Hi,
This device, the VDA GPS, can be purchased new for around 100 Euro at the German eBay.
It will be without any SIM-Lock.
I have bought one, to add to my collection, but I am still waiting for it.
Anyway, I like to stay ahead of things and already I am searching for information.
1. Customisation
How bad is the Vodafone customisation? I read missleading statements on different forums, i.e. the whole menu-structure being different than what Windows Mobile normally offers.
Can that be surpressed by a Soft-Reset after an Hard-Reset?
Can one remove customisation afterwards?
2. GPS
Seems that some claim it runs TomTom, Route66, Google Maps, ..., while others seem to have problem detecting the GPS device at all.
3. Firmware
I have not found any firmware update for this device, not even WM6. Because older posts reference this device with WM5, I assumed that there must be an upgrade to WM6 somewhere...
This would be interesting to revert from a Germanized and customized VDA GPS ROM to a standard G710 ROM.
4. Hack
Question to the Pro's: is the installer to bypass the CountryID-check for i.e. the Universal compatible with this device, if one changes the firmware files in the folder?
Any knowledge on other hacks for this device?
Hopefully, one can get something usefull of this "el cheapo" device. Yes I know, the battery does provide that much of an autonomy, it has only 2.5G and no WLAN. But hey - what do you expect from a 100 Euro phone? Normally you do not expect: WM6, 320x200 screen, full keyboard, GPS...
Thanks,
vma
Found some stuff (and still waiting for the device to arrive):
- SDHC support: search for SDHV_V2.RAR or SDHC.777.CAB. This seems to allow the use of any SDHC card on the G710/VDA GPS
- GPS: use COM3: with 9600 baud. Seems that Garmin XT Mobile, Route 66 v7 or v8 do work. There is a guy seeling a bundle of the VDA GPS and TomTom 5, so I guess it will be v5.20. Others complain that neither TomTom 5,6 or 7 works. needs to be confirmed. Google Maps seems to work for some.
- Reset / Hardreset: there is no button for that. Reset by taking out battery, Hardreset by accesing menu item in settings... Not a good choice in my opinion.
Cheers,
vma
Phone arrived like new.
Here the first things:
- GPS works with COM3 / 9600 baud
- Google Maps works
- TomTom 5.20 crashes the phone
- Route 66 (older release) does not work properly
- Vodafone Navigator works
- English can be selected (requires reboot, other supported languages: German, French and Turkish)
Overall I liked the first impression.
Not bad for 100 Euro.
I'll keep you updated - but some feedback would be appreciated!
Cheers,
vma
Update:
- Route 66 v7 works great
- TomTom v5.2 will not work: black screen, one has to reboot phone
- TomTom v6.x and v7works but requires touch screen, so one can't insert address
I'm still happy with the device and yes, it is a bargain. I see not real advantages over Q7 or other phones with the same form factor which cost 2x-4x more money and often don't have built in GPS.
The phone is manufactured by a chinese company called AMOI (http://www.amoi.com). It is model 6711.
Cheers,
vma
vma said:
Phone arrived like new.
I'll keep you updated - but some feedback would be appreciated!
Cheers,
vma
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for posting this info, makes interesting reading, as I'm actually looking for a dirt cheap, qwertybar, GPS enabled WM standard device.
How bad is the Vodafone branding?
Was it SIM locked?
Is it as sluggish as the reviews suggest?
How is the battery life & phone reception?
Do any of the vendors on ebay.de ship to the UK?
"How bad is the Vodafone branding?"
It says vodafone on the phone under the screen, so you cannot remove it. It does not annoy me, though I am using a different operator. I compared it with a real life Toshiba version and it looks as good (the colours of the keys are different on the Toshiba version and it says Toshiba instead of Vodafone).
On the software side, it will boot after a hardreset into German language and with the Vodafone skin. You can revert to the default WM6 skin and choose the language between English, German, French and Turkish.
The annoying customization is with some few icons, which have been replaced by Vodafone ones, like the Explorer icon. Nothing dramatic, but a little weird. That is supposed to make life easier for existing customers, who are already used to those icons... What a stupid idea, I say, in case the decision makers are reading this.
"Was it SIM locked?"
No. It did not have any lock what so ever.
I wonder if those phones where distributed by Vodafone unlocked and I actually tend to believe that, because:
1) I have found no reference what so ever about unlocking this phone.
2) There are so many of them being sold, all of them unlocked, even the ones being sold by private sellers, whom I cannot imagine to have found an unlocker that I did not find.
Anyway, to make sure, search for the words "ohne SIM-Lock".
"Is it as sluggish as the reviews suggest?"
It is the fanciest phone I own now and I have Nokia nGage, Nokia Communicator 9210i, Qtek 9090, 2x Universal, HP iPaq 514...
Even my wife liked it (must be the first time) and the finishing of it is quite good. It looks much more expensive than it actually is.
The bad side of it: the screen is always with grease spots from fingers or the ear, much like the iPhone...
Regarding the software, I have not many complaints. I dont think it is sluggish. It runs Route 66 acceptably well and TCPMP runs the same episodes properly, which I already watched on my Universal.
