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Recent HTC Products, O2's offerings and what to get - help me end the dillema

My O2 12 month contract ended in January and back then I didn't see any new stuff from O2 so I did not consider purchasing anything. However when I saw the XDA Zinc, I was pretty much sold as getting that as my next phone. However, now the Zinc is no more (I'm in UK right now) and the XDA Trion (HTC Hermes) has showed up. On top of this, my uncle is also nearing the end of his contract and is keen on getting the XDA Mini S (after he saw mine) but may consider upgrades.
Now the things bugging me are these:
There's the O2 XDA Terra (HTC Herald 100) which really is a XDA Mini S in black and has WM6 and possibly a better keyboard and camera and some other tweaks BUT with a microSD slot. The big issue is when it will be released.
Then There's the O2 XDA Trion - All things considered, the CPU is clocked higher but it is an ARM4 core based one and truthfully the CPU is from 2003 (as far as I can tell, the HTC Kaiser will use the same chip and only really has a better camera and a new keyboard mechanism). But it does have a better keyboard and camera...not to mention 3G capabilties (which the Wizard and Herald and any other OMAP850 based device - correct me if I'm wrong - lacks). However it again touts the microSD slot and is using WM5 and not WM6.
Considering that I find my HTC Wizard adequate for most things and the only things that truly bother me are the lack of an OK and Windows key on the front (but I am so used to sliding out the keyboard a little and using it), the lack of WM6 (can be resolved) the camera's resolution (could I stick a HTC Herald camera module in the Wizard?) and SDHC compatibility (now this is something I need to double check).I also get the feeling the OMAP850 can trump the Samsung offerings at clock speeds greater than 200MHz (I run it 116 at times and it's still usable for me)
The main reason I got the Wizard back then was because of the keyboard and the Exec is simply too impractical for me.
The question:
With all the above considered and in addition to the major question whether the O2 Contract is even worth it; I might be better off getting a device from expansys and the like (in which case a wait is a non issue), which of the following should I do? You can introduce your own as long as it's reasonable.
For me:
1- Get a new wizard fascia to replace the currently scratched one and do the WM6 upgrade and just hold on for a new device (I might do this anyway).
2- Get an XDA Trion as soon as it's available; it seems better than my XDA Mini S?
3- Screw the contract; it's cheaper to get the latest and greatest off expansys or someone when it arrives.
For my uncle who doesn't have a WM5 device:
1 - Get an XDA Mini S?
2 - Wait a week and grab an XDA Trion?

We are all in the same boat.
I say get a Trion and put Mobile 6 on it. O2 will not have another out until december if their track record is anything to go by. They ave been pissing around with the Zinc for 5 months now, i know my friend works for them and had it in his hands befor xmas.

In that case I am going to tell my uncle to head to a shop and try them out first(I will definitely have a play around as well).
Given o2's uk track record, it's WW release + 3 months (why does o2 UK skip devices anyway?). I might get a Trion depending on the total cost but until it comes out, I think I should get a replacement body and screen protector for my wizard.

Moving to universal from BA

Hi Guys,
I hate to just appear to be begging for info on this board, but having answered a few questions in the BA forums in my time, I hope I'll be allowed to take the easy route just this once.
I've just upgraded my BlueAngel to a Universal and I'm looking to immediately install WM6 and start cooking roms.
I've been furiously reading everything I can find on the subject, but I've still got quite a few questions that seem to be unanswered.
- Pre-cooked Rom version
To get started, I'd just like to flash a known good WM6 ROM and find my way around.
- Laurentis 26?
- Ivan v6a?
- Helmi?
Laurentis seems to be the only one actively developed at the moment, but I'm unsure as to the stability/speed tradeoffs offered by any of the above roms.
- Kitchen
Which is the most up-to-date (AKU and scene bug fixes) kitchen? So far I've found about 5 of them.
- Known bugs
The BA had plenty of known bugs in WM5 (BT wakeup being chief amongst them). Which bugs are unsolved or ever-present in WM6 on universal? I hear dark murmurings of memory leaks in old versions of WM6, and plenty of chatter about videocalling not working fully. What's the status on all this?
Thanks in advance for your help.

