IS THE SONY W800i THE ULTIMATE MOBILE PHONE? (Sony Ericsson W800i)

Member Name: thealchemist

Product:	Sony Ericsson W800i
Date:	01/10/05 (7869 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Massive memory included; 2 megapixel autofocus camera with flash and video; radio and phone

Disadvantages: no 3G; snail paced PC to phone transfer time; high battery drain

Is it worth waiting for the W800 from Sony? REVIEW UPDATED 4th October 2005!

In my opinion this is only a couple of additions away from being the ultimate mobile phone. It has such a diverse array of functions in a tiny package.

The main appeal has to be the walkman function. It is a realistic alternative to an MP3 player with a massive 512MB memory included in the form of expandable memorystick duo cards. This gives you a realistic song selection of about 150 tracks - which is ample for most needs. I've even managed to find cheap 1GB duo cards in the high street shops for less than a £100.

The music download time is really quite slow. I've found it best to select the tunes you need at night and leave it transferring whilst you sleep (yes it is really that slow). Also on my computer it doesn't seem to recognise the phone cable as being connected unless it is in when I boot the PC up. This may just be my PC which is a little antiquated now.

I love the way that if a call comes in when you're listening to music it interrupts you automatically. It can be a bit of a jolt if you're listening to classical music or spoken words and then you have a loud ringtone suddenly going off - especally when you listen to loud rock music and you have the option to use these tunes as your ringtone.

I'm not too keen on the headphones as they keep slipping off my neck. The ones included also function as the handsfree - I prefer to use the bluetooth. In addition it has an FM only radio which has a fantastic reception in my area.

The 2 megapixel camera has a useful sliding lens cover so you don't scratch it and a viewfinder reflector for those random and often drunken self portrait moments. This means you can take a pic of your face instead of a chad! It has a digital zoom which still produces a reasonable shot although an optical zoom would be ideal. It even has a flash for those inside shots as well as a night mode. I like the way the zoom buttons are on the top of the camera and how when you slide the shutter open it automatically jumps to camera mode. It is also very easy to change the settings. The autofocus is a little slow for my liking but it does have a rapid shot mode as well as video and macro mode and it even does special effects like b&w and sepia for those nostalgic shots!

The battery power meter is a little random. One day it read a 12% charge and the next day it had miraculously boosted to 17%. It seems to drain from 20% to 7% really quickly and then stay at 7% for hours and hours - very strange!! Using the walkman for just a few hours seems to really drain the battery (may have something to do with the volume) also if you use a bluetooth headset with it and have say an hours worth of conversations it seriously drains the power. On the subject of power; at the moment I have been unable to locate an in-car charger for it - which is a bit of a chore. Sony have redesigned the power connection (again). I have been assured there will be one available soon though!

It has very poor organiser, calendar and calculator functions but then how often do you use them? Talking of things you rarely use it even has a stopwatch and a timer!? I like the light function though - useful when you're looking for dropped keys and you can set it as a shortcut so that with a small movement of the joystick control it comes on.

UPDATE (04.10.05):
I had to take my phone back to the shop yesterday!! Why? The camera function with the snazzy lens cover ceased to work. The camera flashes up a lovely little message that says "open lens cover" if the cover is closed - seems logical right! Except that the lens cover was already open - the phone just stopped recognising it. When I spoke to the nice man in the shop he dealt with it straight away and I had a brand spanking new one (with working camera). He did happen to mention that it was the second one that had been returned in a week!!!(I wonder if this is somehow causing the delays says I - with a scratch of the head and a tug of the beard!)

Assuming this to be a minor problem (I'm an eternal optimist) then my recommendation remains unaltered although reliability will have to take a knock. Afterall it gave me an opportunity to test their customer service - which was 5 star. I promise to keep you all updated!

How would I improve it? Two letters - 3G. A bonus would be an optical zoom and a bigger battery. In a nutshell I think it is a great product. There are no other phones quite like it!

I know they have a bit of a waiting list for them at the moment but I think it is worth it!

Summary: Compact MP3 player, 2mp autofocus digital camera and phone in a sleek stylish package

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