Database Users

Lost JasJar, help me decide whether to replace

Yep, I've done it AGAIN - left the bloody thing on a plane!
Despite being a pretty fair contributor to the early days of solving this newborn's issues, I'm somewhat undecided as to whether it's worth replacing. Hope u don't mind me bouncing my thoughts off you, while I debate degrading to a JAM or PDA2 - I'm pretty sure that my cynicism will be refuted more strongly here than anywhere else:
Downside of JasJar:
Big n bulky meant that I kept on putting it down - and losing it! And if one more cheeky bastard commented on my retro brick...
I pretty much stopped reading eBooks. Read 120 in 1 year on the PDA2 and raved about it, but on the JJ it was tough to hold in bed, and the buttons were too small to page down easily. I just faded on that which is rather sad.
Hinge was definitely working loose. A post I've made covers tightening it up by bending the plate, but I'm not sure where the end game of this falls...
In SA, it's way expensive (given that I lose them every 3 months). However, I'm going to the UK end January, perhaps I can get a cheap one and unlock it? Or is it not cheap given the contract? I think I can use UK addresses and banking details to get a contract, or do they require more than that? Thoughts anyone?
Software: So few games work well! And we still havn't solved the GPRS/3G traffic counting issue
Battery: Daily charging was indeed a ball-ache.
Radio quality: Hell this sucked! Now that I'm using an old Nokia, I'm trully understanding how bad all iMate radio stacks are! And BT gave so much trouble that I wondered if it was better without; crackling, echo, etc etc despite testing 3 top-end BT headsets. Still, the JAM is not that much better.
Stability: Let's face it, despite all our work to free up memory, close apps, run lean-n-mean, the damned thing was still dicky. You had to reset every few days at best, how many times did you look at the screen and see that the call you made 25 minutes ago was still in progress (Hell, what have I just been saying about the dickhead I was chatting to??), and altho I was a storng advicate of it being usable with a little effort, the truth is was that it was never as fast as the PDA2
Upside of JasJar
IIWPO likely to stay in memory. However, JAM allows for ROM hacking to secure this, and my JasJar hasn't phoned home in 3 days. I'm now figuring out that the issue is not whether thieves have the ability to hard reset, but rather whether they are intelligent enough to track down a charger for this new device - I think not!
Persistent storage: But in truth I was better off backing up the PDA2 as at least I could recover when it was lost. Now it's gone, all I have is my Outlook backup - no eWallet, no notes, no s.sht that I spent so long working on to justify my SL55 to the wife (and I was oh-so-close to succeeding...)!
3G! Yep, that was AWESOME. I used mine as a modem frequently, and with data rates in SA being so low, it was a truly workable alternative. However, I didn;t really use it for browsing (IE browser renders SO slowly with bad bad caching), and for email I only d/l headers which can be done on a JAM's GPRS. So, why not a JAM with an EDGE or 3G PCMCIA laptop card?
Keyboard! Loved it! But in truth I didn;t use it as much as I expected. The occasional email where I could nto wait to get back to my laptop, and quite frankly if I'm that desperate, why not use SBP Full Screen keyboard?
VGA: LOVED my slick WAD desktop with oh-so-glossy pic of my CLK55, but in truth I was the only one who ever looked at it and I get to see the real thing every day anyway! VGA browsing via Oz was kewl, but browsing was slow. Terminal Services was AWESOME, and I think that's probably my main concern. Loved getting into my eMule server and seeing how it was doing - or grabbing an eBook within 5 mins of being told about it!
Media player in VGA: Yeah, I liked that. But in truth the PDA2 was more stable for running mp3 playing apps, so it's pretty video vs mp3 - in truth the mp3 got used more - tho neither were used all that much.
Landscape: Naah - this was never a useful thing for me.
Hmm, as you can see I've pretty much convinced myself that it's back to to a JAM or PDA2...anyone able to pull me back from the retro abyss?
PS: There was a post where ppl covred what they were using their JJ for and why it was a worthwhile upgrade. Can't find it now - anyone mind giving me a string to search on?