Before I start, my Uni died in July just not too long after when Video Call is available on WM6 athough non Video Call WM6 exists since Dec 06 from Helmi.
So my Uni died with Helmi's WM5 Aku3.5 v1.3, one of the most stable around, not much problem using for more than half a year.
WM6 ROM I have not used, but from the active reading following from Dec 06 which was mean to prepare for upgrade, Laurantius WM6 V7 Video should be one you should try and also the improve Video Call from Indra.
As for Kitchen, I think you should use the one created by Laurentius too.
By the way, where did you get your Uni, used or brand new?
Thinking of getting 1 new, but I think it is difficult. I miss my Uni very much.

Thanks for the advice CWKJ. Laurentius' ROM/Kitchen it is.
Sorry to hear about yor uni. If it helps, I was gutted when my trusty BA finally fell apart.
My Uni came used from ebay UK. £170 including 2gb SD card. I had to keep the costs down, so a used phone was my only real option.
If you have the time then you can snipe an auction and push the price down a little more, but not a great deal (I've seen them sell for £130 without a memcard).
At retail they seem to cost > £400.

thingonaspring said:
Thanks for the advice CWKJ. Laurentius' ROM/Kitchen it is.
Sorry to hear about yor uni. If it helps, I was gutted when my trusty BA finally fell apart.
My Uni came used from ebay UK. £170 including 2gb SD card. I had to keep the costs down, so a used phone was my only real option.
If you have the time then you can snipe an auction and push the price down a little more, but not a great deal (I've seen them sell for £130 without a memcard).
At retail they seem to cost > £400.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Thingonaspring,
If you hang fire on flashing, Laurentius and I should be release a new WM6 Rom this week......... well worth waiting for.
If you take a look at the last page of the Video Call Poll thread, you'll see a list (incomplete at the moment) of what is in the Rom.
It is well worth waiting for, huge improvements in performace and stability over all previous Wm6builds for the Uni.
We should hopefully have a kitchen out with the new build by the end of the year.
Welcome to the Uni forum!
Cheers,
Beast

hi thingonaspring,
so we meet again. was a BA user for a quite a while before i broke it.
upgraded to Uni (Vodaphone variant) since last month & currently playing around with it too!
tried most of the new WM6 ROMs (except Indra's XOJ) the major problems are frequent hangs or freeze either when receiving sms or calls & memory leak. Some say that those problems are specific to ROM-Uni variant combination (O2, Dopod, T-Mo, Voda, etc.), so I won't be specific to which one is better. speed is relatively similar in all these ROM's as pagepool is set either 6 or 8 Mb. you'll be missing the large memory resource of the BA!
anyway, other than those you mentioned, there's also a Indra's XOJ, PDAViet & KDSKamal WM6 ROMs. a new one is coming from Laurentius & Beast. i think video call will be solved soon. i'm currently back to Darkforce WM5 ROM for stability reasons, hate missing calls during work!
you may check this thread too.
---------
@CWKJ,
a brand new "unsold left over" UNI (O2 Exec variant) retails around S$ 895 in Jakarta, might be worth giving a try since it's close by Singapore.

@rhmartin
Good to see you too. It's reassuring to see how much of the BA crowd has got behind the Uni. Have helmi_c or lt_cmdr_ivan been around lately?
@beast
Good news that a new build is on the way, I'll wait to use that one first then, may as well start from the best point possible.
Good luck with your+laurentius' efforts.

thingonaspring said:
@rhmartin
Good to see you too. It's reassuring to see how much of the BA crowd has got behind the Uni. Have helmi_c or lt_cmdr_ivan been around lately?.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Helmi_c replaced his Uni & don't know what new device he owns, last post I saw from him is on PPCGeeks forum.
Not so many active UNI ROM developer around now, thanks to the time, effort & talent of Laurentius, Beast, Indra, KDSKamal, PDAViet & Darkforce. Through them we get ROM refresh/updates, unfortunately most of the core are based on midget_1990's old WM6 build. We hope someone can port a newer WM6 build from other devices (hopefully a newer VGA & 3G device).
Maybe you can help!

