Database Users

The death of the cruise

It seems like the cruise has been abandon. I am not a rom freak but its been forever since anything has been developed for the polaris. What gives??
If thats the case i guess its time to move on to the iphone

Only if the embeeded graphics acceleration were fully included in drivers, it'd be enough to satisfy most users of the device, it's really irritating that the device performs worse than other older devices in graphics... that reminds me never to buy another device with a Qualcomm chipset (hence any HTC phone), so my next device would will come with a Marvell or Samsung chipset (mmm, those new Acer phones looks interesting).
I would never go to an iPhone, it's a toy, no more than that... I must admit that Apple scores 10 in marketing and they can sell uninformed people their devices.
Sorry for the rant, I just needed to say that aloud

dortyboy said:
It seems like the cruise has been abandon. I am not a rom freak but its been forever since anything has been developed for the polaris. What gives??
If thats the case i guess its time to move on to the iphone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What new stuff exactly are you're looking for?
There's a heap of applications being written every day that will run on Polaris(check the Forum).
Some guys are doing a great job in porting Android to Polaris as well. Take a look - it's pretty cool.
Whether it's a Polaris, Nokia or iPhone there's only so much you can do with it.....

Yes I agree, Polaris is not dead, it only reached a level of maturity that there is no need for any other heavy develpment... after all it's a good device with qvga standar screen that can run anything for qvga, and has a dpad...
Yes the 3d drivers issue gone a little bad, some roms dont even support or include them, but they perform good anyway, I don't think it's that slow device if you know what your doing.... you wont run photoshop on it...
And dont be sure that having samsung or marvell proccessor will be heaven on earth... a lot of my friends are fustrated with crashes, no reason overflows... and most of devices carring them dont have 3d acceleration.

The Polaris has 3D acceleration, in a way. It's just still not finished yet. It takes a HELL of alot time and effort to fix it, and most developers don't want to put in so much effort anymore, especially with Winmo7 around the corner with it's new kernel.
However, i still think it's possible to get Manila3D running without the sleep-bug, as long as people are motivated. But for alot of people, that comes with a price...

@Drakh: What about the Tegra when it comes out? Sorta best of both worlds...HTC device, which means in terms of hardware most devices will actually be pretty fully featured, and in terms of chipset, it's coming from a far better company than any of the other options given. Only obvious concern, it'll be a completely new product and is still untested by the market, almost certainly there's going to be at least a couple of flaws in the early iterations.
I don't know that I'd call Time-of-Death on the Polaris yet. I suspect a lot more development will kick back up when the Iolite actually hits shelves. At the very least, when serious Iolite development kicks up, and starts incorporating newer features/versions of software, it'll be relatively easy to create pair of roms side-by-side to cover both devices.

Polaris is my worst phone ever. It was expensive at the time and everything is slow about it, even the 2d operations like opening windows, clicking startmenu, slow camera, slow scrolling in windows like file explorer, all programs list etc etc etc. Real disappointment and i'm also looking for other smartphones with a different chipset/manufacturer.

i agree. i bout my Polaris over a year ago for 720 usd in NYC. for that i could have bought 3 iphones and it was disappointing to me that htc doesn't take the time to upgrade there phones. instead the fool us with a new one with slight improvements then another one with slight improvements. why cant they just focus on one phone and try and make it as best as possible.

This is primarily a htc device forum.
For anyone who thinks they may fair better with another brand device it is worth noting that the development that go on - largely thanks to xda-developers - is not something that is replicated on any other device.
The iphone is a matter of taste and while they have plenty of programs on app-store, it is as someone said earlier - a toy, a fashion accessory, an ipod with a phone in it.
If you are cheesed off with htc's lack of dedication to one device then I dont blame you, we all get sick of it, but every manufacturer is in it to make money and they are all slow to push out decent updates and have their own advantages and shortfalls.
At least with the htc devices we have xda-developers - and as long as it is there (and long may it live) we have the chance of enjoying the CHOICE of different softwares instead of having to make do with whats there as most of the other devices.

dortyboy said:
i agree. i bout my Polaris over a year ago for 720 usd in NYC. for that i could have bought 3 iphones and it was disappointing to me that htc doesn't take the time to upgrade there phones. instead the fool us with a new one with slight improvements then another one with slight improvements. why cant they just focus on one phone and try and make it as best as possible.
Click to expand...
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but what is it you want it to do that it doesn't do?
is it games? then buy a Nintendo DS - sure you can't make calls with it but it's a great games device.
want to watch movies? the Sony PSP has great video playback but it won't manage you calendar.
I guess the point I'm making is that devices like the Polaris try to do lots of different things - and it does some things better than others.
I'm sure that when you got your Polaris you checked it out at the time and probably thought it was a pretty impressive device.
Most of the recent improvements have been to screen resolution, memory and processor speed and performance. All of these are hardware related and something that can not simply be plugged in and made work.
As time moves on technology improves and devices look better, maybe work a little faster and do more things. To expect something that's a couple of years old to work as well as a device you can buy today is a bit unrealistic.
I agree with Bally - at least we benefit from up-to-date software through the hard work of the cooks and developers at XDA-Devs.
Personally, my Polaris has never worked better or faster.

u guys are so quick to jump to your own conclusions! i never said i did not like my polaris; i love it! i am simply saying that there comes a time especially with htc devices that as we say a particular phone has run its course.
i just wanted to spark some interest in the phone and apparently i did.
i was just frustrated how expensive htc phones are and its up to private individuals to make them work better. maybe htc should be paying XDA for there hard work

I dont think HTC like´s XDA much for obvious reasons....the reasons that made me fall in love with this community.
I bought my Polaris 2 years ago and i see new models in stores that are a few levels down so i cant complain and i will only trade my polaris for a tegra device,the rest is just small improvements

Hi All,
I bought my Orbit 2 for Christmas, second hand.
I immediately flashed the rom to C Shekar's' "a" rom, then his "b" rom; added S2U2, a few bits and bobs, changed the theme and am now happy.
It is fast enough, and I use it extensively for e mail and TomTom navigation.
I like it!
Where to go from here?
What should be the next phone, assuming I stay with HTC? (better the devil you know ...)

