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Xeo · Nov 4, 2003, 02:55 PM

First, yes, there have been lots of phone questions around here in the past. But not for a while, so here's a few questions.

I'm thinking of getting a new bluetooth phone. I'm looking at the Sony Ericsson T610. The Z600 looks really nice, but the cheapest I can find it right now is at over $400 and I'm only guessing it would work with my network.

So with either of these phones, what's the difference between them and my Nokia 3650? There are several apps on MacUpdate which work with the Sony Ericsson phones but not the Nokia. Why? Address book cannot hold a connection longer than 10 minutes with my Nokia but I've heard it does with the Sony Ericssons. Why? Can the Sony Ericsson phones dial up to an ISP like I can with my Nokia? I'm not talking about purchasing a data connection for my phone. I'm talking about actually dialing up with my iBook, through the phone, to an ISP. I love doing this w/ my 3650 and would want to do this with my T610 too.

It just seems like the Sony Ericsson phones are all more friendly with OS X. I can sell my used Nokia 3650 for almost the same price I can get a T610 for on eBay so I'm thinking of going for it. Just keep my SIM and pop it in. Is there any reason not too?

Spheric Harlot · Nov 4, 2003, 03:03 PM

Originally posted by Xeo:
Address book cannot hold a connection longer than 10 minutes with my Nokia but I've heard it does with the Sony Ericssons. Why?

Sounds like something's wrong with your phone.

Siemens S55 here - connection stays active for as long as I'm in range. And my phone isn't supported by Romeo, SallingClicker, et al., either.

-s*

RooneyX · Nov 4, 2003, 03:07 PM

P900 looks awesome if you want more functionality. I have the T610 and think it's pretty good.

Now if only iSync was truly good at synching .mac and my two computers I'd be happy.

typoon · Nov 4, 2003, 03:31 PM

I've got the Siemans S56 It works great with iSync. I also hear the Siemans sl56 works well too. I didn't like the sony even though it worked great with iSync. The phone in general was crap.

The S56 is small and bluetooth.

Once you go Bluetooth you can never go back.

SOLIDAge · Nov 4, 2003, 03:36 PM

yes, you can by a T610 on ebay, and throw in your sim, but the phone has to be UNLOCKED.

as for the Z600, stay away from it if you aren't constantly outside. The only really "new" feature in it vs he T610 is a better screen for outside viewing other then that, its an identical phone really.

One thing about Nokias that SE don't do is that the pictures in address book get added to your caller ID on the phone...nice feature i wish i had on my T610. Oh well

As for dialing an ISP i can not say that I have done it. My phone's data connection works w/o a problem and it rocks. The BT connection acts as a modem, and when you are setting up the BT it does ask if you'll use your phone to DIAL A NUMBER or to be a DATA CONNECTION so i gather that you'd just choose the first and tyep in your IPS's info.

Go SE

you won't be disapointed :-D

deekay1 · Nov 4, 2003, 03:51 PM

i got my t610 a while back. bluetooth and mac integration work great.

i had all nokia cell phones before, but switched to se because they seem to work better with macs.

you might also wanna wait 'til the t630 comes out...if you're more into the "ibook" design of things ;-)

t630

Xeo · Nov 4, 2003, 04:39 PM

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
Sounds like something's wrong with your phone.

Not my phone, but my phone model. Here's the hint I found for fixing it. I just think it's too much extra work and not sure of any side effects it might have. Plus I don't know if it will work in Panther as I haven't tried it. I'd just rather it work on its own. I dislike workarounds.

Xeo · Nov 4, 2003, 04:42 PM

Originally posted by SOLIDAge:
as for the Z600, stay away from it if you aren't constantly outside. The only really "new" feature in it vs he T610 is a better screen for outside viewing other then that, its an identical phone really.

The Z600 caught my eye because it's a clamshell style phone. I'd love that but the extra $200 isn't worth it.

JHromadka · Nov 4, 2003, 06:34 PM

I have a T610 and really like it. It is the perfect size phone to keep in your front pocket and gets good reception. I rarely use its pitiful camera since you can also transfer pics to it from your Mac.

