Database Users

Really a poor machine.... XDAII

Written from Hong Kong. I've bought a XDAII two weeks before and I believe it should be well combined by O2 and Microsoft. After one week, I really found it as an extremely poor manufactured one. Many defects I found:
1. Always hanged. After a long time I haven't used the phone, then I tried to switch on the screen and I found it hanged... Someone called me but I couldn't know!! It hanged 3 to 5 times per day. What a poor machine is it??
2. Bluetooth handicapped. I've matched the phone with different bluetooth headset such as HBH200, HB65 and Nokia. No one could be perfect matched and the phone always couldn't recognize the headset.
3. Sound quality. Poor... Worst than my old fashioned phone, Nokia 8850, disconnect even in MTR!!
So, I sold it immediately after 2 weeks!! I'll never buy the product from O2 again!! I've sent an email to O2 but no one reply me. I'm very disappointed with the phone and its producer.

I am from Hong Kong , too.
Obviously, you don't know how to optimize your machine.
1. My XDA2 never hang for unknown reason. There are few software conflict with the phone. If I uninstalled those software, the phone works perfectly. My phone is extremely stable right now and no miss call.
I recommand you install scarybear software's WM2003 nofitication utility to improve the performance of your XDA2. It seems XDA2 is affected by this BUG VERY MUCH.
http://www.scarybearsoftware.com/ppc_cn_overview.html
Install both of the software to fix the WM2003 notification bug.
Moreover, DON'T install PIEPlus if you do so. THe current version (1.11) slow down the XDA2 very much.
2. I want to know what is "Perfect Match" . HBH-65 works perfectly with my XDA2. Moreover, I want to know what "recognize" you mean. If you want to say you can't bond/pair the headset, please set the headset in pair mode (please read the manual of the headset) .
3. I strongly believe XDA2 has the best sound quality. All mobile I used beforce is not as good as it (Motrola DB8800 / StarTac / V3688 , Ericsson T28/ T39 / T68, Nokia 8210 / 8850). I used 8850 before, it's sound quality is quite poor.
Maybe it's your device's own problem, I think you should return for another one.
Moreover, I sent emails to myxda.com 2 times, they replied me everytime.

Thanks a lot... I bought it from CSL and I've checked with the experts from it. They also said that there are some bugs regarding the hardware and software. The response with bluetooth headset is poor on average, which we've checked with nos. of new machine from CSL. They've asked O2 for suggestion but they can't help. Never mind, it's just my own personal experience.
I've used iPAQ 5450 before and listened to MP3 music, its sound quality is much better than XDAII. It's true, you could try it.
Has anyone faced the same problems?

franciscwlau said:
I've used iPAQ 5450 before and listened to MP3 music, its sound quality is much better than XDAII. It's true, you could try it.
Has anyone faced the same problems?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you, XDA2's sound qaulity (Audio output, not voice quality) is not as good as ipaq. However, did you test it with another earphone?
The original handsfree's qaulity is ..........
(Yes, I know, even with other earphone (with a modified handsfree / 2.5" => 3.5" adaptor) , the qaulity still not real good.
Moreover, the qaulity of the machine doesn't match the price. Too many bugs for a HK$6688 / US $800 machines....

The sad fact is these latest PDA/phones are getting so smart they are more akin to owning a computer than a phone which unlike with the typical blokia means you need more than an ounce of brains to run it.
ho-hum.....

2 weeks isn't long to get to know a smart phone..
The bad
The XDAII is unreliable, crashes frequently, is a brick, battery life is dismal.
THE GOOD.
I can get by with one device on my belt + BT GPS in my hat. I don't need to carry camera, PDA,phone and GPS. Advantages, less change of being mugged. If Mugged I lose just one item.
It will get better..

Advantages, less change of being mugged. If Mugged I lose just one item.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but one pretty expensive item

well , I also faceded phone hangs every 1 or 2 days and the only way I could do is to do a hard reset(evern softreset can not be done), so after about 10 times hard reset and not install any apps, I send it back to HK for maint. I love XDAII, it is really a powerful PPC and phone, just not stable enough, maybe it is too frag.
I hope it could be fixed, some one said that after a rom upgrade, it become more stable, I believe it is true. now, the only thing I could do is to pray for it.

XDA II not so bad!!
I owned XDA II for 2 weeks. Initially, I tried to install many many software and caused system hang for a few times. However, after I have tried the best-suit software for me and installed one by one. The system didn't hang for a week.
128MB Ram provided a really good perforamce. I felt that it is a little bit faster than HP2210.
MP3 sound is ok with the given headset as the Treible is a bit high. I believed that it could be improved by changing the headset.
There is no need for me to bring a mobile phone, a PDA. Most of the people used to bring mobile phone everyday. However, they would forget to bring the PDA or not bring in weekend. After a period of time, the PDA will be on the desk for a month, then in the drawer for a year....
All-in-one is really good.
I agreed that O2 should tune the machine better before release to make it more user-friendly.
The thing I felt not good is the voice from the earpiece. Sometimes, there were some GI..GI sound during phone call (mostly girl voice). I suspected that there are something like a spring that resonance with the earpiece and caused the GI..GI sound. I would also due to the over-volume on the earpiece.
Does anyone experience the GI....GI sound? I tried to go to the dealer and test another handset, same kind of GI..GI sound was found.
Besides, I can't find anyone TV Remote that could work with XDA II. I will give the software company more time....
sohand

