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Unhappy with my w760. what new camera/slider phone should I replace it with?


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Posted by zAlbee
Hi, I'm new here. It seems people here are pretty knowledgeable about SE phones, so maybe you can help me.


As the topic says, I want to replace my w760. I bought it exactly one year ago after doing lots of research, I picked it because it was the best price ($125 US on ebay). The fact that one year later I am doing this search again, makes me pretty disappointed and I don't feel there was any savings in money from picking a cheap phone.

Problems with it: From day one, the screen collects dust *inside* the phone, under the screen - very distracting, especially in the sunlight. After about 9 months of ownership, the phone would start to reboot randomly. Each time, the text would change to "Invalid SIM", then reboot. Sometimes it happens when trying to place or receive a call, when trying to access the web, or when it's just in my pocket.

Before this phone, I had the w580 (walkman slider) for 2 years. It was really great and had none of these problems. I used it to listen to radio/music while walking, take pictures; it was awesome. Eventually the display died, but everything else was great (I never had any cracked keys).

This w580 is the only reason I started using SE phones in the first place.

---

Ok, so with that in mind, what phone should I get? I'm willing to spend more money this time if it will last longer.

Hazel? I'm really impressed by the photos thread on this forum. But I'm not sure I like the curved back... doesn't look that good IMO.

c903? I really like the way this phone looks, but it's a bit older?

w995?
w595? (apparently the successor to w580)
s500?
something else?
iphone/droid/blackberry?!?


Posted by zAlbee
I should add...

I'm mainly looking for:
- good build quality/reliability
- good cameraphone with macro mode, and landscape viewfinder (so no more w580 i guess)
- nice screen
- has bluetooth and GPS

Thanks!

Posted by mode
The answer is obvious based on your requirement. Get a W995, it should fetch you a good price now

Posted by Lightspeed_x
Hi Mode!, glad to see you around

OT: I agree with mode, get a W995 and you wont regret it... I've owned one for a bit more than a year, and its a nice phone...

The price now should be affordable...

Good luck and let us know if you buy one...
[ This Message was edited by: Lightspeed_x on 2010-11-22 12:52 ]


Posted by Bonovox
Or Hazel

Posted by fairen
a w995 or a satio would be the best deal at this time. Nokia N8 is great but the price is still sky high. If it's a camera phone I need I would be okay with w995 as I have personally experienced using one before when I got one on timtechs when it was newly released and it's actually one of the best phones I've ever had.

Posted by zAlbee
Thanks for the responses. To be honest, I didn't pay any attention to the W995 since I thought a Walkman series wouldn't be good for a camera, but it's at the top of my list now.

Weird thing about prices: On Amazon and ebay, W995 ($300) is still more expensive than Hazel ($230). What's with that? I thought Hazel/Elm was newest model? I mean it does have the noise cancelling mic, and 16.7 million colours.

Only one problem left... I just saw this website (Xenon vs LED flash) and the difference with xenon makes me cry.

Posted by Enci1983
I have the Hazel right now and I'm totally satisfied with it. It has a very great build quality, great wide and sharp and colourful display, the back of the phone the curved part is very IN and trendy the camera is fantastic for me, even better than my c905 with the xenon flash.
Wi-fi is good to have and the price of the phone is all right too. Main disadvantanges for me that the Hazel does not have photo, music and video dj.

Posted by domipost
Biggest difference between Hazel and W995 is the music quality, design and the branding honestly. The 8mp cam of the W995 is mediocre and the 5mp cam of the Hazel is fine. Features are basically the same. Having used them both, I like W995 more because of the design and the music quality, but I don't think it's worth the 70$ price difference. So go with Hazel Software is great, build is great, curved back is nice in the hand, cam is fine, dlna is nice to have.

Only problem I have with it (and the reason I'm not using it, but my Satio), is that it crashes every time I try to sync it with my Exchange server. It works for two days and after that I have to reflash the firmware for it to work for two days again, so that sucks. But I think it's because my Exchange server isn't an official one and has some weird certificate (I have the problem with all SE non smartphones)

Posted by zAlbee
Sigh, so I really want the w995, because it looks beautiful. But I also really want a good camera, and after comparing lots of photos the past weeks, it seems the w995 is too noisy, like it always uses too high ISO or something. Hazel should be good, it has the updated NetFront 3.5 browser, Facebook app, overall updated features, and better daylight camera.... but then I'm reading about the blue lines at night and yellow flash? Argh...

Edit: Now they are the same price... $220 for either w995 or hazel.

Starting to go crazy.... I even started looking at Nokias and even smartphones (droid).... can't find perfect phone..

Only problem I have with it (and the reason I'm not using it, but my Satio), is that it crashes every time I try to sync it with my Exchange server. It works for two days and after that I have to reflash the firmware for it to work for two days again, so that sucks. But I think it's because my Exchange server isn't an official one and has some weird certificate (I have the problem with all SE non smartphones)
.

Can you elaborate? What kind of crash? I don't sync my email to phone (yet), but I might try (we use Exchange at work). I currently sync my phone's calendar to Outlook all the time. But my phone also has the random reboot problem, which is a nightmare.
[ This Message was edited by: zAlbee on 2010-12-11 00:40 ]


Posted by alenn
i rather prefer SE C905,but w995 is really nice!C905 has xenon flash,and it is more stylish,but w995's screen is larger!

Posted by Run_dawn10
Based on your requirements.

I would recommend the Hazel. I personally have one.
all the way.


Posted by zAlbee
Hi all, I did make a choice, and it arrived today - a new black Hazel J20i . Ultimately I chose it over the W995 because I could get it before Christmas . Samsung Innov8 was a third choice until I read about the dreaded dust under the screen problem - never again!

Thanks all for the help. So far I like it, but we'll see if that holds up in the next few weeks.

Posted by aldrinus
congratulations on your new Hazel, mate!

aside from being primarily a camera phone (although not a Cybershot), it still has Megabass which somehow compensates for not being a Walkman series phone either. the Hazel is one good unit except of course with the dreaded (low) photo quality on low-light conditions as documented in several threads in here. other than that, you are somehow getting the best of both worlds!


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