In 2002 Sony Ericsson launched the P800, which received rave reviews. It was followed in 2003 by the P900, which, while still a good phone in its own right was barely more than a cosmetic upgrade on the P800. Then Q4 of 2004 saw the launch of the P910. Boasting 64MB of internal memory, an improved screen, better email handling, new user interface and a keyboard underneath the flip the P910 also sports a sleek new shell. But is it worth your hard earned cash, whether you have a P800/900 or if this is your first foray into the PDA/Smartphone arena?New for old
For those who already own one of the P910's predecessors, let's start with the burning question - should you upgrade? Well, for starters the P910 has a much improved screen over the P800. There's not so much of a difference over the P900, but it is noticeably brighter. The camera itself houses the same CCD resolution (640x480) but software enhancements deliver substantially better pictures over the grainy offerings of the P800. In addition to still pictures the P910 can also record movies. Don't expect anywhere DVD quality, but for a camera-phone the quality is passable.
The stylus was modified from the slightly gaudy blue plastic one of the P800 to a more traditional 'pen' device on the P900 - the P910 uses a similar stylus. One problem inherent with the P800 styli were screen scratches. The P910 stylus is much blunte
r and therefore much less likely to mark the screen.
r and therefore much less likely to mark the screen. Another bug bear for power users of the P800 (and to a lesser degree the P900) was memory. The P910 now not only has 64MB on board but can also use the new Memory Stick Duo Pro cards, with capacities up to 1GB over the 128MB limit of its predecessors. This allows the P910 to become a competent portable jukebox or video player (if you can handle the low quality video). The quality of MP3 files played through the supplied stereo headphones is certainly acceptable. Furthermore, there is a free OGG music file player (OGG-Play), which plays the much heavier compressed OGG files - most tracks are around 2MB. This means you can get around 500 tracks on a 1GB stick. Take that IPOD! A duo to standard memory stick converter is included, so you can quickly transfer large files via a memory stick slot on a PC or laptop rather than using the slow USB 1.1 connection (which in reality is still a converted serial port).
Connectivity
The P910 has all of the connection methods of its predecessors, namely infra-red, GPRS, USB cradle and blue-tooth, however the bluetooth has been substantially tweaked. It holds connections for longer and can communicate with up to three devices simultaneously. Wi-fi and 3G data are the only real ommissions, although wi-fi is no major issue when you can connect to a PC via bluetooth and view the 'hard discs' of the P910 on it.
With many corporate users relying on specific email clients, the previous Px00 systems struggled, however the P910 now supports HTML emails as well as standards such as Apple ISync. The increased memory allows more emails to be stored on the P910 and, as before users can sync with Outlook.
So what can the P910 do?
As the UIQ operating system already has a decent following of developers there is a wide range of applications available for the P910 as it is downwardly compatible. Several new apps have been included in the standard package, namely a spreadsheet and word processor - sorely lacking from the P800. Trial versions of Worldmate, Wayfinder and VRally are amongst others included. So in addition to a tri-band phone, calculator, speakerphone, address book, email centre and calendar you also get a camera, MP3 & video recorder, word processor, spreadsheet and whatever other app you care to install - in one pocket-sized device.
Conclusion
For some this may not be a worthwhile upgrade from the P800, but for those new to smartphones and without a PDA this is simply a must-have tool. The form factor is slightly smaller than the original P800, although it's still bigger than many of the sleek miniscule mobiles of today, such as the Siemens SL55. If you already own a PDA then maybe it's time to consign it to the cupboard. Nokia once ruled the smartphone roost with the Communicator, but even their latest model (9300) cannot fully compete in all stakes, although it does offer the faster EDGE high speed data connectivity standard. The Sony Ericsson P910 packs the maximum amount of functionality into the smallest available form factor.
Pro's: Still the Swiss-army knife of phones. Can sometimes replace the need for a laptop. GPRS, Bluetooth, Infrared and cable connectivity. Built in camera. Large memory capacity
Con's: Battery life could be better. Camera could have been higher resolution. No wi-fi or 3G