Sony Ericsson Z500a Phone (Cingular)

Rating:
Summary: An enhancement to most ERICSSON's
Review: first off my previous phone was the T610 and love the phone!



second, The Z500a has the same features and layout like all ericcsons. few minus and plus

As for other things

Memory-
I am not too dissapointed that the memory is 7mb (if you delete everything that can be deleted on the phone it will expand to 7mb), because if you compare to the new Motorola RAZR, A630, and Nokia 6230, this is just standard. But i really do wish the z500a supports Memory stick (it doesnt).

Sound-
It has a media player software which you can play music just like how you play it on your PC. This isnt a great feature cause of the 7mb memory, it is pointless to have it. If play music while the phone is open, the sound is automatically set to minimum volume (not loud). If you play the music through media player and close your phone, the music will continue to play (all songs repeatedly) and will play at maximum volume (you can change music on the side buttons). This phone is loud enough, Ringtone and speaker phone is great. also with 40 channel polyphonic tone, sounds more fresher then 32 channels.


Display/Screen
I would say the screen is alot prettier than most phones. The color is quite the same as t610, just a bit sharper. Whats very neat is that you can have a screensaver (gif) but at the same time when you click to the front cover, the background can also play as a screensaver (gif). ok ok most phones has this feature but its smoother the most phones. oh yea, and the buttons are caved in, meaning you will have to put alittle more effort to button pressing. <-- very annoying and faustrating sometimes, im use to the quick press and go.


Camera/Video
This is a dissapointment, the camera is almost the same quality as the ERICSSON T610! its not better, but with the brightness adjustment atleast you can see everything. Whats really strange is that the Video Camera has better picture quality then the Picture Camera, very weird. Video camera is acceptable, it captures mostly every movement and not as much frame skipping.

Connectivity-
this is the BIGGEST dissapointment, the elimination of Infrared (IrDa) and Blue Tooth (BT) (both fastest data transfers available). This is why most people prefer Ericsson. Since the IrDa and BT are not available, the only connection z500a has is the DCU-11 (USB; slow). Another is through WAP/E-MAIL, i have no idea how to do this but i bet is more of a hassle.

EDGE technology-
Ok, downloads and streaming are pretty quick, but this does not effect DSU-11 data capable. even if it had IrDa, it will still take no effect. Edge is more like for the internet usage and other downloading services. Not a big deal, almost a useless feature if you get the DSU-11.



Overall-
This is a great phone, it is an enhancement to my ericsson t610. I only bought this phone because of the video and MP3 capabilities. everything else is pretty much what all ericsson phone has. I choosed Ericsson phones because they do have more features than other cell phone companies. I trust Ericsson and plus this is a good phone for its price!


Rating:
Summary: i wanted so much to like this phone...
Review: i bought this phone on ebay for a staggering $270 (included shipping and all that). why you may ask? well, don't ask. i thought it was cool. i wanted the phone, but didn't want to switch to cingular (i am an at&t customer). so, i bought this phone, slipped my SIM card in and i am good to go. here's the pros and cons so far:

pros:

* excellent call clarity, but that would depend on your area, plan, coverage, etc. people can hear me fine, and i can hear them fine, and isn't that really
what it's all about?
* speakerphone is nice. very nice. no complaints from friends to take them off it.
* menus are pretty intuitive. that is, if you've worked with a sony ericsson phone before.
* address book is very thorough and you can store a lot of information for each contact.
* themes are a neat concept.
* the options (zoom, brightness, special effects) for the digital camera are cool, but see below.
* phone has a nice solid feel when opening and closing the flip.
* option to record a sound and then use it as a ringtone is cool!

cons:

* VGA camera is horrible! i know, i know, it's a camera PHONE, not a phone CAMERA. however, the images are some of the worst i've seen. don't know if the camera is really that bad, or the display is just not that good, but yeah, don't count on taking nice, clear photos on this phone, or anything remotely close to good.
* inside screen display is "fuzzy". this is just a sony ericsson thing, i've heard. the colors and clarity of the screen are soft. i think SE does this to conserve battery life. kinda hard to see things on the screen in direct sunlight, or if you're not looking at it just right.
* screen does not make use of space available. poor design on SE's part.
* available games through sony ericsson's site are lacking in number and interest. maybe 'cause this phone is new. only seven games available to download and none of them interested me.
* phone only comes with 7 or 8 ringtones. HUH?! 7 or 8? that's just unheard of. not too many you can download from SE's site, either.
* no bluetooth or infrared.
* battery life is NOWHERE NEAR the 10 hrs/250 hrs (talk/standby) it says on SE's website. not even close. talk time might be 3-4 at best.

the "eh, it could go either way":

* phone is kind of bulky. the thing reminds me of a giant, silver maxi-pad when it's open. you may or may not like this.
* plastic parts on the phone feel cheap. someone commented that my phone "felt like a toy". it kinda does, really. the finish on the plastic doesn't look sleek at all, but rather matte and really makes it look like a low-budget phone. it almost seems like this was a prototype phone and what i got isn't the final model! just a "draft". it's not very stylish or refined.

this phone seems like it's packed with really cool stuff, and in some ways, it is. the specs on this phone are pretty impressive when you look at them. but, you have to ask yourself if you're the kind of person that's going to use all these features. are you going to send videos through MMS? are you going to listen to streaming audio through your phone? are you interested in ringtones and themes and games (if so, this really isn't the phone for you).

in summary, this phone isn't worth the money. it IS a good phone with some cool bells and whistles, but it's not worth anything over $175, period.

Rating:
Summary: Happy with the phone!
Review: I just bought this phone a few weeks ago and I am very happy with it! I LOVE the fact that you can use REAL SONGS for ringtones, and that you can assign a different picture (even of the person) and ringtone to everyone. I think the camera is good hey it's a phone...sooo as camera phones go, it's good! I had the Motorola V220 and the pics weren't as good (I returned it) I do agree that the phone is a little large, I had a Motorola V180 and the size was great, the color was too, black and silver with blue lights. I do miss that!!!!!! I gave it to my daughter. The screen colors are bright not like some SE, the T237 was HORRIBLE! It holds ALOT of pictures for wallpaper and screensavers and alot of ringtones, I'm addicted to getting 'em!
On the con the battery life is not good, but most flips suck 'em dry! My test of true phone clarity was my once a week night out....could I use it in the bar or would I have to go outside? To my surprise (and DELIGHT!) I could use it in the bar and actually HEAR with no cut offs a RARITY as cells go! I was worried I'd wasted my $$$$$$ and would have to live with it, then take back my Motorola :) But again I'm for the most part happy with it....(but I do miss the COOL blue backlighting and black/silver of my V180!)

Rating:
Summary: PHONE IS LOCKED
Review: If you are not in the USA and not subscribed to CINGULAR WIRELESS don't even waste your time on buying this phone. It's LOCKED and it's almost impossible to get it unlocked. I BOUGHT THE PHONE ONLY without a SERVICE PLAN, waited over 3 weeks for it to arrive just to be disappointed when i inserted my sim card (not of CINGULAR WIRELESS) and read on the display screen INSERT CORRECT SIM CARD.
I am so disappointed. Now i have to check with wireless if they can give me the unlock code for this phone.

I guessed i assumed wrong and thought that by choosing PHONE ONLY NO SERVICE PLAN the phone would be unlocked.

INTERNATIONAL SHOPPERS BEWARE....BE VERY AWARE.

But from what i can see of the phone, it's a nice one, haven't had the chance to play with it as i can't get into the menu, but the screen is really nice, and the phone overall is a nice one.

Rating:
Summary: Need more improvements in some basic features
Review: Pros :
Packed with lot of features.

