Sony Ericsson W850i Unlocked Cell Phone with 2 MP Camera, 3G, MP3/Video Player, Memory Stick Pro Duo Slot--International Version with No Warranty (Golden White)
Binding: Wireless Phone Accessory Brand: Sony Ericsson Color: White EAN: 7311270059432 Feature: This is a tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 cell phone with international 3G compatibility via 2100 MHz, and UMTS Label: Sony Ericsson Mobile Manufacturer: Sony Ericsson Mobile Model: W850i Publisher: Sony Ericsson Mobile Studio: Sony Ericsson Mobile Variation Description: White
Features
This is a tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 cell phone with international 3G compatibility via 2100 MHz, and UMTS Built-in 2-megapixel digital camera with video capture; supports video calling Stereo Bluetooth wireless protocol; VideoDJ lets you edit mobile movies MP3/video player; Memory Stick Pro Duo card slot; 16 MB internal memory Compatible with PlayNow download service; precious black color
Customer Rating: Summary: N-O-T Designed for the American Market, Problems with Cingular and Other Carriers Comment: I will not argue about the quality of this phone. It really is an amazing phone, especially if you are into music and/or fashion. However, this phone was N-O-T designed for North America. It only supports TRI-BANDS and it does not support GSM 850.
If you have no idea what this means, it only means that after buying the phone (which is not really a cheap one) your phone may or may not work, depending on your location and your carrier. Don't even think about using this phone with Cingular or Cellular South (just to name a few). Even though Cingular also uses GSM 1900 (which this phone supports), what it really uses is a complex mix of the GSM 850 (which this phone does N-O-T support) A-N-D the GSM 1900. In other words for "dummies" like me: If you use Cingular and in the lucky event that your phone works at all, it will be working with only one band, when in reality it is supposed to work with two. You will experience static, dropped calls and bad connections ALL THE TIME, even though the phone is indeed a good phone, if used in the region it was designed for.
I think it would be of much help if future reviewers would please specify where they intend to use the phone, the frequency of their carriers, their carriers' name, quality of the phone calls, rate of dropped calls, etc. I am a big fan of Sony Ericsson and we all know that a phone like that will not be a bad phone. What we need to know when buying a phone that was not designed for our region is whether the phone will work for us or be just a pretty piece of junk that we can't use.
If you like this phone I would suggest that you wait a couple of months and check out the US version: the Sony Ericsson W580i and the S500. They will be released between June and August and they are world phones, which means that they support all four bands (850, 900, 1800, 1900), so you can use them all over the world. Be aware of this purchase, it could end up being just a Walkman - and for that, you would be better served buying an IPod.
Customer Rating: Summary: Great Phone Comment: The W850i is a great slider phone. It sets itself apart from others with the new walkman interface and light effects. The camera is good, the only drawback is lacking auto-focus, but if you keep your hand steady the pics are great. The slide itself is really smoothe, and easy to open and close with one hand. The navigation buttons on the front are a little hard to push, but easy to get use to once you get it.