Well, I've put laurentius v7 on the thing and it's running nicely.
I've also nabbed a copy of the latest Athena ROM to see what's in there. Perhaps some of it can be useful.
On a sadder note, I noticed the news about tofclock today. :-(

thingonaspring said:
Well, I've put laurentius v7 on the thing and it's running nicely.
I've also nabbed a copy of the latest Athena ROM to see what's in there. Perhaps some of it can be useful.
On a sadder note, I noticed the news about tofclock today. :-(
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I'm an ex BA user too, how I miss that memory and overclocking ability (still have her fully functional though)
Leo's V7 is a good choice, hopefully we'll have the new one out soon enough.
Very sad news about TofClock, everyone was shocked, such a great guy, always happy to help, will be sadly missed by us all.
The Athena isn't much use, it's ATI based, but you could still port some stuff if you wanted.
Cheers,
Beast

rhmartin said:
@CWKJ,
a brand new "unsold left over" UNI (O2 Exec variant) retails around S$ 895 in Jakarta, might be worth giving a try since it's close by Singapore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your info.
You mean S$895 = SGD895 and new?
rhmartin said:
you'll be missing the large memory resource of the BA!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Miss the large resource, come to O2 XDA Flame, it has 2GB Flash and 128MB Ram.

thingonaspring said:
Have helmi_c or lt_cmdr_ivan been around lately?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The last Uni Rom Release by Helmi was Uni WM6 v1.1 and its kitchen (one of the earlier ones) and I think he broke the Uni and he is I think in the forum of another device (I cannot remember), make a search for him and you will know which device forum he frequent.
Ivan also declared he has release the last Uni WM6 ROM.
The active person here is Leo & Beast.

CWKJ said:
Thanks for your info.
You mean S$895 = SGD895 and new?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes my friend, SGD895 or IDR 5.500.000,- to be exact. Brand new O2 Exec package complete with box, adapter, cd, headset, & 1 year warranty from O2. That particular store in Roxy Mas (can't remember the name) had 3 units on stock early July (last month).
It was a bargain considering that latest branded 3G Smartphones are more or less priced the same. The stores are currently promoting HTC Athena & Nokia E90 (~IDR 14.000.000,-) & getting rid of older HTC PPC's. I didn't took note of the WM5 shipped ROM build since I'm "really green" on Uni that time.
I wish I could help more but I seldom visit Roxy & right now busy at work, hope you have friends or relatives in Jakarta that could scout for it!

hi there, still using my xda 2s( BA variant) for its ram( o gawd, the best machine ever created) but exec is way too cool to be not used, if only exec ram is also as big as ba....perfect machine
got mine 2nd hand too, miracle part, flawless condition.
i believe wm5 and 6 almost the same in every aspect, maybe some icon tweak but while waiting for beast 0898, why not try the variant of wm5 rom??
my favourite for now will be kdskamal rom.stable and way better then the original o2 rom.
@rhmartin
wow e90 in indo so expensive yah ^^; in singapore you can get it for just SGD 1328 (x6000) not to mention that price is the launching price.
jakarta mana btw ni man

@beast - Athena not much use
Good point about the ATI chip - what did midget port from originally?

genocide said:
@rhmartin
wow e90 in indo so expensive yah ^^; in singapore you can get it for just SGD 1328 (x6000) not to mention that price is the launching price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was the launching & booking price!
jakarta mana btw ni man
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you mean Roxy Mas? It's like the elex stores Sim Lim or Fu Nan in Singapore, you ask for the cell phone/pda center in Jakarta & people would lead you there!

Which new pocket PC should I buy ? (Help, please)

I currently own an O2 XDA IIi (HTC Alpine), I am quite satisfied with it but it has gotten a bit old, there is no OS upgrade, so I cannot enjoy many of the new apps which are made exclusively for WM5.0/6.0/6.1. I am wondering which device to buy. I thought about :
- getting an HTC Advantage
- getting an HTC Kaiser
- getting O2 XDA Flame (but WM 5.0!!!!)
- waiting for E-ten V900 or SE Xperia X1
I use my PPC as a phone (about 1-2 calls a day, 2-3 SMS a day), to play MP3 (about 1-2 hours a day), to play some games especially using FPSECE PSX emulator. I also use it as a "mini-PC".
The Advantage seems to be extremely powerful but I am afraid itmight be too big for me (I want to know how it compares to an XDAIIi with 2400 mAh battery thus making it thicker; I also want to know how the Kaiser compares to Nokia 6600 ).
HTC Kaiser also appears to be a good choice but I am not sure it will be powerful enough for me, especially with the driver problem.
I also thought of waiting for E-ten V900 or SE Xperia X1 (especially the latter), but I want a new PPC before July, and I am not sure when these devices will be released.
Another question : what about upgrading to Windows Mobile 7.0 in the future? Will it be possible ? Or is the question thoroughly irrelevant as the OS is still under development ?
Can you help choose my future device ? Thanks

