Related
It looks nice - but where's the advantage?
It's smaller and it has a higher resolution camera - but it has less RAM, the CPU is no quicker than the Himalaya's and the Angel's and it's still fumbling around at 320x240!
HTC want to get off their arses and do some more R&D - they seem to have forgotten that the only way to make something desireable to the consumer is to make it better than the competitors and keep the costs low.
They seem to have done very well at it so far - but I fear they'll be overtaken by the likes of HP if they keep producing devices with same or similar specs to one another. The XDAIIs really isn't a great leap forward from the XDA2 - the only extras it has are a keyboard and WiFi, and the battery lasts a little longer. And I have to say I'm very glad that it's not been called the XDA3 - as some members of this forum suggested, it is only really an XDA2.5!
Of course, this could be a very-much-likely-to-fail attempt to secure business in other areas. Yes, the Magician is a PocketPC and a phone, but it's still bigger and more expensive than the i-pod - and has only 3.2% of the storage capacity! All the same, it's advertised as a music playing device. You can pick up a little USB MP3 player for a fraction of the price with four times the storage capacity, or an iPod for half the price with a 20Gb hard disk. In other markets, they really aught to be looking at a complete landscape solution rather than a half-baked portrait system if they hope to pick up business from those who are put off by the price & lack of connectivity of, say, the OQO 1 (www.oqo.com)
Speaking of storage - I picked up a pair of 1Gb SDIO cards on eBay for around £50 (~72€) each!
HTC actually makes the HP units and also does the Treo 600 series units. Apart from RIM, they have no competion in these devices (as most other competing units are also prduced by them).
madkat said:
It looks nice - but where's the advantage?
It's smaller and it has a higher resolution camera - but it has less RAM, the CPU is no quicker than the Himalaya's and the Angel's and it's still fumbling around at 320x240!
HTC want to get off their arses and do some more R&D - they seem to have forgotten that the only way to make something desireable to the consumer is to make it better than the competitors and keep the costs low.
They seem to have done very well at it so far - but I fear they'll be overtaken by the likes of HP if they keep producing devices with same or similar specs to one another. The XDAIIs really isn't a great leap forward from the XDA2 - the only extras it has are a keyboard and WiFi, and the battery lasts a little longer. And I have to say I'm very glad that it's not been called the XDA3 - as some members of this forum suggested, it is only really an XDA2.5!
Of course, this could be a very-much-likely-to-fail attempt to secure business in other areas. Yes, the Magician is a PocketPC and a phone, but it's still bigger and more expensive than the i-pod - and has only 3.2% of the storage capacity! All the same, it's advertised as a music playing device. You can pick up a little USB MP3 player for a fraction of the price with four times the storage capacity, or an iPod for half the price with a 20Gb hard disk. In other markets, they really aught to be looking at a complete landscape solution rather than a half-baked portrait system if they hope to pick up business from those who are put off by the price & lack of connectivity of, say, the OQO 1 (www.oqo.com)
Speaking of storage - I picked up a pair of 1Gb SDIO cards on eBay for around £50 (~72€) each!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No bells ringing on those two points there? Basically you just stated that for a piddly 50 bucks, this thing becomes 1GB MP3 player - and that's in additon to being a full-fledged PDA and mobile phone. And still no bigger than vanilla mobile phones.
IPOD is a music player, but with this kind of range of capability of the "Magician", the IPOD reall starts to look like and old carthorse. Even where the IPD is going (displayig photos) the "Magician" can do that ith a better and bigger screen.
One could really argue that you are unduly downplaying the importance of this kind of device and this is where the market goes from here on in. I'd suspect that whatever follows the "Himalaya" will stick with this form factor and just load load on power and cababilities.
That was me posting above.. Login didn't work and it turned up as "guest".
Its JUST RIGHT
Guys
I dont know what the JAM is advertised as, but I went ahead and bought one last week and I just love it.
THe form factor is just right, the screen isnt as small as we would like to think it is - in fact I havent noticed any discomfort from the smaller screen.
Okay its not different in specs from the other devices, but this one just fits into your life unobtrusively - with the Qteks (both 1010 and 2020) as well as my first Pocket PC phone (Sagem WA3050) it was difficult to keep track of all the things you had to carry. Suddenly, life has become so much easier with the phone fitting very nicely into a belt pouch no larger than that for other mobile phones.
I am glad I made the change to the JAM, and the only cribs I have are that the build quality isnt as good as the earlier pieces - it feels really plasticky sometimes - and I wish they'd stuck to the 1010's design for the SIM card because I switch cards quite often and it is quite a chore with this new unit as the battery cover doesnt come off as easily as it did with the 2020.
And yeah, I would have preferred built-in WiFi to a 'megapixel' camera. Dump the camera, give us WiFi...
I think we're going to be seeing quite a few devices in this form factor now - EVERYONE who's seen the JAM wants one.
Cheers
Sands
madkat said:
Yes, the Magician is a PocketPC and a phone, but it's still bigger and more expensive than the i-pod - and has only 3.2% of the storage capacity! All the same, it's advertised as a music playing device. You can pick up a little USB MP3 player for a fraction of the price with four times the storage capacity, or an iPod for half the price with a 20Gb hard disk. In other markets, they really aught to be looking at a complete landscape solution rather than a half-baked portrait system if they hope to pick up business from those who are put off by the price & lack of connectivity of, say, the OQO 1 (www.oqo.com)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
iPod 20 GB for 299,00 Euro the only thing it does is play music.
Why would I need 20 GB mp3 on my body?
BTW I paid 479,00 euro (without contract) for my Magician....
I think the iPod is a fashion statement just like the first iMacs.
