Related
The JAM/S100 still has a faster processor than the new Orange M600 / S200 / Jamin.
I've had my S100 for a year now and my contract is nearly up, I am tempted to upgrade to the M600 but not sure it will really be worth it?
Are there any apps that can give my existing S100 the same functionality as M600/S200 ?
Most wanted features would be:
1. Outlook Photo sync and display when calling (I've tried some software but you have to assign photos seperate from outlook)
2. Sync Media files (Movies etc) like WM10 does
3. Push email (maybe mail2web works with WM2003 ?)
Other nice features that the M600/S200 has that would be worth a possible upgrade are:
USB2 (much faster media transfer - or is there STILL active sync bug?)
Quad band (I don't really go away except on hols when i leave it at home!)
2mp camera, (I have a seperate digital camera)
Wifi. I have wifi at home but cannot think of a reason to use it , I can just put it in the cradle!
Any one out there upgraded from S100 to S200 ? who would like to comment on speed / improvements etc ?
Thanks
OK So no replies then ?
I've decided to take the plunge and get the Orange M600.
I got it as a free upgrade and also managed to increase my inclusive mins
from 180 (Family plan) to 200 Xnet + 100 landline + 100 texts (Non family plan) for the same monthly price (£25)
Nice.
Lets hope the M600 does not dissapoint.
I have a Wizard (QTek 9100, MDA Vario) now and a Magician (S100, MDA Compact) before. The Wizard is as fast as the Magician, only the reboot needs some more time 'cause WM5. I have no problems with ActiveSync and Wifi nor anything else. I don't want a new WM2003/WM5 flame thread, but i think WM5 has many improvements. I loved the Metal case of my Magician, the Wizard is thiker and feels not so "stable", but it is also a good device. But the Prophet (S200) has the same size as the Magician.
Ok after long deliberation I have canceled my order for the M600.
I was waiting for Orange to have stock, during that time I have had a chance to play with my girlfriends new Pink Charmer (Mda 2 on T-mobile) and was dissapointed by the general reaction time and that it didnt play my movies as well as the S100 !) - I belive this phone has the same processor as the M600.
SO I have switched to Easymobile as they were doing a deal for £21 airtime for £1, its like a pay-as-you-go contract and I will probably PORT over to T-mobile when the next best MDA comes out (S300 anyone ?)..
Until then I have bought a 4gb MMC card for my S100.. ;-)
Did the 4 GB Card work?
The next MDA will be the Vario II (HTC Hermes), and he has a 300 Mhz Procesor.
Yup memory card worked fine..
it was a
Adata 4GB 200x Turbo MMC 4.0 from Ebay cost about 70 pounds.
I dont think its the actual phone which is slow but the ROM, a friend of mine has a MDA Compact II which I've played around with, which i thought was a bit slow compared to my M600 flashed with Imate Rom. Plus the MDA doesnt have the softkeys as the key config is still adapted to the old WM2003 style.
I also used to have a Magician and I can say that I am extremely happy with the upgrade and dont see any difference in reaction speed (apart from video playback, just need to reencode the video to 320x240). Plus the feel of the casing on the M600 is so much nicer, has kinda a rubber fell to it, giving a better non-split grip.
My feeling on the matter is that, yes, WM5 would be pretty hot, partly because it's more mature and handles a lot of things better, but mostly because it would finally allow proper A2DP outside of windows media player (most of my music is AAC, hence the frustration).
The wifi would only be a big boon to me because I like to use my handset for Skype, and swapping out cards is a pain. However, the different (though, perhaps not actually slower, in real-world terms?) CPU does not run any version of Skype that currently exists (they're working on it, I gather), so that wouldn't really help.
I like the look of the Hermes (Wizard + BT 2.0 + Xscale + 2Mpx cam) as my next handset, though I'm severely tempted by SE's W950i (4Gb internal memory, QVGA touch-screen, thin~).
I think that Windows Mobile based phones probably won't be really ready for the prime time for another generation or so
bobgorila said:
CPU does not run any version of Skype that currently exists (they're working on it, I gather), so that wouldn't really help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Skype works fine one my Prophet! voice calls too.
I guess they sorted it without telling me? Man, they're mean.
Also, I just remembered: the Muse!
