Travel Technology - Sony Ericsson P900 - Opinions?

Hi.

I've just bought one on Orange in UK and wonder what experiences people have had with it. Seems fairly impressive, but I've had a lot of trouble getting it to synch and Bluetooth with my other stuff and today, inexplicably, lost the calendar items on it. Worse, when I re-synched, the items were also deleted from my PC. Managed to retrieve them, but it could have been disastrous.

Obviously, one has to expect teething problems and with a bit of luck I'll have no further problems, but I'd just like to know before the 14 day exchange period is up if I've bought a lemon or, as I hope, it's the mobile traveller's dream!

Thanks.

Wasn't too happy with it. I have the P800 and tried the 900 for a few weeks, sync is it's major weak point.

Personally I'd go for a Treo600 or PocketPC phone device like the MDAII.

I've got the 800 and the 900 seems much the same with a nicer case. I'm waiting for the P1000.

The reason I stopped using Psions was sync problems. The 800 and 900 use a version of the same operating system and sync program as I understand it. From what I know this is a major weakness of this platform. I would be interested in some of the devices with this system if someone could fix the sync. There are probably ways to make it better. You might check some of the PDA or smartphone bulletin boards for more specific information on these phones.

The reason I stopped using Psions was sync problems. The 800 and 900 use a version of the same operating system and sync program as I understand it. From what I know this is a major weakness of this platform. I would be interested in some of the devices with this system if someone could fix the sync. There are probably ways to make it better. You might check some of the PDA or smartphone bulletin boards for more specific information on these phones.

Yes, amazingly enough Symbian uses the same lame-a$$ sync system as on my trusty old series 5/5MX :D

You'd expect a company capable of making a fullblown OS and GUI to be able to design a decent sync protocol...

I've got the P800 and fooled around with a friend's P900 for a few weeks. It was not worth changing plus the P800 allegedly deals better with being physically dropped. :D

I agree with the above posters and would wait for the "P1000" or something of the sort.

Yes, amazingly enough Symbian uses the same lame-a$$ sync system as on my trusty old series 5/5MX :D

You'd expect a company capable of making a fullblown OS and GUI to be able to design a decent sync protocol...

So how did you deal with it? Were you able to come up with a workaround or just not sync? I would love to be able to use these things. Would appreciate any suggestions. I use a Palm and an IPAQ on the same computer and they play nice with one another. The Psions definately dont play well with others in my experience. Thanks for any info.

So how did you deal with it? Were you able to come up with a workaround or just not sync? I would love to be able to use these things. Would appreciate any suggestions. I use a Palm and an IPAQ on the same computer and they play nice with one another. The Psions definately dont play well with others in my experience. Thanks for any info.

I use a remote SyncML server.

Its hard to understand why the bozos at Sony Ericsson cant fix the bugs.... its not like they dont have an R&D budget... :rolleyes:

Its hard to understand why the bozos at Sony Ericsson cant fix the bugs.... its not like they dont have an R&D budget... :rolleyes:

SonyEricsson don't develop it. They make the phone and the people at UIQ supply them with the operating system that they base on Symbian OS.

SonyEricsson are in the business of making phones, they don't care about stuff like this.

SonyEricsson don't develop it. They make the phone and the people at UIQ supply them with the operating system that they base on Symbian OS.

SonyEricsson are in the business of making phones, they don't care about stuff like this.

Im sure youre correct about this. However, I suspect the long term result is that once the Windows smart phones and possibly Palm/Treos start getting more products out the same thing will happen to the SE (and for that matter Nokia) phones based on Symbian as happened to Psion. Bubye....

Im sure youre correct about this. However, I suspect the long term result is that once the Windows smart phones and possibly Palm/Treos start getting more products out the same thing will happen to the SE (and for that matter Nokia) phones based on Symbian as happened to Psion. Bubye....

As long as Nokia backs Symbian they are not going anywhere, Microsoft devices sell a fraction of Nokia devices (like the 3650).

I know, but I will stand by what I said. Of course why not since there is absolutely no consequence if Im totally wrong ;) In that regard, it is sort of like being the National Security advisor, or head of the FBI, but I digress...

I remember when they were selling Psions before there were Palms or WinCE devices. I remember being told by a salesman at J and R that they would not be carry WinCe devices because they would have Psions. I think that as devices converge sync becomes more important. Data transparency becomes critical and as than happens I see the people doing that winning. Right now, the hardware on the Nokia 60s and SEs is better. That will change. I would have a Nokia 6600 now it if didnt have Symbian on it. I may get one anyway, but if Moto or someone else comes out with a Smartphone with good Bluetooth I will go that route.

I've just bought one on Orange in UK and wonder what experiences people have had with it.

I have one of these that I picked up SIM free in Italy. I like it.

For those who are familiar with the P800, the P900 is a lot more reliable (I have owned both) and ... this is a killer feature ... you can update the firmware without having to take it in to a service centre, right over the net.

There have been several maintenance releases of the firmware, and many of these includes fixes to reliability and function of Bluetooth, so I would suggest you upgrade to the newest available.

I occasionally have problems with it rebooting itself (it gives you a charming message that 'the phone has been restarted in order to improve performance' ... fat lot of good that does you if it is in your pocket when it restarts, as it expects the SIM unlock code!), still some residual weirdness with Bluetooth (e.g. the phone hangs up my GPRS connection, my Mac loses connection to the P900 via Bluetooth, but the P900 thinks it is still connected, and you can't turn off Bluetooth or power off the P900 without causing a crash), but these are relatively few and far between given the usage I give it.