Only those iMacs where ****ty computers and the iPod is a nice mp3 player.
(and as all Mac-thingies way to expensive)
BUT to compare the iPod to the Magician is plain silly.
I can do anything with my Magician. (even swop the accu!)
Or scan barcodes. (www.flicscanner.com)
Offcourse we all want a device the size of a matchbox with all the gadgets packed in.
I would like a 21 inch 1600 x 1200 display beamed from that matchbox on the wall
and a keyboard beamed from that same matchbox on my desk.
A 300 Terra byte disk and a zillion gigahertz proc inside!
In the mean time why don't you buy a Magician and see for yourself what it can do right now.
Why am I getting the feeling that the magician is way too expensive in Sweden? My eyes almost popped out when i read that it is 479 € in your country.
I paid 595€ which was in a cheapstore, the other one i looked in took 659€!
:/
It really is a great device though, the size made me buy it, I can have it in my jeans pocket just like any "ordinary" cellphone. The only bad thing is that I got a dead pixel and I really hope they will replace the unit because it's purple and in the middle of the screen :/
Hi!
Maybe you should buy the MDA compact (same as iMate Jam) in Germany for around 400 EUR. Even with shipping to "somewhere" in Europe it'd be cheaper. Of course you need to flash an english ROM to it - or learn german...
I really didn't know that we're sooo cheap here.
Greetings
plant
Is it really 400 euros? You must be kidding me!
i bought one for 459€...
EDIT: http://fonez.de/pd1101545991.htm?categoryId=27 <- 439,64€
attention, the site is in german!
Hi!
No - I'm not kidding.
The cheapest price I was able to get was 397 EUR excl. shipping (but including german VAT which is 16%).
Just check out http://www.geizhals.at/de and search for MDAcompact - the cheapest price at the moment is 426 EUR (incl. VAT, excl. shipping).
Proof: http://www.geizhals.at/deutschland/a130814.html - as you can see the first 2 shops are rated quite good.
Beware: Site is in german.
Greetings
plant
Pocket PC phone (Sagem WA3050)
sandyind said:
my first Pocket PC phone (Sagem WA3050)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I have the same device, It seems that it is build by HTC too
Any linux hack experiences on it ?
--
http://rzr.online.fr/q/xscale
I've got a Magician at the moment, and was thinking of upgrading to a Prophet.
Is is worth it? Obviously this question is relative, so if you think so (or why not) then us know why =]
I have updated myself from Magician to Prophet and would say it is worth it. Windows mobile 5 with its new soft keys is so much easy to use than WM2003. I would upgrade for that reason alone.
Besides, the slower process (in MHz) is not really a difference. The overall performance of the device is on par with Magician.
Moreover, WiFi and EDGE and additional benifits if you make use of it.
On a side note, I like the looks of Prophet better than Magician. It feels more professional than Magician.
I would definitely echo what Itanium2 said. I have also upgraded from the Magician to the Prophet and love it, one handed use is so a lot easier and the softkeys are great.
There are a couple of minor annoyances for me with WM5 over WM2003:
1. Contacts forgets where you are, so if you have scrolled down your contact list, or opened a contact, then say go back to the Today screen, click on the contacts button you are back at the beginning of your contacts list - this is very annoying!
2. Mobile Excel doesn't save your zoom settings. I use Excel quite a bit and WM2003 used to save your zoom settings for each spreadsheet, however now everytime you open a spreadsheet you are at 100% zoom...
Still on the whole, after upgrading to the latest Imate ROM I find the device as stable as the magician was, with a good battery lif. One thing you might like to consider when buying your Prophet is the Imate Jam vs the Orange M600 - the Imate has a much brighter screen (unfortunately I did not find this out until I had brought the M600). Side by side it is really noticeable.
I upgraded my Magician to a Prophet.
Things that made me upgrade.
Wifi (tired of carrying around a wifi SD card)
Brighter screen in daylight
WM5-when power is lost, you still have a working PPC
There are lots of other little things that are better, but for me these were the biggies. Edge is nice of course, but that wasn't a deal breaker since in Europe we avoid data over providers because it is so expensive. If you don't use your Wizard in bright daylight and Wifi isn't important to you on a frequent basis then I think it comes down to money...if you can afford the new toy then why not, otherwise save the 500 dollars for a digital SLR etc.
Do it! I did.
It felt a bit slower to me so I have overclocked it using the tool in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=55782
It flies along quite nicely now. 8)
TheBrit said:
Do it! I did.
It felt a bit slower to me so I have overclocked it using the tool in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=55782
It flies along quite nicely now. 8)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still have my Magician as well the Prophet and I have to say that even with the overclocking utility the Prophet is still very much slower than the Magician. Also the screen on the Prophet although undeniably brighter seems to be less responsive in comparison to the Magician. This last point may be down to my units only and could be affected by the screen scratch protection which are from different makers.
Other than those two points, Prophet beats Magician in every other respect.
Here's my 2 cents.
I have upgraded to the Prophet (JAMin) as well. I have to say that I would never get back to the Magician.
Usability has improved greatly, battery life is amazing, overall speed is definitely acceptable.
Well, I am not able to play any of my videos without overclocking the device (or re-encoding them - no way!), but considering all improvements I have found and loved, I would not really care... Unless a new fast CPU equipped device hits the market, of course !
Ciao.
