Sony Ericsson W810
I am a man who quite likes gadgets, not obsessively so but enough. The sad thing is that they often fall short of their advertised hype and once you have the shiny new toy in your hands there is the sinking feeling of disappointment that the wizzy new features touted by the advertising department was nothing more than hyperbole in order to shift sub-standard units out onto a gullible public. Multi-Media mobile phones have been the victim of this syndrome for some time now with handsets delivering sluggish software, short battery life, dim screens and built-in cameras which deliver images worthy of a school science project pin-hole camera. Overall the user experience has been quite horrible and it was enough to make you wish that Motorola still made its design classic the StarTac.
Now several years after the first multi-media handsets arrived we are at last seeing a slew of models worthy of the title devoid of any major Achilles heal, its been a long wait but one such leader of the pack is the Sony Ericsson W810i Walkman Phone. The handset is small and light, well styled in an understated way, has a well designed and responsive UI, a bright clear screen and long battery life. So credit where its due, this phone does what it says on the tin without any major flaw and is pleasurable in its simplicity to use.
On the multimedia side its a pretty slick performer too with an MP3 player that compares favourably with a stand-alone unit. I particularly like the ear-phones as they come with a set of different size rubbers that mould into your ear efficiently shutting out outside noise so that Londoners can even listen to music on the tube without raising the volume to ear-splitting levels.
The camera has at last acknowledged the importance of focus and delivers images of some use. I was particularly impressed with the macro mode which effectively transforms the handset into a portable photocopier and can record a perfectly readable copy of an A4 document for later. With the built-in email client its a breeze to then forward this to your desktop for reference.
Job well done.
My liking for gadgets is firmly subservient to my liking for a bargain. I would like a Satnav but settle for one of those TrafficMaster things I borught in an Age Concern shop 8 years ago for 2 quid and an old O2 mobile to call Traffic Line on if it beeps.
I will therefore comment seriously on the subject of the thread in aboiut 11 years time when I may possibly have acquired the Sony Ericsson W810i Walkman Phone provided that is that there is one going at the school jumble sale for a sufficiently low price.
I highly approve of your thriftiness and you wouldn’t catch me actually paying for a mobile phone. My wife and I both make sufficient calls to warrant a monthly contract so I called Orange customer care to negotiate free handsets for both of us on the same tariff with more free minutes and texts per month than our previous contract. The nice Scottish lady at Orange did us proud.
You don’t get if you don’t ask.