Database Users

What is the Universal? Toy, Phone or Online Pocket PC

It has been really interesting over the months watching comments on this forum on the uses for the Universal. Those who wanted a top of the range phone generally seem to be dissapointed, and who blames them for that. Those looking for a games machine really should look elsewhere. For a pocket PC, and lets face it that is what this is it is a pretty decent job.
From my own point of view I have lots of gadgets and use each for what it is good at. I spend 80% of my time either in the car, home or office. At each location i have:
Universal
IBM Think pad T42p
Motorola Razor
And with these tools i can do anything anywhere. No hassles. If i need to get on to a network and fix something in a hurry the universal has generally finished the job before the laptop has even fired up Win XP. If I need to make a call and i am in the street i use the Razor. If i am in the office or car and need to call another cell phone i use the universal on handsfree. Personally i am very happy with this set up.
I also travel extensivly. I always carry my PSP with me to play games and take a selection of dvd to play on my laptop. I have a sd card reader on my IBM so i could get into ripping dvd's to play on the TCMP player but really never saw the point of this.
So generally i am very happy with the set up. It works for me.
Would i walk down the street making calls on the Universal..... No.
Would i play games on it.... sure but not graphics type. Something like Suduko would be good.
Would I watch movies on it.... one day, but i am too lazy to rip the films, I have over 2,000 dvd at home so i just prefer to take the disc with me. I keep promising to get a decent media server at home and start to rip all of these oin to it and stream them around the house. But where do you start with 2,000 titles.
Would I change things in Universal version 2 youre damn right.
Better fitting stylus
ozVGA as standard
Better made plastics
More memory- but personally this has never caused me any problems.
Speed up the phone answering
My set up-
T- Mobile MDA Pro
R 1.00.02
G 42.33.P8
D 1.12.42 WWE
1GB SD Card x 2
Web and walk 400 inc 40 mb data & 400 mins @ £23per month for 12 months and £46 for 6 months.
ozVGA
VJBig phone
VJ fullscreen TSC
Magic Button
Resco Explorer
Resco Photo
TCMP
Agile Messenger
Cambridge vxUtil & vxHpc
Stability for me is really good. I just dont seem to have issues. But i do a soft reboot every morning before i start the day. But am i just lucky or am I doing something wrong here, as i seem to be missing the dropdead and die feature!!
Next on my list Bluetooth sat nav. I would be greatful for an honest apraisal of the experience of others here. I plan to buy the Brodit active holder and sat nav in about 2 weeks time just really waiting to get some decent views on the best sat nav before commiting I still use navman on my old compaq ipaq 3700.
Finally I have to say without this forum I would be very disspointed with the Universal. I have learned lots form you guys over the months, I just hope that Microsoft and HTC are monitoring this forum and listening as much as I have been. XDA-Developers.com + MS + HTC rocks. You guys did the bits that they forgot!!
Views very welcome
Charlie

Things that I use:
- Sony TX1XP/XP, it has a 6.5 hr battery life, only weighs 1.25KG
- XDA Exec, used as a tablet/PDA (plus spare battery!)
- PSP, for watching videos (rented UMDs)
- 3G Razr (v3x), fantastic phone with superb call quality and rock solid BT, becoming my main phone as I find the communications capability of the Universal to be below par
Got a feeling when the SE P990 is released I may retire my Universal assuming there is good PIM s/w available for UIQ3. I find the ergonomics of the Universal and the need to use the PowerSave option a pain.

Charlie VOIP said:
Finally I have to say without this forum I would be very disspointed with the Universal. I have learned lots form you guys over the months, I just hope that Microsoft and HTC are monitoring this forum and listening as much as I have been. XDA-Developers.com + MS + HTC rocks. You guys did the bits that they forgot!!
Charlie
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't you think that they deserved it? :wink:

Charlie VOIP said:
Would i walk down the street making calls on the Universal..... No.
Charlie
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I understnad and agree with you on most of the points, except your above quoted line ??
may i know why you cannot make call with universal in streets ?? is it due to security reasons .. as you are afraid someone may snatch it from you

I agree with most of the first post here. I primarily use my universal as a notebook replacement + portable video and audio device. When out and about, I use the phone features with a BT headset and M$ VC mainly because - yes - I think there is arisk of someone snatching it - it's so unusual.
I really do feel though thatif you are not going to make extensive use of the keyboard (i.e need to use it as a mini notebook) the it is not for you.

my universal if everything to me. sure i have a laptop at work, and two spare laptops at home, but these are used more in a work and professional capacity.
my phone runs beautifully, rings on the second ring. i have extended the ring period to 30 seconds in case its in the bag or otherwise, never ever missed a call.
use a bluetooth headset, works perfectly everytime.
i have a 1 gig storage card, and lots of music on it, have never made it to the end of the playlist.
i play 1 game, cause between work, a 2 yr old, a 3 yr old, a good looking wife that wants lots of servicing, and of course my phone and this site, who's got time for games....
i use my universal everyday for:
1. PDA / PIM manager for my calendar, tasks and contacts. dont bother with email, I have six accounts and cant keep up with them all anyway.
2. Music player
3. Camera and portable video camera for emailing videos to my parents 10,000km away, and they love it, they get to see the kids in motion everyday, not just a static picture
4. I use word and excel, and the pdf viewer to review various attachments, letters, correspondance
5. WIFI everyday for surfing, and managing my other 5 email accounts (none work)
6. Recording notes and quick messages while driving along day dreaming and suddenly remember or record information on a sign that I need to get straight away and dont want to write it down
7. i use it as my full time mobile phone, but i dont have many friends, and they dont find a need to pay mobile phone call costs to communicate, we have text and 6 email accounts... but I do use it whilst driving or out of the office, and have no problem holding the brick to my ear, my hands are so big its almost obscured by my hands anyway. i have more of a laugh looking at these big blokes using these dinky little phones that almost disappear between the fingers
8. size isnt everything, but bigger is better, just ask my wife
9. i also use a lot of the other inbuilt features such as ZIP and Bluetooth and just about all features on the phone
There is no way that I would be buying another phone, another camera, another game machine.
I have everything in one, it runs absoloutely perfectly, all day, every day, never fails, never crashes, and does everything that I want.
I refused to by a PDA until they came with a built in phone, so I got the XDAII. Sold that for this, and despite the differences in memory, have never looked back.
I use SPB PP (Beta), SPB Diary, SPB Weather, SPB Backup (beta), Resco Explorer, MS Reader, MSVC, and a **** load of other stuff installed to the 1Gig memory card.
Can I my satisfaction and wonder at such a brilliant multifunctional well built machine...

