vB Easy Archive - My conclusion of the 903SH

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My conclusion of the 903SH
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Posted by: Maikurukun

My current phone is the white 903SH with Japanese firmware. I suppose most up to date one. Since i can't really check which one it is.

Things i've noticed which were answered earlier.. but don't work anymore.
MP3/ACC/MFF/Midi files.

Before it was proclaimed that the Japan F/W was able to use MP3 (DRM)/ ACC/ MFF and midi files. I think it shuold be changed to MP3 (DRM) for everything, ACC (DRM) for ringtones but works for without DRM for the media player. Midi files of course work and converted MFF files work as well. The bypass trick does not work anymore. "ima.mp4 swap trick"

the MFF files have to be under 300k inorder to be used for ringtone, otherwise title error will occur. In additon the ringtone must be 30 second or less.

For ACC files before when the new firmware came out. it was under 2mb and less than 30 seconds.

For using the ACC files, the artists area does not display because the 903sh doesn't support ACC file tags. Only the mp3 file tags. iTunes is also the best way to create ACC files.

Sound volume is also quite soft. It is rude to have very loud ringtongs in japan, so Sharp had decided to force us to have soft ringtones. Ways to help against this problem, is by boosting the volume when editing your mp3s/acc and turning off surround sound.

For Games. I read on alot of forums about this syncornization for games. That was only for the beta version of the Japanese firmware. The 903Sh new firmware does not ask for any type of sync. To my knowledge of course. That from my understanding so far. Jar files and Jad files cannot be used as well for games. the 903Sh uses some type of hhf file or something which has to be downloaded from a wap website. Or theres broken links on this forum which suppose to lead to hhf files. Either way, the new firmware doesn't bother asking for sync.. so i guess the only way is through downloading though wap.

For Camera and Videos. This is the highest quality camera on the phone i've seen to date. Its freakin amazing. lol. If people want i could put up videos of medievil times or when i was at the rex on queen street (Jazz Bar.) Maximum size for pictures are 1536x2048. Camera is 3.2 mega pixels and all thats really is required is a steady hand. There is also a 2x opitcal zoom which is amazing. Plus a so many multiply digital zoom.

For Messaging, mms is supports incoming and recieving. You can either do the rogers/fido swap trick. Or just call fido and ask them to enable incoming mms pictures. for SMS, if the text is too long for one sms message.. it continues the message by sending 2 seperate sms texts. I haven't tested this yet, but i've read that its possible on this forum somewhere.

For the mini-sd.. so far, it seems like the 903SH only shuold support 1GB maximum. It can support 2GB but there been reports for bugs.. or long delay times. If you don't have a mp3 player its also recommended that you get the mp3 lcd display remote from timsta or www.umobileco.com. If you have a iPod already, the iPod makes a better mp3 player than a cell phone.. For obvious reasons. For viewing videos, unlike the 802SE the 903sh displays videos in full screen.

Other noticeable things i've noticed on my 903SH is the following.
I've kinda already knew about this when i had my 802SE but, the japanese has a different way of displaying the phone book. Therefore, even if you copy all u're numbers from u're sim card. It might be faster to just reenter all the numbers manually. I've tried editing every phone number on my sim.. it turned out to be a huge mess. it was so much easier to just enter each number one by one. It runs in order by the Screen name. which is not the same as the First and Last name. and "S" and "s" are not the same in the Japanese Firmware. When you get it you will understand.

Its a good excersize to delete people anyways who never call. and you will probably never call ever again anyways.

The themes, theres 3 themes for the Japanese firmware rather than the forced one theme for other firmwares. and the wallpaper is in full view rather than having a black bar at the bottom. (it looks better with full view)

The answering machine in Japanese firmware is the most unique feature i've seen on this phone. Althuogh as i was testing with this built in answering machine.. i disabled my voicemail with fido. I couldn't reenable it. lol. I called fido a new times.. must be my luck.. but seems like i talk to a cell phone retard everytime. But anyways, You can check status and disactivate the voicemail service from the 903sh.. but you can't enable it. It says its not supported.

Althuogh, with the built in answering machine. You can change how long before you it goes to the answering machine. Which i thought was better. instead of having 15 seconds before voicemail. its now 30 seconds for me

Another unique thing, which i wished they added. Was the ablility to change the voicemail message. If you had Japanese turned on as the main language. It would give a standard Japanese female voice mail message. Where if the English was turned on, it would give a british female english voicemail message. (Distinctively British) I wish you could pick between the two. but oh well.

