Database Users

QTek 9100 high-res photos, impressions and benchmarks!

People wanted photos... here (note the forum software here seems to be broken so you'll have to actually click the photos to see them). Sorry about the blurry backlight keyboard photo - its pretty hard keeping still for 4/5ths of a second!
Enjoy!

Any chance to have some photos taken with your 9100's camera so we can compare the quality with JAM?
Thanks for the photos!

Awesome! Post your impressions! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Here!

The above post was made entirely from my 9100... pretty nifty. The camera quality is pretty terrible (as expected), the flash barely does anything except for at extremely close range (as the sample photos demonstrate). The flash stays on all the time when its enabled but when you finally press the shutter button it goes slightly brigher.
Overall, the device seems very robust and solid. The only slight downfall I've observed is that you need to make sure you slide the screen squarely or it will get jammed. It is a little bigger than I had hoped for, but still definitely pocketable.
GPRS, WiFi and Bluetooth are all easy as pie to setup and the flashing LEDs make it very easy to see exactly what you have enabled. I haven't noticed any real slowdowns, unless I have a ridiculous amount of applications open and then try to switch to landscape... oh, and the stylus can be annoying to get out/ put in (I'm used to it being on the top of the device and I'm not used to a telescopic stylus). The screen also feels very bendy/ stretchy, like the air-gap between the glass and the touchscreen layer is pretty big. This means that you have to press quite hard for the touchscreen to respond (I'm used to a feather-light touch on the hx4700). Other than that it feels fine. I'll post more after I've had a play. I havent even connected this thing to a PC yet!

Sound quality is superb! I thought I'd find the headphones that are supplied with it laughable, but they're not half bad! There is actually bass (not much, but its there) and crisp high-end frequencies! The question is: Is the limiting factor the headphones or the amplifier. Unfortunately I don't have a 2.5mm->3.5mm converter to hand to find out.
The earphones dont really fit my ears well (none do) so I might look into doctoring them by attaching a 3.5mm jack after the little volume slider box.
I'm quite an audiophile and I find the sound quality quite acceptable, it definitely wont replace a dedicated MP3 player, but if its all you've got it will do fine.

can you post a picture of your device info. my kjam says 195mhz on processor speed and I have heard that the qtek says 200mhz. but that was a pre production unit. can you tell me if yours says 200mhz or 195???

This one has it's clock set to 195MHz like the K-JAM.
Also, if you're totally obsessive about the condition/ resale value of your devices, you dont need to open the sealed CD (its sealed with a Microsoft label). All it seems to contain is ActiveSync 4.0 and Outlook 2002.
Another thing I noticed - on the side of the box it says "802.11 b"... I'm not sure if this is different to the K-JAM which says it supports 802.11g among others. Has anyone bothered to see what the throughput is on the K-JAM?

The benchmark is in. Use the contents of these files at: http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/benchmark/handleresult.php?en
These results are taken from a fresh hard-reset hx4700 and a fresh hard-reset Qtek 9100. Yes, I realise comparing a WM2003 to a WM2005 device using such software isn't particularly fair... but it does accurately show how much slower the Wizard is (especially when it comes to writing files straight into flash ROM).
Note that the storage card results in the Qtek file should be the same as the "main" filesystem results since its reading from/ writing to the same place (I don't have a miniSD card yet). The reason the Qtek outranks the hx4700 in the graphics department is because the hx4700 is a VGA device.
The battery results for the Qtek 9100 are with the GSM radio activated.

If you've been monitoring the reported bugs on the K-jam on HoFo, it'd be interesting to see how the 9100 compares and whether you find the same bugs.
Also a little concerned about the wifi only being b spec not g. Can you test this?

I just switched my Wireless AP to "G Only". This took out my old laptop with a B card, however my Qtek 9100 was still able to connect fine.
Also, I've been messing around a bit more with the camera... and the photo quality is abysmal. My Nokia 6600 took better photos!

