Sony Ericsson P900 Reviewed [Archive]

Jason Dunn

01-12-2004, 05:44 AM

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.tekguru.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=5153' target='_blank'>http://www.tekguru.co.uk/phpBB2/vie...opic.php?p=5153</a><br /><br /></div>Curious about the much-discussed P900? For a very thorough review, check out this post on Tekguru.

arebelspy

01-12-2004, 06:37 AM

Just a quick edit: The post was a review by nihilism, and it was posted on tekguru. ;)

-arebelspy

whydidnt

01-12-2004, 05:44 PM

The P800 and P900 have always been tempting to me. However, as the reviewer points out, there appear to be some limitations in the non-phone functionality. I wish someone would relase a WMPE in this form factor. I know they'd have to do something with the screen size, but I'm willing go with a smaller screen to get this form factor.

Too bad, Sony and SE have decided not to license MS software, they consistently provide the most unique, usuable hardware, IMO.

whydidnt

Janak Parekh

01-12-2004, 06:30 PM

Just a quick edit: The post was a review by nihilism, and it was posted on tekguru. ;)
Thanks, I made a minor edit. :)

--janak

pdaisdead

01-12-2004, 07:04 PM

The 80's called, they want their portable phone back!

Vincent M Ferrari

01-12-2004, 08:50 PM

:shocked!:

This is one of the most advanced phones on the market... I'm kinda curious what angle you're coming from

pdaisdead

01-12-2004, 10:57 PM

:shocked!:

This is one of the most advanced phones on the market... I'm kinda curious what angle you're coming from

The viewing angle that makes it look like a Brick. Check that, it looks that way from any angle. In one years' time (if that) this thing is going to look ancient.

Vincent M Ferrari

01-12-2004, 11:00 PM

Before you call it a brick, hold it in your hands. It's far from a brick.

pdaisdead

01-12-2004, 11:58 PM

gonzo

01-13-2004, 12:00 AM

And.....in some shock horror reveal!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tekguru's Nihilism is Pocket PC thoughts GONZO!!!!!!!!!!
AAAAGGGHHHH! ;-)

Glad the review's becoming more popular, any questions then feel free to ask. It's the first review I've decided to do, but should be making it a more regular thing in the future.
A couple of new pocket pc game reviews will be out by the end of the week on tekguru....

Regards,

Gonzo/Nihilism

gonzo

01-13-2004, 12:05 AM

The 80's called, they want their portable phone back!

Dude, this is a small unit....It's a bit bigger than a t610, but way smaller than any pocket pc on the market......

Maybe my photo's make it look big as they're close up, I dunno, but it's certainly pocketable....

gonzo

01-13-2004, 12:09 AM

Before you call it a brick, hold it in your hands. It's far from a brick.

And you know that I haven't? I have, it's a brick. You know what the best test is? Don't ask any Geek friends you might have if it's cool. Go and ask a girl. See what she thinks.

It's still holding a PDA up to your ear.

As I said in my review, it's much more "phone like" than any other device I've used.....
That (as well as some major faults that never got fixed by o2) was the reason I got rid of my XDA....it simply didn't fit in with my lifestyle...I did not like being in public with a big shiney blob next to my head.....

The P900 is a similar form factor to a nokia 7650 or that new one with the stupid rotary key design, but with a bigger screen.....
Its a tiny bit thicker, but still is most certainly on the slim side.....

I find phones like the t610 an ok size, my t68i was a little on the small size....cool phone and very usable, but I can comfortably have a bigger phone with no problems.....

I'd say it is far from a brick, it's smaller than any of the palm based stuff, and looking at it (though not proven) I'd say it can compete with blackberrys and the danger hiptop without a problem.....

freitasm

01-13-2004, 01:00 AM

Before you call it a brick, hold it in your hands. It's far from a brick.

And you know that I haven't? I have, it's a brick. You know what the best test is? Don't ask any Geek friends you might have if it's cool. Go and ask a girl. See what she thinks.

It's still holding a PDA up to your ear.

By all means this is a small phone. It's smaller than a Nokia 3650, it's smaller than a Windows Mobile Smartphone, and WAY smaller than a Windows Mobile Phone Edition in their current incarnations.

It looks cool, and in terms of functionality the WM PE is only now catching up - SMS management, MMS (introduced with P800), MPEG4/3GPP video recording (introduced with P900), SyncML, Bluetooth.

And it's very small, compared with the BRICKS that 3 is releasing as 3G phones. I mean, have a look in their Motorola A920 for goodness sake:

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/images/news/motorolaa920.jpg (http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=1933)

gonzo

01-13-2004, 01:25 AM

By all means this is a small phone. It's smaller than a Nokia 3650, it's smaller than a Windows Mobile Smartphone, and WAY smaller than a Windows Mobile Phone Edition in their current incarnations.