I am from Hong Kong too. I bought it at CSL. The machine was great FOR TWO WEEKS. Everything before that moment was fine until it decided to commit suicide. I really mean it becuase all of a sudden the screen darkened and no response at all no matter what I did, soft or hard reset didn't help. (I didn't install a single software in it). So I took it back to CSL and they were happy to swap it with a new unit. The new unit has been functioning well until now (touch wood). Overall I love this product (except price) except I don't know when my little baby decides to leave me.
Here are some of my comments on the machine:
GOOD:
- Phone reception has been excellent. Even better than many Nokias.
- Most powerful PPC + phone combo. No doubt.
- I did consider SE P900 which looks stylish. But I hate Sony which force the user to use the extremely expensive Memory Stick Duo.
- Lots of 3rd party software, comparing to Symbian OS.
- I like the indepedent volume control of the main and phone vol. and is a huge improvement over my XDA I.
- Also, the brightness can be adjusted for different level, unlike only on/off for XDA I.
- The handwriting recognition is quite good. I don't like the graffti in Palm cause I have to enter each letter which is very slow. I can write a whole sentence in my PPC.
- I don't like the 'hanging' problem. It doesn't crash without reason. (except the 1st unit suddenly died).
- The battery life has improved dramatically compared to XDA I, but still no match for SE P900.
BAD:
- No profile feature.
- Service codes (e.g. **21*phone no.# for call forward in HK) can't be entered in speed dial. It is very useful but I can't understand why my 1/10th priced SE T100 can do it but my XDA II can't!
- There is a slide button in Treo that can switch the phone from loud to silent in one touch. I don't know why the designer can't just copy good things from others.
- MP3 will pause when a phone call comes. In XDA I, the music resumes after the call, but the music will pause after the call for XDA and you need to press a button. It's plain stupid that the XDA II is worse than I.
- Again, one can switch the phone on/off by pressing the 'End Call' button. But in XDA II, you have to click the antenna icon on screen and wait for the dialogue box appears (which takes years to appear).
- It is simply RIDICULOUS that closing a program is not really closing it. To be fair, it is PPC problem not O2. What's the logic for going to the memory screen to close a program?
Any comments?

I do experient GIGI sound during I used my headset.
Do you guys in HK used any Chinese input app such as CE-Star or Monster Chinese?

Hi,
I am actually from Hong Kong also and bought the second batch, English revision ...
1. Obviously the "hang" problem might be related to (1) you've installed s/w that are not compatible with WM2003 (like Chinese system) or because of the WM2003 System Event Bug. As killercheung suggested, there are always workaround and O2 should not be blamed (because it is M$ OS ...)
2. Personally I used HBH-200 and have no intermittent bonding problem as you described. Yes, the CALLER-ID and CALLER LIST won't work as expected (because of the required bluetooth profile does not exist in XDA2), but other than that, it's working as expected. I know Nokia's Bluetooth have numerous problems but it is Nokia's problem, not XDA2.
3. The sound quality is good. My wife said it is TOO LOUD ...
Yes there are a lot of bugs in the OS and ROM itself but I think nothing in PDA field can match XDA2 at this moment. When compare with PDA functions, s/w support etc, even P900 is no match.
franciscwlau said:
Written from Hong Kong. I've bought a XDAII two weeks before and I believe it should be well combined by O2 and Microsoft. After one week, I really found it as an extremely poor manufactured one. Many defects I found:
1. Always hanged. After a long time I haven't used the phone, then I tried to switch on the screen and I found it hanged... Someone called me but I couldn't know!! It hanged 3 to 5 times per day. What a poor machine is it??
2. Bluetooth handicapped. I've matched the phone with different bluetooth headset such as HBH200, HB65 and Nokia. No one could be perfect matched and the phone always couldn't recognize the headset.
3. Sound quality. Poor... Worst than my old fashioned phone, Nokia 8850, disconnect even in MTR!!
So, I sold it immediately after 2 weeks!! I'll never buy the product from O2 again!! I've sent an email to O2 but no one reply me. I'm very disappointed with the phone and its producer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Re: XDA II not so bad!!
Hi,
I heard there is NO remote controller s/w supporting XDA2 at this moment, people are saying that it does not have consumer-infrared support ...
BTW, I think the GI GI sound is normal ... although mine don't have.
sohand said:
I owned XDA II for 2 weeks. Initially, I tried to install many many software and caused system hang for a few times. However, after I have tried the best-suit software for me and installed one by one. The system didn't hang for a week.
128MB Ram provided a really good perforamce. I felt that it is a little bit faster than HP2210.
MP3 sound is ok with the given headset as the Treible is a bit high. I believed that it could be improved by changing the headset.
There is no need for me to bring a mobile phone, a PDA. Most of the people used to bring mobile phone everyday. However, they would forget to bring the PDA or not bring in weekend. After a period of time, the PDA will be on the desk for a month, then in the drawer for a year....
All-in-one is really good.
I agreed that O2 should tune the machine better before release to make it more user-friendly.
The thing I felt not good is the voice from the earpiece. Sometimes, there were some GI..GI sound during phone call (mostly girl voice). I suspected that there are something like a spring that resonance with the earpiece and caused the GI..GI sound. I would also due to the over-volume on the earpiece.
Does anyone experience the GI....GI sound? I tried to go to the dealer and test another handset, same kind of GI..GI sound was found.
Besides, I can't find anyone TV Remote that could work with XDA II. I will give the software company more time....
sohand
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I'm from Taiwan, but my XDA II was bought from HK.
You can find that some applications lag or crash when executing on the XDA II. That's because XDA II has too many pre-loaded applications in memory. So, if you want to make your XDA II run faster, just get to the "startup" directory under the "Windows" directory, and delete some AP shortcuts which are unnecessary. Then, you will find that your XDA II runs much faster than ever.

Rudegar said:
Advantages, less change of being mugged. If Mugged I lose just one item.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but one pretty expensive item
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is why God invented insurance

XDA 2 reliability
I haven't installed many apps other than tomtom nav 2. The supplied apps are good enough fo me. It only crashes about twice a day, not bad for an MS product, I can live with it. I still use nokia as my main phone.

I am not from HongKong or Taiwan but I can imagine that people who don't have experience with PocketPC's and the XDA I in particular have problems with the general use of the machine.......
I think it is a great device. The only problem is that it is driven by a Microsoft OS which is still in its childhood. And knowing MS it probably will never get out of it..........

