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New polaris, not that impressed (ex wizard)

Hi , got my new orbit 2 (polaris) the other day and im not that impressed by it as yet.
I came from using my trusty vario(wizard) and it doesnt seem (as yet) much quicker than that.
I know it has built in gps, radio etc. But i cant put me finger on it why it hasnt impressed me much. i played a bit of video on it and it was a bit jumpy, also scroll is a bit iffy.
Can anyone enlighten me as to what it can do and do better than my old phone?
Or what to use to make it a pleasure to use.
Thanks.

Please read the already posted threads relating to your questions...
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Stu308 said:
Hi , got my new orbit 2 (polaris) the other day and im not that impressed by it as yet.
I came from using my trusty vario(wizard) and it doesnt seem (as yet) much quicker than that.
I know it has built in gps, radio etc. But i cant put me finger on it why it hasnt impressed me much. i played a bit of video on it and it was a bit jumpy, also scroll is a bit iffy.
Can anyone enlighten me as to what it can do and do better than my old phone?
Or what to use to make it a pleasure to use.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Believe me..it could be one of most impressif pocketphone's out there..but the only problem with this device is that HTC didn't do there homework that good and put this device to soon on the market.
But when the new firmware (with drivers) come's online it will be one of the finest pocketphone's out there at the moment.
The only think for us is to pray that HTC will make the firmware with the drivers, otherwise it will go into be books as a slow and bad preforming device 4-ever and HTC will loose a lot of trusty customers!
But like the other also said..it's being sad in a lot off topics now..so lets use the other threads for the complenning

i agree. i bought mine a week ago. the touch cruise and i am not that impress coming from a tmobile mda aka wizard. i still use my wizard. love it but cruise slow. internet is slow. features are wack. the only good thing is the radio but i dnt listen to radio and tomtom navigation. i live in nyc i use the subway so not that usefull to me. htc better come good or its apple for me.

dortyboy said:
htc better come good or its apple for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly what I'm thinking...HTC really messed this wicked phone up....Gonna wait for the Xperia or Samsung i900.

You aren't getting drivers for it. You are getting a software patch that helps fix a few things like scrolling and some basic touch screen functionality, nothing to do with video.
unfortunately, if you want to watch movies you have to convert them yourself and spend the time doing it, then you can have some fun with high quality movies or shows.
i will think twice before I buy my next handset. I don't expect the most amazing device in the world, but I don't like to be mislead in advertising.

Funny, I find my Cruise does everything I ask of it. I find it an improvement in almost every way over the KJAM (OC'ed to 247mhz), and the Treo 750.

Can someone give me some links to help please? Thanks.

JNGold said:
Funny, I find my Cruise does everything I ask of it. I find it an improvement in almost every way over the KJAM (OC'ed to 247mhz), and the Treo 750.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is your cruise setup?
I've just installed Coreplayer .....runs pathetic....picture hardly moves when running a 480MB avi.
Camera...you can forget that....never seen such rubbish...I'm sure the image quality is good...nobody should have to wait that long to take a picture.
I have a UK O2 Orbit 2....got rid of the O2 taskbar icon (after reading it was a memory hogger).
Installed :
HTC Home Screen...
HTC Theme (black) tsk file 102KB vs 200+KB for the 02 Theme.
Skype
Core Player 1.1.1
Opera 9.33
OTO
Calculator skin
WMP Skin
Advanced Configuration
PocketCM Keyboard (one of the best touch apps....never knew I could touch type that fast)
I for one am willing help in what it takes to have this phone running to at least 2/3 of its potential. Compared to my friend's Hermes...thats faster....got suckered into touch and WM6 Pro....
Where as touch v1 is a decent attempt (O2 just messed it up) I'm sure V2 only get better...Microsoft really need to integrate touch into the OS..(whats with the small up arrow next to keyboard selection on the taskbar...with so much empty space around it?....saving on real estate ?).
To me this OS looks/feels the same as the one I had on my SPV C500 years ago...(have you seen the WM6 original calculator !) 3rd party can only do so much.
Well I think HTC better watch out....to sell an expensive phone half finished...well what you say...advertising SOLD IT. But theres a few phones coming out soon and if they utilize the hardware and have half decent software then HTC will have to up the ante...should be interesting.
At the moment we will have to wait for what improvements HTC brings to this COOL LOOKING phone.
Sorry...I'm just a bit disapointed.