It looks cool, and in terms of functionality the WM PE is only now catching up - SMS management, MMS (introduced with P800), MPEG4/3GPP video recording (introduced with P900), SyncML, Bluetooth.

And it's very small, compared with the BRICKS that 3 is releasing as 3G phones. I mean, have a look in their Motorola A920 for goodness sake:

I applaude you sir, It certainly deos look cool.
As for 3G, they're a investment driven company that's managed to buy a 4+ year old japanese technology (ever heard of NTT DOCOMO?) and released it....only good thing about 3 is the tarriffs....if you can buy the sim, throw the phone in the bin and put it in a decent phone for 2, 2.5G use, it's perfect.........

mpaque

01-13-2004, 02:20 AM

Go and ask a girl. See what she thinks.

:lol: Oh yeah, that's how I buy all of my gadgets :lol:

Vincent M Ferrari

01-13-2004, 02:41 AM

Good Lord, if I asked a girl what they thought of my Pocket PC, I'd have a Tungsten. Jeez...

EDIT:

Off the cuff comment made without thinking. I apologize...

Soopafly

01-13-2004, 03:20 AM

Good Lord, if I asked a girl what they thought of my Pocket PC, I'd have a Tungsten. Jeez...
:mrgreen: lol

pdaisdead

01-13-2004, 06:03 AM

Go and ask a girl. See what she thinks.

:lol: Oh yeah, that's how I buy all of my gadgets :lol:

Maybe you should... :roll:

pdaisdead

01-13-2004, 06:04 AM

Good Lord, if I asked a girl what they thought of my Pocket PC, I'd have a Tungsten. Jeez...
:mrgreen: lol

Walk up to her with your Pocket PC and you won't even be able to talk to her to ask her.

Kati Compton

01-13-2004, 06:06 AM

Good Lord, if I asked a girl what they thought of my Pocket PC, I'd have a Tungsten. Jeez...
Hello?! Remember there *are* females here...

EDIT - he edited his post to apologize, so I'll take back my snide comment. ;)

Vincent M Ferrari

01-13-2004, 06:06 AM

So no girls like PDA's?

Getting all this Petite Flower, Kati, Jenneth?

Girls don't like PDA's and won't talk to guys who do.

Janak Parekh

01-13-2004, 06:11 AM

pdaisdead

01-13-2004, 07:21 AM

By all means this is a small phone. It's smaller than a Nokia 3650, it's smaller than a Windows Mobile Smartphone, and WAY smaller than a Windows Mobile Phone Edition in their current incarnations.]

Smaller than an MPx200?? Now don't simply quote stats that calculate the heighth only when flipped open.

It looks cool, and in terms of functionality the WM PE is only now catching up - SMS management, MMS (introduced with P800), MPEG4/3GPP video recording (introduced with P900), SyncML, Bluetooth.

And it's very small, compared with the BRICKS that 3 is releasing as 3G phones. I mean, have a look in their Motorola A920 for goodness sake:

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/images/news/motorolaa920.jpg (http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=1933)

So you're comparing it to other bricks on the market and saying it's not as bad? That's a logical fallacy. Look, the phone is wide, tall, thick, and can't collapse to half its size (as in the case of a true flip phone). Anyway you slice that, it comes up brick.

pdaisdead

01-13-2004, 07:24 AM

OK guys, it might have been funny for a post or two, but let's drop the gender tone from this discussion.

Besides, why are you arguing with someone called "pdaisdead"? His bias is clear, isn't it? ;)

--janak

Why drop the "gender tone"? It actually matters. Like it or not, style is a major factor for most people when purchasing a cell phone.

And so what if a bias against PDAs exists? We're talking about smart phones in this topic last time I checked?? :roll:

pdaisdead

01-13-2004, 07:25 AM

Phoenix

01-13-2004, 07:39 AM

The P900 is a great phone. The P800 was a brick, but the P900 is much, much better. Much better screen, much better everything.

And what's all this about women giving you a hard time because you carry a P900? :?: I've never been given a hard time about a stupid phone, lol, gimme a break. The P900 is a great looking phone. You think it's big, go tell that to the men who carry around Satellite phones. And remember those brick phones in the early 90's? LOL, now those were funny! No, the P900 isn't any different than holding any other phone up to your ear. It's beautiful and powerful and as sleek as a phone can be right now with all of that tech inside. If anything, people in general are fascinated with a phone with such a big beautiful screen, the beautiful backlighting, and all of that capability.