It's amazing they couldn't put a better camera in such an expensive device. What's the point of 1.3 mega pixels of noise?

I totally agree. They may as well have just put a 300kpixel camera in there, the quality would have been the same.

my guess is that those pictures were taken too close to the keyboard for the lens to focus on it. I saw some pictures from a k-jam and, while still not that good, they were much better than these. I believe the same camera unit was used in both.

The camera's focal distance is terrible. I compared it to a Sony Clié which could take a crisp photo of a sheet of paper about 5cm away with only a 300kpixel camera!

ShALLaX said:
The screen also feels very bendy/ stretchy, like the air-gap between the glass and the touchscreen layer is pretty big. This means that you have to press quite hard for the touchscreen to respond (I'm used to a feather-light touch on the hx4700). Other than that it feels fine. I'll post more after I've had a play. I havent even connected this thing to a PC yet!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've just got a pair of 9100's to replace our old 6310's. The first one I opened (and gave to the wife) is as responsive as my 4700, even with a PPC Tech screen protector on. The second sounds just like yours ShALLaX, definately more squishy, even before I put the screen protector on...
Regards,
Dox

Yay for quality control

ShALLaX said:
Yay for quality control
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know... I'd send it back to Expansys, but their K-Jams's have slipped again, and I don't know how long I'd have to wait for another 9100.
Dox

Yeah... I'm sure I'll survive too.
Pretty much got mine all setup how I want it now. With it all customised you do start to notice performance issues but I'm willing to overlook the sluggish programme start times because of the awesome functionality.

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.

Wizard Vs. Wing

So my wizard has been acting up (see the annoying white screen post ) i was wondering first of all if i am allowed to send in my MDA to get it replaced with a Wing for free, since they no longer make MDAs and my MDA is not working properly. Second is the Wing better than the MDA, because i heard that it only has 1 speaker, and no IR (i dont really use IR but its nice to have it). So i was wondering if the speaker is really different than the MDAs or are they both about the same in loudness and quality level.?
BTW: I live in the US so it would be T-Mobile US.

killerkhatiby009 said:
So my wizard has been acting up (see the annoying white screen post ) i was wondering first of all if i am allowed to send in my MDA to get it replaced with a Wing for free, since they no longer make MDAs and my MDA is not working properly. Second is the Wing better than the MDA, because i heard that it only has 1 speaker, and no IR (i dont really use IR but its nice to have it). So i was wondering if the speaker is really different than the MDAs or are they both about the same in loudness and quality level.?
BTW: I live in the US so it would be T-Mobile US.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nobody, except Tmobile can answer your question about getting the Wing as a free replacement for MDA
For MDA vs Wing, I can share my experience with you. I recently got the Wing to play around with and still have my MDA. There are some areas of improvements on the Wing but there are also some downside. But IMHO the improvement is out weight the cons. Missing IR is a disadvantage, but most pp don't use the IR connection nowaday, Bluetooth is over taking the IR.
For speakers, hard to tell with one is better. I think the MDA is a little louder, but the Wing seems to have the clearer sound. Hard to say which is better.

I called T-Mobile about getting a Wing and what would happen if I had an issue with my mda and needed a replacement and T-Mobile still has MDAs to send out to people that need replacements. So I`d doubt they`ll send you a wing instead.

