|
WE'LL SPARE YOU the overdone Star Trek references, but come on Sony Ericsson: are you going James Kirk on us or what? The P910a flip-open walkietalkie style smartphone includes some futuristic features, but also a few old-school flaws.
One reason the phone falters: this is an updated version of the older P900 model from last year. That means you have to live with slower GSM cellular calling and data transmissions. The phone only has 64MB of internal memory, although you can add external memory chips. Also, the screen, while bright enough to light a dark path, is only 208x320 pixels in size. This just means you'll squint more and will probably avoid watching any Hollywood movie epics on it.
The new flip-open thumbpad is cool, though. Disguising a full QWERTY keyboard, the thumbpad lets you tap out quick email messages or even longer meeting notes. You can also type webpage URLs quickly. Because this is a GPRS phone, there are long pauses when you send or receive email or use the Net. We strongly prefer newer phones such as the Motorola E815 that use faster EV-DO networks, so the "smarts" inside the P910a have more to do with multimedia than cellular calling.
The main media attraction is the side-loading MemoryStick Duo port that lets you transfer music, video and photo files from your Mac. MemoryStick Duo is the same flash card format found on the Sony PlayStation Portable. That means you could use one huge memory card of 1GB or so, and swap the flash card between the two devices. (If you do, just keep in mind that the two gadgets use radically different folder naming conventions.)
The P10a plays music files just as smoothly as most MP3 players, and the included headphones almost pass for the Apple iPod earbuds. Video playback and photos look nice, but can't compare to the gargantuan displays on most Pocket PC and Palm smartphones. Neither can the P910a compete with the faster processor on the Treo 650, so if you do find any Symbian OS games, they will run rather slow and not look nearly as graphical as on a Palm-powered device.
The P910a does beat other smartphones in size and weight. At just 5.5 ounces, the phone is light enough to slip into your pocket. The phone measures 4.5"x2.3", so it's a little smaller than just about any Pocket PC. The 910a takes adequate 640x480 pixel photos as long as there's a ton of ambient light. Because there's no flash, the P910a is somewhat limited, even for quick indoor snapshots.
We had a little trouble connecting the P10a to a Mac Mini or an iBook. The USB connection didn't work at all, but after we configured the Bluetooth connection, the Bluetooth File Exchange utility worked fine for moving large documents, photos and movie files to the MemoryStick Duo card. However, Bluetooth transfers were hit and miss. Using a D-Link DBT-120 Bluetooth adapter, we had trouble getting Apple iSync to recognize the P910a over Bluetooth, even though the phone is listed on iSync's compatible devices page (www.apple.com/isync/devices.html), and we couldn't get the phone to work as a GPRS modem. Sony Ericsson has no Mac drivers or online troubleshooting tips, so any aid you receive will have to come from online Mac forums.
If you're willing to live with the above limitations, there's one other roadblock to mention. At $650, the P910a is horrendously overpriced, although that's before you factor in any discount carrier service. The palmOne Treo 650 costs just $400, runs faster and has a bigger keyboard. We do like the P910a for media playback, but otherwise the P10a left us wanting more.
–JOHN BRANDON
P910a: 
Sony Ericsson | www.sonyericsson.com | $650
Pros: Super-cool thumbpad, very media rich, light
Cons: Slow, over-priced, not Slow, over-priced, not very Mac savvy. very Mac savvy.
Requires: OS 9.1 or higher, OS OS 9.1 or higher, OS 10.1.5 or higher 10.1.5 or higher
macHOME recommends: OS 10.4 or higher OS 10.4 or higher for iSync for iSync
Issue reviewed: September 2005
|
