Sony Ericsson W200i or W810i for sons first phone?

jolly-jen

My son is after a mobile for his tenth birthday (have relented at last) and would like one to download a lot of music. Have narrowed it down to these 2 which seems to have quite good reviews. Can get the W200i for £29.95 and the W810i for £59.99 which includes £10 airtime. I know the W200i isnt bluetooth (??) and apparently the camera isn't so good. Which one do you think would be most suitable considering his age etc.?

amaseal

I have the 800i, the 810i is a slightly thinner improvement and my son covets it! The camera is brilliant at 3.2mp and I have a 2Gb M2 card for music that was around £14. I listen to the radio too and have msn on it through 3 mobile. "Which" have a mobile report at the moment and the 810i and 550i are both best buys.
My son likes to do Face Warp on photos of members of the family. It would be a really good present to have. I can connect up to the pc to transfer photos and music, the bluetooth is a bit slow for me and I don't like to pay to send photos.
My son was sent home early from school without parents being told as there was a fire - he didn't have a phone so I offered to buy him a cheap one. He said he'd rather wait until he can have one like mine.

hazelmere1

Get him the 1 with bluetooth , he will soon get sick of the phone without because all of his friends will have it and he will not be able to get ring tones etc etc off them . I know this because we were in the same position and opted for the cheapest option because it was my sons '1st' phone , it wasnt long before he got a phone with bluetooth :mad:

pingu

w810i is a vey good phone and will last him a long time

very good camera 2meg and plenty of other features

Alec_Eiffel_2

Def go for the w810i. It'd be false economy to go for the cheaper one, like the others said bluetooth is great for sharing stuff like ringtones and the like which would otherwise have to mms'd (if they were small enough) which costs money. The camera on the w810 is way better! It would only be a matter of time before a better phone than the w200 would wished for.

cruesfan

jolly-jen wrote: »

My son is after a mobile for his tenth birthday (have relented at last) and would like one to download a lot of music. Have narrowed it down to these 2 which seems to have quite good reviews. Can get the W200i for £29.95 and the W810i for £59.99 which includes £10 airtime. I know the W200i isnt bluetooth (??) and apparently the camera isn't so good. Which one do you think would be most suitable considering his age etc.?

Can I ask where the W810i is available for £59.99?

jolly-jen

Many thanks for all the advice, looks like its got to be the SE W810i then! It was at E2save that I saw it for £59.99, advertised as a clearance item. Kicking myself though, because apparently littlewoods etc. where selling it a couple of weeks ago for £45 but have now sold out! Oh well, you cant win them all! Thanks again for the help.

anonymousie

Alec_Eiffel wrote: »

Def go for the w810i. It'd be false economy to go for the cheaper one, like the others said bluetooth is great for sharing stuff like ringtones and the like which would otherwise have to mms'd (if they were small enough) which costs money. The camera on the w810 is way better! It would only be a matter of time before a better phone than the w200 would wished for.

Can I be a big wet voice of reason here?? (my kids are 14/12/8 so i have experience of the age group).

The w810i is a blooming lovely phone, but we are talking about a present for a 10yr old. A child at junior school for heavens sake. It is only "good value" is he doesn't loose it/drop it down the loo etc or worse still get mugged/thumped for it, as a pretty desireable phone.

I wouldn't want my lad to think that having the latest all singing/all dancing phone was what his status with his mates depended on- I'd rather foster a MSE mindset and a sense of self esteem not built on having the latest gadget all the time- after all he is 10, what are you going to get him at 11 or 12- it'll have to be the latest N95/iphone eqivalent wont it???

First phones for my kids are basic nokia bricks- they work as phones (and play snake- naff I know!!) but they don't get nicked from lockers etc and take a bashing quite well.

DD1 now has a 750i after hers was stolen when locked in the church vestry of all places, but she never lost it! DS will get upgraded to my old phone (6280c ) when I change contract.

We have been through the "3 big guys took Xs phone in the park" stuff and it is nasty enough when your child is a buystander.

jolly-jen

Hi, I do understand where you are coming from hence my first post. My son only being 10 does not really know much about phones at all, only that I am told 'all this friends now have one!'
What I really wanted was for the phone to be used more for playing music and games than actually making calls, which is why I first looked at the Sony walkman phones. It is actually a toss up between a mp3 player/ipod or a phone.
I must add though that a lot of people managed to get a W810i for £30 from Littlewoods only 2 weeks ago (using discount codes as well), which if I could get hold of one for this amount would be great.
I dont particularly want him to have the lastest top of the range phone, but I do want a phone that will be suitable for his needs, ie music and games primarily.
It is not his birthday for a few weeks yet, so I will keep my eyes peeled for any deals!

Alec_Eiffel_2

Anonymousie, i fully understand your points, all good and valid! However i assume the OP trusts their son enough to not drop it in the loo or lose it or else they wouldn't entertain the thought of buying a phone in the first place. The w810 is a very nice phone but it's not so much nicer than the w200 so as to attract more unwanted attention than any reasonably recent mobile would - they both look fairly similar on the outside and the w810 is a few years old now. But there again i am a chap in his twenties, no kids to worry about getting mugged etc!