I have put in some comments below, hih!
Downside of JasJar:
Big n bulky meant that I kept on putting it down - and losing it! And if one more cheeky bastard commented on my retro brick...
---Little difference between this and the PDA2K in size
I pretty much stopped reading eBooks. Read 120 in 1 year on the PDA2 and raved about it, but on the JJ it was tough to hold in bed, and the buttons were too small to page down easily. I just faded on that which is rather sad.
---I have read at the same rate since going from other PDA's to Universal, but I do it in landscape.
Hinge was definitely working loose. A post I've made covers tightening it up by bending the plate, but I'm not sure where the end game of this falls...
---Yeah, the jury's out on this one
In SA, it's way expensive (given that I lose them every 3 months). However, I'm going to the UK end January, perhaps I can get a cheap one and unlock it? Or is it not cheap given the contract? I think I can use UK addresses and banking details to get a contract, or do they require more than that? Thoughts anyone?
Software: So few games work well! And we still havn't solved the GPRS/3G traffic counting issue
---spb GPRS monitor?
Battery: Daily charging was indeed a ball-ache.
---Switch off 3G
Radio quality: Hell this sucked! Now that I'm using an old Nokia, I'm trully understanding how bad all iMate radio stacks are! And BT gave so much trouble that I wondered if it was better without; crackling, echo, etc etc despite testing 3 top-end BT headsets. Still, the JAM is not that much better.
---It's a tradeoff I guess for all the extra tech inside
Stability: Let's face it, despite all our work to free up memory, close apps, run lean-n-mean, the damned thing was still dicky. You had to reset every few days at best, how many times did you look at the screen and see that the call you made 25 minutes ago was still in progress (Hell, what have I just been saying about the dickhead I was chatting to??), and altho I was a storng advicate of it being usable with a little effort, the truth is was that it was never as fast as the PDA2
---Not as quick to the eye, but also seems to be ok in real use. I get about one reset a week at the moment with my minimal install
Upside of JasJar
IIWPO likely to stay in memory. However, JAM allows for ROM hacking to secure this, and my JasJar hasn't phoned home in 3 days. I'm now figuring out that the issue is not whether thieves have the ability to hard reset, but rather whether they are intelligent enough to track down a charger for this new device - I think not!
---Tea leaves only need a mini-USB lead to charge it. Now as they are likely to be on crack I guess they sold their computers already. Might take some time to have it phone home. You can inactivate the device to all through the IMEI number
Persistent storage: But in truth I was better off backing up the PDA2 as at least I could recover when it was lost. Now it's gone, all I have is my Outlook backup - no eWallet, no notes, no s.sht that I spent so long working on to justify my SL55 to the wife (and I was oh-so-close to succeeding...)!
3G! Yep, that was AWESOME. I used mine as a modem frequently, and with data rates in SA being so low, it was a truly workable alternative. However, I didn;t really use it for browsing (IE browser renders SO slowly with bad bad caching), and for email I only d/l headers which can be done on a JAM's GPRS. So, why not a JAM with an EDGE or 3G PCMCIA laptop card?
Keyboard! Loved it! But in truth I didn;t use it as much as I expected. The occasional email where I could nto wait to get back to my laptop, and quite frankly if I'm that desperate, why not use SBP Full Screen keyboard?
---Learn to love landscape. I don't use portrait ever these days.
VGA: LOVED my slick WAD desktop with oh-so-glossy pic of my CLK55, but in truth I was the only one who ever looked at it and I get to see the real thing every day anyway! VGA browsing via Oz was kewl, but browsing was slow. Terminal Services was AWESOME, and I think that's probably my main concern. Loved getting into my eMule server and seeing how it was doing - or grabbing an eBook within 5 mins of being told about it!
Media player in VGA: Yeah, I liked that. But in truth the PDA2 was more stable for running mp3 playing apps, so it's pretty video vs mp3 - in truth the mp3 got used more - tho neither were used all that much.
---PDA2K has a 'pop' on MP3 playback - the reason I couldn't stick with it.
Landscape: Naah - this was never a useful thing for me.
---Learn to love it.

here's the other topic
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=35069&highlight=

iiwpo
I have a universal (qtek 9000) with the latest o2 rom. I have read that iiwpo works on the universal, but have not been able to do it. I edited the cab file exactly as per the instructions. The guide then says to edit the config.txt file from the rom. I opened it in text editor, but there is no reference to '
5. just before the line
EXEC:\Extended_ROM\TPEnable.exe
insert a new line (provided the name of the CAB is "IIWPO.CAB")
CAB: \Extended_ROM\IIWPO.CAB
My config.txt file contains no such line 'tpenable.exe'
I tried the other method described in the forum by just putting the iiwpo.cab file in 'my documents' and executing it. It installed itself into windows and the windows startup folder. Changing the owner name and resetting does nothing. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

I'd add your Q to the IIWPO thread in here as this is OT to this thread.

Thank You.

craigiecraigie4
maybe you might want to wait for new models that will be launch this year? Perhaps there will be more better models launching soon like this loox T800 model ? IMHO.
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...or try the K-Jam in the meantime:-
Smaller, more convenient, more responsive, more buttons, better radio, much better battery, more stable, better bluetooth, more free memory.
If you don't need the VGA screen, the bigger keyboard and 3G, you can do more or less do everything you did on the JasJar on the K-Jam, and much of it works better - especially as a phone, despite the price.

Let me put it this way:
"If you don't need the VGA screen, the bigger keyboard and 3G, you can do more or less do everything you did on the JasJar"
You can do it in any other htc device since the himalaya.

ncruz said:
Let me put it this way:
"If you don't need the VGA screen, the bigger keyboard and 3G, you can do more or less do everything you did on the JasJar".
You can do it in any other htc device since the himalaya.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read it again. I said need "the bigger keyboard", not "a keyboard". Last time I looked, the only HTC devices that have keyboards are the Blue Angel (which he used to have), Universal (which he lost) and the Wizard. Unless you include the Treo and the Ipaq Messenger of course

Serious Post! Should i keep my JasJar or Sell it ?!?!

Okay guys, this is serious. I'm impressed by my JasJar but i'm not sure it does anything more that i actually need it for than my Imate Jam. As far as I can see there are some good points and some bad points about it and i wouldn't mind some opinons about whether its worth keeping or selling.
Okay my first view on the plus sides:
Screen is excellent quality
Wifi is very fast and much faster than the wifi sd card i have at the moment.
Keyboard is useful combined (but not as big as the fold out one i have for my imate)
Negative Sides:
3g doesn't seem to work in my area so i can't seem to benefit from that
Size is big (i would need a second phone to go out with etc)
Can't see much difference in speed with my level of usage
Pain in the ass to anwser it (imate jam is not a big phone at all)
Software is still a bugger to install etc.
Okay, my mine uses for the jasjar were to be for work. I would be booking appts and keeping track of those appointments and information regarding them on the pda for my work. Although harder to type in, i could in theroy do that on the imate jam. I don't use the wifi alot outside of the home (although it would be useful to use mirc, the web etc while girlfriend is on the pc).
At the moment i'm umming and ahhing because i have to take the phone with me everywhere (actually considering using the jasjar sim free while i'm off work and putting the imate jam back on the road as it were)
REALLY appreciate anyones help to this, its good but i'm not sure if its enough of a step for me to merit not selling it and getting ALOT of money for it (brought as upgrade through o2)
Look forward to the replys
Ian

I'm gonna tell you what I tell other people:
If you don't know what to do with a jasjar then buy the wizard.
The wizard size is as good as big as the jam, has wifi, keyboard and is in those ways much better then the jam.
The reason I need the pro is because I love the vga screen, keyboard and WM5, and I can give support to my customers through logmein.com using 3G.
So sell your jasjar and jam and go buy a wizard.