(This feature is locatedin the call log instead of settings, named "Answer Phone")

For bluetooth, i've noticed that my 802SE has alot friendly support for bluetooth than my 903SH. I'm currently using a iBook with Bluetooth. For my 802SE it was recoginized and had even the 802Se icon when connected. 802Se can sync adressbook with my phone book and everythign would be perfect and easy.

For the 903SH.. it seems to only support sending and recieveing and modem. Although this seems to claim it has the drivers for mac with the 903SH.

http://translate.google.com/transla...Flanguage_tools

Another unique feature .. mostly for japanese people is the QR barcode reader. It is so cool. It has it on this phone.. Any further infromation. use google to read about it.

The last and most famous thing for the 903Sh is the re-provisioning error.
As everybody on this forum shuold know by now. Timsta is aggressively advertising the 903SH fixed re-provisioning japanese firmware. So, any one which wants this firmware ask him.. You must live in Greater vancouver area/victoria. For everybody else in the world, there is other phone numbers which give away the not pernament reprovisioning firmware. Where they flash european version, and then put Japanese firmware ontop of something like that. If the phone resets in anyway, you will get the re-provisioning problem again. This includes removal of simcard. Gabbie has that in First Markham Place in Markham. (Subarb of Toronto) Other places to get the non-pernament reprovisioning is on the contact list at www.umobileco.com.

Me personally, I live in downtown Toronto. I can't really justify paying 40$ for a non-pernament solution. But i have alot of friends in Vancouver or from Vancouver.

It is not really too big of a problem. It only occurs when you are on the main screen. Either trying to get to the menu screen, it will ask or when you push on the wap or message icons. from the main screen. it will ask. All you ahev to do is press no and it will go away. but perfection is what we all want right? hehe.. if we pay so much for such a cool phone. Why not make it perfect?

It also comes up when you dont' turn on auto camera and u flip the screen to face ******ds.

Reception is rather good, hearing volume when talking on the phone is pretty good. I wish i was in japan right now. lol Test out the 3G network.

With all this said. I still think that this is the best phone that came out of 2005. The W900 might be cool~~~ but this look is so much cooler. Expecially if you get the black 903Sh. Another note is that the W900 is soon going to be in massive stock and supply lowering its price.. liek how the W800 did. and our 903SH are actually increasing in price due to the low supply.. plus being discontinued. for the time being of course. This is the most prettiest phone i've ever seen so far.. (Except for the docomo i902Sh, god i wish i had that phone)

If you looking at buying the 903Sh... i can already assume that there a low chance of finding one. It has to be built before November.. Decemeber can't be unlocked or something but happy hunting.

Well thats my conclusion for the 903SH.. i've tried to combine everything i asked in the past few months on to this conclusion. If there is any new data, or advancements... or stuff which i was wrong about. Feel free to post.

Posted by: gillianchung3

the 903sh is the best phone available today bar none. GREAT REVIEW. THANKS.

Posted by: sugo

Sorry if it was answered before. With japanese firmware and AAC, can you play only songs in a folder on the mini-SD card? Is there a random or repeat play mode?

Posted by: Maikurukun

thanks gillianchung3~

For the media player on the jP 903SH .. theres SD Audio.. you need the panasonic sd card reader and the SD jukebox from panasoinc to use..

but.. i dont really know how to use the playlists.. theres no button to add to play list.. i guess its because we are using ACC files .. but its on auto repeat.. think of it like a ipod Shuffle.. just not shuffled. =P

Posted by: simony

nice review...
but i still wanna wait for 905 and see what's new compare to 903...

Posted by: Montoya

this is excellent, I agree the 903 is a great phone but for some reason like other sharp phones it isn't as 'functional' as some other phones, and you need to be tricky to get some of the stuff to work. I am thinking of buying 903 now or hold off until the new K800(or whatever it will be called) comes out.....

Posted by: BMWFilms

Great summary for the 903SH. I also like the fact that it comes in a variety of colours instead of just Samsung gray, tan or black and gray for example.

Posted by: Maikurukun

well i just compiled everything i've asked from timsta,totalorange, gabbie and AL####, Olivers? . lol. I think Timsta might be annoyed of me. From soo many questions in the past 3/4 months. haha.

But now they are complied here.... in a long summary. =P

i forgot to add. if theres any other questions feel free to pm me.. or post on this board.. I've also tried the Taiwanese firmware for a little while before i changed it to Japanese from Easy Cell.

Taiwanese firmware, has black bar at the bottom of main screen.. (i really didn't like it very much), Games were not functioning, but ACC was available for ringtones. It also had chinese capablity. but i'm Japanese. so i can't tell you how the chinese writing system was like.

