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Hi ALL
I'm using a XDA and found that the radio signal strength too week (compared to a P800 or other mobile phones). So I soldered some wires to the antena; but it does little help.
Have any body success in improving the radio part? Any advice is appreciated.
I am unhappy with my reception as well. I was thinking maybe putting one of those cheap antenna booster stickers on the stylus so it would be close to the antenna. your thoughts?
Sad but true....low signal on Wm2003
I found out that the signal strenght is week by using WM2003, if you revert back to WM2002 you'll notice the strenght will be on top the whole time, I tested and made 3 times RSU upgrades. The truth it's not from the RSU at all just don't flash your GSM part you'll not get any difference thus it's dangerous, you might end up with a dead XDA.
for me, wm2002 and 2003 are equally horrible
jcsickz said:
for me, wm2002 and 2003 are equally horrible
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Click to collapse
In that case it has something to do with your provider,or your unit.
http://babelfish.altavista.com/babe..._en&url=http://www.pocketinfo.nl/artikel/4944
That's something to look fwd to in the coming months. HTC Prophet is coming to Australia..yippeee!!!
O2 Atom is officially out in Australia. Just played with one yesterday...not too bad..looks smaller than the Magician but the exterior is too glossy and easy to fingerprint. Speed wise is as fast as the Magician but camera is a letdown somewhat....takes some time to focus...at beginning, in incandescent light, all you see is fuzziness.
I-mate Jamin' should kick the pants off the Atom but Australians who want the latest Magician type phones will have to settle for the Atom until the Jamin arrive which hopefully will have a later firmware.
Yea , I looked at the Atom ... But to wait another month for BT2 etc , seemed to make sense . I hear the Atom does not have smart dial and that there are problems getting smart dial on it !!
the o2 media plus is indeed shipped with the Atom and looks fantastic but poor camera & mini-sd & glossy exterior are somewhat a bit of a letdown. Wonder if o2 will ever release the HTC Prophet.
Isn't the JAMin the Charmer, ie Magician II?
I've heard that the atom is only a couple of millimeters shorter than the magician. Everything else is the same. We all know how those millimeters count - how does it compare in the hand?
V
My impression was that the Jamin is the HTC Prophet..seems to have the same specs as the Dopod 818 Pro.
The Atom feels good on the hand but while a bit smaller than the mini. Radio requires the use of a headset but I'm sure you can hook it up to speakers. With a silicon casing, the Atom won't be too much of a problem to handle but comparing build quality, the mini looks much better. I once owned a Nokia 7610 and found the Atom casing similar to that of the Nokia, very plasticky.
Operation wise, it is fast but SD owners won't like the mini-SD slot because they won't be able to utilise their existing cards. The Atom turned heads when it was released a few months back but a lot of ppl are going for the Dopod 818 Pro.
I'm looking out to get my hands on an E-Ten M600 which is slightly bigger than the Mini but also has 2.8" screen and reportedly good phone reception,very fast processor, and ultra bright LCD. Also it can take in 4Gb SD cards easily and is optimised for Skype. A2DP bluetooth function is already built in and there is a roomy 76MB available for storage to the user. It also comes with a fantastic looking charging cradle and a telescopic stylus. I can live with the 2mm extra height and 3mm extra width compared to the mini
only thing about the Magician is that outdoors, the colours are washed out (with screen protector or not, maybe due to high reflectibility and not bright enough). You have to go indoors to see your device.
I don't count on the Dopod 818 Pro to improve on that so that's why M600 is very high on my list. I use my handheld outdoors quite a lot.
I played with the eten for a while at Modaco in Autumn. It's nice, but quite plasticy I think. But very competent. Feels bigger, but certainly very capable!
I had a silicon case for my magician for a while, but then thought I might as well enjoy the thing while I could. I have covered the back of the case with an adhesive foil so I can throw it on the desk without it getting scratched though...
It seems this is the Prophet.
I think the Atom looks great, if anyone has one spare I'd love to have a play. But I guess at the end of the day, I'm still quite happy with my Magician. I've had no particularly compelling reasons to upgrade to Wm5, even with a universal to develop on.
V
PS with the magician, if you're feeling gung ho, give VJLumos a go to brighten the screen. It's surprising how much better it looks superbright.
Agree with you, Magician is still the best. I just bought a thinner silicon skin and it's flourescent green in color and very nice to hold on to. My o2 mini looks stunning..only complaint is that the holes cut at the bottom are not aligned properly with the usb port, reset and audio slots.