I don't have any proof of this but I have heard that T-mobile is sending wings out to people who have a defective MDA. You'd have to call T-mobile to be sure, of course. There is probably a finite supply of MDA's left in their inventory as it is, so eventually you will probably only be able to get a wing as a replacement. When that will be, I have no idea...
My husband has the wing and I have the mda. I like having the IR because there is a program that will let you use your device as a universal remote. Comes in very handy when you're in a place where you'd like to change the TV channel but don't have the remote (hospital rooms, hotels, etc).
I haven't really listened closely to my husband's wing but the speaker quality seems to be decent. When his phone rings I can't tell whether it is mine or his. I've been flashing my rom a lot lately so there hasnt been any use in changing the ringer all the time.
One thing I am jealous about with hubby's Wing is that the screen pops out from the keyboard instead of sliding the way the MDA does. So you don't get the problem of the screen hanging halfway off of the keyboard if you don't close it all the way.
Also the stylus doesn't just fall out of the Wing like it does with the MDA.
If you get a Wing you will not be able to use your Mini SD card since the Wing uses Micro SD.
The Wing's Comm Manager button is on the keyboard instead of the side of the case. Unless there's a trick we haven't noticed yet, you can't just hold down a button on the side of the case to switch between speaker and vibrate. You actually have to do something on-screen or pop out the keyboard.
WM6 on the MDA works great for me (using X-plore), and it is faster than the old WM5. With that in mind, I'm not noticing a huge increase in speed or performance with the Wing. I haven't really looked much into it but hubby tells me the two devices use the same cpu.
The Wing has the 2 MP camera whereas the MDA has 1 MP. Image quality is about the same except of course the Wing can store larger images. If you want, pm me and I can take 2 pictures of the same object using the Wing and the MDA and let you compare them... I don't know how important that is to you.
The Wing is somewhat lighter than the MDA, but hubby and I both find this weight difference to be barely noticeable. Wing is slightly thinner. Again, its a minimal difference.
The Wing is, as far as I know, the Herald, so you might also want to check the herald forums to see what people think and feel about theirs.
Personally, I'm satisfied with my MDA and I wouldn't want to trade it in unless it was suffering from a major disfunction.

Wow, thanks that was a lot of info. Ill talk to T-mobile about replacing my MDA because it is defective, my screen keeps turning completely white for no reason and to remove the whiteness i have to slide out the keyboard just so the first row of keys show. But anyway thanks for the information, it has saved me a ton of time looking for reviews and comparisons.

Can Aim be any slower!
hey Im a happy MDA user but I have never been happy with the extreme slowness of the aim. Thats the only problem i have with my MDA, the msn messenger goes really quick i dont understand why the aim is soo slow.Is there any way i can make it faster!? ive tried numerous things since september of 06 lol. and does anybody know if the aim on the wing goes quicker? because Ive been eyeing the wing. help !

my opinion
so I got my wing yesterday, first impression it feels nice since I had WM6 on my MDA there was not much to explore the first thing I checked was MEMORY and that did not look pretty here is what I had:
Storage Programs
total:39.44 Total: 43.87
in use: 13.87 in use: 28 something
Free: 25 MB or so Free: 15 something
compared to what I have on my MDA with the awsome wm6 X-plore 2.0n and after installing over 10 apps and all kinds of tweaks this wing is a real WIMP on memory, so I decided to do a hard reset and did soft reset before the Tmobile customization started I wanted to get rid of all T-mobile crap but that did not work it did get rid of some apps and I ganed about 7MB of storage memory but did not help the program memory I gues some of the T-Movbile stuff is part of the Rom and that sucks. when I did the first soft reset I kept looking for the hole on th right side of the phone but it was on the left, since I am right handed that to me is an inconvenience, the siding action on the keyboard is nice, typing on it is not bad at all, what I did not like about it is that it's slides open the opposite way the MDA does again I think that is another inconvenience for a right handed person since most people use their thumb to push the keyboard open, I thought to myself maybe they had a right handed and left handed version...lol.. beacause this is annoying for a right handed person, then again maybe its just me. I like the new "ok" and "windows" buttons the front keys are nice and easy to use I am not sure I like the side buttons lay out I liked them better on the MDA. Before I got this wing thing I wondered how the sound would be with one speaker well, I found out the sound on the MDA is louder when playing mp3 files and when the phone rings quality wise it's close but overall I like the MDA stereo speakers better, the camera on the wing is better quality of course it should be since it's 2.0 MP vs the 1.3 mp on the MDA.
Overall it's an ok device I think I have to give it a couple of weeks see how me and IT get along, but my number one wish is TO FLASH IT and get all that wasted memory back, and that will happen I just dont wanna falsh now because there is no ship rom to go back to in case I brick it.
anyway that was my opinion so far and I will post more as time goes.

