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Should i buy into the XDAII or not ?

HI
Looking for some input from users of the XDAII.
I have been reading these forums for a while now and i see lots and LOTS of problems with the XDAII. Specifically it seems to be flaky as a phone ...go figure.....
So what i am wondering is if you had your time over would you buy into the XDAII again or give it a miss based on your user experience?
Primarily i need GPS navigation around U.K (as an Aussie who has only been here a few months i find the road signs and directions on signs confusing to say the least...lets not even get into some of the stupid junctions and the way they are set up...). The phone part is nice and is of course why i am considering it over an Ipaq. However whats the point of an XDAII if the phone is flaky ? i need reliable comms on the road not excuses ..or lost data on the SD card...or blue tooth problems etc etc....
Having said all that i still really want one but i am just worried about all the niggly problems i will in all likely hood have to deal with and frankly who needs more s*** in their life then the boss/wife/kids/lover/s already give us ;-) ( i'm talking about you guys there not me , i only flirt with my computer )
So i am stuck right now between the XDAII or an Ipaq........perhaps the Ipaq and my trusty 6310i is the way to go......but the idea of a phone wrapped into the pda is SO so appealing......
ah , decisions decisions.....
anyone got any words of wisdom ?
Thanks for your input
Regards
Mark

I'll always choose XDA II hands-down over Ipaq and 6310i. Bluetooth for the in the latest ROM update is fixed. I've had my XDA for 3 months now and I have no regrets...Well, maybe when XDA III comes out probably

I was pondering this same question just yesterday, wondering whether I was happy with my XDA2 when I see so many people in these forums with problems.
The truth is that it's still a superb machine. These forums will always be full of the users who have problems and questions - that's why this forum exists. The phone isn't flaky at all, IMHO. I've never had a problem, and everything works as well as I would expect, including my (original, never-upgraded) ROM and Bluetooth stuff.
But then I've never tried GPS, and this seems to be the cause of a lot of problems for people.
A small vocal minority of people will never be happy with their XDA2 because it isn't perfect in their definition. The posts of those people might give the impression that the XDA2 is fundamentally flawed, which IMHO it isn't at all. It's not perfect, but then nobody who complains has ever proposed an alternative that is.
All devices have their faults and weaknesses. The XDA2 has far fewer than anything else I've ever used. Go for it!

also people without issues dont really write that many thread
looking for asnwers as to why they dont have issues and what they
are to do to change that

Integrated Wi-Fi and blue tooth on the 6300 and it'll most likely be cheaper for U.S. customers who don't want a plan, it's an easy decision for me.

Hi
yeah i'm on the fence with this one. When i read a problem post i decide to give it a miss. then i read someone who say they have such joy with this unit and i think yeah i'm going for it.
i do this evryday. result ...a monh later i dont have anything !!!
so i reckon a lot of you are right, its probaly screwy software that messes up the phone.
I'm going for it !!!
Now watch all my frantic posts ...Help BT not working, my phone talks to me after midnight , ...my XDAII has a crush on me and wont stop stalking me etc
Thanks for the opininons
Best Regards and you'll be hearing from me soon heheheehe
Mark

Well, good luck! If I had a choice, I wouldn't go with O2 again. While the XDA2 may be good, I have been distinctly unimpressed with O2, having come from Orange.
If you can (and I'm not sure when Orange are to release their M1000) go for a non-O2 XDA2, or get an unlocked one.
Let us know how you get on.

i just gotten my 2020 after being without my xda1 since it were stolen i'm happy with it
though i think that people should know that a xda1 and 2 are much closer to the pc world then cellphone world
also i feel that palm is more of a PDA and pocketpc's are more well
pc's which fit the pocket
this mean that the user have to be more active making it spin
and also that the user have more power to mess up the device

sublimatica said:
A small vocal minority of people will never be happy with their XDA2 because it isn't perfect in their definition. The posts of those people might give the impression that the XDA2 is fundamentally flawed, which IMHO it isn't at all. It's not perfect, but then nobody who complains has ever proposed an alternative that is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
very well said. i think the issue with the XDA2 is either people are too tech-oriented and want to make the XDA2 do amazing things (which it can, but of course we cant claim that it was designed to do EVERYTHING) or the noobs who tinker with it and end up messing up, then blaming the manufacturers, software, etc. etc.
But if you're a normal user. . . out of the box, the XDAII in GENERAL is a sublime piece of hardware.

