I'm getting ready to buy my first PPC phone and wanted some advice from people who have used these devices.
I've owned a cell phone for about 3 years now (a basic one). I'm a heavy computer user (mainly PCs with Windows or on rare occasions Linux). I love to tinker and build my own PCs.
What interests me the most about a PPC phone is making my life easier. I buy the computers for our school (I teach 5th grade). I'd like to get a phone that can keep my Google Calendar and Gmail on it plus browse the web from time to time. I'd also like to be able to do other stuff on it, like watch video clips, listen to MP3s, and take the occasional picture. Games might be fun too when I'm waiting around. I don't have much use for GPS at this point (though I admit it would be fun to play with sometimes). I like the idea of getting after-market applications and games to make the PPC phone more productive/enjoyable. Being able to have control over how it handles phone calls is another plus. Size isn't too important to me. I'm more interested in functionality and smart design. I like the idea of a big screen and a QWERTY keyboard.
I've thought about Palm OS. It seems very smartly designed, but I don't like that it can't multitask. I will use my device for a variety of tasks at the same time (like I'm doing with my PC at the moment. I don't know much about the other OSes beyond the Windows flavors.
Right now I'm leaning toward getting a Treo 750 when Cingular comes out with it or a Cingular 8525 (HTC Hermes). From what I've read it appears that the Treo is one of the best designs (easier to use and more functional). The 8525 has better hardware specs and a bigger screen. So, I'm not sure which way to go.
I'd love to hear some of people's opinions and advice. At this point I'm not even sure what things I need to focus on.
Thank you in advance for your input.
I'm getting the Hermes next month when my contract upgrade is due.
Well I Like "enough to recommend to you" The QTEK 9100, since i got mine and thanks to this forum, i can tinker till the cows come home., I've flashed it, unlocked it, downloaded and experimented with its ROM and external ram, upgraded the phone skin, completely made it into a totally different beast from when it was shipped from vodafone...
I can connect without cost using wifi (54G) to: internet, msn,skype, pocket news reader (spb insight), and internet radio.
I can sychronise with active sync, my documents, calender,contacts and others, I can setup many email accounts for downloading to the device
watching films, jurrassic park is 113megs at QVGA resolution, and can be viewed full screen too, the keyboard ejects out the side of the device and lights up in dark. comes with office suite, and windows mobile 5 devices today are very good, you can use gprs too the whole package is the best device i've previously owned the following devices.
nokia N91, HDD corrupted after 4 days, crashed more times than Barry Sheen!
Nokia 6630 good phone but boring...it was symbian os
HP Jornado 928 (ppc 2003) crashed a lot, eats battries like hell
Nokia 6600 good phone bit basic really
Nokia 9310i good phone, good screen, poorly made
Nokia 9110i well made, black and white screen, liked it then
and the Qtek 9100 has satisfied all my demands and given me great freedom
TOM TOM 6.010 runs flawlessy for 7 hours continuosly without a charge and there was still 10% battery left, what other device will do that for you eh!!!!
The device is not perfect but out of all the other stuff out there, it's the best i have owned yet.
whoster69, I have similar needs to you and I have gone for the Palm treo 750v. After using it for 3 days I can say I have not needed to use stylus even once this is how good one handed usage of this phone is. This is the only WM device that has been designed for being a phone. Wizard and Hermes seem as if phone functionality was added as an after thought.
Battery doesn't seem to be as bad as some people said it is (still haven't needed to recharge yet), coming from Wizard and Magician screen took some getting used to but now its ok.
One of the reasons I didn't get Hermes was of the sliding keyboard. I used to loathe Wizard keyboard as everytime I needed to type something I would have to slide the keyboard and wait for the OS to adjust itself. I am very happy with Palm keypad. Although the keys are smaller but the shape and tacitle feedback means they are very practical.
Good morning. About 2 months ago my AT&T "Hermes" 8525 died, and I found myself without a touch screen pocket pc. Wanting to get something quickly, and not wanting to spend $700 on a Touch Cruise that there was little info about, settled for a BlackJack II from my local AT&T store.
Thanks to a friend with one, and other forums... I've managed to get it to tether to a laptop, install Garmin XT, and can do MOST of the things I could do with my Pro unit.
However, there are annoyances. Lack of Wifi, can't set reminders for 2 hours, smaller keys, etc. I'm making due for now, but all the while I've been keeping my eyes open for a new phone.
