W900 or 903?

K

Krush

New member
what to get??? theres downsides to both of em!!! what i really want is a phone that has a strong "wow" factor to it and both of these do it for me. the problem is, i see downfalls with all of them. i need to know, which one gets better reception, has a better/larger screen, nicer UI, larger memory capacity and capability both internal and external (i know the w900 owns at this one, but will TF memory ever grow to be bigger than a mere 512mb anytime soon?), video recording, processing speed, etc.

this is a tough decision, so i need some opinions. i a phone to carry around and be able to store a lot of my music (around 1.5gb) and be able to take nice pictures and record video very smoothly. also, my ROKR has the WORST scratched up screen its unbelievable, so thats why im highly considering the flip phone. also, feel free to suggest any other phones that i may want to look into but just for the record, i dont like candybar style phones. help me out guys, with no bias at all please

-Max-
 
nobody? come on! this is a big decision that will through me out 5-6 hundred bucks! at least some opinions please...
 
whichever, same price, camera is better on the sharp (some might debate over it) just go with whichever, you will not regret either purchase
 
903 has a stronger wow factor because a phone like that is rarely seen here in NA (The screen moving around). If music is your focus you should be getting w900i and thats about all it has going for it and maybe its simple UI. Otherwise 903 wins in reception, design, quality (feels expensive and solid), screen (although same size 2'4 sharp's screens are bright, clear and "sharp"), price and obviously camera.

Forgot to mention 903 has one of the best video recording cameras available. It records at QVGA (320x240) resolution, 15 fps.

You won't be storing 1.5 gigs of music on a 903 (1 gig max), or enjoying the quality of the player as much as w900i but in every other department the 903 is the better choice.

Hope this helps!
 
for pure ease of use I would say the Sony. Each 903 firmware has its own quirks that don't allow you to use the phone as openly as you should be able to. The sony lacks a lot of the initial setup problems I have seen associated with the 903.

Also, I thought the w900i could record at some absurd fps. Can't find numbers so take it as you will
 
1. even people in the Sony section of Hofo are complaining of w900 camera performance...
i am not complaining about 903 performance...
though the advertised fps playback/rec for w900 is 15 higher...

2. music porting is probably easier on w900...
but all 903 are capable to play back some form of music (mp3/mp4/mmf)...
slight tinkering/reading req to set ringtones of these types...

3. jap f/w on 903 has multiple options not available to w900...
how about built in voice mail??
and i dunno if w900 has text/business card scanner
or QR code reader.. does w900 have infra-red ?

4. 903's form is more 3G friendly...
cause you can lay it down on a table or somthing during a vid call...
w900 NEEDS you to hold it

5. 903's internal mem sucks... but there have been people that used 2GB cards...
although i think they say save/access speed is compomised...

6. reception is for 903 is "almost" as good as having 850mhz (at least in GTA)...
don't know about w900...
(ppl with k750/w800 tend to suffer in GTA though)

7. both phones will test the limits of battery usage...
my 903 normal usage (much call time, mild camera usege, mild music useage)
has taken me almost to 3 days without a charge...

8. very very minimal lag with 903 camera...
just recently saw w800's camera mode on friend's phone...
lots of screen lag... don't know about w900..

9. sure w900 has jackknife design...
(i liked this so much i almost got this instead of 903)
but i figured too many people would still know it's a sonyerricson
less people know that Sharp makes phones...
even fewer know that Sharp's 903 is packin' such a powerful camera..


i the end... i think that w900 is probably stronger suited in the music department...
but everywhere else it seems to lack just a little
i figured the advanced camera in the 903 costs much more...
(come on... mp3 players are real cheap now a days anyways)
but where 903 really shines is...
you can tell people that your cellphone has OPTICAL ZOOM !!
and thats how i came to buy my 903....

hope this helps
 
Sharp 903 ALL THE WAYY
the camara, and the screen are a killer, there is also a opionof getting the MP3 jpystick, with backlitted LCD displaying ur songs tittle, they can even display chinese,if ur firm ware can support displaying chinese, and u can use ur own headset too,
 
1. I dont know about that, ive never heard of any SE user complain about their camera. and coming from a vga camera myself, its gonna be a big upgrade. also, how would you share photos via bluetooth with other phones when no others support 3.2mp? quite a few support 2mp... and have you tried video recording on your 903? is it smooth?

2. im worried because everyone in the sharp forum is complaining about how their firmware cant do certain things... but 2gb TF cards arent even out yet and i bet when they are they will be INSANELY expensive!!!

3. sure the w900 doesnt have those crazy things (ive never heard of any of them exept infra-red) and yes the w900 DOES have infra-red if im not mistaken.