BarnOwl said:
I am not from HongKong or Taiwan but I can imagine that people who don't have experience with PocketPC's and the XDA I in particular have problems with the general use of the machine.......
I think it is a great device. The only problem is that it is driven by a Microsoft OS which is still in its childhood. And knowing MS it probably will never get out of it..........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
You could tolerate the hanging twice per day!! Sorry, I really can't accept this happen anymore. I do think it's the problem of MS, but O2 should take some responsibilities reagarding it. I've used the iPAQ before, it would not hang as I've installed many many softwares on it. The most important point is you don't know when it would hang. You don't know who called you before... Tragedy... Now, I'm using P900 and it's much much better. The software running is very stable and I could still install many useful softwares on it, except the ms reader. I really recommend to buy the P900 if you desire to have a trustful phone + PDA... Although you have to sacrify some functions.

I really recommend to buy the P900 if you desire to have a trustful phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Until you try and buy a 256M or 512M mem stick duo.
P900, nice idea, poorly implemented.

Problems with the magician?

Hi guys. I post quite a bit in the Blue Angel section of this forum.
My BA is probably the worst device I have ever used in terms of both software and hardware issues. I'm surprised they're allowed to sell it.
My question is, Are there any common problems with the iMate Jam?
Like anything alot of these devices suffer from? 76% of BAs have the 'no sound in call' problem, and alot seem to have the whictling screen/serious bluetooth issues. Anything like this on the Magician I should know about before buying?
Cheers -Mike

Hi, ive had my Jam since middle of jan 2005, and my GF got one soon after so i have had two to play around with, and ive been reading forums fairly extensively since then. I have used roms 1.03, 1.06, 1.11 and i am now runnin 1.12 without any major problems. i have seen a few people complain of various sound issues, which I believe are either a hardware fault (such as a loose mic), or are resolved with Roms 1.11 or 1.12, or even just a hard reset (i have experienced low volume from loud speaker which was solved by a hard reset). Alot of people complain of the not reconnecting gprs issue which i have also experienced on roms 1.11 and 1.12 (it was one of the deciding factors for me upgrading to 1.12) it seems to happen where it tries to send two connections at once and times it self out, I find it to be intermittent, and resolved with a soft reset. Bluetooth has been more troublesome I must say and I only use it for handsfree, so I cant comment on AS connections. I use Buzz_Lightyears SwitchIT software (Buzz you RULE) to turn my BT on/off from my today screen. ROM 1.06 had major issues with BT and required a patch, which helped somewhat with the issue. roms 1.11 and 1.12 very occasionly have issues with BT which again are usually sorted with a soft reset, and once working will stay working untill a soft reset causes them to not work, and a another soft reset is required. BT has issues with being out of sync with the GSM radio i find eg. if BT is on while the radio is off and i soft reset i usually get an issue with BT. Photo Caller ID is intermittent i find, which is possibly because of having the photos in storage space, I'm not really sure and to be honest is not a huge problem anyway.
So yeah there is common problems across the Jam/magician range. however I love my Jam and wouldn't swap it for any other device on the market because for a convergence device which runs an MS operating system (blue screen of death!!! MS are far from perfect) I find 98% of the time its stable and does more then I need. is it perfect??...no, should it be?? we all wish...

Cheers dude! I think I will get one. So long as we're not into Blue Angel territory of 5 soft resets required a day, no sound during calls, random hard resets and bluetooth when it feels like it.
OOH, whats the battery life like?

mike freegan said:
OOH, whats the battery life like?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well Imate manual reckons talk-time of 3-5 hours, 190 hours standby, and once it switchs off with flat battery warning you got 72 hours before it hard resets . anyway heavy use will see you charging it at the end of the day (I usually just sync when i get home). with a few short calls over a weekend it will usually last the weekend. And as your probably aware li-ion batteries like to be charged.
Speedn

As expected I suppose. I don't understand why HTC devices have such turd battery life compared to sony ericsson devices and such.
Does anyone know if it takes Blue Angel handsfree or Himilaya handsfree?

mike freegan said:
As expected I suppose. I don't understand why HTC devices have such turd battery life compared to sony ericsson devices and such.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's like comparing an Toyota Prius to a Porsche (the Ericsson being the Prius). They both do the job with style, and they are both fine technical achievements. But one of them will drain your gas account a little bit faster than the other.

Hi, ive had my Jam since middle of jan 2005, and my GF got one soon after so i have had two to play around with, and ive been reading forums fairly extensively.......................................................I find 98% of the time its stable and does more then I need. is it perfect??...no, should it be?? we all wish...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally agree...
to mike
If u know how to tweak ur magician and deal with it..it will turn into a killer device...
even with the bad quality of the camera, U can manage to take great photos... and with some phtotoshop editing they will be really awesome..
battery life us very good...especially when listening to MP3s ( basically, it consumes 10% of the battery for every hour with the screen off, and using high quality headset)
I use my JAM mainly as MP3 player and a medical reference
BT is good for sending files only as well as hands-free, other profiles are not available...
memory isn't that small, with the proper tweaking, u can get up to 32 MB of free RAM after a soft reset....of course compared to ur Blue Angel, this is very low, but I believe it is more than enough for me -as a JAM user -
if u need to know any thing else, please ask
cheers :wink:

I'm very happy with my O2 Xda II mini. It does everything I need it to do. I have not had any sound problems at all. The only issue I had after a ROM upgrade was the GPRS cannot connect problem, which has now been resolved by downgrading just the CallerID program.
Aside from that, I feel it is a killer device.