I have had both a Magician and a Prophet, and there isn't a large enough difference to warrant the upgrade. You should wait! Wait to get a 640x480 display with the same dimensions as the Jam. They already have 2.8 inch 640x480 sceen, it’s just a matter of time for them to stick in it in the form-factor
http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/04/sharps-w-zero3es-ws007sh-winmo-5-pocket-pc-hotness-redef/
Why I use the Jam over the Jamin:
1} The Jamin is WAY slower, people can rationalize all they want with FileCache and OCing, but I run my Magician at 585Mhz and there is no way the Prophet compares to it, they are completely in different leagues… and though people say its really only a problem in watching movies, (which it IS!) you still brutally feel the loss when you are tasking around the device…
2} Though persistent storage is nice, its 1/2 the reason the device is slow. I run a SpriteBackup every night, keeping 8 rollover copies on the card, (4gig card)... worst case I lose a day... If the Prophet becomes unusable, (virus, corrupted registry, from all that writefilecaching)) you lost the device and have to hard reset... everyone should do nightly backups regardless of device, but if you did that, what do you need persistence storage for?
3} Wifi: That is a tough one… if there is one thing I miss its wifi, but you rarely find free-hotspots and if you primarily use it at home, (I do) then get a Bluetooth dongle, they have 300 foot range, which covers the whole house. But if you HAVE to have wifi, consider something like this...
http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=121110
4} Camera: the 1.3 and the 2meg are the same in that they are both complete crap.
5} WM5: I am most concerned about this. If MS or others developers make WM5 only apps, then that will become a HUGE problem. But for now it hasn’t happen. And given how many W2003SE there are, its not going to happen for a while.
Final Thoughs: As soon as a JAM-type with a 640x480 display comes along I will toss the JAM but for now, why bother getting a device that has more shortcomings then enhancements.
Thanks for all your replies!
One reason I was worried about upgrading is that I always use my device overclocked - it just seems too slow without. I knew that I couldn't use PHM with the different processor, but it's good to see there's an OMAP overclock util. But it's in beta, and I'm not sure if I could be bothered tinkering with it if somebody already has and says that it's slower anyway.
Flash memory and extended battery life have never been an interest, as I backup weekly (Sprite Backup FTW) and always carry a spare battery.
I have a sandisk 128mb+wifi (hard to find cheaply in Australia), which I'm sure I'll find a use for one day. USB+Card Export = faster regardless.
I never use the camera, mind you, I've seen some shots from the Jamin and they look better.
Also, I'll be moving to Japan in the next year or so, and I didn't really want to spend that much on a device that I'll have to sell later on when I move. Besides, that link James posted looks like it's probably worth waiting and getting a new phone over there.
Ultimately, I was looking for some majorly convincing argument to upgrade. At the moment, it'd only be for the extra two buttons because I've already given AE Button Plus three events for the three buttons I've got. Oh well. Thanks anyway guys.
slvrbllt said:
Well, I am not able to play any of my videos without overclocking the device (or re-encoding them - no way!)
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Click to collapse
Say what? I've heard this a couple of times now and I can't help but wonder what you people are doing to your devices? My Prophet runs on normal speed and I've never had problems playing my videos! I use Pocket DivX Encoder and if you choose the right setting the video will be crisp and clear and the playback will be smooth like... err... something REALLY smooth!
As I said I've never had any problems with videos so please don't use this to bash the Prophet. You should rather look into what you're doing wrong!
JamesManios said:
4} Camera: the 1.3 and the 2meg are the same in that they are both complete crap.
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Click to collapse
Ha! What? The last time I went on vacation I actually left my digital camera at home since I now have a real good camera in my pocket all the time. The pics are great. If you want to enlargen them to billboard size of course you might want to get some other equipment. I'll attach a picture that I took so you can look at the quality yourself. And no! It is not porn, thank you!
[edit] Oh, nevermind the picture. Is there a way I can attach it for everybody to download without the pic being displayed and completely destryoing the look of the thread?
A) I must agree with Jayxz. Played DivX from Sandisk 512 (old, relatively slow one) with no problem, 29fps and all.
Never had to overclock.
I had a chance to play with Mio 701 which has a faster processor and the only difference in performance I noticed was with the iGO nav software. And that was just a slight improvement.
B) Jayxz: Personally I need no proof of picture quality, but if you want to post it any way, just zip it (better for downloads any way) or change the extension.
Also read this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=4992
Ok thanks!
[IMAGE_00315.jpg noframe]
Saying the camera's no good is just nonsense. Anybody with doubts click on the link, please.
As for the camera: I would say the quality is the same/similar to the JAM, and not terrible/great, (though that is a good shot!) You usually get a lot of blur from both devices using them in real-life. Almost everyone has a better digital camera, so what I was saying is that it’s not really a reason in comparison to the JAM to upgrade, (ie a much better camera).
You technically are re-enocding when you did the Pocket Divx Encoder. If you download and play a divx off the net that was meant for the computer, (like a 800meg size one) you will find the prophet isn't up to par to play it smoothly. I fully agree a re-encode of a DVD for example can be made to play fine.
If I run TCPMP in benchmark on the same video the Prophet overclocked to 230 gets 230Mbit on video, the JAM overclocked to 585 gets 487mbit, the JAM definitely can dish-it-out more.
Remember I have both devices so I do lots of side by side comparisons, and don’t really have a bias, the Prophet is a good pda! But if you already have a Jam it’s not worth upgrading, (well in my option, save the money for the next device that will be much better).
Does anyone know of a 640x480 JAM sized phone that maybe I don’t know about, (no Exec please)?
James,
Did you forgot to change the focus on the lens ( don't know what it called ). IMHO, the quality is just fine, much better than 1.3 camera. See attached images, one is taken with close focus, another in normal forcus and in room light.
Thang
Its the macro switch for close up. Actually those pictures kinda demontrate what I was saying which is the blur affect. You can see it by the persons head, and in the bottom right corner of the macro picture.
