So what’s new…

Well quite a bit has happened in the last few months, where to start.

For one I have finally gotten rid of my SE P1i and have a BlackBerry Bold as a replacement. The change was really prompted by the support of html email on the Bold, a feature the P1i unfortunately doesn’t have. The number of work related emails I began to receive had doubled so I thought it was definitely necessary and I can say I am more than happy with the switch.

I also decided to take the plunge and build a rig again, something I had been putting off for a while. I picked up a ThermalTake Armor + LCS and gave it a go. I’ve been very pleased with the results seeing as the average temperature here is around 30° C on any given day. Although the case was a little pricey I gave it a try and can say it was definitely worth it. In addition to that I bought some LED 120mm fans and 1 more pump and radiator for extra cooling as I had all intentions of overclocking my Q6600. I managed to get it to average at 40° C idling which isn’t bad at all seeing as the room it’s in is nearly that hot anyway. Under load I haven’t gone over 60° C.

Anyways here’s my specs:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4GHz (OC to 3.2GHz)
MSI 7519 Neo Mobo
4GB Corsair DDR2 PC6400 (4×1GB)
320GB Western Digital HDD
500GB Western Digital HDD
BFG 8800 GTS 320MB OC
Windows 7 RC 64 bit (build 7100)

Aside from the GPU getting extremely hot everything runs like a dream. I will probably drop in a new graphics card when StarCraft II comes out. When I get some extra cash I will also setup a raid array with a couple 1TB drives, the price on those has come down recently.

There is more to tell but I will have to save that for another post, the rigours of work has taken its toll on me today and I need to rest.

More time with the P1i

I wrote my impressions of this phone a while back and all in all I was happy with the phone. This is more of a revisit of its features.

I recently had the BlackBerry service enabled on my sim card as it was necessary for me to stay up tp date with my work email. I have to say I have been impressed so far with it’s use of the BlackBerry connect software, it’s almost or just as good as a BlackBerry. The one little issue that disappointed me was the lack of a BlackBerry messenger but I can live without it. I hope this is something Sony addresses in the near future whether it be for this model or future handsets.

A major issue I had was the battery life of the P1i when I first received it. I’m happy to say after several charging cycles I have noticed a big improvement. The battery seems to last a lot longer now which is a relief as I am always making or receiving calls. Now that I added the BB service as well I feared that it would suck more energy out of the battery but I was pleasantly surprised as it appeared to have a small footprint on battery usage.

I am still very pleased with my purchase and it’s great I can have most of the functionality of a BlackBerry without having to own one. Don’t get me wrong I think BBs are good handsets but I like the media capabilities and design of Sony Ericsson handsets so I get the best of both worlds.

After owning this model I would definately invest in another Sony Ericsson handset when I plan to upgrade I just hope they address some of the nigly issues with this model.

Sony Ericsson P1i first impressions

So the postman finally brought my phone yesterday and I have been putting it through it’s paces since then. I have to say so far I am pleased with my purchase although there is still plenty for me to play around with I feel confident this was good choice.

I have had 2 Sony Ericsson phones prior to this model and have been very satisfied with them. While they were both media orientated phones, this is my first jump to an enterprise model of the same brand. The first thing I noticed was how light it was considering its size (just a little longer than the N95 but slimmer) and that’s with the battery in! The build quality feels solid despite its weight though with the silver trim giving a stately look.

The box included the phone, extra stylus, velvet slip case, hands-free kit, plug charger, usb cable, docking cradle and software cd with documentation. I was quite impressed with the inclusion of the docking cradle and just made me appreciate the phone even more as it looks great sitting there. The cradle allows for the charger and usb cable to be connected simultaneously so you charge and connect to a PC at the same time, well thought out. I ordered some lcd screen protectors and a 4GB M2 stick separately so the phone is all kitted out for just under £20 which I think is an excellent bargain.

I have never used the UIQ interface and I must say it has taken me a little while to get used to. I found myself getting lost navigating for the first half an hour but gradually finding everything is a lot more natural. One problem that I noticed was that I was using the stylus, jog dial and keyboard to get around which felt awkward. I wish a more efficient method of navigating was implemented as sometimes I feel as if I need a 3rd hand.

The full qwerty keypad took some getting used to as it features 2 letters on a single key but I fear persons with larger fingers would find this a nightmare to use. The keys are slightly raised at each end to allow for better precision and this really helps although I still miss the correct key sometimes. I have had lots of practice using the AgileMessenger application which I downloaded separately.

A concern I have though is the battery life. It seems to take a very long time to charge this phone and the battery seems to run out way too quickly under heavy use. I used the radio and music player while browsing the web and chatting and I got about 3 hours use before I needed to recharge the battery again. I need to perform some more testing to see what really drains most of the power but I suspect the music player and radio are the culprits.

I have made/received several calls already and have not had any drop any so far unlike my previous Sony Ericsson phone which seemed to drop 1 out of every 3 calls. I’m very pleased with this although I know it’s down to my service provider than the phone itself but that fact that it seems to stay connected is great. Calls are crystal clear with or without the hands-free kit which is expected so everything is ok in that department.

As I mentioned there are still plenty of other features for me to test but so far I’m pleased with this phone and looking forward to spending some more time with it to explore all of its features.

Sony Ericsson P1i

I should be getting this phone today or tomorrow and am eagerly waiting to try it out. I’ve needed a phone upgrade for a while now but just never got around to doing it until now.

I’ve read some good things about this phone (and some bad) but it was either this or a BlackBerry and I don’t like BlackBerrys.

More on this when I actually get the phone, I’m now at the mercy of Royal Mail.

Update: My phone has come at last, you can check out my impressions here.