[rozwado1]

I'm patiently waiting for the SE T610. I know I can buy it online, but i don't feel like spending $500 on a cell phone. Wondering if there's any T-mobile or AT&T employees in here that might know dates for a US release...

[maxintosh]

Nobody is really sure, it could be as early as the end of the month or as late as the end of August. Be prepared to pay a premium price on this much hyped-up phone.

[rozwado1]

In Europe you can get one with an Orange contract for about $160 - not too bad for a high-caliber phone. I'm sure Best Buy and the like will charge $250, but prices always drop after a month or so.

[Kenneth]

According to this link MobileTracker: Sony Ericsson

The phone [T610] is buggy and in the USA, it will name it as T616.

[marlof]

The hissing problem the link mentions is solved now. I believe from Week 23 ( you can see the year and week mentioned as 03W23 behind the battery) the units shipped from the factory are hiss free. Whatever stock is around right now might still be from the ''hissing" manufacturing runs. People like Expansys are stating that units shipped after June 5 are checked and guaranteed to be hiss free.

Although this is not a smartphone (it's far more similar to a T68i with an included camera) it's a nice little phone.

[KidRed]

What's a 'smartphone'? I thinking of switching to t-mobile from sprint but want bluettooth/isync, AOL and all the other latest goodies. Not sure if I should wai for the T616 or the Nokia 395 (or something). They seem to be the best that Apple supports and t-mobile has the Nokia dn will hopefully get the T616, otherwise the T300 looks cool too.

[maxintosh]

Originally posted by KidRed:
What's a 'smartphone'? I thinking of switching to t-mobile from sprint but want bluettooth/isync, AOL and all the other latest goodies. Not sure if I should wai for the T616 or the Nokia 395 (or something). They seem to be the best that Apple supports and t-mobile has the Nokia dn will hopefully get the T616, otherwise the T300 looks cool too.

A 'smartphone' is a phone that has strong PDA-like functionality. The 3650 is a 'smartphone' because it runs on Symbian OS, which is a powerful mobile platform that has a vast array of software available. e.g., my 3650 can run the Opera web browser and render read HTML pages, it has a full e-mail client and calendar, it can even emulate Color GameBoy and play Doom in 3D.

I love T-Mobile and my 3650 It does iSync, AOL Instant Messenger, and everything else you can throw at it...

[solitere]

Originally posted by KidRed:
What's a 'smartphone'? I thinking of switching to t-mobile from sprint but want bluettooth/isync, AOL and all the other latest goodies. Not sure if I should wai for the T616 or the Nokia 395 (or something). They seem to be the best that Apple supports and t-mobile has the Nokia dn will hopefully get the T616, otherwise the T300 looks cool too.

Smartphone is what Microsoft is calling their Cellular phoneconcept. There are limited phones out there only a 2-3 models I think and it´s mainly a operator phone which means that Operators like orange in the UK are selling them with their own brand on them.

I would´nt even consider buying one in europe because I dont like to sign up to phoneservices that requires that I pay hefty montly fees and have to use operators branded MS Phones. I like the freedom of choice.
A friend in Denmark have one and it been replaced 4 times already.

If you looking for a new phone I would rekommend the T68i or new Ericsson T610 model. And ofcourse the newer symbian based phones from NOKIA.

[rozwado1]

Not Salling Clicker. 3650 is for Pus*ies. jk

[KidRed]

Originally posted by maxintosh:
A 'smartphone' is a phone that has strong PDA-like functionality. The 3650 is a 'smartphone' because it runs on Symbian OS, which is a powerful mobile platform that has a vast array of software available. e.g., my 3650 can run the Opera web browser and render read HTML pages, it has a full e-mail client and calendar, it can even emulate Color GameBoy and play Doom in 3D.

I love T-Mobile and my 3650 It does iSync, AOL Instant Messenger, and everything else you can throw at it...

You're happy with yours? How's the whole bluetooth/isync situation? I'm stuck between this phone and waiting for the T616.

Anyone know the major differences between the two?

[rozwado1]

Go to www.howardchui.com

He's got awesome reviews and they talk about everything you need to know in the forums.

[maxintosh]

Originally posted by KidRed:
You're happy with yours? How's the whole bluetooth/isync situation? I'm stuck between this phone and waiting for the T616.

Anyone know the major differences between the two?

Yes, extremely happy! I was going to wait for the T610/T616 but the camera is terrible and there is only 2 MB of memory! Plus, a lot of people were complaining about reception problems like the T68i.

The 3650 is bigger than a T610 though, but the advantage is the screen is huge and BRIGHT! The phone itself isn't really that big, but it definately dwarfs some of the sub-compacts on the market. Anyway it fits nicely in my pocket.

