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"Finally something cool and inexpensive!" on by trickycoolj
Pros: mp3 capabilities, camera (photo & video), bright color screen internal and external, loud ringer settings
Cons: PTT key does not disable and pushes easily in pocket, no Green/Red Talk/End buttons
Summary: I finally upgraded from 6 years of useless phones a qualcomm that should have been candy filled, siemens c56, motorola v180 (with two warranty replacements), and a nokia 6010, so I'm a bit behind the times.
This phone has a camera and I don't know much about phone cameras but it seems okay, I like that I can take video with it too. Good for random snapshots when your real digital camera isn't with you.
The mp3 capabilities blew me away! Not only does it have a built in player (if you don't have one yet) but using them as ringtones is brilliant! Get freeware online and cut your own rings that aren't on the mass market sites. The infared port is also a savior since I can easily transfer data from my computer to the phone for photos and music.
The push to talk key is annoying if you don't subscribe to the service (extra on cingular) it always asks to activate if you hit the key which happens constantly due to placement and size of the key.
Loudest ring setting is LOUD, almost embarassingly so! That's good, because somehow I always missed my previous phones when ringing. The good speaker quality transfers to the speakerphone as well, with a nice loud and clear projection (even with one bar of service).
Using soft keys as Talk and End buttons takes a little getting used to, they replaced them with a back and clear button, which I try to intuitively use as talk and end and it never works.
This is a super fun phone to play with and has a lot of features for the buck. Forget all those super fancy $100 with a plan slim Razr phones, this is a good fit instead, wait for the slim ones to get cheaper. Besides, I'm not a fan of motorola they've not been reliable for me. Fits in my pocket and purse just fine, and I think I'll feel much cooler walking through my university campus with this phone compared to my old brick!!
Oh, and my mom doesn't have as many problems reading the numbers and screen without reading glasses, a big plus for her... more potential for her to actually use her phone now. -
"Great phone with 1 annoying button" on by irreversibility
Pros: iSync works!!!! After you buy a plugin or know how to hack.
Cons: PTT button SUCKs!!!!!
Summary: There's an easy fix for the PTT button. You need some needle nose pliers and a razor blade. Just grab the button and pull the damn thing off the phone. On the backside there's a little nub that actually hits the internal membrane... cut it off with a razor and squeeze the button back into it's hole. It took 2 minutes to turn this into the best phone I've ever had.
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"Three phones, all would freeze up." on by retups
Pros: Nice looking.Could see battery life on screen.
Cons: Push to talk (PTT ) button in the way.
Summary: Had three of these phones in less than 30 days. All would freeze up. Open phone to make a call and it was locked up like a computer.Couldn't dial out. None of the buttons worked. Couldn't shut the power off. Closed the cover and waited about 5 min. and then opened it back up, then it would power itself back up.Switched it out for a Nokia
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"Decent phone if you need PTT and no BT or email client." on by vincepsp
Pros: Good quality, nice interface.
Cons: PTT button is always in the way, small volume buttons, voice dial bad
Summary: The build and design of this phones is very nice, I liked the style factor. I don't use PTT and noticed I was always hitting the PTT key, which then nags you about enabling the feature. That is a seriously bad design choice. It is not possible to disable the PTT button or reassign it to something different. Regardless, I found that I was constantly pressing that key because it's located exactly where you grab the phone. The camera isn't something I care about, but it works ok for a cell phone camera. This phone has an email client, but it has issues; it takes an unacceptible amount of time to send emails.It receives emails quickly, but sending averaged about 3-5 minutes getting a simple text message out of the outbox. Text messaging and IM worked well. Call quality was maybe a 6 out of 10, good volume, but forget using BlueTooth for automatic voice dial. You can only use AVD in the quietest locations. Whenever I was in my car and started to get up to speed, average road noise would render the AVD useless and it would give a loud ring in my ear for connection failures. My RAZR V3 is absolutely flawless with AVD- even with the radio on in the car- but this phone just couldn't understand voice commands around typical road noise. I liked the secure notepad, the daily repeatable alarm clock (both are big sellers for me, for copying passwords and daily wakeup alarm with snooz), calendar, and IM features. The contacts app is ok, nothing ground breaking. I hate phones that display all your app's as icons and don't allow you to change that to a list-style menu system. Overall it's a decent phone, but I brought it back. I'm still looking for something better than my Moto RAZR V3, which has a clunky interface, no notepad, and crappy alarm.
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"Flaws finally fixed" on by sb12345
Pros: PTT can be locked/keyguarded, no annoying camera button on outside, flashing lights
Cons: too "cingularized", not enough security features
Summary: After reading several reviews about the z520a having an un-lockable camera button on the side, it is good to see that SonyEricsson fixed this problem by simply removing it. Though some would find this to be a step backwards, people like me who think that a camera in a cell phone is a trivial feature will find this useful. In general, the software is very intuitive and the phone is packed with features. From Cingular, it is also a great value since you get a Bluetooth enabled phone for just $20.
The only and very small drawback is that certain things such as MEdia Mall and MEdia Net cannot be locked...so if accidently you select such a thing, the phone zaps itself to the world of the internet and you get charged for data transfer.Updated
Frankly, the battery life on this baby is phenomenal. I really do charge it every 10 days with moderate usage w/ bluetooth. For me, it never froze up so far. It's also good since you can download your own games for free from your computer and transfer them via bluetooth, thus avoiding cingular's pricy games from MEdia. I don't know what the deal was with the camera complaint, but it's quite good. It's 1.3mp with further settings for picture clarity. This really is a fairly good phone overall.
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