Cheers for all the help guys!! I really appreciate it. Think I'll give the magician a go

About Magician Probs
For the list of probs, I get two number for incoming calls: the caller and a private number?!? But this is just a very little prob.
In a thread I've described that my magician simply won't start when is cold. COULD SOMEONE TRY THIS MESS IS SERIOUS!!!
And for the prob of the GPRS: ok, but I don't have CallerID and DON'T want to install it. MUST I install I to eliminate this prob?
I love my magician. Is my wonder machine...

If you do not stop the extrom from installing after a hardreset, CallerId will be automatically installed on your device. For some reason HTC have chosen to name the link in the start menu "Photo Contacts" instead of CallerId.

If you want a more Blue Angel like device (with regards to size and features of the Blue Angel) I would recommend the Alpine. I'm personally not using it because I prefer the smaller size of the Magician but the Alpine is full featured and from what I read from some other users in germany, almost bug free. Especially bluetooth is said to work great, better than (and with more profiles due to the Widcomm stack) the Microsoft Stack of the Magician. It also features the 1,3 MPix camera, a good display, WLan and a faster processor (500 MHz). If you prefer the bigger devices and don't need the keyboard, I think the Alpine rocks.

I've had the Orange SPV M500 variant for about a week now and it's been absolutely flawless.

No no, I decided to skip the installation of CallerID (in the italian devices is called Identità Visitatore -huh?-) but I'm not sure if it's needed to resolve the GPRS prob -downgrading-
Oh, I've got another prob: u MUST know a good program like MortRing to set the ringtone OR windows keep resetting to the standard one.
There are plenty of little probs: to set up the jam correctly, there is the need of a decent regedit and personal experience...

I know the great majority of you chaps think it's wonderful, so please don't take this as a trolling, it's just my opinion.
I've had the orange m500 for 5 days now, and I've had enough. As a windows pda it's fine. Quick, small, nice screen, decent battery life.
As a phone it is awful. The whole interface seems like such an afterthought. You would imagine that it would be easy enough to do basic phone things without having to take the stylus out, but you can't. For example, if you go into the contact book, then click on a contact but get the wrong one, there is no way to go back up a level using hardkeys. You have to click the X in the top corner, which is fiddly to say the least.
That's just one small problem I've had out of quite a few, but it's become quickly obvious to me that a quick and easy-to-use phone is more important to me than an all-singing windows pda, so I have arranged to return it. If your priorities are similar to mine, I would urge you to look elsewhere.

you should try "mamaich's contacts", adds a contact button right to the phone dial pad, and lets you use HW joypad to scroll through your contacts and pages...Its like the missing link I swear. true one handed dialing.
it's found on this board, and is free.
Speedn

XDA Exec.....just returned mine!

Hi everyone,
I received my new XDA Exec last Friday and today (Tuesday) I just returned it!
I'm not here to try to influence anybody, but if you haven't bought one yet, you might find this useful.
Then it's up to you.....
I owned 6 PDAs until now, from an old IPAQ with B&W screen to this great XDA Exec piece of kit.
This to me is simply a fantastic piece of hardware, but unfortunately it is severely let down by the software running on it and comiing with it.
Here is what I found in the last 4 days before I lost my patience:
PROS:
1) FAntastic screen, great resolution, brightness and clarity
2) Very good keyboard. It might be too small for touch-typing, but it's great if you don't have to write a book with your Exec. Most of the functions on the screen are replicated on buttons on the keyboard, so you can use the Exec without a stylo pretty easily.
3) USB charging. Nice after the previous XDAs to have one with a "normal" adaptor.
4) Nice new processor. I know many people on this forum had problem with the speed of their JasJar, but I found my Exec very speedy. I personally noticed an improvement from my XDA II.
I'm sure I could have other nice things to say about it, but here are the CONS:
1) It says everywhere about its 285gr weight, but I don't know if you really realize what you're getting yourself into. If you're used to bring your XDA into your bag or your backpack, then no problems. If you always found a place in your pocket for your XDA, then you better tighten your belt because this baby is a real brick!
2) The hardware is probably the best piece of kit I came across, but the software is the worst ensemble of problems I've ever dealt with.
Activesync 4.0 is a bag of .... Both my tomtom 5 software and a flight planning navigation softare that were working to perfection on my XDA II, are not working on the new EXEC.
I know somebody has been able to install the tomtom by transfering the .CAB files directly to the Exec, but I'm one of those "unlucky" (or too stupid) ones that couldn't install one of the 4 .CAB files and therefore....no tomtom 5 for me anymore.
The other piece of software is a VB written software, I installed the VBruntime and I was able to transfer the .CAB files individually. I managed to install the software, but it then started to play havoc with the Exec (the keyboard light would not come on anymore and even after few soft-reset and unistalling the application, I could only bring the system back to normal throught a hard-reset).
3) I also had the soft buttons disappear on me, and had to reset the machine before they reappeared. By the way, please note that the soft reset on my XDA Exec, takes approx 1 min to take place and restart the system. It's a lot longer than on my XDA II and if you think of how many times you'll need to restart it in its life (thanks Microsoft for its well known stabiltiy).
4) WM Player has problem with its full screen funcition. Even if you select the box, it won't play in full screen. If you like me, have plenty of movies converted in a 320x240 format and you'd like to use them in the new Exec, then forget the WMP because they'll only play in 320x240. WMP will not "stretch" them and they'll only look as big as a stamp.
You can easily download a free software (Core Pocket Media Player) which is a great piece of kit, but this brings me to my next point,
5) Storage memory in the new Exec is not "plentyful". The system should come with 128Mb, but around 80Mb are already taken by the pre-installed software. When you first start the machine, if you look and the memory settings, you'll only have around 40Mb available, 20 for Storage and 20 for programs.....and you cannot bias the size from one side to the other. In this new software, it's done automatically.
You can probably download software to correct or improve the one that the system is shipped with, but you'll soon find out that you'll run out of memory.
I installed on my new XDA:
The PDF viewer,
The VBruntime,
Microsoft Autoroute,
Core Pocket Media player,
and all I was left were 6 miserable Mb to play with.
I know somebody said that the system is designed for you to install the programs on SD cards, but I found this whole thing a bit ridicolous.
BTW, Microsoft Reader is NOT included in the system, so if you, like me, like to read books on the go, you'll have to download it separately and utilize even more memory
I'm sure I could go on for another few pages but I'll better stop.
I'm not trying to change anybody's mind, but I'm trying to make a simple point.
If you're an expert in PC and PDAs and if you're ready to "play" with your exec for hours on end to reach a "usable" machine, then enjoy it. It's really a great piece of hardware, with almost endless potential.
If you are an XDA (or probably any other PDA) user and you think that you can get the new Exec and transfer all of your programs on it and have it working in a heartbeat......think again.
I'm no pro, but I'm not a complete rockie.
I don't want to spend my next 3 months downloading ROM upgrades and hard-resetting this beast, just to get out of it what I already get out of my old XDA II.
My final thought is that if you haven't bought one yet, you might want to wait a litte bit more, until microsoft or somebody else, sorts out some of these problems.
I Hope somebody might find this useful.
ps My apologies for the grammar.....