I don't think I'll be upgrading till at least June when I think the firmwares will settle. By then I would have drive tested the i-mate Jamin or the E-Ten M600 and see which one suited me better. But that's just talk....I love my Magician and PDAs aren't really that popular yet over here when compared with mobile phones. But my friends always want to play with my o2 mini whenever I see them. Either they'll be playing a game or watching movies on it. I always encourage them to get a Magician but they prefer their Mortorolas and Nokias.
Yes, the Imate Jamin is the HTC Prophet (a.k.a. Dopod 818 Pro, Qtek S200, Imate Jamin). Imate and Qtek will be releasing this phone around March.
If you can't wait for the Jamin, do like I did, order the Dopod 818 Pro from expansys. It's selling at a very good price at the moment, GBP 360!
It's covered by a 1 year warranty from expansys (i.e. european based).
eXpansys have started selling pre-orders of the Jamin' which is good for Australian users but the wait is around 3-5 weeks.
expansys usa has stopped listing the dopod 818 pro among the devices they sell. why is that?
I wonder if it has to do with i-mate Jamin and possible other HTC Prophet models for the US market. The Dopod is primarily sold in Asia and warranty can be a bit of an issue. Expansys US would benefit more by marketing products bound for the US where warranty is taken care direcrtly by the manufacturer (no overseas warranty handling)
The other thing is that they would probably be run out of stock due to its popularity and with i-mate Jamin' coming to US shores, why get more stocks of a non-US bound product?
I mailed them, got no reply but now it's available again. How strange...
http://www.expansys-usa.com/product.asp?code=127976
Jamin's a coming Jamin's a coming....
I know there are many versions out there. I have the QTEK 9100, and I can safely say that it's quality is below average, in terms of hardware.
Problems with the housing/paint, problems with the stylus, problems with the microphone and speaker quality.
I would like to know what other people think, and if other Wizards are better in terms of qulity.
regards
got an mda, unlocked.......loving it... :!:
housing etc is fine...speaker etc is very clear...
I have an O2 XDA Mini S and a T-Mobile Vario.
So far have been pleased with the quality of build and sound.
I have the Vodafone Compact II and can safely say that alll aspects of the device are excellent - hardware and software!
I love built quality, but the bloody call quality is awful. Really tinny sound.
MDA Vario - great
I would have to say the worst part of most Wizard devices is the Stylus silo that becomes very loose over time. Mine has become so loose that extracting the stylus no longer extends it to full size (at least it does stay in the silo). I basically only use the Wizard stylus only in a pinch. I mostly use the d-pad or carry a small stylus with me.
I taped the stylus so that it keeps from falling off. Also the paint starts to come off. It seems strange though, that there seems to be 2 kinds of QTEK quality phones.
The ones that are in Greece, all have the sound, stylus, bodywork quality issue.
8125 is solid. i like it a lot. no problems with the stylus.
although my first one arrived with a dead pixel, and the second arrived with right side of the keyboard a little loose when i slid it out, third one is a rock, i love it.
What sucks though......Cingular doesnt offer INSURANCE for this phone.
Any ideas on that?/
danrw84 said:
8125 is solid. i like it a lot. no problems with the stylus.
although my first one arrived with a dead pixel, and the second arrived with right side of the keyboard a little loose when i slid it out, third one is a rock, i love it.
What sucks though......Cingular doesnt offer INSURANCE for this phone.
Any ideas on that?/
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Insurance? You do not mean warranty do you?
If you mean insurance, is an unknown issue in Greece
I got insurance on mine. It's not possible to rebuy the O2 XDA if you lose it/break it etc because it's so expensive, so £5 a month seemed like a good piece of mind.
On that topic, anyone recommend any decent screen protectors?
3M is one of the most decent I guess, browse ebay, you'll see lots Got my 3M its 3 months old now, excellent
gepol said:
I know there are many versions out there. I have the QTEK 9100, and I can safely say that it's quality is below average, in terms of hardware.
Problems with the housing/paint, problems with the stylus, problems with the microphone and speaker quality.
I would like to know what other people think, and if other Wizards are better in terms of qulity.
regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dropped my MDA Vario twice on a stone floor while using the device. Just some scratches. I thinks it's build quality is just fine. The paint comes off quite easily, I agree. But so did the paint on my good ol' Sony T610 and Palm Tungsten|T. THe speaker sounds a little flat, but hey, what do you expect from a simple piezo speaker in a small housing?
