Database Info

So which is your favorite WM6 Pro phone?

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.

Best WM device for its money?!

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.
Click to expand...
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.

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!

Raphael vs. iPhone 3g

Ok, so I've been using an HTC for my last 3 phones and now have to decide if I want to go with the Raphael or the iPhone 3g. Anyone here with experience with both care to comment?

If you want a keyboard, higher res screen, multitasking, slingplayer, a wireless modem for your laptop, support from xda dev like me, then you have to get the raphael. Otherwise the iphone would be ok i suppose.

My personal opinion about the iPhone 3G is that i find it more of a gadget then a real poweruser phone.
I also like the fact that the Raphael has a keyboard and that's a must for myself.
Here's a comparison link from pdadb.net for some spec differences.
I say GO HTC!

Plus there's no Cut/Copy/Paste functionality and the only Bluetooth profiles it supports are headset and hands-free, so no file transfers or music streaming.
And you'll have to put up with poor 3G reception: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/13/iphone_not_very_3g/

kmann said:
Ok, so I've been using an HTC for my last 3 phones and now have to decide if I want to go with the Raphael or the iPhone 3g. Anyone here with experience with both care to comment?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sort of related to pros...
I had the Diamond for a week and sent it back as the battery life was useless. Also the device heated up a lot when in use. The last straw came when I was trying to use it on the beach and the screen was totally washed out.
I am currently trying out an iPhone, and I must admit it does most all of what I want (phone/email/web) and some more... and the screen is visible in bright sunlight! Just need to get over some missing things - and itunes. Oh, and O2 network (useless 3G - have to switch it off most of the time). Oh, and iplayer works fantastically... thats almost sold me now.
I still have my TyTn2 in case I need a MS6.1 fix, but as things are going, I doubt it.

WatskeBart said:
My personal opinion about the iPhone 3G is that i find it more of a gadget then a real poweruser phone.
I also like the fact that the Raphael has a keyboard and that's a must for myself.
Here's a comparison link from pdadb.net for some spec differences.
I say GO HTC!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with WatskeBart 100%. The iphone has impressive hardware with the exception of the lack of keyboard of course but it can't do all that a normal smartphone can do because of the software on the device. If all u want is a media player and internet browser then u should get an iphone 3g. If you are a phone techie then u will be disappointed all the way. Not to say that the touch pro can't be a media player. As i'm writing this email i'm listening to music on my touch pro and i was watching Hancock like 30 mins ago.

HTC for sure!!
I talk from personal experience as I had an iPhone 3g before selling it to buy my Touch Pro.
I had the original iPhone which i soon chopped in for an N95 8gb as it was too slow for net usage and the lack of apps was rubbish. I then got the upgrade to the 3g iPhone thinking this would be an amazing bit of kit due to 3g, GPS and the new App Store. After a week of owning it I was not impressed at all.
Firstly the 3g, its half speed of the HTC only 3.4 i think as opposed to 7.2mbs and even when it does get a 3g connection it times out constently. Then when the 3g connection drops it fails to switch to Edge or GPRS sometimes which means it will never connect.
The GPS is ok, although running google maps of both the accuracy on the TP is much better I found plus you cant put TomTom on the iPhone at present.
Then there is the app store, what a load of tosh. The apps that are free are free becos, well you wouldn't pay for them and to be honest I found I had a load of apps installed just becos you could not becos you wanted them.
I would say the only thing the iPhone does better is music and games, being an iPod it should be and the games you can buy do run very well although limted due to control system.
Another niggle i had with the iPhone is the new case, it scratches so easy and you always feel you have to treat it with cotten gloves. One day indoor use and i had hairline scratches on the apple logo
I sold my iPhone on ebay for a tidy sum and have had a week with the Touch Pro and am so glad i did it.
Plus if you geta WM you get help and support from all the peps on here, the iPhone community is no where near as good lol

2 things which bother me about iphones are
1. got a free rss program of itunestore for my ipod touch
and without copy paste one have to surf to the rss feed one wants
and write it down on a note open the rss program and write it there
silly that one cant copy paste
2. got a free ebook reader program but only way one can get ebooks is from www url's
no option to get all the ebooks on my computer into the ipod
so it's useless
suspect the lack of freedom with iphones / ipods
both consering accessing data from ones computer and
lack of SD data or even basic filesystem access
are one of their biggests problems

forgot tomtom, and a2dp. use that all the time too.... iphone cant do either.