SpiggyTopes said:
Hi All,
I bought my Orbit 2 for Christmas, second hand.
I immediately flashed the rom to C Shekar's' "a" rom, then his "b" rom; added S2U2, a few bits and bobs, changed the theme and am now happy.
It is fast enough, and I use it extensively for e mail and TomTom navigation.
I like it!
Where to go from here?
What should be the next phone, assuming I stay with HTC? (better the devil you know ...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i agree with u. thats why i havent bought a new phone as of yet. i dnt wanna buy another htc phone. am waiting for something new but much better than htc and that is not htc

Assuming this has become a "spill what`s on your mind" thread, i`ll let you in on my feelings as well. When i bought the phone i gave 1300 Buglarian leva for it, that`s about 650 Euro (a bit more than $860) ... i loved it, it`s my first PDA, it was GREAT ! ... all of my friends were so jealous, it was THE phone. Some time passed, i made some installs and the phone started to go bad, started freezing, gave me the worst time in my life, i`ve never had such issues with a phone. Even now i`m trying to reflash it, and it doesn't want me to, the ROM update procedure freezes at 0% and doesnt go on ... then the recovery wizard kicks in ... and here we go again, and again ...
I will NEVER, ever purchase a Windows Mobile phone anymore, its buggy, slow and it cant event work like a decent phone ... what more should i ask, if it cant do that decently. So please, spare me the "htc sux, xda rulz" stuff ... xda-developers is a place spawned by the NEED for working software, something HTC and Microsoft both cant provide. Now tell me why shouldn't i buy an iphone, it does everything it says its supposed to. Though i wont buy an iphone, i`ll wait for the Palm Pre and buy that, and i`m sure, that will be deal for my money.

whatever you buy you will get bored with it and envy some new model that comes out a week after you buy your new device......
the good thing about windows mobile devices is that at least you can fiddle around and add new stuff, change the interface etc. keeps you interested just that little bit longer

cr1960 said:
whatever you buy you will get bored with it and envy some new model that comes out a week after you buy your new device......
the good thing about windows mobile devices is that at least you can fiddle around and add new stuff, change the interface etc. keeps you interested just that little bit longer
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Click to collapse
My thought exactly!
The best thing about a ppc is that it is a small computer!
So it gives you a lot of freedom.
But if someone just want's a good phone then buy a Nokia! And if someone just want's a good multimedia phone then buy a iphone!

cr1960 said:
whatever you buy you will get bored with it and envy some new model that comes out a week after you buy your new device......
the good thing about windows mobile devices is that at least you can fiddle around and add new stuff, change the interface etc. keeps you interested just that little bit longer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly I really want an iPhone because everything about it is just so polished, but im sure to get bored of it. I HATE my polaris sometimes, but fiddling around with it is just so much fun, Windows Mobile is crap, but trying to fill its inadequacies is fun in a twisted way.

adderz91 said:
Exactly I really want an iPhone because everything about it is just so polished, but im sure to get bored of it. I HATE my polaris sometimes, but fiddling around with it is just so much fun, Windows Mobile is crap, but trying to fill its inadequacies is fun in a twisted way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought a lot about the iPhone.
But .. as far as I know, it will not run TomTom.
Also, it is sealed- you can't replace the battery or get at the memory card.
AND - iTunes is terrible (imho), I much prefer Windows Media player for playlists.
What next, phone wise?

C'mon!, you cant compare a winmo device to an iphone, you're severily limited on the iphone platform (they just meet copy&paste and a2dp now for example), I'd never buy one of those devices, you wouldn't have the flexibility we have with winmo, and more thanks to communities like this... and it means a big thank to every developer here for your dedication and time.
cr1960, when I said before that the device performs bad I meant everyday use, I understand that if you want to play intensive 3D/2D graphics better buy an game console for example, or want the best GPS, buy a garmin or want the best photos, get a dedicated camera, etc; but no, it's the everyday use of Polaris that is affected, slow drawing, and is the very only one problem I see (video drivers), everything else is OK, the hardware specs of the Polaris don't have anything to envy other devices even more "modern" ones, 400Mhz is not any slow by the way, I'll put an example: the youtube app can't show decent video just choppy one and more processing power will help little without proper drivers (and as far as I know there are other HTC devices with more power than Polaris that have the same rendering problem), but watch the same video with Coreplayer (those guys someway figured how to talk directly to video hardware), and you'll see smooth video low CPU usage, see my point? It's not about demanding unrealistic performance from our beloved device, just that is underperforming in typical everyday use as it is now (maybe deliberate?).
Asking the polaris to run full size mpeg2 videos or do h264 or run quake at 60fps is unrealistic, asking it to run 320*240 videos smootly or show menus quickly or do smooth dragging inside google maps isn't.
The interesting thing is that the video driver (when 3D/2D hw acceleration is available) problem plagues most devices that use qualcomm not only HTC, even other manufacturers; I dont see much that problem in other chipsets, where it seems manufacturers dont have much problem adding correct drivers, maybe qualcomm doesnt make it easy to device manufacturers to add correct drivers?, some say so, dunno.

Sick of this piece of **** phone

I've had it for like 4 months now and i keep trying to convince myself its a good phone but reality is it has NOOO ADVANTAGES over Iphone WATSOEVER... its slow as ****K and i can't even sync it with my pc anymore, theres no good games for it AT ALL, NO good applications, NO good panels, the housing cracked even though i take care of it like my eyes, The volume buttons stoppd working 5 minutes ago out OF NOWHERE... REALITY IS PEOPLE WANT IT TO BE GOOD BECAUSE ITS A SONY ERICSON... SORRRYYY this phone is pathetic... waste of 3 billz...

haha, man you should have just bought the iPhone. There are days I feel like this though.

- There are many advantages over iphone (just hints: flash, multitasking, costumization etc.)
- If you install proper rom, that phone can be really fast
- What games would you want? There are many great games for WM i think you just dont know to search.
- No good applications? Stop kidding me.
- No good panels? OK i cant say about that one because i dont use panels.
- Im currently lucky and i have no hardware issues (cracking, buttons etc.) so i rather say nothing.
- I buyed that phone because it was best Windows Mobile phone for reasonable price and not because of brand (i prefer Nokia over SE).
P.S.: Why are everyone judging phone by comparison to iPhone? This is like comparing saying truck sucks because its not as fast as race car. iPhone is made for joking, there is no costumization and walls are everywhere, while windows mobile phones are not as awesome out of box, you need to costumize it and make it like you want. If you want everything out of box and walls, buy iPhone, else stick with WM.

let's hope you stay that lucky with your hardware - mine's been to repairs for 8 weeks in 11 months...
and please, stop putting lipstick on the pig called "x1" - it's firmware is bad. sw-support by SE is nonexistent/dead/dropped since end of march 2009. it's build-quality is evil. it's a phone which had high potential, but never had a chance because of the manufacturer. and by the looks of it, they're trying to pull the same stunt with the x2. games?! well, there would be some, yes. but without accelerometer this put's some limits to it these days? oh, did i mention the crappy graphics-driver? it's supposed to support opengl es 1.1 - well, sometimes it does, sometimes not.
the threadstarter uses harsh words, but he's still right.

I agree completely about the build quality. WTH is up when the phone starts cracking for no apparent reason!
Panels are useless. Games, don't know about this cause I've never found mobile games fun at all.
If we're not comparing it to the iphone, we could compared it to the touch pro 2, which I think seems better.