im done with PDA's

Had enough,
sure i shall miss the stuff you can do but tbh for me most avg phones are closing in fast,on ability and im sick to death of crashes,bugs,reinstall's
it jusy aint worth the headache,im off to find a decent Phone

well the more normal "smart" phones catch up
the more advanced their software will be and
the more issues they will get
:s
we're doomed if we do and doomed if we dont

yer your right just phone and msn n email will do me these days

If I would put the energy that I put into my PDA (to get it work properly to keep in touch with my mates), into the relationsships with my friends, they would like me more than now... Most of them don't care if I call then via VoIP or Skype if at least I DO call...

I had a few of things that bugged me about having a PDA ,but i compromised them in the belief that ,they it will be far more worthwhile to have one and live with the issues
but the faults list grows and the good point just arent enough

TBH I don't know what the fuss is about. I have an XDA mini which is fabulous. Never crashed in 6 months and I'm running Tom Tom aswell. The only problem is that it's not working properly now, but that's since it got soaked in my pocket riding from Newcastle to Edinburgh on the bike in the rain. It's still going and it handles everything I do and more without question. I'm sticking with my PDA phone to save me carrying two things around with me (I need all the stuff when I'm running a business).

I have had my last 3 HTC devices from a friend who has bought them, had problems, and bought the next one that comes along thinking things will get better.
I never have these unreliability issues he always has, and they are the exact same devices he has had.
I put it down to the type of person, and knowledge of the device.
Sure, you shouldn't need to be a technical person just to use a PDA, but it obviously makes a difference.
Maybe you just need to stick to a Palm or Blackberry

Jace - I'm interested to know which device you used.
I used the xda2s and the xda exec and got really fed up with both.
I'm not remotely technical and just wanted a good phone that does email and few other bits when needed.
Got the xda mini in July this year and have never looked back. It is a pure phone that does the few extra things I need without issue.
If possible I suggest you try it as you may be surprisingly pleased with it.
HPJ

In a way, I could understand where the original poster is coming from. But don't get me wrong I love windows mobile devices, but if your like most people, we just want things to work. So when things don't work, your either the type that'll find ways to make it work, or the type that'll just find another device. We have to be honest, those of us that come in and out of these forums on a daily basis with hacks and solutions and those of us looking for hacks and solutions for our windows powered devices are among the few that'll actually take the time out to do so. If you think about it, It can literally take up to 3 months are more to actually get the device operating exactly the way you wanted it. Mabey that's just a little too long for the average person.
I too have felt like the OP, contemplating over and over again, after the countless amount of resets, whether or not I should just go get a fancy nokia n series or something, but I have grown found of my wizard, and its kinda of fun hacking away at its OS to see it become highly operational, kinda like the way M$ should of made it out the box. Just my two cents.

Here is a story about a friend of mine (no point posting my opinion as part of the reason I love my Jamin is the fact that I can tweak it and make little apps for it - so I don't care even if it does require reset on occasion).
Any way this friend has a company phone (a simple Nokia) and he gets a lot of calls on it (part of the job). Trouble is this phone doesn't have BT so my friend complained that at the end of the day his ear heart.
The thing is, this particular friend always told me that Phone edition Pocket PC devices are too unstable, too big and generally useless as phones.
One they he got a MIO a701. At first he told me he was just using it for the BT so he can speak through the hands-free.
Now he just won't give it up. Even when his headset broke he still refused to go back to the regular phone.
Once while on a lunch break 2 minutes walk outside the office, he wanted to log in to his account on our server but for some reason the device couldn't connect (faulty GPRS settings). He begged me to use my Jamin.
I wouldn't let him, arguing that his work station was just an elevator ride away.
Eventually he broke, and admitted that he just couldn't give up the convenience.