Anyways, we are a little off the topic. I was just saying, comparing the two devices it was really not a big difference, not a reason to upgrade
Ok, we established that EDGE, WiFi and better (even if slightly) camera are not worth the upgrade.
What about memory then?
I admit I don't have a JAM but according to specs it has 64MB RAM, which for WM2003 is split for both storage and program.
Now I know you can install most apps on a storage card, but what about contacts, calendar and the rest of outlook? Not to mention any plugins, utilities and apps you want to use with contents from different storage cards, like TCPMP?
Just how much 'program' memory do you have left in the end, and how much does windows try to reserve for storage even if not needed?
As you can see from my sig, I have a iPaq 1710 which runs WM2003, and I came to despise the slider. What is the point of letting the user change memory allocation if the OS changes it right back.
Thankfully, tweakradje posted a fix for that.
Those naughty MS programmers, NeverDorkMemory he, he :lol:
Ok, first I'm going to apologies to Jed D`Lagged cause we have derailed his original article, but I have to reply to this because of the sheer irony.
Prior to getting my Prophet, a friend of mine, also with a Prophet made the exact same argument. To which I made him a small bet, (figuring I would actually lose). I bet him that I could get a full installed JAM with more free program memory then a similar installed Prophet. Cause even though the Prophet has 64RAM you seem to only get access to much less, something like 42 of it on a bone clean install.
Using BigStorage, and NeverDorkMemory set to limit Storage to 4 Megs (the pre-agreed on number), I installed all the base apps needed to BigStorage, things like Wisbar, 1 Theme, SpriteBackup, Resco, PHM, all the usual suspects. In the end, (sorry I forget the exact number), the JAM had 8 megs more Program Memory then the Prophet... and I know it sounds hard to believe, we were pretty surprised ourselves... the only theory is that maybe WM5 uses a lot of RAM while running the OS??
Now someone will immediately say, ‘but didn't you make the device slow by having all 3rd party apps loading off slow storage’. Yes, I did, but the device was still faster then the Jamin. Once a program loads on either the JAM or JAMIN it runs from RAM and will run at 230Mhz as opposed to 585Mhz which is a noticeable difference.
On one final note, I think people are thinking I'm knocking the Prophet, I'm not, hell I have one, (not for long though), but it’s a good device. Again, I'm just telling Jed, (for what I think are pretty solid reasons) its not worth upgrading...
I've observed the same outcome between the Prophet and Magician. However, if you don't overclock and don't use the Bigstorage hack on the Magician, the RAM amount and speed differences are not nearly as noticeable. In other words, if you don't know how to hack and tweak your phones the differences are not as obvious. I suppose that most people fall into this category, the members from this forum excluded of course
Just bumping my own thread to say that I had started to look at picking up the Prophet for the extra ram because having two Japanese dictionaries, Excel, Word and TCPMP was chewing up ram causing the machine to go slow while it swapped/"Dorked" the memory.
However, NeverDorkMemory fixed that, now I always have ram free.
Hooray!
Jed D`Lagged said:
I've got a Magician at the moment, and was thinking of upgrading to a Prophet.
Is is worth it? Obviously this question is relative, so if you think so (or why not) then us know why =]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not if you're looking for a phone that will still receive further ROM updates.
I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for HTC/QTEK/Dopod/i-mate et al to release AKU3 for the Prophet.
I was thinking about getting one but was wondering how it is to use as a everyday phone? is it just to damn big? manageable? will it fit in a pocket? any pocket? I have a herald now and my my main reason for thinking about the switch is texting and wifi surfing (vga screen has gotta make it a joy to use). anyone have any build quality issues? im uber anal about build quality,especially at this price!! any other comments are welcome. Oh I did read some reviews and went through on here but I wanna know what the real life owners think after owning it for a while.
i got it , and i say it's almost accommodate %95 for everyday use , it has all features that you need , you never get stuck in any place you go , i mean when i'm in internet cafe i use wifi ,
when i want to listen to a song the original headset make it very coool and it rocks really they have a hi quality ,
when i want to take a photo in with my friend in college it shot nice though it have a 1.3 MP it can expand to 2 MP ( in camera options ) and the color and details is very good
and when playing a video clip it have a very very nice quality ( with VGA screen and 520 MHz) it's very powerful ,and it can play %90 of known multimedia files ( by using Core Player )
and it got very powerful application to be be used for every day task
and and and and............. , i recommended it by %95
very stylish device
i use it as everyday phone, organiser and modem for laptop. very pleased. Phone is a bit clunky, using stylus to dial can be a fiddle, but no problems otherwise. Works great with bluetooth headset and voice dial
regards,
Brian.
Use it as an every day phone. VGA mode, VJBigPhone and use my finger for dialling - no problems at all. Only thing is that I cant have anything else in the pocket I put it in, but thats no big deal.
sigh, i really wish i could hold one before I buy it. it sounds like im gonna need my own private shirpa to lug it around for me!!
honestly there are only 2 reasons im thinking about getting one..
1) surfing the net. Im hopeing that between the bigger screen and the vga resolution that it will format webpages better than the qvga "smaller" screen of my herald (i hate scrolling)
2) .......well maybe there is only the one reason, lol! i feel like a flake. im still pretty new to the windows seen as i have been a symbian guy for a loooong time.
I suppose honestly I use it as a phone first and everything else second. how would y'all rate the build quality on this thing?
VJBigPhone???
I use my Vodafone V1640 as an every day phone. It is quite chunky in the pocket, but I'm quite used to it now. I love the fact that it can be sat on the desk like a little laptop, so I can browse websites without having to actually hold the device during lectures at uni.