Re: OK So NO Mobile 5 for my JAM/S100 BUT is it worth upgrad
gregory_marsh said:
Most wanted features would be:
1. Outlook Photo sync and display when calling (I've tried some software but you have to assign photos seperate from outlook)
2. Sync Media files (Movies etc) like WM10 does
3. Push email (maybe mail2web works with WM2003 ?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For push-mail I use VGSMail. It's an imap client. So you need an imap mail account, it doesn't work with pop accounts. http://www.vgsmail.com/ppc/
Regards, M
I upgraded my Magician to a Prophet (free upgrade and £130 on eBay for the Magician) and yes it's a little slower but not so much. In the Prophet forum there's a thread about overclocking the Prophet whick makes a huge improvement when running Skype and TomTom.
So my phone (SPV m500) was nicked and even though Orange could see who has my phone (IMEI + SIM network tracking) they won't tell me anything or do a thing about it and the police even though they were happy to take my report, "don't really get involved with stolen phone enquiries"..WTF?
I have looked at the Vario on T-Mob, XDA mini S on O2, SPV M600 on Orange and want some advice from seasoned users as to which phone and company comes up trumps.
I need built in wifi, a decent-ish camera, very very small amount of internet useage, the ability to stream audio to a headset (mono if poss) and cos I only make a small number of outbound calls, a very cheap 12 month package. Any ideas?
Re: New Phone - Help me decide: Prophet, Magician, wizard, T
phatphat said:
So my phone (SPV m500) was nicked and even though Orange could see who has my phone (IMEI + SIM network tracking) they won't tell me anything or do a thing about it and the police even though they were happy to take my report, "don't really get involved with stolen phone enquiries"..WTF?
I have looked at the Vario on T-Mob, XDA mini S on O2, SPV M600 on Orange and want some advice from seasoned users as to which phone and company comes up trumps.
I need built in wifi, a decent-ish camera, very very small amount of internet useage, the ability to stream audio to a headset (mono if poss) and cos I only make a small number of outbound calls, a very cheap 12 month package. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm partial to the TyTN/Hermes/Vario II, but it ain't out yet, so have got a monthly contract that I can cancel at anytime in the meantime.
If you wanna stream audio, for good quality, stereo or mono, make sure the device does A2DP.
If you'll be using data, the £7.50 for relatively unlimted data bundle on Tmobile is hard to beat.
Thanks for that
The only problem is I need it now, and I just got back from visiting the carphone warehouse, O2 shop and T-mobile shop and all of them had no clue about the Hermes/TyTn/VarioII and looked at me like I had just questioned their parentage!
Is the vario/XDA mini S a good choice as it's available on a £20 per month contract (all I really need) for £49?
The SPV M600 (prophet) is always out of stock and much more expensive to buy and you have to have it on a expensive tarif.
Which one is better/worse?
phatphat said:
Is the vario/XDA mini S a good choice as it's available on a £20 per month contract (all I really need) for £49?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a bad deal, but again, make sure you get unlimited data - maikes such a device much more usable. Having to curtail my own data usage with O2 by disabling push email, turning off images on browsing etc, is a PITA.
Good point(s), but is the 02 XDA mini s a better handset than the Orange SPV m600?
New Phone
phatphat,
I just received my new Atom, and I frickin love it!!!!!!! I went from a Magician to the Atom and what a difference. Way better sound than on the Magician, both through the earpiece and on the built in speaker phone. A little smaller phone physically, and WM2005 rocks. My phone came pre installed with the newest Rom so no issues there either. I have read some negative stuff about the Atom, so I was a little concerned. That all dissapeared when I used it for the first couple of days. I never thought that a phone could ever top the excitement I first fealt when I used my Magician for the first time, but the Atom topped it......by far!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Todd
New Phone
phatphat,
I just received my new Atom, and I frickin love it!!!!!!! I went from a Magician to the Atom and what a difference. Way better sound than on the Magician, both through the earpiece and on the built in speaker phone. A little smaller phone physically, and WM2005 rocks. My phone came pre installed with the newest Rom so no issues there either. I have read some negative stuff about the Atom, so I was a little concerned. That all dissapeared when I used it for the first couple of days. I never thought that a phone could ever top the excitement I first fealt when I used my Magician for the first time, but the Atom topped it......by far!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Todd
I know what you mean about the first time you get a magician, (which was also the first PPC phone I had).!
