W41CA
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26)
Wed 2006/09/20 21:55
Used to travel a lot to Seattle when I was at Amazon which was the reason why I continued to use my A1303SA for so long. The A1303SA was the only phone at the time from AU that could be used in Japan, parts of Asia and the US. But for some reason, Japanese phones that could be used in Japan and overseas were really (and still are) crap in terms of functionality.
I've always wanted a better phone but thought that I should be practical and stick with my crap A1303SA but then after a few years, Japanese phones with removable sim cards started to come out - yep - what has been the norm outside of Japan has not been in Japan. I'm not sure even if my old AU had a sim card inside - even if there was, it was probably welded down and shielded in 3 mm thick amber.
I went for this Casio W41CA for a few reasons.
The phone also has a built in Opera browser which supports CSS, Javascript and Cookies which comes in very handy indeed.
Entertainment comes in the form of a video player where I can use this instead of my video iPod - Keitai Henkan Kun is the program you need to convert movie files.
There is also a built in radio too for those who still enjoy the analog world. Standard functions like chat and email are the norm. What surprised me the most about this phone is the internet speed - 2MBPS!
All in all very happy with the purchase and even if I upgrade to a new phone in the future, the W41CA can still be used as a decent camera - unlike my previous AU which can only be used as a door stopper..
I've always wanted a better phone but thought that I should be practical and stick with my crap A1303SA but then after a few years, Japanese phones with removable sim cards started to come out - yep - what has been the norm outside of Japan has not been in Japan. I'm not sure even if my old AU had a sim card inside - even if there was, it was probably welded down and shielded in 3 mm thick amber.
I went for this Casio W41CA for a few reasons.
- It was the thinnest and coolest among the current AU collection. Didnt want to change my carrier or I would have had to change my phone number. Number portability has not existed in Japan yet but will be implemented this November.
- Removable sim card. Not all of the AU phones have removable cards. This meant that I could take out the card and use it in my RAZR when I'm abroad.
- Has a wide screen and an acceptable 2 megapixel camera built in (see pics of Nakano Broadway)
The phone also has a built in Opera browser which supports CSS, Javascript and Cookies which comes in very handy indeed.
Entertainment comes in the form of a video player where I can use this instead of my video iPod - Keitai Henkan Kun is the program you need to convert movie files.
There is also a built in radio too for those who still enjoy the analog world. Standard functions like chat and email are the norm. What surprised me the most about this phone is the internet speed - 2MBPS!
All in all very happy with the purchase and even if I upgrade to a new phone in the future, the W41CA can still be used as a decent camera - unlike my previous AU which can only be used as a door stopper..
These new line of AUs are a pain in the bottom because they made it so you cant use the old adapters - just get a knife and scrape off the grooves and you will be able to use your old AU adaptors.
RAZR running on the AU network.
Evangelion is still as popular as ever and here were the goodies on show at the TAF.
...(more)
Thu 04/06 21:57 comments (40)
Demon Bane originally came out as an adult PC game back in 2003 but since then has made ...(more)
Fri 03/31 08:43 comments (12)
Cool Phone Danny! how much did it cost? I'll probably get one for my mom, she likes her keypad numbers big and clear. lol your old phone probably wouldn't have a GSM sim card in it since all japanese phones uses CDMA technology (I think only Japan & The United States use this technology). I wonder tho, whenever you travel, do they give you a separate sim card for global roaming? or do you have to forward the calls to another number. It must have been a real pain whenever you go back home to London.
(ID #39549) Posted on 2007/01/02 02:11
Ryo in Tokyo
Hi Danny, Could you elaborate a bit more in regard to the ability using the SIM in a RZR phone? Can you use the RZR in Japan instead of the Casio? When you're abroad using the RZR with the Japanese SIM, I guess it is a roaming service isnt it? which is quite expesnive. Cheers, Ryo
(ID #39550) Posted on 2007/01/02 02:11
Danny, just wondering, do you still use godaddy.com for your hosting? just found this web provider while surfing around, they charge considerably less. but I'm not sure about the technical side of it is suitable for your needs, since i don't know much about those things. in any case you can check it out on http://hosting4lifesite.com/theme2/plans.html
(ID #39553) Posted on 2007/01/02 02:11
NickC in SFU,Vancouver
Wow that looks pretty sleek and orange! =) And it doubles as a nice video player too! I had my Motorola M1000 for quite some time now and I love the features that came with it =0. My gripe with it is that it doesn't support A2DP natively so when its paired with HT820, the music quality is of that from the radio. Luckily since the M1000 was localized for Japan, I won't have to switch over to another phone when and if I visit that area. How much is the M1000 sold for in Japan, Danny? Cheers, Nick
(ID #39554) Posted on 2007/01/02 02:11
ArC
Man, that is a kickass phone. BTW, this GPS feature kinda ties into something I wanted to ask you, since you like gadgets and clearly know something about this -- what's a non-Japanese-speaking person to do about finding one's way around Tokyo? I've been dreaming of a GPS pedestrian solution (with I guess enough English language in it to get by -- I understand if they didn't translate every street name) but it seems most of those seem either America-centric or Japanese-language-only.