To look at your SatNav part, I use TomTom as the software, a Holox BT GPS unit and also have the Brodit Active mountinstalled in my car, and thus far this setup has done everything I need it to

simon_darley said:
a good looking wife that wants lots of servicing
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may be in future new models of HTC also perfom this function for you :lol:

I use my universal exclusively. I dont find any of the problems with weight that so many others seem to. I dont think the universal is particularly big either. Back when cell phones first came out, they were all this size and didnt have any nice 640x480 VGA screens. :lol:
You see sub ten year old girls these days running around with phones! If they can hold those without a problem, I dont see why I cant hold a universal. :shock:
Anyway, as far as games go, for me windows PDAs have the best games. I like strategy games the most, and some of my favorites work perfectly. Transport Tycoon is always fun, and OpenTTD keeps adding on new features. Pocket UFO - need I say more? As far as RPGs go, SNES and PSX RPGs are the best out there, and you can run them with emulators! (Morphgear for SNES, http://www.fpsece.net/ for PSX)
Using TCPMP you can run 640x480 XVID movies too, which look like a dream and are higher res than the PSPs movies.
Now all I need to do is getting a working DOS emulator so I can play Fallout DOS version! Does anybody know of any DOS emulators that work?

Nobody's mentioned reading books on your Universal.
Reading books on the gorgeous VGA screen is fantastic, and the unique ability for the phone to morph into different shapes makes it possible to put it into any comfortable position.

Currently using an MPV2000, but M5000 (universal) arriving on Monday.
Being a motorcyclist I don't have room for a laptop, 15 dvds, 2 phones, an i-pod, a PSP, a couple of books etc etc etc.
But a phone/pda that does all of that and more? Gimme!!

What I find tragic is how this thread has transgressed into a "Look at what electronics I own, aren't I cool" thread.
I own an Exec and a laptop plus other devices which both have their benefits in varying scenarios but why brag about it?

stickeresq said:
What I find tragic is how this thread has transgressed into a "Look at what electronics I own, aren't I cool" thread.
I own an Exec and a laptop plus other devices which both have their benefits in varying scenarios but why brag about it?
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I dont know about that, thats how the thread started!
It has, however, transgressed into a "Look at how cool my Universal is!" :lol:

Not so sure about the brag bit I was really trying to say that there are many devices that can perform some of the functions of the Univrersal. But many of these do the job better in some situations, ie where you are at home in the office etc. But was keen to explore how others are using the device. What is interesting is everyone uses it in different ways. What is an acceptable quality sacrifice for one person is not for another.
For me the combination of connectivitiy capabilities and size are a major advantage for network monitoring and management. But many other people say they cannot really work on such a small device, for them they do not provide 24 hour / 7 day a week cover so the issue of a pc in the pocket as it were is not relevant for them. Therefore the small screen sacrifice is not worth it for them. If you get my drift.
So i really think this is a cross between how coll my universal is and 1001 ways to use a Universal.
Charlie

My Universal serves as my PDA, refernce books, infusion calculator, conversion calculator, DVD player, MP3 Player, weather reporter, instant internet access for email and other stuff, game box, and phone.

@stickeresq
it is useful to see how people use the Universal in combination with other devices. I cannot use any PDA for video after using a Sony PSP and given that ultraportable laptops can run for well over 3 to 4 hours for me shows the battery life of the Universal is not a plus point. Also, for me, having used a Mototola cellphone (wont mention the model!) for a week I have now decided the phone functions of the Universal are not "industrial strength" and therefore I will be using my Exec as a PDA, mini tablet and eBook reader.

Just bought a mini s to replace my exec brick

Hi guys,
just thought i'd post this message up on the forum in case anyone is looking for a genuine o2 Xda Exec, unlocked and standard in the lovely black case....
I am selling this on ebay soon as i have just bought a mini s instead.
The exec comes with all original o2 packaging, cables and cd's and has the latest t-mobile rom installed with no extended rom so the ext_Rom can be used for storage.....
i'm looking for around 400 quid on ebay but would accept offers over 300 from anyone here.
pm me if you are intested, the auction will be posted up probably monday.

well, got my mini s this morning.... apart from the fact it doesn't take sd cards and i'll have to buy a mini sd card,
ITS SO COOL...
Gonna put my exec on ebay on monday

Re: "Just bought a mini s to replace my exec brick"
Next time you'll perhaps buy the correct device in the first place? Were you not aware of it's dimension before you bought it?
Really?

Next time you'll perhaps buy the correct device in the first place? Were you not aware of it's dimension before you bought it?
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I just looked at the specs, could not go into a shop and look at the device as i got it before it was released in the o2 shops....
Don't get me wrong, the device is the best bit of kit around at the minute but because i have to use this asmy main phone, it's just too big and awkward to use.
anyway, got me mini s now and it's just so cool..... i guess i'll miss the vga screen, but i can live with that especially if pocketvcs works on this device,
cya

What if someone released a bluetooth headset that you HOLD that looked exactly like a Nokia 8800?

Nah, still think the mini s is better than the exec all round, okay it's processor is not as fast, it does not have a vga screen and does not support 3g but apart from that, it's perfect for me.
just look at the amount of people who are swapping their exec's for mini's on this forum, you don't see many people swapping their mini's for exec's.....
lets agree to differ on this subject and close this thread..... don't forget i've still got my exec and compared to the mini, it's just too big and awkward to use as a regular phone. sorry

Steve,
Most interesting post. I have recently been thinking of doing similar.
I love my exec but simply cannot stand using it as a phone. I have a decent Jabra headset, however still feel very odd using it. I think we all knew the size of the thing before buying, however thought we'd all 'cope'. Well I tried and now I'm bored of coping.
Plus, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has felt very vulnerable when having to use the brick in public.....let's face it, it is an expensive bit of kit and having to flash that screen when in close proximity to an apparent 'undesireable' is no fun......
Another point to add would be to come clean about just how much of the Exec's features I use. I am probably the least technical person on this board. I use my exec as a phone, for my emails, for my diary (where it is INVALUABLE, due to my shockingly bad memory...), to occasionaly go on the web, for my contacts.....ummm...think thats it. I have no idea what VGA is, 3G is great but only for speed (never used video phone yet). A quick game of solitare and I'm done. Oh ok and a few songs and games, but hey doesnt the mini do all that?
Would be very interested to hear of your progress with the mini.
Cheers
HPJ

I think that there are many people who will swap an Exec for a Mini and for most of the reasons stated above. I'll keep my Exec because I really bought it to replace my XDA2s for the 3G data speed. I'll put up with its faults & foibles because it gives me high speed internet access pretty much wherever I am. The VGA screen is a bonus too.