pistonripper said:
How is your cruise setup?
I've just installed Coreplayer .....runs pathetic....picture hardly moves when running a 480MB avi.
Camera...you can forget that....never seen such rubbish...I'm sure the image quality is good...nobody should have to wait that long to take a picture.
I have a UK O2 Orbit 2....got rid of the O2 taskbar icon (after reading it was a memory hogger).
Installed :
HTC Home Screen...
HTC Theme (black) tsk file 102KB vs 200+KB for the 02 Theme.
Skype
Core Player 1.1.1
Opera 9.33
OTO
Calculator skin
WMP Skin
Advanced Configuration
PocketCM Keyboard (one of the best touch apps....never knew I could touch type that fast)
I for one am willing help in what it takes to have this phone running to at least 2/3 of its potential. Compared to my friend's Hermes...thats faster....got suckered into touch and WM6 Pro....
Where as touch v1 is a decent attempt (O2 just messed it up) I'm sure V2 only get better...Microsoft really need to integrate touch into the OS..(whats with the small up arrow next to keyboard selection on the taskbar...with so much empty space around it?....saving on real estate ?).
To me this OS looks/feels the same as the one I had on my SPV C500 years ago...(have you seen the WM6 original calculator !) 3rd party can only do so much.
Well I think HTC better watch out....to sell an expensive phone half finished...well what you say...advertising SOLD IT. But theres a few phones coming out soon and if they utilize the hardware and have half decent software then HTC will have to up the ante...should be interesting.
At the moment we will have to wait for what improvements HTC brings to this COOL LOOKING phone.
Sorry...I'm just a bit disapointed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
we have 2 differents polaris , mine is the all time better pocketpc (I owned all the precedent)

Aww, no one being much help to me here. Come on guys give us a clue.
Don't know whether to swap it for a Kaiser/stellar instead????

pistonripper said:
How is your cruise setup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is setup like everyone else. I have done all the performance hacks I know of (WM Cache, GlypheCache set to 64K, etc). I have over 25 applications installed.
I've just installed Coreplayer .....runs pathetic....picture hardly moves when running a 480MB avi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coreplayer just released 1.2 which performs much better on the TC. Also, I have encoded many of my vids for PPC viewing since I have owned nothing but WM devices for many years now.
Camera...you can forget that....never seen such rubbish...I'm sure the image quality is good...nobody should have to wait that long to take a picture.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Disable the shutter sound, it helps.
I for one am willing help in what it takes to have this phone running to at least 2/3 of its To me this OS looks/feels the same as the one I had on my SPV C500 years ago.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the world of Windows Mobile. However, the inclusion of Touch Flo is probably the most unique WM experience offered by a WM device.
..(have you seen the WM6 original calculator !) 3rd party can only do so much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install the HTC Calculator.
Well I think HTC better watch out....to sell an expensive phone half finished...well what you say...advertising SOLD IT. But theres a few phones coming out soon and if they utilize the hardware and have half decent software then HTC will have to up the ante...should be interesting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aside from the video driver issues (which BTW hasn't bothered me that much), what software do expect HTC to ship with the device? HTC has done a good job integrating TouchFlo and HTC today into WM. It sounds to me like your complaints software-wise are more directed to MS rather than HTC.