I'd love to have a thinner phone though.
Build quality: quite good, the hinge is still in very good form after about half a year's usage.
http://www.vijay555.com/?Releases:VJBigPhone
Never had a problem with build quality, in fact had less problems with this phone than I did with the Alpine.
gquipster said:
http://www.vijay555.com/?Releases:VJBigPhone
Never had a problem with build quality, in fact had less problems with this phone than I did with the Alpine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet, thanks man!!
Another question, are there any draw backs to the vga hack? will it still run qvga apps?
Some - not all. I use VGA all the time as I love the amount of info I can see on the screen.
For instance the built in games (Solitaire etc) don't scale particularly well, and I emailed the guy who wrote PocketConquest etc to inform him that his games didn't work in 640x480 but apart from that not had any problems.
Applications I use on a near daily basis:
Calendar,
Pocket Outlook (Text messages AND Email),
Internet Explorer,
Notes,
Pocket Word,
Adobe Reader 2.0,
Microsoft Remote Display Control,
Pocket Excel,
Terminal Services (with full-screen hack)
I also have PocketPutty which I use fairly frequently and am looking for a decent VNC client.
G
I use it as my primary Jack-of-All-Trades device.
It's my PDA, my phone, my remote control, my book reader, my GPS system, my car MP3 player, my secondary Internet booth, my gamebox, my e-mail reader (I'm driving Blackberry sh*t out of my company!).
Often I carry it in my hands, or a shirt pocket. In the car it's stored in the door.
With PocketBreeze and a new original battery from e-Bay for a mere fraction of O2 replacement price, I'm now a happy camper!
I have used it as a every day phone now for allmost one and a half year. Last weekend i replaced it out with a Motorola A780. Now it feels like i dont have any phone in my pocket becuase of the size (even though A780 is also a big cell phone).
I think the universal is a good pda, but as a phone it isent reliable. I have tried out a lot of diffrents radio versions but it is still unstable.
But, one day i will switch back to my Universal, and that day we will have fully linux support in it. And then it will be reliable again
wow, thank you for all the replies!!!
I have one on the way and I can't wait to get it!
I picked up a moto pebl to use if I wanna go out and only want a small phone (like the bar or formal functions) I can't remember the last time I was this pumped abut getting a new phone! man, the uni owners seem to be a most loyal crowd. Again, any and all comments are welcome as I don't know my a** from my elbow with not only the uni but PPC as well.
For me the size of the Universal becomes a problem only during summer months. Wearing shorts etc.
Apart from that it fits perfectly in my trousers,jacket pockets.
To be honest because of it's shape I prefer to carry it in the pocket than my Wizard, it just fits better...
But yeah, sometime the freezing and other "adventures" drive me mad!!!
If ya wanna get your hands round one just pop into a phone shop and ask around,,, im sure pleanty of places still have one or two left instock as this is the kinda phone only the people who want it buy, if ya want it ya get it,,, ive never turned back and its my best toy to date :lol:
-DTM
Use it every day. Never had a problem and everything is at hand. Can't fault it.
Used it every day for work and home, found it to be great, i have 2 of them But now i have a wizard and its much better than the Exec as a phone....
stevef1
Well, I got it.....
NOt sure if I like it yet or not. seems like most of the apps I have don't work due to the screen
I can't even get marsware weatherpanel to work. I may end up trading it off but im not to sure yet. that and the rf dont seem to great where I live but ill give it a bit more time.
Anyone wanna trade me??
I will say that I love the keyboard and the screen is amazing!!! Size isn't to bad and weight dont bother me none either. I have only had the phone for a few hours so ill give it some time before making a decision.
razamataz said:
Well, I got it.....
NOt sure if I like it yet or not. seems like most of the apps I have don't work due to the screen
I can't even get marsware weatherpanel to work. I may end up trading it off but im not to sure yet. that and the rf dont seem to great where I live but ill give it a bit more time.
Anyone wanna trade me??
I will say that I love the keyboard and the screen is amazing!!! Size isn't to bad and weight dont bother me none either. I have only had the phone for a few hours so ill give it some time before making a decision.
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Upgrade the ROM and start to explore the Uni - you will very quickly find any other phone wholly inadequate!
apd said:
Upgrade the ROM and start to explore the Uni - you will very quickly find any other phone wholly inadequate!
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Click to collapse
upgrade to what rom? I'm I have wm6 on here or is that not what you mean? is there a "best rom" to use?
Hi guys,
After owning the device for 5 months I finally realized that this masterpiece is just too big to be used as a phone. it's an awesome device though.
ps. i am interested in the tytn II, maybe we can trade?
Anyone interested private message me for more details.
Thank you
haztoma said:
Hi guys,
After owning the device for 5 months I finally realized that this masterpiece is just too big to be used as a phone. it's an awesome device though.
ps. i am interested in the tytn II, maybe we can trade?
Anyone interested private message me for more details.
Thank you
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Click to collapse
haztoma,
Do you have any requirements for a large VGA screen? Every tried realVGA yet? If you have not tried it, you should, and you may look at Athena differently.
However, if you have no requirements that you can think of for a large VGA screen, then a smaller QVGA screen phone would be more appropriate.
Just thought that I share my 2cents worth to help you decide if your decision is the best one. In any case, goog luck and all the best.
I think also that your price expectation is not realistic. A brand new one could be had in the low 600 now.
eaglesteve said:
haztoma,
Do you have any requirements for a large VGA screen? Every tried realVGA yet? If you have not tried it, you should, and you may look at Athena differently.
However, if you have no requirements that you can think of for a large VGA screen, then a smaller QVGA screen phone would be more appropriate.