(ID #39555) Posted on 2007/01/02 02:11
eddie in Tokyo
Damn, Danny. You should have wrote about this phone 6 months ago when you first got it. Back then it was still newish and would have had more of a wow factor. Now, the new version is about to come out. But it's BUTT UGLY! Actually, come to think of it, even Japanese cellphones from 2 years ago are still better than what overseas have coming next year! (^_-)
(ID #39556) Posted on 2007/01/02 02:11
Binod in Hong Kong
Nifty phone! Japan have a nice range of cool gadget phones which I'd kill for, too bad they're non compatible here in HK....for the moment. I've heard that NTT docomo will be converting most of their phones to GSM compatible soon, have you heard about this? Also, I see HK currency in some of those pics, do you often visit Hong Kong, Danny?
(ID #39557) Posted on 2007/01/02 02:11
Julien in Paris, France
Interesting menu ! It looks like a subway map ! ^^ Is it useful or only for fun and design ?
(ID #39559) Posted on 2007/01/02 02:11
Alafista in Singapore
tat phone looks cool .. but its kinda too bright orange .. lol
(ID #39563) Posted on 2007/01/02 02:11
mikes in hong kong
nice phone, but i still think mine is better. whats with the passport and hkd in the background? you went travelling?
(ID #39564) Posted on 2007/01/02 02:11
Chaos Incarnate in Pasco, WA, USA
Holy cow, that's a flippin' bright orange phone! Looks like it does somereally cool things though, and I love the roadmap interface/browser.
(ID #39565) Posted on 2007/01/02 02:11
Henry in UK
Nice phone, but i must admit that I have never seen a Casio phone before, then again I only thought that Casio made watches and calculators...
(ID #39566) Posted on 2007/01/02 02:11
Alex in the U.S.
Dude, that phone is sick nasty! Why the hell would you ever want to use a lame Razor instead? God, I wish I had a phone as sweet that one. What do you mean they have crappy phones over there?! Although, I would prefer a different color...
(ID #39568) Posted on 2007/01/02 02:11
Danny /ダニー in 東京
Alex and all who dont like the orange, This model comes in black and white too. Chaos Incarnate, The GPS functionality is great - when I get lost in Tokyo I just whip out me phone and it shows me where I am and guides me to where I want to go. mikes and Binod, Yep - dropped by HK for a few days for a conference. I will make a point of going there more often and may be there in November. Julien, You can change the skin of the menu - that subway menu is a pre installed one. makiさん、 どんな機種にする？ Binod, Re NTT and GSM - not too sure - sorry ToT Eddie, Took these pics when I got it and never got round to uploading! ArC, There are many folks who live here who dont speak Japanese and manage to get round. There is enough English in street signs and I guess these folks know where to look for maps etc. NickC, M1000 - not too sure if that is among the phones out here... marvin, That site looks like a reseller - I would recommending avoiding a reseller. Re phone - cost about 15,000 yen I think. Ryo, I cant use the RZR in Japan but can with the sim card in HK for example. Yep - roaming costs a ton. There are folks in Akihabara who do "illegal" mods though.