Im currently running Nrgz rom its heaven compared to stock... i want SOME games that the iphone has, good graphics good gameplay, but the biggest limitation is tha since x1 isnt multitouch screen it can't play majority of those games, i've played need for speede xperiment 13(best of all, but not really action), xtract, and THATS ITT thats all the xperia games specifically made for xperia, i've played star craft its not bad but ofcourse it'll get boring, right now im playing monopoly the most... but my friend crushed my world when he showed me the monopoly on his iphone... its beautiful LOL no homo, 3d smooth gameplay etc.

just be done with it and get the iphone. dont agonize yourself anymore. i too wanted an iphone but i sure wish it had a better resolution.
keep the x1 as a backup to mess with.
im not into gaming so the x1a does everthing i need it to do. no cracks (had it about 1-1/2yrs), dropped it twice (still no cracks, just a few scratches) and still using the original rom. the only thing that i dont like on the x1a is the small screen.
ive had some good luck with my phone and winmo (rarely any lockups or freezes). i was seriously thinking about getting the hd2 for my next phone but since winmo seems to be changing their operating system, ill just hold off for another couple years if my phone last that long.

I love how every third thread in this forum is about how bad the X1 is.
Somebody start one about how much people love it

No other device competes with the iphone for usefulness primarily because of its app store and cydia.
Big advantages of the X1 off top of my head:
- Keyboard
- Slimness
- Camera Flash
- Flash mobile
- Metallic build
- Screen resolution
- User replaceable battery (I max out my iphone battery)
- Win Mo/Android/Ubuntu all in one device
- X panels is pretty neat IMO.
- Emulated games in Morphgear using hardware keys
Try Valkarie Leo firestorm ROM. Its really good and stable so far. I do know what you mean about slowness in some ROMS.
As for basic programs alot of them are good: web, PDF, Movies, Text etc For more advanced and exotic apps you need an iphone or a pocket computer Although opera mini is so fast you can use a lot of web based apps.
Better still get an X1 and cheapo Ipod Touch 2nd gen JB. Battery goes down like hell using iphone for calls and everything else.

no matter how much the X1 pissed me off i still wouldnt of resorted to the iphone. its the phone equivalent of those tattoos every other girl has got on her lower back. lol. they look ok at first then you realise that everyone else has got one and theyre common and skanky!!

bgeorgi said:
I've had it for like 4 months now and i keep trying to convince myself its a good phone but reality is it has NOOO ADVANTAGES over Iphone WATSOEVER... its slow as ****K and i can't even sync it with my pc anymore, theres no good games for it AT ALL, NO good applications, NO good panels, the housing cracked even though i take care of it like my eyes, The volume buttons stoppd working 5 minutes ago out OF NOWHERE... REALITY IS PEOPLE WANT IT TO BE GOOD BECAUSE ITS A SONY ERICSON... SORRRYYY this phone is pathetic... waste of 3 billz...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you're right that people who can't type properly and who don't know (or want to know) how to set-up their WinMo phone to suit them are more suited to the iPhone. Same for people who think that writing in capitals makes their comments stand out, when really people just laugh at you shouting at the world.
This could be good for you though, since you'll either have to learn some things or put up with something you don't like.
Saying that everyone bought it for the SE name is pretty retarded, since neither Sony nor SE have much of a reputation left in their respective fields. I can't stand Sony: it's a HTC phone which SE commissioned and made a loss on, but it's a great phone if you set it up right.
What were your reasons for choosing the X1? Sounds like either you didn't have any, or you don't have one and you're one of those stupid teenagers who troll around shouting about how great the iPhone is hoping to have some influence on the world: like the ones who try and persuade you how to vote for by making up propaganda. Luckily for the world, most of you outgrow it by 25.

at45 said:
I think you're right that people who can't type properly and who don't know (or want to know) how to set-up their WinMo phone to suit them are more suited to the iPhone. Same for people who think that writing in capitals makes their comments stand out, when really people just laugh at you shouting at the world.
This could be good for you though, since you'll either have to learn some things or put up with something you don't like.
Saying that everyone bought it for the SE name is pretty retarded, since neither Sony nor SE have much of a reputation left in their respective fields. I can't stand Sony: it's a HTC phone which SE commissioned and made a loss on, but it's a great phone if you set it up right.
What were your reasons for choosing the X1? Sounds like either you didn't have any, or you don't have one and you're one of those stupid teenagers who troll around shouting about how great the iPhone is hoping to have some influence on the world: like the ones who try and persuade you how to vote for by making up propaganda. Luckily for the world, most of you outgrow it by 25.
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He must have needed a reliable keyboard. The keyboard is not reliable.
He must have overestimated the screen size (I thought 3 inches was big, but boy I was wrong).
He must have never used Windows Mobile before, you either love it for the way it is or hate it for the difficulty of use.
He must have wanted a device that did not crack and that was resistant to wear and tear.
These are my reasons. Being that everyone said that the keyboard was amazing, I bought it. Being that everyone said the screen was huge. I bought it. Being that the X1 broke my Windows Mobile virginity, I expected it to be appealing and easy to use as if a little child can learn to use it; but no, now I am considering a different OS...probably Android because I love simplicity but require the complexity of windows mobile. Being that every reviewer stated the build quality is the BEST OF THE BEST, I never expected it to crack and loose keyboard sensitivity, let alone the loosened battery cover that several others have reported.
The true lesson is, do not listen to ANY professional reviews, because the reviewers usually just review it for a few months. You need to wait 1 year and a half to truly get the actual details for the long run.
And the best way to finally decide if you want the device or not is to listen to people like him; well not him, people like him except who explain in detail why the phone is not for them.

My opinion
I believe that i was as hype as everyone else was when the x1 was introduced with its great intro campaign and website. but the main issue is that sony abandoned it. i think( my opinion) that the x1 would be as great as the i phone if wm had a great app store with apps for everything even the useless stupid but fun apps and if they worked hard on making the panel concept the next big thing. i only change my panels when i want to change my theme easier. other then that every program can be opened without the panel thingy. i still use my x1 and havent switched to the i phone probably only because of the developers on this site. its even more sad to say that it seems that sony realized that there traditional wm stock phones cant compete with iphone that theyve changed the title and he entire ui for wm7, which will not be availible for x1 or x2. the x1 and all the availible roms are still great for now but i believe (my opinion) that Iphone will reign supreme for numbers of years to come even without screen resolution, flash, emulating and all the other things we use to make ourselves feel better. The backbone of X1's aare the developers on this site, not sony.

It's sad to read thread like this. I absolutely love my X1 and have not regraded buying it. The only thing that annoyed me was the freezing when I first bought it but flashed to 6.5 and that has stopped. Cracks: I've dropped my phone many time so I expect cracks. Screen Size: Coming from the Moto Rokr E6 with a screen size of 2.4inch with a res 240X320, the X1 screen is big upgrade and i love it. Speed: Try Touch it Roms or Rostrain Blaze roms, I've never tried the rom your using nor do i want to by the way your describing the speed. Aslo for Speed have you tried the Teksoft Speed Booster APP,Advance Config 3.3 ,BsB Ram sweeper 2, and SK Tools?, They all works well in my phone. Games: Have you played Assassin Creed HD, Asphalt 4 HD, Call of Duty 2(only works for 6.1 roms sadly) or even the PS1 Emulater(FpseCE0.10)? Pm if you want a good site for games. And as graphics go have you tried different Video drivers like Driver Pack 3, X2 Video drivers, SJ SamsungOmina_Driver_D3D? I run them all in my phone except the Driver Pack 3 because of the 6.5. Like people said if you set your phone up right then it is a real joy to have. Also Keep in mind This is my first WM phone ever(Lots of people warned me not to get WM) and I had my phone for 5 month and my Keyboard works fine never had an issue. Man if you wanted the I-phone to begin with then why didn't you just get it? You should of known that I-phone and the X1 are 2 complete different phones and Having hopes that the X1 was supposed to be like the I-phone was silly.