Last weekend, I went into the Apple Store and played with an iPhone for about 10 minutes. It really is something. The lack of GPS and turn-by-turn directions for when I travel, and slower Internet connection speeds are a concern. But then I realized maybe I could get by without.
I've heard about an app that lets you use your WM6 Pocket PC work as a wireless router. And if that's the case, I could carry two devices and do EVERYTHING I want.
iPod Touch for:
Pictures
Weather
Web Surfing
Phone/Pocket PC for:
Phone (syncs with my Outlook profile)
GPS (already own iGuidance and LOVE it)
E-mail
Unlimited Data Plan
The question remains, what phone do I want to handle those functions?
One thing is for sure. Having the Blackjack II for a backup allows me to hedge my bets, and have a decent backup device if I have another problem like the "white screen" issue I had with my 8525.
Sorry about the length, but thanks for your time!
Seems like such a waste and such a step backwards to have two devices. Esp when one WM device could do all of those things...
Show me one with as cool of a picture viewer, web browser, and overall cool package, and I'd be happy to stick with one phone. But the fact remains that WM6 devices sometimes:
Need rebooting that other phones don't
Interface is still a little clunky
Haven't seen one that graphically competes with an iPhone/iPod Touch
As I mentioned before, I'm interested in the Touch Cruise, and have looked at the MWg Flame, Atom Life, etc. But I'm just not sure any are as impressive as the iPhone, especially when browsing the web. Safari's experience is pretty sweet.
But the original Subject says it all. Which WM6 Pro device is your favorite? If you don't post, it doesn't suggest there is much competition.
Look into the leaked Opera Mobile 9.33. Thats app says everything.
But why don't you just get an iPhone.
Both OS have very good apps support.
Hi all,
My wife's Treo 650 (PalmOS) is dying and she's considering an upgrade to the Treo750. I was very happy to find out that the Treo750 is a HTC device as I began to research on the 750. I have owned an SMT5600 and imate JAM (HTC Magician) before, and now am a proud owner of HTC Touch. I have had very good experience with HTC phones, and honestly I don't think I'll be using another brand ever again in my life
Anyways, even though it will be my wife's phone, I will be the one installing programs, setting it up and tweaking it for her. That's fine, cos I really enjoy it and is the reason why I like PDA-phones. She liked the 650 because it used a Palm OS, which was simpler than WM. But that's fine, as I plan to install launchers that keep things simple and easy for her.
My biggest concern of the 750 though, is it uses a 240x240 screen. I just don't know if I can install regular PPC softwares that are designed for QVGA resolution on it.
She isn't a 'power user' but does require softwares like MSN Messenger, email applications (I use Flexmail), internet browser (Opera Mini is what I use now) as well as the regular PIM applications. I wonder if these software work well in 240x240 resolution.
What's your experience with installing softwares on the Treo750? Is the odd-ball screen size a concern most of the times?
And what's your overall experience with the Treo750?
Thanks in advance,
Go for it and don't look back. I had an HTC Wizard and the Treo 750 is MUCH easier to use. Not as many roms but the day to day use more than makes up for it. I like to try a lot of software and I've only run into one issue with task switching program, otherwise no issues at all. Good luck.
I too have an HTC 8525. I bought a Palm 750 off eBay relatively cheap and popped my SIM card in it so I could see if I wanted to use a 750 more than my 8525.
What I like about the 750 is the keyboard in the front, and the one-handedness use of it vs. my 8525 slide out keyboard and thus requires the use of both hands.
What I like about the 8525 is the fact that it DOES have a slide out keyboard and the keys are bigger than the 750. I also like the larger 240 x 320 screen. I REALLY would love that on the 750.
The other thing that was already mentioned is the ROM's. I put vp3G 3.62.3 on my 8525 and it's terrific. I put the WM6.1 ROM on the Treo (HardSPL required) and that is nice too but it could use more features.
All in all, if screen size isn't a show stopper for you, go with the Treo. I would highly recommend loading MagicButton on it so when you close apps, they truly close instead of staying resident in memory and causing you to bring up task manager to end them all. On the 8525 I use HTC X-Button for this. And it includes an awesome task manager on the home screen in the top right corner.
If you do choose an 8525, I don't think you can go wrong. It's a great solid phone.
