Name: Erin Orchard
Location: Iowa
Date: 2005-12-05
Customer Rating: -
Summary: best phone i've owned. seriously. it rocks. go buy it. :)
Comment: sony ericsson W600 review
updated note: phone has been sent back to the manufacturer twice now for bluetooth problems. upon thinking about this phone some more, i'd say the software is buggy for a lot of people. please take this into consideration before buying.
i bought this phone in early december for the oh-so-NOT-low price of $390 from letstalk.com. i was (am) only about seven months into my two-year contract, so yes, i paid full price. :eek:
in my past, i've owned most of the major brands of phones (motorola, nokia, samsung, sony ericsson, sharp) and right before i got this phone, i was a happy motorola V551 owner. initially, i had wanted the sony ericsson W800, but without the 850mhz band and being a cingular customer, i wasn't going to risk it.
in short, i love this phone. to date, it's the best phone i've owned. i don't think it's worth the $390 i paid for it, but that's really my fault. i'm impatient and wanted this phone reeeeeally bad and didn't want to wait until it dropped in price (if it ever will). i am going to cover a few of the major components to this phone and then list some pros and cons. mine is a cingular-branded phone, so keep that in mind when i talk about certain features.
camera: i've had a few camera phones before this one. i'll preface this section by saying what 100s of others have said: it's a camera PHONE. it's not going to have the quality to make even a decent 4X6 print. what it IS good for are those moments where you're thinking, "oh! i wish i had a camera right now!". my last phone was a VGA camera and i thought by getting a phone with a 1.3 MP camera, it'd be a noticable difference. it isn't really. however, the cameras on phones are such a relative subject since once person can think the pic looks good and others think it looks like total doodie. i would urge you to look at samples of pics this phone has taken and judge for yourself. i wasn't too impressed, but that's not why i bought the phone. the camera has a lot of neat little options (special effects, white balance, shoot mode, night mode, self-timer, etc), but that's all kinda lost when the pictures aren't that great. it should be noted that the camera on this phone and the sony ericsson S710a (a phone very similar to the W600) are both 1.3MP, but the S710a has a CCD sensor, which results in better pics. the phone will also take little (albeit grainy) video clips. moving on...
bluetooth: doesn't seem to be as easy to use as with my motorola, but i have some learning to do here. was what was cool was transferring ringtones from my friend's SE T616 to mine via bluetooth. free ringtones for me! i don't have bluetooth on any of my PCs, so i cannot comment on bluetooth connectivity in relation to that. i just like that the option (bluetooth) is there.
walkman: holy crap, it's a MP3 player on my phone! the walkman is pretty easy to use and so is the software to transfer songs to your phone. it took me about 12 minutes to transfer 15 songs, so it's not incredibly fast, but it's a cool app, nonetheless. the phone can hold about 60-70 songs at 128bps (ripping at other bitrates is possible, allowing more/less songs to be stored on the phone), depending on what other stuff you have on your phone (pics, vids). the sound is pretty damn good. you can listen to MP3s from the speakers or via headphones. i was very impressed. the phone does NOT have a 3.5mm plug, but comes with an adapter, so all is well. i've even plugged this phone into my car's cassette adapter and played MP3s through the car's stereo speakers. MP3s can also be used as ringtones. all-in-all, no complaints here! well, except the 256MB limit.
radio: nice little feature! you HAVE to have the headset plugged in to listen to the radio, as it acts as the antenna, but while it's plugged in, you can send the sound to come out of the speakers. radio is easy to use, channels are easy to store and radio sounds good. the radio (as well as the MP3 player), will pause if you get a call and resume when you're done. you can also use the radio and MP3 player while doing other things on the phone. headphones sound awesome.
games: the phone came with six games: asphalt3D, blockbreaker, bruwnswick billiards, jewel quest, name that tune, tetris, and 3D extreme air snowboarding. all games are locked, so you can only play them for about a minute and then you are prompted to purchase them. they are $6-$8, roughly. total rip off. thanks cingular.