HTC as the it can access parts of the internet the iphone carn't reach

Touch Pro rocks!
I personnally think the Touch Pro and iPhone are not / should not even in the same category at all:
- 2.8" screen for "pocketability" vs 3.5" screen for comfort
- Full qwerty keyboard vs no keyboard (granted, the on-screen keyboard on the iPhone is even better to use than PCM Keyboard on my VGA 4 inches-screened HX4700, mainly due to the capacitive touchscreen)
- On one side, the nerly endlessly extensible Windows mobile, can do anything, but you can't expect noobs to fiddle with the registry everyday and swap ROMs to have a better-working device
- On the other side, the iPhone platform is less open, but easier to use for nOobs, apps are easy to install, and (where the features are actually implemented) it just works
Surely there are other different points!
I myself just couldn't care to be ensconced in the iPhone, with clearly throttled-down features (no A2DP protocol for BT, no MMS, no video with the camera, no f#$..g copy-paste, for Krishna's sake? How hard can it be?).
My vote goes for the Touch Pro!
My 0.02$...

kmann said:
Ok, so I've been using an HTC for my last 3 phones and now have to decide if I want to go with the Raphael or the iPhone 3g. Anyone here with experience with both care to comment?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope that kmann could make his decision based on our replies

plain and simple........copy and paste........nuff said.
the iphone is just a glorified Ipod, the HTC phones are usable computers in your hand and much much more.

I would suggest that you take a look at the iphone thread on the macrumours forum. You get the views of a large number of iphone owners there. To my mind, they fall into 3 categories: On the fence types, fan boy types (for whom the iphone can do no wrong) and a substantial number of people who are having real problems with the iphone - not so much the things that are missing (cut and paste, a2dp etc.) but problems with doing basic phone stufff (like making calls) and build quality issues (cracks appearing in casings, bits falling off/ stopping working etc.).
I am not an iphone hater - I have an Ipod touch with the very latest firmware on - it is a great music player and some of the apps from the apple store are good fun - I have even bought a couple! I have also spent a couple hours playing with the latest iphone (a friends'), as a phone and a serious business tool, it just didn't cut it for me.

Ok, time to chime on again. Thanks all for your input. I've got 30 years of experience in deep IT technology. I've programmed Operating Systems, hardware etc. I've cooked my own ROMs for the HTC phones. And maybe I'm getting old and tired of fighting the hassles, but you've got to admit the iPhone is sexy, and simple.
Sure I understand the limitations, for example, I use push email and Calendar sync and I realize Apple has yet to fully implement the ActiveSync APIs which causes issues.
So I am in a quandry. Am I tired of fighting the custom ROMs and having the some extra features I rarely use, or do I want sexy and simplicity.
Ah, I guess we live in great times when these are the decisions I have to wrestle with.

kmann said:
Ok, time to chime on again. Thanks all for your input. I've got 30 years of experience in deep IT technology. I've programmed Operating Systems, hardware etc. I've cooked my own ROMs for the HTC phones. And maybe I'm getting old and tired of fighting the hassles, but you've got to admit the iPhone is sexy, and simple.
Sure I understand the limitations, for example, I use push email and Calendar sync and I realize Apple has yet to fully implement the ActiveSync APIs which causes issues.
So I am in a quandry. Am I tired of fighting the custom ROMs and having the some extra features I rarely use, or do I want sexy and simplicity.
Ah, I guess we live in great times when these are the decisions I have to wrestle with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i got sexy, simplicity as well as configurability. NOkia E71 (white steel). cant go wrong, 3.5G, BT, WIFI, GPS. all works as it should. IM using Garmint Mobile XT with Australia NT Maps 2009 without any issues, BT works like a charm, music player is fantastic, 8GB microsdhc card is fast.
dont know what else to say, im glad i bought this phone.

jasjamming said:
i got sexy, simplicity as well as configurability. NOkia E71 (white steel). cant go wrong, 3.5G, BT, WIFI, GPS. all works as it should. IM using Garmint Mobile XT with Australia NT Maps 2009 without any issues, BT works like a charm, music player is fantastic, 8GB microsdhc card is fast.
dont know what else to say, im glad i bought this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, one of the top chefs of all time goes with the E71 (it is a badass device btw). Are you considering getting a touch pro and cooking for it or are you just chillin in the forums (hope its the former or your part of the elite project).

