Author Archive: Matt

Blackberry Curve 8900 review

The Curve 8900 (also known the RIM Javelin) at first glance seems similar to the Bold 9000, but it seems to be a step up with some new features and a step down in size!

As with most of the Blackberry family the Curve 8900 is aimed at business users and techies alike.

The Blackberry Curve 8900

 

What’s in the box?

• RIM Blackberry Curve 8900
• Battery
• Mains Charger (UK/US/EU)
• Stereo Headset
• Pouch Case
• Data Cable
• Software CD
• Manual
• 1GB Micro SD card

Check out Matt’s Blackberry Curve 8900 unboxing video for more info.

 

Blackberry Curve 8900 specification:

• Dimensions: – 109 x 60 x 13.5 mm
• Weight: – 109.9g
• Display: – 480 x 320 pixels/2.4 inch
• Network: – GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 (Quad-Band)
• Camera: – 3.2 mega-pixels (auto-focus)
  – 5 x Digital Zoom
  – LED Flash
• Video: – Video Recording
  – Supported formats: DivX, XviD, MP4, H.263, 3GP & WMV
  – Video Streaming
• Music: – Supported formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ & WMA
• Messaging: – SMS
  – MMS (with video)
  – E-mail (POP3, SMTP, IMAP4, MS Exchange, BES, BIS)
  – Instant Messaging
• Memory: – 256MB (internal)
  – microSDHC (external)
• microUSB
• 3.5mm Audio Connector
• Bluetooth (2.0)
• Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11g)
• GPRS Class 32
• Navigation: – AGPS
  – BlackBerry Maps

General

Front – 2.4inch screen, QWERTY keypad, ‘call’ and ‘hang up’ buttons, Menu button, trackball, ‘back button

Blackberry 8900 front view

 

The handset is powered on by holding down the red ‘hang up’ button.

Top – on the top of the handset are 2 buttons. From the picture below, the left side is a mute button and the right side is a keypad lock.

Blackberry 8900 top view

 

Back – 3.2MP camera, light/flash, battery casing, speaker. The micro SD card slot is under the battery cover as well.

Blackberry 8900 back view

 

Right – Power/USB, Right convenience key, Volume control buttons (also used as zoom with the camera function), 3.2mm stereo headphone socket.

Blackberry 8900 right side

 

Left – The voice command button.

Blackberry 8900 left side

 

Bottom – The microphone is located here. The shape of the buttons on the QWERTY keyboard can be seen in more detail in these pictures

Blackberry 8900 bottom view

 

 

Highlights

• The QWERTY keyboard has more defined buttons
• 3.2MP camera with auto focus
• Trackball
• Narrower width making handling the handset easier
• Sharp display

Lowlights

• No 3G network support

 

Review

On first impressions the Curve 8900 looks similar to the Blackberry Bold. But, upon closer inspection its design is more streamline and sleek. The narrower width and lighter weight of the handset makes it easy to handle and gives more scope to one handed texting.

The casing is robust and stylish even though it is made of plastics (again, a difference from the Bold which had a faux-leather back to it)

The QWERTY keyboard’s buttons are smaller but the fact that they have been made more defined and spaced apart makes using the keyboard quite easy and making mistakes by hitting the button next to the one you want much harder.

Blackberry 8900 keyboard view

 

Some people may disagree with me here, and maybe my smaller hands make the keyboard easier to use – it all comes down to personal preference in the end.

The trackball is great for navigating around the menus and browser and is not that difficult to get used to if you haven’t used one before. The sensitivity of the trackball can also be adjusted in the settings.

The Curve 8900 comes with a 3.2MP camera with auto focus – a definite improvement from the previous versions of the Curve. It takes good pictures for viewing back on the handset, sending through MMS, and small prints. Unfortunately the resolution is still not high enough for larger prints. The quality of the picture is lost if you try to enlarge the picture. The LED flash could also be improved as it doesn’t give off enough light for subjects further away in low light conditions.

Messaging has always been Blackberry’s forte. SMS, MMS, Emails, and Instant Messaging are supported. For data transfer, it supports GPRS and EDGE, but, as mention in the ‘Highlights and Lowlights’ section above there is no support for 3G. However, it does have WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, and USB connectivity.