I may replace it with a Treo 600 when I get back to Houston, but I will have to first make sure that it's comfortable in the pocket and not too heavy.

jersey · Nov 4, 2003, 06:41 PM

Get a t616. the 10 is a european network phone. It will work here in the states....but you may have a hard time roaming onto other networks.

Look here for pretty much answers to anything.

Dlatu1983 · Nov 4, 2003, 07:31 PM

Actually, you CAN set pictures on the caller ID on the SE T616/T610. Add the picture to "My Pictures", and then go to manage contacts, and edit the contact...they have an option to add the picture to a person's profile, and when they call, it shows the pic on-screen.

maxintosh · Nov 4, 2003, 08:22 PM

I'm on my third 3650, the first two died the same way -- three flashes of death -- well documented around Nokia sites. I was more than willing to forgive its quirks (keypad and size) when the rest of it worked fine, but now I'm just really upset with the damn thing, even though T-Mobile has been really helpful in rushing me new ones. I bought a T610 off eBay. If it can hold a decent signal where I need it to (reports are so mixed on this) then I'm selling my new 3650 off, even if the Sony's camera does stink to mighty heavens. At least maybe it will WORK. And it won't look like I'm so happy to see people when it's in my front pocket.

What happened to reliable Nokia phones? My 3360 was so generic but, oh, what a tank.

maxintosh · Nov 4, 2003, 08:24 PM

Originally posted by SOLIDAge:
yes, you can by a T610 on ebay, and throw in your sim, but the phone has to be UNLOCKED.

Unless you buy a T-Mobile phone on eBay and have a T-Mobile SIM, and then it doesn't really matter. Same for other carriers.

maxintosh · Nov 4, 2003, 08:25 PM

Originally posted by jersey:
Get a t616. the 10 is a european network phone. It will work here in the states....but you may have a hard time roaming onto other networks.

Look here for pretty much answers to anything.

Not really, the 850 MHz isn't really big in the states yet, and not available at all on T-Mobile. Plus, the T616 can't roam on most European networks, a big downer if you're a traveller. By the time 850 MHz becomes the norm, I will have long upgraded my phone anyway. Too bad the T616 isn't quad-band.

Spheric Harlot · Nov 5, 2003, 08:37 AM

Originally posted by JHromadka:
I have a T610 and really like it. It is the perfect size phone to keep in your front pocket and gets good reception.

Gonad irradiation

-s*

typoon · Nov 5, 2003, 04:42 PM

Originally posted by maxintosh:
Not really, the 850 MHz isn't really big in the states yet, and not available at all on T-Mobile. Plus, the T616 can't roam on most European networks, a big downer if you're a traveller. By the time 850 MHz becomes the norm, I will have long upgraded my phone anyway. Too bad the T616 isn't quad-band.

I think the only company in the states using 850 MHz is Cingular. All there phones now do 850MHz I believe.

maxintosh · Nov 5, 2003, 09:16 PM

Got my new T610 a few hours ago and have had fun playing with it. Things I noticed in comparison to the 3650:

Ringers: louder and clearer, but could still be louder. Overall, better than the Nokia. Vibrate could be stronger, but still noticeable.

Form: Oh. My. Goodness. This phone is TINY. My Nokia is SUCH a tank next to this thing in EVERY dimension! It feels great in your hand and unnoticeable in your pocket. It's beautiful in person and everyone will want to touch it, guaranteed.

Earpiece: A bit louder and the same clarity as my Nokia (good).

Performance: Mixed bag. Some operations are poky, but others seem suprisingly fast. For instance, iSync and downloading e-mail are much faster than my Nokia, but some menus take a little while to come up. The address book pops up really fast though.

Address book: I liked the Nokia better. The SE doesn't really allow searching, except by first initial only. Still, it works.

Camera: The T610's camera really is god-awful. The colors are bland, bland, bland. It's just a toy anyway, and is acceptable for snapping quick shots when you wish you had a camera.