I have to agree that while I appreciate my JasJar as an internet connected PDA - it is just impractical to use as my main phone. I too knew the specs before I bought it - but knowing the specs and carrying the device are two different things. I guess this has been building with me for a while though - this is not the first PPCPE device I have owned - first there was the iMate (HTC Himalaya) and then the iPaq 6315 (what a disappointment!) and then the JasJar (Universal). I guess in the end convergence is not as important as comfort and convenience.
So - I added a new line to my account for my JasJar and bought a Motorola PEBL (which fits NICELY into my pocket) to use as my main phone. The JasJar is connected as my internet device and the PEBL is only used for phone calls. I am a very happy man!

Well guys, an update on my mini s experience.... perfect, small, compact, and does exactly what my exec did (apart from the bells and whistles) in a nice small bo....
now, a big pain in the ass with the exec was that i could not get my favourite emulator (pocketvcs) to run, thought it was a vga thing as it ran on my himalaya with wm2005 installed, so when i got my mini s, the first thing i did was install this....
guess what, it still didn't work
gutted, dunno what i could be, if some one could reverse engineer it, that would be cool as the author does not seem to respond to his emaila anymore.
for all those psople pondering the idea of ditching the exec for a min s, like me, DO IT !!! YOU WON'T REGRET IT unless you 3g or want to strain your eyes running the exec in true vga mode..... also this thing fits into a standard mobile phone car holder

steverae said:
for all those psople pondering the idea of ditching the exec for a min s, like me, DO IT !!! YOU WON'T REGRET IT unless you 3g or want to strain your eyes running the exec in true vga mode..... also this thing fits into a standard mobile phone car holder
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...Or you could have the best of both worlds by keeping the Exec and getting a high spec feature phone (I use a Sony-Ericsson K750i with my Exec) to use alongside it.
You are right that the Exec is too big to be a main phone but it is absolutely the best connected PDA on the market. And lets face it, there's no WinMob device on the market that comes close to a decent Sony-Eric, Nokia, Motorola, or Samsung for battery life, call quality, Bluetooth profiles, and other core phone functions like being able to send contacts by SMS.
I've used a variety of smartphones (MS, Palm and Symbian) and PDAs (MS and Palm) and keep coming back to the fact that convergence creates more problems than it solves.

For you guys that use dual device (a decent cell phone combined with Universal), how do you handle SMS? Can you use the native built in Universal/WM5 SMS messaging software to send and retrieve SMS via another cell phone?
For connectivity like GPRS or 3G, I guess you can set that up in the Universal so that it will use that cell phone for the connection.
Otherwise, it means we have to have 2 SIM cards, means 2 accounts, means double to pay...
When I was in Asia, I found out that pre-paid SIM card is extremely cheap so that everyone can buy it easily. Not here in the US, very expensive to maintain 2 accounts...
I agree with most things you guys said about the Universal. I myself have retired my Universal for a week now. I have switched back to my old Wallaby, which I consider much more natural for handling calls and most simple PDA things I need. My Wallaby is very easy to carry to almost any environment I have to be, compared to my Universal. The Universal, however, its very nice device to use whenever I'm at home or office environment.
I used a mini before for couple of weeks. Which one do you guys have right now? Is it the old Magician or the new Prophet? How's the Prophet's performance and speed?

I have tested Universal last December and enev though I loved device and features, at least for me it's unusable as a phone. Don't get me wrong, I used Himalaya for 1,5 year as my only phone and PDA, but I really wanted smaller device.
I got a Wizard as my phone and PDA to replace Himalaya, but in a moment of weaknes I also bought Universal. I don't use it as a phone or even as a PDA, but it's a nice mini Notebook/Tablet that I use for browsing and more "computer" stuff, like Word processing, Excel...

lie_ui said
For you guys that use dual device (a decent cell phone combined with Universal), how do you handle SMS? Can you use the native built in Universal/WM5 SMS messaging software to send and retrieve SMS via another cell phone?
For connectivity like GPRS or 3G, I guess you can set that up in the Universal so that it will use that cell phone for the connection.
Otherwise, it means we have to have 2 SIM cards, means 2 accounts, means double to pay...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally do not use SMS much, but regardless of whether they send the SMS to my phone or JasJar, I will reply with my JasJar. I have software that synchs my PEBL with my Outlook contacts as does my JasJar, so I always have the same phone numbers in both - that makes it easy to reply to those in my contacts, which is most of the people I communicate with.
I do not know of a way to communicate from my JasJar through my PEBL - I do not believe it is possible - So . . .
As to two accounts, yes - I have two SIM cards, two numbers and more cost. It is not exactly twice as much though, since I was able to strip everything but a reasonable amount of minutes from the phone account and only have an internet plan on the JasJar account. It is a bit more, but not twice as much. The upside is that since we here in the States still have to use GSM/GPRS I can now talk on the phone at the same time I am running terminal server or some other communication-intensive application on my JasJar (one radio, one connection). Very Handy!

lie_ui said:
For you guys that use dual device (a decent cell phone combined with Universal), how do you handle SMS? Can you use the native built in Universal/WM5 SMS messaging software to send and retrieve SMS via another cell phone?
For connectivity like GPRS or 3G, I guess you can set that up in the Universal so that it will use that cell phone for the connection.
Otherwise, it means we have to have 2 SIM cards, means 2 accounts, means double to pay...
When I was in Asia, I found out that pre-paid SIM card is extremely cheap so that everyone can buy it easily. Not here in the US, very expensive to maintain 2 accounts...
I agree with most things you guys said about the Universal. I myself have retired my Universal for a week now. I have switched back to my old Wallaby, which I consider much more natural for handling calls and most simple PDA things I need. My Wallaby is very easy to carry to almost any environment I have to be, compared to my Universal. The Universal, however, its very nice device to use whenever I'm at home or office environment.
I used a mini before for couple of weeks. Which one do you guys have right now? Is it the old Magician or the new Prophet? How's the Prophet's performance and speed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do all my SMS from the K750 as I'm pretty fast with T9 and SMS by definition has to be short.
I'm pretty sure there is software out there lets you manage your SMS on a standard pocket PC (i.e. not phone edition) over Bluetooth.
I keep the Exec for PDA/Computery stuff like Pocket Informant, browsing with PIE, email, Excel, Word, Powerpoint, TCPMP audio/video, and TomTom. I find the big keyboard and screen are excellent for these functions. In fact I tried to use my old iMate Jam for a weekend away when I didn't want to risk losing my Exec and I found that I HATED going back to the small screen and stylus.