(ID #39574) Posted on 2007/01/02 02:11
NickC in SFU,Vancouver
If I recall correctly, Maria Sharapova had signed up with Do Co Mo NTT and recieved it to use while playing tennis in Japan. Her phone was terribly "chic'ed" out with a pink haze and jems. Ah here: http://www.motorola.com/jp/ The splash screen shows the M1000 =) Cheers,
(ID #39580) Posted on 2007/01/02 02:11
Danny Choo in Tokyo
NickC, As far as I can tell that phone came out a while ago and cost around 20000 yen. http://kakaku.com/keitai/item/detail.asp?PrdKey=31101030695
(ID #39634) Posted on 2007/01/02 02:11
Gildy Tan in Indonesia-Surabaya
Is this phone still produced/sold in the market?is there anyone could give me the link where i can buy it online?how much it costs on the market?Does it has "english" menu?Is this phone works with CDMA 1x or CDMA 2000 1x, or CDMA EV-DO, please, i need complete information b'coz this phone haunts me each time i close my eyes! ... & it says in terryfing words : "buy me..." "buy me...please..." :p
(ID #41769) Posted on 2007/01/02 02:11
Daniel Stocker in Iwate-ken, Japan
Hey man, I've got a Casio W41CA too and I've not been able to find much info on this phone in English >_< I want to convert videos to put on the phone and I downloaded the program you mentioned. The W41CA isn't on the list, so I'm wondering which settings I should use to create 3G2s. Or if you've got any other tips or hints about how to get video files onto my phone. I've got mysyncsuite which I used to put a 3g2 file onto the phone and it plays, but some files won't play... anyway I've written enuff. I'd really appreciate any help :D Cheers, Daniel
(ID #41999) Posted on 2007/01/02 02:11
Tyler
O my god, I want this phone, Its not available in the US, but I would like to know where you got it so I could get one. Thanks Xd
(ID #48541) Posted on 2007/05/26 02:30
I just LOVE the metro-map interface this phone has!
(ID #60485) Posted on 2007/10/22 03:31
Cool Phone Danny! how much did it cost? I'll probably get one for my mom, she likes her keypad numbers big and clear. lol your old phone probably wouldn't have a GSM sim card in it since all japanese phones uses CDMA technology (I think only Japan & The United States use this technology). I wonder tho, whenever you travel, do they give you a separate sim card for global roaming? or do you have to forward the calls to another number. It must have been a real pain whenever you go back home to London.
(ID #81553) Posted on 1999/11/30 15:00
Ryo in Tokyo
Hi Danny, Could you elaborate a bit more in regard to the ability using the SIM in a RZR phone? Can you use the RZR in Japan instead of the Casio? When you're abroad using the RZR with the Japanese SIM, I guess it is a roaming service isnt it? which is quite expesnive. Cheers, Ryo
(ID #81554) Posted on 1999/11/30 15:00
Danny, just wondering, do you still use godaddy.com for your hosting? just found this web provider while surfing around, they charge considerably less. but I'm not sure about the technical side of it is suitable for your needs, since i don't know much about those things. in any case you can check it out on http://hosting4lifesite.com/theme2/plans.html
(ID #81557) Posted on 1999/11/30 15:00
NickC in SFU,Vancouver
Wow that looks pretty sleek and orange! =) And it doubles as a nice video player too! I had my Motorola M1000 for quite some time now and I love the features that came with it =0. My gripe with it is that it doesn't support A2DP natively so when its paired with HT820, the music quality is of that from the radio. Luckily since the M1000 was localized for Japan, I won't have to switch over to another phone when and if I visit that area. How much is the M1000 sold for in Japan, Danny? Cheers, Nick
(ID #81558) Posted on 1999/11/30 15:00
ArC
Man, that is a kickass phone. BTW, this GPS feature kinda ties into something I wanted to ask you, since you like gadgets and clearly know something about this -- what's a non-Japanese-speaking person to do about finding one's way around Tokyo? I've been dreaming of a GPS pedestrian solution (with I guess enough English language in it to get by -- I understand if they didn't translate every street name) but it seems most of those seem either America-centric or Japanese-language-only.
(ID #81559) Posted on 1999/11/30 15:00
eddie in Tokyo
Damn, Danny. You should have wrote about this phone 6 months ago when you first got it. Back then it was still newish and would have had more of a wow factor. Now, the new version is about to come out. But it's BUTT UGLY! Actually, come to think of it, even Japanese cellphones from 2 years ago are still better than what overseas have coming next year! (^_-)
(ID #81560) Posted on 1999/11/30 15:00
Binod in Hong Kong
Nifty phone! Japan have a nice range of cool gadget phones which I'd kill for, too bad they're non compatible here in HK....for the moment. I've heard that NTT docomo will be converting most of their phones to GSM compatible soon, have you heard about this? Also, I see HK currency in some of those pics, do you often visit Hong Kong, Danny?
(ID #81561) Posted on 1999/11/30 15:00
Julien in Paris, France
Interesting menu ! It looks like a subway map ! ^^ Is it useful or only for fun and design ?