I am considering the Prophet, but I'm not hearing great things about O2 even though thay have some cheap deals for tarifs/handsets, and orange want £179 for an m600.
I see the spec are quite similar in terms of functions (BT, WM5, Wifi etc) but Is the prophet/atom much better than the Wizard(XDA mini s / vario)?
and what are the technical differences between the Atom and prohet? (i know they are based on the same HTC reference but are there any differences in features/performance?)
As an ex Palm 650 owner (still my favourite in many ways) i'm really interested in the 750v. i've currently got a TyTn (MDA Vario II) but, as usual with these devices, i'm not totally convinced by it, especially the phone functions (too easy to miss a call!).
So, does anyone have direct experience of the TyTn and the 750v? Which do you prefer and why?
Also, if you are making the switch, would it be better to wait for the Palm release (a couple of months i've been told) rather than going Vodaphone and having to unlock it and having all the Vodaphone add-ons?
thanks
mike
I have the same question. I have a TyTn now, it's great, but the form factor of the Treo seems better (I loved my 650 other than the OS)
I was first thinking of getting the Tytn but I don't like the looks. I'm actually still contemplating of either the Treo 750V or the HTC Artemis.
I have owned the Wizard and now the 750v I think that the Palm tweaks are what sets this phone aside from any other. Yes it doesn't have Wifi, but to me it's the best WM PPC "PHONE" out there. If you need WiFi then i will stick with your Tytn, even though you can add a mini sd WiFi card to it. I also own a SE P990, and right now the Treo is my primary phone, it's just amazing, and it's fast. Really happy with the shipped ROM for Voda, even though they have lost points for not including Pocket MSN ie. no messenger, or hotmail accounts built in. Which sucks cause I actually use it, but you can get it with the Cingular ROM on here. One thing found out is that I do not like phones that move. I love the fact that it has a static kb, and WM 5.2. the screen is great to me very bright. Just really happy with this device.
i too owned a Tytn, but sold it because my employer required me to use a corp phone to get reimbursed for cell expenses. after suffering severe PPC withdrawal symptons and pleading for an exception with my employer, i picked up the 750v. kudos to Palm for making this a solid one-handed device. oh, and not to mention the great call/sound quality. i'm using the HTTPMail program to get my MSN/Hotmail. it adds "HTTP" as a mail service similar to "POP3" and "IMAP". this implementation allows one to create a MSN/Hotmail account using the PPC outlook clien..i know it's an extra expense, but it's well worth it to me.
I decided not to get Treo because of its screen resolution. At a time when small VGA Pocket PC are on the horizon aka Gigabyte g-Smart i200, why would I want to be stuck with nasty 240 * 240?
I come from a Dopod 838, which is the Cingular 8125 in the states. Personally, the resolution problem is not as bad as it seems. Most things fit well, and its an acceptable compromise for someone the device 50% for calls/sms/email and 50% for data. If you're an 80% data user, the Tytn may make sense.
For me, having to flip the slider EVERYTIME really made the 838 quite inconvenient. I have played with the Tytn, and a personal friend who owns it, says its alright... but crashes once or twice each day. (granted he loaded LOTS of 3rd party stuff). I think its more practical as a data pda... the phone features are an afterthought.
Yea, not having PocketMSN is a bummer, but you can try the Windows Live messenger beta. (Just turn off the Today screen plugins,.. and the Live email doesn't work yet because the servers/services are not activiated on MS's end)
Live messenger works great, looks great. Though its quite a power hog, so hard for extended day long use. For that Verichat works better... but there's an annual charge.
raven2000 said:
I decided not to get Treo because of its screen resolution. At a time when small VGA Pocket PC are on the horizon aka Gigabyte g-Smart i200, why would I want to be stuck with nasty 240 * 240?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
form over function? i agree it's not at pretty as the Tytn's but the 750v screen is more than adequate.
This is great guys, thank you. haven't seen anything to put me off the 750v - I don't use MSN or Hotmail and I definitely prefer the form factor of the 750v.
