A few months ago, I used to bring several phones for testing purposes. After testing, I gave them back. It was difficult for me to be using several phones and getting confused which one was ringing.

However, I just bought a second phone for personal use. The Sony Ericsson Z520i. This is my backup phone to my Sony Ericsson P910i.

I merely wanted a simple phone and nothing fancy. But I got a great bargain so I got it.

The contents of the box are as follows: Z520i handset, standard li-on battery, wall charger, and a user manual.

Features:

• StyleUpCover - Lets you create a personalized style-up cover for your Sony Ericsson phone
• Bluetooth Connectivity - Allows for handsfree communication and wireless file transfers
• Media Player - Enjoy videos and music
• VideoDJ - Edit videos in your mobile phone
• 0.3 Megapixel Camera with 4x digital zoom - Allows for simple photos and videos
• Light Effects - There are 8 different light effects/pattern which you can assign as default or to specific callers

So far I’m quite impressed with the phone. Although some people were not really happy with the phone, they might have expected a lot. For me, I was just looking for a simple backup phone and this phone just fulfills my need.

I bought a JVC Video Camera before I left Malaysia. It had a digital photo feature. The problem is that the quality is not that good. So when my family went to Anilao, Batangas last April, I really saw the need for a separate digital camera.

So on the night we went back to Manila, we immediately went to Anson’s Ortigas and got the Canon IXUS 70. It’s a 7.1 megapixel camera.

Here are the features:

• 7.1 Megapixels
• 3.0x Optical Zoom
• 2.5″ LCD Screen
• Powered by the NEW DIGIC III Imaging Processor for:
  • Faster processing computing speed
  • Improved noise reduction signal processing at high speed settings
  • Lower power consumption
  • Higher definition for signal output to LCD monitor
• New High ISO 1600 & Auto ISO Shift reduce camera shake and blurring of fast-moving subjects even in low-light condition. Use Auto ISO shift to automatically increase ISO speed until shutter is fast enough to prevent blurring.
• Incorporates the Face Detection AF, Face Detection AE and Face Detection FE, which work hand-in-hand to capture stunning photos of subjects’ faces with sharpness and right exposure easily.
• Face Detection AF: Detects as many as 9 subjects’ faces in a picture. If no faces are detected the AF system automatically switched to the conventional 9-point AiAF setting.
• Face Detection AE: Focus and exposure are controlled and set correctly for capturing the human face so that the subject’s best expression is not missed.
• Face Detection FE: Flash brightness and exposure automatically adjusted to ideal levels
• Enables Red eye correction during playback
• Shoot movies with sound

I was choosing between IXUS 70 and IXUS 75. The only difference is the LCD size. IXUS 75 had a larger LCD and no manual viewfinder.

A friend of mine who writes for photo magazines advised me to get the IXUS 70 with the manual viewfinder. If I was running out of battery, I could turn-off the LCD and just use the manual viewfinder.

And besides, IXUS 70 is cheaper than IXUS 75. Why would I pay for a more expensive camera if all the features I want are in the cheaper one? I don’t need a large LCD.

By the way, with the free 1GB SD Card, I can shoot to like 1,000+ photos!

I’m very much happy with the Canon IXUS 70!

My company gave me my service phone, a Sony Ericsson P910i. They promised me a Sony Ericsson P990i but it wasn’t gonna be released until the 2nd Quarter of 2006. Since we still have one last brand new stock of the P910i, then they “convinced” me to accept the P910i for a while. Hey, it’s still a wonderful phone. And who am I to complain for a free phone. Hehehe!

The contents of the box are as follows: P910 handset, standard battery, travel charger, 32MB Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick adapter, SyncStation with USB, stereo portable handsfree, carry case, wrist strap, cleaning cloth, 1 extra stylus, flip replacement, flip replacement tool kit, PC Suite CD, applications and content CD, user manuals.

I’ll update this post as soon as I get to play with it more.

For this year’s personal xmas gift… I bought myself a Sony Ericsson K700i. It’s a long story but to make it short, I decided on the K700i because of the richness of its features while the price is acceptable compared to a Sony Ericsson P910 (which is my ultimate dream phone).

Quick Features:

• GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz
• Supports Bluetooth connectivity
• 41MB internal memory (Asia Version)
• Built-in digital VGA camera with flash and video
• Java platform Support

I’ve been playing with it for the past few days and I am really glad I bought it. Actually, I was hesitant to buy it at first but my sister “forced” me to buy it. She said I would keep on nagging her about it if I didn’t buy it. Hehehe!

Anyway, one of the things I liked about the K700i was the mp3 capability. I also liked the video capability especially that it can read 3gp and mp4 formats. Right now I have 8 mp3s and 3 music videos.

Another feature I’ve always wanted to do was to sync my phone to any computer. Thanks to Float’s Mobile Agent and a bluetooth dongle, I am able to sync my K700i’s phonebook, folder files, profiles, and especially the message folders (inbox, outbox, drafts, and archives) to my office PC and laptop.

With the features, price, and size of the phone it really is worth buying this phone.

Another phone to test… Sony Ericsson K500i.
This is my first time to handle a Sony Ericsson. I wonder how it will be.

Here are the features:

• 65K colour screen
• Built-in video camera with digital zoom
• Sound recorder
• MP3 Player
• Video player (MPEG4)
• 40-voice polyphonic ringtones
• 3D games
• Memory: 12 Mbytes
• Tri-band: GSM 900, 1800 and 1900

So far it is quite fun to be using a phone that is graphically interfaced differently from the phones I am used to.

One thing I liked about it so far… the screen is so vivid! The video camera is quite useful.

Specs:
• Super compact and easy-use design provides “always with you” convenience
• 1/2.7″ 2.0 MegaPixel effective Progressive Scan Super HADâ„¢ CCD image sensor
• 5mm (33mm 35mm equivalent) f2.8 lens
• Center weighted Auto Focus, 4-step Manual Focus with Auto Macro
• Center weighted Auto Exposure
• Auto shutter speed range 1/30 ~ 1/2000 second
• 1″ 64K Pixel TFT transflective LCD Viewfinder with Battery Remaining Indicator
• 4 Mode Intelligent Flash with TTL Pre -flash metering and Red Eye Reduction
• SXGA (1632×1224) and VGA (640×480) Image Sizes
• MPEG Video mail (160×112) Movie mode (w/o audio)
• VGA Burst mode captures up to five 640×480 frames at 2 frames/second
• Selectable Soft snap, Illumination snap and Vivid Nature Scene modes
• Selectable Sepia, Solarize, Black & White and Negative Art Picture Effect modes
• Fast start up time and convenient slide open lens cover make it easy to “capture the moment”
• USB driver for Microsoft® Windows® 98/98SE/Me/2000 Pro, XP Home/Pro, Macintosh® OS 8.5.1/8.6/9.0/9.1/9.2/X
• Rechargeable NiMH AAA batteries with battery charger supplied
• Supplied Acc: NH -AAA -DI Rechargeable NiMH batteries, BC-CS1 NiMH battery charger, USB cables, neck strap, MSA-8A 8MB Memory Stick® media; CD-ROM with Pixela ImageMixer for Sony v1.0 and USB driver

Loves:
- Compact size
- Deep blue has this metallic finish style to it
- 2.0 Megapixels
- Red Eye Reduction
- USB connectivity
- Complete kit including battery and charger

Hates:
- No zoom
- No audio on the MPEG movie