The T610 unfortunately uses a TFT screen that is extremely difficult to view in sunlight, but the 3650's transflective screen stays bright in all situations.

Other pluses of the 3650 is: hypothetically better reception (gets great reception), a speakerphone, a higher resolution camera, and (this is a big one) MMC memory card support, hypothetically up to 512 MB to store applications, movie clips, WAV ringers, and pictures on. You can't forget that it's running Symbian OS 6.1 which means it has a TON of very powerful applications available for it.

As far as Bluetooth goes, it pairs very nicely with my PowerBook and Romeo (like Salling Clicker) should be available for Symbian devices soon. iSync only does Address Book right now but iCal syncing is "coming soon" to Symbian devices (like the 3650, 7650, and T610).

In short I LOVE MY PHONE!!!

[KidRed]

Originally posted by maxintosh:
Yes, extremely happy! I was going to wait for the T610/T616 but the camera is terrible and there is only 2 MB of memory! Plus, a lot of people were complaining about reception problems like the T68i.

The 3650 is bigger than a T610 though, but the advantage is the screen is huge and BRIGHT! The phone itself isn't really that big, but it definately dwarfs some of the sub-compacts on the market. Anyway it fits nicely in my pocket.

The T610 unfortunately uses a TFT screen that is extremely difficult to view in sunlight, but the 3650's transflective screen stays bright in all situations.

Other pluses of the 3650 is: hypothetically better reception (gets great reception), a speakerphone, a higher resolution camera, and (this is a big one) MMC memory card support, hypothetically up to 512 MB to store applications, movie clips, WAV ringers, and pictures on. You can't forget that it's running Symbian OS 6.1 which means it has a TON of very powerful applications available for it.

As far as Bluetooth goes, it pairs very nicely with my PowerBook and Romeo (like Salling Clicker) should be available for Symbian devices soon. iSync only does Address Book right now but iCal syncing is "coming soon" to Symbian devices (like the 3650, 7650, and T610).

In short I LOVE MY PHONE!!!

Excellent, very informative thanks. I think you just helped me decide which phone to get.

[I Bent My Wookiee]

Originally posted by KidRed:
Excellent, very informative thanks. I think you just helped me decide which phone to get.

Hold your horse. I use to have a top of the line Nokia that I paid $600 for 3 years ago, it had nice features and looked cool the problem was it has TERRIBLE battery life. At best I would get 1.5 hours talk and 2 days standby. After a few months I was getting 25 min talk. This is normal for Nokia phones acording to Nokia's own website.

I got so fed up and got a t68i. Man am I a happy camper. The battery lasts 10 hours talk no problem and about 10 days on standby even with lots of talking. The phone is also much lighter then the Nokia.

I checked the Nokia page for the 3650 and the battery is as follows:
up to 2h - 4h talk and 6 days standby.
You can bet that it is a generous estimate.

The t610 gets MUCH better battery life, is way way smaller and lighter. The button layout is also more logical.

Who cares about the camera memory, you won't use either camera other then the odd novelty at even if you do 2 megs holds lots and lots of pictures.

The only valid point is the the screen for viewing outside but this isn't a laptop, it is a phone and you can see it more then fine to see who you are calling.

Don't base things just on higher specs, you should know that as a Mac user as just about every PC has better specs then a Mac does and you know what the better choice is.

Sony Ericssons support is also top notch.

I am willing to bet that would be much happier with a cellphone that is SMALL and has a great battery life, I mean isn?t that the 2 most important things in a cellphone?

[maxintosh]

Originally posted by I Bent My Wookiee:
Hold your horse. I use to have a top of the line Nokia that I paid $600 for 3 years ago, it had nice features and looked cool the problem was it has TERRIBLE battery life. At best I would get 1.5 hours talk and 2 days standby. After a few months I was getting 25 min talk. This is normal for Nokia phones acording to Nokia's own website.

I got so fed up and got a t68i. Man am I a happy camper. The battery lasts 10 hours talk no problem and about 10 days on standby even with lots of talking. The phone is also much lighter then the Nokia.

I checked the Nokia page for the 3650 and the battery is as follows:
up to 2h - 4h talk and 6 days standby.
You can bet that it is a generous estimate.

The t610 gets MUCH better battery life, is way way smaller and lighter. The button layout is also more logical.

Who cares about the camera memory, you won't use either camera other then the odd novelty at even if you do 2 megs holds lots and lots of pictures.

The only valid point is the the screen for viewing outside but this isn't a laptop, it is a phone and you can see it more then fine to see who you are calling.

