Happy vs Not with Polaris - Touch Cruise General

Given the driver issues and mixed reviews on the forum(speed, camera, scrolling) I was wondering if we could get a sense of overall satisfaction with the device. Would you buy one again, even if there is never a fix for the driver issues?

I would, but definitely not for this kind of money!!

the device is worth every little penny.

It would help if you guys mention what device you came from. It helps to understand what you have been used to in order to gauge your current opinion. For example, if you came directly from a dog-slow KJAM (not OC'ed) and say the TC is fast, then that's good to know.

By far best pocket pc device. Most complete with great form factor. I have owned the following:
Siemens SX56
Siemens SX66
Audiovox p4400
eten G500
xda atom
imate jasjar
htc tytn
htc p3300
htc p3600
htc kaiser

Knowing the driver issue and HTC's stance about it - I would not. Too much money at stake!

By far best pocket pc device. Most complete with great form factor and best phone module. I have owned the following:
SP : typhoon , tornado , startrek , excalibur , cavalier.
pocketpc : magician , wizard , universal , prophet , hermes , trinity , artemis , cheetah , herald , kaiser , niki , and for last polaris.
and non HTC , eten m600 x500 x800 , hp 6815 , asus p525 , and a few of SE and nokia smartphone.

the best pocketpc phone, I'd buy it again a hundred times!!!

i switched back to a P3600/Trinity.
if i would't consider to play games via nes/snes/gba emulators, i probably wouldn't sell the polaris...
next device will be the eten v900 or samsung i900 (vga+dvb-t VS 5mpx-cam+8gb internal memory) ... difficult decision..

bjrmd said:
Given the driver issues and mixed reviews on the forum(speed, camera, scrolling) I was wondering if we could get a sense of overall satisfaction with the device. Would you buy one again, even if there is never a fix for the driver issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I need another PDA, Yes.
If I need a pocketable video player or play games, I'd buy a PSP.
If I need a good picture quality, I'd buy a digital camera.
That mean's the answer is Yes I am happy and I will buy again if I need to! but never on the same price!

definately would buy it again, it does combine most features one needs in a PDA/Phone
(which dont include.... Camera and Video player) if one needs to watch a video on the go a laptop is still the best bet... who wants to watch mini video?
they should have left the secondary camera out all together (or installed a flash)
some of us work, so the usefullness of watching video in perfect quality is not a high prio.
this gadget:
gets you where you are going (GPS)
has all necessary ability to handle day to day work tasks (Office Mobile)
can make calls (phone)
and has the benefits of all of the 3rd party apps out there for it (anything else you need)

Totally agree with ‘xrrkrrkx’, I’ve had all sorts of PDAs from the Psion and Casio days, through Ipaq onto K-Jam, the T-Mob’s MDA’s...
The Polaris is a useful tool first and a toy second for me so some video lag (which hardly bothers me anyway) is acceptable due to all the other top features + its form factor make this a must for me and I’d pay up again to get one.

Having come over from the Kaiser thread it's incredible to for me to see all the negative comments about the Polaris which basically has the same (if not better) performance as the Kaiser, but without the weight! For me it's the best all round device I've ever used and I think my Kaiser will be up for sale....

Remember that in almost any forum for hardware,
most posters do only write when they are unhappy about something.
Almost no one write any message just because they are happy with there phone.
Try count the negative weight of messages against sold phones.
I came from HTC 4350 to this one, its the best phone I ever owned,
and so I said about 4350 also. But it is !!
Before HTC I used all kinds of Nokia.
I use Push mail from work to the phone, 15 mails each day that I read,
I'll give IT support over the phone to 1500 people, 10-15 each day.
I use blue tooth over my car stereo back and forth to work,
else I'll use my Blue tooth headset 8 hours a day.
Sometimes I even use tomtom when going to another of our departments.
I never switch off the phone completely, but recharge it once every
second day or even sometimes only every third day.
I simply do not understand those who are unhappy with battery lifetime.
But I do never see any video on it, why would I do that?
Well, this is no doubt the best phone I ever had. I'll buy it again.

Having come from the Dopod U1000 (Athena) to the Cruise is a positive, mainly due to they size. The fact that the Cruise can do everything that the Athena could do is impressive, considering it is less than half the size and weight and is more useful as a primary phone. I still miss the VGA display and often carry the Athena with me on travel to use as an internet tablet and yes, as an A/V player. The 5" VGA is so much easier on my tires eyes and not having to scroll so much on web pages makes it a no brainer. On the other hand, I bought one of the very first U1000's out at double the price of the Cruise. Both have their place but the Cruise gets my daily use. You can see other devices in my Signature line, not including numerous PDA's prior to the Cell phone era.

I used a MIO A201, which doesn't have a phone, radio or WIFI.
I am impressed with the TC (Polaris).
One of the issues I have is the speed of the MicroSD memory card (8GB class 4) which is slower than my SD memory card (2GB 150x) on my MIO A201 which slows down Tomtom, but this is a memory card issue and not a TC issue.