ringtones: again, thanks to cingular, there are only six ringtones that come with this phone, and they are pretty crappy. there are free ones all over the place, so don't go spending your inheritance on buying them from cingular. or, do as i do and grab them off another SE phone via bluetooth. there is a little app including on the phone called musicDJ and you can actually make your own ringtones. kinda cool. i've made a few so far and they aren't bad. well, ok, my mom said they sounded horrible, but what does she know?
syncing: this phone syncs with your contacts, tasks, notes and calendar, if you have those kinds of programs on your PC. i got my phone to sync with my outlook, which now means i'll sell my PDA. SE's PC suite works pretty well and transferring files is easy. however, it seems like every now and again, when i am connected via USB, it reboots my phone. don't know what that's about. i don't think any harm is being done.
the phone feels pretty solid in your hand, weight-wise. i've never owned a slider/swivel phone in my life, and while it's not the most convenient to "flip" open, it's not bad. you can actually place and receive calls with the phone swivelled shut, too, which i liked.
it seems like SE didn't leave anything out with this phone (except a memory slot) and i love it. they thought of everything on this phone: radio, little flash light, dedicated key lock button, infrared, calendar, music/video/picture DJ,stopwatch, timer, tasks, notes and the list goes on and on. the phone's styling (ie: orange cover) isn't for everyone, but i love it. my phone did come with a 2nd cover, in navy blue. it's styling and shape is great and i love the orange backlit keypad. it's definitely a head-turner.
and, above all, reception and clarity of calls is great. i've had no complaints when i've used the phone, the headset, the bluetooth headset and speakerphone. it's really nice. this of course, can be dependent on your network. i live in the midwest in a fairly large area (260K people), so we have cell towers all over the place.
pros:
* nice size.
* bluetooth, infrared and speakerphone.
* radio and MP3s
* clarity of calls is excellent. reception is great.
* screen is nice and bright.
* easy to get pics, vids, etc. on and off the phone.
* phone comes with everything you need (except car charger)
* this phone is loaded - nothing is left out!
* sony ericsson's interface is great; apps like the address book are loaded with room for tons of info. menus are easy to use.
cons:
* no memory slot. on-board memory, while not bad, is limited to 256MB.
* price (well, at full retail anyway).
* camera is disappointing for a 1.3MP.
* phone goes into standby (screen off) after 15 seconds. very annoying and to date, i've found no way to change that.
* games are locked for only 1 minute of play. thanks cingular ;( not ONE free game is included.
* keypad buttons are small, and close together. i have small hands, so the key size is not so bad, it's the fact that they are right next to each other.
this is a great phone. its big disappointment is the fixed 256MB memory, but for a lot of people who just want to listen to a few songs and not 500, this phone will suit you just fine. i am hoping to keep this phone for more than six months (which is about how often i get a new cell phone) - it has everything i need and nothing i don't. kudos to sony ericsson for putting out a great phone! woo! ;)
Name: Donni Subagia
Location: Rutherford, NJ USA
Date: 2005-11-23
Customer Rating: -
Summary: A very good cell phone, but...
Comment: This is a very good cell phone and Amazon.com gives the best deal. But, you can't transfer your old phone number from different provider to Cingular through Amazon.com. If you transfer your old phone number, you won't get your mail-in rebate. Please read amazon.com mail-in rebate rules carefully!!!
You can read about how to transfer your number through this link : http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/508597/102-6686881-6992121
Name: Ichikoh
Location: California
Date: 2005-12-01
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Wow this thing is loaded!!!!!!!!!
Comment: I was in the market for a new phone and I wanted something on the high-end, something with all the bells and whistles : camera, bluetooth, music player, and everything in between. So I went and looked around for the best phone that suites my needs. I looked at everything from the ROKR to RAZR. My heart was set on a RAZR, just because it was very popular, but at the last minute I saw the w600i and got it. It was perfect. After a few day with it this is my verdict.
