song ericson k850i.Is it anygood?

The tax man

billbond4 wrote: »

You have the second oldest Firmware for the K850i, in R1EA031 the option of vibration of the touch keys was introduced.
I debranded my phone when I got it from davinciteam.com cost about 10e. btw you will loose EVERYTHING on the phone when you debrand initially,so you should take a backup of the phone ( also have your SIM card and memory card out of the phone when you debranding,just to be safe)
Once you debrand your phone you can use the SE Update Service (for free) to get later releases, with new functionality and bug fixes.

Jesus,the o2 firmware is well out of date according to that site. Might just get it de-branded. Always got my previous SE phones sim free so updates were never an issue. Thanks for the info billbond4.

billbond4

No hassle.
I think its always worth debranding the operators in Ireland always seem to be very slow in updating the firmware from when they get it from SE.
Seemily there is a new version coming out "soon" that will have face recognition when your in camera mode and you will be able to change the layout of the main menu.

Sephiroth_dude

im getting my today from vodafone,cant wait

The tax man

One more quick question for you billbond4,where to get a username and password from that site? Downloaded the client and read the flash instructions and it says "Also make sure you have secured a username & password on www.davinciteam.com" Is it given to you when you buy credits? Can't see any links to register with them.

billbond4

On the main page, buy now!! is the link
10 credits is what you need to flash a K850i phone

Yes when you get the email from them, it will have a user name and password in it,
(your username wont change in the future, but the number of credits you have will change depending on how much you use it)

Have a look at their document on the main page it tells you exactly what to do.
: Getting started ::
-» Flash A2 / DB3150 Phones

You will need to get the
K850i Red CID52 1202-5694 R1EA037 CUSTOMIZED UK/ BLUE
(you will see this option in a list in the davinci client)

Sephiroth_dude

do i have to debrabd my fone so in order to be able to download stuff and update the lastest firmware?

The tax man

Good man thats cleared things up. Had a funning feeling you'd be given something when buying credits but just wanted to make sure.
I'll give it a bash later on so. Thanks again for the info and which file to use.;)

billbond4

Yes, Irish operators dont keep up to speed with the releases of the Se firmwares.
So if you want to keep up to speed you will need to debrand.

Sephiroth_dude

could I just bring into a unlocking shop or sumthing let them do it?thats the same as debranding ya?

billbond4

Yes its the same, as the firmware is wiped, but to unlock a K850i, its very expensive, 30 to 50e (I think)
If you got a k850i from O2 they will give you unlock codes over phone.

Might be no harm to ask in a phone unlocking shop anyway

The tax man

Well took the plunge and went ahead with a de-brand. Very simple process really. Easy to use little program.Must say without that file you gave me billbond4 I'd be still scratching my head wondering which to choose.
I backed up my phone memory and card before the process but I didn't loose anything really. All my added themes and ringtones were still on the phone. I lost any games I've added but I don't care about them,most were crap anyway.:D
Love the vibration on the touch keys btw.

billbond4

Cool, glad it went well for you. Yeah there is some big list first time i did it i was scratching my head at the list.

skywalker

Well I got my k850i the other day. First thing I did was upgrade it to R1EA037. Seems to be working fine alright. Some lovely little improvements on this model, like the ability to set a recurring alarm for midweek mornings only. The media manager seems much improved too. And the much awaited return of the torch feature. The pics Ive taken so far, while looking lovely in terms of detail, seem very dark. Has anyone come across the optimal settings for the camera yet?

I got an invisible screen protector for it too (martin shields one) Id recommend that as the phone collects fingerprints as if they were a CSI tech. Not so bad with the protector on it, but still makes it look grubby within 2 seconds of handling it, they really should have changed the finish on the phone.

The laser theme looks really nice on it. As does the camera shortcuts. I want to get the max battery life so Ive turned off the 3G reception as Im on meteor so Im never gonna use it anyway. Ive got rid of the animated wallpaper too. Any other tips?

Sephiroth_dude

What do you go into to download firmware?also im with vodafone prepay so Do I have to debrand my phone first or sumthing?

skywalker

I installed the pc suite that comes with the phone, theres an updater program on there that guides you through it. Im not sure whether it being network locked will complicate matters. Give it a shot I guess.

CtrlSource

skywalker wrote:

And the much awaited return of the torch feature.

Where?

The pics Ive taken so far, while looking lovely in terms of detail, seem very dark. Has anyone come across the optimal settings for the camera yet?

Yeah i've noticed that too. Seems to depend on distance from the subject and how the flash bounces. i haven't spent enough time trying to work it out yet...

I got an invisible screen protector for it too (martin shields one) Id recommend that as the phone collects fingerprints as if they were a CSI tech. Not so bad with the protector on it, but still makes it look grubby within 2 seconds of handling it, they really should have changed the finish on the phone.

Thank you, i thought it was just my grubby paws! i like the finish on it though. It doesn't seem too easy to scratch either. If only it wasn't so attracted to the smudges and prints

leche solara

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

do i have to debrabd my fone so in order to be able to download stuff and update the lastest firmware?