I too went through several smartphones before i landed on a Treo 750. Had the Moto MPX220, the 8125, then finally the Treo 750. I have to be hoenst. The 750 wasn't my first choice, but was forced to due to availablility and the need for the 3G connectivity and for a better QWERTY keyboard. Not that the 8125 keyboard was bad, but was looking for something I could type one handed. However, for the 8 months i had this, it was a very good experience. Now with the upgrade to WM6, it is even better.
I would agree that the screen being the square 240 x 240. It may leave you wanting more screen space, but you or your wife will get used to it. It is still functional, if not with alittle more scrolling in some apps.
The keyboard maybe small, but will get used to it very fast. It's very functional, and being a Treo user already, not much of a transition.
I do want to say that the battery life is not great, barely lasts a day...even with minimal useage. From what I read, it's because the of 3G signal, which is famous for sucking the life out of 3G phones from AT&T, but an extended battery will help greatly. But that will make the phone alittle fatter, but worth it. Not saying that the OEM battery is that bad, but you may want to consider a car charger or take a power plug around.
Other than that, being a WM phone...that opens up alot of free apps that would do nothing by enchance the 750. Would I recommend it now....oh heck yes.
Hope that this helps, and good luck
Thanks for all the feedbacks guys ... let's keep them coming!
The screensize isn't a problem. She is using the Treo 650 right now, so it's the same screen size. I am more concerned about software compatibility. As long as (most) PPC / WM programs can be installed on the Treo 750 like regular PDA's, I don't mind the smaller screen.
I suggested the TyTn to her, but her problem is she has a bad habit of dropping the phone ... with her current Treo 650, she puts a hard cover on it and it protects it well from falling. With the TyTn's slide out keyboard, there's no cover of any sort available, and a pouch is too much hassle. Without a cover, she's worried the phone will be badly scratched and dented, if not broken within a month.
Her requirement for the next phone is touchscreen (that eliminates all blackberry's and smartphones), hard button QWERTY keyboard and no slide out keyboard (so you can put hard cover on). I thought hard and long about this and the only phone that meet all 3 requirements is the Treo 750.
The 3G doesn't do a lot for her ... she doesn't use the phone as a modem, and her internet use from the phone is limited to emails, MSN Messenger, and occasionally some light surfing. The fact Treo 750 doesn't even have a camera on the front for video calling makes the 3G even more useless for her.
She'd gladly trade 3G for wifi actually, too bad that's not how it comes in. Speaking of wifi, I understand the Treo supports the Spectrum wifi miniSDIO card. My concern is the Spectec mini SDIO card is a little longer than regular SD card from what I know, because of the antenna. Doesn't that prevent the SD card cover from closing?
Wifi is not a must but a nice to have. Other than that, it sounds like Treo is the most likely candidate at this point. Given her 3 requirements, doesn't seem like there are a lot of choices neither.
number16 said:
Thanks for all the feedbacks guys ... let's keep them coming!
The screensize isn't a problem. She is using the Treo 650 right now, so it's the same screen size. I am more concerned about software compatibility. As long as (most) PPC / WM programs can be installed on the Treo 750 like regular PDA's, I don't mind the smaller screen.
I suggested the TyTn to her, but her problem is she has a bad habit of dropping the phone ... with her current Treo 650, she puts a hard cover on it and it protects it well from falling. With the TyTn's slide out keyboard, there's no cover of any sort available, and a pouch is too much hassle. Without a cover, she's worried the phone will be badly scratched and dented, if not broken within a month.
Her requirement for the next phone is touchscreen (that eliminates all blackberry's and smartphones), hard button QWERTY keyboard and no slide out keyboard (so you can put hard cover on). I thought hard and long about this and the only phone that meet all 3 requirements is the Treo 750.
The 3G doesn't do a lot for her ... she doesn't use the phone as a modem, and her internet use from the phone is limited to emails, MSN Messenger, and occasionally some light surfing. The fact Treo 750 doesn't even have a camera on the front for video calling makes the 3G even more useless for her.
She'd gladly trade 3G for wifi actually, too bad that's not how it comes in. Speaking of wifi, I understand the Treo supports the Spectrum wifi miniSDIO card. My concern is the Spectec mini SDIO card is a little longer than regular SD card from what I know, because of the antenna. Doesn't that prevent the SD card cover from closing?