Messaging: I really, really like the T610's MMS editor. The e-mail client is also nice in that it automatically checks for new e-mails at a specified interval. However, switching between accounts is a little tedious.

Screen: Mixed. The T610's is a little slow at refreshing, but it's very bright (indoors) and is more colorful than the Nokia. The Nokia does better outdoors, and refreshes faster.

Organizer: The T610 calendar is much more readable than the Symbian one. The functions are otherwise similar. The SE also has a nice alarm clock with multiple alarms and a countdown timer.

And the one you've all been waiting for....

Reception. Ahh, reception. I really braced for the worst on this phone, but actually, it seems O.K... definitely better than the t68i. It's not so much the reception that stinks, it's the reception METER! It's very PESSIMISTIC! It bounces from full signal to no signal with about a cm of movement! Its favorite resting place is on one "red" bar, even in places where my Nokia would show 7. Even in the elevator, it bounced between one red bar and no bars (my Nokia usually had about 3-5) but the call was still loud and clear. Don't be fooled by the meter, even if it shows 0 bars, it seems you can still place a call without problems. The meter is very disconcerting, but I guess I can learn to ignore it.

Compared to the 3650, the reception is somewhat worse overall,but not dramatically so. Also, the 3650 seemed much more "optimistic" with its reception meter, when placing calls with 1 or 2 bars often resulted in a "Disconnected" message. The T610 also holds on to weak signals quite well, and I haven't caught it "resting" like my 3650 sometimes did (would show "NO SERVICE" until I woke it up by pressing a button.)

---------------

Overall, I think I'm going to keep the T610. Its reception is acceptable, which was my one big stumbling block with this phone. What really wins me though, is the form. It's a tiny, solid, beautiful little object.

Xeo · Nov 7, 2003, 12:33 AM

Originally posted by maxintosh:
Got my new T610 a few hours ago and have had fun playing with it. Things I noticed in comparison to the 3650:
<snip for brevity>

Thanks for that extremely on-topic review. Makes me feel better considering I just sent my 3650 to Oregon today.

It'll be a few days until I get my T610 though. The nice thing is I get to use the funds from my PayPal account that I got from the 3650 to pay for the T610. So I don't have to front any money for it. I'm just out a phone for a few days.

I have one more question. Can you browse the T610 for files with BT File Exchange? I really hated how I couldn't do this with my 3650 and am looking forward to being able to do it.

maxintosh · Nov 7, 2003, 04:29 AM

Originally posted by Xeo:
I have one more question. Can you browse the T610 for files with BT File Exchange? I really hated how I couldn't do this with my 3650 and am looking forward to being able to do it.

I didn't try this before, but just fired up BT File Exchange now... the answer is, yep! It's really cool

The root directory is Pictures, Sounds, and Themes.

maxintosh · Nov 7, 2003, 04:46 AM

More things I've noticed about the T610:

Music DJ: Surprisingly amusing. I made a fun Salsa/Reggae mix using the built-in samples. It even saves them as MIDIs. Nice.

Camera: Trick: In Low Light mode, tapping the joystick up and down changes the exposure level. Makes capturing pictures in the dark somewhat easier. Also, to capture pictures in landscape format, hold the phone sideways and the camera button becomes the shutter button. It's actually easier to keep a steady hand like this. That little mirror on the back actually works pretty well if you have good eyes.

Memory: I miss the MMC card ability from the Nokia. It's a good idea to empty out the pictures you've taken before you go anywhere planning to take pictures.

Organizer: Really, really nice. The Timer function has proven to be most useful. It plays a really cute noise and starts flashing like mad when the time is up. Alarms are easy to set and loud enough to wake me up (you can change the tune). You can set persistant alarms that go off on a schedule. Nice touch.

T9: A little bit slower than the Nokia, but it DOES present you with a really nice list of variations for the word you've tapped in. Much nicer than pressing # until the right word appears... just use the joystick.

GPRS: Seems faster, who knows why. The SonyEricsson portal is nice, too, and has free games, themes, and ringtones to download.

E-Mail client: Checking at intervals is very nice. But, it doesn't alert you when you receive a new e-mail except by an e-mail icon on the taskbar. It would also be nice to check multiple accounts at once.