Stu308 said:
Aww, no one being much help to me here. Come on guys give us a clue.
Don't know whether to swap it for a Kaiser/stellar instead????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since both devices are the same performance and feature-wise your only decision is whether you require a physical keyboard on the Tytn II.

pistonripper said:
I've just installed Coreplayer .....runs pathetic....picture hardly moves when running a 480MB avi.
Camera...you can forget that....never seen such rubbish...I'm sure the image quality is good...nobody should have to wait that long to take a picture.
I have a UK O2 Orbit 2....got rid of the O2 taskbar icon (after reading it was a memory hogger).
Installed :
HTC Home Screen...
HTC Theme (black) tsk file 102KB vs 200+KB for the 02 Theme.
Skype
Core Player 1.1.1
.
.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would suggest you installing Core Player 1.2.0

Thanks all...going to install Coreplayer 1.2.0....I did the tweaks, glyph and sound on the shutter..no effect really...maybe I've got a dud....warms up too in my hand....
Also if anyone is running the HTC home screen...which one is it ?...there so many to choose from...
Is there one specifically for the Polaris ?...I've seached and found many versions and variations.

but why does it seem as slow as my wizard? I thought the processor was supposed to be much faster? And the scrolling is finnicky to say the least.

i just downloaded coreplayer 1.3.0. whats so special about core player?

it's the player which supports most formats

I have the Orbit 2, and when I first tried using Internet Explorer I was very disappointed with the extremely slow and jerky scroll, if you could call it 'scroll'. Now that I have managed to install SPB Pocket Plus with the 'Smart Scroll' feature enabled, I'm now happy with that aspect. I haven’t tried video on it yet, but my thoughts now are that I do like the device, especially because of its form factor and looks. Before the Orbit 2 I had the SPV M3100 (Hermes), prior to this I had the SPV C500, and prior to that I had the original windows Smartphone, the Orange SPV.
For me, the Orbit is a step in the right direction, but I will be a little disappointed if video is unusable.

Overall I am happy with my Cruise (I have gotten a sim-free version). Apparently a number of people complain about speed, and I have noticed that this is also related to owners of Cruise who are on the O2 network. My guess is O2 loaded their version with useless software which reduces performance.
Regarding the video issue, I user Coreplayer 1.2 (coreplayer is a must), I encode my videos in QVGA resolution and they seem fine to me. True, you won't be able to take an existing DVD quality rip and expect Cruise to show it well, even in Coreplayer.
Performance-wise, Cruise could probably do a little better given its specs, but overall, I still think it is a very good and practival device.
Hopefully video issue will be addressed, I am not 100% confident it will be fully resolved though. Though the device works fine for me, it is quite upsetting to know that its hardware is not fully utilised...
As my closing statement have a look at the text below, from
gizmodo. com/gadgets/what.s-wrong-with-windows-mobile/whats-wrong-with-windows-mobile-and-how-wm7-and-wm8-are-going-to-fix-it-333536.php
=-=-=-=--=-=
Microsoft is working to fix the whole WM platform. Here's how:
Even when using a super sluggish WinMo phone, it's less an example of a manufacturer not meeting the minimum requirements for RAM, ROM and CPU power, and more a problem of software which has not been optimized to run on it. This is often the service provider's fault. For example, two phones with the same 400MHz processor can be totally different depending on how much optimization the provider decides to do. When you're using a slow phone, blame the provider.
On the same token, the Windows Mobile OS team actually does set a minimum hardware requirement for the "core" features of the OS to make sure the user experience is a good one, but the minimum-requirement bar may be set too low. When companies add apps on top of the core, things start to wobble. Product manager Derek Snyder told me that Microsoft will raise the bar for minimum requirements to a level where phones can be loaded with more software without slowing down the most basic of tasks (e.g. sliding open the AT&T Tilt from portrait to landscape mode).
=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Touch pro vs Omnia tv out quality?