thanks for the quick response. I'm not sure that I would want a wizard really. I do think that I need to use the exec in a work situation before really considering getting rid of it.
That logmein.com looks rather cool, would like to be able to control my home pc while at work to setup downloads etc. the screen on this is rather special and i'm not against getting a second handset to use for going out etc.
would like to hear anyone elses views if possible.
just to point out to you and myself really i'm lying in bed writing this on the forum with real ease via wifi. hmmmmm another pro to the exec I think!
Ian

thanks for the quick response. I'm not sure that I would want a wizard really. I do think that I need to use the exec in a work situation before really considering getting rid of it.
That logmein.com looks rather cool, would like to be able to control my home pc while at work to setup downloads etc. the screen on this is rather special and i'm not against getting a second handset to use for going out etc.
would like to hear anyone elses views if possible.
just to point out to you and myself really i'm lying in bed writing this on the forum with real ease via wifi. hmmmmm another pro to the exec I think!
Ian

I've tried both, and apologies for readers of this forum, but the Wizard wins hands down. The Universal reminds me of why I ditched the first Ipaqs and went back to Palm years ago. Sure the Pocket PCs had better displays and you could show off playing movie clips, but that novelty soon waned when it was too big to carry and it took ages to lookup a phone number or check your diary.
You've got to weigh up what you _really_ need when you're away from your PC. The whole point to me of having a PDA is that I can access or update my information quickly at all times. The Ipaq seemd to be always at home or in my desk drawer just when I needed it, because it was a pain to carry. Even when I had it, it was sluggish finding the information I needed. The Palms won over because they went with me everywhere, and information retrieval was almost instant.
So, the Universal is a step back to the bad old days - except it's bigger and heavier. Good to show off with but impractical in most situations outside of the work environment because of its bulk.
Don't be fooled by the CPU either. Whatever advantage the Universal has on paper over the Wizard is sapped in real life by the need to update the VGA display. True, the Wizard is no speed merchant (even when compared to a Treo). But I found responsiveness to critical tasks (e.g. starting up Messaging to read/send a text, screen rotation, answering calls) significantly slower on the Universal - and that _really_ starts to annoy when you're in a rush.
So, everything I did with the Universal I can pretty much do on the Wizard, with the big difference that I can take it anywhere. Anyhing else can wait until I'm back at my PC. What's more, I can actually see who's calling and answer a phone call before it drops or diverts to voicemail
And don't forget the resale value. Given the trend of HTC Wizard / Prophet / Atom devices, the longer you hold onto the huge Universal the less saleable it's going to be. Sure, it fills a niche at the moment, but in 12 month's time, is a 1st generation device that big going to have anything but collectors' appeal?
So, unless you only use the Universal in the home and office, the larger keyboard and VGA display are"must haves", and you don't mind missing the odd phone call, then I would say the Wizard was the better bet.
If you really need a VGA display, a keyboard, and top performance, go for a proper PDA like the Dell X51v, a bluetooth keyboard and a seperate cellphone - it'll probably be cheaper, more flexible and easier to carry. And each element will work much better at what it is designed to do.

@Ineedtoys, what a refreshing and objective view on the subject. Having owned a Treo 650 and Clie TH55 I know what you're talking about. In the real world stability, size of device and battery life are still the key requirements and showing your latest toy to friends/work colleagues etc is nice but for most people is not a sufficient reason for buying a device. You either buy a device to meet a personal requirement or buy a device so that you can play with it "like a toy". Decide if you want a real tool or a "toy" first and then you'll be happy with your decision.
My view is that the Universal is not really a cell phone, it is an advanced PDA/mini tablet and you need to use it with another cell phone. The story for the Wizard may be different.

At first I always open the screen and rotated it to see who is calling me, and pick up the phone. Just like my old xda has it's screen outside.
But this take way to long, and most of the time the caller hung up before it was ready to rotate the screen and is able to pick up the call..
Now I just open the lid to see who it is. then close it again and pick up with the side green phone button leaving the pro closed.
If you use it this way i'ts perfect.
At first I had to get used of the size but now I am used to it.
People sometimes think: what the hell is that big thing?
But when I op the "laptop" and rotate it's screen and show the phone it's the coolest thing they've seen .

very interesting reading
Ihave a Universal (o2) for a week now, and am SERIOUSLY thinking of returning it for something else,
I like the Mini s (Wizard) too, but one subject that I believe is left aside is the battery life : with the Universal that I have tested for over a week if I did use the Wifi like 2 hours and a bit of BT and phone, then its battery would be gone by 5pm (starting at 9am !) quite a shame.
My point is : do these devices need to be pluged to the AC anytime we want to use to use the connexions, in that case I can stick with my laptop if need to be wired.
Or is it ony the Universal that is amazingly sucking the battery like no other ?
I appreciate your help as I have to decide if I send it back before friday ! ;-)

Re: very interesting reading
I presume you tried turning the screen brightness and WiFi power right down, and IR beaming off? The Wizard will definately give you longer as it doesn't have the battery sucking screen and has the low power OMAP processor.

The battery life in the Universal seems to get conditioned after a couple of weeks and does improve, but you don't have enough time to wait for that!

already better after 8 days
in fact I have noticed that it is getting better after a week (the battery),
but it's only because I now used the wifi only when I know I have a power nearby and I disable all connexion when I have it in my pocket, same for the brightness etc...
still.. the second point to change it is definately the size : I already have a tablet-pc to play with, so that will do it for now.
Back soon on this forum with the Wizard. :lol:

ill take your universal for my wizard

Universal vs. Wizard Round II

I've had a Wizard for a while, and thanks to O2's recent bargain offer, I've now got a Universal too. Over the past week I've had a good chance to live with them side by side. I've defended the Wizard in the past against the "it's only 200MHz" soothsayers, saying that with my previous comparison with a Universal, not only was it not slower, it actually felt more responsive.
Well now I lived exclusively with the Universal for a week, to get fully accustomed to its pace and foibles. I've just retrieved my Wizard from the drawer, and boy, I'm amazed at how snappy it really is in comparison!
Every program I open on the Wizard finishes loading before the Universal - Start, Media Player, TCMP, SplashID, Execl, Word. Even keeping apps in memory, and switching between them, is quicker (e.g. Open Messaging, red button back to Today. Open to Messaging (still shown in memory on the task bar) = half a second on Universal, almost instantaneous on Wizard). Both had a soft reset before starting, and have the same number of apps running, and similar PIM database sizes. The Universal is using a Corporate install. The only application that I can find that loads quicker on the Universal (by some margin in fact) is the Camera. Presumably this is because it has been significantly re-written and optimised to cope with the twin cameras and 3g videocalling.
Now I'm not disputing that the keyboard and screen, and the sleek black lines, are gorgeous on O2 Exec. Or that it has 3G, if you use it. Or has minor attractions like standard SD and a 3.5mm jack socket (like they're such a big deal). But I've got to be honest that I'm struggling to find anything else as to why it justifies its price. I appreciate it's more like a mini-laptop, but seriously, apart from providing VGA and the "luxury touch", the Wizard does so many things better!
E.g.
Much smaller
Much lighter
Phone rings first time - and every time
Phone speech path connects immediately on answer
No "Phone acrobatics" to see who's calling
No crashes on incoming SMS
Better Bluetooth range and quality to headset
Excellent one handed usablity
Has 5 more mappable direct access buttons (2x Soft, Messaging, Explorer, Comms Manager)
Doesn't make me look a total d*ck in the street (or even the office canteen) (no more than normal, anyway :lol: )
Better battery life
More available memory
No screen lockups
Faster application loading
Faster application switching
Faster menu responses
I was convinced that once I'd got a Universal with the latest ROM, and removed all the O2 bloat, all those saying the Universal was much faster and quoting benchmark after benchmark would be proved right. But unless you're doing some serious multitasking or gaming, the reverse is true. Even QVGA movies in TCMP aren't that much smoother.
I guess the Universal is the old man's Jaguar of PDAs plodding steadily way. Big, heavy, thirsty, but as comfy as your favourite leather sofa, and built to last. But the cheeky little Wizard is far more street, practical, nippy, and easy to park, even if the flimsy doors go "clink" instead of "clunk"
I still haven't decided which goes on eBay though. Trouble is I like both, in their own way (I like big, comfy cars too). It's just a shame the Universal UI lags so much. It does spoil the whole experience when you know what its little upstart of a brother can do.
Now I know there are others out there who have both devices, especially since the O2 deal. Is my experience typical, or am I doing something drastically wrong?

I am also lucky that I have been able to obtain an Exec and then due to the fantastic offer O2 have had in January I also picked up a Wizard.
And a lot of what you say is quite correct. The Wizard has amazed me at the speed at which it does things and the general overall feel of using it. Even the keyboard (the one area I was suspicous of) has proven to be very good.
The Exec suffers from having a VGA screen. That is what is causing a lot of the lags I expect. For users who have moved on to the Exec from previous Windows Mobile / PocketPC devices, especially VGA ones, this is so not much of a surprise. Before I got the Exec I moved from a QVGA based HP 2210 PocketPC to a VGA based HP hx4705. The slow down on the device was quite something for screen redrawing etc and was widely commented on by users on sites such as PocketPCThoughts. I think that is why you / we are seeing the Wizard act so much more smoother than the Exec, simply due to the machine having less detail to move on the screen so things happen much quicker.
But for me the upgrade to the Exec was a Windows Mobile upgrade - I wanted a new PocketPC based device that was fully connected. I doubt I will ever use it for calls and for that reason I have it on a data only tariff.
The Wizard was only bought due to the price I could get it for and is now my main phone.
I love both devices for very different reasons. I also got them for very different reasons. When I need full connectivity with emails etc. I will carry both - yes the Wizard can do both but the Exec is better for tapping out documents on the road, has a better screen that is easier on the eye. But when I want to carry only one device and travel light the Wizard will always win.

Thanks acetuk, at least I know the Exec's working as it should. I'm not anti-Exec, I have had several situations this week where the Exec won hands down - typing up meeting minutes while I remember what's been said, doing an urgent document review with a colleague (although he did have to squint a little), and checking these forums over WiFi at home So it does come into its own as a business tool, which is how it is marketed after all.
And if you're using the data package in anger then the equation does swing a bit the other way - although the data 5 is a very expensive way of doing it!
I just thought it was interesting to see how well the Wizard performs in hindsight - and how marked the speed difference was on the Wizard, once I'd been using the Exec for an extended period. I knew the screen slowed it down, but I was still expecting some turn of speed given the 524MHz CPU and previous comments by people saying how it really was much faster. But I saw the spinning disc this far more this week than I ever did with the Wizard - and had to reboot more frequently as well.
It also proves how irrelevant to real life reviews and adverts based on "benchmarks" and CPU clock speeds, really are, and that anyone who treats those as gospel is going to be sorely disappointed. :lol:

I fully agree - I started skipping benchmarks about three years ago. If I see them in a review I go straight pass them.
In the real world the device is as good as you can make it work for you. If a device doesn't cover your basics then so be it but that doesn't make a device bad. My Exec is slower than my hx4705 for loading PlanMaker and for general feel. But it is so much quicker for data entry. So what I lose in load time I gain in usability. So I win overall as far as I am concerned, regardless of any benchmarks stating overwise.
But the Wizard is an amazing piece of kit. Having PocketInformant running on both, syncing via a hosted exchange server, is a major productivity step forward for me. Pick up the device most useful for the moment, run a sync over wifi or GPRS and get to work. Today I updated all of my tasks and appointments on my Exec using it's excellent keyboard, sync'd to exchange, picked my Wizard up and sync'd again. In less than a minute both devices were fully up to date.
As for the data side of the Exec you are again quite correct. That is why I signed my Exec up for the Data36 tariff with O2 - that's 1mb a day with 5-6mb spare for when I need it. So far that is working very well for me combined with my wifi network at home. I'm paying for it but not too much at £18 / month approx but with no voice calls on top.
Now, if I can only understand better how to get two Windows Moibile devices, two PCs (one private, one work) and one exchange account syncing together better I will be happy!! That might need to go in to another post!