Wow...
I am really confused on what to do...

I'm just confused!
trendystyle, don't you already have a JasJar!?
And mig31, returning "a fantastic piece of hardware" because it's not running some old (and therefore not fully compatible) software properly seems a bit hasty, doesn't it?

I love my Exec. I have no issues with memory, except it is misleading how they publish.
And software does need to be updated to WM5, so patience. The rom works well.
Its a PDA with a phone and thats the best way to look at it.

Well i recieved my exec this morning. First impressions are that its not that big. If your used to and xda then there isnt a great deal of difference. Its quite heavy but not massivly so.
The screen is fantastic, as is the keyboard. So far i am loving it!
The box that it comes in is wroth the money alone!

I'm returning mine too.
This was my first PPC after years with Palm and the Pam interface just seems to come across as cleaner and friendlier.
I've had AS 4.0 hose the wireless connection on my laptop and no one seems to be able to help.
Another thing that bothers me is the need to pay for 3rd party programs to do just about anything to make it more usable.
Even something as simple viewing the list of programs as a list instead of as large icons need a 3rd party program.
Want to close a program instead of just puting it in the background, get a 3rd party program to make the close button work like a close button.
Don't even get me started about Pocket IE.
I've had to hard reset it once and soft reset the device 4 times in 2 days, this was before loading anything new on it. Just while using it as normal right out of the box.
Finally, it's really slow.
I did not mind the size as I knew what I was getting into. I wanted the larger screen and keyboard. It actually felt just fine as a phone in my hand.
The phone seems to be designed with PPC afficionados in mind. For a regular user who does not have the time or inclination to play around with ROM upgrades, tweaks, 3rd party programs, etc. this doesn't seem to work. If you want to spend hours playing with it, this just might be for you.
I'm going back to my Treo 650 for now.

Hi,
i can´t really understand some of your cons.
> 2) The hardware is probably the best piece of kit I came across, but the
> software is the worst ensemble of problems I've ever dealt with.
> ActiveSync 4.0 is a bag of ....
Active Sync works perfectly for me, no problems at all.
> Both my tomtom 5 software and a flight planning navigation softare that
> were working to perfection on my XDA II, are not working on the new
> EXEC.
Both programs aren´t designed for use use with WM2k5, so what do you expect ? Instead of blaming the device, go and ask tomtom for an update.
> 3) [...] By the way, please note that the soft reset on my XDA Exec,
> takes approx 1 min to take place and restart the system.
Ok, it´s 35 seconds for me, sure, that´s not really fast, but i needed exactly one softreset in the last two weeks .. so i can live with that.
(i don´t count resets after installing ne software)
> 4) WM Player has problem with its full screen funcition. Even if you
> select the box, it won't play in full screen.
Yes, you are right ... the WM-Player is really bad, but just download the free betaplayer .. works very fine and this problem is solved - 2 minutes of work.
> 5) Storage memory in the new Exec is not "plentyful". [...]
> I installed on my new XDA:
> The PDF viewer, The VBruntime, Microsoft Autoroute, Core Pocket
> Media player, and all I was left were 6 miserable Mb to play with.
First of all, the pdf viewer is already installed in WM2k5, so no need to reinstall it (at least it was on my machine).
I have the following programs installed on my mda pro:
- Total Commander
- Chess
- Betaplayer
- Registry Editor
- i-Mate backgammon
- weather plugin
- grps monitor (from the t-mobile cd)
and i have 32 Megs storage mem free and 29 megs program mem free.
But .. hey, if you install a routing software like autoroute and don´t install it on the sd card .. your fault.
Sure, your conclusion is not so bad .. the mda pro is no device for bloody novices, but .. a minumum of knowledge and understanding is enough to use and configure it.
- Superbowl

Read your comments, its a shame.
I am a power user, and I have used the Treo. The only advantage the Treo has is its simplicity and size.
WM5 and the Exec are a complex beast. It can perform loads of tasks. There is no need to always close apps. I dont use any task manager as I do not see the need.
Standard MS apps can be closed with ctrl q on the SIP keyboard.
The device is new. You havent given it anytime to really understand it. It takes at least a week - a month to learn about it.

All of these 'issues' could have been identified before purchasing the Universal with just a tiny bit of research!
Again, it sounds like people are rushing out to spend their money on the latest greates device without the slightest idea of what they're getting themselves into. (I got a proper mauling for suggesting this a week or so ago in another thread, but I still firmly believe this to be the case)
I'd suggest a lot of people around here would be more comfortable with the far less threatening new P990. Looks like a decent 3G smartphone, and would be easier for a newbie. Perhaps get to grips with something like that before moving on to an XDA device when you've outgrown Symbian? (That route worked for me, anyway!)