Pros: Features, Features, Features!!!!!!!!! Loaded with many features. First look at it, it comes in an orange outer shell, and also comes with a blue shell, so you can change style of the phone. Even better you can make your own covers and change it whenever you want. Sony really wanted you to change the cover seemlessly, so they made it very easy to change. Second the screen is big, and very clear. Pictures will stand out with this phone. When folded, it feels and looks like a regular digital camera. It also has MEGA BASS speakers which will make any noise coming from this phone sound like a small stereo speaker. Third the design is a swivel action, which can be "swiveled" in both direction, but cannot swivel a complete 360 degree, which I understand. The phone can be used for calls without opening the keypad. The only time you need the keypad is text messaging or contacts being inputed into the phone. Upon turning on the phone, there are many things to do, for example the phone comes with an antennea and ear buds, so you could listen to the radio. The ear buds even have different size foam tip to fit everybody's ear size. The ear buds, which sounds very good, can be used to listen to the radio or your mp3s, which you could download into the w600i, so it is also a walkman, and don't worry about storage space, it has a built in 256mb memory which is enough to carry your favorite 20 songs, and have room for all the other stuff like pictures and games. I have another portable mp3 player with thousands of songs, but I put my favorite 20 or so on this phone. I don't need 500 songs on this. No memory cards to buy, which is I hate changing. And last there are many preloaded stuff, like ringtones and themes, music DJ, mutimedia text, photo templates, video recorder, voice recorder, stop watch, calendar, and comes with a USB cable so it could be hooked up to your computer to transfer images and songs to the phone.
Cons: There are not that many, and these things are minor, for example, this phone is on the bulky side, a little thick but I could live with it. The area where the charger goes has a cover to protect it from dust, which does get in the way when charging the phone or hooking up the ear bud and antennea. The radio cannot come out of the speakers, only through the ear buds. The camera has no zoom. The number keypads feel fragile. No full games, just a bunch of demos, it should at least have a full version of Tetris. But I'm not a big gamer anyways.
Overall excellent and fun phone, all the things you need in one little package, and I am very pleased with it. If you want something different from the usual flip phones I recommend this one. Plus it is just the coolest looking phone, from what my friends said.
Name: Rebecca E. Daly
Location: Rochester, NY United States
Date: 2005-12-04
Customer Rating: -
Summary: great phone!
Comment: I have had a hard time finding a phone that I really like, but with the w600 I have actually succeeded. As a previous reviewer said, it comes loaded with features, and for the most part they're very functional and easy to use.
One of the major functions for this walkman phone is obviously music. It comes with a cd which lets you load transfer software onto your computer (I've got a pc, so I don't know how/if it works for macs) and then very simply transfer music files. It is slightly annoying that it can't just sync with one of the more common music programs out there, like iTunes or WinMP, but the interface is simple and fairly fast. Once your music is on the phone, you can arrange it into playlists or play it by artist or by album, all of which is simple to do. The major irritant with the music functionality is the limited memory. The phone has 256k of memory included, which serves for music, pictures AND video. so you can't put too many songs onto it if you have any intention of taking pictures or video with the onboard camera, and there is no way to upgrade the memory- i've got 36 songs on there, leaving 100k free. I am consistently confused as to why cell phones that are designed to play music, like this and the ROKR, have such limited memory, it seems like a major design flaw. (there is a memory card in sony ericsson's similar walkman model, the w800, but you can only buy that unlocked at the moment)
The camera is similarly simple and easy to use, and has really nice picture quality for a phone. not only can you change the picture quality and zoom (but only in the lower two picture quality settings), you can also set it to take pictures in several different styles (including black and white, negative, and sepia toned), as well as setting it to take a burst of several pictures rapidly or to join several pictures into a panorama shot, and changing the white balance to accommodate for several different lighting conditions. The camera is obviously only 1.3 mega-pixel, which is well below the top of the line in digital cameras, but is much better than most other camera phones. and I love that it has a little mirror below the lens so you can figure out where your head is in relation to the lens while taking a self-portrait- every camera should have this!
The video is also easy to use, just one simple change in the camera settings and off you go. This can also be done in two quality levels, and the top level is very nice for a phone. I read somewhere that you can only record for a minute at a time, but I've gone over that, so I think the only limit is the (admittedly small) memory.