Just thought that I share my 2cents worth to help you decide if your decision is the best one. In any case, goog luck and all the best.
I think also that your price expectation is not realistic. A brand new one could be had in the low 600 now.
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Click to collapse
Eaglesteve is right: your price expectations are too high. There's a brand new Advantage (x7500) on Ebay here now for 340gbp (66o-something dollars) and Advantage's are quite rare here, owing to the market being swampedwith Ameos - the silver and white Advantages. These are available for as little as 240gbp (469usd) here despite having identical hardware to its black cousin.
I would consider sticking it out a bit unless you can find someone to swap with you. If you want the high res screen but aren't bothered about gps there are a few phones on the market that are cheaper than the TyTn 2 with similar functionlity (other than GPS) I believe Glofish make some, or the Toshiba G900 has a very nice screen and is on a par with the TyTn 2 in terms of power.
Hi guys,
thank you for your replies. I would hate to give up the htc, but I find the htc too slow for what i need it for. I am a physician and i was hoping to pull radiograms right to my HTC (that's why i got something with a VGA screen). the process is too slow. Also, I can't make use of the the occasional 5-10 minutes break i get to check my emails and surf the web because it's not fast enough. as for using it for watching youtube videos, FORGET IT the flash version available (i think version 7) either makes the htc freeze or give yous audio without video.
incidently, is there a hack that can make the thing run faster in exchange for battery life. I've installed everything on the microdrive to have as much memory read for running programs.
the camera is not very useful as the shutter speed is not very fast (image capture take about 5 seconds), it's embarrassing to ask people to stay REALLY still for 5 seconds to take an image! slowly moving objects looks out of focus (on my htc at least). is there away to allocate more memory to capture the image faster?
I've installed the black dual rom on it hoping things improve. some programs are just not ment to run on the x7500. eg the new pix viewer takes FOREVER to load the thumbnails. the origian pix viewer and resco pix view loads much faster.
One should have a lot of expectation out of this device after all it did cost $1200 (that's WAY more than my hp laptop).
I thought about the iphone too (seems to be much faster) but I have a lot of medical programs made for windows mobile. I would hate to carry books around in exchange for the simpler iphone.
When i travel, it's awesome for listening to music, playing movies, gps (a must), emailing, surfing the web, skyping, but all of which can be done with the smaller tytn II.
any other ideas how I can improve the advantage to my advantage?
haztoma said:
Hi guys,
thank you for your replies. I would hate to give up the htc, but I find the htc too slow for what i need it for. I am a physician and i was hoping to pull radiograms right to my HTC (that's why i got something with a VGA screen). the process is too slow. Also, I can't make use of the the occasional 5-10 minutes break i get to check my emails and surf the web because it's not fast enough. as for using it for watching youtube videos, FORGET IT the flash version available (i think version 7) either makes the htc freeze or give yous audio without video.
incidently, is there a hack that can make the thing run faster in exchange for battery life. I've installed everything on the microdrive to have as much memory read for running programs.
the camera is not very useful as the shutter speed is not very fast (image capture take about 5 seconds), it's embarrassing to ask people to stay REALLY still for 5 seconds to take an image! slowly moving objects looks out of focus (on my htc at least). is there away to allocate more memory to capture the image faster?
I've installed the black dual rom on it hoping things improve. some programs are just not ment to run on the x7500. eg the new pix viewer takes FOREVER to load the thumbnails. the origian pix viewer and resco pix view loads much faster.
One should have a lot of expectation out of this device after all it did cost $1200 (that's WAY more than my hp laptop).
I thought about the iphone too (seems to be much faster) but I have a lot of medical programs made for windows mobile. I would hate to carry books around in exchange for the simpler iphone.
When i travel, it's awesome for listening to music, playing movies, gps (a must), emailing, surfing the web, skyping, but all of which can be done with the smaller tytn II.
any other ideas how I can improve the advantage to my advantage?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This radiogram stuff, are they just picture files? Hugh size? I never use the picture viewer of the cooked ROM but my resco picture viewer is quite fast. I've seen my GP using computers at work, but always on laptop computers rather than PDA.
Athena can never be used as a laptop although it can look like one. It's not fast enough for that purpose. You should be able to use email very fast, unless you're dealing work very large attachments and graphic filled mails. Internet browser is still not fast enough especially if you have only 5 to 10 minutes extremely short break. There's not much we can do ATM on that. If mobility is not a real requirement, you might find that a sub notebook could work better for you. Would a sub notebook pull up your radiogram fast enough? Are you sitting in front of a desk with your patient or standing in front of a hospital bed when pulling in the radiogram? How do you get the radiogram into Athena? Special program? Are the radiogram on a server?
However, moving to a sub notebook, software availability could be a challenge, depending on what software you're using. Many medical reference type software are on WM6 platform but not sure if they're on XP platform. Of course they would run on tytn II.
Camera is pretty crapy for indoor use, but try using the action button to take picture as it's faster than pressing the camera button. With natural day light it's quite fast. If not, forget it. I use it quite frequently outdoor without problem. Using it inside my house during day is also acceptable. But I once tried taking my mother in law's birthday party picture at night, and it was a disaster. Yes, a very slight movement produced blurred image. Not only that, the quality of picture was really bad in terms of color and resolution. May be scaling the resolution down could help but haven't tried it.
I'm not sure if we can install wm2003 se on Athena. It will certainly make it fly. Wm5 can changed to the persistent memory mode, with big sacrifice in speed in favour of battery life. I personally also prefer the older approach. Not much we can do on that one. This applies also to tytn II.
