W800i Upgrade Time

[donbenni]

So my supplier O2 has been calling me recently to tempt me into upgrading from my Sony Ericsson W800i.

The uneducated welp i spoke to on the phone was trying to get me to agree to an 18 month contract and a phone upgrade to the W810i right there and then on the phone at 9 o-bleeding-clock in the morning. He failed to understand that the yearly upgrade of one's mobile telephone requires more thought that can be given over the phone. So i told him to go away and i'll pop into one of the shops when i'm damn well ready.

Step back to September '05 and the SE W800i was one of the newest and bestest phones you could get. My local Carphone Warehouse shipped me one from the next county so i could get my grubby mitts on it. You see i have a minor phone addiction and have to have the newest and bestest. 12 months is about the length of time i can wait before needed a new toy to play with. And that time is of course now.

The W800i has been a great phone: awesome camera, nice interface, good looks, MP3 player and large storage. I'm now looking for something to replace it.

My new phone has to be an improvement on the W800 in almost every way if possible:

- More than 2 MP camera
- High quality and large screen (256k colours)
- Ability to store lots of music and pictures on a relatively cheap medium i.e. a good brand (San Disk) 1 Gb stick costs less than £30
- Good, fast interface
- Ability to browse the net on not a completely cack explorer
- Wifi would be lovely but isn't 100% essential

The W810i isn't a good enough upgrade. It isn't different enough to the 800 for me to live for another 12 months with it. It may help to know my last 3 phones have been Sony Ericssons. I am perhaps a little bored now.


Suggestion 1

The Sony Ericsson K800i is about the same news as the W810 but i'm a bit more keen on it.


Suggestion 2

Nokia N80 or maybe Nokia N73. I don't know how much (or if) the 73 is better than the 80. Need some opinions here. The 80 seems to have all the features of the 73 + higher res screen (but slightly smaller) + wifi.


Suggestion 3

My current favourite and the daddy: Nokia N93. Has pretty much everything i'm after but is a bit big perhaps, not to mention the most expensive of the group at around £200 with contract and 2GB miniSD card.


I would really appreciate some opinions on these phones and some suggestions for other phones. I had a much better idea of what phones were good last year but it seems this year is a little harder!

Thanks 👍

 

[CDailey]

How different is the K800i to the K750?

The N80 and N93 are both great phones. ViperZero (member here at GTP...you may know him) has an N90 and he loves it. Of course, it's unlocked and used on the Cingular network (same with my K750). Go check out http://www.howardforums.com/ for all the cell phone information you could possibly think of. Totally awesome site with forums for every manufacturer and carrier.

 

[Dave_George]

I would be seriously looking at the Nokia N91 for the features you require, the SE K800i has a supposedly awesome camera (seen a review of it against a DLSR and it was mighty impressive considering its a free phone...) and I would imagine a better deal is available on that phone too.

Dave

 

[Mx²]

K800i takes the win. 👍 Best phone out of the bunch.

 

[Jondot]

Not to steal your thread, but i've also been looking at phones recently (with roughly the same specification, if a little less).

Personally, i've been looking at (and am now hoping to buy) the Motorola V3x. It comes with 3G (i'm an internet addict and need it), a 2mp camera (although apparently it's questionable quality), a gorgeous screen and all the usual blah. Probably not even 75% suitable for you, but i thought i'd mention it just in case.

I can assure you that the camera on the K800i is superb, as is the phone it's self. Everything feels very nice indeed, and it's much like the usual SEs to use. The only thing that surprised me is the build quality - my friend recieved his a few days before the end of term, and on the last day was getting "inactive sim" messages no matter what he stuck in it. Probably just a fluke, though.

 

[CDailey]

OMG, am I the only person that despises Motorola's UI? That keeps me from even considering a Motorola phone.

 

[donbenni]

UPDATE:

Thanks for the input! I've been looking around town and a bit more searching online...

I've read up a little more about the N93 and am totally in love with it's features: You can directly link the phone to your tv so you can watch your videos, view photos, browse the net and play games through the tv set. Can't see using the last two unless i'm in a hotel but viewing videos and photos on a tv screen is very useful.

So i think i'm pretty much sold on it. The final test is to see a) how heavy it is and b) how stupid i look using it as a phone (will ask the shop assistant to model it too..).

Unfortunately it doesn't come out for another week, but that does mean i still have time to change my mind

How different is the K800i to the K750?

Well take a look but basically the 800 has a bigger higher res screen, supports video calling (3G), uses a different memory stick type and has the better camera. Not a whole lot really which is why i'm not that interested in it.

The N80 and N93 are both great phones. ViperZero (member here at GTP...you may know him) has an N90 and he loves it. Of course, it's unlocked and used on the Cingular network (same with my K750). Go check out http://www.howardforums.com/ for all the cell phone information you could possibly think of. Totally awesome site with forums for every manufacturer and carrier.

Thanks for the link 👍 Yeah they do both seem to be good phones. I read there that the N80 suffers from really bad battery life (which i'm kind of expecting the 93 to too). Had a look at the 80 in a phone shop yesterday and was impressed to see how small it is; quite the compact smart phone.