Don't base things just on higher specs, you should know that as a Mac user as just about every PC has better specs then a Mac does and you know what the better choice is.

Sony Ericssons support is also top notch.

I am willing to bet that would be much happier with a cellphone that is SMALL and has a great battery life, I mean isn?t that the 2 most important things in a cellphone?

A Nokia 3 years ago?

C'mon now. Look at Apple 3 years ago. Actually, look at Ericsson 3 years ago. They would have died out if Sony didn't buy them.

The camera IS a novelty on the T610, it has pathetic resolution and focus. The 3650 is no SLR but the pictures look pretty good and I send snapshots around all over the place. Besides, pictures only weigh in at about 60-90 KB a peice. That's not the point. A lot of SE users themselves are bitching about the 2 MB limitation. It's NOT just snapshots!! It's applications, ringers, internet cache, system memory, EVERYTHING. If you're going to buy an expensive phone with a big screen, it should at least have some decent capabilities! Oh yeah, and my 3650 was free through Amazon.

SonyEricsson support I can't comment on first-hand but I know a lot of people that hate Sony support in general. The people at T-Mobile have handled all of my Nokia-related questions very well.

3650 battery life probably isn't as good as the T68i's but you must be near a charger every few days? It only takes an hour to recharge! I mean, you do sleep, right? I know that I plug in my Palm (which my 3650 is kind of edging out), PowerBook, toothbrush and shaver every night. Even on my old phone that could last weeks without a recharge I topped it off just so it was always ready.

And AS A PHONE, the SE has rampant reception problems (this could depend on networks, but it all non-urban areas, it has more problems than any other phone... have you read the many, many, many reviews?), no speakerphone, a slow address book (I've used it myself), etc. etc.

The 3650 allows you to add AS MANY contacts as you can fit with AS MANY peices of information, a picture, voice-tag. It also has excellent RF. You can do voice conferencing (3-way), call waiting, mute and hold calls, forward calls, and pretty much anything else a ROLM phone could do.

I've now had two T68i and a T316 user come over to envy my phone-- one on a train, one at a cafe, one in Boston-- and I've only had the damn thing for 2 weeks.

I used to drool over the T68i and T610/T616, but then I started to play with a 3650. The story began there....

The two most important things for ME is reception & features.

I'm not saying the T68i isn't a nice subcompact, I think they're good phones, but don't knock the 3650 because it's one of the first smartphones with a widespread audience. Oh, and for the record, I think the T610 is definately the more handsome phone.

[rozwado1]

STOP FIGHTING. This fight between 3650 and T610 is going on in cell forums all over - it will never get settled. The final decision comes down to personal opinion. T610 users can then laugh at 3650 users when they see them in public and T610 users will do the opposite. I'm staying out of this.

[maxintosh]

Originally posted by Nick Rozwadowski:
STOP FIGHTING. This fight between 3650 and T610 is going on in cell forums all over - it will never get settled. The final decision comes down to personal opinion. T610 users can then laugh at 3650 users when they see them in public and T610 users will do the opposite. I'm staying out of this.

*sigh* You're right, of course.

As a sign of truce, can I just say the SonyEricsson Z1010 is positively orgasmic.

[I Bent My Wookiee]

Originally posted by maxintosh:
A Nokia 3 years ago?

C'mon now. Look at Apple 3 years ago. Actually, look at Ericsson 3 years ago. They would have died out if Sony didn't buy them.

Exactly, but nothing seems to have changed on the Nokia's. The battery is STILL rated at about 2-4 hours which is really sad.

Yes the battery is VERY important to me, I usually come home every night and charge the phone but I also stay out a night or 2 and don't want to worry about the phone dying if I talk on it for an hour or 2 which was always the case with the nokia.

I went up camping for a week and didn't need a charger for my t68i, even if I had one there is no way to charge it in the bush.

I have had the t68i since last October and get better reception on it then my Nokia 8860 and my friends new Nokia or LG's.
People with issue's seem to have crap providers.

The Nokia is feature packed and ok but the battery really is pathetic and the phone is nothing but a novely on both the SE and Nokia. I also would never want that beast in my pocket.

Again, if I have something in my pocket for days I want it to be small and light and not have to worry about the battery life if I chat for more then an hour or stay out for a night.

[marlof]

I was facing the same decision, 3650 or SE T610. In the end, I went for the T610 after seeing both units next to each other, and playing with them. My usage pattern means that I'm using a Pocket PC for all PDA related things, and I just needed a phone that can double as a bluetooth GPRS modem to my Pocket PC and iBook. I didn't need a PDA replacement. And the T610 is way smaller than the 3650, so I ended up with that one. But I can see where people want to buy a 3650, it looked like one cool device to me. One particular thing I'd like on the 3650 is to use a Messenger client on my phone, which will not be easily possible with the T610 since it's J2ME is missing socket support. Guess I'll have to use the Pocket PC for that.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Hey, the 610 is worth it just for the bluetooth and iSync.

