Sony Ericsson w810i vs w580i

ronzo

I have a bit of a problem maybe you guys can help with. I asked this in the tech subforum cell phone thread but didn't get a response, so i thought i would try here and give a bit more info.

I have to change carriers, and I live in orlando florida. I have decided on changing to AT&T from sprint, because their plan seems to give the best bang for my buck (450/5000 anytime/nights minutes, 200 text messages, no data for $40). If anyone can suggest better, please do so, but thats not what this is primarily about. This is more about choice of cell phones.

The contenders
w810i:

w580i

A little bit about want i want in a phone. I want good reception, good battery life, and a solid body design that can take a few drop every now and then. I've wanted to get a decent camera for awhile, and the w810i seems to have a pretty good one (for a cell phone). The biggest issue here is price. The w810i is no longer offered by AT&T so I would have to buy one unlocked at about $200. The w580i is $50 with a 2 year contract. Is the w810i worth the extra cost? Is there a different AT&T phone I should go for over the w580I (do not suggest the iphone, too pricey for me)

Help me out H/A?

HyperAquaBlast

I got the W810i when it first came out because I wanted a really good all-in-one device (phone, camera, MP3 player). So far the calls are all clear and loud if you set up the volume high. The speaker phone is really good and you can keep it good distance away from you. Camera quality for me ranges from pretty damn decent to very grainy 2MP pics. Video is simple fun I guess. As a MP3 player its pretty good. I dont use it as much as I would like since the SE use proprietary plugs for the headphones and I dont keep them with me at all times. The speaker on the back is actually pretty awesome. If I play music just straight from the phone its pretty loud and clear. Right now I have a 4gb memory stick in mine which is the max and its pretty full of music and pics.

Umm and the camera light is very bright on it so thats nice as a flashlight.

ronzo

I already know why I want the w810i, but is it worth the cost over the newer w580i

or i guess if someone could point me towards a better than both mobile that AT&T offers for under 200 that would also work

LonestarRunner

Okay, so I have a w810i, and have never even seen the other, but, I agree with Hyper.

Everything he said.

What he neglected to mention is the beating this thing can take.

I usually text during the night, and as a result, it drops out of my bed almost every morning.

I also text during school, where it drops on the floor occasionally

Other than the Sony Ericsson logo on the back missing the silver lining and swoosh, it runs like the day I got it.

Highly recommend it.

drhazard

Does anyone know if the SE phone OS is unique for each of their models? If not, I would warn you about using an SE phone with AT&T. Something about their software reportedly causes the w600i line to give a White Screen of Death, as happened to me. I dunno if the same would happen if you switch carriers in this case.

bodiema

I own the 810i and have played around a bit with a friend's 580i. Echoing previous comments, I really feel like the 810i is a lot sturdier. I've heard there have been issues with 580i with the number keys developing cracks along the keys, and my friend's 580i had a crack on every numkey. However, I really like the raised feel of the 810i numkeys versus the inset 580i keys, especially for texting.

I was actually switching to AT&T so I was able to buy a cingular locked phone on ebay for only $100. I think the money was well spent, at least considering what I wanted from my phone and from what was available from my carrier at the time. I'm not sure that the keys and added durability would be worth a whole $150 more though. You might look into actually getting a phone from Sprint for the discounted price and then selling it and using the cash to buy the 810i.

oniian

I own the w810i and I like it but the con I would throw out there is the OS/User interface. Some things on this phone just seem down right retarded. Such as that if you use the calender function, you have add in every time you want an event like a reminder to occur, no weekly/monthly/yearly scheduling. And reminders will not pop backup later if you click No/Ignore, they just vanish into the night. If your phone is off when a reminder is going to go off, it doesn't appear as soon as you turn on your phone in fact you never see it. You turn on the handsfree function to connect to a headset and when you get a call it pops a message asking if you would like to transfer sound to the phone every time. Plus the Auto-texting sucks compared to Motorola.

Sorry, bit of a rant...

Layout is good except for the cingular network button and the delete key

other than that rant it is a good, highly durable phone with MP3/FM radio features, a good camera, a light (as listed in tools section), expandable memory, and it comes with everything you need to use the MP3/Radio functions.

Nocren

having just bought the 580i, it's a good, solid phone. I'll echo that I don't like the recessed keys. And mine doesn't seem to have a light on it, as well as no zoom for the camera.
However going from a Go Phone LG Piece-O-Shit to the 580i was good enough for me.

(For the record, I bought the Go phone because I lost my previous phone and was still under contract. It was the cheapest phone available to me at the time.)

Kalkino

If you are looking to buy something how about the SE K810i? Not sure if that is an option where you are but I've had one for the last 6 months and I love it - like you I got it mainly for the camera (3MP) as at the time of purchase it was rated by review sites to have the best camera on the market - and it hasn't disappointed. It takes large memory cards as well so its good as a music storage/long term photo storage device

NateVader

I had a w810i before I bought my iPhone and I loved it. Does everything well, very sturdy, small and calls are excellent quality.

tinyfist

These are both great phones. Love 'em both!

That being said, I'd guess that the slider phone would be less sturdy than the candybar one.