A Jack-of-all-trade phone that's actually pretty good at everything!

I ordered this phone from the AT&T Wireless website in January 2008 as an upgrade from my Motorola V551 bought in May 2005. I am on a FamilyTalk plan with AT&T Wireless (originally Cingular).

The Look
Alright, who doesn't like it when people see your phone and go, "Wow, that's a nice phone." This phone does just that. It is a pretty compact phone at about 1.75 in. (4.5cm) x 4 in. (10cm) and measures only 1/2-inch (1cm) thick. Not to mention that it's a cool slider phone (sliding out the keyboard adds about another 1 in. or 3cm to the length). The outer shell is hard plastic with matte finish. The phone is solidly built and does not feel cheap. I have the black version and the orange contrast on the keyboard and on the walkman trademark adds a splash of color to the phone (and style, in my opinion).

The Brand
This is the first time I've tried Sony Ericsson (previous two phones were Nokia and Motorola). I've heard good things about it all along. Besides, who makes better walkman than Sony?

What I want in a phone
- I don't own an iPod so I want a music phone that can double as my mp3 player.
- I want a phone with an okay camera so that I can take decent snapshots (not blurry or fuzzy) when I don't have my camera handy.
- Good battery life
- I do text but am not a heavy user (less than 200msg/month)
- I don't use internet on my phone

What I got in Sony Ericsson w580i
Sony Walkman
I love it. I love it. I love it. It's so easy to use. With a designated walkman button on the lower right hand corner, it's easy to turn on the application. One nifty feature about this phone is that if you shake the phone while holding that button down, you can advance to the next song. It's a cool feature (for showing off) but I really don't use it that often. Files are trasferred via the provided USB cord. Simply dragging and dropping (in Windows) into the correct folder will do the trick. Note that you do have to buy the memory card (Memory Stick Micro M2) in order to use this feature. No special software is needed, and most music files are playable (though I have some trouble with real media files - it will still play when the file is selected, but not with the music player).

A Two-megapixel Camera
The quality is great in bright daylight, but don't expect to get good pictures indoors in dimmer settings. It does not have a flash and you cannot zoom. You can set the photos to store in either the internal memory (128MB) or in your memory card. No special software required. With the provided USB cord, simply drag and drop onto your computer. You can use the pictures taken as caller ID or wallpaper or screensaver. People are constantly surprised and impressed by my cell phone's picture quality.

Battery life
I use about 5-10 texts a day, browse photos a few times a day, talk on the phone anywhere from 5min to 2 hours a day, listen to music for up to 1-2 hours. I charge it once every 2 days and had never ran out of battery life.

Texting
Some people complained about the small keyboard size - I didn't find this a problem at all (granted I am a girl with smaller hands & fingers). The only complaint will be that the preset internet button is right below the "more" button (where I access symbols or to spell unusual words) so I often accidentally press that instead. I haven't found a way to disable that button either.

Headset
The headset included works pretty well. They are the in-ear type with soft rubber tips which block out noise quite well. The sound coming out is clear though not top quality. Sometimes people complain that I sound far away if I pin the microphone to my shirt. It shares the same port as the charger and USB cord, which creates a problem when I am on the phone using my headset and I want to charge the phone at the same time. The port is on the right side of the phone.

Software/setting up
The phone has crashed on me several times (less than once a month), but nothing that can't be saved by taking the battery off. The software is easy-to-use, the control buttons intuitive, and with some playing around at the beginning, you can get the phone to work the way you like it. Like other phones, you can customize some of the buttons with shortcuts. Personally, I have one for camera, one for texting, one for alarm clock, and one for my address book.

Specs
General 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
Size Dimensions 99 x 47 x 14 mm (3.9 x 1.9 x 0.6 inches)
Weight 94 g (3.3 oz)
Display Type TFT, 256K colors
Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2 inches
Ringtones Type Polyphonic (72 channels), MP3, AAC
Call records 30 received, dialed and missed calls
Card slot Memory Stick Micro (M2)
Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
USB Yes, v2.0
Features Messaging SMS, EMS, MMS, Email
Browser WAP 2.0/HTML(NetFront), RSS feeds
Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video(QCIF)
Standard battery, Li-Po 930 mAh (BST-38)
Stand-by Up to 370 h
Talk time Up to 9 h

To conclude...
I've had the phone for a good half-an-year now and I really don't have any major complaints. It's hip and cool and works perfectly well. I would highly recommend it.