[maxintosh]

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
Hey, the 610 is worth it just for the bluetooth and iSync.

Mmm just like the 3650

If you carry around a Palm, too, then a small phone is definately a good thing. Since the 3650 has pretty much replaced my Palm and my camera unless I'm doing real photography, my pockets actually feel quite light.

[KidRed]

I dont have/use/want a PDA. I don't leave the house that often because I work at home. However, the idea that I can go to Sea World with the family and snap a few pics of my daughter and email them to my mom right on the spot is pretty cool. For stupid stuff like that I don't have to bring my Powershot Elph and wait till I get home and USB the pics into iPhoto and then email them. Plus, the video games, the address book, the converter, the caculator, and graphics are beautiful and I'm sure the display causes the battery to drain some.

So it comes down to battery life versus features. That's tuff because I want some cool features as I've neve had most of the new tech features. 2-4 hours does make me a little nervous tho as Sea World takes 8 hours to do, course I won't be on the phone the whole time.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally posted by KidRed:

So it comes down to battery life versus features. That's tuff because I want some cool features as I've neve had most of the new tech features. 2-4 hours does make me a little nervous tho as Sea World takes 8 hours to do, course I won't be on the phone the whole time.

Ya but remember if you have your phone on standby for a day or 2 then your battery life is already down to an hour talk time.

The camera in the phone stinks, you will not use it for anything valuable. emialing picts is expensive on most providers and I am sure your mom doesn't need a play by play of whales.

Talk a real camera, some awesome picts and make a album when you get home.

[KidRed]

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
Ya but remember if you have your phone on standby for a day or 2 then your battery life is already down to an hour talk time.

The camera in the phone stinks, you will not use it for anything valuable. emialing picts is expensive on most providers and I am sure your mom doesn't need a play by play of whales.

Talk a real camera, some awesome picts and make a album when you get home.

Well at the link provided above, IIRC the reviewer posted pics taken with the phone. While they aren't mexapixel type pics, they are very decent for phone to email type pics. Also, this isn't something I'd want to do all the time so I'm not too concerned with the bandwidth usage with T-Mobile for emailing the pics, but I'm more often going to have my phone handy then my camera for those 'oh I wish I had a camera moments'.

So I know it comes down to battery versus features. For me, I have a charger in the car. So when ever we get out of the car, the phone is full, and we have a charger at home. So the only time this would be an issue is if we went on a 3-5 day trip with no outlets. In which case I could get a spare battery right?

Are their any phones that mimic the 3650's features? I know their are some Sanyo's and Samsungs out their with T-Mobile.

[maxintosh]

Originally posted by KidRed:
Are their any phones that mimic the 3650's features? I know their are some Sanyo's and Samsungs out their with T-Mobile.

Yah, the 7650, but that's Europe only. Note that you can get an extended life battery on eBay for $15 with shipping. It lasts 30% longer than the OEM model.

[KidRed]

Well what's a good battery life for talk time? I have an old Samsung and it seems to die if I leave it on standby for more then a day. Of course the battery is a few years old. Not sure the battery on talk time tho.

I mean say I'm in a waiting room playing video games, and surfing the net, am I going to kill the phone in 2 hours? Like a laptop battery life?

Amazon users love the 3650 btw.

[proux]

The biggest drawback of the t68i was that there is no physical address field and syncing. Was that resolved with the t610?

Also for people who want more PDA the rumors about the new Treo 600 are huge right now. It will be a full featured Palm OS5 with a phone form factor. No high res screen like Tugsten W but no nead for an earpiece and OS5 (stupid Palm people).

[maxintosh]

Originally posted by KidRed:
Well what's a good battery life for talk time? I have an old Samsung and it seems to die if I leave it on standby for more then a day. Of course the battery is a few years old. Not sure the battery on talk time tho.

I mean say I'm in a waiting room playing video games, and surfing the net, am I going to kill the phone in 2 hours? Like a laptop battery life?

Amazon users love the 3650 btw.

Naw, today I was out since noon to midnight, I played some games, surfed the net a while (eBay hehehe), did some e-mail, and had a couple conversations and the battery meter still reports 100%. Battery life has continually gotten BETTER after recharging it and discharging it a couple times and I can safely say this phone could easily last a long weekend away from a charger.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally posted by proux:
The biggest drawback of the t68i was that there is no physical address field and syncing. Was that resolved with the t610?