Assuming you use the X1 in landscape with Opera Mini beta 5 full screen you will be getting 95% of the screen estate of iphones safari web browser (because of all the headers etc). Similarly holding the phone a bit closer increases the magnification. No multitouch for sure but scrolling with the D pad at the side is fun when consuming webpages.

The phone isn't that bad if you have a high tolerance for the technicality.

i have to agree that this phone is ****. I really do.
But im not gonna compare it to the iPhone because thats like comparing apple and banana. iPhone and Xperia have their own segment and target market.
Now that that is straight, the phone is an utter **** because the way SE package the whole thing as a premium phone. I had mine on January 09 and expecting the device and CS would be good, instead the device keyboard lost sensitivity after just 2 months, keyboard cracked after 6 months, and SE pulled the plug on the software after the R3A.
To me, that is just crap. Their Customer Service is just so dumb that i don't want to see them anymore. Don't know about other country, but they simply crap in my country.
I asked them to replace my cracked keyboard and initially the CS said that i will lose all my data. Since when replacing and cleaning keyboard needs a hard reset huh? after that, the CS asked me to leave the device in their custody until the next stock of keyboard comes. They ran out of it when i went there. They told me to wait for around a month or so. A full month without my phone. Crazy.
After lengthy verbal argument, i got them to order the keyboard while i still keep the device. They will contact me when the keyboard comes. This was at the end of November 09.
guess what?
they never called. Nothing .I still am waiting for their call.
bunch of liars...lucky i sold my phone in december. I had enough of it.

mr_sheen said:
i have to agree that this phone is ****. I really do.
But im not gonna compare it to the iPhone because thats like comparing apple and banana. iPhone and Xperia have their own segment and target market.
Now that that is straight, the phone is an utter **** because the way SE package the whole thing as a premium phone. I had mine on January 09 and expecting the device and CS would be good, instead the device keyboard lost sensitivity after just 2 months, keyboard cracked after 6 months, and SE pulled the plug on the software after the R3A.
To me, that is just crap. Their Customer Service is just so dumb that i dont want to see them anymore. Dont know about other country, but they simply crap in my country.
I asked them to replace my cracked keyboard and initially the CS said that i will lose all my data. Since when replacing and cleaning keyboard needs a hard reset huh? after that, the CS asked me to leave the device in their custody until the next stock of keyboard cones. They ran out of it when i went there. They told me to wait for around a month or so. A full month without my phone. Crazy.
After lengthy verbal argument, i got them to order the keyboard while i still keep the device. They will contact me when the keyboard comes. This was at the end of november 09.
guesswhat?
they never called.I am still waiting for their call.
bunch of liars...lucky i sold my phone in december. I had enough of it.
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Wow reading that post, that's Bullsh!t how they played you like that. I haven't had to deal with CS yet I guess I'm lucky...... so far.

@poetryrocksalot:
of course reviews are only made after weeks of usage, not years. And it's not them to blame about the cracks - admit it: the phone seems like high build quality compared to other slide smartphones. F.e. a guy in my class who owns the iPhone always says how nice the metal feels like. Compared to the Nokia N97 which is crap, the SE Xperia feels solid. Feels better than an iPhone imho.
But if you wait a year if that phone really is a good one before you buy it, than its old and what you get is a solid phone with old software...so make a decision what you want =)
@mr_sheen
this story is really sad. I talked to SE service in Germany last Thursday and sent it in Friday. The parcel has not arrived at their repair centre, but they told me already they have something like the 48 hours policy. Once my phone arrived they'll look after it and then it back no later than 48 hours (2 days) what absolutely is acceptable. Hopefully they make it true and also replace the housing (cracks in 4 different places...droped it once but not from a high place...). Phone still looks like new...and also they told me Id lose all my data and I had to go back to stock ROM and spl what was a pain in the as*...
But I think that has nothing to do with the Xperia. Every manufacturing says you'll lose data even if they only change hardware (or are supposed to do so..) maybe I even get a new phone..Thats what I still hope =)

X1 is the best phone i've ever owned. And i say that knowing how crap SE handsets have become.
It's just so much fun to play with and getting more versatile all the time. And after 12 months ownership and hard usage, i still have no cracks or hardware issues

[DISCUSS] Is this the best phone ever or what? (with mini review)

Seriously, I love this phone. I got it 2 days ago and i can't take my hands off it.
I'm 32 years old (yea yea getting old now), and was brought up on computer games. This phone makes me remember just how good the old megadrive/genesis/snes games were compared to the (mostly) crappy indie games that we see these days. I've fondly been playing Sonic, Mario, Super Star Wars, Streets of Rage and a whole host of others flawlessly on this little beauty. It's an emulation dream come true.
The N64 emulator lags a little bit for me, but mostly it's just occasional sound skipping, it is certainly still more than playable, although the control mapping could be a little bit easier. I'm hoping a MAME emulator will be released that supports all the old mame games and not just the capcom games. (Anyone can tell me if there is one already or one coming out?)
Some fears i had for the phone before i purchased were these -
- Worried it would be too bulky
- Worried about the screen auto dim feature and not being able to turn it off
- Worried about the battery life
- Worried about the hardware being outdated before it even hit the shelves
- Well, the phone is bulkier than alot of other phones, but it is still slim enough to easily slip in and out your pocket. I didn't look at the phone before i ordered it, i just jumped in and ordered it off the net and hope it was what i wanted (or i could send it back within 7 days to get a refund). Overall i am very happy with the size of the phone. I certainly don't feel like an idiot getting it out my pocket, it looks very cool.
- The auto brightness on the screen is not all that bad. I got annoyed at first, not being able to turn the phone on max brightness, but after a few minutes my eyes got used to it and i hardly notice it anymore. It must serve a good purpose because the battery lasts a long time. I think that an official patch is definately needed though, not giving people an option to turn off auto brightness is disastrous. Saying that, more than likely i would leave auto brightness turned on, it does save battery and it is implemented excellently imho.
- Battery life is amazing. I got through 12-14 hours of gaming, browsing, and general usage + a full night withought charge on standby and when i woke up it had 7% battery life left. You can not go through 2 days with this phone though, so still you will have to charge it every night, but you can guarantee a full, proper day usage out of it without too much worries about the battery dieing.
- Hardware is a bit meh. On one hand the phone runs super smooth. And FPSE plays PS1 games super smooth, no slowdown at all. The N64 as i mentioned has a few sound skips. So the hardware does exaclty what it was designed to do. This is where it stops though. There will be no PS2 emulation, no dreamcast emulation, no xbox1 emulation. Not until the next handset gets released. This is the limits of this phones power.
Overall i think this is the best phone made to date. I don't care it hasn't got 1080p recording, i don't care the camera is only 5 megapixel. This phone owns and is easily the best phone i have ever owned to date.
Roll on the Xperia Play 2. I am now a branded fan.
edit - Just thought i would say that my phone came with a 16gb Micro SD card, 2 screen protectors (1 of them already put on flawlessly, no air bubbles or dust underneath at all, 1 spare). I have heard people only getting 8gb cards and no screen protectors, but this did not happen with my order.

