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Sony Ericsson's low-end Walkman phone

The company's W200i brings music to the masses

Kent German Former senior managing editor / features
Kent was a senior managing editor at CNET News. A veteran of CNET since 2003, he reviewed the first iPhone and worked in both the London and San Francisco offices. When not working, he's planning his next vacation, walking his dog or watching planes land at the airport (yes, really).
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Kent German
Sony Ericsson W200i Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson's Walkman line has always been great but also relatively expensive. Except for a couple like the W810i and the W600i, most Walkman phones never make it to a U.S. carrier, and as such never enjoy carrier subsidies. But at CES this year, Samsung shook things up a bit with the introduction of the Sony Ericsson W200i Walkman. Even without a carrier it will cost just $179, and with a carrier it will dip low as $79. Though Sony Ericsson wouldn't confirm if a carrier is imminent, we wouldn't be surprised if this phone ended up at Cingular. The design is standard Sony Ericsson but comes in black and white versions. And this being a Walkman phone, orange touches abound.

Features are similar to the basic W300i. Beyond the standard Walkman player the W200i offers an FM radio, a VGA camera, tri-band (GSM 850/1800/1900), FM radio, push e-mail, PC syncing, a speakerphone, an Infrared port and Java (J2ME) support. Bluetooth is absent, but that's not surprising for such a low-rent phone. Internal memory is decent at 128MB, but you also get a Memory Stick Micro slot that will accommodate cards up to 2GB.