forevergomer's Full Review: Sony Ericsson T68IS Cell Phone
This is the first phone I have purchased since I bought my Samsung SCH-2000 in July of 1999 with Sprint. When that phone died, I received from a family member a used Nokia 5100 series phone to replace it since I was still under contract. Needless to say, the T68i is a tremendous improvement - a world of difference.
OK, enough of that. The T68i is an improved version of the Ericsson T68 - a new look, but also better memory management, upgraded phone software, and improved management of Bluetooth (enabling bluetooth reportedly does not suck your batteries dry any more). I am using it on T-Mobile's network in the southeast, and have been pleasantly surprised. I recently visited my parents in South Carolina, a 450 mile trip, with a 100 miles or so down Highway 441 - it's one lane each way for almost the whole way down 441, and it's pretty much in the middle of nowhere for the majority of the time. Throughout the whole 8 hour trip, I was without service for only about 20 minutes, as opposed to 2/3 of the trip with other cell carriers.
But what about the phone itself you ask? Well, for starters, it's loaded with features. The menu could use a little bit of tweaking, but it's easy enough to use that I think my mother could do it. Almost all features are within a few keypresses, and the more common stuff has shortcuts available to it. In addition, you can define your own shortcut menu. People have complained that the keys are too small, but what did they expect really? It's a small phone! I suggest trying to get to a T-Mobile or AT&T or some other service provider and trying out - give it 10 to 15 minutes at least - because this is a potential problem. However, the keys are not too small for me personally, so I'm not taking points off. The phone itself is, as I said, quite small but fits comfortably in my hand while talking with it. In addition, it's extremely light (I thank the incredibly light and thin battery for that). My only complaint is that the phone surface is very smooth and slick, so it feels good and looks good, but while holding the phone, it can be awkward sometimes to get a good grip. It's not the shape, it's the texture. The interface software on the phone can be a little sluggish at times, as though you have to wait for it to catch up, however it's a problem on some other newer phones and on many older phones as well.
I have not used every features on this phone, but what I have used has worked well. The phonebook can hold hundreds of entries, with multiple contact numbers for each entry. This nice, because I have four different phone numbers for some individuals (home, work, cell, fax) and an e-mail address, all easily accessible. I highly recommend, however, that if you do not have a laptop or other access to an infrared port, you purchase the optional data cable. Entering 130 names and 300 or so numbers could be very tedious doing it by hand on any phone. I was able to download an application from sonyericsson's website that allows me to quickly and simply synchronize my phone's address book, notes, and calendar with Outlook. I can't comment on other connectivity paths for other software/platforms, but it works well for me. Notes? Calendar? you ask. Yes, you can also synchronize those as well, although I personally do not. I have my palm for that, and for convenience it's just easier to carry both. Entering data is, as I said, a little tedious with T9 text entry (which is at least easier than the old 6-3-3-3-right-3-3-3-8-4-4-4-6-6-4 method to type in "meeting"). But it does work, I did try it. I have only used infrared to synch by the way, not bluetooth. Also, an alarm is available (either one-time or recurring), and it's loud enough to wake me up...sometimes. Works best as a reminder though. Oh, I have successfully received and sent contacts from my address book through "beaming" to other phones, and Palm PDAs, which is nifty and saves time when you need to exchange a contact quickly.
Text messaging works as promised, but I haven't received any Multimedia messages besides those that came on the phone. I guess I'll have tow ait for the rest of the world to catch up ;)
There are 8 or so games, most of which I have played, and they're mildly entertaining for those times when you encounter an unexpected wait (note: don't play them while driving...but you knew that already). I believe if you can find a friend with a T68i, you can play two player from your individual phones as well. The phone ships with over 30 ringtones, plus you can download more, or create your own. The ringtone creation software is fairly simple if you have some knowledge of musical notation. The vibrating ringer works reasonably well, nothing special here.
The T68i can access the web through WAP and GPRS (both of which are available in my area) but I have not had the opportunity to try it out yet. Cannot justify the expense of the internet when I sit at a computer with fast internet access at work, and have broadband internet at home as well, and have never had a need to know the latest sports scores while driving around town. But I could, if I wanted to. Also, through Bluetooth (and maybe infrared - the documentation isn't clear), it is possible to use your phone as a modem/gateway for a laptop computer to the internet. That way you are still using your phone to surf the web, but you can use your computer's display rather than a 120x101 pixel display.
One other neat feature is the ability to assign pictures you have downloaded onto the phone (easy to get those from a PC as well) to contact entries. When they call, in addition to displaying name and number, you can see their picture (or any other picture you assign to them). Oh, and if you have recorded a voice-command entry, it will speak their name to you before starting the ringtone, unless the phone is on vibrate only. Voice command works alright, but when I'm on the road traveling at interstate speeds, it seems to have trouble recognizing my commands above the roadnoise. Around town, no trouble though.
I typically talk on the phone for several hours a week, and charge once every 6 days or so. Talk times and standby times are extremely long, so I don't even have a car charger. Charging takes around 2.5 hours or so to go from empty to full.
Overall, it's a small, portable phone that does not sacrifice features for size.
Basically, this is a near-top-of-the-line phone packed with a boatload of features, a nice color display, decent interface, and long battery life. And it syncs with your computer. What else do you want?
Take, save and send enhanced digital pictures Optical and phone display viewfinder Add effects to your pictures such as stylish frames, falling bubble...More at Amazon Marketplace
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.