The stylus though is a real pain in the butt... I managed to demolish two of them, and have already ordered an new pack o' three styli, for a miserable 23 euro's...
Valcon said:
gepol said:
I know there are many versions out there. I have the QTEK 9100, and I can safely say that it's quality is below average, in terms of hardware.
Problems with the housing/paint, problems with the stylus, problems with the microphone and speaker quality.
I would like to know what other people think, and if other Wizards are better in terms of qulity.
regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dropped my MDA Vario twice on a stone floor while using the device. Just some scratches. I thinks it's build quality is just fine. The paint comes off quite easily, I agree. But so did the paint on my good ol' Sony T610 and Palm Tungsten|T. THe speaker sounds a little flat, but hey, what do you expect from a simple piezo speaker in a small housing?
The stylus though is a real pain in the butt... I managed to demolish two of them, and have already ordered an new pack o' three styli, for a miserable 23 euro's...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The stylus is a warranty issue, don't you think?
I know there are many versions out there. I have the QTEK 9100, and I can safely say that it's quality is below average, in terms of hardware.
Problems with the housing/paint, problems with the stylus, problems with the microphone and speaker quality.
I would like to know what other people think, and if other Wizards are better in terms of qulity.
regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Qtek 9100 and I've got to say the build quality is really, surprisingly high. Much better than my previous O2 XDA2s (Blue Angel) which suffered from failing hardware buttons, paint chips and countless other problems.
Being a student I'm not the most careful user. My Wizard spends it's life getting bashed around in my jeans pocket (usually when I walk into things at work). I also drop it...I mean a lot. Really, if there was a society for the prevention of cruelty to these things I'd be serving a prison sentence right now. Despite this it doesn't have a single fault, even the stylus is still tight!
I realise quite a few people have had problems with Wizards from all of the manufactures which leads me to believe it's the same problem that all these devices seem to suffer from. The problem isn't so much bad build quality, it's just inconsistent build quality. When your paying that much for a device, it really isn't good enough to be taking a gamble like that.
Lewis
Well, what can I say, I am driven to believe that there must different production lines.
Mine is cared extremely, not a single drop. I am not a frequent user of the stylus, and yet.....it's already loose and won't stay inside without tape.
Who knows.... :roll:
gepol said:
The stylus is a warranty issue, don't you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm the one who dropped the Vario whilst trying to put the stylus into the holder. Half-way down the device slipped out of my hand, concequently beheading the stylus on slamming into the brick floor...
I don't think that's a warranty issue, but a clear case of stupidity
The Vario survived with a mere scratch, though 8)
Valcon said:
gepol said:
The stylus is a warranty issue, don't you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm the one who dropped the Vario whilst trying to put the stylus into the holder. Half-way down the device slipped out of my hand, concequently beheading the stylus on slamming into the brick floor...
I don't think that's a warranty issue, but a clear case of stupidity
The Vario survived with a mere scratch, though 8)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mean the broken clip inside the phone, not if you through it on the wall
My device doesn't suffer from an broken clip inside.
Valcon said:
My device doesn't suffer from an broken clip inside.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand that, I am asking the ones that it is broken
Iwan to switch to the T Mobile MDA VArio II, T-mbile offer no cost calls to Europe and the USA on a business 1 Tarrif. It's killer...
But
I love the Universal, though I find it BIG....would you switch??
Is the screen less good on the Tytn than the Univ.??
Yes I would.... Infact I did
Vario II is smaller n sweeter.
It fits in my pocket without weighing me down.
Keyboard although not as good as universal is great!
Screen well its small but no universal...
calls, wow I actually get to pick them up rather than waiting for the universal to realise I had pressed the green buton
GO FOR IT!!!
well.... I still have my trusty and big Dopod 900 !!!
It's one of a kind...
also got o2 trion... as regular..
My uni supposed to be my backup .. but my trion is on repair for screen alignmnet..
I prefer the clamshell design, even though it definitely is bigger. So, I prefer to wait for the second version of the Universal.
I would have shifted for its smaller size and almost the same functions as the Uni except the VGA screen. But with the current screen allignment issue would never even think of. With so many units being returned to HTC for repairs I am sure they would not be destroying / discard them. Rather most likely the faulty units will be repaired refurbished and recycled to the market as new units. I would not like to spend my hard earned cash on a refurbished repaired unit.
