose normal, panorama, frames and burst. The panorama is hard to line up exactly as you have to take 3 photos and they are joined together. There are three different sizes of photos large (1600 x1200), medium (640 x 480) and small (160 x 120). There is a night mode facility however I find that photos come out blurry when I use this. You can turn on a light which makes the pictures clearer. Another feature is the self-timer if you want to be in the photos yourself. I always find this annoying to use as I can never judge if I'm going to be in the photo or not.

You can have effects on your photos these are black and white, negative, sepia and solarise. Also there is a white balance you can put it on auto, daylight, cloudy, fluorescent, incandescent. Picture quality is either normal or fine. Another feature is you can have the time and date on your photos. Personally I can't be bothered going through all the settings and just take my photos of automatic mode however it's nice to know they are there is I want them.

++ENTERTAINMENT++
There are the following features within the entertainment section:
* Two games called Puzzleslider and QuadraPop. Puzzleslider is a jigsaw which is out of place and you have to put it back in order. I find this game quite boring and not really a fan of playing it. QuadraPop is sort of like Tetris however it is musical notes. Once you have 4 notes together they disappear. This game can be quite addictive once you start playing it.
* Video DJ - you can create short videos
* Photo DJ - this is where you can add clipart/frames/effects, rotate, add text or draw on your picture. The one thing is that some options are disabled when editing large images.
* Music DJ - you can make up songs using drum, guitar, piano and trombone sounds.
* Remote Control - to be honest I have not figured out how to use this feature.
* You also can record sounds.

++MESSAGING++
This phone supports SMS (text messages), MMS (picture and video messages), plus voice messages and emails. Sending messages is easy and straightforward. You can have the messages you have sent saved in the sent messages folder which I find very handy. There is a predictive text facility you can use which makes it easier to type in messages. You can add symbols, pictures, sound effects, animation, melodies and have a word suggestion facility turned on.

++WALKMAN++
You can choose to listen to your music by artist, tracks, playlist (you need to set this up yourself). Also you can view any videos you have here. There is a shortcut button on the front of your phone. There is another button on the left hand side which you can press to start the walkman and to stop and start the music. Plus the volume button on your right hand side is easily accessible. The speaker seems to be on the back of the phone. From my experience the walkman can be sore of the battery. Within the walkman facility you can minimise it so you can play music and do other things for example send a message. There is a play mode were you can use shuffle or loop. Music can be sorted by artist title or as created, you can send songs or delete them.

++FILE MANGER++
It stores the following files; pictures, videos, games, sounds (music you may have saved), themes for your phone (some are on your phone but you can download some or have them sent to you.) I like the theme facility as it makes your phone more personalised. Web pages are saved here some are already on your phone but any you have saved will be here as well. Also there is a world clock. As I am travelling I find this a very useful tool as its in my shortcuts and I can go to it straight away and see what time it is anywhere in the world.

++CONTACTS++
This is your phone book. You can set up speed dial, groups of numbers or add special numbers. Here you will also find your business card. In your phone book you can add someone's mobile and home number, address, email address, birthday date you can add their photo and a specified ring tone so when they ring or text you see their photo. I really like this as I know straight away who has text me by looking at their photo.

++RADIO++
You need to insert the headphones to turn on this facility as the headphones work as an antenna.

++ORGANISER ++
Within the organiser there are the following features:-
* Alarm - you can choose whatever sound you want to wake you up. I find it very useful as it wakes me up every morning!
* Calender - here you can put in appointments and put in reminders.
* Tasks facility - you can add any tasks you have to do and mark them as done once you have completed them.
* Notes
* Synchronisation
* Stopwatch which is easy to use
* Light - which you can keep on continuously, on for one minute or use the SOS signal.
* Calculator - you can save calculations in the memory.


++OVERALL++

Battery Life
If you are not using the Walkman, taking a lot of pictures or playing the games constantly then the battery life of the phone is great and can last me for days. Generally I have to charge my mobile (which takes mere hours) once a week.

Looks Like
I think this phone is quite stylish. Mine is grey and there is a walkman sign on the front and left hand side. It's reasonably small the dimensions are 100x46x20.5mm and it weighs 99g. The screen is 176x220 pixels and I like it because it's quite large and you can see the writing on the screen clearly. It isn't very chunky and will fit into your pocket or handbag easily. The buttons are large and easy to use. The joystick isn't easy to use in my opinion and mine sticks every now and then.

Durability
Well I think the handset is very sturdy! I have dropped it several times and there are no problems with it with little to no scraps, however the camera facility has a window frame so you can take photo's of yourself. It's like a wee mirror, on my phone this was scrapped very easily.

Ease of Use
This phone is easy to use. I found it difficult to catch on at first as I was used to the Nokia layout however once I figured out the Sony Ericsson layout I found it very easy to use.
I feel this mobile is definitely worth the money. It has great facilities plus it is so easy to use.

Originally posted under my username in Ciao denisekelly40

Summary: Great mobile from Sony Ericsson

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