Steveae:
Having had the mini for a few days now, whats the deal with the slower processor?? Is it noticeable?
I know it will be slower, but in you opinion is it a hindrance?
Cheers
HPJ
PS as-new exec for sale shortly if anyone's interested....UK only pls.

Well, I'm pondering the purchase of a soon-to-be-released P990.
I do wish the Trinity was coming out soon. 3G and WiFi are essentials as far as I'm concerned, but I also find the Uni a bit cumbersome so I want something smaller, and losing VGA and the keyboard is something I'm willing to do...
Even a Muse would do, actually. When's that out?

I love my Universal. I came from an HP h6340, so i'm sure you'd understand.
And sorry, after using a VGA device, It would never EVER be justified for me to buy a QVGA one. I just recently opened my H6340 and compared the 2 screens. I just couldn't believe i managed with QVGA for 1 year and thought the display was BEAUTIFUL!
Actually, I really wanted a VGA PDA/Phone and there was only one choice for this.
No complaints from me. I even had a Nokia 9000.... Yes the Black and White PDA Screen. Now THAT was a brick, this is sleek compared to that device.

Whell.... for me this is it at the moment as far buisness management on the go goes although it has a few limitations at the moment due to under development at the moment and the network signal strength stinks compared to £30 phones you can buy now days and i wouldent even complin about its size (already knew what i was getting anyway) if it wasnt for all the other flaws with it at the moment like btooth, battery, poor range on wireless and again poor network signal quality..... I have upgraded the radio rom but that was about it and cant be bothered to keep messin around with hacks since a reliable buisness tool is what i need.
Im waitting to grab a SE p990i until i consider ditching this.
BR

well what can i say, group of unhappy uni users eh...
Just thought I would butt in and put my two bobs worth....
I love it. Love everything about it. The size isnt an issue for me, I dont get embarrased easily, I dont mind holding the phone to my ear, I dont care that it doesnt have an external screen, i am either available and take the call, or I am not available and dont take the call, dont need to hide from anybody.
I love the keyboard, I love the clam protection of the screen, I love the quasi screen, I love 3G data speeds, I love the qwerty keyboard, I love the WIFI, I love SD cards, I love the camera facility, I love the video facility, I love the hacks, I love the custom software installed.
I would like more memory, and more storage, but that is all. I thought I was getting 128mb of RAM and 128mb of usable storage, but other than that, I manage well.
We all make mistakes, we all have different choices and needs, but if you didnt get the hint.... I love it. I think the main thing people need to think about in all of this is whether they wanted a phone with PDA functions, or a PDA with a phone function. Mine was the latter. My wife was the former, so we both sold our XDAII's she got a phone, I got the Uni.
Cheers and happy PDA'ing.

Hermes or Nokia N95

I'm currently using a T-Mobile MDA Vario (HTC Wizard), and as my contract is up for renewal soon, I am wondering what phone to get next.
Originally I had my mind set on the Vario 2 (Hermes), but I'm getting second thoughts since I read about the new Nokia N95. It seems to pack a lot of features, most impressively integrated gps and a lot of maps. First impressions seem to indicate that it runs very smoothly (not always the case with windows mobile) and gps works well. It's also got wifi and fast internet browsing. On the other hand, not sure if symbian is any good (to sync with pc etc), and if I'll be able to install applications on it like a pocket pc (although I don't install much). More importantly, I'd have to live without a full keyboard and touch screen (but the device is therefore thinner).
Can anyone give me some advice on how good/bad your experience with the Hermes has been (or even with the N95 if you've used it or heard anything about it).
Thanks.

kkhalil76 said:
I'm currently using a T-Mobile MDA Vario (HTC Wizard), and as my contract is up for renewal soon, I am wondering what phone to get next.
Originally I had my mind set on the Vario 2 (Hermes), but I'm getting second thoughts since I read about the new Nokia N95. It seems to pack a lot of features, most impressively integrated gps and a lot of maps. First impressions seem to indicate that it runs very smoothly (not always the case with windows mobile) and gps works well. It's also got wifi and fast internet browsing. On the other hand, not sure if symbian is any good (to sync with pc etc), and if I'll be able to install applications on it like a pocket pc (although I don't install much). More importantly, I'd have to live without a full keyboard and touch screen (but the device is therefore thinner).
Can anyone give me some advice on how good/bad your experience with the Hermes has been (or even with the N95 if you've used it or heard anything about it).
Thanks.
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It all comes down to the touchscreen... if you can live without it then go for the N95, if not then the Hermes is the way to go... but you must also know that the N95 isnt Tri-band UMTS, so if you were to goto another country with uses a different band for UMTS then you wont have access for it... Where as the Hermes supports 850, 1900 & 2100mhz WCDMA Bands

Thanks. I also read that the N95's build quality isn't so great, and that talk time is only a little over 2 hours (vs. a little over 4 for the hermes)!

kkhalil76 said:
Thanks. I also read that the N95's build quality isn't so great, and that talk time is only a little over 2 hours (vs. a little over 4 for the hermes)!
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well there you go... you just answered your own question... mind you the build quality on the hermes isnt that much better.... they are all plastic...

Build quality is not related to just the materials of the housing but also how well everything fits together. Look at the SE P990i: very nice looking phone but squeaks and cracks when you're holding it.

Dunno about the N95, but my previous phone was a Nokia 6260 (S60 2.x).
I personally found the Symbian system more stable and more feature-advanced than the Windows Mobile OS. Some examples: choosing the account via which emails are sent is not possible in Outlook Mobile, synchronizing with Nokia PC Suite is robuster (and supports for instance SMS typing on PC), native support for Java midlets (Opera Mini!), ...
I personally went for the Hermes because of the keyboard: a GPS is easily added with bluetooth, but a keyboard that works handheld is not easily added; and also because I needed Windows Mobile for one application I wanted (PocketFMS).
But it is difficult finding a balance between what you need, want and like.
Jörg

Well I think my mind's made up, can't go back to a tiny keypad after having used a full keyboard for so long, so I guess it's the hermes after all. Also the battery life is a big issue for me, I thought the hermes wasn't great, but the Nokia is awful...

