Thinking about buying an Aino

[#1]

I'm strongly thinking about ordering an Aino, and had a few questions. Thanks for any help

     - Are there any planned updates to be implemented soon, of any kind? How strong is the support for this phone?

     - Is there any customization to the background or menus? Are there different themes available?

     - Can you download apps from a site such as this one, or are you stuck with the select few apps that came with the phone? - http://www.getjar.com/mobile-productivity-applications-for-sony-ericsson-u10-aino/all/?o=popular

     - Can you recommend anywhere where I can purchase the Aino, with a speaker stand, unlocked? All places I've contacted so far don't seem to carry the speaker stand with it.

     - I'm on the fence with the Hazel or the Aino. If you had the choice which would you choose? The Hazel seems to be the better phone after looking around, but does lack some things the Aino has such as partial touch.

Any help is much appreciated.

[#2]

I don't know about the updates, haven't had one since April last year i think

there are different themes avaliable, and you can customize the background picture of the menu and icons, depending on your provider, i currently can't so i need to debrand my phone.

yes you can get apps for this phone, i get mine mostly from getjar

The aino doesn't come with a speaker stand, the original aino comes with a 8 Gb micro sd memory card, deskstand and a stereo bluetooth headset. The aino classic comes with a 2Gb microsd Memory Card, a normal wired stereo headset and the charger. So be carful what it says on the box, says aino classic it doesn't come packed with lots of extras.

For me it's the aino, i'm more into an entertainment phone than social.

What are you going to use the phone most for?

[#3]

Anon, thanks for the reply. I plan on using it more for playing music than anything else. Making calls, the occasional video, and various apps.

That's what I meant, desk stand not speaker stand. I've contacted several sellers, but all seem to say that it no longer comes bundled with the desk stand. Can you recommend anywhere I still might be able to get the Aino with the extras?

[#4]

What's your region?

check the Sony ericsson site, they should have a site off that where you can buy the phone, the advantage of buying off sony ericsson is that you don't have to debrand it for flash menus and others, it's also more stable as i've heard.

The problem is that most regions only offer the aino classic now. one of them is the middle east region

for music, the aino is for you, but the problem is the loudspeaker isn't soo loud.

hope you're able to find an original aino than the aino classic

[#5]

I went ahead and bought an unlocked U10I classic, and bought the accessories (stand and BT headset) from Ebay. Came out to a bit less than I probably would have to buy the whole package. Already have a spare Micro SD. But, now I'm already looking to accessorize this beautiful phone and I had a question. I'm looking at the Zagg invisible shield protector, can you or anyone recommend a good surface scratch protector or is Zagg pretty good?

Also, I'm looking at getting the MBS-200 BT speaker. I was wondering, could I get two of the MBS-200 speakers and pair them both up, getting better sound rather than just the one, or is this not possible? The reason I don't just get the MBS-400 pair is because I prefer the white color.

Also, was wondering if the Aino has anywhere you can attach a wrist strap to it? Want to make sure I don't drop this thing. Anyway thanks for help

[#6]

Well that's good to hear, what colour did you get? i've got the obsidian black because my region doesn't offer the awesome white colour

you'd be better off getting the 400 if you want better sound, the 200 is a mono while the 400 is stereo.

you can't have two active bluetooth speakers at once as it may be possible but the sound quality is worse as there is more traffic and you won't get stereo sound.

overall the 200 is more portable but lacks the stereo sound.

yes you can attach a strap, a lot of people think it's a  microphone but it isn't

take your battery cover off and at the bottom of the battery cover there is the speaker grill, next to that is a small hole, just thread the strap through, don't attach it yet. then you'll see on the phone where the little hole covers there is a hook like thing, you attach the strap to that and put your phone back together

btw I don't know if it's true but i read somewhere that the aino has a mineral crystal glass screen, I didn't put a screen protector in it yet and it hasn't shown any scratches yet in my 1 year of ownership so far. you can put one on if you want.

also, if any of this doesn't make sense, just state which bit and I'll explain it more thoroughly for you.

[#7]

good stuff thanks for the info anon! much appreciated. That's what I figured about the speakers, wouldn't think you could use two BT speakers at the same time, but wanted to ask BC I love the way the 200 looks. I got the Aino in white, from a vendor on Amazon for a decent price.

No you've been perfectly clear, I'm sure I'll be able to figure out once I have the phone in my hands some time next week Looking forward to playing around with this thing. Thanks again Anon you've been very helpful.

[#8]

one thing to remember, the phone comes with alot of surprises (good surprises), I don't know if you'll have the same opinion but I found it like that

main things i like about it is the stuff that come with it in the box, the weight (it's a heavy phone) and the entertainment bit of it, the remote play for a PS3 is kinda hard to get setup as i'm using my friends ps3 to give it a try.

Hope it gets to you in good condition, I don't really trust ordering off the net so i had to get a black one.