HPJ
I have owned a MDA Compact,which was ok but when i up dated the ROM from the TMobile site it fried the unit,
I then got an Exec,i have found that ok for my needs,(being phone,email,msn,web browsing)
but i agree with the above comments for some one not so minded tech wise,then maybe an incorrect choice of device for me
Basically an out the box unit ,is ok,just ok
but to make it decent takes some effort to get the best from the device
Ok they cant make the device suit everyone out the box,i undertsand that
however freezing up and soft resets a plenty,they are just too unstable for me
beofre my job required me to be away for long periods and the Exec fitted my needs ,now i think ill just be happy with less abilitys and more stability
The smartphones and nokias are gaining ground fast,for my needs maye they are better
The upside for me is the way you can alter and personalise the devices
but to be used day in day out as also my main phone there are far to unstable
In my case i had a compact which went tits up after a simple ROM update,
then an Exec which would freeeze and be a bit moody but then when the shutdown.battery problem started ouccruing(got new battery now)i just said to myself
you know what aint worth the hassle
dodgy pics a cheap nokia can match and beng a brick etc etc
maybe id be more suited to a smartphone or just a humble phone but me and HTC Pda just dont work out

I suppose at this point in timei dont have the time to mess around too much with the units
So my ideal maybe my Exec for away from home times and other certain situs but day to day maybe a an all singing all dancing mobile

ntornics said:
its kinda of fun hacking away at its OS to see it become highly operational,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You hit the nail on the head. You find it fun, and actually know how to get into the OS and mess around with it. There are plenty out there like me who haven't the faintest clue. We want our xda's to work out the box, and thats all. We come on this forum to 'take' information: get interesting apps, ask silly questions etc. I've very rarely ever actually contributed as such.
And then, when something doesn't work, we either continue to bang our heads against a wall trying to get a fix (from you guys, not from ourselves), or we move on.
Getting my xda mini s was my last attempt, and I am glad to say that it has never crashed; is never slow on answering a call; does not look like it belongs in a laptop case; and email works perfectly. The only thing I would like would be a today screen like I see so many screen shots of on here, but I haven't a clue and it would probably slow the thing down anyway :wink:
These devices are so young anyway it's no surprise they have problems. Can't wait to see what's gonna be around in 5 years time.....

good point mate

ive just read the hermes prob thread & ive had the exec battery problem
nothing is flawless in life,but it dont help that they release these products with faults
your mayor phone makers dont release units with big issues
i think id seen the light when having the exec battery problem came along and while a new battery arrived,i used a nokia 3250 it was such a nice change to have a device that preformed its functions
i just think we accpet a lot in PDA's that maybe we wouldnt put up with in a PC,Car or phone
we think its a trade of for there many functions for some problems but were do you draw the line
how many soft resets do we do?freezes?
anyone reading this do you feel ive just picked the wrong devices?,if so what do you think may have been with hindsight a better option?

Can't wait to see what's gonna be around in 5 years time.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what today hang around for 5years time?
apart from social deseases ?

Hermes or Universal?

Hello All,
Which is the best between these 2 machines? What are the main differences? Please help....
I have a choice of these 2 PDA's and have no idea which to choose....
Many thanks.
Jimmy

One vote for Universal

407,592 votes for the Hermes
So far from my experience with both the Hermes has been the easiest to work with in terms of size and suitability for use as a primary phone.
EDIT:: Check the wiki pages for the main differences.....take into account the sizes however.

It all depends on whether you really need the VGA screen. If you don't, go for the Hermes.

Well I couldnt let the Universal go... I picked one up off Ebay for £45.
It was an old couple who had received it as an upgrade and didnt want it... It is in perfect condition, and has a 2GB SD Card.....
I have just got to learn how to use it now...
I have posted this somewhere else on this forum, but can anyone tell me about the GPRS? I need to ensure that I don't use this feature on the phone, otherwise I will get a massive bill....... Wifi is free and is almost everywhere so I can use this. Can the GPRS be turned off, or does it need this to work at all.... If it cannot be turned off, how do I make sure that I dont use it, and only wifi or the normal GSM...
Once again.. Many thanks... And I am a total beginner to PDA's and the likes.. So be gentle..