Wifi is not a must but a nice to have. Other than that, it sounds like Treo is the most likely candidate at this point. Given her 3 requirements, doesn't seem like there are a lot of choices neither.
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Hi there,
My love affair with PDAs,
1. Palm Zire 72 -> Great PDA till screen crack
2. Palm Treo 650 -> So fast, so easy, damn good phone, now my wife is using it and she fell in love with it too
3. HTC Universal -> Major dissapointment, but love the big screen though, nice for Wifi browsing, messaging and video playback, but sucks big time for a phone
5. Palm Treo 750 -> half of what Palm Treo 650 was.... except for 3G functionality and slightly better camera, Treo 650 will top this anytime of the day
My recommendation to you, stick with Palm OS, 300% faster and stable and more sensible, dont worry about applications, the one built in is good enough, but you may want to get ZLauncher, TCPMP apps in.. the Toysoft Lightwav Pro is an excellent piece of call management software for the Palm OS.... There are new Palm OS devices just launched.. can check out those...
Just my 2 cents...
Hey there guys,
New to this great Comunity, still new to Windows Mobile.
I'm a tech geek alright, and I love having all the newest tech gadgets around. I've wanted to get a WM phone so many times throughout the last few years but they were always behind in lots of aspects compared to the Symbian ones. Then HTC released its TyTNII with its holy specs, great design and somewhat compact size. This was my phone! Yeah, right! Then I found out about this huge issue with the video performance and followed it for about three monts waiting for a solution either from HTC or XDA. And OK - HTC had some problems with Qualcomm support for its stolen from Broadcomm chipsets whatever. So they released Diamond (and announced Raphael) with a new chipset and "3D GPU" which "processor enhances the user interface". And then again it needs tweaks to make it - not better, but just usable. Then all the other bugs and flaws users say about in this forum.
Can't HTC build a quality device that just works out of the box?! Then leave it to us mostly to customize it and somehow improve its usability!? Man, everyday I read about newer and bigger bugs and flaws. May be most of them will be overcomed thanks to this comunity, but were is HTC with its support for its high-priced devices!?
And again I'm about to leave the idea of having WM phone.
I've looked around for any other brands and models but found none more appealing. What do you think? What's the best WM device I can get in the next few months?
Any opinions are much appreciated.
To be honest, I've grown quite tired of Windows Mobile. I used to like it more, but it seems like I spent way too much time getting things to work. Also, the interface is very user UN-friendly, which makes doing simple tasks like calling someone too time consuming. Then there is the random freeze ups like the one I had today, which caused me to miss 5 calls and no warning lights or anything.
I like the cusomizabilty, but sometimes, I just want something that works right out of the box. Also, performance wise, all of the HTC/WM phones I've used are sluggish. (My mogul, friend's 6700, another friend's Kaiser/TyTnII). The redraw time when you flip out the keyboard is rediculous, specially if you have a few plugins.
Overall, I may give one more WM phone a try, if I am impressed by it at the store. But I doubt it. I just don't see Microsoft doing any innovations since they hold the crown as far as market share goes in the U.S. Maybe when an Android phones comes out...
partyhardy said:
To be honest, I've grown quite tired of Windows Mobile. I used to like it more, but it seems like I spent way too much time getting things to work. Also, the interface is very user UN-friendly, which makes doing simple tasks like calling someone too time consuming. Then there is the random freeze ups like the one I had today, which caused me to miss 5 calls and no warning lights or anything.
I like the cusomizabilty, but sometimes, I just want something that works right out of the box. Also, performance wise, all of the HTC/WM phones I've used are sluggish. (My mogul, friend's 6700, another friend's Kaiser/TyTnII). The redraw time when you flip out the keyboard is rediculous, specially if you have a few plugins.
Overall, I may give one more WM phone a try, if I am impressed by it at the store. But I doubt it. I just don't see Microsoft doing any innovations since they hold the crown as far as market share goes in the U.S. Maybe when an Android phones comes out...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Give blackberry a chance They've never failed me. Infact, I had my HTC Touch Dual for about a month before switching back. lol.
calling someone is too complicated?