I will go for the Raphael because of this great forum here, but as far as I have compared these two phones in action I must say that at this moment the only advantage of the Raphael is the keyboard, if you really need one:
1. The screen resolution of the iphone is not VGA, but the screen size is bigger (3.5 against 2.8) and this is a big advantage. The screen quality is great and the keyboard is bigger because of the size, so for many people it is not a problem to type.
2. Programs start much faster on iphone. Yes, they do!
3. The OS is much more stable for the moment. Plus, iphone comes with a stable version of a web browser, not with a beta version of Opera (which I like, but still it is beta!).
4. The iphone is really easy to use.
Cheers,
Eriol

Eriol said:
I will go for the Raphael because of this great forum here, but as far as I have compared these two phones in action I must say that at this moment the only advantage of the Raphael is the keyboard, if you really need one:
1. The screen resolution of the iphone is not VGA, but the screen size is bigger (3.5 against 2.8) and this is a big advantage. The screen quality is great and the keyboard is bigger because of the size, so for many people it is not a problem to type.
2. Programs start much faster on iphone. Yes, they do!
3. The OS is much more stable for the moment. Plus, iphone comes with a stable version of a web browser, not with a beta version of Opera (which I like, but still it is beta!).
4. The iphone is really easy to use.
Cheers,
Eriol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also agree with Eriols arguments. The program starting part can be quick on HTC i think that depends on how your ROM is configured.

Eriol said:
I will go for the Raphael because of this great forum here, but as far as I have compared these two phones in action I must say that at this moment the only advantage of the Raphael is the keyboard, if you really need one:
1. The screen resolution of the iphone is not VGA, but the screen size is bigger (3.5 against 2.8) and this is a big advantage. The screen quality is great and the keyboard is bigger because of the size, so for many people it is not a problem to type.
2. Programs start much faster on iphone. Yes, they do!
3. The OS is much more stable for the moment. Plus, iphone comes with a stable version of a web browser, not with a beta version of Opera (which I like, but still it is beta!).
4. The iphone is really easy to use.
Cheers,
Eriol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that brings it back to what WatskeBart said earlier about the iphone being a gadget not a power house phone. Don't get me wrong I have nothing against the iphone i think the hardware is excellent for a second try but there need to be some tweaking. They should open up the software and do like google did for andriod offer 10k for the best iphone progs.

Is the HTC Fuze the right device for me?

So this year I've decided to spoil myself and buy a new toys, something I haven't done in a longggggg while
Anyways, I'm very seriously thinking of getting Windows Mobile smartphone because it seems to me that the technology is at such a level that they're now actually becoming computers you can carry in your pocket (pocket pc!). I travel a lot and I have to bring a lot of equipement with me so I'm looking to combine several devices into one to save weight and space.
I've been doing my homework in the last 2 weeks and I think I have it narrowed down to 2 devices: the HTC Fuze and the Samsung Omnia. There are other interesting devices on the market unfortunatly I do have a limited budget and these 2 are at the upper limit, hence why the Xperia isn't mentionned.
So far the Fuze seems more interesting because for almost the same price I get multi-touch, a real keyboard and a VGA screen however I'm wondering if it truly fits my needs.
Essentially I want something that:
-will act like a beefed up PDA almost computer like level(hence WinMo)
-be usable when a travel therefore needs quadband GSM and ideally triband 3G. I don't intent to use 3G data just yet because it's too expensive in Canada but I see that criteria as futureproofing such an expensive purchase incase GSM is one day shutdown for voice.
-has a good enough screen that I can use it as a ebook reader (been doing that with my Ipaq RX3115 for about 5 years now)
-handle a bit of multimedia, mainly mp3 but a bit of video wouldn't hurt.
And this brings me to a question: does the Fuze always come with the 3.5mm adapter? I'm in Canada so I'd most likely be being an imported ATT phone
Also, what about the warranty? Am I SOL since it's imported or could I get warranty support straight from HTC?
-act as a GPS WITHOUT a data connection. Reading on this it seem possible to use TomTom with the device in a reasonnable fashion; I don't mind waiting 2-3 minutes for the GPS to lock but 15-20 mins would be more annoying...
Basically as much fonctionnality as possible in one device.
I also understand that there are MANY roms available for this device; considering that I'm not currently a power user (but might eventually become one) can I expect acceptable performance with the stock rom? I don't mind loading up new apps, I've been doing that on my venerable old Ipaq for a while but I'd rather start slow with this.
Also, can I expect reasonnable speed running programs off the SD card? This is one major advantage of the Omnia since it has 16gb onboard storage.
What about Wifi performance? I assume it's going to be on par with my Ipaq, i.e. not as good as my laptop but still usable is the access point isn't too far away.
And finally, how long can I except the battery to last? I won't be making call all day, probably more in the lines of listening to music and sending email via wifi. Probably a bit of ebook reading as well.
Basically the Fuze seems like the idea device except for a few issues I've been reading about here which I'm trying to determine how major they are.
Anyways, comments appreciated
Cheers!
Pat