Enjoy your Universal! It's been my first cellphone ever and even until today one of the most sophisticated handhelds ever produced in my view. It misses a few things like builtin GPS, HSDPA (normal 3G is quite ok though), a 3D chip (purely optional at least for me) and the RAM is a bit on the skimpy side. But there's still one of the best hardware keyboards I've seen and the VGA screen that always made me wonder how anybody can still use QVGA (and how HTC didn't make the switch a long time ago). So many things (from PDFs over ebooks to webpages) are totally unusable with QVGA and only performance reasons are speaking for this resolution.
Apart from that swivel format was and is probably not the best choice. In the beginning there were lots of programs that totally didn't get along with the inverted screen (or the landscape factor) and even now that that is fixed the hinge sure is one of the weak points of this device. And while I haven't managed to break mine so far it sure is not as sturdy anymore as it used to be. What's more is that the Uni definitely is one bulky device, but I actually never minded when people stared incredulously at me holding "the brick" to my ear ;-) With a 4.800 mAh battery attached it's beyond good and evil anyway...
I just realized how many weak points I mentioned and how I actually couldn't care less about them. The Universal always seemed a bit like a case study and an experiment and it might very well end up being a one of it's kind in HTCs lineup if the Omni proved indeed to be vaporware. But like all good things it just gets better and better (I'm pretty sure that it is the perfect candidate for an early Android release as well) as time passes and I can hardly imagine myself replacing the little bugger before it has lived through its third year. So once again, have fun starting out with one of the greatest and most prominent WM phones on the market!

TG01

Hi Guys (and girls),
I've been a long time lurker in this forum and finally joined up partly to thank you all for the help I have gleaned from these pages over the years, absolutlely invaluable and it's saved my life more than once so many thanks to all of you, and partly to post my thoughts on the new TG01 which Orange just gave me.
I've had smartphones for years but have never really got on with fully touchscreen devices, to me a phone is primarily that, a phone, and I like having physical buttons for such things as dialling numbers, to me that just seems like a minimum requirement for a phone, being able to dial a number. I also don't like having to find some shade just so I can make a call and have never had a problem seeing some buttons even in bright sunshine. Over the years I've had a lot of HTC devices and the one I liked the most was the Orange E650 branded 'candy bar phone', I had four of them in total and to me it was just a great mix of form and function but then my last one broke so here I am with the TG01 becasue Orange no longer supply the Touch HD.
So the TG01, hmmm, what a missed opportunity. Why Toshiba didn't wait for WM 6.5 I don't know, maybe they know more than we do, but the interface they've come up with is just rubbish, it may have beem acceptable a couple of years ago with those low rez icons but since the iphone, nah. I have downloaded the Spb interface and frankly without it the phone would have gone straight back to Orange so why Toshiba didn't just lisence it from Spb in the first place is beyond me, would have cost them what maybe a buck a phone? Or less? Instead of which they slipped some guy in their software department 50 bucks to work through his lunch break and come up with their interface, and this from a company that makes laptops, what were they thinking? Maybe what they were thinking was, 'this will get us by until WM 6.5 comes out at which point we'll ditch this and so will all our users'. Also, why no sensor so the phone knows when it's by your face or in your pocket? Jeez guys!! The reason I canned my first touch screen phone three years ago, it was an Orange M600, was because I kept doing things with my ear when I was speaking on the phone and that was THREE years ago, come on Toshiba it's not rocket science, it's a phone for goodness sake, people want to talk into it!
So, there's my 5c, as I need a new phone and there's nothing else grabbing me I may keep this one although just this morning it has started playing me up when I make and receive calls, callers can hear me but I can't hear them, the speaker is just dead and swithing to speakerphone doesn't help so I think it's a software bug rather than a hardware fault. I had put S2U2 on to prevent the 'answer a call with your pocket' phenomenon but I've taken it off again in case it was that which was causing the problem, we shall see.
Once again thanks for all the advice and I may keep you posted on my thoughts on the TG01, if I keep it.

Welcome to forums
Next time do a search before you create a new thread!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=478679
Read, search, respect and enjoy!