1.) hit the green button
2.) start tapping away or choose speed dial
3.) hit the green button
its similar to what other phones want from you in order to know who you want to call. If thats too complicated, you may also try voice commander?
that beeing said, I am very happy with my new i-mate 9502, but I also considered the samsung i780 and it looks like people who bought it are very happy with it, especially with the form factor and performance.
edit: key for me with winMo devices are things like hardware keys, to reach functions quickly, using a good launcher/today setup like pocketplus +
phoneweaver + todayagenda, etc. and a nice hardware keyboard.
partyhardy said:
simple tasks like calling someone too time consuming. Then there is the random freeze ups like the one I had today, which caused me to miss 5 calls and no warning lights or anything.
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Click to collapse
Calling is simple, one button... de ding "call simon mobile" etc.
The no error message and not getting calls though is an issue i dislike.
I want a "nippy" device we need better hardware to run the software and better software optimisation for the hardware.
i just bought htc touch enhanced couple of days ago, and for the price it's great. Now with the Diamond coming out, htc touch is getting cheaper, but it's great to use nontheless.
Installed some stuff on it, not enough to make it sluggish but enough to make it a pure pleasure to use and i would definitely recommend it.
Prekrasen telefon za tzenata si.
partyhardy said:
To be honest, I've grown quite tired of Windows Mobile. I used to like it more, but it seems like I spent way too much time getting things to work. Also, the interface is very user UN-friendly, which makes doing simple tasks like calling someone too time consuming. Then there is the random freeze ups like the one I had today, which caused me to miss 5 calls and no warning lights or anything.
I like the cusomizabilty, but sometimes, I just want something that works right out of the box. Also, performance wise, all of the HTC/WM phones I've used are sluggish. (My mogul, friend's 6700, another friend's Kaiser/TyTnII). The redraw time when you flip out the keyboard is rediculous, specially if you have a few plugins.
Overall, I may give one more WM phone a try, if I am impressed by it at the store. But I doubt it. I just don't see Microsoft doing any innovations since they hold the crown as far as market share goes in the U.S. Maybe when an Android phones comes out...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But why cusomizabilty has to be at the expense of stability? Is it imposible to have a device that is performing great out of the box and has the potential to get improved usability by applications and custom tweaks? That would be the device for me. Don't get me wrong. I'm no mass user, I would consider myself as a techie business user and as such I need a device that I can rely on from the moment I buy it. I don't have the comfort to spend a small fortune and experiment weeks, even months with tweaking it just to make it work properly. I've always thought of WM as of business devices but I guess I was wrong.
demonizator said:
But why cusomizabilty has to be at the expense of stability? Is it imposible to have a device that is performing great out of the box and has the potential to get improved usability by applications and custom tweaks? That would be the device for me. Don't get me wrong. I'm no mass user, I would consider myself as a techie business user and as such I need a device that I can rely on from the moment I buy it. I don't have the comfort to spend a small fortune and experiment weeks, even months with tweaking it just to make it work properly. I've always thought of WM as of business devices but I guess I was wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Note that the people that use this site are not those that are going to say "my device is great" and then go away... The kind of people here are either those not satisfied, or those that want a little bit more from the hard ware and are not representative of all the device users.
The Diamond is an immensely powerfully device, and even with the UI stacked on top, it ticks away far more reliably than the iPhone (which for me just locked up a lot). If you don't like the UI, disable it and you'll have one of the most powerful WM devices there is...
WM devices don't need tweaking, but this site is devoted to tweaking them. I ran my Prophet perfectly happily on the stock WM5 ROM for over a year, before discovering this site to get it unlocked when the contract ended. I didn't need to tweak it or flash countless ROMs, but I wanted to...
I really hope you're right. I'm gonna wait a little bit more and get the Touch Pro version. It's just all these flaws I read about that stopped me from buying WM the past few years. But I guess I have to give up something to gain something more.
Maybe you want to take a look to the new Samsung. It seems as it's going to be a good device.
http://www.pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=1039
WM6 for the money?
I bought a Dash on ebay and upgraded it to WM6 for $150.00.
I have a Mogul now, but the Dash was way easier to use.
In terms of bang-for-the-buck I think the Samsung i780 takes the cake. It is the most specced out phone in that price category. And if you buy one today it will have the newer firmware so it shouldn't have any real issues.
Oh and calling people on a WiMo phone is far easier than any other phone. Voice Command baby. It's the reason I can't leave the WiMo platform even if there are other great choices like the iPhone, Blackberry or even the all-but-dead Palm Treos. And if you DON'T like using Voice Command come on it's very easy to call someone as mentioned. In fact, back when Nokia had crap for menus and directional pads to get to your contacts WiMo phones had touchscreens that made it really easy in comparison. Today the touchscreen is still easier to use than the various jog dials, joysticks or what not that conventional phones have.