So overall, I have no issues with speed, BUT I do not intend to run software on it like I do on my Universal. Of course there is a difference between 260MHz and 520MHz... The Universal has twice the speed!
But the phone does not feel more sluggish than the other smartphones I have. Beware this is a subjective opinion...
"How is the battery life & phone reception?"
Battery life is OK for me, as I let my phone charge over night. I simply cannot risk going out in the morning with battery at 50%, as I might have a bad day with lots of customers calling.
Still, I think the battery is pretty good. It has 1100Ah. And it seems to charge very fast. I imagine the battery should manage two days of normal use.
"Do any of the vendors on ebay.de ship to the UK?"
I live in Portugal and still got mine... Yes most will ship within Europe, but you should clarify this BEFORE.
However, bear in mind that you may have increased costs regarding money transfer. Within EU, all countries using the Euro can make transfers at low charges (i.e. I pay 1 Euro). I don't know how expensive it will be from the UK.
"I'm actually looking for a dirt cheap, qwertybar, GPS enabled WM standard device"
Well, I was looking for a cheap GPS enabled WM mobile phone, that would allow for easy chatting and mailing.
My HP iPaq 514 is a great device and was very cheap (new in a shop with 2 years warranty 129 Euro... no GPS but with WLAN). I have an external Bluetooth GPS device, but it was the lack of a keyboard that I did not like. Being always online, thanks to a flat rate, is inviting me to write text. Forget T9 for that... Plus, I don't care for WLAN anymore.
The Universal is of course the best phone and can be bought at good prices on eBay, but not always do I want to walk around with a brick.
So this phone does:
- look pretty good
- is slim and small
- has built in GPS
- has a usable keyboard
- is cheap
Problems:
- no WLAN (don't need it anyway thanks to the flatrate)
- QWERTZ keyboard (not QWERTY!!!): basically the Y and the Z keys are exchanged, one gets used to it pretty fast
- not the fastest CPU, but that does not matter much, because:
- WM6 Smartphone Edition has no touch screen functionality (logical) and because of that, won't run most programs designed for WM6
- many programs for WM6 Smartphone Edition have been designed for mobiles with the smaller screen resultions (276x200 (not sure if that is right) instead of 320x200) and won't run, either
So the last two points mean you won't have that many programs and games. Still I found all I need.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
vma
I got a G710 from my job and I found that the GPS was a little difficult to work. But I also found a small utility from Microsoft that helped a lot: "GPSID Settings".
This tool is easyly found on any freeware site, so I think it won't be a problem if i join it here, and allows to fine-tune on which port the GPS will be found.
Hope it helps.
Anolnx said:
I got a G710 from my job and I found that the GPS was a little difficult to work. But I also found a small utility from Microsoft that helped a lot: "GPSID Settings".
This tool is easyly found on any freeware site, so I think it won't be a problem if i join it here, and allows to fine-tune on which port the GPS will be found.
Hope it helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best thanks, but which parameters are right for gps?
program port: ? (com3)
hardware port: ? (com3)
hardware baud rate: 9600
Thanks for answer
I have been using this device almost every day and I love it.
It is an excellent purchase for the money!
Regarding GPS: I have Route66 and Google Maps running without issues.
Just assign COM3 and 9600 Baud. No tools are needed. These tools are for devices where GPS has to be turned on first. No need to use it on this phone.
Beware that getting a link can take up to 5 minutes! And I am speaking of real 5 minutes... Plus you need a good sight to the sky. For your first trials, just turn on Google Maps activate the GPS, set it to COM3 and 9600 baud and leave the device outside for a few minutes (take care it is not stolen).
Cheers,
vma
Regarding GPS: I have Route66 and Google Maps running without issues.
Google Maps runs, but it is not so good for navigation.
Which version do you use for Route66? I can't find a version for windows mobile, only versions for Symbian.
Can you send me your version number or a link?
Many Thanks
I learned that some of you have updated to WM 6.1 already.
From where to get the firmware update? Any link or download file is appreciated...
I have never seen any WM6.1 upgrade for this device.
And by the way: it is not polite to ask the same question in all threads...
Cheers,
vma
Toshiba are notorious for not supplying firmware upgrades. They buy cheap crap from cheap ODMs like Techfaith and Amoi and support is non existant. Ask anyone who has a G900 or G910.
Sorry, for having posted in several threads. I should learn the board structure first
Somewhere in the VDA GPS threads I saw a vodafone accouncement, which read like there will be an update to WM 6.1 via vodafone available soon.
Also, there is somebody who claimed having the update already on the device. That's the reason for all my questions. If there really exist an update to WM 6.1, I would like to try it out, as well.
Regarding the simlock: yes it can be simlocked, at last the G710 version. The one I got is simlocked to Orange and refuses any other sims.
Well, if anybody knows how to make it free...