Message alerts: Just not persistant enough. The phone vibrates and plays a brief tone, then goes back to idling. If you wake it up, it will show the picture of the person who sent you the message and ask you if you want to read it. There will also be an icon on the taskbar. Could be worse, but could be better.

Bluetooth: So much better in implementation than the Nokia. Romeo works much more smoothly with the T610. The "accessories" menu is cool, and fast, but it did take me a little while to find it at first.

Notes: You can "post" notes sort of like stickies on the main menu as reminders. Nice touch.

Clock: When the phone is idling, you can light up the clock display by pressing the + or - button on the side of the phone.

Battery: Started to run low tonight after 24 hours of very heavy usage. The Nokia would have collapsed and died already. Battery meter is much more linear than the Nokia, which showed full until there was 10 minutes of life left.

Security: Much more straightforward. With the Nokia, it seemed it was either two pin codes at startup or none. The T610 asks only for one if you so desire; you can, of course, lock your SIM as well.

SIM: Copies to and from SIM card fluidly. A built-in SIM entry editor.

Joystick: Really getting quite fond of the feel of it.

Pictures: You can edit pictures or draw new ones. Drawing is harder than an Etch-A-Sketch, but the application does have some nice filters for existing photos, especially a brightness filter.

Voice: Much nicer than the Nokia. You say the person's name, then either "Work", "Home" or "Mobile" and it dials the correpsonding number. Lots of other voice control abilities, haven't really explored it fully yet.

maxintosh · Nov 7, 2003, 04:51 AM

Reception hasn't posed any problems yet. It seems to have the same dead spots as the Nokia, no new ones. I even got one bar on the subway for a little while. The meter really does need Prozac, though. So jittery and indecisive. As long as you have an operator logo, it seems that you can makes calls JUST FINE. The one little red bar is still obnoxious, though.

Amorya · Nov 7, 2003, 07:39 AM

Originally posted by maxintosh:
Unless you buy a T-Mobile phone on eBay and have a T-Mobile SIM, and then it doesn't really matter. Same for other carriers.

There are a whole host of after-market places that will unlock your phone for you - it costs about �15. You post them your phone and the cash, and they send it back unlocked.

Make sure, if you do it this way, that you use a service where you've talked to other customers. Some are scams, but most are fairly reputable

You can also do unlocking yourself if you have the right hardware. Look on the alt.cellular groups on usenet.

Amorya

Amorya · Nov 7, 2003, 07:45 AM

I'm thinking of getting a Nokia 6600 (similar software to the 3650) soon. I wondered if anyone has tried Veta Universal with a Nokia? How well does it work?

Could I conceivably use it to give a Keynote presentation?

Amorya

maxintosh · Nov 7, 2003, 01:42 PM

Originally posted by Amorya:
I wondered if anyone has tried Veta Universal with a Nokia? How well does it work?

I tried it and it was OK. A little flaky. The trial period is awful, after about 5 key presses every time you press a button you get nagged. Ugh! I ended up buying it anyway.

Red Wolf · Nov 8, 2003, 06:44 PM

I'm getting a new iBook w/Bluetooth next week and so I have been shopping for a new Bluetooth phone and carrier (going to switch after Nov. 24 when the new cell phone number law goes into effect). I visited a Cingular dealer with the Sony Ericsson T616 and a T-Mobile dealer with the Sony Ericsson T610. Neither dealer could tell me the difference between the models. Is the only difference the different bands they use?

benb · Nov 8, 2003, 07:07 PM

Originally posted by Red Wolf:
I'm getting a new iBook w/Bluetooth next week and so I have been shopping for a new Bluetooth phone and carrier (going to switch after Nov. 24 when the new cell phone number law goes into effect). I visited a Cingular dealer with the Sony Ericsson T616 and a T-Mobile dealer with the Sony Ericsson T610. Neither dealer could tell me the difference between the models. Is the only difference the different bands they use?

Yes. the t610 as 900/1800/1900 and the t616 is 850/1800/1900.