Guess I'll be switching over soon
I was a Treo 600 user till I got a MDA Vario (aka Wizard), changed to TyTn after that, the screen is great and that about the only thing I miss, I have to say I hated that phone, the phone itself is so unfriendly to use, I missed so many calls and it has a habit of crashing alot.
I managed to swing a trade to 750v and my life improved dramtically, going from the TyTn screen to the 750v screen take all of a couple of days to get over, the 750v screen not great but does the job just fine, now I can use it as a phone, its just so easy, love it. I would never turn back, i loved my Treo 600 and 750v has put Treo back on track for me.
For me there no choice in the matter, 750v everytime.
took the plunge
So, went down to my local Vodafone business store yesterday and got the 750v. £50 for the phone on a 12 month contract at £25 per month - good deal.
Instant love - the form factor just can't be beat! it just feels right in your hand.
unlocked the phone and put in my t-mobile sim, set up the push email and everything works like a dream.
put in my favourite software and.......that's where it falls down (slightly!). that 240 x 240 screen resolution means that a couple of things just don't fit the screen size (space reclaimer and some of the wallpaper I use). is it a big deal?
not really. space reclaimer still works but you can't actually see how much space it's reclaimed. i've changed the wallpaper to one of my photos - looks great. pocket informant, spb backup and gprs monitor are fine. might put in memmaid or pocket mechanic.
big test will be when i get my 2gb mini sd card and install TomTom 6. looking forward to that?!
Good luck!
I hope the Treo works out well for you. I have had a TyTN from Vodafone UK for a while although have not been making serious use of it, and I borrowed a Treo from them on evaluation.
After three weeks I have just returned the Treo for a few very specific reasons (bear in mind that this is a business-driven evaluation):
1) BlackBerry Connect exists but is not supported yet by VF UK. I know this is true for the TyTN as well, but it would be a major driver for me to migrate my company from RIM devices.
2) After putting into silent ring using the top slider switch on a twice-daily basis, eventually the Treo does not make any audible ring or vibrate regardless of the setting. The only way to recover is a soft reset. A colleague who has a pre-production model has the same experience and thought it was because it's pre-prod; evidently not.
3) Microsoft VoiceCommand comes bundled..... Great idea, except that it's the US version. Recognition of names requires an American accent and dialling numbers direct by voice is all to pot as a result. I have followed this up with both Palm and MS but got nothing except confirmation on how to remove the bundled version, which otherwise cannot be uninstalled.
Battery life was reasonable, screen quality decent and Bluetooth performance with my Nokia CK7W car kit was the best of any device so far - absolutely no echo reported.
I have gone back to the TyTN but the lack of a decent charging holder means that I am still dependent on my Blue Angel for some applications.
Hope this helps!
The positive side of the Treo
Regarding the last 2 posts:
1. Tomtom 6.0 works like a charme on the Treo even with a 2 gig MiniSD. I even use TTtraffic without a problem.
2. I bought the Brodit carholder for the Treo 650 and it fits like a glove. (www.brodit.com: 968635 Active Holder, Tilt Swivel)
3. I haven't had the problem with " silent ring using the top slider switch on a twice-daily basis" the phone still rings without a problem. (I'm using the cingular though!)
gpsenzo68 said:
Regarding the last 2 posts:
1. Tomtom 6.0 works like a charme on the Treo even with a 2 gig MiniSD. I even use TTtraffic without a problem.
2. I bought the Brodit carholder for the Treo 650 and it fits like a glove. (www.brodit.com: 968635 Active Holder, Tilt Swivel)
3. I haven't had the problem with " silent ring using the top slider switch on a twice-daily basis" the phone still rings without a problem. (I'm using the cingular though!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks gpsenzo68 - i was wondering whether it was safe to get the Brodit Treo 650 carholder. Is that a passive or active holder you are using? Good to know about TomTom 6 as well .
jbn said:
2) After putting into silent ring using the top slider switch on a twice-daily basis, eventually the Treo does not make any audible ring or vibrate regardless of the setting. The only way to recover is a soft reset. A colleague who has a pre-production model has the same experience and thought it was because it's pre-prod; evidently not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had that problem, but only once to date. I do restart the device at least once a day, though... after all, it's Windows!
Alarms don't go off when they're supposed to.