Ok i've been reading how a few of you guys have both devices and have been doing some comparisons. I want to purchase one of these two devices, as i feel that Tv-out is pretty cool feature i definetely want my next ppc to have. I've seen posts showing the omnia has better video playback with less choppiness then the touch pro aka fuze.. But how do these phones perform when both hooked up to a big screen? How do the quality/clarity compare? Do either have any lag while using the TV-out function? Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance..
Dave

let me just add that i currently own an ATT tilt. I have skyfire installed and i watch hulu videos all the time and the quality is pretty good. I was hoping to be able to install the new VGA version of skyfire on the touch pro and watch it on the big screen. Hence my original question.. Same goes for my mobile slingplayer... anybody use their devices for this?

Help in choosing from 3 devices and 2 OS

Hi,
Currently have an Axim X51v with WM6.1 and want to replace it with a Smartphone. I'm on Sprint and I narrowed my search down to 1) Touch Pro 2 with WM6.1, 2) HTC Hero 3) Samsung Moment, both with Android.
TP2 would give me a familiar OS and stylus. It's also going to cost $100 more, and I am concerned with battery life and speed - it's got a slightly slower processor than Axim. Not sure if the screen is bright enough in direct sunlight - Axim's isn't. If I get it I woud probably get rid of TouchFlo3D and install iPhoneToday, PocketBreeze, Calligrapher and FTouchSL.
OTOH I have no idea about Android, I'm concerned that I won't be able to find a decent replacement to ListPro, Excel or PocketInformant, and syncing data may be difficult (my employer blocks Google Docs for security reasons).
So can someone educate me on what can I expect moving from WM to Android, and if either Android device is faster or otherwise better than TP2 ?

Ummagumma said:
Hi,
Currently have an Axim X51v with WM6.1 and want to replace it with a Smartphone. I'm on Sprint and I narrowed my search down to 1) Touch Pro 2 with WM6.1, 2) HTC Hero 3) Samsung Moment, both with Android.
TP2 would give me a familiar OS and stylus. It's also going to cost $100 more, and I am concerned with battery life and speed - it's got a slightly slower processor than Axim. Not sure if the screen is bright enough in direct sunlight - Axim's isn't. If I get it I woud probably get rid of TouchFlo3D and install iPhoneToday, PocketBreeze, Calligrapher and FTouchSL.
OTOH I have no idea about Android, I'm concerned that I won't be able to find a decent replacement to ListPro, Excel or PocketInformant, and syncing data may be difficult (my employer blocks Google Docs for security reasons).
So can someone educate me on what can I expect moving from WM to Android, and if either Android device is faster or otherwise better than TP2 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go for the Samsung moment! windows mobile on tp2 swallows! It lags too much and the keyboard sucks unless you have skype the battery life is ok so is the screen. But the proccessor SUCKS! i would know from experience. it was rooted and would lag even with 6.1!
Plus android has alot more apps and flash player. And the moment has a keyboard which is a plus. The hero sense lags it at times so i wouldnt recommend it

I basically have 2 concerns - losing a stylus and thus the ability to take handwritten notes, and losing ability to move around documents without having to jump through hoops.
Also, have a question regarding multimedia capabilities - how would you rate Moment's ability to play MP3s (sound quality)

Ummagumma said:
I basically have 2 concerns - losing a stylus and thus the ability to take handwritten notes, and losing ability to move around documents without having to jump through hoops.
Also, have a question regarding multimedia capabilities - how would you rate Moment's ability to play MP3s (sound quality)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Qualitys good i played with one when i stayed at my friends house. Im not gonna lie the android music player has thee worst graphical UI though. Unless you get the htc music app running your stuck with a lame player. If you dont find it loud enough root it and install audio hack. Its 1.99 i think but its well worth it. If you get the hero root it too and if it gets slow use set cpu its free here but it costs on the android market. Let me know when you decide

Alex530 said:
Qualitys good i played with one when i stayed at my friends house. Im not gonna lie the android music player has thee worst graphical UI though. Unless you get the htc music app running your stuck with a lame player. If you dont find it loud enough root it and install audio hack. Its 1.99 i think but its well worth it. If you get the hero root it too and if it gets slow use set cpu its free here but it costs on the android market. Let me know when you decide
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK
Any votes for the Touch Pro 2 ?