(ID #81563) Posted on 1999/11/30 15:00
Alafista in Singapore
tat phone looks cool .. but its kinda too bright orange .. lol
(ID #81567) Posted on 1999/11/30 15:00
mikes in hong kong
nice phone, but i still think mine is better. whats with the passport and hkd in the background? you went travelling?
(ID #81568) Posted on 1999/11/30 15:00
Chaos Incarnate in Pasco, WA, USA
Holy cow, that's a flippin' bright orange phone! Looks like it does somereally cool things though, and I love the roadmap interface/browser.
(ID #81569) Posted on 1999/11/30 15:00
Henry in UK
Nice phone, but i must admit that I have never seen a Casio phone before, then again I only thought that Casio made watches and calculators...
(ID #81570) Posted on 1999/11/30 15:00
Alex in the U.S.
Dude, that phone is sick nasty! Why the hell would you ever want to use a lame Razor instead? God, I wish I had a phone as sweet that one. What do you mean they have crappy phones over there?! Although, I would prefer a different color...
(ID #81572) Posted on 1999/11/30 15:00
Danny /ダニー in 東京
Alex and all who dont like the orange, This model comes in black and white too. Chaos Incarnate, The GPS functionality is great - when I get lost in Tokyo I just whip out me phone and it shows me where I am and guides me to where I want to go. mikes and Binod, Yep - dropped by HK for a few days for a conference. I will make a point of going there more often and may be there in November. Julien, You can change the skin of the menu - that subway menu is a pre installed one. makiさん、 どんな機種にする？ Binod, Re NTT and GSM - not too sure - sorry ToT Eddie, Took these pics when I got it and never got round to uploading! ArC, There are many folks who live here who dont speak Japanese and manage to get round. There is enough English in street signs and I guess these folks know where to look for maps etc. NickC, M1000 - not too sure if that is among the phones out here... marvin, That site looks like a reseller - I would recommending avoiding a reseller. Re phone - cost about 15,000 yen I think. Ryo, I cant use the RZR in Japan but can with the sim card in HK for example. Yep - roaming costs a ton. There are folks in Akihabara who do "illegal" mods though.
(ID #81578) Posted on 1999/11/30 15:00
NickC in SFU,Vancouver
If I recall correctly, Maria Sharapova had signed up with Do Co Mo NTT and recieved it to use while playing tennis in Japan. Her phone was terribly "chic'ed" out with a pink haze and jems. Ah here: http://www.motorola.com/jp/ The splash screen shows the M1000 =) Cheers,
(ID #81584) Posted on 1999/11/30 15:00
Danny Choo in Tokyo
NickC, As far as I can tell that phone came out a while ago and cost around 20000 yen. http://kakaku.com/keitai/item/detail.asp?PrdKey=31101030695
(ID #81638) Posted on 1999/11/30 15:00
Gildy Tan in Indonesia-Surabaya
Is this phone still produced/sold in the market?is there anyone could give me the link where i can buy it online?how much it costs on the market?Does it has "english" menu?Is this phone works with CDMA 1x or CDMA 2000 1x, or CDMA EV-DO, please, i need complete information b'coz this phone haunts me each time i close my eyes! ... & it says in terryfing words : "buy me..." "buy me...please..." :p
(ID #83773) Posted on 1999/11/30 15:00
Daniel Stocker in Iwate-ken, Japan
Hey man, I've got a Casio W41CA too and I've not been able to find much info on this phone in English >_< I want to convert videos to put on the phone and I downloaded the program you mentioned. The W41CA isn't on the list, so I'm wondering which settings I should use to create 3G2s. Or if you've got any other tips or hints about how to get video files onto my phone. I've got mysyncsuite which I used to put a 3g2 file onto the phone and it plays, but some files won't play... anyway I've written enuff. I'd really appreciate any help :D Cheers, Daniel
(ID #84003) Posted on 1999/11/30 15:00
Student - Free lance graphic designer and musician
Gotta vote for the Latter option. iPhone, yo.
(ID #151526) Posted on 2008/03/07 03:00
artvipinosa (Registered on 2008/03/19 01:42)
i have this phone but i cant use it here in philippines.... does some one have a instruction manual in english, that can be download? i hope someone cn help me....
(ID #158212) Posted on 2008/03/19 01:52
Lover of Akiba!
I had this keitai, now I'm using the W51CA... I love my Casio keitai...
(ID #215055) Posted on 2008/06/17 15:02
I like the look of that phone especially the menu skin.
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