I think the allignment issue has destroyed an otherwise excellent phone.
Regards
I actually....
Well in my opinion, Nothings beats the Universal. Best keyboard, 3.6" VGA screen and NORMAL SD card slot. Weight and size doesnt bother me at all. Rather I think it is great coz I get stares when taking out my Universal(s). It truly is the epitome of class and technology. I have 2 Universals and 1 TyTn. TyTn definitely needs improvements in the ROM department to address bugs and issues. I love the TyTn's Bluetooth and macro lens though!!!
I changed from my old faithful universal to current tytn. The good thing abt the tytn is being light and small.. Handsome good looks too. But og course the tytn is pretty advanced in features than the universal other than VGA screen but having a VGA screen slows down the universal and hurts it badly, now the tytn performs anything in a breeze in stock settings with a number of programs installed.. No regrets at all since but miss the universal unique design..
I did the switch as well and I am not looing back. The Universal is a great device, but the lack of Quad Band GSM and Tri Band UMTS made me switch. I do miss the the Big VGA screen.
The TyTN is faster, longer battery, smaller, easy to carry, good camera, much better reception compare to the Universal, and Tri Band UMTS. Surfing the web has never been so sweet in the US with a Pocket PC.
I am sure the next version of the Unviersal will have all this plus more and I am certain most of us (including myself) will jump on the it then. I believe that might be a good 18 months away and I could not way that long.
Hey,
I am confused by the number of choices I have of purchasing HTC devices (of course this is a good thing ). I currently have HTC Magician and am looking to upgrade to a newer device. My question is mainly for people who have owned Magician.
How does Hermes compare with Magician as a phone? How is the reception? How is the in call audio quality? Can the person on the other end hear you? This is important for me as this will be my primary phone.
Is weight/size difference noticeable?
Thanks for your help!
at this moment, i think hermes the best phone ever i had. i'm previous owner of magician. with all the improvement features from magician, it also has more features that magician.
I upgraded from the Magician to the Hermes (Vario II) a month ago - and it cost me since my old contract still had time to run.
The Magician is a decent PDA/phone and it convinced me that a combined phone/PDA was the way to go for me. But it was limited (slow, no 3G, no wi-fi, no keyboard etc.) so I decided to upgrade.
As a phone, the two devices are virtually identical. There is no real difference. Both are fine as phones. I've had no problems whatsoever making or receiving calls on the Hermes (or the Magician). But as a PDA/communication device, there is no comparison. The Hermes blows the Magician out of the water.
The form-factors are similar. The Hermes is slightly thicker (thanks to the real keyboard) and slightly heavier (same reason - plus the extra features) but I store both in their cases on my belt and I don't notice any difference.
The Hermes is a next-generation mobile device. There is no comparison with previous models.
The Cingular 8525 I just got has better voice quality for both sending and receiving than my previous Motorola V551 and v557 phones. It is also better at picking up the signal when it is weak and holding onto it.
Agreed. As a phone, the Hermes has superb sound quality, and the speakerphone is top notch!
One thing I have noted though is that the loudspeaker is very loud - a little 'too' loud for me, I wish that sometimes I could turn it down just another couple of notches, especially when using it for handsfree. It always distorts a bit, and that really bugs me.
I'm sure there's something that could be done about that in software, as the in-call volume slider seems to do little if anything at all...
The Hermes blows my last phone (the Alpine) out the water though. Hardware keyboard, slinkier form factor, WM5, all those lovely features - granted I have had problems with mine but I think that was due to it being one of those problematic early model revisions. I had a herm634, my replacement (which I got today) is a new herm643, so hopefully all should be solved now!
One bugbear: no 3.5mm headphone socket. Whyyyyy do I have to use the glorified mini-USB connector headphones (which incidentally are SHOCKING)?! Granted I know I could get some good quality in-ear headphones, do a bit of soldering and homebrew my own headset, but I really can't be bothered.
Hermes is a great phone, slightly too chunky though, but perfectly reasonable for what it does.
I miss my Magician, and frankly would be quite happy with it still, but the keyboard on the Hermes has grown on me. Of the HTC phones on the market right now, it's perhaps the best (Herald might be attractive, Trinity and Artemis have CPU issues I guess, and lack keyboard)...
I also had the problem with the speakerphone being too loud, had to return it. Watch for manfacturing issues - I had a dodgy scroll wheel (sometimes scrolls the wrong way for one click), speakerphone, and there used to be touch screen issues. These have probably all been corrected in manufacturing now, but check...