Yes whatever way Vodafone have it locked when you try to upgrade firmware you will be told you already have the most up to date firmware. You will have to debrand it to upgrade firmware.

skywalker

CtrlSource wrote: »

Where?

Its under organiser > light & its brighter than ever

CtrlSource wrote: »

Yeah i've noticed that too. Seems to depend on distance from the subject and how the flash bounces. i haven't spent enough time trying to work it out yet...

I was playing around with it, & it doesnt seem like you can set it to flash everytime from what I can see, the only settings I could get were autoflash, red eye reduction, or off. Red eye reduction seems to take much better shots than autoflash, surprisingly. This is with all other settings set to auto.

CtrlSource wrote: »

Thank you, i thought it was just my grubby paws! i like the finish on it though. It doesn't seem too easy to scratch either. If only it wasn't so attracted to the smudges and prints

Well its not that I dont like the finish, it looks lovely, its just horribly impractical. Its the same finish as is on the ps3, but on a device you hold every day it just doesnt work. Can you imagine how grubby this phone is gonna be in a years time :eek:

CtrlSource

The torch is deadly! When i woke up this morning and was playing with my phone i found it (thanks for the instructions anyway) and yeah it's really bright. The SOS mode is gas - first there's 3 quick flashes, then 3 slow!

skywalker

I have it set as one of my shortcuts. I figure whenever I actually want it, Ill want it to be easy to find.

Deliverance XXV

Did anyone get this phone on EBay? I'm thinking of buying this unlocked there.

skywalker

Yep I did, send me a pm if you want the name of the seller & Ill dig it out for ya.

Has anyone managed to get google maps up & running on this phone? I keep getting "fatal error please restart" message everytime I go to run it. Mind you data on meteor is so expensive Ill prob rarely use it.

billbond4

Yeah I have google maps, Version 2.0.3 on my K850i and it works no bother.
Seems to only pick out my location when Im on O2 edge/gsm network

I would suggest deleting the goolge maps app on your phone, going to maps.google.com and download it again

Version 2.10 is out now and it 309 KB, so watch your cost if your not on a data tarrif.

skywalker

Yeah Im on meteor & not on a data tarriff so I reckon Ill leave it. Dont want it that badly, was just wondering whether it was just me with the error.

GrumPy

Have this phone in the post, was wondering if the music player is any good? I have a w810i atm (walkman phone) and it's great, dont need to bring mp3 player, just phone with me everywhere. Main reason I have decided to upgrade is for the camera on the k850i, but would miss being able to listen to some tunskies.

billbond4

Yeah its the next version of the music player that in the W810i so you can create playlists, list by album,tracks,artist and you can have album art also ,and it has MegaBass like in the W810

skywalker

I havent used it as a mp3 player much, but I can say that the updated interface is very nice, similar to psp/ps3 xmb. It also has a feature where if you turn your phone on its side, then the interface switches to landscape mode. Dont ask me when thats likely to come in handy though.

billbond4

Think I will be upgrading my K850i to the C905 at the end of the year.

Not too pushed about 8.1 megapixels, but GPS, Wifi and TV are very good features to have

The C905 is the latest camera offering from Sony Ericsson featuring a fully spec’d 8.1 mega pixel camera with auto focus, face recognition, a new feature called Smart Contrast, image stabilization, BestPic, red-eye reduction, xenon flash as well as photoflash for both photos and videos. It’s got a video stabilizer feature as well. You can geo-tag your photos with the built-in GPS with further support for A-GPS, and the large camera resolution makes it possible to do prints in up to A3 sizes! Your photos will automatically flip to landscape mode, when you tilt your phone, as it’s got a built-in accelerometer. You’ll be able to watch your photos on a beautiful 2.4 inch QVGA-resolution scratch-resistant mineral glass TFT display. Feel like sharing your photos on a TV-set? That’s possible as well with the TV-Out Cable ITC-60, also to be announced on the 17th.

That’s not all, though… C905 will be the first feature phone by Sony Ericsson to sport built-in WiFi with DLNA-support, so all media in your home can be shared. It’s also got the latest in Bluetooth connections, supports USB 2.0 data transfers, and can be synchronized with Exchange ActiveSync.

The Sony Ericsson C905 measures 104 x 49 x 18 (19.5) millimetres, and weighs a massive 136 grams. It’ll be available in Copper Gold, Ice Silver & Night Black in early Q4, with a bundled 2 GB Memory Stick Micro M2. It comes in three variants, two with full support for UMTS and HSDPA in the certain regions (even America). The battery is good for 380 hours of standby or 9 hours of talk on GSM networks, or 360 hours of standby or 4 hours of talk on 3G networks.

billbond4

Just to let people know R1FA035 of the K850i Firmware is available now for unbranded phones.

GrumPy

Just got my phone. Hit wrong button when turned on for first time, and didnt get chance to change language to english! It's in chinese. :pac: Can anyone help me figure out howto change it? HALP