Great device
I switched from regular phones to the Charmer and was already very happy with it, now it was time to improve my "lifestyle" and get a all in one unit. It was hard to decide if I shall get a Kaiser or a Polaris. Finally the small size and less weight made my decision for the Polaris.
After nearly 2 weeks I just can say it is a great unit, it works without problems (beside the usual WM bugs), I can't complain about battery life as at home I have a pretty weak reception (but better than the Charmer) - I live in a "ray safe" appartement..... As I use it really a lot and always have to play around with it (especially in boring meetings), I have to charge it every day or second day during week, at weekend where I use it less I don't have to charge it.
The speech and connection quality of the radio improved, the GPS has a good reception and works fine.
Some complain about the price: it maybe high but try to get a Nokia N95 cheaper without operator contract, it has more or less the same price as the polaris.
So in summary: a high price unit but worth it!

Sure I would
Before :
SPV C500, SPV C600, Wizard, Trinity, TyTN, Artemis, Kaiser, and now Polaris.
I don't regret it. My top 3 is :
1- Polaris/Kaiser (it rocks !)
2- Artemis, it rocked as well.

I would absolutely buy TC again.
Although I understand the complaint that many people have with the video driver issue, for me, it does not distract too much from the device, as I do not use it as a primary video device.
The times that I do watch videos or clips etc.., I find the video good enough for my needs (but not excellent). I think that if one is buying a device ONLY as a phone and multimedia device, it is really quite difficult to presently beat the iPhone.
Over the years I have used PPC/WM devices, I find the TC excellent as a pda ( I cannot say 100% excellent because of the afforementioned video driver issue).
The phone portion is also really good - the best voice clarity and signal that I have had.
Previously:
PDAS: Compaq iPaq 3650
HP iPaq 5450
phones: various samsung and motorolas
PDA/Phones: Samsung SCH-i730 (which was really good in its day for PPC2003SE, but really sucked with WM5)
That's just my 2cents for what its worth.
T

Well, I have had my TC now for about a week and I absolutely love it. It is everything I expected it to be and I think I was needlessly worrying about performance. Of course, the TC will be that much better with the proper graphics drivers, but the way it is now has surpassed my expectations. It is actually the first WM phone in a long time that I think is "fun" to use.
Check out my review here: http://mobilitytoday.com/articles/htc_touchcruise_impressions.html