Again I have both thanks to O2 generosity but although I love my wizard for its size and the fact it can do anything the universal can do I would dispute the speed issue.
I find the universal to be the speedier of the two and the screen is amazing.
I love em both is the fact. Why compare them ? Just feel the love

knowsleyroader said:
I find the universal to be the speedier of the two and the screen is amazing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you quantify this? Are you saying the menus, program loading, application switching and screen refreshes are quicker on your Universal? I'd be intersted in finding out why that differs from the comparisons above. Unless your Wizard is slower than it should be, or you're not using an intelligent task manager?
By the way, my current view is that I will keep both, for maximum love

Ineedtoys said:
knowsleyroader said:
I find the universal to be the speedier of the two and the screen is amazing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you quantify this? Are you saying the menus, program loading, application switching and screen refreshes are quicker on your Universal? I'd be intersted in finding out why that differs from the comparisons above. Unless your Wizard is slower than it should be, or you're not using an intelligent task manager?
By the way, my current view is that I will keep both, for maximum love
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using a basic install on both with exactly the same apps and I do feel the universal is faster although I havent benchmarked this or even run them side by side. It just seems faster to me.
However I dont have an issue with either. Its not something im bothered about, just an observation. Im sure you will find others that thing the uni is faster.

Stability
Hi,
Before JasJar I own an IpaqHW6515. Generally JJ is much better that 6515 but using this device as unique device for communicate is not confortable as 6515 because:
1. battery life. my jj can't run for one complete day. With 280 grams devide, increasing of 20/30 grams using a much better battery would be appreciate.
2. BT: 6515 was much better in quality and range. and with a such big and havy device quality of BT would be a MUST because I don't know others but I try to use as much as possible handset because after a while with phone in my hand, I feel tired.
3. I need to soft reset few time a day. This because I start missing calls as device crash without reason while in standby.
4. I ALWAYS have problems (calling mainly) when I need something urgent. And I get crazy because I have to soft resent loosing precius minutes.
For this reasons, I confirm that JJ is best business device (i should not come back to 6515) but I've decided to buy a very light a small phone for make calls and use JJ only for Emails, web....
At least till a new rom will make stable the device.
Ciao
Stefano

Well, this bites. Not only is my JJ slow thanks to WM5, but also thanks to its big screen. I have gotten sick of my constant resents, and I've gone back to my WM2003 device. I feel eBay a callin' my name.

Morning all....
I dont wish to be a fish out of water here, but can i ask if anyone of you have flashed the rom and upgraded...??
I'm now running with the following :-
Rom ver.........1.13.82 WWE
Rom date.......11/30/05
Radio ver.......1.04.02
Protocol ver...1.13.188 WWE
Having had both the XDA II and the IIi, it sure seemed slower than both of them....then I flashed it !!
It is both faster and smoother than my previous XDA's, I haven't once had to soft reset yet....and my battery last more than a day :lol:
For those of you who haven't done so yet.... it's a must !!
http://www.my-xda.com/xdaexec_soft.html
The magman

it's true
The Magman,
I flashed my JJ to o2 ROM and in effect looks more stable faster. I've done during this quite week end and therefore I cannot say solved until I've tried JJ during a complete work week.
Ciao

I've had the XDA, XDA2, 2i and now the Exec - though I also had a play with a mate's Wizard whilst installing some software for him overnight a few weeks back.
I found the Wizard to be a lovely bit of kit, though I wouldn't necessarily say any faster (he had a basic install on, which is what I have on the Exec). The screen on the Exec is absolutely fantastic, the first times I noticed this was on opening the unit for the first time, and when I started whipping files to the Wizard via BT: there is absolutely no comparison between a QVGA and a VGA screen.
I think if the Exec hadn't arrived, then I would have gone for the Wizard, it's a good phone. However, I don't think I would find it easy from the 2i to Wizard, given the smaller screen and the somewhat cheapish keyboard.
Cheers
Ant

the magman said:
Morning all....
I dont wish to be a fish out of water here, but can i ask if anyone of you have flashed the rom and upgraded...??
I'm now running with the following :-
Rom ver.........1.13.82 WWE
Rom date.......11/30/05
Radio ver.......1.04.02
Protocol ver...1.13.188 WWE
Having had both the XDA II and the IIi, it sure seemed slower than both of them....then I flashed it !!
It is both faster and smoother than my previous XDA's, I haven't once had to soft reset yet....and my battery last more than a day :lol:
For those of you who haven't done so yet.... it's a must !!
http://www.my-xda.com/xdaexec_soft.html
The magman
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The O2 Exec came with the same versions as yours out of the box, so already using the latest.

Have been having too much fun with my mini s and exec so far to even think about flashing the roms

