Forget my previous want for the Sony Ericsson W950i, I think I'm gonna try and get the Orange SPV M3100 this weekend. It basically seems to be a new version of my O2 mini, with all the niggles fixed and some great new tricks added.
A couple of bits had been nagging at me with the W950i while I waited for its release, largely the fact that it runs on Symbian OS rather than Windows Mobile. The Nokia 7710 that I had before getting my current O2 XDA mini ran on Symbian and while it was quite good, I've really grown to prefer Windows Mobile over it. Windows Mobile just seems to work better as a PDA OS to me (though I do think the 7710 probably had some PDA bits pulled out) and one major factor is that I have TomTom for Windows Mobile. If I got a Symbian phone I'd have to buy a new copy of TomTom. That's more a gripe at TomTom for not allowing/providing software for both on the same discs, but it's a big thing anyway.
The W950i also lacks a camera. At first I didn't really think that would bother me, but then when I thought about the number of times I've taken quick snaps with my phone because I didn't even have my little IXUS with me, it was also going to be a miss. It's a shame as the W950i looks like it's had a camera area designed and kept out, probably to release a higher model later or to prevent it being an uber-phone and making the 990i pointless. The 2mp camera on the M3100 should do nicely as the 1mp job on my o2 mini is a bit iffy. The M3100 tops it off with a second front-facing camera for video calling. Both the W950i and M3100 are 3G phones, but only the M3100 will do video calls and they thankfully haven't skimped, as many 3G phones seem to, by making you turn the phone round to use a single camera on the back and then stopping you seeing the person you're talking to. Now I just need to find some friends with 3G camera phones :D
Both phones have a touch-screen (something I've got very used to with the Nokia and then O2 mini) with stylus and the M3100 also seems to have a selection wheel like the Sony jog-dial, but I haven't found out exactly what it's for yet. The M3100 tops things off with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard for writing messages, documents, etc. which should be great.
The M3100 has a very similar set of keys on the front to my O2 mini, with two added. The Sony uses the new fashionable touch-sensitive keys which seem to be turning out to be more style over practicality judging by people's experiences with them on other new phones. They look a nice gimmick and certainly aid the aesthetics, but if they're gonna be too easy to activate by accident then I won't miss them.
Next plus for the M3100 is wi-fi. It's one major thing I was disappointed not to have on the O2 mini so it's great to see it on the M3100. Find a wi-fi hotspot and you can get online with the wi-fi either for free or for whatever rate the hotpsot charges. It should also make for quicker synchronisation with PCs.
The major bonus the Sony has over the Orange is it's 4GB built-in storage. I don't imagine a 4GB microSD card will come cheap for the M3100, but then if I'm honest I don't feel the need to listen to my music that often when away from a computer. A very quick check found a 2gb microSD for £53 which ain't cheap, but I can leave that until later when I have a bit more cash. A 1gb card is about £26 which would probably do me fine to be honest.
So all the above, plus the fact I can get the M3100 now and probably some stuff I've missed, is why I'm going for the SPV M3100. Hope my little comparison is of help to someone else - it's just how I've weighed up the pros/cons. Who knows, when I get an M3100 in my hands it might feel horrible, but based on my O2 mini, I'm pretty confident it's the phone for me.