Nope.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Here is another 610 review:

http://www.omega-networks.net/forum/...p;f=2&t=95

"The SonyEricsson T610 is in my honest opinion one of the best phones currently on the market."

[KidRed]

Well, I went ahead and got the 3650 from Amazon and T-Mobile. The T610 isn't in the US, the T616 will be, but it's not known when or with what carrier. I maybe could've gotten the t300 with less features, the T68i isn't available with T-Mobile so that wasn't a choice.

What did it? Amazon rebates makes the phone FREE. So like it or not, short battery life or not, it's a $150=$200 phone for FREE. So if it does suck or something comes along that's better, I won't feel bad about ditching the phone for something else, because I didn't pay for it

[marusin]

I'm with you on that... I just ordered a 3650 as well. Other than the Sony Fanboys on the web I've heard nothing but good things about the Nokia. Sure that keypad is kinda weird but most of my numbers I dial are programmed in anyways (and I don't text a whole lot)...

One thing though, the T68 is available through T-Mobile (and Amazon for that matter) for free with new activation...

Here's the link to the T68 at Amazon.com

Originally posted by KidRed:
Well, I went ahead and got the 3650 from Amazon and T-Mobile. The T610 isn't in the US, the T616 will be, but it's not known when or with what carrier. I maybe could've gotten the t300 with less features, the T68i isn't available with T-Mobile so that wasn't a choice.

What did it? Amazon rebates makes the phone FREE. So like it or not, short battery life or not, it's a $150=$200 phone for FREE. So if it does suck or something comes along that's better, I won't feel bad about ditching the phone for something else, because I didn't pay for it

[KidRed]

Originally posted by marusin:
I'm with you on that... I just ordered a 3650 as well. Other than the Sony Fanboys on the web I've heard nothing but good things about the Nokia. Sure that keypad is kinda weird but most of my numbers I dial are programmed in anyways (and I don't text a whole lot)...

One thing though, the T68 is available through T-Mobile (and Amazon for that matter) for free with new activation...

Here's the link to the T68 at Amazon.com

Ah, my bad, I must've skimmed over it, or decided against it and concluded they didn't have it, lol.

[spiky_dog]

Originally posted by KidRed:
Ah, my bad, I must've skimmed over it, or decided against it and concluded they didn't have it, lol.

afai can tell, amazon doesn't have the t68(i? or not) any more. "discontinued".

that 3650/t-mobile deal is looking awfully sweet...

[maxintosh]

Originally posted by spiky_dog:
afai can tell, amazon doesn't have the t68(i? or not) any more. "discontinued".

that 3650/t-mobile deal is looking awfully sweet...

Nope, T-Mobile dropped the phone because of too many customer returns/complaints. It was costing them a bundle.

Three biggest complaints: reception, slow menu speed, failure to connect even when the phone showed reception.

[marusin]

My wife has the T68 and it just sucks. It's a sweet phone in terms of size but once you start actually using it, it feels very cheap/chintzy and the reception is straight up awful... I'm so sick of the fan boys on all the boards hyping up the phone. I can tell you from actual experience that I do not recommend this phone whatsoever.

Originally posted by maxintosh:
Nope, T-Mobile dropped the phone because of too many customer returns/complaints. It was costing them a bundle.

Three biggest complaints: reception, slow menu speed, failure to connect even when the phone showed reception.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally posted by marusin:
My wife has the T68 and it just sucks. It's a sweet phone in terms of size but once you start actually using it, it feels very cheap/chintzy and the reception is straight up awful... I'm so sick of the fan boys on all the boards hyping up the phone. I can tell you from actual experience that I do not recommend this phone whatsoever.

strange thing from my experiance I can say the phone is incredible and I never used a SE product before. If I am a fanboy because the phone works great for me and I love it then call me a fanboy

[Captain Obvious]

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
strange thing from my experiance I can say the phone is incredible and I never used a SE product before. If I am a fanboy because the phone works great for me and I love it then call me a fanboy

The T68i sucked as does the T306. Slow menu system and bad reception. Too many people have complained about it for it to be just a fluke. I am sure all the iSync stuff works great, which again is why I think so many people here like it, but now that more phones are supported by OS X its a moot point.

Maybe the T610 is better, MAYBE. I just think there are better phones for the same money and by the end of summer I believe that both Samsung & Siemens will have phones that rival the Nokia and SE smart phones if not just plain blow them out of the water.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally posted by Captain Obvious:
The T68i sucked as does the T306. Slow menu system and bad reception.

Perhaps it was on older ROM. I have the newest and it is great.