SamanthaLovesPink said:
hey Im a happy MDA user but I have never been happy with the extreme slowness of the aim. Thats the only problem i have with my MDA, the msn messenger goes really quick i dont understand why the aim is soo slow.Is there any way i can make it faster!? ive tried numerous things since september of 06 lol. and does anybody know if the aim on the wing goes quicker? because Ive been eyeing the wing. help !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try using IMplus it's fast and works well for all messengers.

I'm considering buying a TyTN...

Hi there. I've been a satisfied user of a SPV C600 for quite a long time. Now i'm moving to a touch-phone - TyTN, and therefore I have some questions. Are they (pocket pc phones) much less resistant than classic smartphones? Isn't the screen sensitive and easy to destroy? and finally, how is it practical comparing to a classic phone? And how it's with battery life?

I suggest you to buy the TYTN II (Kaiser). It has integrated GPS ;-)

kartam said:
Hi there. I've been a satisfied user of a SPV C600 for quite a long time. Now i'm moving to a touch-phone - TyTN, and therefore I have some questions. Are they (pocket pc phones) much less resistant than classic smartphones? Isn't the screen sensitive and easy to destroy? and finally, how is it practical comparing to a classic phone? And how it's with battery life?
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Click to collapse
The screens are not overly delicate, but you will need a protective case - don't just put it in your pocket. The battery life - just depends, count on charging it every day.
The phone functions differently from a pure phone. The phone menus and operations are via Windows Mobile. This gives some added functionality, but some folks would say it is a clumsier system than that of a pure phone.
My advice - if at all possible get a new TyTn or TyTn 2. There are many TyTns (original version) on ebay that have the screen alignment and white screen problems and there is no easy fix for either of these issues. The TyTn 2 is much less prone to either of these problems.
The original TyTn (Hermes) is apt to freezing and slowness. This is fixable with a bit of tweaking of the settings, a few registry changes and maybe even a new ROM. These kinds of things are what this site is all about and the help is here for that. Expect to spend time setting up a PPC phone - a bit like setting up your PC. So in this respect it's not like a more basic phone that is pretty much set up out of the box.
Mike

Yeah I know I'd need to set it up, I've had several palmphones before but never as primary phone (I have had only touchless smartphones as primaries). I'd buy a TyTN II but i haven't got that much money, (I don't need GPS, and I'd live with the 2 mpx camera, it's not that important for me) and I've bought recently a SPV M3100 for 109 pounds... still waiting to be delivered
and well - all that tweaking is what i love of WM phones I didn't have it on classic phones or even Symbian ones, and now I'm waitiiing ;D having a classic phone for several days and I must say I hate its simplicity!
palmphones - i mean PPC phones of course.
But Hermes isn't slow overall? I mean comparing it to an OMAP850...

kartam said:
But Hermes isn't slow overall? I mean comparing it to an OMAP850...
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My AT&T 8525 (U.S. Hermes) was quite sluggish and had the tendency to lock up several times a day and need to have a soft reset done in order to get it up an running again. That all changed when I flashed the official AT&T WM6 ROM that had come out. Since then, it has been very solid and rarely needs a soft reset. Very snappy, as well.
All I do whenever I have to hard reset due to tinkering, is spend a few minutes removing all the AT&T bloat that comes in the ROM, getting the used storage memory down to about 5-6MB before I start installing things. Works for me and is very stable.

you have bought a good little phone - im exactly the same, if i purchase a phone it will not be a classic phone.. it'll be a WM phone lol.
the hermes isn't slow at all (imo) i cant compare to the omap but im sure you'll like it once you find a fast 6.1 rom