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I like the color of my wife's "Shine" even better which is deep red. It is difficult for texting.- Interface is a bit annoying. I like the easy slide that has a snap feel of the front cover to expose the keypad. If you use the phone as an mp3 player, then that is another story.- Bluetooth, games, calculator, notepad.Cons:- The joystick is not quite a joy to use.- The back of the phone is too scratch prone.- Keypad has grooves to to help with identifying the keys by touch but it is not as intuitive as a regular keypad.
I am happy that It is big enough leap from my previous phone. 2 megs of resolution. Very slow lens, but I am not really expecting much because most cell phones have extremely small lenses to gather enough light. Really handsome with simple lines and shape. Has a nice feel on your palm. It lasted longer than my older phone which has a smaller screen). Got a little learning curve to get used to.- Heavier than most phones.Speaker phone is usable but does not sound very exciting.
Surprisingly it is equipped with a flash albeit it is tiny winy and almost next to useless. Pros:- Good sound quality.- Good reception.- It is a nice sleek looking phone. Mine is silver.- MicroSD for additional memory.- Capable to record short videos- Long battery life (I tested the phone for a week without using the MP3 player and video. It feels pretty solid.The camera is OK.
This phone was ordered for my mother and she loves it. Quick shipping and good price.
It picks up other devices fine, but refuses to see my computer and my computer can't see it. Battery life seems to be only a mild issue if you keep the settings on minimal battery consumption, but constant use does run it down rapidly. You will regret not doing so. The speaker on this phone isn't nearly loud enough. Version with Warranty (Urban Gray)-- I know that's the one I'm going to get if this thing breaks on me. As stated in other reviews, if you have large hands, look seriously at other options. It may be mine alone that does this, but this phone will go back to the store if it gets worse.
In all, not very intuitive.Bluetooth connection is problematic between my laptop and phone-- Despite my best efforts, my phone will not recognize my (very talkative) laptop. This suggests some kind of setting conflict, or would if I hadn't gone through every option in both devices. So don't rely on this thing to tranfer data wirelessly-- SDMicro is the only reliable way. Try the Sony Ericsson W580i Unlocked Cell Phone with 2 MP Camera, MP3/Video Player, Memory Stick Micro Slot--U.S. Constant charging is a must is you use this phone more than a few times a day. Buy another phone or an ipod if you want to hear music. In short, skip this phone.
Picture quality is good for a cell phone, but buy a real camera if you want to take real pictures.
This issue on top of the size of the stick, which is not designed for large hands.
More seriously, my Shine has an annoying habit of navigating menus while locked and on my belt.
As far as the menus go, this is almost as bad as some Japanese phones I've seen-- Menus all over the place, and if you make one miss-click or tap of a button, you will likely have to go back to the beginning and try again.
Good luck in the hunt for a phone.
It looks good, but isn't worth it.
Prior reviews have done a thorough job discussing pros and cons of this phone, so I'm going to add the few that were missed or skipped or occured only to me.First, the stick grows loose and insensitive with constant use.
It hasn't cost me any money so far, but ghost/incidental calling could be an issue.
And as for the music player function, which has been mentioned in several other places to a greater depth-- This isn't a music player.
next time, i'll a touch screen. the only thing, some pics taken from a lil bit far are lil blurry. i took pics n vids with it. after all, i got nothing to coplain. great phone. i got an adapter to listen to music with my headphone n i got 2gb microSD n a bluetooth headset. better visibilty would have been much better for me.
The SE's reception and sound quality it top notch. The numbered menus in the Shine are very easy to use. The back plate had obviously been rubbed on, the front plate exhibited small, but noticeable scratches. Battery Life: The claim that Sony Ericsson has poor battery life, in short, is complete bull ****. Walking around with the Shine put in my side jeans pocket for a day, the Shine went in looking stellar and came back looking pretty poor. The only thing its got over the SE is 3G. Those that say they had short battery life. The papers that the LG Shine comes with claims that battery life is around 3 hours of talk time, up to 240 hours (10 days) of standby time, is standard marketing bull ****: through a test of 10 different charges with three different batteries, the phone has lasted no more than 3 days before it required a charging.
SE: 9/10 Shine: 9/10Navigation: Those that say navigation on the Shine is difficult are clearly retarded: physically or mentally. Results: The LG Shine's slider remained the same; the SE's slider got smoother after the test. One thing that is not usually noted is that the Shine actually has VERY little metal in its body; it's only the battery cover and some of the front. Even with 3 bars (in a tunnel), the call was still strong.