Another thing i've also forgot to mention was that. the Japanese version does not have any T9. Soo.. have fun button mashing. =P

The last thing abuot the 903SH is the AMAZING BATTERY LIFE. OH DEAR GOD.. its the ultimate camera. haha.. I was able to record video at highest quality, at the Rex for a full hour. and still have a full battery bar display. I thuoght. oh dear god.. this was my best investment ever. lol. just for the camera/video + everything else it can do. lol.

I've also noticed that the Sony Ericsson OS such as the V802SE, or the Z600, Z520 or T230.. they are all alot easier to use. =P If you have to have a little patience,.. but once u're figure out everything you will be alot happier with the 903SH. I was alot happier with my 903SH after i figured everything out. To be honest at first i regreted it a little.

But that was 2 weeks ago. and this is now. My best phone yet. =P until the 905. lol.

Posted by: gillianchung3

not sure if the 905 will be easily locked. vodafone isn't happy this was happening anyways, i'm sure it will be way harder.

i have jerry kee's 903 fully unlocked version....which is a huge difference compared to the other repro firmwares out there...unfortunately, jerry kee and hk seems to be shut down from flashing the 903 to 833~

hence the price hike on all 903sh....especially ones without repro.

but yeah, anyways, it is very special right now, there are only a handful of 903s, and we're part of it since it won't be producing anymore. if the 905 won't be unlocked in half a year, the 903 will most likely hold strong as being the best phone for at least a year (at least outside of japan).

Posted by: Maikurukun

=p everything is at least outside japan. haha.
I llike the docomo one so much more. =P but its too bad.

Posted by: spy cl

903sh camera is one of the best right now
've used 902sh, although 903sh just gain 1 more mega pixels, 903sh is much much better than 902sh

902sh is the worst.. picture quality is much worse than NEC 840 or K750i

the only thing i don't like about Sharp's phone is, YOU HAVE TO DOWNLOAD GAMES VIA WAP.
which I wouldn't bother to spend the extra money to download.
mp3 ringtone problem has solved, just make sure your 903sh has TW software

Posted by: AL9999

Very nice summary of the 903 Maikurukun. That's the most comprehensive summary of the good, bad and issues with the 903 I've seen yet. Well done

With the battery you should know that when it gets down to two notches, there is in fact only 25% battery capacity left. I don't know why Sharp do it like this, but it's very annoying and deceptive of the battery capacity...

I found a nice Flash background to tell me the true capacity of the battery (in percentage terms) so I don't need to worry about it anymore. But thought you guys would like to know

Posted by: iplen

AL9999: I think I know what flash background youre talking about

, but I get the feeling that its not right, because right after I took my phone off my charger it was at around 50% for a while and then went up to 100% 5 hours after using it, so I doubt the authenticity of that..

Posted by: Maikurukun

whats this flash background????
lol where did you guys get it?

Posted by: kaizoku_san

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maikurukun

whats this flash background????
lol where did you guys get it?

I had that one at home.. I found it on the mobile01 forums. It's all in Chinese and you have to be a member, so I couldn't just link to it.

I downloaded it and did a yousendit:

http://s52.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=...KV2RUZ0MSBL9USU

It's the one that will either look like gibberish characters at the top of the list, or Chinese characters.. depending on whether or not your computer can support it.

If the link expires, I can just resend it. I'm at work right now, otherwise I'd just put them on my FTP.

Posted by: BMWFilms

One other note, I still think the 903SH and its successor should have more built in memory in addition to miniSD slot.

Posted by: AL9999

Sorry guys... but my flash background is different to yours.

Here: http://mits.s59.xrea.com/flash/swf/tegaki2.swf

Posted by: Maikurukun

hehe.. theres alot of things we could wish for.. =P like being able to use mp3 without any conversion like the Sony Ericsson phones... hehe.. or being able to run everything off the memory card. instead of having to send to phone first. that could probably fix that problem really quickly.

Posted by: gillianchung3

well, i think of the 903sh as...something like a vertu....

you don't need all the quirky stuff that sony ericsson has because sony ericsson's are bulky and does nothing really well.

sony's camera isn't great, mp3 isn't near ipod capacity, gaming isn't near psp

if you want mp3, use a nano.
if you want gaming, use a psp.

if you want to take pictures without lugging another camera, then use 903sh. (because it takes real quality pictures unlike the other phones)
if you want a beautiful sexy phone that's not ugly eventhough it isn't a RAZR thin phone, then use the 903sh.
if you want a phone that doesn't feel cheap or made in china, use the 903sh.
if you want a phone that not many people has, unlike all the sony ericssons and the w800is around, then use the 903sh.