i mostly agree with you, this is the best phone i have had and i have owned a G1, motorola dext, motorola milestone and a HTC HD2, i would only recommend the HD2 out of these and even then, only after installing android (unless your into windows)
the thing is, i no some people dont value proper gaming as much as me or others so they think this device is not needed but im glad we dont all feel the same way
what im really hoping for this device is, for it to be popular enough so that other manufacturers (or even sony) make a similar device, hopefully with dual or even quad core in mind, add 1GB ram and dreamcast/PS2 emulation is a possibility
but for right now? the play is excellent considering its the first of its kind

agree with most of what you say. but yes hardware is a bit meh.
could have done with better implementation on shoulder buttons and i still think they coud've stuck in an L2/R2 somewhere
overall, the best android phone i ever had was hands down the galaxy S. ****ing beatiful, screen, performance (with custom rom and lagfix!), etc.
but as a gaming phone, this is THE best, despite it's lackluster hardware, it has hardware controls, which, IMO, makes up for all its shortcomings!

L2 and R2 buttons.....
Yeah, i guess they could be put next to each other so that it doesn't increase the thickness of the phone.
So it would look like this -
_______________________________
(L1....L2..............................R2....R1)
_______________________________
Still, FPSE allows you to put L2 and R2 at the bottom left and right of the screen. They are easy enough to get to with your thumbs, so it's no big deal tbh.

usually not a big deal, but when you have to use simultaneous button presses, i.e. press R2 and X together, can become tricky.

Sony * Rule * Got mine Today
Hi peeps,
Got mine today, excellent phone love the Ginerbread.
a few issues so far but no problem.
Love this phone, looks so stylish and plays excellent.
TapperOUT!

Im in the same camp as you mate, same age and gaming experience and I agree 100%

I'm 29 and one of the biggest retro gaming fans in the retro gaming scene.
if any of you have ever heard about the pandora (600mhz ARM TI OMAP 3530) based device. If not, more information is here www.openpandora.org
but I have both devices and I pitted them up agianst each other and gave a lenghy review/comparison of each. It's a good read if you're into that sorta thing.
http://boards.openpandora.org/index.php?/topic/2746-xperia-play-vs-pandora/
Spoiler
TLDR; this is the best mobile gaming handheld in terms of power and available software you can currently buy that satisfies the console emulators hobbyists needs.
not the absolute best when it comes to hardware and features, but makes up for it in interface and available software and raw power.

johnsongrantr said:
I'm 29 and one of the biggest retro gaming fans in the retro gaming scene.
if any of you have ever heard about the pandora (600mhz ARM TI OMAP 3530) based device. If not, more information is here www.openpandora.org
but I have both devices and I pitted them up agianst each other and gave a lenghy review/comparison of each. It's a good read if you're into that sorta thing.
http://boards.openpandora.org/index.php?/topic/2746-xperia-play-vs-pandora/
Spoiler
TLDR; this is the best mobile gaming handheld in terms of power and available software you can currently buy that satisfies the console emulators hobbyists needs.
not the absolute best when it comes to hardware and features, but makes up for it in interface and available software and raw power.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i just wanted to say i read your review and it was pretty good, i was interested in pandora at first but because of how long it took to release i completely forgot about it, although looking at it now, i totally envy the keyboard except the D pad and triggers, having gaming controls AND a qwerty keyboard is just excellent, sony should consider this with the xperia play 2 or what ever manufacturer decides to make a PS certified phone, if extra bulk was needed i could certainly live with it
that said, the keyboard is the only thing i would take from pandora, in my opinion the play beats it in every other area except screen size but then thats balanced with capacitive vs resistive
EDIT - forgot to check the pandora website to see how much it costs.....wow, 440 euro is alot, i was expecting a little over half that, just for comparisons sake i bought my play , sim free for £400 a few days after release, considering the play has more useful features (in my opinion) 3G, android OS and its market, phone functions etc....im surprised it cost so much

I agree here !
I am 27 and also brought up with retro games it's so nice able to play my games again from my childhood.
The device lays good in your hand indeed the as for the brightness well it's fine although my xperia x10 with lowest brightness on is still readable and not with my xperia play but even cranked up at highest brightness the battery still remains exellent thought it would drain like hell like my x10 does but it doesn't !
Glad I got rid of my omnia with win mobile and now have 2 nice xperia devices !
Android is the OS I am currently hooked on never was to happy with my omnia due winmobile but the phone was hyped in my country and it was the biggest mistake I made.
Hardware wise yea there are already dualcore devices and tegra2 gpu powered
as for the emulators of xbox , ps2 , dreamcast & gamecube
I don't think we will see them in the next year or so
but then again there is a developer working to get a dreamcast emu working and progress is already nice I think it's a matter of time we will see
as for my order I recieved a stock screenprotector already on screen , extra screen protector ( they are very scratch resistant my x10 didn't have such a good screenprotector had to take the factory applied on off and apply a newly bought screen protector ) Wall charger , car charger , leather poach & 8gb SD card which I recently upgraded to 32gb

I think in point of view it is the best phone for me but can be better if they added more memory/better screen/ and a PSP Emulator

baaa3 said:
I think in point of view it is the best phone for me but can be better if they added more memory/better screen/ and a PSP Emulator
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
fair point but like someone told me, this is the first generation of this particular device, yes, sony could have gone all out but that would just mean the xperia play 2 would only have minor updated features
think of it like the first iphone, it probably should have had 3G, better ram etc but it just meant that the jump from iphone 2g to 3g was that much greater
although saying all that, im pretty sure HTC, motorola, samsung or LG will bring a play competitor before the years end with atl east dual core onboard

silvacrest said:
fair point but like someone told me, this is the first generation of this particular device, yes, sony could have gone all out but that would just mean the xperia play 2 would only have minor updated features
think of it like the first iphone, it probably should have had 3G, better ram etc but it just meant that the jump from iphone 2g to 3g was that much greater
although saying all that, im pretty sure HTC, motorola, samsung or LG will bring a play competitor before the years end with atl east dual core onboard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does anyone know how the sales are going in Europe of this device?
If sales were crazy, like on the iphone, then probably we will have more joypad versions, if not, then this will be like the Nokia Ngage... how many years have passed from that phone to this one? i dont remember well, but at least 6 o 7...
So basically, we will have to wait until the phone gets released worldwide and see how the numbers go to SE.
Probably on the next version i will expect an exclusive suite and not an android suite that all phones can play with. Because if we have something exclusive, then we will have a game that will be made for this controls. (from what i heard, the PS Suite will be available on android market for all high end devices)

my only annoyance with the device is the power button should have been on the screen section not controller, I occasionally press it when im playing something that uses the L shoulder a lot e.g. street fighter

FrAsErTaG said:
my only annoyance with the device is the power button should have been on the screen section not controller, I occasionally press it when im playing something that uses the L shoulder a lot e.g. street fighter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you manage to do that?
My power button is actually indented. I can't turn it off with my 'L' finger even if i try to do it on purpose.

dsswoosh said:
How do you manage to do that?
My power button is actually indented. I can't turn it off with my 'L' finger even if i try to do it on purpose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
other people testing my phone have done it too, so we are not different you are...