+1 for the i780. It is by far the quickest and most responsive PPC I have ever used, and the form factor is perfect. No rotating screens to wait for, all the keyboard shortcuts you could want, terrific build quality, good battery life, bargain price, and none of the HTC Flo-bloat that turns their machines from reasonable PPCs into lagging, crash-happy iPhone wannabes.
I gotta add a +2 for the I780 as well.
I was holding out for a touch pro myself, in fact i cut out a picture of it and put it on my wall at the office. Iv'e owned quite a few HTC models over the last while as well as a I600, and i gotta say the I600 altho it had less functionality far outshined all but my tytn 2, altho the tytn 2 could not match the I600 im picture quality with the camera.
Last week i was in vodacom shop and saw the I780 demo model, picked it up and played with it for a while and i must say it has been a long time since a phone made me go "wow" , i was totaly amazed at the speed of the thing, the look and feel of it is great, samsung put alot of work into making the menu's just right for any user from beginner to power user. I made up my mind right there and then and bought one on my credit card, that was 7 days ago.
my experience so far :
Proprioty connector sux since i have a bunch of standard usb cables lying around, but still its not a train smash since you get usb cable, car charger, spare battery as well as a seperate portable battery charger as well with the phone.
Speed is AWSOME, 624mhz of power you will definitely notice, i have not found a single movie clip that has once lagged or was out of sinc with video/audio. this phone is really FAST, even when multi tasking it doesnt slow down. i have 2 friends who own tytn 2 and both commented on the speed, they both think i tweaked it to make it faster, they refuse to believe its the stock speed. ofcourse i did not tweak it.
Plenty of memory, i have 152mb free memory space on the phone and i have around 20 apps installed. the phone can also technicaly take up to 32gb cards i have read, altho most users use 1gb-8gb.
GPS is great, i had a bit of problem setting it up as i didnt bother reading the manual etc, but once i figured it out it worked like a charm, it pin pointed me in seconds. google maps work great as well. Garmin XT which comes with the phone is in my opinion far better than tomtom could ever be so i am very happy with samsung's choice of gps software.
Touch pad mouse was what put me off buying the phone in the first place, but after 6 days i find myself using it more than anything else, it was weird to use the first few days but it is second nature now and the phone just wouldnt be the same without it.
the keypad looks really tiny and i have biggish fingers. I dont know why, maybe its because they are beveled quite a bit or something, but i find it very easy and comfortable to use, do yourself a favour and try it on a demo model, you will see what i mean. the phone has a bunch of shortcut keys that sit in all the right spots, thumbs up to samsung for doing a good job there. one thing i would have liked was a jog dial for easy up and down scrolling in opera, I downloaded a app that changes volume up/down to scroll up/down and my problem was solved.
Screen is nice and bright, even in sunlight i dont have a problem. 320x320 at 128dpi is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. 95% of software out there works flawless at this resolution, since the release of the phone software developers have all been upgrading to support it. its mainly only HTC home that is a problem, but spb mobile which has more funtions works perfect so i am not bothered. I have installed all 20 of my favorite apps and all work nicely so im happy. there are some games that might be an issue tho, but its mostly old titles, every new game being released supports this resolution.
3G. Wireless, HSDPA etc : with my tytn 2 i had 1 bar to my router from the living room, with this phone i have almost full signal, i was really surprised with that. in the bathroom i used to get gprs only with the tytn 2, with this phone i get 3G+. anyway, that is how i have compared it to my old phone and found this one to have far better signal quality.
overall i love the phone, i am convinced i made the right choice. i would have loved a flash to be included with the phone, but other than that i just cant find any flaws.
I cant really comment on battery life as i am still playing with everything alot and using more battery life than i would on avarage, but currently battery lasts me almost 2 full days and trust me, i put it under alot of stress plus you get a second battery with the phone for free. but i estimate 3 to 4 days if you dont put to much strain on it.
O also forgot to mention, video calling worked out of the box much to my surprise. phone came with the E1 rom installed.