A great phone. But do check out the new Etens.
V
Not sum of its parts..
I came from Treo 650, as it died and I needed a new PDA/phone. I like the Hermes, but from a comparison point of view I am on the fence.
I like the WM5, better than PalmOS. I like Hermes' speed of operation and its networking capabilities/speed better. But Hermes' accessibility (one-hand dialing, contacts, etc) is nowhere near Treo650/PalmOS. If it wasn't for voice dialing, Hermes would have been returned long ago.
As a phone, I also think Treo 650 is stronger. I had better call hold times with Treo. With Hermes, I think the earpiece volume is low, and I experience fequent call drops, which I didn't have with the Treo. I tried fixing the mode on GSM or on UMTS, but I didn't feel a difference. I also tried at least 4 different ROMs and radio-only ROMs. I am now on the latest HTC ROM (with Cingular in NC USA), using the same SIM card as my Treo had, and I have call drops at least two times out of ~ 10 calls a day.
As a package, however, Hermes is better than Treo 650. Slide-out keyboard alone, is enough for me to live with the other shortcomings.
I also came from the 650.
I was never happy with the reception.
And I needed VC just to get the volume up to a decent level.
Even with the latest Rom Update, it still wasn't as good as my wifes cheap moto 180.
I am even more disappointed with the 650's reception now that I have the 8525.
The 8525 is the best phone I have ever owned. I may even pass on the 750.
Oh, and my speakerphone is too loud also.
I know how you feel about the magician vijay555. Its a terrific phone and wm2003se works so much better than wm2005 imo. BUT the hermes is better, everything I liked about the magician I also like about the hermes, it seems to run a lot faster than the atom and the 3g is very fast (when covered). For me the only thing that could make my dopod better is if it was double the size and vga. I like big screens and it would be more usable for internet browsing or reading.
HTC done good!
I've been thoroughly impressed by the quality of my Cingular 8525 as a phone. Better signal acquisition especially inside buildings where I previously could find no reception, calls are (to my ear) clearer, and the mic is quite sensitive. My speakerphone is too loud in a non-noisy environment and the volume controls are somewhat coarse, but overall, it's a better phone than my old Nokia.
mdf
Also have to mention that the protection for the loudspeaker is much better than on the Alpine - on the Alpine, it's very flimsy: the cover, held in by what appear to be two prongs, can be easily dislodged if you bash or push it, and then it rattles against the speaker all the time. Without totally removing the case and pushing it back in from behind (because that's how it's fitted), or even better glueing it in place, it becomes REALLY ANNOYINg and it makes telephone conversations nigh impossible to understand unless you have it turned up full volume.
Now I have my Hermes, I might take apart the Alpine (I was afraid to while I was still using it as a phone in case I broke it) and try to fix it. Believe me, don't carry one of those around in your pocket for a year (like I did) without some kind of case for it! I feel much safer with having the Hermes in my pocket, though: the screen is recessed more, the speaker is fully protected (just a tiny slot through which you use it to listen, and the actual handsfree loudspeaker is on the back of the device), and it fits in your pocket better (not as wide, a little thicker but meh, works for me). It also doesn't slip out of my hand nearly ALL THE TIME like my Alpine did, particularly when i was using it drunk
christopherwoods said:
It also doesn't slip out of my hand nearly ALL THE TIME like my Alpine did, particularly when i was using it drunk
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Click to collapse
And didn't you notice that the screen alignment problem miraculously disappeared when you were drunk and it was the chicks that slipped out of your hand. A sad and lonely guy, tapping away in a dark corner, pissed but happily grinning with a Hermes in hand and drool puddling on the beer soaked lino of a dingy Brummy dive. The joint went silent, the seedy creatures of the night; painted drugged up waifs eye the guy with the TyTn and you know they're yours cos you're an XDA developer and quicker than they can ask....got the time mister?, you'd done it again but hard this time yep soft was good but as resets go this was a hard moment. The scene ends as Hermes bursts in a climatic, tinny rendering of "Baile la bamba, baile la bamba" as boyo's girl phones to see if he's been arrested for flashing his ROM again.
The very definition of happiness!!
aarman said:
..using the same SIM card as my Treo had, and I have call drops at least two times out of ~ 10 calls a day.
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Click to collapse
It may be worth your while to try one of the new USIMs that Cingular offers with the 8525/3G phones.