I'm not much of a gamer, so I haven't really explored that area, but in my brief look I did notice that you have to unlock the games in some way, which appears to be buying the 'complete version'- this seems kind of cheap to me, that they couldn't even put a simple game of tetris on the phone to begin with, but as I say, I haven't really explored so I could be mistaken.
The phone features are also well put together- it's not intuitive to assign individual ringtones and pictures to your contacts, but it's not too difficult to figure out either- it just requires a quick look in the manual. Similarly, programming speed dial and voice dialing is easy to do once you've checked the manual. On the whole, the menu system is not very intuitively organized, so it can be difficult to deal with at first, but once you've figured out how it works it's easy to deal with. There are almost no ringtones that come with, but they are easy to get these days, and it is also very simple to set the songs from the music player as ringtones. The calendar doesn't have a feature to make repeated events easy to schedule, but since it can be synched with outlook that's probably not a big deal unless you don't use outlook (like me!). There is a functionality to transfer all of your contacts either to or from your sim card, which means you don't have to type them twice (yay!), and the phone address book allows up to four numbers per contact entry (although you do have to name them 'mobile', 'home', 'work', and 'other', which doesn't always align with reality).
The sound quality, both during phone calls and when playing music, is really incredible- and the included earphones are great! it is also nice that you can switch the included earphones for any others you want by plugging it in to the hands free speaker, making any headphones into a handsfree set. as another reviewer mentioned, it is annoying that you can't listen on the headphones and charge at the same time, and the little rubber plug cover does get in the way when you're plugging things in, but it is nice to know that dust isn't going to be interfering with your charging later on. I like the swivel open system, although I do wonder what will happen if it gets dropped while open, because there's no simple way to close like for flip phones- while the mechanism is pretty sturdy, it seems like it would be a little easier to break than some other designs. I also like the loop antenna, because it gets better reception than the internal antennas I've had in the past, without the danger of breaking off of the normal antennas, AND with the ability to hang it from something if you want to. It's a little heavier than other phones because of the higher quality camera stuff, but I think it's completely worth it. It's also nice that the cover can be changed so it doesn't HAVE to be orange- it comes with a black face-plate too.
So overall, I love this phone- it works great for me as a phone with great extras. It will never replace your mp3 player without more memory (and WHY they haven't started using larger flash drives in phones is, again, a mystery to me), and it won't replace your digital camera quite yet, but it's really great for those times when you want a little music but you only have your phone, or when you just HAVE to take a picture but don't have your camera.
pros:
*really high quality camera for a phone
*easy music system
*again, really high quality video for a phone
*easy to connect with computer for music or to sync data
*works well as a phone-
-good reception (in a place where most phones don't)
-good volume level (and ability to change it)
-simple to make and receive calls and messages
-easy to customize different contacts
cons:
*memory is not upgradeable so music play, camera and video recording limited
*doesn't appear to come with ANY free games fully loaded
*included software for transfer is a little annoying- it would be much better just to be able to use stuff we already have.
Name: Joshua Metts
Location: Lees Summit, MO
Date: 2005-12-08
Customer Rating: -
Summary: The Best!!!
Comment: I will not go into any detail about the phone as it has been covered by previous reviews. I have owned several samsung phones and have had verizon service for the past 2 years. I really liked the service and the samsung phones that I have owned, but one of the issues was customiztion. You really can't customize many phones with verizon without hacking them and verizon cripples the bluetooth capabilities, which I didn't like at all. Also you can browse the internet with a browser that actually displays html and not your standard wap browser, that most cellphones come with. I really just like the ability to make the phone my own and customize it with my own ringtones and themes. I must say that the external speakers are loud and sound very good considering how small they are. The only con that I can come up with is no expandable memory, but I also see some pros because of this; I don't have to buy any more memory cards. I don't want this to be my main mp3 player, that is what an ipod is for, I just like having 35-40 songs to listen to when I don't have my ipod. 256 mb is plenty for what I need to store on there. I have about 40 songs, 6 home videos and about 30 photos and still have about 50 Mb left. If you need or want a new phone I highly recommend it.!!!!!
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