Related

What's the best phone at the moment

Hi all,
I have been using imate k-jam aka wizard for a long time(2 years), and always felt slow doing anything and everything. Recently i buyed imate jasjam aka hermes thinking about its 400 mhz cpu. But to be frank and truthful both of them lagged the same way(sometimes hermes is better), but both are reasonably slow. I have even used my friends imate-jam aka magician- and im really truthful it was way too fast, everything works amazingly, changing the theme doesnt require more than 2 secs- which in my wizards takes more than 30 secs, playing big video's smoothly and-and internet pages was rendered amazingly-which my 2 costly devices could't do!!!
Now listening about wats going on with kaiser, its pitiful that such a good device also lags in performance. I wonder wats going on with HTC all expensive devices lags.
So guys, what do you think would be better device with all such funtionalities and faster performace. I am stuck with Asus P750...
What do you think...??
i want touch cruse
but if people like keyboard then kaiser is the thing
I think you will want to wait for HTC to iron out the bugs with Kaiser. I do the same - and purchased a Nokia N95 in the meantime so that I'm not without new toys, which I absolutely love. This device REALLY rocks! (I only wish it ran Windows Mobile...)
I was planning on getting myself the Kaiser 120 before the new year. Yeah, I read a few posts regarding the keyboard issue. True bumme. Then I thought about waiting to get the E-Ten M800 (it's looks mean, lol), but the has 64mg ram, as the Kaiser has 128mg or ram and a 3mg camera. Having a slide out keyboard and windows os is a must for me. Decisions decisions. I have until January to make a decision, lol.
robosiris said:
I was planning on getting myself the Kaiser 120 before the new year. Yeah, I read a few posts regarding the keyboard issue. True bumme. Then I thought about waiting to get the E-Ten M800 (it's looks mean, lol), but the has 64mg ram, as the Kaiser has 128mg or ram and a 3mg camera. Having a slide out keyboard and windows os is a must for me. Decisions decisions. I have until January to make a decision, lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If yoou still have 1.5 months, if I were you, I'd wait for the new announcements of HTC (Q1 2008 models). I really hope for something like the Omni (as long as it's not Google-only).
first i thought, that i will buy the new O2 XDA Orbit 2 (HTC Touch Cruise).. but then i found O2 XDA Stellar (coming soon 26th November i hope ) and then
--> BOA
I WANT THIS THING!!!
so i think the HTC TyTN II - Kaiser will be the best phone at this time
It's all relative honestly. There is no one best phone right now.
I dislike the TyTN II because to me its too thick. I have the X800 Gloffish and think its a bettet device personally. I have been waiting for the Polaris and we shall see, but again that my preference.
I think the N95 is the best non WM device right now. I sell phones and nothing sells better and is more popular.
It comes down to what you are looking for in a phone. I cannot wait for the HP 914 personally.
Menneisyys said:
If yoou still have 1.5 months, if I were you, I'd wait for the new announcements of HTC (Q1 2008 models). I really hope for something like the Omni (as long as it's not Google-only).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the HTC Herald for about a year now, and it's time to upgrade. I read about the HTC Omni, the specs on that gigantic "thing" is impressive. That thing is a mini laptop. I wouldn't even know how to answer a call on that thing, lol. It reminds me of the HTC Advantage regarding size. That Omni is not pocketable (at least for me, lol). E-Ten M800 let me down because of the 64ram instead of 128. I plan to get the kaiser in a few weeks. And besides, no matter what I get, several months down the road, something similar will come out that even better
yeah there is no best phone
one mans nightmare is another dream
if there was a best phone everybody with enough
money would own the same device
same goes for the "best" rom really
Menneisyys said:
I think you will want to wait for HTC to iron out the bugs with Kaiser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Kaiser has the makings to be one of the best phone, if HTC were to pull out the thumb from their *ss and start fixing bugs. I am not very optimistic though. So far my impression of HTC is that they fix bugs by introducing new devices with these fixes incorporated and leave us unlucky beta-testers to rot. What they guarantee by doing so is that, while they probably get a lot of new customers, they loose many old ones...
Nobody here likes asus p750 it has more functionalities than kaiser it is fast too (see the alex review in modaco). But only problem is 64 mb ram.
o2's version of the Polaris ( Orbit 2/ Touch Cruise ). Really one sweet device, built in GPS, 128mb memory, 3MP auto focus cam + front facing cam for video calls etc, 400mhz CPU, 3G for speedy downloads and browsing where you carnt use wifi.
Absolutley one sexy device, this is my next phone and will be for many many ppl.
samy.3660 said:
Nobody here likes asus p750 it has more functionalities than kaiser it is fast too (see the alex review in modaco). But only problem is 64 mb ram.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not recall 64 MB being a problem when this was the maximum memory available in phones. Now, with 128 MB models available this is suddenly a big issue. Both my previous WM phones, the Prophet (i-mate JAMin) and the Hermes (i-mate JASJAM) ran just fine with 64 MB. Note that these ran WM5. The Kaiser comes with 128 MB RAM and WM6. Is WM6 more demanding than WM5?
abubasim said:
Is WM6 more demanding than WM5?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, not really.
I personally think the TYTN II is quite up there right now in terms of WM....non WM i agree N95(8GB black !)....also the Sony Ericsson P1 is quite a device but has been overshadowed by WM....its got a 3.2 MP,128 RAM,256 ROM,wifi,Bluetooth 2 wid A2DP,runs the Symbian UIQ....
Well
It's a bit hard, what i would say is the ROM and RAM, personally i found HTC, O2 products are nearly perfect, but just RAM is not enough....so if they can increase the RAM capacity from common 64m to 128m or even higher...then i guess....WOW.....cuz you know as lately most products are already come with built-in GPS, ROM 256m, 1g, or even higher 2g(O2 Flame)....so the crucial part is RAM.....what do you think??
I own the Asus P750, HTC TyTN II, Nokia E90, Nokia N95 8GB, iPhone 8GB and others.
Regarding the GUI/OS/Usability, no phone beats the iPhone.
Regarding camera photo/video quality and size/weight, no phone beats the Nokia N95 8GB.
Regarding internet surfing/display quality(inner display)/keyboard, no phone beats the Nokia E90.
Regarding WM6, no phone beats the Asus P750 which is very fast and has compared to the HTC TyTN II a much better video capability, 64 MB RAM only isn't a real issue.
The Nokia N95 8GB is a very nice do-it-all phone but mostly our American friends seem to be impressed with it, simply because they didn't have the N80 or N95 in time to compare it with. Yes, the N95 8GB is an impressive piece of technology but I started to hate Symbian because of the non-professional, junkie surfboy GUI design look. Seriously, the Symbian guys must get their stuff straight because this is not a GUI design they should use on a fantastic hardware like the N95 8GB or the E90.
OS-wise, I tend to like the iPhone OS and WM6 more and more and if Microsoft succeeds in making WM7 more stable, faster and introducing new and intelligent functions, I'm sold.
A last word regarding the Asus P750: I'm a bit disappointed with the quality of this unit. The external quality is great, very Palm Treo 750-like, no problem here. Apparently there is something "loose" on my device because when I shake it, I hear that something inside the phone is moving. When I talk to somebody, the loudspeaker seems to vibrate with a high pitch trembling noise, like as something is loose and the sound of the loudspeaker makes it move stronger resulting in a very unpleasant secondary noise(sounds like a distortion in the speaker). I can't return the P750 anymore since my wife was clever enough to throw away the original package and the dealer refuses to take it back without it, which I can understand very well. Women...
I'm digging this soon to be one:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=367563
I'm a proud owner of Touch Cruise, I love it - simply
i've tried a lot of devices
but because speed,stability,hardware keyboard,GPS on board and big screens are must for me, i prefer kaiser

Considering an X7510 and looking for input...