Is not having 3G support a huge problem? I honestly didn’t miss it.

The built in web browser is simple to use. However, I’ve never been too much of a fan of web browsing on smart phones as there is always a wait while scripts load and there is no difference with this handset, even when using a WiFi connection.

Office viewers are built into the software for opening Word, Excel and Powerpoint files but the full version of the Office application would need to be purchased in order to edit or create files.

Other applications include a memo pad, a Task application, a calculator, and password keeper.

Maps software which works with the GPS function is also included.

The music player is capable of playing MP3, AAC, and WMA files and the built in speaker on the back of the handset gives surprisingly good quality sound as do the stereo headphones that come with it.

The video player is of high quality as well and shows off the sharp display.

Going back to basics – the general quality of the Curve 8900 when making/taking phone calls is pretty good. Although the reception is average the sound is clear and the microphone seems to be good at cancelling out a lot of background noise.

Conclusion

The Blackberry Curve 8900 is a definite hit with me. It’s easy to get used to even if you’ve never used any Blackberry phones before. The sound quality is good and the sharp display excels itself.

Messaging is easy to use even with the smaller QWERTY keyboard (I may be biased here as since I’m female my hands may be smaller than many who may read this!).

Setting up WiFi connections is simple and switching between connections can be done quickly.

Web browsing is the only downfall that I think is worth pointing out as hanging when scripts are loading happens frequently. This can happen with most smart phones but it seems that this is a little worse than others. But, apart from that you may feel that it’s not such a big deal as the average price is more affordable than the Bold 9000.

 

Review by: Emma

[ Post Tags: Blackberry Bold, RIM, Blackberry Curve 8900,  Orange, tracyandmatt.co.uk ]

Sony Ericsson W302 review

The W302 Walkman phone from Sony Ericsson could be seen as the low cost way to enter into the continuously growing Walkman range with phones ranging in price and performance. The important question with the W302 is that of whether or not it has what it takes to live up to the iconic Walkman brand.

The Sony Ericsson W302 Walkman Phone

What’s in the box?

• Sony Ericsson W302
• User guide
• Software CD
• Battery
• Mains Charger
• Stereo Portable Handsfree
• USB Data Cable
• 512MB Memory Stick Micro (M2)

Check out Matt’s Sony Ericsson W302 unboxing video for a more detailed look at the handset and what you get with it.

 

Sony Erisson W302 Walkman Phone specification:

• Dimensions – 110 x 49 x 11.7 mm
• Weight – 99.8g
• Screen – 240×320 pixel – 2.2 inches
• Music – Walkman Player – PlayNow™
• FM Radio
• Bluetooth stereo (A2DP)
• Camera – 2 mega-pixel
• Networks – GSM 850, GSM 900,GSM 1800, GSM 1900
• Messaging – Email, MMS (Multimedia Messaging)
• Memory – 20 MB memory – Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) support (512MB included in box)
• Bluetooth 2.0

 

General

Looks-wise the W302 is a very small, extremely compact device. However as is so often the case with technological products smaller is not always better. The phone feels very small in the hand and feels very light indeed so certainly won’t be leaving any unsightly bulge in your pocket.

The Front of the device is obviously where the main controls of the phone can be found. The screen is a fair size and below this are the navigational buttons which also double as playback controls. Either side of this are the call and shortcut keys.

Sony Ericsson W302 front view

The left side of the phone is home to the standard large Sony Ericsson proprietory connector port and situated further along the phone is the Walkman quick launch key, allowing quick access to the phones multimedia functions.

Sony Ericsson W302 left side

The right hand side of the W302 is again fairly limited button wise, there is a two way volume control which can also be used to check the phones status(battery life, available memory etc.) and located further down is the camera quick launch and shutter button.

 

Sony Ericsson W302 right side

The Back of the device is home to a 2 mega-pixel camera however no flash which is a little disappointing, below the batter cover apart from the obvious is the M2 card slot for additional phone storage.

Sony Ericsson W302 back view

The top and bottom of the Sony Ericsson W302 are rather non eventful, which when you take into account the lack of buttons on the sides of the device there being no buttons on the top and bottom does leave the W302 very bare and rather plain looking.

