Enter UIQ 3 in the real world - Rafe and the M600i

I like the look of this device. My wife has been using my old P900 for the last couple of years and, whilst she absolutely loves it, the battery performance is now really poor (struggles to get through a day despite a new battery only 6 months ago) and the whole thing is getting a bit rough round the edges. She's not bothered about a camera (neither am I) or WiFi (couldn't live without it myself) so this or the W950 seem to be the ideal replacement devices.

I know the software is limited at the moment, but is there any kind of schedule-based profile switcher for UIQ 3 yet? This is something neither of us could even consider doing without. If there isn't one yet, I'll be holding off from getting one until such an app becomes available.

Nice review!

As a daily user of SE P900, SE P910, Nokia 9500, 9300, 9300i, Nokia E61 and E70 the M600i does not compare for email access. The SE P900 and P910 were outstanding phones in there era but the M600i is not in the same league for any email usage or WWW access. I have used it with Black Berry connect (works but very slow email display), RoadSync (works but not stable - faster than BB) and POP mail (many, many features missing). Just try to address an email to multiple recipients with any degree of efficiency with any of the M600i email options!

I do like the M600i size and keyboard. The phone function is above average but the speaker phone does not compare with Nokia 9300 or Nokia E70 performance.

Maybe future firmware releases will improve the M600i usability.

For email access (BlackBerry connect, Active Sync and POP) very few options compare with the Nokia E70 or Nokia 9300. The usability of the Nokia E70 is outstanding for all email applications and calendaring (BB or Active Sync). I was hoping for much more from SE!

I see what you're getting at but, from my point of view, none of the other devices you mention can be compared to the UIQ devices due to a lack of touch-screen. I've tried using non-touch-screen devices and, whilst phones like the N7650 or N9300 were okay, the whole time I'm using them I'm thinking "I'd be finished doing what I'm trying to do by now if this had a touch-screen".

So the e-mail may not be great (still using bog-standard POP3 over GPRS myself so not too much of an issue) it's the advantage of having a mobile phone wrapped up in the body of a full PDA that makes the M600 (or any of the current or past UIQ devices) such a perfect match for me.

FLG - interesting comments.

I didn't have any problems with the ActiveSync implementation. In the same period the E61 had one occurance of the not updating issues (fixed via rebooting).

I can't say I specifically tested multiple addresses in sent emails very much, although it seeme fine when I did send some test emails. I'm not sure what you mean by missing POP features - there wasn't anything particular I noticed.

I can't comment on the Blackberry Connect as I haven't used it.

I've used the E61 and M600 and had the E70 for a while. I'd say the M600 and E61 they will all have their fans. The E61 because it is the traditional thumboard form factor, the E70 because is has the unique gul wing and the M600 for its size. However to my mind the M600 scored well in areas outside of messaging and I think is stronger as PDA like device (a lot of this is due to the touchscreen, but it also down to the UI). The RAM issues in the E70 detract somewhat as does its out of the box mono headset for the E61 and E70.

Speakerphone - Honestly didn't notice any difference. The M600 is a menu away (as opposed to a single keypress on Eseries) which maybe an issue for some.

However all of this illustrates an important device. Everyone wants something different from a device and everyone will have a different opinion. Bassey's post further illustrates this.

All in all all the messaging focused Symbian 9 devices - M600, E61, E70 are very good devices. Although all of them suffer a little from earlyadopteritis (firmware strain) to an extent.

I agree - the touch screen was intriguing. I would suggest you try the Nokia E70 or E61 for 1 or 2 weeks and you will be amazed with the efficiency of the UI (I prefer the size, shape and screen resolution of the E70). The front phone UI of E70 is unbelievably - works very, very well in terms of access to contacts, email, calendar, camera and such. Only need to use one hand. Then when you open the E70 phone you have similar access with full keyboard.

Also, pair the E70 with the Nokia SU-8W keyboard and the combination is quite nice. I recently traveled to Italy w/o laptop and interacted with over 3,000 BlackBerry/Echange emails via my E70!

It is nice to have have new options for Nokia, SE and others. Best Regards, FLG>>>

The SE M600i email addressing issue is as follows:

1. You can't resolve a name from the email client line, you must go to the contacts list and look up every name. This is a significant efficiency and usability issue. Try send a email to five different people (with varied last names or first names) and count your keystrokes or screen jots!

2. The lookup of contact for addressing and other contact interaction is only by last or first name. This is not really the standard today.

As a user of the RIM 8700, Nokia E70 and E61 you can address emails by first name, last name, or part of name and it will resolve with your contacts. You can make phone calls the same way.

The implementation of contact access and addressing on the SE M600i almost makes it not an usable business PDA device in 2006! Try it - I think you will agree. I like the size and keyboard but the messaging software is not up to the standard of 2006!