FrAsErTaG said:
other people testing my phone have done it too, so we are not different you are...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, to me it also seems nearly impossible to turn the device off while gaming

must agree, has never happened to me also

Maybe me and my friends just have more manly fingers?
I still strand by original comment power button should be on screen half, would also help to see the notification light
Sent from my R800i using XDA App

FrAsErTaG said:
Maybe me and my friends just have more manly fingers?
I still strand by original comment power button should be on screen half, would also help to see the notification light
Sent from my R800i using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
or maybe you guys just have chubby sausage fingers?

[Q] Is the Xperia Play worth Getting?

I am very hesitant in getting that phone, I've heard alot of good things and alot of bad things
I've seen specs and I've seen reviews, but I want to know people's personal opinion as they have the phone for full everyday use and not just reviewing it.
Is it worth it?

My advice do not go for it,you have better options for the same price.even if you are into gaming do not go for it...you can wait for NGP later and get dual core mobile now like galaxy s2/sensation/optimus 2x

I say go for it 4 sure. If you're like me who loves Zelda OOT, buy it! There is nothing like sitting on the subway while kids are playing their angry birds on their iphone while you sit there with your play and play Zelda or tekken 2 It's totally worth it!
everyday phone? Oh yeah! It works great!
Don't listen to that guy talking about dual core. You don't need it on a phone!! seriously, WHY would you need dual core? Everything i've tried on my play works like a charm!

jassired said:
My advice do not go for it,you have better options for the same price.even if you are into gaming do not go for it...you can wait for NGP later and get dual core mobile now like galaxy s2/sensation/optimus 2x
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, get a dual core mobile now so you can play the exact same games you can play on the Xperia Play, only with worse controls and worse battery life.
Then get an NGP later so you can carry around two devices for ultimate portability!

hairdewx said:
Yeah, get a dual core mobile now so you can play the exact same games you can play on the Xperia Play, only with worse controls and worse battery life.
Then get an NGP later so you can carry around two devices for ultimate portability!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that was exactly what i meant haaha +1

^^^ I'm being sarcastic in my last post, in case the OP didn't catch that.
I'm very happy with my Play as a gaming phone and everyday phone. My wife has a Droid 3, and there isn't much difference at all, if any, in app performance and daily phone use. I have much better battery life as well. She has a better camera Maybe eventually apps will start taking advantage of multiple cores, but it's going to be a while.
You can't play this game on a touch screen very well...

Yourmama said:
I am very hesitant in getting that phone, I've heard alot of good things and alot of bad things
I've seen specs and I've seen reviews, but I want to know people's personal opinion as they have the phone for full everyday use and not just reviewing it.
Is it worth it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is very simple. How much do you value playing both Android-native and emulated games against the rest of features in a phone? If you really want to play games in a phone, this is your device.
If you don't value playing games over dual core CPUs, slick designs, gorgeous screens and feature-rich cameras, you're not the target for this device. It has a very specific niche, which Sony Ericsson has spent millions in digging out. It's a love-it-or-hate-it product, with little middle ground.
Oh, and it has an astonishingly precise GPS.

There are bad points about this phone but show me a perfect phone.
The best 2 things about this phone are obviously the control pad for 1 and the battery life, which has amazed me so far.
The only thing that I find annoying is the lack of decent games taking advantage of what is a great phone.
But I have to say I have started using emulators and they are quality, n64oid and fpse especially.
So to sum up its a great mix up between a gaming device and a smart phone. It is let down on the development side.
It all just depends on what you want if you like gaming I dont think you will be let down in purchasing this phone
Thats my two pennies anyway
Sent from my R800i using XDA App

I have an xperia play and a few of my mates have dual core phones (SGS2, Optimus x2 e.t.c). I would not swap the Xplay for any of them.
As hairdewx has shown if you plan on playing anything with FPSE or emulators it is pointless on anything other than an xplay. The emulators alones let you play thousands of games with proper controls (makes it a 1000x better)
The speakers are the best on any phone. And the battery life is amazing to say this is a gaming device. Just using it as a normal phone it is as good as the rest.
I would recommend you get this phone. I think it will be hard for me to upgrade to a newer phone @ the end of my contract, unless it has proper gaming controls . (Xplay 2 hopefully)

Thanks guys I don't know I just might get it the only setback was the lack of an HD screen and the core issue but seems that the people who have the phone are enjoying it, I will see

Just wanted to give a perspective from someone who just bought the phone yesterday.
Waiting in the Verizon store I got the chance to mess with a few other phones. I actually played a couple games on some as well and just took an overall look. So to start lets forget the coolness of the control pad, and also that IMO playing games with motion/touch controls aside from something designed for it like Angry Birds absolutely sucks. Its why I seriously have not been into mobile gaming until now and I'm a big gamer. Just can't stand those controls.
Most of these new 4G dual core phones are huge. Seriously I was playing with one of the new 4G phones and the damn thing was like a doormat it was so big. Meanwhile the Xperia Play dimensionally is almost identical to my OG Droid, but space wise is designed better so that the 4" screen pushes to almost the edges of the device which uses space very well. Fits in my pocket WAY better than those 4G devices with a screen thats only 0.3" smaller.
Next up is speed. The OS is just as responsive on the Play as any of the 4G devices, I'm honestly not sure how much a dual core processor can help on a cellphone especially for normal every day tasks, with an OS that while multitasking, is not like a PC where you can physically have 2+ windows on screen at once. The way Android prioritizes memory, if you are using multiple apps at once, I just don't see there being a possibility of an everyday advantage. Needless to say, touch them side by side, there is NO difference in speed. Which brings me to games. I played a couple on the newer devices, they looked and played the same as on the Play, no faster, no better graphics, no nothing.
Finally would be features, ok so the camera is ok but not as good, 4G where available, is REALLY fast so thats nice as well and if you're in an area its common, and you have a need for that kind of speed, well then its something you should consider. And HDMI out, not on the Play. I personally have no use for it but if you do then theres another loss. So this comes to opinion - IMO the camera is good enough, it does the job, its a cell phone not a Canon. 4G? I live in the NY metro area basically where 4G service should be mostly available but its spotty, meanwhile WiFi is everywhere, and everywhere I'd sit and use it I have WiFi (my home, my folks house, my firehouse etc), when I travel I book hotels that have free WiFi, also my ISP provides open WiFi in many areas. Also I have no shame I use peoples open WiFi signals if I have to, so honestly I don't miss the speed there. 3G really isn't THAT bad either, however its a compromise, and I'm sure outside of this area it could be a problem for some. Then HDMI out, I bet I'd try it out for a novelty but I'd probably never use it. I have a PS3, I watch movies on my big screen from that or my PC with HDMI out.
And 2 things I've said above become an advantage for the Play, no 4G and no Dual core = better battery life.
So all in all I don't for a second regret the purchase, you get 95% of the performance of a 4G phone, with the advantage of better battery life, and the completely awesome built in control pad. If you want to game, its a no brainer.