 

Highlights

• Small and Compact
• Low Price

Lowlights

• small and fiddly buttons
• Low in-built memory

Review

So lets start this review with the styling and overall appearance and feel of the W302. As I mentioned earlier the W302 is very small and very compact and feels very lightweight, I also said that smaller is not always better when It comes to mobile phones and I have to be honest and say in the case of the W302 its size is also a downside, The phone being small and light is great as it makes the phone easy to carry etc. however a downside to this is the size of the phones keys, on multiple occasions while texting on dialling I found myself pressing 2 buttons at once and I don’t have particularly large thumbs. The phones styling is fairly minimalist with little in the way of buttons around the sides of the device making it a clean, sleek and smart device.

Being a Walkman device it is important to talk about the W302’s multimedia functions. The phone has 20MB of internal memory and included support of up to 4GB via M2 memory card. This is not great however given the phones price it seems like a reasonable compromise. The multimedia features are extremely simple to use and as with other Walkman devices the navigation is the same allowing those with previous experience to navigate quickly and easily. Transferring music from PC to mobile is as it always is with Sony Ericsson and that is quick and simple whether you take advantage of the software included or not. If you have read my reviews before you will be well aware of my personal gripe with the Sony Ericsson proprietory connector not only the size but also the Position, although this is not a massive problem when I see the size of Nokia’s connector and the fact that it would not be out of the question to include a standard 3.5mm jack on the device I cannot help but feel annoyed at this obvious design flaw.

The W302 would certainly be described as a ‘budget phone’ now this tag a few years ago would have left you expecting no more than the basics and possibly a basic camera if that, however now a budget phone can have no excuses in not meeting the changing demands of the consumer and I just feel that the W302 does not quite come up to scratch when compared to other devices of a similar price elsewhere.

The W302 comes equipped with a 2 mega pixel camera but as I mentioned earlier no flash, despite this I have to be honest and say that the image quality the W302 produced did surprise me somewhat, the phone also boasts a video recorder, the quality of which will be of no surprise to regular Sony Ericsson users and for those of you who have not experienced a Sony Ericsson before the quality is fair however is certainly nothing compared to a budget camcorder or in many cases as high as the video function on many digital cameras. Accessing photos and videos can be done with ease through the familiar Sony Ericsson navigational menu, the screen which is a 176 x 220 TFT makes for a reasonable viewing surface however is not ideal for watching videos of any great length and is not particularly friendly when it comes to sharing photos with friends.

I mentioned a little earlier about using the phone on a day to day basis and as with all Sony Ericssons I have used in the past the W302 is no different, simple and easy to use with easy to navigate menus which on occasion I did find to be a little slow on the W302. The phone comes with the usual batch of free games and features including a very addictive Roller-coaster simulator. The phone also includes an FM radio and the ever useful inclusion of Track ID for when those DJ’s just refuse to name the song. As for connectivity, connections between the phone and PC are made via the propitiatory connector to USB or bluetooth. That is about it for connectivity as is expected of a device of this price it is very unlikely to include premium features such as Wi-Fi etc. The W302 has a quoted battery life of around 7 hours talk and 300 hours standby however as I always do I feel it is important to note that these quotes can differ, often quite dramatically based on personal usage so are always hard to review however in the time I spent with the phone I didn’t find myself reaching for the charger a whole lot.

There are areas of the W302 which I feel could do with some improvement, changes which I feel would have been easy enough to make and would have just helped the device in going that little bit further to competing with other budget music devices. It will not be encouraging you to bin your dedicated MP3 player just yet but is a step in the right direction for Sony Ericsson and with a little improvement and tweaking lets never say never.

 

Conclusion

The Walkman brand is certainly an Iconic one and I just feel that although the W302 Is a step up from previous budget Ericsson phones it just misses the mark slightly. It does have the features we have come to expect it does do what it says on the box but it just doesn’t go that little bit extra which in Today’s highly competitive and expanding market of budget phones can make all the difference. The Sony Ericsson W302 would make a perfect first phone for any young music lover however will certainly seem insufficient for the hardcore music loving phone user. A good offering from Sony Ericsson just missing the mark in some minor areas.

 

Review by: Nick

[ Post Tags: Sony Ericsson, W302, Walkman Phone, tracyandmatt.co.uk, unboxings.com ]