As far as the battery is concerned: I manage to have the Hermes running for about 4-5 days (not frequently making calls, but frequently connecting via gprs/umts) or 2-3 days (when playing back .wma through BT headset).
Jörg

walshieau said:
It all comes down to the touchscreen... if you can live without it then go for the N95, if not then the Hermes is the way to go... but you must also know that the N95 isnt Tri-band UMTS, so if you were to goto another country with uses a different band for UMTS then you wont have access for it... Where as the Hermes supports 850, 1900 & 2100mhz WCDMA Bands
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How often does one go to other country and really use a different UMTS band or UMTS at all?
And what goes for the build quality, I can honestly say that N95 is better after owning a hermes for about 6 months now.
But the hermes beats it with the touch screen and keyboard, and has better software support in its own special way, N95 has better phoning software because the main idea is to use it as a phone and the OS is tailored that way. Hermes in other hand is a phone pda hybrid.
And personally as a software developer i can honestly say that symbian os is more crap that you guys could imagine ;D
And embedded linux seems to keep pushing it's way quite hard. Many companies I know, started to look into that matter.. (won't list any names here).
[EDIT]
The battery seems to be quite good for Hermes considering the fact that it's a PDA like phone at has alot of features.
And the more I use Hermes, the more conviced I get with it, it just is a damn good device
And you guys should try Route66 Navigate 7 for Pocket PC. It's the damn best GPS software I ever used
Doesn't lag at all (this is what really impressed me), is VERY accurate even in this little town I live in, very good POI information (TMC to) etc.
I tested alot of GPS software and this is just the best atm.
I have a bluetooth GPS, it's very small and has a neck collar
[/EDIT]

My Jasjam with Direct Push on all day (50 e-mails sent and received) and checking the news for 20 minutes, a game of chess for 15 minutes, using it as a sat nav for 30 minutes and 1 hour on the phone it still has 60% battery left at the end of the day. I would recommend the Hermes over the N95 any day.

What about the simple fact that one has a keyboard and the other one does not? Are you expecting to do any typing?

agovinoveritas said:
What about the simple fact that one has a keyboard and the other one does not? Are you expecting to do any typing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its not that simple... look at the 3G bands for example... for me anyway im in australia where there is 850Mhz and 2100Mhz 3G Bands... where the N95 only supports 2100Mhz....

N95 for sure. The touch-screen of the hermes sucks anyways, and yes, this is coming for a Hermes owner.

xpimperx said:
N95 for sure. The touch-screen of the hermes sucks anyways, and yes, this is coming for a Hermes owner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd rather have a sucky touchscreen than no touchscreen. FWIW, I think the screen on the Hermes is just fine.
Having to enter all my emails with the dpad or number pad is just nothing something I'd ever consider anno 2007.

I was a previous Nokia man through and through until the N80. The battery life and bugs made it unusuable, so I sold it and bought a Hermes. I've never looked back!
With the improved Radio 1.40 I now get around 3-4 days standby. You'll be lucky to get 3-4 HOURS from an N80 or N95 (reviews seem to suggest they still haven't learnt their lesson from poor battery life with the N95 either)
I won't touch Nokia again until they sort out the appalling battery life of their new phones. What's the point of putting all these neat features in a phone if you have to leave it almost permanently plugged into the mains?

N95 vs Hermes
Well, I've got both the Hermes and the N95... I'm probably going to end up selling one or the other... but I have the same choice to make - which one to keep, and I have to say, it's a hard choice.
The main factors for me are:
Battery life - everyone is talking about this, but the Nokia N95 battery life is abysmal. You really need to take your charger with you anywhere you go with it. Hermes battery life is not great, but at least you can use it for half to one day without it running out of battery! Also, the Hermes charges off USB, so when you use it as a computer modem, it charges at the same time!
Software & touchscreen - undoubtedly way better on the Hermes - push email, messenger, internet explorer, Cleartype, it all just works - N95 is flaky in places and the interface / software is just not up to the hardware. You have to pay extra for word, excel, push email, messenger, etc (well if you want any half-reasonable solution) and they don't work as well as WM5/6 even when you do pay! Also, the community support and the **ahem** hacked software is WAY WAY better for Windows Mobile.
Hardware - Nokia is way better for this - N95 has a beautiful camera, built in GPS, is smaller, lighter and prettier than the Hermes and has a 3.5mm jack socket built in (no adapter). But - no keyboard, no touchscreen and NO ROLL-WHEEL! This gets really annoying on the N95 for reading/replying to emails when you've used the Hermes.
So: The question really is - what will you use the device for? Phone? N95. Emails? Then definitely Hermes. Camera? N95. MSN Messenger? Hermes. Portable GPS? N95 (Hermes is better for car GPS when paired with a decent SiRF Star III GPS unit.) All of the above? AARRGH! Too difficult to decide. Neither is perfect - A smaller, thinner Hermes, with a 5MP camera, built in GPS, 640x480 resolution, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a nice-looking flat touchscreen that is flush with the casing WOULD be perfect... but we're going to have to wait for a while before that happens...

Near perfect setup?

As 2007 draws to a close, I have - thanks in large part to the people here on this forum - got pretty much a perfect setup going. I thought I'd share it with you:
I use my Ameo mainly for organising my work and personal life (a Filofax replacement if you like). I upgraded to the X-Black WM6 rom provided by your goodselves and as a by-product had to unlock the beast with a well-known program also supplied here (programmer may be rude, but he is certainly talented). This enabled me to insert my work SIM and to fully utilse the exchange-based activesync provided from work.
- Work/personal life updates, sorted
- Work E-mail, sorted
I have set up my home e-mail as IMAP and the server there is configured to use dynamic dns. Home e-mail on the Ameo configured to use gmail as SMTP client, leaving it fully mobile.
- Home E-mail, sorted.
The Ameo is kind of clunky to use a a phone. Thanks to this forum I found the LG I-style to use as a handset (ebay) - by FAR the best option I have used so far
- Work/Home Phone, sorted
In the car I have Brodit holder wired in (using the much more elegant Dashmount bracket rather then the ungainly Brodit), giving me power and a great looking platform for GPS functionality. Also just installed is Blaupunkt radio with integrated bluetooth so I can utilise the phone "on the go". As I get in the car, turn off the LG I-style and the Blaupunkt connects in its place. Seemless.
- Car Phone, sorted
- GPS (car), sorted
For music on the move, I have an I-tec bluetooth/radio with some really decent earphones. When I am travelling listening to music, this can connect instead of the I-style, switching between music and phone calls
- Music/mobile Phone, sorted
And finally, in my airplane I have configured my Pilot knee-pad to use the magnetic points on the Ameo to hold it in place whilst I am flying.
- GPS (Aviation), sorted
So with all that in place, could it be better? Well I bought the Ameo in the first place due to screen size (for flying), so I am happy with that. The keyboard I love (ex Psion Netbook, so of course I would) and the ability to leave it aside when not required is great. The WM6 is a HUGE improvement in both speed and stability over the original ROM. The only thing I think I would alter is the micro-drive - would love to swap for SSD version to achieve lighter weight and speedier access time.
And what am I carrying? - well normally just the main unit (without k/board, slipped into inside pocket) plus the I-style hand set. In my briefcase is the I-tec and the headphones plus spare battery. Total weight around 400g and it will all fit into suit pockets without spoiling the cut (the beer-belly does that without any help)
Let me know if you have any thoughts for improvements. Either way, thanks for all your help, especially the talented ones (let me know if you appreciatee contributions as this sort of work should not go unpaid).
Have a great Christmas and a better 2008.
Robert