When I saw the title of the thread I opened it to give my opinion about this phone. But when I read the previous answers, all that I wanted to say had already been said, so I gave up writing a big text because I don't have anything new to say!
Then I'll only say that it's an awesome phone, buy it without any fear, you won't regret it.

_terror_ said:
If you're like me who loves Zelda OOT, buy it! There is nothing like sitting on the subway while kids are playing their angry birds on their iphone while you sit there with your play and play Zelda or tekken 2 It's totally worth it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WTF! did you get a stable enough N64 emu (not to mention enough ram to run the rom) I have a GBA SNES NES GameGear and Genesis, but i cant find a good (preferably free at least till applanets back up) 64emu anywhere....and how are you running tekken two though all the psx emus crash cause of sony releasing this phone....oh and as long as you plan to plug the thing in everynight for like 8 hours (although 2.3.3 update fixes that a small amount if you dont game or browse or call or well pretty much emulate any sort of energy from it) than dont buy this phone really takes a commitment, i hate that i bought it then found out motorolla is releasing the droid 3(name changes between SP's) with HDMI out 1Ghz process 8mp cam rear and ii believie dont quote 3.2 front (might have been 2.3 or somewhere goin on memory of specs) THAT IS THE PHONE YOU WANT IF YOU ARE STILL LOOKING but release does depend on SP Bell got it first! havent folllowed up on it much just pisses me off that i bought a damn sony product over a 3ds.......oh and sorry if i repeated anyfacts

It is my favorite device. I just put in 2 hours of Beyond the Beyond without any awful on screen controls or bluetooth shenanigans.
Sound quality is spectacular too, as is the battery life.
The only thing that could use some improvement is the camera.
If you enjoy games more than just casually and really enjoy emulation, there is no other real option IMHO.
Sent from my R800at using Tapatalk

KronikonE said:
WTF! did you get a stable enough N64 emu (not to mention enough ram to run the rom) I have a GBA SNES NES GameGear and Genesis, but i cant find a good (preferably free at least till applanets back up) 64emu anywhere....and how are you running tekken two though all the psx emus crash cause of sony releasing this phone....oh and as long as you plan to plug the thing in everynight for like 8 hours (although 2.3.3 update fixes that a small amount if you dont game or browse or call or well pretty much emulate any sort of energy from it) than dont buy this phone really takes a commitment, i hate that i bought it then found out motorolla is releasing the droid 3(name changes between SP's) with HDMI out 1Ghz process 8mp cam rear and ii believie dont quote 3.2 front (might have been 2.3 or somewhere goin on memory of specs) THAT IS THE PHONE YOU WANT IF YOU ARE STILL LOOKING but release does depend on SP Bell got it first! havent folllowed up on it much just pisses me off that i bought a damn sony product over a 3ds.......oh and sorry if i repeated anyfacts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
N64oid v2 runs alot of roms pretty perfect now, and fpse eats tekken alive, infact i havent found one ps1 rom it dosent run pefectly

jdsemler said:
Sound quality is spectacular too, as is the battery life.
The only thing that could use some improvement is the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
K Sound Agreed, Battery however i would like to know what miracle device you are using to keep it powered cause even with the 2.3.3 update which i wont le improved battery life significantly, i dont find its able to keep up with the demand especially noticable when streaming data i.e. skyFM or TuneInRadio(awsome app by the way for a phone with no FM reciever any radio station you could imagine....from all 7 contenent...yes there is a sat radio station based in antarctica for the 12 people that are ever there at one time, sheesh im Canadian and i say no thanks to that lol sorry off topic tired and ranting), and camera is decent quality 5.0mp front is only1.2 so self portraits are a little grainy i find, but none the less i have to agreee it could use more features to the actual cam its self

AndroHero said:
N64oid v2 runs alot of roms pretty perfect now, and fpse eats tekken alive, infact i havent found one ps1 rom it dosent run pefectly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
didnt know N64oid v2 was out thanks!, and as for the ps one emu i think i might just steal whatever games they release seeing as i pretty much bought a psone in a phone seems a little redundant to download a program on top of that....just cant wait to see if they find a way to release FFVII and VIII to the phone

Just get an android phone you like
to the guy who started this thread truely you just want an android phone PERIOD with it dominating over 50% of the smart phone generation other companies are trying to figure a way to eat a piece of googles pie....ie rumors which are now apparently confimed (which i havent seen first hand knowledge) but the iPhone 5(BOOO) is set to release with BBM installed, and we all know android with get it first probably for free with some sort if ad support....its like comparing a PS3 to Xbox360 its just not necessary 360 wins in every department like android.(minus blueray but you can obvi get a cheap one of those now to make up for it)

Anyone interested
found a decent site on app creation for android....vogella.de/articles/Android/article.html
sorry bout not making it a link apparently i havent posted enough for our Naziesq forum rules

KronikonE said:
to the guy who started this thread truely you just want an android phone PERIOD with it dominating over 50% of the smart phone generation other companies are trying to figure a way to eat a piece of googles pie....ie rumors which are now apparently confimed (which i havent seen first hand knowledge) but the iPhone 5(BOOO) is set to release with BBM installed, and we all know android with get it first probably for free with some sort if ad support....its like comparing a PS3 to Xbox360 its just not necessary 360 wins in every department like android.(minus blueray but you can obvi get a cheap one of those now to make up for it)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't you pissed on this guy's thread enough? Then you come into a forum with people who are obvious playstation and Sony fans and say the Xbox360 "wins in every department" which is so untrue its not even funny but I'm not getting into that flame war here.
You don't seem to like the phone much, and you don't seem to like PS much, door is to the left, go buy another phone then.

