bro maddy, this question have to refer back to seller or his customers.
we update official ICS using sony pc companion (software suite) or sony update service (update only)

since there will be diff region issues, Im guessing using flashtools with generic ROM?

I bought from directd in early September Xperia P AP set.
Out of the box already ICS.

as expected, new stock pre-load ICS.
good news for madman then

Just to give some info since im on AP set.

My AP set comes from Taiwan, so ur update is still using PC Companion. Difference is that since the updates are pushed by region. E.g. i will get the notice when TW has an update. PC Companion itself is not region specific, it depends on your phone to pull the correct update information.

Alternately, can flash an official generic ROM. Which means that it is still authentic firmware from Sony, but for different region. e.g. Generic Europe ROM so your updates will be based on when Europe gets their updates.

my suggestion would be if your a 'techie' type of person do consider the AP - cos ur more likely to mess around with your phone

those not so techie, ideally stick with Ori warranty so any issues u can easily bring back to shop for rectification.

there is no region setting for PC Companion. it really depends on your phone to determine the region. To be specific, the SI number is used to determine which region the phone belongs to.  Most (if not all) the sets should already be on ICS.

Perhaps what i can suggest is when u purchase it, check that it is already on ICS. go to Settings-About Phone and under Android Version you should see '4.0.4'. Under Build Number it should be ' 6.1.B.0.544'.

if not, ask vendor to update for you

I took black since other color need to add $. If not mistaken around rm30. Package comes with headphone, wall charger & usb cable. No nfc tags or car charger as per ori set.

good purchase mate! next is to pick a nice casing

perhaps get those transparent jelly cases so you still see the red. The worry is scratching the aluminum back although it's not as scratch prone as iphone5

hope ur wifey likes the phone! definitely better than iPhone 3G wan..

From nokia 3310 -> Motorola C smtg smtg (forgot what model) -> Nokia 6233 -> SE k850i

SE k850i
SE Yari
SE Satio
Sony Xperia U

Was crazy about c903 and c905 last time lol...but didnt buy either one of them cause no money

Wow...original or ap sets??  I'm very lucky then lol...my k850i ap sets send for warranty a few times also..

agreed with you. mine got keypad problem...