Xda Excalibur vs Hermes comparison

Just let you know my comparison of the two units after 5 days with the Xda Cosmo after having the Trion for the last 4 months. My Girlfriend brought me the Excalibur as a pre Christmas gift 8)
After 4 months my Trion main speaker stopped working and I have currently sent it back to get it replaced. All in all I was quite happy with the Trion except for a few quirks.
1. Media Player was buggy with the storage card
2. Never got WM5orage working properly (either had to stopo all my programs running on the storage card which included removing items from the Today screen).
3. Screen alignment problem.
I got the Hermes originally as it looked like a device which I didn't have to use the stylus much to access most of the functionality and in 90% of cases I got by with just using the jog wheel and a couple of presses with my thumb (I had the very first xda device and was turned off by the need to use the stylus to do simple things such as dialing and looking up contacts )
I had noticed due to the operating system PPC vs smartphone the PPC needed much more processing power and hence battery life was preety much limited due to the power from the CPU 400mhz vs 200mhz ( maybe of the extra functionality needed for the touchscreen ).
Differences in the devices
1. Xda Excalibur is more responsive even with the slower CPU. Contacts work instantly on typing on the keyboard. On the hermes there is always a delay in searching for contacts.
2. Excalibur supports multiple languages in its rom and therefore there no need to reflash the rom with the rom with your appropriate language.
3. A2DP works flawlessly on Excalibur being aku 3.2. No need to install cab files to get it working and no sound quality issues and no need to get somone to write a bt stack driver to get around the microsoft one.
4. Programs in general for smartphone seem to be running better than on Pocket PC. Tomtom 6 Navigator doesn't run on the Cosmo but Tomtom 5 work just fine and performance actually seems better on the smartphone even with the lower CPU. Same is notice with other PPC vs Smartphone progams I have eg Skype and Fizz Traveller
5. Cosmo has 128 MB flash ram which is really useful as I was always trying to install everything on the SD card with the Trion to get as much memory possible for standard stuff such as emails, ringtones etc. Yes I know you can tweak the Hermes to get ringtones from the SD card but it just a hassle changing the registry settings.
6. For some reason Windows Live Beta works on the Cosmo. It stopped working on the Hermes about a month ago and never worked since. The smartphone version looks really nice as well and functions much better as I have noticed with all smartphone vs ppc programs.
7. WLAN works much better on the Cosmo compared to the Hermes eg handling of connection settings when WLAN is turned on. On the Hermes I always had to go through the process of changing my connection settings every time I switched by WLAN on an off.
8. Battery life on cosmo is much better. 3.5-4 days use compared to 1.5-2 days use on Trion. Probably because of CPU (I also changed the Hermes to GPRS only to try and save battery life due to UMTS draining the battery)
9. Not to sing all praises for the Excalibur. The only drawback I have found so far for my purposes is the Microsoft Office editing functionality is not possible on the smartphone.
10. 2MP camera vs 1.3 MP camera but I really cannot see much advantage in the quality as the 2MP wasnt that great to start with. Yes the Hermes has a led light but I doesn't really help with indoor photos. The 1.3 MP camera seems to be better quality than other 1.3 MP cameras before and for emails, web photos and MMS quality seems fine for my purposes as I wont ever print out photos from a camera handy.
11. Lack to UMTS/HSDPA on Excalibur. Loose the speed but you'll gain heaps on battery life.
12. Microsoft Media Player works with the SD card. No disappearing songs 8)
13. Price. The excalibur is less than 1/6 the price of the Trion on contract. My Girlfriend brought the Cosmo on contact for 60 Euro. I got the Trion for 320 Euro on the same contact.
14. and I think this is the killer. The excalibur have looks to die for. The Hermes is thick and although many people would say it is solidly built after using the Excalibur it makes the Hermes look like a oversized flimsy machine. The Excalibur is thin and compact with a large screen. Fits in your shirt pocket or even slide it into your jeans!!! HTC have outdone themselves with the build quality I haven't seen any phone build as solid including the razr. I fells like the device is made out of titanium or magnesium with a soft feel rubber all along the back of the device and for the keys as well, ( I cat't stop touching the device it feels sooo.. good ). My Girlfriend who is really fashion concious absolutely loves the look of the device. Photos on the net do not do it justice you have to see it in real to appreciate it's looks for me one look and it was love at first sight. (I first got a look at it from a female collegue who got the phone)
It took me a day to get used to the smaller keyboard and maybe bigger thumbs might have some problems but with rubber keys feel beautiful and make each key feel distinct during typing. The excalibur really is a one hand device even with the d pad and keys only. The touch slider is just a added bonus with flexibility.
After writing this I have noticed that this is more of a sales pitch for the excalibur than a comparison of the two devices but I have found my perfect device which does everything I need without any problems ( performance, bugs and quirks ). If you dont need the UMTS speed I must say Excalibur is the way to go. If you really need UMTS and 2MP camera then wait for the Calivier ( the UMTS /2 MP / 300Mhz version of the excalibur, rumoured to release in Spring next year ).
For me the excalibur seems to have a quite launch compared to the expectations of the Hermes maybe because on paper the Hermes looks better in terms of specifications but for usability it's excalibur all the way.
Now what to do with my Trion when it gets back?

excalibur is a smartphone right ?

Yes it is a smartphone but I think that is why it is much more responsive. Microsoft has done something right with wm5 for smartphone. Theres not much a smartphone cant do now compared to the pocket pc now. except for the microsoft office editing capabilities. I tried skype today and for some reason it was much more clearer than the pocket pc version.

it depends what you use it for..
if youre like me who has to do Office work, watch movies and play tradewinds then the touch screen is VITAL.. personally i dont have any issues with my hermes as the ones youve mentioned above..
and ofcourse there is the touch screen

I just got myself a smartphone (samsung i607) after having the wizard for a year. I was thinkign the same thing you are about smartphone functionality. i was wrong though. There is an extreme lack of third party programs for smartphone. In particular, there aren't any good web browsers whatsoever for wm5smartphone. not a single one. You also cannot customize the homescreen without downloading predefined ones online. I never found one i liked. I like to use data instant messaging programs. and there is a flaw in all of them for smartphone. They don't have homescreen plugins and there is absolutely no onscreen display that you have received a message when the program is in the forgroud. In fact, i hated the lack of flexibility on the smartphone so much that 24 hours after buying the i607, i bought the hermes. I'm still waiting for it to come, and cant wait to start doing everything i used to do with the wizard only faster.

k2snowboards88 said:
I just got myself a smartphone (samsung i607) after having the wizard for a year. I was thinkign the same thing you are about smartphone functionality. i was wrong though. There is an extreme lack of third party programs for smartphone. In particular, there aren't any good web browsers whatsoever for wm5smartphone. not a single one. You also cannot customize the homescreen without downloading predefined ones online. I never found one i liked. I like to use data instant messaging programs. and there is a flaw in all of them for smartphone. They don't have homescreen plugins and there is absolutely no onscreen display that you have received a message when the program is in the forgroud. In fact, i hated the lack of flexibility on the smartphone so much that 24 hours after buying the i607, i bought the hermes. I'm still waiting for it to come, and cant wait to start doing everything i used to do with the wizard only faster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I Have both, S620 to work and TyTn for play, and I had Wizard.
Try opera mini... better than IE and I use it also on HERMES
I've found a LOT of home screens (motorola Q has many of it) but also I like to play with XML, using just notepad and I have now my PERFECT , tre pages (scrolling), Home screen!
Office problems? try the new DATAWIZ suite, much better than office embedded in TyTN
Great as navigator and fits in my jeans pocket (the BACK pocket) and in my shirt pocket!
I 've sold the wizard believing the HERMES was the empowered Wizard. It Is the STUPID WIZARD'S BIG BROTHER believe me!