So my HTC Wizard is getting a little old. And it's poor old CPU isn't standing up to Windows Mobile 6 ROM's very well. And it doesn't support anyhting past EDGE. And I'm thinking it's time for an upgrade. And my sweet BT SouthWing headset sucks on my HTC as soon as I do more than one thing. At the same time, my camera is busted. My girlfriend has a 6 megapixel camera we use for anything important, but I want a decent camera that's always on me.
I think I see a chance to combine some electronics. I'm looking for a beasty WM 6 based PDA. The current PDA I'm most interested in is the HTC Advantage X7510.
http://www.htc.com/www/product.aspx?id=474
GSM w / solid band support
3.1 MP camera w / flash
BT 2.0
624 Mhz CPU AND ATI gfx chip (<3 cell phone emulators)
16 gig internal flash for my tunes
detachable keyboard
FULL QWERTY KEYBOARD = WIN
Surprisingly sexy for a powerful PDA with a keyboard
This looks like the best one I've found overall. I've heard that HTC has been pretty lousy on implementing the ATI GFX chips, but as far as I can tell that's only on the TyTn II's. It's a little more than I want to spend on a phone, but if it gets the camera in there too then it's sold.
I'm pretty much sold on this guy, only holdup is the cost. I really haven't seen anything that can compete with it, although I found a lot of new companies today poking about. Anybody know of any brands I should look at, or have anything negative to say about this guy?
fatheadpi said:
So my HTC Wizard is getting a little old. And it's poor old CPU isn't standing up to Windows Mobile 6 ROM's very well. And it doesn't support anyhting past EDGE. And I'm thinking it's time for an upgrade. And my sweet BT SouthWing headset sucks on my HTC as soon as I do more than one thing. At the same time, my camera is busted. My girlfriend has a 6 megapixel camera we use for anything important, but I want a decent camera that's always on me.
I think I see a chance to combine some electronics. I'm looking for a beasty WM 6 based PDA. The current PDA I'm most interested in is the HTC Advantage X7510.
http://www.htc.com/www/product.aspx?id=474
GSM w / solid band support
3.1 MP camera w / flash
BT 2.0
624 Mhz CPU AND ATI gfx chip (<3 cell phone emulators)
16 gig internal flash for my tunes
detachable keyboard
FULL QWERTY KEYBOARD = WIN
Surprisingly sexy for a powerful PDA with a keyboard
This looks like the best one I've found overall. I've heard that HTC has been pretty lousy on implementing the ATI GFX chips, but as far as I can tell that's only on the TyTn II's. It's a little more than I want to spend on a phone, but if it gets the camera in there too then it's sold.
I'm pretty much sold on this guy, only holdup is the cost. I really haven't seen anything that can compete with it, although I found a lot of new companies today poking about. Anybody know of any brands I should look at, or have anything negative to say about this guy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well if you really want the x7510 then you should buy an x7500 and put ap4 on there. than its like having the best of both worlds plus you get all the buttons that you dont get with the 7510
7510 is a good choice only if you intend to use it notebook style. If you use it tablet style, then 7500 or 7501 are better. 7510 does not have the a few of the hardware buttons that the older models have, and this is extremely limiting for table style users. Many users find it more convenient, more portable, and easier when using it table style.
BTW, 7500 and 7501 are lighter and cheaper too. The only drawback is the microdrive instead of SSD, but not a serious drawback. Capacity itself is not an issue for most of us, I believe. I only use about 1 GB out of the 8GB with all my programs installed there. All my large consuming files are on microSDHC, which can be swapped in and out at will so there is no practical limit on the effective capacity. Microdrive is a lot faster than microSDHC, although it consumes more power.
The answer is also in the new product cathegories from HTC marketing department ( www.htc.com ) :
They have :
TOUCH phones (From TOUCH to DIAMOND)
PDA phones (From P3300 to TyTN II)
Smartphones (From S310 to S730)
Mobile Computers (Advantage>Shift)
The strategy seems clear: WHAT DO YOU ARE LOOKING FOR ? :
Trendy and WOW effect PDA PHONE? (Play device with phone?) TOUCH product Line
A Powerfull Companion in your PHONE? (Biz device with phone?) PDA Phones Product Line
Lightweight but powerfull PHONE? (Phone for yor Digital Lifestyle?) Smartphones product line