If only I'm staying in UK.I don't mind buying a set from u guys . :wink:

Many thanks to mig31 for a useful guide to others thinking of buying this device. I do think though that as most of the Cons highlighted have been discussed at length in previous threads, maybe you should have held off a little longer before buying one.
As a first time poster, mig31 may have an excuse as indeed would any unfortunates who have walked into their local 02 shop and bought one on the recommendations of the sales teams. But surely, all regular readers of xda-developers forum should be well aware of the pros and cons of the device. I am also fairly sure that like me, most will be subscribed to many other sites as well.
I would therefore have to agree with sub69, (incidentally, I also agreed with your comments on the earlier thread but refrained from joining for fear of receiving similar irrational abuse). :roll:

Thinking of getting an Exec...
Greetings to all!
I'm new here, just recently registered. I've been doing some background research on the Exec and it seems reasonable. However, I am finding more mixed reviews about it.
I'm currently on the II and I am thoroughly enjoying it! Prior to switching to the II, I entrusted my mobile needs to my good 'ol 6210 and Vx which I do not miss at the very least. Those two served me well.
I am thinking of getting an Exec, do you guys/ gals think it would be a worthwhile investment? I use my II almost exclusively for work and I plan to do the same with the Exec if ever. I hardly get to use the camera and MP3 on my II, but I adore it for having access Word and Excel. The Exec currently isn't available in Manila, hence my search outside. Being behind the curve (in Manila) would guys/ gals know of any hitches that I might encounter by trying to operate my unit here in Manila (phone function)? Are there language settings to choose from on the Exec?
Lastly, by any of you might know of a user/reseller planning to dispose of their Execs?
Cheers!

gavinfabl said:
WM5 and the Exec are a complex beast. It can perform loads of tasks.
...
The device is new. You havent given it anytime to really understand it. It takes at least a week - a month to learn about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you. That's why I'm going to try it out for close to the full 14 day trial period. Then, if it's still not for me, it goes back.

sub69 said:
I'm just confused!
trendystyle, don't you already have a JasJar!?
And mig31, returning "a fantastic piece of hardware" because it's not running some old (and therefore not fully compatible) software properly seems a bit hasty, doesn't it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Obviuosly I have it!
I am confused, cause I don't know what to do, and time is running out(1 month for refund...), should i keep it, hoping for a new update, or sending it back, and waiting for real and mature super device?^??

I've had AS 4.0 hose the wireless connection on my laptop and no one seems to be able to help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm while you don't specifically state the problem here I think I may have one possible solution...if my hunch is correct.
When you connect a WM5.0 device using ActiveSync 4 Windows creates a Network Port for it.
Now Windows uses a series of Metrics for all networked devices, whichever device has the lowest metric becomes the default. It is possible that Windows is assigning a lower metric to your XDA's network device then your Wireless network, hence it picks that as your default device screwing up your wireless connection.
For more detailed information on metrics see this article
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/columns/cableguy/cg0405.mspx
You can however over-ride the default behavior.
Go to Start>Control Panel>Network Connections
Right click your wireless network connection and choose properties. Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) from the list and then click the Properties button
From the properties window click the Advanced button
In the advanced settings window at the bottom there is a tickbox which says Automatic Metric. Untick this and assign it a number, say 20
Click ok and close all the windows till you get back to the Network Connections Window. Do the same for the network connection assigned to your XDA but assign it a HIGHER number then you did for the wireless connection.
Your wireless connection should now be the default!
If it doesn't work then you can just simply put things back as they were and everything will be ok

trendystyle said:
Obviuosly I have it!
I am confused, cause I don't know what to do, and time is running out(1 month for refund...), should i keep it, hoping for a new update, or sending it back, and waiting for real and mature super device?^??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ohhhhhhhh, I see!
Well, if you return it for a refund you can always pick up a subsidised Exec or Pro later on for much less money, or you could stick with the JasJar and update as you go along.
Either way, you'll be waiting for a more mature device, just a matter of whether you want a less mature device while you wait, or no device at all?

mjames_84 said:
I've had AS 4.0 hose the wireless connection on my laptop and no one seems to be able to help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm while you don't specifically state the problem here I think I may have one possible solution...if my hunch is correct.
......
If it doesn't work then you can just simply put things back as they were and everything will be ok
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the input.
Here's a more detailed description of the problem:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?p=168289#168289
See my followup post in that thread for more info as well.

sub69 said:
trendystyle said:
Obviuosly I have it!
I am confused, cause I don't know what to do, and time is running out(1 month for refund...), should i keep it, hoping for a new update, or sending it back, and waiting for real and mature super device?^??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ohhhhhhhh, I see!
Well, if you return it for a refund you can always pick up a subsidised Exec or Pro later on for much less money, or you could stick with the JasJar and update as you go along.
Either way, you'll be waiting for a more mature device, just a matter of whether you want a less mature device while you wait, or no device at all?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, as you might know, as you purchase a new device, there are always bacos, problem, or maybe bad firmware:
I prefer maybe to see, if in the next 4/6 month they will come out, with an improved Jasjar(at SW or HW level), maybe at a fair price, not at thieves price, that will allow me to do all the things I was doing normally with much cheaper and obsolete devices (like installing 3rd party applications, games, etc.), without rebooting every 20 minutes
I understand the post on the Treo 650, is by far much better delivering its mission, it goes smooth, never reboot, and cost the half!

