iPhone 3GS from AT&T. Free Shipping
- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 135 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Great phone with lots of surprises"
Pros: Walkman feature works great! Camera is good (for a cell phone). Takes M2 4GB chips. Small size. Easy to use
Cons: Sony Ericsson PC software. Music transfer speed is slow.
Summary: I moved to this phone from a Motorola Razr so the features were a big leap for me. I wanted a phone that could handle music so I didnâ??t have to carry around my iPod anymore. I wanted a phone that could take OK photos. I wanted a phone that had a decent display. The Sony Ericsson w580i promised to meet all of these categories.
When I purchased the phone, even though the reviews and Sony Ericsson website said it would only hand a 1GB chip, I gambled and bought a 4GB chip. When the phone arrived, inserted that 4GB chip and it worked great.
I was also surprised to see that AT&T included the USB Sync cable and the headphone jack adapter. I havenâ??t seen this in any reviews but the headphone jack adapter will accept any headphone that you want to use. I was happy to see that because I dislike the headphones supplied by Sony Ericsson (I prefer on the ear instead of in the ear headphones). The phone can charge via the included charger or via USB with the USB sync cable. I picked up a second USB sync cable to charge my phone while at work (and so I can transfer files if needed).
The sound quality for calls is good (I feel itâ??s better than the Motorolla Razr). The sound quality for music is great. I have replaced my iPod with this telephone and Iâ??m not looking back. I have read that the phone will show videos but with the size of the screen on the phone, I havenâ??t tried (and I donâ??t think I will be trying anytime soon). The phone will play ACC format music BUT it wonâ??t play anything with Appleâ??s DRM on it so youâ??ll have to deal with that.
The camera quality is OK. Thereâ??s a lot of features and you can edit the pictures on the phone. If you want to see the quality of pictures, you can look on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/cameras/sonyericsson/w580i/ - Iâ??m not responsible for the quality or contents of those photos by the way â?? itâ??s just a meta tag inside of Flickr for that phone model).
As for the bad, the Sony Ericsson software is not very good. I dislike the music transfer software. It took quite a long time to fill up that 4GB chip the first time. I discovered a piece of software called â??My Phone Explorerâ?? that is a 3rd party piece of software that does everything I need (sync with google calendar, iCal or MS Outlook, import/export contacts, transfer photos and music, even back up your â??who calledâ?? list and clear it from the phone). Needless to say, after I found this software, I uninstalled the Sony Ericsson software. (yes, My Phone Explorer works with XP and Vista â?? in fact, Vista connected to the internet and found the driver automatically).
Also, the file transfer wasnâ??t at USB 2.0 speeds. I believe this is a limitation on the phone, not on the software. Someone else more familiar with the Sony Ericsson firmware could possible speak to that.
The number pad is not the highest quality (you might see that in other reviews). Itâ??s not a big issue for me but for some people, itâ??s an issue. Iâ??ve read that Sony Ericsson will deal with this as a â??known issueâ?? but Iâ??d check before you started beating on the phone.
Things I canâ??t speak about are mobile internet on the phone (I donâ??t have a data plan and donâ??t think Iâ??ll be getting one) and texting.
I picked the phone up for $79 and Iâ??ve been happy ever since. I would predict that this phone ends up being the cheaper alternative to the iPhone for AT&T.
- 1 reply to this review
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thanks for the info on the 4gb card. can you repost the name of the software you use to sync your phone again? thanks
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