Mobile computing (Mobile PC always on with SOME phone capabilities?) Mobile Computers product line
I agree with you we would like to have them ALL in a single device but....
I have PDA, SMartphone and Mobile computer, and I fully agree with this scenario. A clear idea (or a good help) and you will be really happy of the chosen device. Chose the wrong category for your purpose and you will sell it in few weeks (losing money )
HTC is out from a dark age now, time to buy stock quotes IMHO!
I'd go for an X7500 unless you can get a 7510 susidised. I use about 6Gb of my Microdrive and about 3Gb on my card but you can always expand with bigger cards.
Good luck!
[Edit]Just seen http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=391485 - might be of interest?[/Edit]
Interesting comments, really appreciate the feedback. So, a few things.
1. I haven't really found a good comparison or general video yet of any of the advantage models. I'll keep the keyboard difference in mind. As for the keyboard usage, how is it for texting? I've been pretty happy with the keyboard on my Wizard, but I'm open to something new. I just refuse to go back to not having a QWERTY keyboard. I'd buy the Diamond, but HTC doesn't get how awesome QWERTY texting is appearantly.
2. Looking at the Advantage, I don't see any buttons on it that would be especially good for gaming, especially anything like the pad on a Wizard / TyTn II. Am I missing something, or can I expect to have my PocketNesterness hampered by an Advantage?
3. Thanks for the info on the 7500/1 vs 7510. Looking at the specs page, I noticed the 7500 lists two cameras while the 7501 only has one. Is this the case? I'd just be giving up the VGA camera for voice calls, which I've never used anyways, but I guess it could be nice if I get to an area with better than EDGE service. Also, is the X7510's camera much / any better?
4. I've done a good bit of flashing / light bit of cooking with my Wizard. About how much harder is an advantage to reflash?
5. 8 gigs would be a considerable upgrade for me, I've been getting by on a 4 gig MiniSD that my Wizard only picks up about 3.7 gig of. Assuming I used a gig internally for pics, GPS, etc, I'd still have twice the capacity on HD alone vs my card.
Glad to get some input, got ignored at HowardForums.
Hmm... actually, saw some better pics of the Advantage. There is clearly no "D-Pad" like the PDA-style phones get. LAME.
Back to the drawing board. Kaiser's in the lead, AT&T owes me a discount phone since I bought my own hardware to the table. Too bad it doesn't have a flash.
http://www.imate.com/support/specs/SpecSheet_9502.pdf
Ooooooh... Do Want!
fatheadpi said:
Interesting comments, really appreciate the feedback. So, a few things.
1. ... how is it for texting? ...
2. ... can I expect to have my PocketNesterness hampered by an Advantage?
3. ... the 7500 lists two cameras while the 7501 only has one. Is this the case? Also, is the X7510's camera much / any better?...
4. ...About how much harder is an advantage to reflash?...
5. ...8 gigs ...
....got ignored at HowardForums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We play soccer here, 2-1 is the score, and the winners are ...HERMES-KAISER!
1) ATHENA's kb haven't any backlight, hard to use without a stable surface. Big screen means BIG on screen Kb too, but for texting ATHENA Kb isn't really good in standing situation, in the car, on the bus.... WORST comparing it with the HERMES or KAISER
2) Many games aren't usable in a VGA device. I don't know about emulators but less buttons mean less control! WORST comparing it with the HERMES or KAISER
3) Yes, it is. No, don't.
4) Just the same complexity and risks as Kaiser or Hermes
5) Yes, but are built IN. I prefer to have DATA on SD, to manage with the PC utilities, to share data with friends... but, yes BETTER than HERMES or KAISER
HOFO?
Believe me: for a "texter" and "gamer" ATHENA is a nightmare!
Yeah, that's what I'm seeing so far. I might settle on a Kaiser, looks like those are pretty well hacked, and I can get one for like $100 refurb'd through AT&T. I'm gonna see if I can scrounge up a deal on that I-Mate tho, no flash on the camera has repeatedly pissed me off with my Wizard.
On a different note, how is WM6 on a 400 Mhz processor? I'm using a Wizard OC'd to 216Mhz on a custom WM6 rom, and alot of stuff is SLOOOOW. Granted, even a Kaiser would more than double my phone power, but just curious.
Hey guys, I think it's getting obvious the Athena isn't for me. I'm gonna head over to the Kaiser forum and see what I can see. Thanks for the help.