Thanks for the well-written info
This is a great post: helpful, informative, inspiring. Thanks for taking the time to give back to the community!
I might take a leaf out of your book and try some of your ideas. I have kept a bog standard Ameo from T-Mobile in the UK which I bought 6 months ago. I always wanted to try upgrading to WM6 but I haven't found anywhere that will walk me through step by step. I think you just convinced me.
The keyboard broke on my Ameo (now has poor connectivity) so I'm hoping to get a Bluetooth keyboard as a replacement for Christmas.
The microphone and ear buds also are a bit dodgy now - I bought a "Discovery 655 Bluetooth Headset" so I can make calls but I'm not too happy with it - I might get a "LG BLUETOOTH STYLE-i HBM-700 HEADSET" like you suggest.

I understand your reticence - I held back for many months before taking the plunge.
There are a few step-by-step guides to the upgrade (see here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=347240) and it is worthwhile taking a few lunch-times to run through the threads here on the site. Then when you have a full evening spare, go through methodically.
Good luck
Robert

Mrsums said:
As 2007 draws to a close, I have - thanks in large part to the people here on this forum - got pretty much a perfect setup going. I thought I'd share it with you:
I use my Ameo mainly for organising my work and personal life (a Filofax replacement if you like). I upgraded to the X-Black WM6 rom provided by your goodselves and as a by-product had to unlock the beast with a well-known program also supplied here (programmer may be rude, but he is certainly talented). This enabled me to insert my work SIM and to fully utilse the exchange-based activesync provided from work.
- Work/personal life updates, sorted
- Work E-mail, sorted
I have set up my home e-mail as IMAP and the server there is configured to use dynamic dns. Home e-mail on the Ameo configured to use gmail as SMTP client, leaving it fully mobile.
- Home E-mail, sorted.
The Ameo is kind of clunky to use a a phone. Thanks to this forum I found the LG I-style to use as a handset (ebay) - by FAR the best option I have used so far
- Work/Home Phone, sorted
In the car I have Brodit holder wired in (using the much more elegant Dashmount bracket rather then the ungainly Brodit), giving me power and a great looking platform for GPS functionality. Also just installed is Blaupunkt radio with integrated bluetooth so I can utilise the phone "on the go". As I get in the car, turn off the LG I-style and the Blaupunkt connects in its place. Seemless.
- Car Phone, sorted
- GPS (car), sorted
For music on the move, I have an I-tec bluetooth/radio with some really decent earphones. When I am travelling listening to music, this can connect instead of the I-style, switching between music and phone calls
- Music/mobile Phone, sorted
And finally, in my airplane I have configured my Pilot knee-pad to use the magnetic points on the Ameo to hold it in place whilst I am flying.
- GPS (Aviation), sorted
So with all that in place, could it be better? Well I bought the Ameo in the first place due to screen size (for flying), so I am happy with that. The keyboard I love (ex Psion Netbook, so of course I would) and the ability to leave it aside when not required is great. The WM6 is a HUGE improvement in both speed and stability over the original ROM. The only thing I think I would alter is the micro-drive - would love to swap for SSD version to achieve lighter weight and speedier access time.
And what am I carrying? - well normally just the main unit (without k/board, slipped into inside pocket) plus the I-style hand set. In my briefcase is the I-tec and the headphones plus spare battery. Total weight around 400g and it will all fit into suit pockets without spoiling the cut (the beer-belly does that without any help)
Let me know if you have any thoughts for improvements. Either way, thanks for all your help, especially the talented ones (let me know if you appreciatee contributions as this sort of work should not go unpaid).
Have a great Christmas and a better 2008.
Robert
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
enjoy the phone and glad to hear another person is satisfied with this beast we call the athena.

It was kinda long fight but now i'm really satisfied with my Athena too.
The main reason for getting an Athena was the need to Remote Control of some Servers we got running under Windows and Linux. So i needed a device running Putty and Remote Desktop with UMTS speed.
A device with a Screen Resolution and Screen Size of the Athena is perfect for this.
When i got My Athena wich came as T-Mobile Ameo i was extremly disappointed with the T-Mobile WM5 running on it.
It was unstable, slow and nearly unusable for the things i really needed it to do.
So i tried the T-Mobile Upgrade to WM6 but still wasn't very pleased with it.
I decided to unlock the device and install the Athena Projekt Black WM6 ROM and it sorted out that running this ROM with RealVGA at the 128dpi setting made the Athena usable. It ran stable and with an acceptable speed but there was to much crap installed so i reinstalled the Athene Projekt ROM without the software in the EXTRom and finally had the device i wanted.
After setting up some extra Software like
- Navigon6
- Mort Player
- RemoteDesktop for WM6
- putty
- TCPMP
- HTC Home (the new one)
- Total Commander
- PocketVNC
- pBar
- Pocket CM (really stylish Contact Manager)
- PCM Keyboard (finally an usable OnScreen keyboard)
- SIM Display (really useful beacuse i use an Anlago DualSIM Adapter)
and some Registry Haking to get a German Keyboard Setting i had a really usable Device.
This setup runs for 8 weeks now. No Softreset since then, no SystemCrash.. just a really good working Device.
Usually i carry the Athena without Keyboard because the PCMKeyboard really works good and can be used with the fingers.
Only thing left is finding a good and usable Headset
If you know what to use it for, the Athena really rocks.