Ummagumma said:
OK
Any votes for the Touch Pro 2 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YES! If you need the android apps, you can get them on the TP2, the keyboard is the best on any device i have ever tried and it isn't laggy, the sprint firmware can be upgraded to a customROM over at PPCGeeks and here in the RhodW forum
If you do want Android native, i would get the Evo 4G, not the hero or the Moment. If i lived in th US i would get one, but i'm in the UK
I hope you make the right choice
Good luck

OK, thanks both of you guys for creating an utter confusion.
I do a lot of work related stuff on my Axim and WinMob with all its limitations has many tools for that. The main ones for me would be PhatPad for notetaking with stylus (like having a book of Sticky notes with you at all times), Excel, ListPro for information gathering, PocketInformant and Pocket Breeze for scheduling, and so on. Going with TouchPro2 I'd retain all of these tools. But then it's 2x more expensive, and possibly slow.
Samsung Moment seems to be snappier, Android is from what I heard more fun to use, and I save some bucks. OTOH would I still be able to do all the stuff I did on WM with it ? Who knows.. in the end I'm afraid it's going to be a coin toss.
Would it be a true statement that Android on Moment is faster, smoother and has longer battery life ? Also, what about reliability - I've had 2 phones from Samsung, one was great, another one piece of junk.

Yee!
Sorry bout that haha. But the tp2 sucks trust me im a previous owner and i spl unlocked it. After every rom id try it start to lag sometimes needing a reset. For some reason wm is like running hero rom on the g1. Flies at first but it sucks after a while. And the tp2 keyboard is aight. I personally like smaller keyboaRDS. And the optical trackball and notifications bar is better on the moment but like the other user. The evo 4g is key to success! HAha

Whats the Best Performing Windows Phone With A Keyboard

And when I mean best, I mean 2d hardware acceleration,3d hardware acceleration, decent specs and it can run TomTom 6 or 7 with a silky smooth framerate like the Nokio 6680 (dream right) and isnt too problem matic.. (hardware wise)...

HTC Touch Pro2 if you want the better keyboard and TouchFLO3D.
Else it's the Samsung B7610 OmniaPRO, which rocks a 800Mhz CPU with a dedicated graphics accelerator. The Omnia has TouchWiz by the way.

I agree, from the current HTC lineup there really isn't much with a hardware keyboard (unfortunately!) So the Touch Pro2 is definitely the best bet with that. It's likely that you'll consider a different manufacturer for that reason... I don't suppose you'd go for Android? There are some nice Snapdragon qwertys coming out soon on that platform.
-------------------------------------
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ben_duder said:
I agree, from the current HTC lineup there really isn't much with a hardware keyboard (unfortunately!) So the Touch Pro2 is definitely the best bet with that. It's likely that you'll consider a different manufacturer for that reason... I don't suppose you'd go for Android? There are some nice Snapdragon qwertys coming out soon on that platform.
-------------------------------------
Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How soon are you talking about?

kekkle said:
How soon are you talking about?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I was basically talking about the Droid X. Shouldn't be too long... Some sites say July on Verizon.

To kekkle - Good Answer...

HTC Rhodium
By far, the best hardware keyboard device out there

checking it out now.. but what about tomtom7 smooth performance like the nokia phone.. or close to it. My tilt2's tomtom7 performance is sucky.. would it run faster in 6.1 rather than 6.5?

Gamergee said:
checking it out now.. but what about tomtom7 smooth performance like the nokia phone.. or close to it. My tilt2's tomtom7 performance is sucky.. would it run faster in 6.1 rather than 6.5?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the tilt 2 is the Rhodium, are you on stock? my Voda TP2 (On 2.07 Unbranded stock) runs like a dream

Gamergee said:
checking it out now.. but what about tomtom7 smooth performance like the nokia phone.. or close to it. My tilt2's tomtom7 performance is sucky.. would it run faster in 6.1 rather than 6.5?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you already have the Touch Pro2 then you won't find much better with a qwerty keyboard running Windows Mobile.