Software currently on phone and working perfectly :
Skype
SmS Chat ( threaded sms app )
google maps
Opera
core player
real player
Esmertec Jbed
Advabced config Tools
Adobe reader
Fun contact
Keyswop
Pocket IRC
Pocket Rar
PqzII
Safemode 2
Garmin XT
SPB Mobile shell
WKTaskL
Samsung today plugin
Astraware Casino
Tetris
Machines of war
Flash player
Total commander
Call firewall.
And no i did not install realvga, i am using the default 128dpi resolution i got the phone with.
Anyway, hope this helps with your descision. what you really need to do it test the phone yourself, i warn you tho, once you pick it up you wont want to put it down
In my country the HTC Tytn 2 is selling for R8900, and its already an dated model.
the I780 is selling for R5200 which is ALOT cheaper and this phone blows smoke in the tytn 2's face. so in my opinion this is by far the best bang for buck out there.
Its kinda like buying a 9600gt when everyone else is buying the 8600gts .... just love seeying their faces when they realise they just pissed away a chunk of cash on the wrong thing
If all else fails read this : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=411053
The best windows mobile device for it's money is undoubtely the HTC Shift, for a mere 1000 dollars you'll get a run-down WindowsMobile OS, but also Vista. So you'll have a hybrid for the price of just a good laptop.
Isn't is great ?
I think the HTC Touch PRO will blow the competition away, seriously!!!
I was a symbian freak for years untill I bought my current device, the HTC S710 "Vox". Before the Vox I went trough several Symbian S60 devices including Nokia 7610, 6630, N70 & N73.
At first I thougt wm was a complete mess... and the UI looked terrible imo... I was also a bit shocked that there was no copy/paste (at least in wm6 standard). In S60 there was a dedicated pencil key used for just copy/paste actions + other stuff..
Things have changed...
Now after using my Vox fox exactly one year there's no way I'd go back to only using symbian S60 again.
Even though I'm only using the non-touch version of wm I've noticed all the advantages of wm compared with symbian S60.
Let me list a few of them:
1. Messaging: Sending SMS & MMS with a S60 device is OK but nothing more, the whole messaging interface in a S60 3d edition device is inferior. It's hard to explain but it's just doesn't compare to what it feels like on a wm device. It's like using a 3310 with a color screen if you know what I mean. Oooold T9 (forget about xt9 with word prediction & etc), the whole interface looks like a joke, and the S60 MMS editor doesn't even have a 3'rd of every options you can find in a standard WM device these days.
2. Email: OMG, If you wanna check your mail on a S60 device you'll be seriously depressed. Reading emails on a S60 device is like reading a standard SMS. You can forget all about HTML email and everything looks incredibly boring. Yes there are some really good 3rd party apps like profimail but still they're no match for the built-in mobile outlook when it comes to displaying your emails.
3. Calendar: There's no comparision here, WM6 calendar thrumps the S60 one, nothing more to say!
4. Contacts: S60 is far far behind, there's so much easier and faster finding a contact in WM6, especially when you can search contacts quickly just by typing there first letters using xt9... And with Live messenger integrated (love it or hate it) with contacts it's a nice addition imo.
5. Office applications: OMG... This is overkill for S60!!! Even WM6 standard edition nowadays includes Office mobile which beatifully renders word, excell & powerpoint files. It's a shame it doesn't allow you to create new documents (on WM6 standard) but that can easily be fixed with a simple patch from modaco forums... S60 includes quickoffice, it's not a bad application at all but documents rendered in quickoffice doesn't even look nearly as good as they do in office mobile.
6. WIFI: No competition here at all... WM is superior in remembering hotspots and connectivity.
7. ActiveSync: Says it all doesn't it??? Nokia have PC Suite, it's a great app but it's no match if you're using outlook... It works ok but doesn't sync everything like activesync does so wm is the winner here as well....
8. Live Messenger: Probably not very important to a lot of people but for me it's very important. With WM6 I can use the native WM Live messenger client completely for free. There's no way to do that on Symbian because MS is charging for using it on other platforms
There's probably more I could add to the list but I must mention all my troubles with wm in the beginning have been solved, I'm using Vito Copy/Paste for the copy & paste issue & I've also added celetask to a hardware key so my phone actually works better in this apartment than I could ever wish four... Of course Symbian S60 also have advantages, like better cameras & video recording, more display colors & better gaming with the new N-gage platform etc... but in the end I think WM is a more advanced & better platform. I think WM is more appealing for geeks & techheads because you can tweak your device to infinity. And I'm still only talking about WM Standard, WM6 PRO is even more versatile.