ETEN Glofiish X800 vs TyTNII?

Hello guys...
After some technical problems with my Kaiser (now in service), and after realizing that I don't really use the hardware keyboard all that much (a major criterion when I chose Kaiser), I was thinking of trading it for the ETEN Glofiish X800. I'm tempted by the 500MHz processor and the brilliant VGA screen, however are there any opinions on how well it fares in other issues? GPS, overall speed etc?
Thanks in advance,
t
if you don't want a keyboard anymore, you should maybe also consider the HTC Touch Diamond...very small and light, nice vga screen, gps, 4GB internal memory, etc.
Hmmm you could be right, I didn't think of that. Its processor is running @ 400MHz instead of 500, though, and a full €100/$160 more than the X800, so I'm not sure how it compares. One big plus is the wealth of custom ROMs lying around - haven't seen anything for the ETEN device...
Thanks for the advice
btw, don't forget to consider the iPhone 3G too...maybe not so interessting if you have a lot of windows mobile specific applications...but for normal use like mail, phone, calendar, etc it can be interessting.
anyway, before buying any new device, I can advice everyone to wait like a month or two, untill the iPhone 3G gets available everywhere. I hope the prices of many other windows mobile devices will drop after the 3G introduction.
the diamond and 3g are very comparable device, still the diamond costs 500euro and the 3g will be something like 300euro (without contract) in Belgium. so i expect htc will have to drop theire prices to concurrent with apple.
Ah no, not interested in iPhones! Not only do I need the Windows functionality indeed, but I have developed a certain anti-anti-establishment feeling against it, I just hate how 'hip' it has become
Still competition is good nonetheless. Now, I wonder, why on earth hasn't the TyTNII come down since its launch, at least in Greece? Still going for €800!
i too still prefer windows mobile because of some applications I couldn't live without...but after playing for a while with an iPhone I was really impressed with its responsiveness and stability. It couldn't nearly do as much as what I can do with my windows mobile device, but the things that the iPhone could do were working very well, very smooth. And that's something I can't say from my pocket pc. But anyway, I already got used to the many crashes and softreset that it now doesn't really bother me anymore
So have I, have used Windows for so long I'm all too used to it The firts major disadvantage of the iPhone would be the GPS functionality - what would I do without my iGo?
So, anyone with an idea about the ETEN vs HTC?
eten FTW! i just wished it had a BIGGER vga screen like the iphone! but the gps sirf III kills that iphone AGPS for sure! plus i hate mac stuff!
just wished our x800 had more internal RAM! 64 is not enuff!
I had an X800 before I got my Touch Cruise and I have to say, the only thing better than the TC is the VGA screen, other than that, it kept developing a Micro SD problem where the locking mechanism would break and the SD card wouldn't lock in place (I had one replacement unit, and an attempted repair, and it seems other people have had the same problem) It is also significantly slower than my TC (when you press a menu option in TomTom, you can see the menu layers change it is that slow!). Couple that with the recessed screen so it's almost impossible to press the x button without using the stylus, and I'm much happier with the touch cruise than the X800. I won't buy another E-Ten device as they seem to have very poor after sales service, and almost non-existent support for European users!

HTC X7510 or HTC Touch pro?