Yes the contacts sort / find issue is a bit dated as I commented on in the review (for those reading it works the same way in the Contact application and email lookups).

Email contact lookup - I have to confess this isn't something I really noticed. I tend to write emails by find the person on contacts and choosing new message from there. The lookup stuff seemed to work fine for me though. Again I think illustrates how different people notice different things.

Another example is support for Global Excahange Address lists in the M600 (missing in the Eseries IIRC).

FLG,

well I am a business user and have used a Nokia 9500, 7710 and XDA Exec & HTC TyTN and SE P990 & M600. In my experience I really only use my mobile device to read and reply to emails and only infrequently to create a new email. So for me the M600 is okay. I think it is important to see all the dimensions of the M600 - not just the email client. Under 3G it has the fastest web browser I've seen (okay the E61 is probably similar), the MP3 play back is the best i have heard except for the P990, the screen for video watching is superb...etc. Its also very very small, which is important for some users (not me!).

Rafe

I use t-mobile 3G with UKP7.50 per month cost fo 2GB of data. The M600 is so fast under 3g that I am not sure how wifi would be a benefit and at least in the Uk wifi supbscription would be more costly than my mobile package

The global address book is avialable on the E61, E71, 9500, 9300 and M600i via Black Berry connect and Exchange. Works very well on the E series not very usable on the M600i due to navigation. Not integrated into email addressing client on the M600i. I have high expectations for the M600i, I purchase an unlocked unit and plan to keep it. I want to like it more! Just not up to the alternatives for business communication - today. Best Regards - FLG>>>

FLG wrote:...I would suggest you try the Nokia E70 or E61 for 1 or 2 weeks and you will be amazed with the efficiency of the UI....It is nice to have have new options for Nokia, SE and others. Best Regards, FLG>>>

Quite apart from the practicalities of getting hold of an E71 or E61 for a couple of weeks (don't see my local phone retailer being quite that generous 😊 ) I'm definitely a touch-screen guy. I currently use a XDA MiniS (HTC Prodigy) which (for a PDA) is very small and light, has a touch-screen and decent sized keyboard and WiFi so, for now, I have the best of both worlds.

I like the look of the E61 (that is the one that opens out to a QWERTY keyboard, right?) but it just seems counter-intuitive to be able to see the option I want but have to scroll through 3 or 4 things I don't want in order to select it.

It's Oranges and Apples. For me, a keyboard is for text entry, a stylus is for selecting/navigating. I've tried lots of devices but never found anything that even begins to convince me that this is not the best way.

jah - fair point about 3G, but only if you have 3G reception! I don't at home and use WiFi instead. It also a shame there's no EDGE. Different users, different use case!

FLG - should have been clearer. As far as I'm aware the advantage of Dataviz's Exchange solution is support for Sync of GALs, support for Meeting requests etcm and the filter emails based on size.

Even so clearly the M600i is quite there for you!

duplicate deleted

sir iam using n 7610. want use yahoo messenger to my mobile pls helpme details i am from india tanks advance

simtech wrote:sir iam using n 7610. want use yahoo messenger to my mobile pls helpme details i am from india tanks advance

This is the UIQ forum, retard. :con?

Hi,

A quick question: is there a way to define CONTACTS the storage either on Phone or storage card. Most phones only allow CONTACTS storage either on Phone or SIM, but not on the external drive as it is usually allocated for pics, music and apps.

This is a concern if you have a few thousand contacts and you sync it to your computer.

Thanks.

I've tried both the Nokia E61 and just recently the SE m600i. I prefer the m600i for its size (really a plus for this phone compared to E61) and the relatively faster response time of the UI (a letdown for the 3rd edition of S60). However, I also agree that the UI does indeed have some bit of a learning curve as this is most definitely more of a PDA than a phone (which is why I got it anyway). I do have one bit of difficulty and that is transferring some of my photos from my laptop to the m600. I've tried the Adobe Photoshop but each time I send the photo to the phone I receive a prompt that tells me to connect to a phone that is capable of receiving photos. I do hope I can receive advise on how to correct this. But overall, this is a very nice phone (a scaled down version of the P990i for all intents and purpose).

Thank you for a very full and frank review. I have been dithering over the phone for a while (is it a step down from a P910i or does the form factor compensate for the lack of camera which I only rarely used?). I'm now convinced and will buy now without waiting for a P990i to come out on contract.

Although I know that the lack of contact find feature will be a pain for me - I'm sure there'll be a 3rd party search app pretty soon though.

SonyE M600i Update - 29 Oct 2006

Based upon the two firmware updates from SE - now both the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and Blackberry Connect works quite well.

The MS Exchange ActiveSync client is very usable and is quite fast in displaying messages. The Blackberry Connect client works as expected but is slow on displaying emails.