S60 is fun for a while but in the end it gets boring as hell...
partyhardy said:
To be honest, I've grown quite tired of Windows Mobile. I used to like it more, but it seems like I spent way too much time getting things to work. Also, the interface is very user UN-friendly, which makes doing simple tasks like calling someone too time consuming. Then there is the random freeze ups like the one I had today, which caused me to miss 5 calls and no warning lights or anything.
I like the cusomizabilty, but sometimes, I just want something that works right out of the box. Also, performance wise, all of the HTC/WM phones I've used are sluggish. (My mogul, friend's 6700, another friend's Kaiser/TyTnII). The redraw time when you flip out the keyboard is rediculous, specially if you have a few plugins.
Overall, I may give one more WM phone a try, if I am impressed by it at the store. But I doubt it. I just don't see Microsoft doing any innovations since they hold the crown as far as market share goes in the U.S. Maybe when an Android phones comes out...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Performance issue of WM are device specific. After being a HTC hardcore for many years, and after quite a number of frustating moments I decided to switch.....almost bought myself the new Nokia E71 and abandon WM altotgether BUT - I decided to give it one more try with WM and now it's with a Samsung. And that's how I ended with the i780.
With the i780 (DXHE1 Rom), it's like a rediscovery for me. After getting used to HTC sluggishness and sporadic freeze-ups, I was genuinely astounded by how nimble and steadfast this i780 is. I can recall until now I have not encountered any freeze-ups no matter how I abuse the programs running back to back. Yes some buggy program may screw up but the nice thing is it won't freeze the whole phone unlike HTC devices where a single program fails it will bring down the whole phone.
And for the price, the i780 is a steal. It has all the arsenal one could expect from HTC flagship models yet it cost way cheaper - that is a real deal to me.
If you are done with HTC, don't blame it on WM. Try different make, like i-Mate Arima build or Samsung or even Asus.
The reviews on the Fuze are pretty good. And despite the fact that I loathe the side sliders, this one might make a believer out of me. Are any of you experienced 750 users who have had any length of time with the Fuze? If so can you give us some pros and cons in comparison with the 750? Thanks
Treo 750 Users
Yea, I've been using a Treo 750 for over two years and loved it but as you know, it is under powered by now day standards. The Fuze was a big step and really was going to buy the Epix for the keyboard but took the jump to the fuze. Not happy with it till I flashed the ROM and updated to NET 3.5. Now getting really good with the small keyboard I must say it rocks. I used SPB Shell with SPB Diary for keeping up with life so waiting on that void to be filled yet and it will as this phone is getting the attention. Nice phone
Dan
I just upgraded to the Fuze. Also flashed a few ROMs almost right away and the ATT ROM is slow and has problems (no HSDPA active only 3G) so the flash is pretty much a mandatory step. I am still adjusting to the Fuze. I like the TouchFlo interface, sometimes, but then at other times, I've found it difficult to quickly get to where I want. I've noticed that it's harder to make calls from the car due to not having the keyboard on the front and not being able to go to search for a name to call directly from TouchFlo. Similar problem with the e-mail Inbox. Although TouchFlo gives me a preview of e-mails, to get to my inbox is an extra step and I'm still adjusting. There is a new ROM that does not include TouchFlo by default so I might try that. Also, some ROMs have been cooked with software called "SecondToday" which allows to flip from TouchFlo to a 3rd Party Today screen. I've also found the short length of the stylus to be a little bit annoying - the length of the one on the Treo was just right for me . . .
The phone has a lot more RAM and the display is nice. I wish the display was larger and despite the faster CPU, it doesn't feel as fast as I'd expected. I will keep using it for at least a couple more weeks before deciding if its worth the upgrade. I've also considered the EPIX and I guess that would be my fallback since it has more RAM, better CPU and better display than the 750 in a comparable format.
I haven't tried streaming video yet although I imagine it would be much better on the Fuze. Also, some nice software available on the Fuze that helps.
Andrew
Mine's going back to the store.
I don't like the keyboard, its just too small for a slideout keyboard. The buttons are poorly located and just not intuitive.
The screen is nice but feels small due to the resolution.
The lack of programmable buttons is a big minus.
And the TouchFlo is next to useless.