Hello everyone!
I sold my Athena in the favour of the upcoming HTC Touch Pro, but now I am wondering... Is it better to but the new X7510?
Can you please tell me what the differences are between the old X7500 and the new X7510?
I do know that X7510 has an 16GB SSD drive instead of the 8 GB Hard Drive, but what else is new?
With my X7500 I had some problems while watching videos, that the audio and video got out of sync after a while, I read somewhere that it was becouse the X7500 did not have the proper drivers installed, just like the Tytn II devices! Is that still an issue with the X7510?
Also I think that the X7500 did not perform very well in other applications either, to give you an example: TomTom was performing much better on the Tytn II then it was on the X7500 even tough tytn II has a slower cpu!
Please tell me if this new X7510 still has the same issues, and what more except the harddrive is changed?
Looking forward to your reply!
my X7510 is still on original HTC ROM, and running great with TomTom 7 (it comes free with TomTom 6)
i do not notice any noticeable slowdown
MP3 and Videos running fine, via my Bluetooth headsets.
coming from a Palm Treo, everything seems wAY!! faster for me. LOL
on the same topic, since i'm coming from the Palm World, i transfered my licenses to software i know by heart
Pocket Tunes for MP3 and TCPCMP for videos (freebie), and many other applications, that i transfered from Palm to PPC
I also was choosing between those two devices, and i went for the X7510 becuase big screen, and 16GB flash.
Darn, you beat me to it, I was going to post a thread on the two. You should insert a Poll, to see what people think.
You might not like the X7510 because you previously own a X7500. The major complaint is the lack of hard buttons. But for me, I don't need anything except the home button, so the X7510 is perfect for my needs.
Heres the poll!
hollywould said:
Darn, you beat me to it, I was going to post a thread on the two. You should insert a Poll, to see what people think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Inserted poll, hope there will be many voters!
cktlcmd said:
You might not like the X7510 because you previously own a X7500. The major complaint is the lack of hard buttons. But for me, I don't need anything except the home button, so the X7510 is perfect for my needs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I do know that there is less hardware buttons, but I dont really need them on athena anyway! The most important thing for me to know right now is if there is a problem with missing drivers like on the X7500?
How is watching videos, does it skip frames like on X7500, does the audio/video come out of sync?
What is the biggest difference in the hardware between the X7500 and X7510, does it have another chipset or what?
These are all the questions that I need answered!
I see that I'm the first voter!
For me, if my interest is in watching video (and I watch lots of them), there is a no brainer that a 5 inch screen is the way to go. I don't have any issue with the driver or anything like that. I find the video fluid and smooth, sound clear. I just do't demand it to be as good as my home theatre system in terms of clarity and sound quality that's all. I have lots of youtube collections and even if I watch them in 100% size, where the clarity is the best, the picture size is probably still as big as stretching it 200% on a 2.8 inch screen.
By the way, there is nothing wrong with the driver. I came across an article before explaining that even HTC did not know that it was not their fault that the ATI Imageon Decorder is not peforming. Apparently it is because another party had intentionally disabled some capability due to licensing and pricing issue. So it was a pricing rather than technical issue that we are not getting the best performance. If I come across that article again, I'll post it.
Other than being the best device to play video, Athena (whether it is 7500,7501, or 7510) are also best internet device out there at the moment. I've tried using iPhone which has only a miserable 3.2 inch. Although it has a very nice Safari, using it for internet is a pain. Everytime I want to see something, I have to use my finger to stretch it until the text are large enough to be readable. I then have to keep scrolling left and right to read. With Athena and Opera Mobile 1184, I can read without zooming in and out (if I set the minimum overview zoom to 85%). It is so easy.
Then, when come to using Softmaker or Office application, the 5 inch screen is simply unmatchable.
Even my TomTom 7, which runs very fast BTW, looks much better on the 5 inch than on 2.8 inch screen. Talking about TT7's speed, make sure you use the right ROM, as I did have issue with loading speed and memory on some ROM. Use the latest irus new 0MB pagepool ROM, MiChY 1.88, or Sogarth base ROM. The former two are particularly fast and TomTom friendly. My start screen is displayed in split seconds, and does not get half frozen like in some earlier ROMs.
I did have chance to play with a 2.8 inch device lately, and I was just too frustrated with the unacceptably small screen size. It is not finger friendly for me for most of the applications.
As your poll is between 7500 and TouchPro, I will not mention too much about the hardware button. However, as I use the device tablet style, I got to have those bottons. When using MP3 programs, I use it to skip song, repeat songs, volum up, down, blank screen, go to song list, etc. In mail, I use it to go to next mail, next account, etc. In news feed, the same things. When I walk around with MP3 in my pouch, I do not want to take it out, turn on the power, change a song, find a way to blank the screen, and put it back to my pouch. So, hope that settles once and for all why buttons are so indispensable for tablet style users, which I believe account for about half of Athena owners.
Another thing I should point out is that the microdrive is not less unreliable than my storage card, other than being a lot faster. This is based on my own experience after almost one and a half year of use by now.
I do not say that the Athena has no room for improvement. There are plenty to improve on. But there is no device out there good enough to replace it yet.
x7510 or Touch Pro
I currently own a x7500, Iphone 3g, HTC Diamond, Blackberry curve, blackberry pearl. Sometimes I wonder why do I need so many devices. The truth is that I like each of them for their different features. Let me share with you my knowledge from experience. HTC Diamond or HTC Pro. Though the display is sharp the screen size is way too small for serious pda users. I believe you guys are if not you will not be accessing this website. As such this device is a no no.
The Blackberry curve is good for emails as its reliable and the price plan is quite cheap. (Cheap I will explain later) Emails are really fast and reliable. Blackberry pearl, typing is not that convenient but I like it as the size of the phone is small.
The iphone 3g, its a love and hate device. A week ago, I brought it roaming in Japan. With mobile me I received about 120 emails in 2 days. Replied to about 8 of them. Check 2 websites. Made a 5 minute phone call. The bill for roaming came out to be about US$150 for that 2 days of usage. Although Mobile me is more superior as it can display pictures and html, the cost of using it overseas will make it an impractical option. In addition the emails do not arrive as fast as the blackberry emails. Someone above mentioned that you have to zoom in and out with your fingers. Actually there is an easy way. All you need to do is tap twice on the paragraph you are interested and it automatically zooms in. Video display is first class. The software seems to run smoother than pocket pc. In addition, it feels smarter and faster. Its a love and hate relationship. Though I like the software, there are many things I dislike. That is why I am still carrying my HTC Advantage