The storage card is not recognised after some (varying) length of time in stand-by ("off") mode, requiring the card to be taken out and reinserted.
3G reception is not the best and the device drops calls when switching from UMTS to GSM. I've set it to GSM now to get more reliable phone performance and only change manually to automatic band selection if I need to access the internet.
I finally ended up purchasing Palm Treo 750v on Ebay. Just waiting to receive it
I have been a long time hermes (tytn,8525) user and have recently given the 750v a try. Wow. Long story short, 750 wins hands down for my usage. I'm a heavy pda user and it is still worth it for me. I'll have a video comparison review on howardforums later this week.
video review up on howardforums.com in the ppc section
mikewchandler said:
video review up on howardforums.com in the ppc section
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you post a link? Thanks.
zerimar said:
Can you post a link? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HowardsForum > Pocket PC > Treo 750 Video review
Wasn't to hard to FIND.
Hey there folks! My first post here!
I've just bought the XDA Trion (I made the (blind) assumption it had built in GPS).
Of course later, I found out it hadn't!
I've also found that I seldom use the hard keyboard - I find it quicker to tap the software keyboard with the stylus.
Now I'm looking at changing it for the Orbit. I've compared specs on www.gsmarena.com and the only difference (apart from the Orbit not having 3G but having GPS instead) is that the processor speed is slower - 200MHz.
Now, how much will the slower processor speed of the Orbit effect day to day running of the device?
I tried playing a short AVI file (MJPG, 640x480 @30.00fps - 14552Kbps) and this was very choppy on the Trion. So if I can't really play video files on the Trion (without perhaps having to recompress files) then I probably may as well go for the XDA Orbit. What real benifits do I get from an extra 200MHz apart from opening up software a little quicker?
The other thing is to buy a bluetooth GPS receiver for the Trion (£22 on eBay), although this means, extra baggage and power. The reviews I've read also seem to show Orbit's GPS capabilities on par (and sometimes better) than bluetooth counterparts.
What to do!! Any advice will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Orbit or trion
I have the same problem trying to weigh up the benefits of the 400 processor against the 200.
What are the other functions like?
Neil
Trion or Orbit
I haven't had an xda since the XDA2, and have been using a nokia phone with Bluetooth GPS. Tried the orbit yesterday, and will probably buy. I want a single device basic camera, phone GPS. I hardly ever used the keyboard.
Is there an unlock for the orbit so i can use on vodafone?
Mr.G
The only other difference I forgot to mention was the camera. The Trion has flash and macro mode. But this is neither here or there for me.
Still confused as to what to buy. Will go to O2 store at lunch and see what they say (not much I guess).
My guess is that because the 200MHz Texas Instruments processor is found in quite a few devices it can't be all that bad...
One thing I've read is that 400MHz works better with Bluetooth stereo headsets - but frankly, this doesn't really bother me!
Anyone out there who can tell me the "real world" benifits of a 400MHz Samsung processor over a 200MHz Texas Instrument?!
Anything will be of great help!
SG
Just come back from the O2 shop...
Put their Orbit and my Trion side by side and ran a few tests. You do notice the speed of the Trion - although it's not that great or crucial.
Eg, I took a photo on both devices and zoomed in 3 times - the Orbit zoomed in slower than the Trion by about 1-2 seconds. Moving the zoomed image with the stylus seemed the same on both devices - move the image fast and both devices have lag.
The Orbit is much lighter and thinner than the Trion. The speed thing in my opinion seems superficial - yes things may be a little smoother on the Trion but unless someone tells me THIS (or THAT) program will only run on the Trion and not the Orbit then I think I'm inclined to swap...
Neil, this is my first pocket "smart" phone so I wouldn't know how to compare functions.
All functions seem to work ok but I do have a few niggles:
1. I can't find a way to actually close programs other than go to settings and ending programs manually. Clicking the "X" just seems to "minimise" the application.
2. The wifi is bugging me. There are quite a few wifi signals in my area but I can't find a way to get the Trion just to fix to my wifi and ignore all other connections. It seems to continually search and connect to someone elses wifi!