I've tried opera mini, and i dont particularly like it. I consider it to be a step down from the standard PIE with the reg edit to make PIE identify itself as a desktop computer. I guess i just miss the adaptability of my wizard. My hermes will be here soon though. I'll never make the mistake of selling my old phone before getting a new one again. If i dont like the hermes, i'll still have my blackjack. After a week, i'll decide which one to keep.

Why I hate my Streak so much right now

OK , I used to love my streak, it was cool , unusual , it made a bold statement but over the last few months I've grow increasing frustrated with the device which has now reached boiling point. This include the following points:-
1)Damn Dell Streak PDMI connector, the connection on my phone is duff. Many a time I put the phone in my pocket and the connector has got debris stuck to it. The phone then refuses to connect up to my PC via USB I’ve used compressed air to blow the crap out of the port and this sometimes brings it back to life. However recently its given up the ghost, the port still charges up when connected but the phone does not recognized that its hooked up to the PC. My workaround has been to install dropbox to upload pics etc but there’s no way of me doing anything else. Also the pins on the connector are really flimsy.
I think that either the port or the cable pins are bent and thats why they are not joining up correctly.
2)Low on space message – Phone storage space is low. Somehow I’m using 1.6GB of phone space and only have about 140MB left? I’ve deleted all but the essential apps like whatsapp, google maps, swiftkey etc. Everything else has been moved to the SD card, all my videos and pics are on my SD card. I’ve even deleted all my sms messages but the bloody phone still complains about lack of space. WTF is taking up all the space, is there any way to find out, can I compress or remove the junk?
3)Battery life or the lack of it. Basically I cannot keep my phone running for a full day. I have to reduce the brightness so its barely readable outside, switch off gps and bluetooth. Throughout the day I change the battery like 3 times. One solution that I’ve tried and failed is getting a bulkier battery for ebay that also acts like a stand. The problem is that the hinges on the battery keep sliding off whenever I take the phone out my pocket. The stupid sensors detect that the phone cover has been removed and shut the phone off
4)Lastly I accidentally dropped my phone today, it only fell like 2 foot from the table onto the marble floor, the glass seems to be fine, but there’s inky liquid flowing across the top half of the screen, slowly black lines have appearing that run vertical down the phone.
I used to love my streak but its just become too much a pain in the arse to use. My options are to try and get the phone fix , which is not easy as I’ve working out of Saudi Arabia at the moment and will not be back in the UK for a few months. If the Samsung note was release today I would of jumped for it..
So is its worth the hassle to fix the phone or just bin it and buy something new? Any suggestions.

Don't forget the video recording quality it's awful even old Nokia phones have better quality
And slow in loading games comparing to other 1 GHz phones like Galaxy S series

Man, you have the same hatred I have for yours as I do for mine. I use to love this so much at one time it was the best device I have ever had. Now its more problems and headaches then anything. I can't stand the thing anymore and can not wait till the galaxy note becomes available. Lets just hope its out when I'm able to upgrade and they don't slap some ridiculous price tag on it. I can't imagine spending more then about 200-250 on it. I wish I could help you or had some words of encouragement but I feel the same way about this POS as you do dell dropped the ball on this one I find it funny that instead of trying to work with it and fix the dang thing they essentially tucked their tail and ran by just ending the life of it. I said it before I'll say it again I will never buy another dell product again
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App

I must be about the only one that loves mine.
2.2.2, pretty much straight from the box. I use mine for business, not games, video or music. Got mine because it has a huge screen, which I use for web and email.

Regarding the 'low on space message', have you tried to do a factory reset?

p51d007 said:
I must be about the only one that loves mine.
2.2.2, pretty much straight from the box. I use mine for business, not games, video or music. Got mine because it has a huge screen, which I use for web and email.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're not the only one.
OP, I understand the frustration regarding battery life, but to have the GPS chip running all the time is ridiculous unless you use external power. Most apps work fine with cell tower triangulation, such as Google Earth and Google Maps. If you actually navigate using Google Nav or a GPS app, then you turn on the GPS.
For the display, in direct sunlight no display will be bright, even if it's a transreflective one. However, I do find that in most situations, setting the brightness to automatic does wonders.
I can't comment on your PDMI port problems because I haven't encountered any. But for your other gripes I believe your expectations to be a bit unrealistic.

ardkor2thebone said:
2)Low on space message – Phone storage space is low. Somehow I’m using 1.6GB of phone space and only have about 140MB left? I’ve deleted all but the essential apps like whatsapp, google maps, swiftkey etc. Everything else has been moved to the SD card, all my videos and pics are on my SD card. I’ve even deleted all my sms messages but the bloody phone still complains about lack of space. WTF is taking up all the space, is there any way to find out, can I compress or remove the junk?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try my app SD Maid it may free up some space for you.