Next time do a search before you create a new thread!
Wow, what a warm welcome, thanks Orb I really am lost for words.

lol...gentle and ever so lovingly bit your head off.lol.
Anyway, I got to play with the TG01 recently and I think it a huge foward step in terms of hardware and an even bigger step backwards in terms of software. Its almost like the phone isn't even being challenged by they system that it runs. Compared to my Touch HD, lag is dramatically reduced and the feeling of moving from one thing to another is silky smooth. Bad news was it my old HTC Touch (no HD) was ten times better than this phone when it came to the UI. Blew my mind when i figured out they didn't even attempt to skin windows, just create the ugly striped shell. Huge screen and I was sitting there doing the corner of the fingernail tap just to hit those small icons and little spots on the WINMO interface. This phone plus HTC loving= best phone available. I mean i really took a step back and got to understand how far HTC and samsung have come in making winmo usable.
I didn't get to put any programs on to the phone but as you did I figure SPB3 is probably the best way to go. And no comment about the terrible call quality, I just text my friend now cause it sounds like he's in a hollow room with bad reception ALL THE TIME. Good luck my friend. Probably should have waited for the Omnia2 or picked yourself up a TD2, this is the price you pay.

Thanks
Hey Style 1. thanks for the feedback and best wishes. As I said I may not keep this phone but I can trade it for around £300.00 without blinking and I also have two brand new Treo Pros that Palm gave me so I'm not too concerned, if puch comes to shove I'll pick up a Touch HD somewhere and I shouldn't be out of pocket on the deal. I needed to renew my contract anyway to get access to the unlimited data package Orange are doing now so all in all I'm good.
As to the phone I agree with your take on the GUI but you really should see it with the one from Spb, it's like a different device and we both know it needed to be, it would have been back in the box and back to Orange the same day if the Toshiba interface was my only option. Now all I need to find is a good 'slide to unlock' programme that works for this phone and I'm away, tried both S2U2 and TouchLockPro to no avail so maybe I'll give Pocketsheild a whirl, got any advice on that my friend?

Suitable upgrade for HTC Universal

I have been very happy with the HTC Universal over the last 5 years.
Unfortunately it is beginning to get a little loose and worn.
I have already replaced the screen on the poor thing after one accident.
Could someone help with advice on a suitable upgrade? I don't appear to see one on the HTC website which fits my likes (or any on other sites).
I have been looking through the HTC website, and thought the Athena/x7500 would be suitable, but then realised that this appears to be EOL already.
Items I like on the Universal, is the hi-res 640x480 screen. Better would be nice. It appears to be ~4" or so
I like the size of the keys on the keyboard, it is just about right for me. (it is a must, to be able to hide the keyboard). I like the way that the keys are rounded, and I can use it without light. Unfortunately, I do not like the way that the keyboard can be slid in on the HTC touch pro, I think I will hit the top screen with my fingers?
I like the way that I can attach a bluetooth GPS device and use it as a navigator for the car.
Quad band would be extremely useful, although I have an alternative quad-band phone for when it is required, it would be very useful to have it in the main phone.
Internet browser is a must (but is there any phone nowadays which doesn't have one?). Hi-speed internet is not a requirement.
Touchscreen is a must. (as is a stylus hide-hole)
I doubt it makes any real difference, but I am currently on T-Mobile UK.
An SD slot (or CF alternatively), would be good for storage. It would be useful if the phone had Excel and Word, or compatibles, as I do often use these.
Thanks in advance,

A good question!
I have Universal also and have found very hard to get a real replacement for great Uni!
I have now Rhodium, which to my opinion is the closer to an upgrade but I have to be honest there are some things still miss...
Better keyboard (Uni has the best hardware keyboard to this date)
VGA
From factor (unbeatable)
But we have to face the fact that HTC made Universal so good, so advanced to it´s time that hardly they will make something on the same line (I really hope I´m wrong)
Rhodium can make you feel good in the meantime

orb3000 said:
But we have to face the fact that HTC made Universal so good, so advanced to it´s time that hardly they will make something on the same line (I really hope I´m wrong)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. I suppose i can take some solace that there are others that think the same!

Of course!
We are several people thinking that way, just have a look on Universal section and you´ll see how in love members are with great Uni!