I do have to say, though, that I am wanting to see one of those Motorola Mx220's and Mx300's up close. Nobody seems to know anything about the Mx300 yet, but I'm really curious as to how this will be equipped. I may migrate to one of those. :drool:

dMores

01-13-2004, 01:46 PM

my p900 has the same feel to it as my before-before-last phone, the nokia 6210. it's not as tall, slightly wider and as thick as the 6210.

it's a business phone, and finally it looks like one too. the p800 was kind of funky to look at, but looked flimsy and plasticky.

the motorola a920 is huge in comparison.

and the mpx200 something smartphone was, when flip closed, taller, thicker and wider than a t68i, which means it's about the same size as the p900. CLOSED !!! now when you open it it nearly doubles in height.

besides ... a smartphone without a touch screen? might as well get a nokia 7650 ;)

dMores

01-13-2004, 03:30 PM

oh, you might want to have a look at
http://www.sonyericssonp800.com/
to see a size comparison of the p800 and a bunch of other phones.
note that the p900 is a tad smaller than the p800. then see if you can talk about bricks !

pdaisdead

01-13-2004, 04:44 PM

...and the mpx200 something smartphone was, when flip closed, taller, thicker and wider than a t68i, which means it's about the same size as the p900. CLOSED !!! now when you open it it nearly doubles in height.

umm.....right. :rotfl:

Janak Parekh

01-13-2004, 04:50 PM

Why drop the "gender tone"? It actually matters. Like it or not, style is a major factor for most people when purchasing a cell phone.
Then discuss it on the merits of style. Let's not generalize to stereotypes of what a particular person would want. There are quite a few female readers on this board, and I know of several that carry Pocket PC Phones, e805s, etc.

And so what if a bias against PDAs exists? We're talking about smart phones in this topic last time I checked?? :roll:
My point is simple: by calling yourself "pdaisdead", it's obvious to me you're convinced PDA formfactors are dead. I'm not going to argue with someone who is that convinced. You're welcome to your viewpoint, but I, along with most of the people on this thread, don't agree with it.

--janak

Vincent M Ferrari

01-13-2004, 05:13 PM

I for one held one in my hand when I owned my T610 and it really isn't that much bigger, and it's far from a brick. It looks as cool as hell, the screen is amazing, the keypad is much better than the P800 and the metal stylus makes a nice well-rounded package.

I was thoroughly impressed, as are most of the people I work with. The only put-off is price, which is always a punch in the ribs for any smartphone.

It's beautifully designed, isn't too heavy, and is quite small for the amount of functionality it offers.

Easily one of the best smart phones I've ever seen, and one of the few that addresses the main problem with smartphones...

They should be phones first and PDA's second. Most try to be both simultaneously, and usually suffer in the phone category (PPCPE is a perfect example; a well rounded device, but a terrible phone, as is the Tungsten W, but I digress).

If I had more coin I would own one!

pdaisdead

01-13-2004, 09:13 PM

Then discuss it on the merits of style. Let's not generalize to stereotypes of what a particular person would want. There are quite a few female readers on this board, and I know of several that carry Pocket PC Phones, e805s, etc.

Can't generalize about what consumers go for what styles? Manufacturer's do. Happen to notice any of the phones lately that have been marketed specifically at women?:

http://www.mobileburn.com/review.jsp?Id=562

http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,6771,47705,00.html

So feel free to stay off the politically correct High Horse. It's like any other market: teen, business user, etc.

My point is simple: by calling yourself "pdaisdead", it's obvious to me you're convinced PDA formfactors are dead. I'm not going to argue with someone who is that convinced. You're welcome to your viewpoint, but I, along with most of the people on this thread, don't agree with it.
--janak

And because you or others don't agree then I must be wrong? As to being convinced, my login in name is nothing more than an expression of what works for ME. I no longer use a PDA, but a smartphone. So it's dead for me. Nice assumption though. I wish I could tell everything about someone based on their name.

I do think PDAs are going to become an increasingly narrow market however, thanks to the smart phone. It's just a rumor, but when places like Best Buy quit carrying them, that should tell you something.

Janak Parekh

01-13-2004, 10:17 PM

Can't generalize about what consumers go for what styles? Manufacturer's do. Happen to notice any of the phones lately that have been marketed specifically at women?
OK... I didn't mean it in that sense, but I think I explained myself poorly. There were a few snide comments in the middle, which is what I was requesting be toned down.

And because you or others don't agree then I must be wrong?
If you notice, I'm not defining one as right or the other as wrong at all. I just don't agree with you. :)

Nice assumption though. I wish I could tell everything about someone based on their name.
Oh come on, "pdaisdead" is more descriptive than most handles. Maybe more descriptive than you'd like it.