have you looked into this? I see it on your list but is it at the top?
http://www.sonyericsson.com/x1/default.aspx?lc=en&cc=us

mchapman007 said:
have you looked into this? I see it on your list but is it at the top?
http://www.sonyericsson.com/x1/default.aspx?lc=en&cc=us
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is that I want a PPC before July, but the device is quite impressive !

seether said:
The problem is that I want a PPC before July, but the device is quite impressive !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hear what your saying. I've been getting very anxious to upgrade my current ppc and the X1 is what I want. I told my wife, if I upgrade to the Tilt now, she will inherit it when the X1 comes out. She also would also inherit my 8525 if I got the Tilt now. apparently I'm out of my gaourd.... Needless to say, thats a ton of money just to get what I want.
Good luck with your descision....

ROLL UP FOR THE MYSTERY TOUR - wat the **** is that -
the fone looks ace - but that advert is everything that is wrong with america!

before i got my advantage [im getting another one soon...] i went on pdadb, and got the measurements. then i drew the outlines on some paper, and compared them to my hermes. the best thing was, it was thinner, and really not that much bigger...
kinda made the final decision about getting it
Rory

last info i got on the release of x1 was september

Jonjamesm said:
ROLL UP FOR THE MYSTERY TOUR - wat the **** is that -
the fone looks ace - but that advert is everything that is wrong with america!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice. I thought Sony Ericsson was a Japanese company. Or they make the product and America promotes it?
Go here and pick you own region and give us your thoughts then.
http://www.sonyericsson.com/x1/default.aspx

rorydaredkign said:
before i got my advantage [im getting another one soon...] i went on pdadb, and got the measurements. then i drew the outlines on some paper, and compared them to my hermes. the best thing was, it was thinner, and really not that much bigger...
kinda made the final decision about getting it
Rory
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, does it fit in your pocket ? (My XDA IIi fits but it's a bit thick ) Is the performance really good ? (much better than that of Kaiser, for instance ?)

it's pretty much the same hardware as kaiser so it all comes down to if
sonyE is also too cheap to pay qualcomm for their driver

Well, depends wht pocket. School trousers... no. skinny jeans obviously not. tracksuit bottoms, yep. Blazer pocket definitely.
So it depends on where you want it lol.
Its about double the speed of any of my other devices. But i guess thats because the other two both lacked something, the tytn lacked the ram, and my touch lacks the processor.
The advantage has it all. which is why im getting another one.
Rory

Definitely NOT xda Stealth

hmm
my next toy will def be the X1 from sony just look awsome . as far as the advantage man thats not much money for a phone might as well buy a laptop or a EEE PC from asus they rock. love my EEE

Help me pick new smartphone!

Right now I have a T-Mobile dash, known as HTC Excalibur. I do llike the phone, however I have had it for three years and I just found out that the USB port on the phone looses contact and makes the phone difficult to charge.
I want to get another HTC smartphone running Windows Mobile, with Querty Keyboard. The phone must be able to sync to ms Outlook, and read/edit ms Word & Excel files. Also the phone MUST run off a SIM card.
Just by looking around this site, phones which come to my mind are; Blue Angel, Wizard, Hermes, Herald, Kaiser, Titan, Raphael, Wings...
I was looking around and I can get HTC Wizard for $140 on ebay. Is the wizard a good phone or should I look elsewhere? I dont want to spend more than $150...
I appreciate any inoput...

Don't get a Wizard at all, get at least a Tytn or Tytn II.

slick69 said:
Don't get a Wizard at all, get at least a Tytn or Tytn II.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just got T-mobile G1, wasnt bad for $160 new from the store...
So far I am very happy with it...

Let us know how u like the G1 3G? I'm waiting on the tmob Touch Pro2 due in July...