Streak5 Android 2.2.2 KO Constant & random boots
Hello gentlemen,
I really wish I had your problems to contend with.
However, I seem to be in much much worse shape with my steak android 2.2.2:
After forays in Blackberrys & Iphones I decided to take the plunge into Android.
As a first droid device I got a Dell Streak 5 with android 2.2.2 from Ebay. Thought it would be a good little tablet with secondary uses as a phone.
However, after receiving it I quickly noticed the bugginess of the whole device. Without warning the streak will flash the navigator buttons 3 times & then power off. Sometimes it'll happen while browsing the net, other times by launching the pre-installed apps & in many occasions even when I just dial a number in the phone.
Now I've checked the battery/battery cover issues, but all is in order and the flashing buttons prior to reboot do no seem like electric contact related.
The phone is stock Dell issued with the factory installed android 2.2.2 & all apps are the standard pre-installed ones. I have reset to factory settings & recalibrated the screen without any joy.
Any ideas?
Would this be a brutal hardware issue, would switching back to previous os levels help?
Any hints/insights will be greatly appreciated.
Baseband version: GAUSB1A135100-EU
Build number: 15609
As additional info, this behaviour happens with or without SIM/SD Cards.
With or without wi-fi connection.
Does this strange instability I am encountering make you suspect hardware of software issues?
Would downgrading to previous levels OS levels help?
Will now try getting some logs out of the thing & post them hoping someone may help.
Really love this device's phone-tablet form & i'd be a shame to throw it out because of these issues.
However, if it turns oit it is some hardware issue I see a trash can in it's future.... unless some one can refurbish the thing at a decent price. Any thoughts?
Thank you
Beppe

You got your Streak used off ebay, meaning used, correct?
Try upgrading the ROM. Version 360 is available, and may solve your issues. Not because of bug fixes, but because the previous owner may have had a bugged flash when they put 351 on the device, or removed the wrong stuff when rooting it.
In short, for some reason the ROM is unstable, and installing a ROM can fix it.

i agree with most of your points... I am running a Dell Venue Pro with wp7 on it and I can't get over how much of a better experience I am getting off of that phone then android and my streaks... I have pretty much retired my streaks and only going off the dvp now.
I was able to easily load mango and I am really digging the phone with the keyboard. I don't think Android is primetime.. I will wait for jelly bean before I go Android again.
I had used the streak just for gps for a few days, and it still had issues... Using Garmin for WP7 now.
I only had necessary apps running on my streak, no games, no widgets, no updating backend programs. It was so frustrating...
Ohh and all that time waiting for a damn website load on the streak...wtf. Everything comes up right away on the dvp.. only issue it has is no flash.. but i don't really use flash on the phone anyway.

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
You got your Streak used off ebay, meaning used, correct?
Try upgrading the ROM. Version 360 is available, and may solve your issues. Not because of bug fixes, but because the previous owner may have had a bugged flash when they put 351 on the device, or removed the wrong stuff when rooting it.
In short, for some reason the ROM is unstable, and installing a ROM can fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Strephon,
Tnx for the reply & tip.
Yup, got it used. The guy I got it from (on the cheap side so I guess I shouldn't complain too much...) claims he used for 6 months & then had Dell update it in july. According to his story they did & they found no hardware faults on it. He's supposed to send me some official docs to prove those claims.
Also says he's not techy & never messed around with the roms .... but the superuser app is on it so I'm a bit sceptical.
I'm in the process of documenting myslef so I can do a proper rom install, will try 351 then 360 as you suggest. Wanna get all the info right as this is my first dab into android - nice OS but gives u so much wrope to hang yourself with!
However, before flashing I was checking out the phone & services; I noticed some notifications about GPS & OVOO errors. I turned the services off & removed a few extra apps I found lying arround. After this step It's been going for an hour of use without the berserk ultra frequent boot cycles. Gonna dig a bit to figure out if one of those apps disagrees with this version of 2.2.2 that is on.
Will see what I can do & post the results here. Hope I can sort it out, such a sweet phone & fab 5 inch screen. If I have to surrender, gonna sell it to those phone recyclers on the net, get ye olde Bblackberry out of storage & patiently wait for the Samsung Note. Can't go back to sub 5 inchers after the brief experience with this Streak.
Bye & tnx again for the tips.

p51d007 said:
I must be about the only one that loves mine.
2.2.2, pretty much straight from the box. I use mine for business, not games, video or music. Got mine because it has a huge screen, which I use for web and email.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you used it for music, you'd hate it more than you now realize. It has one of the worst audio playback systems I've ever heard in ANY media device. The radio noise and signal noise is so terrible that it's almost beyond words.

Using it with headphones, it's about on par with my old iphone 3g.
But I dont use the bundled ones (i havnt ever tried them)

I use my Streak for music nearly everyday. Mostly over BT in my car and with the bundled headphones. I find both methods to work fine for my. I am no audiophile but I find the Streak's music performance fine.

The speaker on the back is pretty dissappointing as far as music and sound. But seriously who would use it like that and expect for it to be good/great.
It can put out a fair amount of power and at lower volumes it's pretty acceptable. It's a matter of being it's nearly physically impossible (for it's price range) to make great sound come out of a single speaker it's size.
Over bt it should be all digital until it finally hits the headset so it's merely the quality of the media player.
My point still stands about headphones, I have no complaints at all with my current earbuds. Though as mine are in-ear, normal ones might be a bit quiet.

For the back cover problem i have done this and now i can remove the card with the phone turn on.

Awwwwwwe! C'mone now... Dont go hate'n on the Dell Streak like that. Putting it in the pocket and getting lint in the port aint the Streaks fault... You gotta give it a little credit there. I get good pics and vid quality from my baby!
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marvin02 said:
I use my Streak for music nearly everyday. Mostly over BT in my car and with the bundled headphones. I find both methods to work fine for my. I am no audiophile but I find the Streak's music performance fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Marvelous Marv, I do the same! Plug my Streak into aux in the car. Which mp3 app do u use? Anything better than PowerAmp?

My main problems have been the earpiece not working from new, intermittent then finally didn't work at all, has had to go to hungary for repair, and the battery cover seems to come off quite easily even when in my Otterbox Defender case.

Rico ANDROID said:
Marvelous Marv, I do the same! Plug my Streak into aux in the car. Which mp3 app do u use? Anything better than PowerAmp?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Player Pro and PowerAmp are the two that I like best. I like the internal interface for Player pro better, but the lockscreen widget for PowerAmp is better. I am using Player Pro right now. Also, IMO, the response to the BT buttons seems to be better with Player Pro. They are very close overall.
Staying on topic - I hate my Streak because I don't have two of them.