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SE K550 or S500? |
Crapshoot
Joined: Feb 24, 2008
Posts: 12
From: Toronto, Onatrio, Canada
PM |
Alright, so I'll admit it, I'm pretty much a phone newbie. This will be my first cell and for the most part I am really waiting for the SE G900 after seeing videos of it. Also, I've succumbed to the peer pressure and it's starting to sound a little too eccentric when people ask me my cell number and I have to tell them, "Cell, what cell? I'm landline bitch." Also I'll finally be able to get a girls number rather than give them my card and hopefully avoid at least some of the pyschos that I've dated in the past.
With all that said, so far I have been looking at these two phones and reading reviews has shed light on the fact that BOTH have horrible keypads. First the s500 keys crack (CRACK, are you kidding me!?) while the K550's become non-responsive and also have to be replaced. In addition to this after looking at both phones, I have to say that the K550's keys are a tad small, well spaced, but I imagine it'd take a smaller hand to navigate them easily.
I originally fell in love with the S500 the moment I saw it, however couldn't get it because it was unavailable in Canada at the time. So I waited and generally forgot about it. Now comes my dilemma, not having owned a phone before, I don't really know what I want, or rather what features I should emphasize when looking for a quality phone. First and foremost, I don't have a digital camera and so I've been almost looking for a phone that can double as one, however going with this phone I feel like I'm turning my back on my original love, the S500 because of it's sleek appearance. Also, I've read that you can flash the 500 with the W580 software and effectively turn it into a much better music player, if only the camera was a little better and had a flash I would go with the S500 hands down.
So, what it all comes down to, I have a lot of information but I cannot clearly figure out what I want since I am very new to this. Is the flash on the K550 really imporant or can I get by without it? All the reviews I have read have said that the lack of a flash and auto-focus on the s500 make the phone pretty much unusable for pictures and video and so that tilted me back towards the K550.
As you can see I'm pretty much grappling between my love for aesthetics and practicality and I really don't know which way to go. I imagine this is definitely not an unusual case for those who are more mobile-savvy so I hope to leech off the forum users' past experiences in making such choices.
Forgot to mention pricing, although there isn't much difference.
S500i - $235 CAD
K550i - $210 CAD
[ This Message was edited by: Crapshoot on 2008-02-24 06:53 ] | |
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NightBlade
Joined: Jul 29, 2007
Posts: > 500
From: Nessebar, Bulgaria
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So what you want is basically a handset that you want to use till G900's release, right?
OK then, I suggest you get the K550, because of the better camera. Sure, the S500 has those cool everchanging themes and light effects, but if I were you, I'd go for the camera (athough K550's camera isn't THAT good, it's just better than S500's).
[ This Message was edited by: NightBlade on 2008-02-24 07:55 ] |
daviep
Joined: Apr 04, 2005
Posts: > 500
From: bonnie scotland
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my wife has a s500.its a great wee phone,excellent screen,decent camera,video ringtones etc.
you can compare specs at www.gsmarena.com. |
Muhammad-Oli
Joined: Jun 13, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: The NZ of L
PM |
You'll have no problems with the S500i's camera as long as you don't want to take photos when it's a bit dark, or of very close up objects. I think you will find the S500i's camera fine, and a lot like any other cellphone camera, where it's mostly just good for casual shots. You'll even find that with the K550i. No phone camera yet can really compete with a dedicated digital camera.
So I say get the S500i. It's the one you want the most by the sounds of it, and autofocus (on the K550i) doesn't make that much of a difference for non-close-up shots at least. Neither does the 'flash', which by the way is not a flash, but a fairly bright LED light... so it doesn't help THAT much. The S500i looks awesome, comes with some cool lighting effects and theme effects, and it will certainly draw the attention of some hopefully not-so-psychopathic ladies. 
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2008, 2009, 2010 Best Australasian Member. |
freeza
Joined: Sep 26, 2007
Posts: 113
PM |
S500 surely a very good phone!display,model,sound also.but(i've own w580i yesterday,same model as s500)the sliding construction is very bad,ratle if you slide up your phone,also the keys a very poor(mine is crack)and also my w580i get a very serious problem,short conecting twice!after they(se)fixed it,it get the same problem just one month after.thats way i change it to w830(although the display and sound is not as good,w580 or s500)you've must consider this before yov made up ur mine!