My OTHER sister, who also got a Sony Ericsson, also gets great battery life with hers. The LG Shine's keypad is like a smaller version of the RAZR. I'm sure you could prevent the Shine from getting scratched by getting a screen protector and/or case, but the hassle of one is not something that I'd want to deal with (not to mention such protection would take away the "beauty" of the Shine). My friend told me they didn't notice the static (he probably got use to the poor call quality). The Shine frequently echoes what the other person says, and a background static seems to be present in all calls. Read the features at each phone's respective website; I won't waste your time here. First, to address the keypad. The size of the keypad is very usable for texting and other usage.
Speaking of which, with the LG Shine, you cannot wipe the phone with any shirt; it will scratch if the fabric of the cloth/shirt is rough. The SE's keypad is not as responsive as the Shine's, meaning the click down are not as solid, and that the row of numbers are connected so that one press on a number slightly depresses the row, but nonetheless, it is very solid. The Shine cannot stand to be touched at all. I have found the number of signal bars that you get has a big impact on the call quality (as it should). you just got a lemon (or are trying to reason yourself out of the fact that buying a shine was actually a poor decision).
Over a period of 2 days, I had the phone off and during my spare time (which is a lot since it's summer), I've been clicking away at the keys (with a good amount of pressure I might add), and the keys exhibit no sign of cracking. The Shine is all looks.SE: 10/10 Shine: 2/10 (absolutely pitiful for a phone be so lackluster in features)Other concerns and notes: - The speaker on the SE kills that one which is on the Shine- Both phones have ringtones are loud enough to be heard- Both phones can [be modified to] receive games and , but with the SE, you have more options. My only caveat with the SE is that there's no dedicated end call button like my old Nokia. SE: 9/10 Shine: 9/10Reception/Sound Quality: I live in Northern California in a well populated city, and everywhere I go, I get 5 bars with the SE and from 3 to 4 bars with the Shine.
The LG shine doesn't really feel that much more durable than the SE. It is very easy to use, and is not too small. Regarding the cracking keys on the SE, I performed a test to see if this rumor was true. If you drop the shine, you will certainly damage the screen, and/or scratch the body, and/or break the phone. Well, if you don't take care of it like a newborn baby, it's going to look like **** and ipso facto, it was a poor decision to buy the phone for its looks.SE: 9/10 Shine: 1/10Keypad: People always complain about the keypads of the Sony Ericsson and the LG Shine and say how small they are and how difficult it is to text with them. The SE is a plastic phone; the LG shine is a plastic phone with metallic components. Same jeans, same walk, and the SE still looked great after. Regarding the slider mechanism, the LG Shine's "snaps" when you open and close it, whereas the SE's slider is not as snappy.
With something plastic, eg. I have 6'2" and have large hands and I can still manage to comfortable use the phones' keypads. The joystick on the Shine takes no practice to nail. The Sony Ericsson, as one may predict, does not scratch easily.
To ensure that I didn't receive a lemon shine, I tested a friend's shine and sure enough, it was the same. No complaints whatsoever here. A BIG reason people get the Shine is because it looks good. SE: 10/10 Shine: 3/10Durability: People say the LG Shine has a stronger build than the Sony Ericsson, but if you actually compare the two, you find that you cannot actually compare the two. There was something that looked like a small scratch on the front screen on the SE, but nothing a wipe could clean off.
The LG Shine, which is said to have poor battery life, disappoints: its battery life is indeed very short. The LG Shine is the most basic of phones. Since my family just got a family plan with ATT (3 lines/550 minutes shared) and one of my sisters got the Shine, I was able to do a comparison between the phones. SE:10/10 Shine: 5/10Features: SE wins hands down. Why. Texting with both is very easy (albeit not as easy as texting on a RAZR). SE: 9/10 Shine: 6/10Fingerprints/Scratchability: The claims that the Shine is a fingerprint magnet could not be more true.
After making numerous threads at various forums regarding this question, reading countless reviews, watching many videos, looking at hundreds of pictures, and mapping out the pros and cons of each one multiple times, I have settled on the Sony Ericsson W580i. The problem of cracking keypads is also a huge concern for potential buyers of the SE. Rather than the claimed "3-4 day charge" that many people on this forum and others are claiming, I have found that the phone will last over a week (11-13 days).
Sony Ericsson, a drop will do no more than give a few scratches. Most of these complainers are complaining from hearsay (they repeat what they read/hear from others, not from their own experience). The SE, with no joystick, as imagined, is also very easy to use.
Since the durability was one of my biggest concern in getting the phone, I did a test of each phone upon cracking open the box: I opened and closed each phone 300 times. Background: Over the past two months, I have spent a great deal of time debating between whether to get the Sony Ericsson W580i or the LG Shine CU720. Due to the difference in the way that the phones slide, it isn't really accurate to say that one feels more durable than the other.
Clearly the cracking keys is an issue with older phones (which you could potentially still buy if the reseller of your phone has old stock).
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