Anolnx said:
Well, if anybody knows how to make it free...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It only can bee unlocked by the operator by payment of an unlocking fee or by a firmware update with unlocked firmware, which currently is nonexistent but planned by vodafone for instance. The vodafone ROM is unlocked.
tuo_kaerf said:
It only can bee unlocked by the operator by payment of an unlocking fee or by a firmware update with unlocked firmware, which currently is nonexistent but planned by vodafone for instance. The vodafone ROM is unlocked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In France the law makes mandatory for an operator to unlock a phone for free after 6 mounth of ownership. But I'm not that patient.
Too bad, seems I have to be patient...
vma said:
- GPS works with COM3 / 9600 baud
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried with Google Maps and Windows Live but none seem to be not working.
Do you have GPSID.dll in Windows? I guess it is MS driver for GPS.
I love this phone, but this missing GPS is driving me crazy
slolam said:
I have tried with Google Maps and Windows Live but none seem to be not working.
Do you have GPSID.dll in Windows? I guess it is MS driver for GPS.
I love this phone, but this missing GPS is driving me crazy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Phone's GPS is handled by the OS, as far as I learned. It should work instantly when an application requests positioning.
In Google Maps you should enable the GPS feature first and do proper setting of port and speed manually. This is COM PORT 3 @ 9600 baud.
It works after a few seconds under goog conditions...
Hi,
Thanks for your response.
I have done the required settings
COM3 & 9600 baud but google maps says "Seeking GPS Satellites (0)..." and nothing happens :-(
I understand that GPS requires GPSID.dll in the windows directory which is missing in my device. if you have the dll in your windows directory then that means this is the culprit.
If you have it can you please send it to me.
Thanks in advance
slolam
Hi All,
I recently moved to NZ and noticed that TOMTOM do not make NZ maps for TT5 WM5.
I have been looking for ages and am desperate to get some maps on my pda even if it means installing something like Garmin or an open source one but I am unable to find a good install guide for the M5000. I did try using a Garmin XT I think, but it did not see my BT GPS.
I will probably need to install some new software to replace my TomTom5 what is the best one, it has to work with a bluetooth gps device with my PDA.
Hi there
This site has opensource legit maps of NZ, uses garmin format.
http://nzopengps.org/
Garmin has a weird way of selling their software, forcing you to buy it on their chip, rather than ability to purchase an unlock code. Unless the software it is unlocked your phone won't pick up the internal GPS.
Needless to say there are ways around this that you should be able to google a solution.
Here's a thread on the GPS issue for the Vogue (aka Okta Touch in NZ)
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=6&topicid=20623
Thanks you your reply,
If I was to download Garmin which version should I be looking for as there are so many I am unsure which one would be compatible with my M5000 WM5.
Do I have to flash my PDA for Garmin to work, I hope not as I have tried to unlock the phone in the past with firmware and it fails, something to do which the country code which was odd as it was purchased in the UK in a batch of 5, all the others worked except mine.
Dear listers,
I'm a new member to this great web site, as I'm about to get a new contract with T-Mobile with a HTC Touch HD cell phone; I've been told that it comes with 8GB MicroSD and Route 66 Software.
The main problem before I can go on with the contract is that the HTC cell phones available for subscribers in Holland are usually only in Dutch; as I'm not comfortable with the Dutch language, I either have to re-install the Win Mob 6.1 Professional available on my cell-phone to an English version or use some sort of English shell or middleware. I also have to make sure that the Route 66 or any other Navigation software that I can get access to through Internet will work on the new environment.
1- Where can I download (for free) a copy of the Win Mob 6.1 or 6.5 Professional?
2- Is it easy to re-install the operating system? Will I encounter any issues or problems like some software won't run or some important factory configurations will be lost?
3- What is the procedure to follow? Download the OS into my notebook and then what?
4- Do you know Navigation software that I can download instead of paying for my Route 66 software? How about TomTom? Is there any version available and downloadable for Touch HD?
I really appreciate your kind support and cooperation. Hope I can also be of any help in the future as soon as I'm getting my new phone and becoming an active user.
Best wishes,
Freddy from Holland
freddy3d said:
Dear listers,
I'm a new member to this great web site, as I'm about to get a new contract with T-Mobile with a HTC Touch HD cell phone; I've been told that it comes with 8GB MicroSD and Route 66 Software.
The main problem before I can go on with the contract is that the HTC cell phones available for subscribers in Holland are usually only in Dutch; as I'm not comfortable with the Dutch language, I either have to re-install the Win Mob 6.1 Professional available on my cell-phone to an English version or use some sort of English shell or middleware. I also have to make sure that the Route 66 or any other Navigation software that I can get access to through Internet will work on the new environment.
1- Where can I download (for free) a copy of the Win Mob 6.1 or 6.5 Professional?
2- Is it easy to re-install the operating system? Will I encounter any issues or problems like some software won't run or some important factory configurations will be lost?
3- What is the procedure to follow? Download the OS into my notebook and then what?
4- Do you know Navigation software that I can download instead of paying for my Route 66 software? How about TomTom? Is there any version available and downloadable for Touch HD?
I really appreciate your kind support and cooperation. Hope I can also be of any help in the future as soon as I'm getting my new phone and becoming an active user.
Best wishes,
Freddy from Holland
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
1*2*3 : look here
4 : all navsoft is payable... best is a TomTom
Dirk