--janak

pdaisdead

01-13-2004, 10:40 PM

If you notice, I'm not defining one as right or the other as wrong at all. I just don't agree with you. :)

So what was the point of saying it then? Should there be no dissenting view here?? Why else would you point that out?

Oh come on, "pdaisdead" is more descriptive than most handles. Maybe more descriptive than you'd like it.

--janak

No, descriptive to you. I've seen a lot more potentially "descriptive" handles, but don't neccessarily mean I know everything about where that particular poster is coming from. I'd rather listen to what they actually say, but that's just me. You didn't ask what it meant, you assumed.

Regardless, it's obvious you know it was a mistake and we can move on now.

shawnc

01-13-2004, 11:18 PM

Can't generalize about what consumers go for what styles? Manufacturer's do. Happen to notice any of the phones lately that have been marketed specifically at women?:

http://www.mobileburn.com/review.jsp?Id=562

Oh my gawd! I don't know if it's me or what, but if I we're a woman I would find this product very offensive. Maybe I missed something in the review, but a phone whose claim to fame is a mirror to assist in the application of make-up?? That's what we think is important to women when purchasing a cell phone???

Jason Dunn

01-13-2004, 11:37 PM

Just a quick edit: The post was a review by nihilism, and it was posted on tekguru. ;)

See, this is why it's a bad idea to have the site and and the handle of the owner being the same. :lol:

Janak Parekh

01-14-2004, 01:20 AM

So what was the point of saying it then? Should there be no dissenting view here?? Why else would you point that out?
No. You'll note I stated my opinion after you dissented already. If there was no dissenting opinion, I'd have deleted your post or something. I didn't ask you to leave, did I? Or ban your account?

I'd rather listen to what they actually say, but that's just me. You didn't ask what it meant, you assumed.
You also assumed that was the entire basis for my comments. It was not. It's pretty clear that you don't like the PDA phone form factor from all the posts you made. Plus, there's your handle. Ergo, my comment. ;)

Anyway, we're going in circles now, so fine, you're right, I'll stop...

--janak

pdaisdead

01-14-2004, 01:39 AM

Delta737

01-17-2004, 08:00 AM

I actually get some positive response from the women to my P900, especially when I show them it can play MP3, video clips, and off-course recording video-clips. Form-factor is not everything, not to women either. And even if it where, the P900 isn't that big

cereal

06-09-2004, 08:21 PM

Is anyone familiar with how well the P900 works in NYC?

A T-Mobile rep told me that they refuse to carry it because it doesn't work well on their system (when pressed for details he could not provide them) and an ATT rep said the same thing.

Before I invest in this sweet little piece of machinery (p.s. I am a girl) I would like to know if anyone has had first hand user experience with it in the city.

06-18-2004, 02:12 AM

Since SE are not producing CDMA devices the P900 is no use for me. Shame, because if it was available on Sprint I would be very tempted, even with the horrid memory stick.

I did get the chance to play with one for a few minutes and thought it was an excellent design, with nice features. I think I would prefer the P900 over the Treo 600, my previous favorite. The overall build quality is much nicer and I'm becoming convinced that Symbian is a better smartphone OS than POS.

However there is soon to be a Qtopia phone version. I wonder what kinds of device will be using this? It might well be overkill for a phone like the MS versions.

Thinkingmandavid

06-18-2004, 02:51 AM

I have always loved the Symbian OS. I had originally thought about buying the P800, but I could not afford it, as I cannot afford the 900. :cry:
I think form factor is dependent on the individual regardless of gender. When I was using the Symbian OS I did not have stability problems.
I always look for functionality first, and of course screen size is also important to me.

Janak Parekh

06-20-2004, 06:18 AM

Is anyone familiar with how well the P900 works in NYC?
It should work fine on T-Mobile - as T-Mobile uses only 1900MHz. AT&T will be a problem, as they now have two frequencies -- 850 and 1900 -- and I believe the current P900 is only 900/1800/1900.

A T-Mobile rep told me that they refuse to carry it because it doesn't work well on their system (when pressed for details he could not provide them) and an ATT rep said the same thing.
Nah - T-Mobile is just very conservative. :( I wish they carried the P900. I would suggest you get it from a place you can return, just in case, but it should be matter of getting it, buying and popping in a SIM card, and using it.

(p.s. I am a girl)
Actually, a female friend of mine carries a P800 -- her husband got it for her because she wanted to check her email on the road. I think she uses it on T-Mo with zero problems whatsoever. I've also seen others use the P800. I haven't used a P900 myself, but I would assume it should work OK too. Where in NY are you? T-Mo has good coverage in Manhattan, and has adequate coverage in the 4 other boroughs. Long Island is a bit spottier though.

--janak