too many guys who are usually nerds or geeks complain about features. the 903sh has enough features to hold its own for now. use it as a fashion statement, just like ipods are to music, and psp as to gaming.

don't expect it to be a be all end all like your sony ericsson.... but do expect it to become a privilege to own this phone because of its scarcity.

honestly, if you're paying this much for a phone, expect to buy it just like a woman would buy prada...you're NOT GOING TO HAVE TECH FEATURES ON A PRADA, yet it'll cost a lot. get it? overall, the 903sh is a great phone, and people who like ugly bulky w900i phones shouldn't be here reading this either, because they will like their bulky all in one handyman expensive phone that everyone will have in a few months just like the w800i. for us in the sharp forum, we have a small friendly little forum with a sharp phone that is exactly that:

sharp.

Posted by: BXNYC

Quote:

Originally Posted by gillianchung3

well, i think of the 903sh as...something like a vertu....

you don't need all the quirky stuff that sony ericsson has because sony ericsson's are bulky and does nothing really well.

sony's camera isn't great, mp3 isn't near ipod capacity, gaming isn't near psp

if you want mp3, use a nano.
if you want gaming, use a psp.

if you want to take pictures without lugging another camera, then use 903sh. (because it takes real quality pictures unlike the other phones)
if you want a beautiful sexy phone that's not ugly eventhough it isn't a RAZR thin phone, then use the 903sh.
if you want a phone that doesn't feel cheap or made in china, use the 903sh.
if you want a phone that not many people has, unlike all the sony ericssons and the w800is around, then use the 903sh.

too many guys who are usually nerds or geeks complain about features. the 903sh has enough features to hold its own for now. use it as a fashion statement, just like ipods are to music, and psp as to gaming.

don't expect it to be a be all end all like your sony ericsson.... but do expect it to become a privilege to own this phone because of its scarcity.

honestly, if you're paying this much for a phone, expect to buy it just like a woman would buy prada...you're NOT GOING TO HAVE TECH FEATURES ON A PRADA, yet it'll cost a lot. get it? overall, the 903sh is a great phone, and people who like ugly bulky w900i phones shouldn't be here reading this either, because they will like their bulky all in one handyman expensive phone that everyone will have in a few months just like the w800i. for us in the sharp forum, we have a small friendly little forum with a sharp phone that is exactly that:

sharp.

Well said. My first phone SE phone was a T300 and I never went back to them for an upgrade.

Posted by: iplen

Quote:

Originally Posted by AL9999

Sorry guys... but my flash background is different to yours.

Here: http://mits.s59.xrea.com/flash/swf/tegaki2.swf

Indeed.. It looks a lot better then the one I have thats for sure!

Posted by: chrisl82

Flash wallpapers are great! thanks for the links guys

Just wondering where you found them? I didn't even knew there was such a thing before reading the thread. Also, have you guys been able to play the "game" wallpapers? Everytime I try the phone just dials the number corresponding to the button I press. I was able to play them on my PC

Posted by: b.a.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gillianchung3

if you want a phone that not many people has, unlike all the sony ericssons and the w800is around, then use the 903sh.

HA! I feel like I am the only person i Switzerland who has the 903, and it feels great! (plese let me know if here is somebody else who owns the phone too)

Posted by: Maikurukun

lol i thought hte swiss has vodafone? Its not fair for the T300 to fight against the 903SH.. lol. the T300 isn't meant to go against the 903sh... lol. its like a low/mid rang phone.. against a god like phone. lol.

Posted by: AL9999

Quote:

Originally Posted by iplen

Indeed.. It looks a lot better then the one I have thats for sure!

The reason I use this flash wallpaper is for the battery indicator. Normally the battery drops to two notches when it's at 25% capacity. That's useless for me (and many people); it might as well change its display when it's dying.

So this one displays it as a percentage, so I can track my battery usage a lot more accurately. I just turn off the clock display, and it works as a great wallpaper.

I went through a number of Japanese webpages to find that wallpaper. There's a lot of them around; you just have to search

By the way in Switzerland the Vodafone partner is Swisscom Mobile, and they brand their phones with their logo, rather than Vodafone (although the phones still use Vodafone live! though). However, they didn't pick up the 903 (Swisscom doesn't do 3G yet), so that's why b.a. would be feeling special.

Posted by: b.a.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AL9999

Actually they do 3G but I assume it doesn't go well for them! And I think a reason why they didn't pick up the 903 is because it's expensive(although they sell/sold the 902)!

And of course i'm feeling special

Posted by: AL9999

Oh that's right they did do the 902 didn't they? Ah well...