Who thinks the Athena is good as a phone?

One of my reasons for dumping my Athena was that i found it was a complete nightmare as a phone (amongst other issues)
Does anyone think it is a Good Phone, OK Phone, Crap Phone or Bloody awful Phone
This is about MAKING CALLS on it not the other functions

Ive only been using mine for a couple days, but its just fine for me. I'm not holding top secret phone conversations, and if I do need to keep a call under wraps, I just use my bluetooth.

To answer that you'd need some criteria as to what makes a phone good.
It can make and receive calls ok but after that there are many things that could be percieved criteria that make a phone good.
IMHO a good phone is one that you can put to your ear when it rings and talk to the person on the other end. It is small enough to comfortably fit in the pocket of a pair of jeans. Has good battery life. Has a good radio (phone signal reception).
These requirements are a must for a phone for me.
The Athena does not fit all of these criteria but then again it is not primarily a phone.
It is a top notch all round communications device/office and if you buy it expecting a "comfy phone" you'll be disappointed.
In a word, is it a good phone? No.

I love the x7500 best one I ever had. Love the GPS the huge screen and all the cool stuff and software that ís to come

I suppose i should make it clear what i meant by this thread Ahem.
Im talking about Making Actual Calls on it not not the other functions

The problem with the Athena as a phone is that it takes a while to figure out how to set the volume control correctly.
It's better now that I know to set the phone volume to zero, and then hold the edge of the device to my ear with the little hole (which I assume is a mic) roughly in the direction of my mouth.
After doing that I can just about have a conversation (as long as I'm in a quiet room).

WHATS ????
I,m REALLY HEAT THIS...too many words...about?
Whats made this post here..., plase get out... write in a PHONE forum !
This Forum in about POCKET PC..if some of all in this site...wants a phone...so simply....write in phones sites !
But...at anyone ...a simply phone is not we need!
Beacuse we buy..P O C K E T PC (Pocket PC) !
FranCOKE!
ClashOfThe said:
To answer that you'd need some criteria as to what makes a phone good.
These requirements are a must for a phone for me.
The Athena does not fit all of these criteria but then again it is not primarily a phone.
It is a top notch all round communications device/office and if you buy it expecting a "comfy phone" you'll be disappointed.
In a word, is it a good phone? No.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

francoke said:
I,m REALLY HEAT THIS...too many words...about?
Whats made this post here..., plase get out... write in a PHONE forum !
This Forum in about POCKET PC..if some of all in this site...wants a phone...so simply....write in phones sites !
But...at anyone ...a simply phone is not we need!
Beacuse we buy..P O C K E T PC (Pocket PC) !
FranCOKE!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You sir need to learn how to read and count.
I think i made it quite clear the device is much more than a phone and also stated it was top notch.
Also I only wrote 12 or so more words than you and none of mine were wasted.

Athena's phone functionnality is OK, nothing more, nothing less.
BUT I find the integration into the entire environment pretty awesome, really.

I rate the Ameo 1 out of 10 for using as a PHONE.
Other uses (e.g. Mobile Internet, Sat Nav, Watching Video Blogs) I would rate it 10 out of 10 but for actually talking to people I have had so many problems:
1) The hands-free headphones+microphone that are supplied no longer work for me (my voice intermitedly cuts out - like a loose connection).
2) Whenever I use my bluetooth headset ("Discovery 655"), I get complains from whoever I'm trying to talk to about low volume.
3) And if I try to use the Ameo without plugging in some kind of microphone, everyone in the room gets to listen to my conversation.
The Ameo is not a good phone (in my opinion).
I heard The "LG style-i" is good but I can't get hold of one in England.

francoke said:
I,m REALLY HEAT THIS...too many words...about?
Whats made this post here..., plase get out... write in a PHONE forum !
This Forum in about POCKET PC..if some of all in this site...wants a phone...so simply....write in phones sites !
But...at anyone ...a simply phone is not we need!
Beacuse we buy..P O C K E T PC (Pocket PC) !
FranCOKE!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the athena isnt a pocket pc - its a phone. it is sold as a phone by phone companies in phone shops. it is a windows mobile phone and, by design, a convergent device. unfortunately one of its primary functions - the phone - is poorly designed and doesnt give very good clarity without the help of a bluetooth headset. sadly windows mobile doesnt like bluetooth headsets very much so i think overall the athena fails as a phone quite badly. other aspects of the device are not relevent to the question in hand.

Athena is a primarily a mobile data device which also does phone, adding value to it as a convergent device. If you're looking for a phone, go somewhere else. This will not be the best size as a phone, but it is the best sized convergent device, with phone function.
As a VOIP phone it is excellent. As long as I use a headset and have good signal, I get quite good voice at mere 8 cents per call untimed to anywhere in the world. Using headset on it as a normal mobile phone of course gives very good voice quality.
The SMS aspect of the phone is absolutely top notch because of the large screen.
The debate always comes down to size. It is crazy to try to rate it only as a phone and proves nothing. It's like rating a PC with TV tuners as only a TV. Or Athena only as an MP3 player or only as a Camera.
If I have a TV tuner in my computer, I don't expect an intelligent guy to come up with a survey that says "who thinks this PC is a good TV". The result is meaningless. If a guy is looking for a TV and nothing else, he would of course dump this computer. But if TV is not his primary focus and computer is, then he is happy with the TV.
Similarly, if the future version of Athena decides to incorporate TV, it does not make it a TV per se. If you have a survey that says "who thinks Athena II is a good TV", its a meaningless question. The screen would be deemed too small by a guy looking only for a TV, much like Athena is viewed as too big by the guy looking mainly for a phone.
Does it mean that one should never incorporate phone feature into a convergent device? Or that one should never incorporate television into the PDA? By no means. There is a very niche market segment who longs for these all in ones. If you're not one of them, then this is not a product for you. That does not make it a crap phone or crap tv.
One of the key values of Athena lies in it converging all these technologies together. While it does not take the best picture in the world, the picture quality is okay. While it is not the fastest computer, it is okay. While it is not the best mobile phone in the world, it is okay. I've seen much worst dedicated Nokia phone than Athana.
Everything taken as a whole, it is stil the best.
Athena is closer to PDA than a phone. What's a PDA? I'd quote Gartner's definition:
Gartner defines PDAs as "data-centric handheld computer weighing less than one pound that [are] primarily designed for use with both hands." The devices use "open market" OSes and can be equipped by the users with third-party applications. Additionally, PDAs "offer instant on/off capability and synchronization of files with a PC," in Gartner's view. Although the PDAs included in Gartner's data may offer voice capabilities, they are "data-first, voice-second devices."
DATA FIRST, VOICE SECOND. If Francoke's pocket pc means PDA, then using Gartner's definition, he's right. This is a pocket pc (PDA). In Gartner's eye, this is not classified as a phone.

