Sony Ericsson P990 review: A coveted smartphone
Highly awaited as it is, Sony Ericsson P990 is going to be the flagship of the Sony Ericsson product line. Equipped with every possible current connectivity features, an autofocus 2 megapixel camera, a second video calls camera, a conventional keypad and a QWERTY keyboard, Memory Stick slot, FM radio with RDS, the latest Symbian 9.1 OS, and last, but not least with a large 2.76" TFT touchscreen with a QVGA (240x320 pixels) resolution it surely made the news for many impatiently waiting fans when it finally hit the market.
- pete
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I have a question regarding the p 990 phone.
is there a gps software i can download or buy?
i bought it in the states.
thanks
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- 2006-11-21 19:45
- 4}gT
- Gremoire
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Got my SE990 yesterday, still waiting for the SIM swap to take effect so have't played araound with it that much yet.
From what I've seen thus far I really like. Yes, it seems a bit slower than my P900 and yes it takes a bit of getting used to.
I can only imagine how people are going to complain when Windows Vista is released 'cause it's not the same as XP/2000 and it looks different and.. and..
Things change, the P990 has more computing power and memory than my first PC had.
Give the phone a chance. If you are a die-hard P9xx fan you will love the phone, I know I do. The camera amazed me.
Boerseun, If you want a P900 you can gladly have mine... still in good running order. Make me a price. I stay in Pretoria... Will monitor the post for your reply....
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- 2006-11-17 10:27
- Nhd{
- Hasan Naeem
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I have been using the P800, P900, P910i but P990 is a disappointment. I Agree with Mr Lesko comments (2006-10-13) about the phone book deficiencies, plus I will like to add that the sms is not half as quick and convenient as P910's you cant mark and erase multiple sms from memory. plus if you are mailing it to someone who has more than one mobile number, P910 use to give the list of all their cell numbers so you could tick which one or all the numbers, P990 doesn't.
Plus the unstable software, sometimes automatically restarts while talking. Sometime hangs and you cant receive calls even if you can see the call and the set is ringing.
I hope Someone at Sony Ericsson is talking notes of all the user complaints. We would appreciate a software update so this set can be more stable and come up to the tradition of P series.
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- 2006-11-11 22:55
- PSeM
- Anonymous
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I've just got a p990 here in Johannesburg and up to now I am quite disappointed. I used to have a p900 which worked very well for me. I expected the new phone to be faster, but it is isn't! In fact, the old P900 boots up faster, looks up contacts faster and is generally a lot more stable.
Sometimes I have to take the battery out as the P990 hangs on me. I would gladly go back to the P900 except I gave it to someone else!
The P900 was also a lot more user-friendly than this one. One is supposed to be able to "end" and application somewhere, but there is no "end" button. So you end up running all the applications you have used until the phone freezes up and you have to reboot, or take out the battery as it sometimes doesn't even want to do that.
Unless SonyEricsson provides better software, I think they are going to ruin their reputation with this one.
I wonder what kind of support there is for this phone. Actually, I have very little time to spend on solving mobile phone problems, so it is really very annoying after all the hype around the P990.
Boerseun
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- 2006-11-05 16:44
- Nxsf
- mikis
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hey folks!dont be so sticked with se.p990 its new,it has new software,3g,and other applications which do there premiere on p990(not like the usually nokia ph).so give some space to se and he will update its software to a perfect one.this is probably a trial software
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- 2006-11-05 15:00
- mjk4
- Anonymous
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WOW! Its a cool phone. Im a sony user , ive almost used all SE's phones. Im sure its a perfect phone. Its just like a computer, the options, the folders, I mean its better than i-mate, as afar as i think so.
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- 2006-10-29 16:13
- Rxf3
- Anonymous
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all you guys just go to www.my-symbian.com
u willll get all your answers ...
all the freakin answers.
latersssss.
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- 2006-10-29 15:41
- w4tN
- Anonymous
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will sony ericsson upgrade their wirless b to wirless g.
it is too slow for this smart phone.
it is possible they using software to upgrade it to wirless g?