[Q] ChaCha vs. Xperia Mini Pro

Hello!
Here the price to extend 1yr contract is the same for ChaCha & Xperia Mini Pro.
The latter might be a bit better in specs, but it's plagued with that 'electrostatic noise' problem which (probably) won't be solved just by software update.
I do not care much about multimedia stuff, games, GPS...mostly need good phone, capable email client (probably we'd install K9), some Skype voip calls etc.
No need for Facebook & Twitter...
What do you suggest: to wait a bit to see what effect might software update have on noise problem in Xperia or to jump straight to ChaCha?

gour said:
Hello!
Here the price to extend 1yr contract is the same for ChaCha & Xperia Mini Pro.
The latter might be a bit better in specs, but it's plagued with that 'electrostatic noise' problem which (probably) won't be solved just by software update.
I do not care much about multimedia stuff, games, GPS...mostly need good phone, capable email client (probably we'd install K9), some Skype voip calls etc.
No need for Facebook & Twitter...
What do you suggest: to wait a bit to see what effect might software update have on noise problem in Xperia or to jump straight to ChaCha?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well what I can tell is that I've had a Xperia x10 Mini Pro (Which probably is much in the same style) and typing on it was far from being a pleasure. I have heard good things about the keyboard on the chacha, but I can't confirm since I've never used the phone.
If really all you want to is skype voice calls and emailing I'd actually recommend a Nokia or WinMO phone with a hardware keyboard, for typing on them will sure be easier. And you also could, if you prefer android, see if you can afford a HTC Desire Z or Motorola Droid/Milestone 1/2/3.

Mikevhl said:
Well what I can tell is that I've had a Xperia x10 Mini Pro (Which probably is much in the same style) and typing on it was far from being a pleasure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for that.
I have heard good things about the keyboard on the chacha, but I can't confirm since I've never used the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, hearing about all the 'noise' in connection with Xperia, I'm more & more thinking to forget it.
If really all you want to is skype voice calls and emailing I'd actually recommend a Nokia or WinMO phone with a hardware keyboard, for typing on them will sure be easier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heh, I can say that in the beginning I was thinking about Nokia E5.
As far as WinMO, I'm avoiding 'em (similarly to Apple stuff) just on the principle.
Moreover, I'd like to able to sync my contacts/phonebook data with Linux desktop machine.
And you also could, if you prefer android, see if you can afford a HTC Desire Z or Motorola Droid/Milestone 1/2/3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 'sliding' mechanism on Desire Z does not look convincing to me and the latter is not available here...Moreover, they're much more expensive.
Thank you for your input.

HTC Chacha has a better keyboard.

but X mini pro has better processor if i'm not wrong. i think is 1Gbz as chacha is 800Mhz.

cLeAv0 said:
HTC Chacha has a better keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yay, that s it.

I can confirm this, Chacha has a far better keyboard. It also feels much more solid.

I'm no user of sliding physical keyboard because those are easy breakable so I would not buy an Xperia Mini Pro.
The resolution of the ChaCha is a little bit higher and that its an advantage in watching YouTube videos, playing games or browsing webpages with plenty of static images.
The stock rom, Gingerbread 2.3.3, it's ok but with the HTC Sense, is painful. You don't get enough free space in internal storage for instaling apps. In mine I have ~ 40 apps and the critical memory warning pops up every day. Writing an email or an SMS it's pleasing. The space withing the keys makes writing very natural. About gaming and stuff, I can tell you that Fruit Ninja and Angry birds are working great.
Wi-fi and cell network signal are good, no problem with bluetooth accesories like handsfree and the camera does the job.

You probably use the phone the same as I do. The games I play are Fruit Ninja and Angry Birds, and they run smoothly. The keyboard is totally awesome, better than any sliding-keyboard phone.

Chacha is better
I think chacha is better. The xperia has a rather small screen, which is not comfortable to type on the screen. But when you use keyboard, it is rather large~