4. haha i wont even worry about that until the US gets 3G service...

5. Ya this is a big deal to me though. like i said earlier, i dont know of any 2gb TF cards that are sold here! and the w900 has 470mbs of onboard memory as it is! with 8gb duo pro cards coming out soon, the w900 owns at memory.

6. reception i dont think will be a factor between these two phones anyway...

7. good, with as much as i use my ROKR, it wont even last 2 full days, so i recharge it every night! but this will also not be a determining factor as i think both phones have very good battery life.

8. i heard that the 903 has horribly slow shutter speed and you have to sit there and the thing your taking a pic of cannot move at all or the pic will be blurry. the w900 should have NO lag because it has a VERY powerful processor.

9. true, but i come from a town where seeing a s710 would put most people in awe... everyone here with money owns a RAZR... and once in a while you will see a ROKR... ya you get the picture? either phone style will do it for me.
 
1. http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=845023
i'd expect top tier phones like w900 and 903sh to be able to recieve each other's photos even if they're at different res... but even if not 903sh has the ability to internally resize photos... (your phone will hate you if you try and set a 1.0mb pic as wallpaper )

2. jap f/w.... galore of functions... the way sharp intented the 903 to be used...

3. you will likely never use the QR code reader or text scanner... but built in voicemail could save you a couple of bucks on your phone bill... if you need it (NOTE: you need reception.. and it counts as a call recieved...my provider gives me free incoming calls)

4. Sprint recently intoduced 3G in US... other providers will follow suit soon..
Canada is expected to go 3G in Q4 of 2006 or early 2007

5. i was afraid that the internal mem might come at a cost of slow down of UI speed... (i might be totally wrong on this...)

7. well depends on how you use the phone... the very first day i started using my 903 i killed the battery in a day... but i was messing with every function from screen brightness to camera to bluetooth and making calls.. etc

8. well i was talking more about the display speed refesh rate (viewfinder sceen in camera mode) more so than the camera shutter speed... (even w800 has noticible lag) but even that is pretty ok on 903sh...(i would say well enough for the average user) just don't expect lightning fast.. but good enough to take pictures that will amaze your typical phone user... (i know that's how i felt..)

9. wait until they see the SLVR then.... then either or... 903sh/w900 will likely blow the water out of anything you meet (jackknife or 180deg swivel.. pick your poison)... you will either be the most popular guy in your town or be dubbed the biggest phone nerd of the tri-county area... .... remember.... optical zoom !! haha

let's put it this way... each phone has things it does better than the other...
bottom line comes down to consumer Joe(you) and what you would need/want/expect out your top tier phone from Sony or Sharp or other...

cheers..
 
1. The 903 uses minisd, not microsd/transflash.

2. You won't ever be using the 3g part of the phone in NA, it will be incompatible with US UMTS networks.

3. Sharing pictures between phones doesn't depend on the pixel size of the picture, it depends on the file size. Most mms services that I know of don't support more than 300kb, which is smaller than a pic would be from the 903 and most likely the W900. This is why you can set different resolutions, if you want to share a pic, don't take it in 2 or 3.2mp mode.
 
well i was talking about bluetooth. a phone with a small display and a VGA camera can not display a 2mp photo from a camera.

edit: does anyone know if there is any place i can pick up one of these phones under $600? preferably if you guys know someone who is selling theres used? the cheapest i can find are the w900s on eBay for around $600 shipped and on hi-mobile.net....
 
oh yea... i forgot that 3G here is different...
so i guess 3G only overseas for 903 and w900


the bad thing about 903sh is that quantities are now limited... so expect to pay a bit of premium for a new one... used/mints are available though private sales on buy/sell part of hofo (i've seen some in the past week listed from 620-650CND)... white w900 is also somewhat less common than black... expect to pay a premium for that as well...

guess you can find timsa for 903 he's still some stock to my knowledge...
you can also ask if he's got any w900 as well (which he should..)
 
Once again, if you plan on sending a photo over bluetooth, take it in a smaller resolution.

If that's primarily what you are looking to do (send photos to other people), then I think you're looking at the wrong phones. Pictures from phones like the 903sh and W900 are meant to be seen on a computer screen, not a phone screen. They're meant to be looked at, resized (possibly) and saved to someones hard drive.
 
if you dont really want the walkman feature, then go with the 903. Pics will be of better quality.


i had a w900, it was a good phone, but eventually the bulk got to me..and had to downgrade
 
bought the w900i with a 2gb duo pro stick earlier today for $500 so exited! now i have to sell my ROKR... so if anyone knows someone interested in buying a ROKR with brand new black housing that would be awesome
 
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