Cons:
1. The screen is unreadable in sunlight.
2. Even though it is weighs just over 3 ounces but looks bulky.
3. Cheap look like dollar shop toy.
4. No data cable provided to sync with Outlook.
5. Very limited themes and ring tones.


Rating:
Summary: WAY too critical of this very plush, feature-full phone
Review: The camera is not the best on the market, in that I agree with the other reviewer, but this is an entry level camera phone which is sold at both Cingular and AT&T for $100 (nice job on eBay). It has a great video camera, mp3 player (although 2-3 songs is the max it's a great feature), EDGE high speed internet, external picture caller ID's, etc. The list goes on for how well this SE phone does in out performing anything in its pricerange.

GREAT BUY, definetly a great, solid phone.

Rating:
Summary: difficult to use
Review: The screen and the sound are very good compared to my T68 and T616. You can now have animated wall paper. The phone is loud and pretty clear. But the ear plug is not loud at all. I use the same ear plug in my T616; and it is very loud.

I think this phone is designed to be used for the Internet. Whereas the T68 and T616 are designed for calling. When you display the main manual, 1/3 of the items is Internet related. And they design the 5-way button really big. It is very easy to push around with this button.

The worst thing about this phone is that the buttons are very difficult to push. The buttons are placed too far apart. They are very hard to reach with only the thumb. Beside this, all the buttons are flat. Although they are pretty big but because they are all flat and far apart, the buttons are very difficult to press. One good thing is that the buttons on the side of the phone and all the shortcut buttons can now be customized. By comparasion, the buttons on the T616 is small but they are raised and place close together. So, when you are holding the T616 in your hand, it is much easier to push the buttons with your thumb.

This phone does not support bluetooth or infared anymore. The phone have a big phone book and can play MP3 and has a very good display with theme and stuff like that. BUT you can't get all these files from your computer easily and cheaply becasue there is no easy way to connect the phone to your computer. You can sync with other phone via MMS and get the ringtones and pictures from the mobile web; BUT! it is gonna cost you.

The speaker phone is pretty good. But the phone only let you use the speaker phone after you have made the connection and you have to flip the phone open. And you have to push the button twice to enable the speaker phone. And you have to tell your friend to hold his hoses while you are trying to switch to the speaker phone. This is just too much.

It has voice dialing but you cannot catagorize the phone numbers anymore. No more voice command for Home, Mobile, or Work. So, you will have to record 3 different voice for every single person in your phone book if they all have 3 different phone numbers.

Style wise, the Z500a looks cheap with the cheap plastic look. The T68 and the T616, on the other hand, look very classy.

I am not a big fan of flip phone. The only good flip phone is the Motorola V60i. (yes. I have a V60) The new models from Motorola are not that easy to use though.

Bottom line. If you can push the buttons with ease, then the Z500 is a pretty good phone.

Rating:
Summary: Ignore the harsh critics
Review: This is a great phone.

Especially since I got two of them for $50 total.

The screen is great. Yeah, the camera isn't all that great, but the pictures I sent to my computer looked fine. I didn't pay to get a camera that happens to be a cell phone, I paid to have a cell phone that happens to have a camera. I am happy.

I got the data cable from overseas from a site in the UK and if anyone is looking for a camera to hook to their laptops, guess what. . .this is it. The new Edge 3G data technology that this phone has is disgusting. I am getting broadband speeds in my car with my laptop.

I think that the screen is beautiful myself. 85,000 colors and a pretty sharp resolution is all I see. I have downloaded some pictures online to use as the wallpaper in my phone and they look pretty sharp to me.

The only con I can find is that because the faceplate can be changed, some dust can get into the little screen on the outside and that is kinda annoying to me. Personally, I like the size of the phone since it feels like a phone. I hate it when phones are so small that you are holding them with your fingertips. That's how they fall. LOL But for its size, how can you really complain? it weighs just over three ounces!

Get this phone. It has all the features of many $500 an up phones but without the $500 and up part.