As others have described if you want a very advanced phone in a small package this is an excellent phone.

The only significant usability gap is how you have to select contacts within the messaging function as compared to Nokia E70, E61, Nokia 9300 or Dash.

SE firmware updates has made this an very usable and stable phone - equal to my SE P900 and SE P910.

Thanks - FLG>>>

Hello,

I have a m600i smartphone and all is almost fine except when I sync with my desktop using pc suite.

The synchronization is extremely slow!!!

What can i do to improve this?

Thanks.

M600i firmware updated 23/Feb/2007
Sony Ericsson PC Suite for Smartphones, version: 1.2.15

owned for 3 months, great size, design,weight and cool looking smart phone but terrible software/OS. I think the symbian OS for this phone was still in beta version when they released the phone. I owned Treo650, O2 Mini and other sony phones, the M600i is definitely has the worst software and least reliable. Within 2 months of owning, I had to reset to factory setting since soft/hard reset and removing the battery did not fix the bug. If you are thinking of buying one, email me and I'll be gladly sell you mine.

Anyone experiencing emails being deleted from mail server on downloading to a M600i ???

You will need to set the phone's usb connection in data mode than phone mode. This can be done from Tools->Control Panel->connections->USB->USB Functionality. By default it is set to "phone mode" rather than "file transfer". You also wud have noticed that the transfer speeds are miserably slow in phone mode usb. Once in file trasnfer mode the OS creates a new drive just like a regular Flash drive and allows you to transfer files Much Much faster. Without the phone in file transfer mode, the disk2phone and the adobe app does not work!

really slow, got hang when 1st use, cannot backup sms to PC... =<

i'm interested if it is any gps receiver compatible with se m600i? and what about software like f.eg. tomtom working with m600i?

Hi there, I need to decide between getting a Nokia E61 or a Sony Ericsson M600i. Can anyone please advise which is best? I need something that features easy text input, can synchronise with Outlook, and provides for easy sharing and editing of Excel and Word files. I�m pretty sure that both these phones cater for these features, but which is best? I prefer the E61�s keyboard, but am also attracted to the M600�s touchscreen. Has anyone perhaps used both these phones? Can anyone help?

I have had an M600i for about 7 months now.

This is an excellent device. I have been in the computer busines for about seven or so years. Gadgets no longer impress me. But this phone does.

It is more a mini-computer than a phone. Its G3 access to the internet means that I can research all kinds of stuff almost anywhere. I need to know something, I use the Opera browser that is on the M600i. By this alone the phone has paid for itself.

I can touch type so I easily got used to the layout of keys on the M600i. The keyoboard layout is an excellent design, so good that I have never used the character recognition application. I can add notes, write stuff and keep of track of things to do easily and quickly. What is more, the predictive text system in the M600i can save me so much time that writing with the M600i is not much slower than with the keyboard.

And then there is the music. This is very good. Especially when adding in a small portable amplifier to give some bass to the sound. For a while I had a gigiabyte M2 chip in the M600i and that meant I could have my choice of about a dozen albums. I bought a 2GB one recently but have been too busy to add tracks to it.

And it is reliable. I haven't updated the operating system. Yet the phone has only frozen three or four times so far.

Oh, and it is fine as a phone and for texting. But you'd expect that.

I also like the fact that the M600i will charge while connected by USB to a PC. Very useful.

Then you have its ability to read and write in Word and Excel, its ability to read html and pdf files. These all add to its usefulness.

And finally, it looks good and easily fits in a pocket.

But it is not perfect. I would like a faster processor and more memory to handle the applications when they are running. It gets a little slow sometimes. The predictive text in the word processor can get painfully slow after 1000 words or so. So basically it needs more power. But this should be kept in context. I have sat wiith a colleague who has an old pentium pc that he still uses. It has a similar processing power, memory and hard drive to my M600i and it is a huge desktop thing.

So, the M600i - highly recommended.

Best,

Bob

I have a PDA Sony Ericsson phone for two years, Sony Ericsson is fantastic and i am very happy with it.

but the time went to have a PDA phone so i am searching for a device with:

Operating System
Quick office
Touch Screen
Big Screen Size
Sound Quality
Business device
compact
Nice Looking
POZ

and i reached that the perfect devide is M600i.

i hope Sony Ericsson will produce more M series smart phone.

I had the m600i for five months. A piece of junk. Kept going in for repairs (mostly to do with the touchscreen), got it replaced (a nine week wait, of course), and the second one lasted two weeks before it became as unstable as the first one. Eventually, it wouldn't even boot up.

So, rather than enduring another misadventure with "smart"-phones, I've ordered a replacement cell phone from the service provider with a lot of mp3 capability and a decent camera.

Basta.

More than I actually need.

And less potential for headaches.