I would be seriously looking at the Nokia N91 for the features you require, the SE K800i has a supposedly awesome camera (seen a review of it against a DLSR and it was mighty impressive considering its a free phone...) and I would imagine a better deal is available on that phone too.

Dave

I've thought about the 91: Looks like a great phone, has some nice features. Not entirely sure on it though, but might take a good look at it when i go back to the shop next week. Thanks.

K800i takes the win. 👍 Best phone out of the bunch.

It's a nice phone with a great camera but i've had a bit of a look at it and it just looks the same as my W800. Not the sort of upgrade i'm looking for.

Personally, i've been looking at (and am now hoping to buy) the Motorola V3x. It comes with 3G (i'm an internet addict and need it), a 2mp camera (although apparently it's questionable quality), a gorgeous screen and all the usual blah. Probably not even 75% suitable for you, but i thought i'd mention it just in case.

Hmm. I've never really like Motorolas and that one (whilst having nice features) just looks a bit dull. I want something really stupid that will keep me entertained for hours and i don't think that phone will do that. I'll take a look at it in the shop though. Thanks.

I can assure you that the camera on the K800i is superb, as is the phone it's self. Everything feels very nice indeed, and it's much like the usual SEs to use. The only thing that surprised me is the build quality - my friend recieved his a few days before the end of term, and on the last day was getting "inactive sim" messages no matter what he stuck in it. Probably just a fluke, though.

Yeah sounds like it might be a fluke. I don't know anyone who's had a problem with their SEs recently.

OMG, am I the only person that despises Motorola's UI? That keeps me from even considering a Motorola phone.

Will soon find out..

 

[CDailey]

I dunno about you, but whenever I hold a MotoRAZR, I feel like I'm gonna break it. They seem really flimsy. The competitors vesions (Sanyo Katana, and and Samsung A900/990) feel much more firm.

 

[Mx²]

ITR, I have a V3 RAZR, the phone feels sturdy as hell, I'm just worried about getting dust in the outer LCD.

 

[CDailey]

I dunno what version my friend has (I'm assuming it's a V3 since he got it about 2 months ago), but it really does not feel very sturdy to me. Maybe it's because I'm used to my K750?

 

[Jondot]

OMG, am I the only person that despises Motorola's UI? That keeps me from even considering a Motorola phone.

So did i, but the Razrs are my exception. They look so damn nice on the outside that i couldn't resist checking one out. The normal ones i don't like (menus are similar to the other motos), which is why i spent so long traipsing around last saturday trying to find somewhere that would let me have a go on one...

Oh, and it's nothing like the normal ones. Much nicer . They don't feel as sturdy as a normal block phone, but then again they are a lot slimmer. The x is thicker than the standard, and i certainly had no problems with it .

To be fair, the K750i was the first handset i tried (i had to either rule it out or fall in love with it), and i thought it felt too like the k700i i had before (the screen was the same, and after seeing my friend's k800 it looked nasty).

DB: Yeah, it's not really something i'd consider fun or interesting. Looks a little bland to be honest, but it has the features i want (and it's cheaper than most of it's rivals). I'm buying Pay and go, so i have to watch the price (still managed to cost me £180 though ). Pay monthly people can afford stuff that's much better


Yeah...i bought one...

 

[donbenni]

DB: Yeah, it's not really something i'd consider fun or interesting. Looks a little bland to be honest, but it has the features i want (and it's cheaper than most of it's rivals). I'm buying Pay and go, so i have to watch the price (still managed to cost me £180 though ). Pay monthly people can afford stuff that's much better


Yeah...i bought one...

Like i said it's got a lot of good features, and it doesn't look that bad so it's a pretty good choice for PAYG.

£180 though... man i'd forgotten how stupidly expensive the initial payment is for payg phones. I converted to pay monthly as soon as i could afford the on-going bill and i think it's worked out best for me. Not to mention i saw the P800 (which had only just come out) was free on monthly but £300ish on payg.. I guess you're a couple of years off getting a contract yet, but i'm sure you'll love the benefits when you the there

 

[Jondot]

Like i said it's got a lot of good features, and it doesn't look that bad so it's a pretty good choice for PAYG.

£180 though... man i'd forgotten how stupidly expensive the initial payment is for payg phones. I converted to pay monthly as soon as i could afford the on-going bill and i think it's worked out best for me. Not to mention i saw the P800 (which had only just come out) was free on monthly but £300ish on payg.. I guess you're a couple of years off getting a contract yet, but i'm sure you'll love the benefits when you the there

Indeed. My mum used to be on contract, so i used to get a new phone every year if i wanted it - we just switched simcards and she got my 3310, which she was happy with because she's a technophobe. Sadly, we realised it wasn't practical (she rarely calls anyone, so £35 a month for free minutes she wasn't using was rather stupid) and now she's on P&G too.

£180 is more than i thought i'd have a phone costing - every one before now has been under 100. To be fair, though, this came with £30 credit so i'm not complaining