Sony Ericsson Satio - first impressions/mini review

almost no shutter lag? wow. that's a feature i'd like.

You beat me by a day to the Satio :o)

What software didn't work for you? Did you change your standby theme to the SE one? The interface is better that way.

Oh, and if you do change your theme, I suggest a reboot. Mine stopped making sound until I rebooted it.

Any of the vodafone's own software. Although that was mostly 'cos my internet didn't work and they insist on you accessing their things through their slow WAP access points rather than my fast wifi. I fixed the no internet issue myself, after Vodafone couldn't. They are embarrassingly incompetent sometimes.

Their satnav software still doesn't work. But that's ok 'cos other people's does. I haven't really tried any of the other VF stuff, it's usually rubbish anyway. App "store" is 100% of empty.

Ho hum. The handset is lovely. The carrier, less so. But I knew that already.

I didn't try any of the satnav stuff other than google maps. I have no use for them.

I got rid of pretty much every piece of Vodafone software that I could. It's a complete waste of time.

BTW, Fring works. Just grab the version for the N97 and install it. It works.

Vidafone's pre-installed software and theme were shit. Otherwise I have a hard time faulting it.

Are you still happy with your Satio?

Mine's doing all the classic Satio stuff - freeze, hang, crash; repeat. Ringer, alerts & alarms all fail intermittently & it has trouble hanging onto a signal for calls; battery gives up after 18 to 20 hrs even with almost no use at all, plus plenty more glitches beside. Doesn't help that the UI feels hideously lumpy after years of slick & quick SE navigation.

Software's up-to-date, not getting any useful info about fixes from either SE or provider. Seriously considering going back to my K880i. :(

Orange are still saying "We know of no problems with the handset" despite the fact that Carphone Warehouse & Vodaphone withdrew the Satio from sale last weekend & according to the Register, SE withdrew it from sale in the UK entirely as of yesterday.

Did consider an LG Viewty Smart as the next-best camera option but am a bit hesitant after seeing so many reviews complaining about buggy LGs too. All a wee bit disappointing after waiting so long for a real improvement in phonecams - I'd have settled for SE bringing out the photographic equivalent of the Walkman phone, without any "smart" elements or touchscreen - after all, buttons make taking pics in portrait mode much more stable. ;)

Yikes. Sounds nasty. Mine doesn't do any of that. Well, battery life isn't awesome, but I do use the GPS quite a lot. Perhaps I just got lucky. Sounds like I did.

Turning off 3G, if you don't use it, really helps the battery situation. A big lot.

The LG phones are pretty dire, to be honest. Housemate has one. It's not a patch on the Satio - but then if yours is as bad as you say, perhaps it's not. The top-end W-series SE phone might be worth a look - W990, iirc. I believe that has a pretty nifty camera in.

Yeah, did hope it was 3G draining the battery - seems not though. Some Satios are stable, maybe I should try swapping the handset in hopes of getting lucky like your. Ta for confirming my LG reservations, best have a shufty at the W990...

Must say, Orange & Sony Ericsson have both been woeful about keeping customers informed & onside with this one.

Was me.
Clearly.

HELP!!! I just got a satio as i thought with it having gps it would have sat nav but it seems it does not! does anyone know how i can put sat nav onto it which will work? I can't seem to get on web through my wifi it tries to go through vodafone asking me for username and password which i don't have, and how do I turn off the 3g?
Wish i had not got it now as finding some things really stupid like only being able to delete 1 text at a time and even though all my contacts were in the sim none came up so had to spend hours manually tapping them in! but i'd be happy if i can get to use it as a sat nav, can anybody please help as i'm not very clever with this tech stuff,
many thanks
Rich

AmazeGPS.

Google it. Install it. Navigate.

Thanks for the reviews. Looks like a really mixed bag then. I'm still stuck with my C902 and not sure which way to jump.

iPhone = crap camera
HTC = crap camera
Nokia N Series = maybe....if I decide I don't care that much about apps after all.

Don't forget the crap camera(s) in the N-series too. Nobody has come close to touching SE in the imaging stakes for years. Apparently the latest Samsungs might be worth investigating though.

You might want to check out the SE Aino

Thanks mat. I didn't even know about the Aino.

I was presuming N series cameras were okay based on their decent video cameras.

Samsung? Really? I have them pigeonholed as problematic in the software department, especially for media formats.

What I really want is an Android phone from Sony Ericsson. And it appears that they're making one, but it ain't out yet:

Linky