trendystyle said:
Well, as you might know, as you purchase a new device, there are always bacos, problem, or maybe bad firmware:
I prefer maybe to see, if in the next 4/6 month they will come out, with an improved Jasjar(at SW or HW level), maybe at a fair price, not at thieves price, that will allow me to do all the things I was doing normally with much cheaper and obsolete devices (like installing 3rd party applications, games, etc.), without rebooting every 20 minutes
I understand the post on the Treo 650, is by far much better delivering its mission, it goes smooth, never reboot, and cost the half!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can see where this is going, so lets just agree to disagree now, shall we? :wink:

sub69 said:
trendystyle said:
Well, as you might know, as you purchase a new device, there are always bacos, problem, or maybe bad firmware:
I prefer maybe to see, if in the next 4/6 month they will come out, with an improved Jasjar(at SW or HW level), maybe at a fair price, not at thieves price, that will allow me to do all the things I was doing normally with much cheaper and obsolete devices (like installing 3rd party applications, games, etc.), without rebooting every 20 minutes
I understand the post on the Treo 650, is by far much better delivering its mission, it goes smooth, never reboot, and cost the half!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can see where this is going, so lets just agree to disagree now, shall we? :wink:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right!
It's a way of fact: TREO 650, at the moment works much better than the Jasjar: let's hope for the future!
1) Or I-mate solve a lot of problem
2) I will buy the new Treo 700, on Windows mobile 5.0

One slow Universal - help!!!

I have the MDA Pro and the MDA Vario, most of my software runs from SD card. Both are up to date with regards the official ROM software.
One game I recently bought - Motogear, runs very well on the Vario but extremally slow on the Universal. Now I know the Universal has a VGA screen, however I wouldn't expect the performance loss that I experience just by doubling up the pixels.
It makes a lot of the software almost unresponsive. If I get a text whilst running game software I might as well just reset the device it takes so long to switch screens and often I am left with remnants of whatever software I was using - reseting often looses the message I have just received.
I've started to read a lot of good posts about this device, but slowly the Vario is becoming the better of the two with regards performance.

HTC Shift Unboxing

Getting closer...
http://revver.com/video/711405/htc-shift-unboxing/

I Love It !!!
Hey .. thank you for the links !!
I totally love this UMPC.. this is the best device ever released yet ... I have to wait about 6months to have it .. but I want it as soon as possible.
It will be so nice using a big WinMobile screen (better than the small 320x240 on a 2"8 screen). Vista is a so nice OS... I will have my 2 favourites OS on the same device.. I can't believe it !
HTC has put everything needed in the device. The review is nice.. but they should have introduced origami 2.0 ... not just showing the start animation.
If someone want to offer one ... I take it !

Unless they have sorted out the 2 hour battery life, it will remain a gimmick and no buyer will be satisfied with the purchase

I was really into the shift until I spent about three hours with a Fujitsu Lifebook P1620 today. 9" touch-screen convertible, 1.2ghz dual core, 100mb hard drive, vista or tablet xp, PC card slot (hello cheap wireless 3g card), VGA out, fingerprint reader, 3 USB ports, bluetooth, wlan, touchscreen works great for writing/browsing (it is passive digitizer though), you can touch type on it with some practice, and over 5 hour battery life My 2008 budget comes in next week and I am absolutely buying one.
Making calls with shift seems like it will require a hack, no simple soft-reset for the crippled wm6, embarrasing battery life, 5 minute cold-boot time for vista, etc. Why pay nearly $2k for a gimmicky device that in the end doesn't really do what a phone or a laptop can do. We all have a phone anyway...who wants to carry that monster to the pub just so you don't miss a phone call??

Well. I got mine 24 hours ago and I like it. Keyboard is nice. I cand write using my 10 fingers after some training. Battery life isnt bad and if I need more live I ve a power bank that gives me 7 hours more. wifi, hsdpa and bt works very well. It moves Vista nicely. I ve installed my development tools (Visual Studio 2008, eclipse and jboss) and work nice. VGA output letme use hi res at home with a lcd screen. I wasnt very convinced when I bought it but by now I am very satisfied

mlalahoi said:
I was really into the shift until I spent about three hours with a Fujitsu Lifebook P1620 today. 9" touch-screen convertible, 1.2ghz dual core, 100mb hard drive, vista or tablet xp, PC card slot (hello cheap wireless 3g card), VGA out, fingerprint reader, 3 USB ports, bluetooth, wlan, touchscreen works great for writing/browsing (it is passive digitizer though), you can touch type on it with some practice, and over 5 hour battery life My 2008 budget comes in next week and I am absolutely buying one.
Making calls with shift seems like it will require a hack, no simple soft-reset for the crippled wm6, embarrasing battery life, 5 minute cold-boot time for vista, etc. Why pay nearly $2k for a gimmicky device that in the end doesn't really do what a phone or a laptop can do. We all have a phone anyway...who wants to carry that monster to the pub just so you don't miss a phone call??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well .. you are wrong on many things ! ouch ....
1°) making calls is still not sure that it will require a hack ... you can see french sites telling that it is a COMPLETE PHONE... so I think that it could depends on the country you buy it.... we'll see !
2°) for WM6 there are ability to soft-reset it .... because it will be A REAL WM6.. even if they talk about "Snap-Vue" it IS WM6.... what they put upon will never be enough to change it in another OS... it is running WM6 !
3°) embrassaing battery life ? if you are using WinMobile .. you will have about 1 week of battery life.... it's enough ! Vista is so greedy that you should never think about using it without a power supply.
4°) 5 minutes cold-boot time ... oh my god ! .. you are completely wrong !!!!!! it is faster than that .. it is about a minute ... not more than 2 minutes ! And with Vista SP1 it is the same time for hibernate boot ! (hibernate was not good with preview Shifts... because of Vista.. but Vista SP1 is a little better). On the video : vista starts at 6:36 and is running at 7:40 ... 1:04 for resuming from hibernate !
5°) The device is more about 1200$ .. than 2k$ ..
If you don't know anything about the real shift spec.... I understand why unuseful 9" laptop seems interesting for you !

danielherrero said:
Well. I got mine 24 hours ago and I like it. Keyboard is nice. I cand write using my 10 fingers after some training. Battery life isnt bad and if I need more live I ve a power bank that gives me 7 hours more. wifi, hsdpa and bt works very well. It moves Vista nicely. I ve installed my development tools (Visual Studio 2008, eclipse and jboss) and work nice. VGA output letme use hi res at home with a lcd screen. I wasnt very convinced when I bought it but by now I am very satisfied
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nice !! have you tried installing winmobile application sending a cab by mail ? just to be sure that we will be able to install everything we need .
is there any way to shutdown both (winmobile and vista) ? Something about voice calls?