HTC Advantage x7500, is one of the best all rounder. You can edit excel, you can save any kind of documents on the device. You can sync notes and tasks with outlook. You can have tom tom or mapking on it. You can cut and paste from calendars or contacts to anywhere.
These are the things iphone cannot do. Just waiting everyday patiently for an update from Apple itunes is driving me crazy. Not only that you cannot sync it with your work and home computer. You have to pay for most of the useful software like Skype and so on
I am tempted to give my iphone to my wife and continue using the HTC Advantage.. Though I don't own a x7510. I think the main problem with it is that HTC did not spend enough efforts to main it a better device. They have the technology to increase the download speed from 1.8 mb/sec to 7.2 mb/sec but they didn't. HTC Diamond is running on 7.2 mb/sec. This actually have a big impact when you are watching youtube or slingbox using 3g. Unlimited data plan is already so common in where I live and it will be the same for the rest of the world will be so common in the next 1 to 2 years.
Hope these information help you guys in deciding which is the best device for you.
It will be very hard to acept the screen of PRO for you. After 5 inches i cant work with my Nokia E61. The main problem of Athene is the fact that ATI and HTC dont want to use the whole abilities of these phone. The ATI cheep doesnt work correct. But still X7500 is amasing. I dont need 16GB of memory, but i need hardware buttons. And i wount change my phone neither to 7510 neither HTC PRO
He is talking about the 3.6 touch pro2. I will hopefully also get it in a month or two and I think my Athena will be relegated to when i have ebooks or movies to catch upon use.
You made a big mistake the x7510 has no equal you got scammed like a sucker
branko.savic said:
hello everyone!
I sold my athena in the favour of the upcoming htc touch pro, but now i am wondering... Is it better to but the new x7510?
Can you please tell me what the differences are between the old x7500 and the new x7510?
I do know that x7510 has an 16gb ssd drive instead of the 8 gb hard drive, but what else is new?
With my x7500 i had some problems while watching videos, that the audio and video got out of sync after a while, i read somewhere that it was becouse the x7500 did not have the proper drivers installed, just like the tytn ii devices! Is that still an issue with the x7510?
Also i think that the x7500 did not perform very well in other applications either, to give you an example: Tomtom was performing much better on the tytn ii then it was on the x7500 even tough tytn ii has a slower cpu!
Please tell me if this new x7510 still has the same issues, and what more except the harddrive is changed?
Looking forward to your reply!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DUDE YOU NEED to sell off the blackberry pearl and curve as the bold is superior to those 2 devices in every category you can even get the bold refurb for FREE on at&t the htc diamond don't even support at&t 3g a waste of money as the X7510 is superior in all aspects. I would sell off the x7500 and diamond for the x75210 or even the Leo and sell off the curve and pearl for profit and upgrade blackberry plan with bold or magnum(q4 realease) and get a better blackberry and extra $$$.
greatestkelvin said:
I currently own a x7500, Iphone 3g, HTC Diamond, Blackberry curve, blackberry pearl. Sometimes I wonder why do I need so many devices. The truth is that I like each of them for their different features. Let me share with you my knowledge from experience. HTC Diamond or HTC Pro. Though the display is sharp the screen size is way too small for serious pda users. I believe you guys are if not you will not be accessing this website. As such this device is a no no.
The Blackberry curve is good for emails as its reliable and the price plan is quite cheap. (Cheap I will explain later) Emails are really fast and reliable. Blackberry pearl, typing is not that convenient but I like it as the size of the phone is small.
The iphone 3g, its a love and hate device. A week ago, I brought it roaming in Japan. With mobile me I received about 120 emails in 2 days. Replied to about 8 of them. Check 2 websites. Made a 5 minute phone call. The bill for roaming came out to be about US$150 for that 2 days of usage. Although Mobile me is more superior as it can display pictures and html, the cost of using it overseas will make it an impractical option. In addition the emails do not arrive as fast as the blackberry emails. Someone above mentioned that you have to zoom in and out with your fingers. Actually there is an easy way. All you need to do is tap twice on the paragraph you are interested and it automatically zooms in. Video display is first class. The software seems to run smoother than pocket pc. In addition, it feels smarter and faster. Its a love and hate relationship. Though I like the software, there are many things I dislike. That is why I am still carrying my HTC Advantage
HTC Advantage x7500, is one of the best all rounder. You can edit excel, you can save any kind of documents on the device. You can sync notes and tasks with outlook. You can have tom tom or mapking on it. You can cut and paste from calendars or contacts to anywhere.
These are the things iphone cannot do. Just waiting everyday patiently for an update from Apple itunes is driving me crazy. Not only that you cannot sync it with your work and home computer. You have to pay for most of the useful software like Skype and so on
I am tempted to give my iphone to my wife and continue using the HTC Advantage.. Though I don't own a x7510. I think the main problem with it is that HTC did not spend enough efforts to main it a better device. They have the technology to increase the download speed from 1.8 mb/sec to 7.2 mb/sec but they didn't. HTC Diamond is running on 7.2 mb/sec. This actually have a big impact when you are watching youtube or slingbox using 3g. Unlimited data plan is already so common in where I live and it will be the same for the rest of the world will be so common in the next 1 to 2 years.
Hope these information help you guys in deciding which is the best device for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I came from the X7500 I owned for nearly two years until it got broken - exactly when my phone contract had to be prolenged by two more years.
I was looking around for a new device and ended up to order a X7510 - I even asked my provider (T-Mobile) to sell me a new device although they hadn't listed it any more.
In my eyes there is actually no other device available offering this huge screen in addition with 16GB internal memory and the possibility to install even more memory via SD-card. I use my devica mainly for business purposes when travelling (mostly by car) - calling contacts, making appointments, adding new tasks and so on - therefore the bigger the screen the better...
The first weeks with my X7510 I was missing the hardware buttons - but meanwhile...no more.
The only thing I'm still sad of is the missing support here for my X7500 there are lots of Roms to play with and those were better than the OEM Roms
Nowadays with my X7510 I kept the original T-Mob Rom and added SPB Mobile Shell - I think the device is now very close to my ultimate phone
However - there could be a little bit more memory - maybe I'll try Michy again
Dieter

Which Smartphone?

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.

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