eaglesteve said:
Athena is a primarily a mobile data device which also does phone, adding value to it as a convergent device. If you're looking for a phone, go somewhere else. This will not be the best size as a phone, but it is the best sized convergent device, with phone function.
As a VOIP phone it is excellent. As long as I use a headset and have good signal, I get quite good voice at mere 8 cents per call untimed to anywhere in the world. Using headset on it as a normal mobile phone of course gives very good voice quality.
The SMS aspect of the phone is absolutely top notch because of the large screen.
The debate always comes down to size. It is crazy to try to rate it only as a phone and proves nothing. It's like rating a PC with TV tuners as only a TV. Or Athena only as an MP3 player or only as a Camera.
If I have a TV tuner in my computer, I don't expect an intelligent guy to come up with a survey that says "who thinks this PC is a good TV". The result is meaningless. If a guy is looking for a TV and nothing else, he would of course dump this computer. But if TV is not his primary focus and computer is, then he is happy with the TV.
Similarly, if the future version of Athena decides to incorporate TV, it does not make it a TV per se. If you have a survey that says "who thinks Athena II is a good TV", its a meaningless question. The screen would be deemed too small by a guy looking only for a TV, much like Athena is viewed as too big by the guy looking mainly for a phone.
Does it mean that one should never incorporate phone feature into a convergent device? Or that one should never incorporate television into the PDA? By no means. There is a very niche market segment who longs for these all in ones. If you're not one of them, then this is not a product for you. That does not make it a crap phone or crap tv.
One of the key values of Athena lies in it converging all these technologies together. While it does not take the best picture in the world, the picture quality is okay. While it is not the fastest computer, it is okay. While it is not the best mobile phone in the world, it is okay. I've seen much worst dedicated Nokia phone than Athana.
Everything taken as a whole, it is stil the best.
Athena is closer to PDA than a phone. What's a PDA? I'd quote Gartner's definition:
Gartner defines PDAs as "data-centric handheld computer weighing less than one pound that [are] primarily designed for use with both hands." The devices use "open market" OSes and can be equipped by the users with third-party applications. Additionally, PDAs "offer instant on/off capability and synchronization of files with a PC," in Gartner's view. Although the PDAs included in Gartner's data may offer voice capabilities, they are "data-first, voice-second devices."
DATA FIRST, VOICE SECOND. If Francoke's pocket pc means PDA, then using Gartner's definition, he's right. This is a pocket pc (PDA). In Gartner's eye, this is not classified as a phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said. And If I might say, asking a question where the answers are (1) crap (2) crap (3) ok and (4) best ever doesn't strike me as being particularly balanced!

I don't make many phone calls, but those that I do are fine. Speaker phone is fine as long as you're calling a landlines (mobiles and handsfree kits tend to generate too much noise and confuse the phone as to if it should be 'listening' or 'playing' the sound). Wired / Bluetooth headset works perfectly. The issue that we've had time and time again though, is that its not really a 'pocket' phone, and unless you have a handbag or manbag, you feel like a bit of a twonk carrying round this brown wallet. I usually give the phone to the missus to carry then have a bluetooth in my pocket ready to shove in my earole.

For me the diference between not using the X7500 at all as phone and using the X7500 as phone has been the LG Style-i HBM-700.
I tried an BT headset first but the trekky look is not for me then I tried the Style-i and now X7500 is my only cellular.

Athena is not a phone in a traditional way you could think it.
My experience is good even with cheap bluetooth headset (far better than Universal...)

mahjong said:
For me the diference between not using the X7500 at all as phone and using the X7500 as phone has been the LG Style-i HBM-700.
I tried an BT headset first but the trekky look is not for me then I tried the Style-i and now X7500 is my only cellular.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Completely agree with this post. If you use LG Style-I, you end up having the smallest phone in the world!

As a phone by itself the Athena is Crap. The LG Style-i certainly helps.
I use the other features far more than just the phone which is secondary to me but as the T-Mob Ameo is sold as a 'phone' I can see the OP's point.
As eaglesteve points out it is far more than 'just' a phone but if you buy one primarily as a phone you would probably be disappointed.

Confucious said:
As a phone by itself the Athena is Crap. The LG Style-i certainly helps.
I use the other features far more than just the phone which is secondary to me but as the T-Mob Ameo is sold as a 'phone' I can see the OP's point.
As eaglesteve points out it is far more than 'just' a phone but if you buy one primarily as a phone you would probably be disappointed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With LG style-i, it does not matter what the "host" is anymore. That's why I voted it to be as good as the phone best ever. Athena gives very good 3.5G reception, far better than any other phones I've used. Also, like eaglesteve said, it is very easy for me to create SMS messages on this device, which is another aspect of the phone features. I highly recommend that those who had found it tough to use this as a phone because of its size to consider LG style-I. I guarantee your opinion will change.

eaglesteve said:
It is crazy to try to rate it only as a phone and proves nothing. It's like rating a PC with TV tuners as only a TV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent comparision, couldn't have put it better.
And yet, I think some extremely useful (at least for me) phone-related functionnalities are very usually overlooked with PocketPC PDA-Phones in such polls.
What about seamless synchronisation with Outlook content ? This functionnality alone saved my *ss more than once when I had trouble with my phone. Instant search for directory numbers ? Etc. etc.
I once had a Nokia N92, an excellent multimedia device. Well, I returned it as soon as I saw that the "conduit" between the phone and Outlook mixed numbers up, and didn't synchronise properly (most of my contacts are business contacts, and have more than one phone number. The Nokia conduit handles this extremely poorly, mixing numbers for a same contact when they are synchronised on the phone until it is almost impossible to find a contact through his / her phone number).
Confucious said:
As eaglesteve points out it is far more than 'just' a phone but if you buy one primarily as a phone you would probably be disappointed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True. But I always have trouble imagining how ANYONE would get an almost one-pounded, 5-inch screened *phone*. Who needs a 5-inch screens only for phoning ? To see 1-inch wide numbers ?? :-S