3. The styus is quite hard to take out - feels like I may break it!
SG
Okay, I've had a look at a few GPS systems and what processor speeds/memory they use:
Cartrek 400S: CPU 266MHz, 32MB RAM, 16 Channels (3.5" 320x240 pxl) - £165
TomTom One Regional: CPU 266MHz, 32MB RAM (3.5" 320x240 pxl) - £180
TomTom Go 510 : CPU 400MHz, 64MB RAM (4.0" 480x272 pxl) - £270
TomTom Go 910 : CPU 400MHz, 64MB RAM (4.0" 480x272 pxl) - £350
compared with -
O2 XDA ORBIT: CPU 200MHz, 64MB RAM, 20 Channel GPS (2.8" 320x240 pxl)
I couldn't find any info on how many channels TomTom's GPS use.
Looking at the above, the cheapest stand-alone GPS system uses a 266MHz processor. Just slightly faster than the Orbit. Has anyone had any issues with using GPS on the orbit? The Orbit does house twice the RAM however.
The slower processor speed of the Orbit makes me wonder how well third party navigation software will work on it...
SG
If you're not bothered about having a keyboard, go for the Orbit. Although I haven't used one, I am using a Trion and I had a Mini S before that, which has a similar processor to the Orbit. The speed increase in the Trion is barely noticeable.
I have avoided the Orbit as I deem a keyboard vital. As you don't however, the Orbit is thinner and has integrated GPS, so go for it!
Cheers HPJ, I think you're right. I guess if it lasts 18 months without being completely outdated and slow, it's the one to go with.
SG
Video HERE of the orbit running TomTom 6
Runs very smooth and fast on my orbit
You're right, it does seem to run quite smooth. Although the video doesn't show the full operation of the GPS.
Think i've made my mind up - going to call O2 next week and swap my Trion for the Orbit.
Thanks for the help people!
No body has really shown any benifits of the Trion apart from the keyboard...
When you get the orbit be sure to register over at xda-orbit.com
Plenty of usefull info there
Very close to getting one myself now, and sodding the keyboard.
Just received my second Trion as the last one's battery lasted max 50 hours (with very little usage etc etc.).....
Anyway, that's a whole different thread........
Cheers for the advice Jamin ...!
That's a good site.
Go for it, after messing around with the Orbit.. the Trion is way too bulky...
and why not the trinity, same as the trion but with working gps and no keyboard, and it's cheaper!
Trinity?
Is the Trinity the Orange SPV M700 (HTC P3600)?
If it is, i've just checked it's spec and you're right. Not only that, it uses the Samsung 400MHz processor and is 3G.
I don't like the fact that it is white however, it feels more bulkier than the Orbit too...
What other network is this on?
I've got very good deal with O2 so I think I'll stick with them...
Is the Trinity the Orange SPV M700 (HTC P3600)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes it is
What other network is this on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
none in England (I'm guessing you're here)
I don't like the fact that it is white however, it feels more bulkier than the Orbit too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it is available in black, though apparently rarer, and it is a little bulkier, 1.7mm thicker than the orbit ( i could live with that ) the other dimensions are the same
I've got very good deal with O2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
glad you do, they are i believe the most expensive company in the UK. compare them (and their data charges ) to t-mobile and their flext tariffs
bbobeckyj, what phone do you have?
I think Orange only sell it in white...
You've thrown a little spanner into what to go with now!
PS, I am in England!
i have a wizard and i'm trying to decide on the hermes (on t-mo) or trinity (on orange )
i'll see if i can threaten to leave o2 (who i'm currently with untill august) to see if they'll give me a free hermes on a better tariff than they normally do
bbobeckyj said:
and why not the trinity, same as the trion but with working gps and no keyboard, and it's cheaper!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean by "working GPS" ??!
Are you implying the Orbit's GPS doesn't work properly?
Hi Guys & Gals.
First, a thanks for the website. It's a good read, and I've got some useful info off it. Don't know enough in this field to contribute though.
I've got a generic "which phone" question for you all.
I currently have an Orange SPV C600 (HTC Tornado), upgraded to WM 6.1. I use it mostly for phone calls, e-book reading with Mobipocket (probably 95% of the time I actually use the thing for), and sat-nav using TomTom 5 and an external Holux GPSlim 236 (which I've had to re-solder the BT module, due to the dodgy batch of receivers).