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Crapshoot
Joined: Feb 24, 2008
Posts: 12
From: Toronto, Onatrio, Canada
PM |
That's what I'm afraid of. As I mentioned I had read that the keys crack, and that almost half of a reviews readers had reported cracking keys and that it was an unprecedented failure rate.
Thing is that I'm always careful with my things, I have had an iPod for years now and it barely has a scratch on it, and those things usually look HORRIBLE after a couple of weeks in most people's possession.
Also, yes I am looking for something to do me over until the release of the G900, which I have read or rather is expected to be released in Q2 of this year, maybe even a little longer since I'm not exactly a money magnet right now and could definitely exercise a little will power and wait for it to go down a bit in price.
I've just always wanted smart phone, I've seen a bunch, but they either fall up short is some way or another. If I could, I'd really probably get the Xperia 1, but still, it looks pretty thick to me and I usually place a huge emphasis on slim equipment (I mean, to me the K810i and W810i models are pretty much bricks and for this reason I have completely disregarded them).
With respect to pictures, I don't think I will really be taking THAT many pictures, but I would probably take a majority of them in clubs and bars, even then I'm not really sure that the 'flash' would provide a much better picture since it's only an LED, but then you folks would know more about that than I, what are your opinions? |
Muhammad-Oli
Joined: Jun 13, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: The NZ of L
PM |
I'm almost 100% sure the cracked keys problem has been fixed and it was only a problem in the early batches. Cracked keys won't be a problem anymore, so don't worry about it!
The LED light ("flash") really is only useful for shots within a metre or two of the phone. In clubs it won't be much use. But I find that in clubs, you get cool shots without the flash because of the flashing coloured lights that you find almost everywhere. I took my 2MP Sony Ericsson V630i (no flash, no autofocus) to a Muse concert here in November and I got some really cool shots just because of the awesome lights they had.
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2008, 2009, 2010 Best Australasian Member. |
Crapshoot
Joined: Feb 24, 2008
Posts: 12
From: Toronto, Onatrio, Canada
PM |
Thanks a lot for all the advice, yeah I verified that the key issue has been fixed and that the keys themselves didn't crack, but rather was the paint that chipped off because the pigment that they used did not adhere well to the plastic keys.
I just bit the bullet and bought the S500, I wasn't really looking for something that is amazing, just something that will do me for the time being, and I really like the panache of this particular cell. I haven't even had the phone a day and it's already drawing comments, especially if it starts ringing. |
Muhammad-Oli
Joined: Jun 13, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: The NZ of L
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Awesome man, I hope you enjoy your new phone! From what I've seen, it's worth it just for looks alone! What colour did you decide on? I like the black and green one.
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2008, 2009, 2010 Best Australasian Member. |
Crapshoot
Joined: Feb 24, 2008
Posts: 12
From: Toronto, Onatrio, Canada
PM |
Yeah, in my mind, the myserious green is the only way to go. I've got to say, man, does this thing ever look AMAZING at night. It puts other phones to shame. |
JuanPablo
Joined: May 16, 2007
Posts: > 500
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S500 - bigger, better display, better design, light effects... |
razec
Joined: Aug 20, 2006
Posts: > 500
From: Pearl of the Orient Seas
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for general everyday use, K550 tends to be better, considering the fact that you need to have a decent camera to snap on subjects you wish. K550 can do macro and landscape photos sharper and better than S500. and K550's UI speed is a little faster than S500 (esp. when playing games the performance is more discernible) - although that has something to do with the display rendering resolution (K550 = 176x220 vs S500 240x320) both phones are compact, yet function wise i'd go for K550. however if you dare to sacrifice your casual photographic habbits for a sleek and stylish head turning look then the other one is for you
also S500's full front panel surface is glossy. thus more finger print magnet than K550(although this thing(k550) is hmm well finger print magnet as well although not as much more prone compared to S500)
~19 years at Esato |
technical-expert
Joined: Mar 13, 2007
Posts: > 500
From: Pacific Rim
PM |
S500 has poor slider mechanism, even die hard SE fans have accepted this ,So in this case u should definitely go with k550
 K700-  W800- [W810]- W200-[ P990]=[Current]. One expert at esato that never lets u down technical-expert. |
c_vignesh
Joined: Aug 16, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: TamilNadu,India
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I've been using  K550i for about a year..I've had no problems..and to say the truth after using this keypad for so long i've grown fond of it ... you can read more about my experiences with it in my blog http://blog.vsoft.net.in/archives/33
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Posted: 2008-02-24 07:48
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