Anyone?
Pat

Welcome to the forum
I can recommend you to enter here, select the compeonents you want on a device and check the options
http://www.pdadb.net/index.php?m=pdachooser
Good luck,

Pat007 said:
So this year I've decided to spoil myself and buy a new toys, something I haven't done in a longggggg while
Anyways, I'm very seriously thinking of getting Windows Mobile smartphone because it seems to me that the technology is at such a level that they're now actually becoming computers you can carry in your pocket (pocket pc!). I travel a lot and I have to bring a lot of equipement with me so I'm looking to combine several devices into one to save weight and space.
I've been doing my homework in the last 2 weeks and I think I have it narrowed down to 2 devices: the HTC Fuze and the Samsung Omnia. There are other interesting devices on the market unfortunatly I do have a limited budget and these 2 are at the upper limit, hence why the Xperia isn't mentionned.
So far the Fuze seems more interesting because for almost the same price I get multi-touch, a real keyboard and a VGA screen however I'm wondering if it truly fits my needs.
Essentially I want something that:
-will act like a beefed up PDA almost computer like level(hence WinMo)
-be usable when a travel therefore needs quadband GSM and ideally triband 3G. I don't intent to use 3G data just yet because it's too expensive in Canada but I see that criteria as futureproofing such an expensive purchase incase GSM is one day shutdown for voice.
-has a good enough screen that I can use it as a ebook reader (been doing that with my Ipaq RX3115 for about 5 years now)
-handle a bit of multimedia, mainly mp3 but a bit of video wouldn't hurt.
And this brings me to a question: does the Fuze always come with the 3.5mm adapter? I'm in Canada so I'd most likely be being an imported ATT phone
Also, what about the warranty? Am I SOL since it's imported or could I get warranty support straight from HTC?
-act as a GPS WITHOUT a data connection. Reading on this it seem possible to use TomTom with the device in a reasonnable fashion; I don't mind waiting 2-3 minutes for the GPS to lock but 15-20 mins would be more annoying...
Basically as much fonctionnality as possible in one device.
I also understand that there are MANY roms available for this device; considering that I'm not currently a power user (but might eventually become one) can I expect acceptable performance with the stock rom? I don't mind loading up new apps, I've been doing that on my venerable old Ipaq for a while but I'd rather start slow with this.
Also, can I expect reasonnable speed running programs off the SD card? This is one major advantage of the Omnia since it has 16gb onboard storage.
What about Wifi performance? I assume it's going to be on par with my Ipaq, i.e. not as good as my laptop but still usable is the access point isn't too far away.
And finally, how long can I except the battery to last? I won't be making call all day, probably more in the lines of listening to music and sending email via wifi. Probably a bit of ebook reading as well.
Basically the Fuze seems like the idea device except for a few issues I've been reading about here which I'm trying to determine how major they are.
Anyways, comments appreciated
Cheers!
Pat
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the fuze is a great device however the Touch Pro 2 (the successor to the Fuze) should be out in a few months, it is superior to the Fuze in many meaningful ways, my suggestion would be to hold off on your purchase until the Touch Pro 2 comes out in the US (make sure you get the US version) it would suck to buy the fuze (which is a great device) and then 3 months later a superior device come out (at the same price)

aaronsmckee said:
the fuze is a great device however the Touch Pro 2 (the successor to the Fuze) should be out in a few months, it is superior to the Fuze in many meaningful ways, my suggestion would be to hold off on your purchase until the Touch Pro 2 comes out in the US (make sure you get the US version) it would suck to buy the fuze (which is a great device) and then 3 months later a superior device come out (at the same price)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I must be missing something because I looked up the Touch Pro on the website suggested earlier and pretty much the only difference I see with the Fuze is a bigger screen and a slightly different GPS chip. Am I missing anything?
Also, I'd like to have triband 3G (which the Fuze has) because I'm in Canada and judging from the Touch Pro launch it's probably going to take a while before there's a NA version of the Touch Pro 2.
One thing that really has me a litlle worried with buying an imported phone is the warranty because the store I'm looking to buying it from is on the other side of the country from me.
Does HTC provide international warranty support?
Thks!
Pat