So, looks like the expectation for it to work like a notebook could not be met, so a rethink is indeed needed to look for new means to meeting your requirements.
get an Asus EEE pc for £220( stick XP on it) and get an LG viewty.
Best of both worlds
cmon you all knew i was gonna say that
spacecat said:
get an Asus EEE pc for £220( stick XP on it) and get an LG viewty.
Best of both worlds
cmon you all knew i was gonna say that
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hahahaha self irony is the best from all worlds some times!
I think haztoma said he has lots of medical software that only run on Window CE platform.
Spacecat, I thought you would have learned that the choice of devices must depend on a user's requirement by now. If all that you're interested is to start wars everywhere, then do it. Otherwise, let's speak with constructive suggestions.
leoni1980 said:
Eaglesteve is right: your price expectations are too high. There's a brand new Advantage (x7500) on Ebay here now for 340gbp (66o-something dollars) and Advantage's are quite rare here, owing to the market being swampedwith Ameos - the silver and white Advantages. These are available for as little as 240gbp (469usd) here despite having identical hardware to its black cousin.
I would consider sticking it out a bit unless you can find someone to swap with you. If you want the high res screen but aren't bothered about gps there are a few phones on the market that are cheaper than the TyTn 2 with similar functionlity (other than GPS) I believe Glofish make some, or the Toshiba G900 has a very nice screen and is on a par with the TyTn 2 in terms of power.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I have seen The X7501 is in the 600 to 700 dollar price range used, 899 new, but the X7500 is a more expensive device usually around 1000 too 1100 dollars new. Not sure what makes them different to justify the cost
eaglesteve said:
I think haztoma said he has lots of medical software that only run on Window CE platform.
Spacecat, I thought you would have learned that the choice of devices must depend on a user's requirement by now. If all that you're interested is to start wars everywhere, then do it. Otherwise, let's speak with constructive suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so the sense of humour bypass was a success then?
spacecat said:
so the sense of humour bypass was a success then?
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Okay. Sorry. I forgot my own advice to not take you seriously.
cib911 said:
From what I have seen The X7501 is in the 600 to 700 dollar price range used, 899 new, but the X7500 is a more expensive device usually around 1000 too 1100 dollars new. Not sure what makes them different to justify the cost
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they must be more expensive your end of town then. The most you'll pay here is 450GBP, unless you shop somewhere like Expansys, but they're overpriced and don't dictate the market you're looking to sell to.
cib911 said:
From what I have seen The X7501 is in the 600 to 700 dollar price range used, 899 new, but the X7500 is a more expensive device usually around 1000 too 1100 dollars new. Not sure what makes them different to justify the cost
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think it's the front camera for video calls. we don't have that available in the states yet, but it is in canada and europe.
i got the x7500 because america will soon catch up with the rest of the world and provide video call options and that tiny front viewer takes up the additional $200
Hi,
I am considering to get me an Athena and I need some help and advice.
I already own:
1x Blue Angel
2x Universal
1x HP iPaq 514 Voice Messenger
1x VDA GPS (aka Toshiba G710)
I also have an Asus eeePC 701.
My SIM has an internet contract included (100 MB download/month) and I have an USB Internet adapter which I can use i.e. with my eeePC.
Having said this, you probably understand I am a nerd and I like to "collect" phones and gadgets. The reason is simple: I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't waste money on anything, so at least, I think, I can get me some nice phones from time to time. All were bargains, most I got from eBay. The reason I like smartphones is that i carry them around all the time, so I can really have a benefit of owning them. A PS3, for example, may be a nice piece of hardware, but I would not have much time at home to really make use of it.
What do I want to know?
Basically, if you guy's can use the Athena as a phone. Do you REALLY use it as your sole mobile phone, or is it too big and clumsy (specially having to use BT headphone) to make calls?
The Universal is big, but it does fit nice into my back pocket of the jeans - how do you carry the Athena around?
What are the real advantages of an Athena, compared to a Universal? The screen resolution is the same (I guess having a bigger screen, will make the RealVGA usefull - on the Universal things get far too small), the CPU speed can be the same, by overclocking the Universal (actually not overclocking, but letting it run at full speed), the GPS is nice, but can be overcome with an external one (like the one I have).
I know these are lame questions, but 250-300 Euro is still a lot of cash and I want to make sure i don't regret it.
My major concern is that the device is not usable as a phone. I hate carrying two devices with me and that is exactly the problem I have with the eeePC: it's screen is too small to replace a proper laptop and to replace the MDA Pro, I would have to carry two devices with me. That's too much.
So any feedback is appreciated, as I am wondering what would be more USEABLE on a daily basis: an eeePC 1000 (10" screen, 1.6Ghz, 160 GB HDD, battery up to 6 hours...) for around 380 Euro, or an Athena second hand at eBay for around 300 Euro.
The eeePC 1000 has the advantage of replacing a laptop, but the disadvantage of not replacing a phone.
I know, long post, but please shed some light into this.
Thanks,
vma
x7510 a great device
vma said:
What do I want to know?
Basically, if you guy's can use the Athena as a phone. Do you REALLY use it as your sole mobile phone, or is it too big and clumsy (specially having to use BT headphone) to make calls?
The Universal is big, but it does fit nice into my back pocket of the jeans - how do you carry the Athena around?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was a proud owner of a Blueangel for 4 years and loved it. I started to get tired of it a couple years ago and then I found xda-developers and discovered how to upgrade and turn my old WM2003SE device into a top notch WM6.1 device. Needless to say with all the smaller screen, slower CPU devices on the market I stayed with my trusty BA. That is until I found the x7510. My BA lives in a drawer in the bedroom now, I keep it charged so I have it if I need it, and I use my Athena exclusively for all my phone/PDA needs. I carry it in the back pocket of my blue jeans and it fits fine.