The phone is now showing its age (I bought it 2nd hand almost 3.5 years ago). It won't always start TomTom (only about 20% of time will it start properly) , it'll randomly flatten itself overnight, hangs mysteriously etc.
I now want a newer phone. Money is tight though, so I can't justify spending large sums (e.g. >£80/$130) of money on a new phone, even on a contract (my mobile bill is typically £8 a month: £3 calls, £5 data).
I'm currently looking at...
SPV M700
SPV M3100 (Hermes?)
HTC TYTN II (Kaiser)
HTC Touch Diamond (1st version, only if going for silly money on ebay)
HTC Touch Pro (1st version, only if going for silly money on ebay)
Wish list...
GPS
3G
WiFi
Touch screen
Keyboard would be nice.
Better res than 240x320 would be nice
My thoughts on the list are...
M700
Can be quite expensive on ebay (can be cheap though). Fits all of the important stuff though. Not too old.
M3100
No GPS, but has keyboard. *Can* be bought fairly cheaply, because it's quite an old model now. I've borrowed an O2 XDA (which is AFAIK the Orange SPV M3000, which is a 3100 less the 3G and WiFi). Getting on a bit.
TYTN II
Has everything, but have read many bad reviews online about graphics performance (has this been fixed?) and battery life.
Allowing for the down sides, this (so far) is my favourite, in that it ticks all of the boxes.
I *think* I've even seen a video on Youtube of someone getting TouchFlo 3D working on it.
It's getting on a bit too, but Expansys still sell them new (oddly enough for more than a Touch Pro!)
Diamond
Gorgeous screen, No keyboard, no expansion, ticks all the other boxes. Main downside is the cost. Even a broken one went for £52 on ebay!
Touch Pro.
As Diamond, but including keyboard, got expansion, ticks all boxes. Even more expensive than Diamond.
Are there any other phones I should be looking at? Have I missed a point somewhere? Am I better of sticking with my ancient flaky phone and waiting for the Diamond II prices to push the Diamond prices down? I need help here!
Thanks.
Pete.
Welcome to forums
I think 1st you have to have clear what is your main use for a device, said that and taking your list, I would choose Touch Pro.
Also will depend on how much $ you want to spend
If you are looking for something much cheap include on your list Universal, it´s a great device!
Good luck,
if you already have an external gps you should get a wizard they are really cheep an pretty good. they are a lot more responsive than the specs would have you believe. also you can get a tytn II for pretty cheep these days and the battery life is really not that bad if the wizard had an internal gps and more ram i would pick it every time over the tytn II.
Hi.
Thanks for the feedback.
I'd discounted the Universal (SPV M5000), mainly for 2 reasons.
1) It's an old design (12 months older than the M3000, and about the same age as my current phone)
2) It's just too big. Even though it's got a good size screen, I need a pocket phone.
I'll be using the device mostly for reading e-books (it saves carrying around huge numbers of physical books!). I don't find the screen size of my current Tornado sized device a problem. The other thing I'll be using it for is sat-nav. Again, the screen size isn't an issue, because I mostly follow the voice navigation, not the screen. Finally, there's the normal phone stuff of voice calls and texts, occasional web browsing etc.
Ideally it'll be 3G. I'd really like it to have WiFi.
My budget is tight, about £80/$130
josefcrist: You've echoed my own thoughts. Do I keep my existing BT GPS receiver (which gets flaky when it's hot), and go for the Tytn, or do I spend a bit extra, and go for the Tytn II with built in GPS.
One thing that makes me nervous about the M3100 is the ease with which you can brick it. Upgrading my last phone was very easy, but the Hermes forums are full of people who've bricked their phones. I'm a constant fiddler, and if there's a chance of upgrading an OS, or cooking my own, I'll give it a go.
I've found that http://pdadb.net/ allows side-by-side comparisons of phones, so I can now compare my targets, and choose the most appropriate one (e.g. I now know there's been a change in processor from Tytn to Tytn II, both ARM based. The II has double the RAM and ROM.
This page compares my existing phone with the 3 main contenders in my list.
Does anyone here have a Tytn II? I've been using a Wizard (borrowed), and I find that even though the resolution's the same as my existing phone, the pixels have quite a gap between them, giving quite a pixellated appearance.
Many thanks,
Pete.