Vodafone NZ's SE W910

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pikelet

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#27040 11-Oct-2008 13:29

Vodafone has a pretty good price on the Sony Ericsson W910 handset now. It looks like my current phone minus all the annoying cosmetic issues (matte instead of glossy so it doesn't look gross, different keypad design) plus 3g. However, I've heard tons of stuff online about the software being crappy - the phone crashes and restarts all the time, and the battery needs to be taken out for it even to turn on again. There have also been suggestions this varies from carrier to carrier, firmware version, and manufacturing date of the phone.

Is the W910 sold by Voda in NZ stable? If I go buy one, would I be able to exchange it for a different phone of the same value (eg K770) if the phone turns out to be unstable and crash prone? Does updating the software yourself void your warranty, and if so, would Vodafone do software updates from Sony to try and resolve a problem, or would they not want to as it's not their modified/branded software?

alasta

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#170602 11-Oct-2008 13:50

I have a W910 with Vodafone New Zealand firmware. I bought it three months ago and I have had glitches while using the music player on two occassions which, if I recall correctly, were recovered by switching the handset off and back on. Apart from that it's been rock solid. It's my understanding that the software can be upgraded via the included PC Suite application but because the problems are so minor I haven't bothered trying this as yet.

I bought mine when they were $600 with a 4gb M2 card and with its huge range of features it was excellent value. At the current price of $400 it's a steal. My only complaints are that the volume key is awkward to use because of its small size, and the keys on the numeric keypad are too flat. On the positive side the display, audio quality and build quality are excellent, and the included headset is better than what you'd get bundled with most devices (although it's probably still worth upgrading to get the best out of it).

NZtechfreak

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#170606 11-Oct-2008 14:14

Why not get one from a Parallel Importer? No Vodafone software and cheaper to boot...

Twitter: @nztechfreak
Blogs: HeadphoNZ.org

pikelet

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#170611 11-Oct-2008 14:39

No thanks..

I bought the SE S500 when it was first released through a parallel importer. This phone has a huge problem with the keys cracking, which I now know, but at the time it seemed like an isolated problem that could be avoided. I do all my homework, read the countless user reviews saying theirs was fine, open the phone instore before I buy it to check the manufacturing date is after it was 'fixed'..two keys crack within a month. Despite evidence from Sony Ericsson that it is a manufacturing defect that should be fixed for free, they of course won't do it as it has no NZ warranty and tell me to go to the importer, who send me to Sony, who send me back to them, ad infinitum..until the importer's warranty is up and they refuse to discuss it further. Then Sony NZ tell me it will cost $150 to replace the keypad with no guarantees it will not break again. They will fix it for free..if I ship back to Indonesia at my cost and it will be up to me to deal with the Indonesian service centre. For a $400 phone, $150 to replace the keys is ridiculous. It's almost two years old now, the whole keypad is cracked and one key is semi functional..too bad because otherwise I like it.

So after that experience, kinda hesitant to buy another SE with whispers of problems surrounding the online reviews, unless I can get it through Vodafone so it'll have the proper NZ warranty and not the weird importer's one.

And funnily enough this phone was $479 last time I saw it at an importer, more expensive than Voda ahahaha.

NZtechfreak

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#170613 11-Oct-2008 14:50

The warranty through a store like Parallel Imported is just as good as Vodafone's, so I don't really see that as a valid reason to pay Vodafone more for the same phone with a worse firmware.

Twitter: @nztechfreak
Blogs: HeadphoNZ.org

heavenlywild

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#170614 11-Oct-2008 14:53

That's technology pikelet, sometimes we are lucky enough to purchase a gadget without any faults and sometimes not so lucky. It really doesn't have anything to do with whether it is a parallel imported item or not. They all come from the same factory / manufacturer.

Buying a phone in NZ means you are at the mercy of Mobilefone Repair should anything go wrong. Most times they blame it on "water damage" to pass the fault to the user.

heavenlywild

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#170615 11-Oct-2008 14:55

NZtechfreak: The warranty through a store like Parallel Imported is just as good as Vodafone's, so I don't really see that as a valid reason to pay Vodafone more for the same phone with a worse firmware.

I think it's important to remember that one bad experience doesn't mean all parallel imported phones are bad.

pikelet

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#170619 11-Oct-2008 15:10

Parallel Imported was who I got the S500 from. For some reason, they only gave me a 90 day warranty. I found out later that for about $50, I could have gotten the 2 year warranty but was never given the option, either at purchase or during trying to get the phone repaired. So unfortunately by the time everyone had decided who to blame for the problem (I got no end of being blamed because women either a) text too much or b) have horrible keypad destroying fingernails, neither of which is actually true in my case) their warranty was up and they told me to go to Sony, who yeah, did send me to Mobilfone Rescue and the $150 charge. I think part of the confusion is because at the time, the S500 was an extremely new phone and no one knew what exactly was happening, and I agree - keypads breaking is usually because of excessive use, not some design defect as is the case for that phone, so I can see why that happened. That said, we've gotten other stuff from Parallel Imported that was fine - iPods and cameras - so I don't bear much of a grudge.

However since I can get this phone from Vodafone, with a Sony NZ warranty, for a reasonable price unlike the majority of their phones, I'm leaning towards Vodafone. I just want to be able to deal through Vodafone if a problem happens again. For a start, the store is actually near me to go and get something resolved in person, rather than out in Albany (which is where repairs for PI are based, so that's who we had to go see) which is on the opposite side of Auckland from me. The Sony service center is in Sylvia Park, much easier to get to - but I'd be taking it to Vodafone anyway, where there's several stores less than 10 minutes away. Of course Vodafone aren't perfect, heh.

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BrentR

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#170622 11-Oct-2008 16:01

SonyErcsson have 2 repair centres in NZ. MFR and Mobile Phone Rescue in ChCh, most people reckon that the service centre in ChCh is so much better than MFR that they send all handsets straight there.

ninjabear

460 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#170632 11-Oct-2008 17:22

I sold a S500 and W580i parallel imported stock from Sony Ericsson Hk and this mobile did have problems which noone knew until a month after it was release.

Sony Ericsson Hk quickly fixed the broken keypads for free

I have no idea why the shop didnt offer any warranty

Sometimes its good to buy stock from those where you know where their stocks are from so that incase you need to use warranty they run away

If you like s500i alot i recommend W595

JoeBloggs

355 posts

Ultimate Geek

#170643 11-Oct-2008 18:42

The Sony Ericsson W910 won best handset at the GSM Association's 13th Global Mobile Awards, 2008.

ninjabear

460 posts

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#170653 11-Oct-2008 22:23

JoeBloggs: The Sony Ericsson W910 won best handset at the GSM Association's 13th Global Mobile Awards, 2008.

Yeah but W595 is better and has GPS