[Q] Some questions about the Xperia Play

So I'm coming off contract on my current phone soon so I've naturally been checking out the market for a new phone. When the Xperia Play launched earlier in the year, to be honest I wasn't that impressed with it, but I've been hearing good things about it lately. Specifically how SE have continued to support it and fix the little bugs and glitches, as well as providing more functionality in the future and OS updates (crossing my fingers for the 4.0 update). However I am a bit cautious because I am totally new to Sony Ericsson phones, and this will also be my first Android phone. I currently own a Samsung Omnia 2 (i8000).
I realise a lot of things could be gleened from reviews, but the problem is all reviews for this phone were written months ago when it was first launched, so seem hardly relevant now after the recent updates SE have been making. What I want to know is, have these updates improved the phone significantly? Is the phone worth it now?
I am a keen gamer, so the physical controls definitely interest me, but I am also after good functionality in the phone too...making calls, how easy the keyboard is to use, music and video playback, how well the GPS works, how good the web browsing experience is, how customisable it is, how good the camera is etc etc - does the phone perform these functions well?
Also of importance is how is stacks up in performance against other high end Android devices (currently the Galaxy S II is the only dual core device on the Australian market) - how many Android apps and games are actually written to support dual core CPU's? How well does it perform in everyday phone operations compare to say the Galaxy S II?
One feature I'm particularly bummed about is the lack of FM Radio...I use the FM Radio in my current Omnia 2 more often than I expected, so I'll definitely miss that if I decide to go for the Play - has anyone written an app that's able to utilise the radio in the Play's snapdragon CPU? It still baffles me that SE elected not to enable the radio especially when touting the thing as a multimedia device, given the hardware is there already. Course I could stream it but that's a waste of data (and battery, compared to using the radio).
Another feature is the lack of internal storage...for a device that's supposed to be about gaming it seems odd that there is basically no internal storage in it, forcing you to use a microSD card. If anyone in Australia has picked up this phone through Telstra, what size (and class) microSD card do they package with the phone? Need to know if I'll be shelling out more money for a nice 32 GB card or something. Is it relatvely easy (without rooting the phone) to move stuff to the SD card or force it to install to the SD card by default?
Lastly, how comfortable is the phone to hold when gaming? I've noticed the PSP go, which has a very similar basic design, can become uncomfortable after a while as the edges of the device kinda dig into your palms, has anyone found this to be a problem with the Play? I couldn't really tell this from the couple of minutes I spent with one in store while it was covered in security tags and attached to a desk with cables.
Thanks for your time...it's a bit of a wall of text so I apologise in advance for that.

my 0.02$
pros: the tons of emulator support and mind you its improving
the fact that we can convert our own psx titles thanks to psxperia
of course the controls tho the joysticks due need a bit of getting used to
honestly think if SE wouldve designed the joysticks like the psp go it wouldve been alot better
the phone overall feels solid not cheap the controls is like a good lapdance on your bday lol
keep in mind it was marketed as a gaming device not a multimedia etc
the camera is great also the front camera is a bit so so
cons:
basically the storage and no hdmi out which wouldve been the icing on the cake
and like really we all know emulators psx games and all the crap we can run is gonna eat up alot of memory mine came with a pre installed 8 gb which is okay but after all the shi you can do with it it does feel small a nice 32 gb pre installed wouldve been nice
also the battery life is horrible due to all the bloatware installed nothing a little rooting magic wont solve
i used to get about a day out of it but now after rooting and removing all the junk
i get about 2 days of heavy usage and gaming before i gotta recharge
yeah the missing radio is a con to some but others are just like ill just get on youtube
"jerrys final thought" lol
the hardware is decent i mean were not gonna run call of duty on it
the overall functionality as a phone is great
but this thing is honestly lacking SOFTWARE "anyone got geohots number"

Anyone else want to give their opinions? I'm trying to get as much information as I can about this phone before I take the plunge.

I was t very pleased with the keyboard, but I installed go launcher ex and all the extras that come with it, and not only does it give some extra look, but it adds some really good features. I noticed that it gets very low on memory, but that may be because I've got 15 startup apparently or so. Haptic feedback could be a bit better, but other than that I don't have many negative views on it. The hardware gaming pad is very nice, but I wasn't ecstatic about the sensor pads. They are a bit irritating and take a while to get used to. The physical buttons are very very nice. I also like the bottom row of buttons (back, home, menu, and search) are also pleasing. Touch screen is very responsive. Also, it comes with like $25 worth of games pre loaded on it XD but I uninstall most of them, because they were unnecessary. If you like monetary at all, you'll have to buy this phone. If I think of anything else, I'll post again.
Sent from my R800x using XDA App

Thanks for the reponses so far.
I'd still like some more though - please post your experiences with the Play both good and bad...ANY information you think might be useful to know.

As said in other threads like this, it all really comes down to how much you play games that needs a dedicated gamepad to be really enjoyable and even playable in some cases.
The phone is pretty much as other Android phones on the market and it's doing the job as a phone pretty good. There's some bugs here and there, but not anything serious. There's a battery drain bug that can be fixed by manual selecting your network instead of auto selecting (only on the newest FW). The UI is fluent and smooth, the hardware build is ok, could be more robust, snappy response, nice screen, good dev going on etc.
It's not that elegant even though they curved it on the back it' still a bit bulky and if you don't play that much it will be a bad plunge to go for the play. It will be a slightly big lump in your pant's for 'just' a phone. It's not a brick like the Nokia N900 but you can feel it and see it in your pocket.
I think i have average sized hands so for me it's comfy to hold the xperia play while playing and do sometimes play games 3 hours strait without any discomfort.
I don't miss the FMradio even though it's been on all my phones since... Well the last, say 8-9 years.
Haven't really encountered any problems with the low internal storage. You can move apps to the sdcard and the dalvik cache aswell to gain more that way.
Bottom line it's a phone to play games on wich is does with bravour and i'm really glad i got it and i'm not missing anything on the phone side nor the whole experience as an android phone.
Just get it mate and start the gaming
Regards Dousan...

In my opinion we should not be so harsh to SE, they made a rather experimental device. Of course they can do better, but not without your money. Also I think sony is holding this thing back because of the ps vita.
Its rather unique that you can never be truly bored when you are carrying this phone. (I think touch screen controlls are 100% crap)
Sent from my R800i using XDA App

I have some input I can share after my 1 week with my 800x(VZW)... I had an EVO for a year and have a Nexus S as well. When I was looking for a new phone I really wanted a keyboard... but after some play time on an Epic and my gf's EVO Shift, I noticed I'm totally over my soft keyboard hatred and didn't need a physical one.. except it helps for gaming. The XP was the most logical choice for me.
I LOVE having solid control over orientation. The d-pad is perfect for fine cursor control without dragging a handle around. The GPU helps it perform as well or better than my EVO/NexusS. I heard complaints that the screen is terrible in the sun, it looks almost exactly as my EVO does, I'd say slightly better due to the factory screen protector. With the latest OTA the auto brightness problem is gone, thankfully! Battery life is similar to underclocked/volted EVO. I love how the Home key is a secondary power button.
Now for the bad stuff! The front cam is grayed out and underwhelming, but it works well enough. Locked bootloader is a burn for me, but honestly I'm having a much better time dealing with it than I thought. Vanilla Android helps a lot, but the bloatware makes managing apps difficult. I've had to let some phone-only apps go, but thems the breaks sometimes!
Overall, I'm very happy with the XP so far, I think you should give it a week or so trial and see how you like it!
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Edit with some more stuff! GPS has been tight, locks in seconds, and only problem I've had with the controls is that I'm having a tough time with SF Alpha 3, F-D-DF (dragon punch) motion is difficult for me right now. Otherwise it's been butter! I didn't care for the touch pad thingies on Crash Bandicoot, but I prefer d-pad gaming anyway.
Sent from my R800x using XDA App