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- 2006-10-28 11:43
- TS%u
- SIMON WELCH
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having used the previous p-series phones, i bought the p990i last week. it has been useless. slow, hard to use, will not synchronise. it is going back, so i will try something else instead. maybe palm trio? sony - what have you done??
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- 2006-10-27 15:06
- nE1e
- P-series fan
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Hi Lexcute,
I'm interested in buying the P990i. where did you buy it for 31K pesos in the Phils? I'm also from Manila, and so far, 35K is the lowest price I found for the P990i.
thanks :D
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- 2006-10-21 05:44
- PRQ9
- Octavian
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Hey,
I bought it for a couple of weeks. It's amazing. Everything is great, except: - poor quality on WIFI signal, quite slow menu, and the incompatibility with older software's. Except that it's great.
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- 2006-10-18 00:10
- IhjF
- Lesko
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Hello,
I own P990i now 2 weeks and it's great. Only thing I miss is navigation software. Is there any? I couldn't find it. Does anyone now if Tom tom or others will have navigation for symbian 3 UIQ phones?
Alex
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- 2006-10-13 11:36
- MmRB
- RMF
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This is the *worst* phone I have owned in the P800/900/910 series. It would take pages to write down all the failings of this phone and I will be returning it and going back to my P910. Given how late the release is, it is unforgiveable. Some key points:
* Very unstable - always running out of memory with only the basic apps running, very frequent Kernel Exec errors.
* Unbelievably slow compared to previous models (you click the screen to do almost anything and have to wait).
* Phonebook is appalling from usability perspective - no alphabetic "letter" tabs for quick access; can't enter brackets (), spaces or dashes in phone number fields to make it easier for a human to read; synchronisation has unpredictable mapping from Outlook fields; can't change number type (e.g. work->home) from quick "drop-down" lists next to number anymore; useless and distracting (h) or (w) added to end of *every* address field line in display mode; adding extra address fields is way too cumbersome; birthday field is unnecessarily prominent and can't be removed once accidently added (it wasn't obvious to me!); no intelligent handling of "0" from area code - ie. drop when including country code.
* What happened to the very useful clock screensaver from P910???
* Miserly battery (half the milliamp hours of previous) included.
* Stylus is now on wrong side for vast majority of population.
* Business card scanner is a joke - low accuracy means you spend more time correcting than you would have entering in the first place.
* Common settings are hidden down in too many depths/layers of menus. This is ok for rare settings but not for core functionality.
* Change from P910 focused too much on worthless aesthetic "gloss" (graphics which slow everything down) and not enough on getting device to work fast, efficiently and with streamlined workflow for common tasks.
I have worked in HCI/usability for almost 15 years and could mention many more points but don't have the energy to waste...
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- 2006-10-12 01:16
- U2{Z
- the_gooze!
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Hi, Jez!
You've done better than I have! Only 3 handsets in under two weeks!!
Cheers!
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- 2006-10-11 16:13
- mxnt
- Jez
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My 4th handset in only 3 weeks arrived today and it has pretty much the same faults as all the others!
The OS is VERY slow and as a result it takes 2 or 3 rings before the CLI is linked to your contacts to display the callers name. This means that most of the time, personal ring tones cannot be used. The phone constantly crashes / locks up. The middle button that is the most freqently used is hard to press. The screen saver/lock keeps flicking on and off wasting the battery. Also, I find if you answer a call too quickly, then the call is rejected.
Mmmm. Roll on the P995 !!!
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- 2006-10-11 01:20
- nHBB
- SUPERTANNY
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Hi all,
As a full experienced Sony P-series fan i have to point out a few items. The p990 works slower then every other P-series. Has multiple software problems and restarts out of the blue. I have used all p-series manufactured in history and have never experienced these problems before. Now the good part: firmware upgrades wil be available at your service points most probably.So don't be afraid, this phone is still the best around and has all the connectivity this world has to offer.
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- 2006-10-04 16:46
- mGxi
- mike
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hi.. in some p990 pics.. i see that at the bottem of the phone writes QUICK SHARE and in some other pics, it Writes P990i..what is the diffrent betwee these 2?
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- 2006-10-03 23:34
- ntqk
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