My major concern is that the device is not usable as a phone. I hate carrying two devices with me and that is exactly the problem I have with the eeePC: it's screen is too small to replace a proper laptop and to replace the MDA Pro, I would have to carry two devices with me. That's too much.
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Click to collapse
I have not regretted my upgrade from the BA to the Athena for a second. The only reason I have not sold my BA yet is becuase I have had the Athena for less than 1 month and am keeping it as a backup. I plan to go this weekend to the local market and have a custom belt carry case made for it. I am in Kuwait and it will not cost me much at all for this. The only reason I am doing this is for the added convenience not becuase it is required.
7501 is my everyday device
If yoi look at my sig. I also own quite a few devices. Since acquiring my 7501 6 months ago, I have not used any other of my devices. I used a BT headset with all of my oyher devices anyway. The 7501 is by far the best device I have ever owned.
You can turn the volume all the way down and hold it like a regular phone, with the mic hole by your mouth. Its not perfect and not private in a quiet room, but its useable. I also hate carrying a BT headset all the time for private conversations, but my Jabra BT8010 also gives me caller ID and vibrate, "fixing" several of the major problems with the Athena all at one time. Also gives me a decent stereo headset for MP3 and radio streaming.
I've had mine a year now and will never be able to go back to a smaller phone. The screen is just so much more useable than most other pdas or phones.
Thank you for your replies.
I think I will keep it on hold, though.
I have been researching the Ameo and basically understand that the 7500 and 7501 are basically similar and feature a real Hitachi Microdrive HDD.
The 7510 has a different keyboard and a 16GB SDD Flashdisk and requires a different ROM. I believe it cannot be SIM-Unlocked either.
There seems to be a problem with the Microdrive failing and having read-errors. This is a turn-off for me, when buying from ebay, as this fault is not easy to detect and proove, but surely may be a reason to get rid of such a device at ebay... Yeah, call me a suspicious guy...
The 7510, on the other hand, lacks the joystick and I definitly require that for my ebook reading, which I love. Paginating by touching the screen all the time is not very appealing.
Then there are those who say: go for the 7501, forget about the HDD and just get a 16GB SDHC. The point is: I can get that for my Universal!
So now I am wondering what REAL benefits I would have from an Ameo and I guess I will wait for either a superb bargain at ebay, a new one on sale at a local store (doubt that, however) or until the prices drop further at ebay (below 200 Euro).
Thangs again.
Cheers,
vma
Hi,
I have purchased an Athena these days and here is what I have to say to all those considering the move from the Universal to the Athena.
1) The Universal reached the 100 Euro mark at eBay, while the Athena (7500 version) is being sold at 200 Euro. These are the prices at ebay.de for the MDA Pro / T-Mobile Ameo versions.
2) First impression: the Athena is big. And when I say big, I mean it! I already had played with one in a store, but actually owning one is different, because only then you notice it won't fit in any of your pockets! After using it for 2 days, I picked up my Universal and found myself smiling at the "small" size of it!
3) Second impression: damn! It is a huge device... I will have to carry it in my hand if I want to take it with me. I mean, other people carry a book or a filofax. I now carry this super phone...
4) Funtionality: there is everything you can think of. You get highspeed mobile internet, WLAN, Bluetooth, all possible GSM standards, motion sensor, huge ROM/RAM memory, 8GB microdrive, GPS, ... The Universal not only lacks onboard GPS, it is struggeling with having only 64MB RAM. That is a limitation for the upcoming WM 6.5 firmware releases being cooked. And even with WM 6.1 some limitations exist. Soldering extra 64MB on my Universal is too expensive in my opinion.
5) Screen: the screen is fantastic! Compared to the Universal, though it has the same resolution, it is big enough for the eyes to take advantage of small fonts. After using the Athena, I now look at the Universal screen and I have to admit it is a little bit too small for such a resolution.
6) Keyboard: despide several online reviews stating the opposite, I do like the touch and feel of the keyboard. i would have prefered separate numeric keys, though. Also, I like the Universal's keyboard design better. Having a separate magnetic keyboard is less functional, I think.
7) Pros of the Athena:
- big screen
- speed: fast device
- speed: internet is very fast, pages load much quicker than on the Universal
- GPS: nice to have everything in one device
- memory: yeah! 128 MB RAM plus 8GB storage, plus Mini-SD slot... That rocks! And you can always use a Micro-2-Mini SD card adapter to use the cheaper and more available MicroSD cards
- overall exquisit looking noble device: if you are a hacker, you will survive a lonely day in a hotel room with this beast!
8) Cons of the Athena:
- too big to fit any pocket, specially back trouser pocket...
- keyboard is a bit odd
*** CONCLUSION ***
So, is it worth the change from the Universal?
No.
You should not want to CHANGE from the Universal to the Athena.
You SHOULD have an Athena as a second device, which you use on special days:
- boring days in the office/mother in law/waiting rooms
- meetings (this 200 Euro second hand device will kill all the attention normally spent over iPhones and similar phones at over 600 Euro)
- trips (planes, train and hotels)
Plus, it is simply a gorgeous device, which does appeal to any hacker!
Hope this helped anyone considering which phone to get...
Best way to carry the Athena: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=344605
Just buy it and try it out , it will not cost you an arm and a leg !! If you find it not suitable for whatever reasons , just sell quick it away at 30% loss , you probably bought many devices already , one more wont make you suffer that much i am sure , but many of advantage owners from day one it launched till now really do love it , some to the extremes too , so are you one of us ? , only you can answer this yourself , cheers , take care and enjoy - ok ?