How I bought my Sony Ericsson W595
I drooled over getting myself a mobile phone for a very long time. Finally decided to get one in Jan 2009. So started checking websites like gsmarena and mobile-review to read reviews about mobile phones. Deep down i knew i would settle down with a Sony Ericsson phone and never with a Nokia. I just hated Nokia’s bloated design making it heavy. The UI was not slick with Motorola and Samsung. I did not look at any other brands.
Budget and Options
My budget was 10k-15k and so my options narrowed down. Finally came to choosing between SE T700 (around 12K INR) and SE W595(around 14K INR). Started to read reviews about these phones and found that
SE T700 vs SE W595
3.2 MP with Flash vs 3.2MP without Flash
512MB card vs 2GB card
Normal music player vs Walkman with dual headphone capability
Candybar vs Slider with stereo speakers
Hunting for Best Price
So finally decided to go with SE W595 and started to check retail websites like Univercell, The Mobile Store, Poorvika, Wavetel located in Chennai. The prices were around 14,200 INR in Univercell and Poorvika. 14,050 INR in The Mobile Store and 13900 at Wavetel. Obviously i called up Wavetel to enquire the route to the shop and asked the price casually to confirm. They said it was 14,200 INR. Wow so much for a website which tells you can get the lowest price. I also called up The Sony Ericsson Experience Store and got the quote as 14,650 INR. Next thing i called up The Mobile Store and the price was exactly 14,050 so decided to buy from them. Went the next day with a friend and bought my lava black SE W595 mobile.
Choosing a Service Provider
So I bought my mobile and was returning back home only to find that a local bandh had been called due to self-immolation of a person for Srilankan Tamil crisis. All shops were closed. Disappointed i got a currently unused working SIM from my friend and played around with it. The next day afternoon along with my friend i went to a local mobile service retail shop. Checked the various plans of service providers like Airtel, Vodafone, Aircel, BSNL and since most of my friends had an Airtel i choose to go with it. My friend convinced me to get a lifetime card. Initially I was hesitant but I’m happy now since i use my mobile for calls very ocassionally. My friend picked the number and i liked the number.
Things I learnt
- Never trust the price put on websites even official ones. Call to know the price.
- Read a lot of review sites before buying, since some may be biased.
- Check user reviews and comments on these review sites to get micro details which will not be there in any reviews or specifications.
- Its very tempting to get a mobile with a lot of features but ask yourself “Will i be needing this X feature?”, “Will I use it?”, “Does it provide value for my money?”. And then decide.
Will continue later about my affair with Sony Ericsson W595…