Love my G1, even more so with the custom ROMs available as it has made the mobile much more complete. When it was originally released it felt rushed but everyone knew it had potential to improve and grow, due to the nature of Android - And boy has it done that!
Everything has improved from responsiveness, battery life, quality applications, louder external and internal volume for calls, A2DP support for Bluetooth stereo headsets, video recording, vastly improved camera software and more. The only thing that's missing (which is currently being developed) is Bluetooth OBEX support so users can finally send and receive files via Bluetooth.
As soon as that's implemented it will be the most complete smartphone I've ever used.

galaxys said:
Let us know how u like the G1 3G? I'm waiting on the tmob Touch Pro2 due in July...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The G1 is awesome, just that awesome... It was well worth the $160 I spend on it...

Have Wizard 8125, time for a new phone...

I have an HTC Wizard 8125 and really like it. If I could easily upgrade from the WM 5 and control the font size when texting (reading and writing) and other screens, I would keep it. Will any of the phones out now do these things? This is not a work phone and I'm not a game player if that helps. Just a lot of email, internet and texting. Any suggestions for my next phone?

The best hardware keyboard device on this days is Rhodium
Definitely a great device for what you need

That's kinda pricey. anything in the $200 range?

Raphael/Touch Pro/Fuze on eBay.
I bought 2 Brand new ones off eBay for only $350 ($175 Each). Had to unlock them myself, but that wasn't a big deal.
They aren't TOO expensive. You might find a few cheap ones.

rkerk said:
That's kinda pricey. anything in the $200 range?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe get a kaiser they are pretty cheap.

HTC Universal.
fuzes are horrible phones, i'd rather use a wallaby.
i have a kaiser, it's more functional in android than it is in WM.
i'd say go with a uni or athena. athena would be fun.
on second thought i should add more details.
640x480 vs 320x240
3.6" screen vs 2.8"
wifi/bluetooth/fullsized SDHC and 520mhz vs 200mhz.
I really love my uni. to the point of breaking one and buying another, despite having..a large amount of backup phones. the os runs in 320x240 so it's..better for fingertyping+large text.

rkerk said:
I have an HTC Wizard 8125 and really like it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the wizard was my first wm phone... i am hooked now... i miss the infrared and the tv remote app i had
cheapusenet said:
fuzes are horrible phones...
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Click to collapse
fuzes are not bad... i have one that is my main device since jan/2009... no complaints... newer ones are faster, prettier... but like my fuze

in my experiance, they are. but hey i'd still be using wm2003 so what could i know right =D
wizard was my second. until its screen met with the hard wood floor of sonystyle.
also, uni has a 3.5 stereo jack. which is quite handy comapred to a 2.5/extusb on newer phones.

For a keyboard device you should consider & try the Rhodium!

So after looking at these, I have to admit I really like the Rhodium. I see one on ebay for $357. But it is TMobile and I am on Cincinnati Bell. Is it easy to unlock? I had to unlock my Wizard as it was from Cingular. The ad says that the 3g will only work on TMobile. Think that is true? or can that be hacked? Is that the right term?

if its unlocked you can use it personaly i have a wizard (3g) running WM6.5 and if you do its text and email and that stuff theres not much point in upgradeing unless you want to start doing more stuff

rkerk said:
So after looking at these, I have to admit I really like the Rhodium. I see one on ebay for $357. But it is TMobile and I am on Cincinnati Bell. Is it easy to unlock? I had to unlock my Wizard as it was from Cingular. The ad says that the 3g will only work on TMobile. Think that is true? or can that be hacked? Is that the right term?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can get the phone sim-unlocked for $10-15 through various online services, and then you can use it on CB just fine, they share the same 3G frequencies as T-Mobile. The ad just said "T-Mo only" because you can't use AT&T's 3G bands with it (you'd need the Tilt2 version of the Rhodium). So, just make sure the ones you're looking at online are the T-Mobile version, which are pretty easy to spot
I started off with Cingular 8125 too, and would still be using it if I hadn't lost it this past fall I went straight for the Tmo TP2, and have been extremely pleased with it.
Now, having said all that...before you spend any money I'd be sure to take some time searching the Wizard boards here to see if there's any way to do what you're looking for...I know at the very least that text size in SMS can be altered by using 3rd-party SMS clients. And, I know it's possible to get a WM 6.1 ROM onto the wizard, which might open up more options for you as well.