My main concern is if I'll be able to run full version of WM and access files on hard drive or SD card and work with them. If yes, I'm in! Anyone has been able to hack it so far?

No luck sending the cab because you can save it to disk (outlook doesnt want to execute it because It says is unsafe). But after saving it I dont know how to execute it....
I havent tried phone calls. well, I dont know how. Vista can be turned off, of course. But you can turn off windows mobile. Even I dont know how to reset it (except remove one second the battery). But I am sure we will solve all this issues.
Dani

once saved to disk, press CTRL while tap and holding on the clock. Select run
type FEXPLORE or FEXPLORER (don't remember)
Launch your cab.

thaihugo said:
once saved to disk, press CTRL while tap and holding on the clock. Select run
type FEXPLORE or FEXPLORER (don't remember)
Launch your cab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CTRL while tap and holding on the clock ?? Seems to be a pretty good hack !
danielherrero .. plz confirm that it works

1. YOu prove my point. phone functions are NOT widely available, if at all. I am glad you red something on a frech website, but I have actually held and used one of these and it did NOT make phone calls out of the box. Yeah, we can hack to do that if bought in a non-voice approved area, and get no support/possibly void the warranty. nice.
2. show me a soft reset hole, cause the one I played with didn't have one. THere is another thread in this forum from a guy who has to take the battery out of the shift he actually has in his hands to soft-reset. Your syllogistic argument is silly.
3. battery life of one week when using the phone...which I already carry one of, if you want to use the pc part of it the battery life is miserable so what's the point of having it there when it must be tethered to a wall wort at all times.
4. Watch the unboxing vids, this thing takes ages to cold boot vista, which i what i was talking about, not the hibernate resume you are quoting. also, the one I used for several hours took about 4.5 minutes to load vista. Desktop PC's fully specced have trouble loading vista in one minute my freind. IF that has been solved on newer releases I would like to hear someone who is holding one right now say that. Thanks for the tip to "never use vista without a power supply" now please continue to prove my point about the pc function of this thing being a joke by telling me how the shift can't be downgraded to xp....
5. The cheapest I have ever seen advertised for the shift is on the edge of $1700 US. Where are you seeing them for $1200?? I have seen them for 1200 EUROS, which is about $1680 US. Note that euros and us dollars are worth a different amount.
I'm not trying to bash the shift. Nor do I want some kind of flame war with you. I am reporting my experiences on actually having used both of these devices. I am sure that for some people the shift fills the little niche that they need. My point was that for me, and I would venture that for a lot of business users, the shift has a lot of shortcomings and is not the right device.
Your post makes me pretty sure that you have never ever actually used either of these devices, so you shouldn't tell people that they don't know anything about something you are even less informed about. If someone who owns one of these and is using it now wants take issues with my statements, I am very ready to listen. Perhaps the models they have are better than the one I used, if so I'd love to hear about it...from people who have one in thier hands!

koala996 said:
CTRL while tap and holding on the clock ?? Seems to be a pretty good hack !
danielherrero .. plz confirm that it works
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No luck....

It was working on a previous ROM. I am talking about the CTRL key from the physical keyboard. Try from the mail app for example. If it's not the clock, it's the battery icon.

As a side note, did you get the unit as a reviewer, or did you actually bought it from somewhere where anybody else can?

mlalahoi said:
1. YOu prove my point. phone functions are NOT widely available, if at all. I am glad you red something on a frech website, but I have actually held and used one of these and it did NOT make phone calls out of the box. Yeah, we can hack to do that if bought in a non-voice approved area, and get no support/possibly void the warranty. nice.
2. show me a soft reset hole, cause the one I played with didn't have one. THere is another thread in this forum from a guy who has to take the battery out of the shift he actually has in his hands to soft-reset. Your syllogistic argument is silly.
3. battery life of one week when using the phone...which I already carry one of, if you want to use the pc part of it the battery life is miserable so what's the point of having it there when it must be tethered to a wall wort at all times.
4. Watch the unboxing vids, this thing takes ages to cold boot vista, which i what i was talking about, not the hibernate resume you are quoting. also, the one I used for several hours took about 4.5 minutes to load vista. Desktop PC's fully specced have trouble loading vista in one minute my freind. IF that has been solved on newer releases I would like to hear someone who is holding one right now say that. Thanks for the tip to "never use vista without a power supply" now please continue to prove my point about the pc function of this thing being a joke by telling me how the shift can't be downgraded to xp....
5. The cheapest I have ever seen advertised for the shift is on the edge of $1700 US. Where are you seeing them for $1200?? I have seen them for 1200 EUROS, which is about $1680 US. Note that euros and us dollars are worth a different amount.
I'm not trying to bash the shift. Nor do I want some kind of flame war with you. I am reporting my experiences on actually having used both of these devices. I am sure that for some people the shift fills the little niche that they need. My point was that for me, and I would venture that for a lot of business users, the shift has a lot of shortcomings and is not the right device.
Your post makes me pretty sure that you have never ever actually used either of these devices, so you shouldn't tell people that they don't know anything about something you are even less informed about. If someone who owns one of these and is using it now wants take issues with my statements, I am very ready to listen. Perhaps the models they have are better than the one I used, if so I'd love to hear about it...from people who have one in thier hands!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have used the shift for about half an hour on a demo day (Microsoft Unified Communication launch). But I have not bought it yet.
1. yeah .. but I hope for a hack (without a warranty void !)
2. it seems that there are no soft-reset hole..but I'm sure that we will be able to soft reset with a program without having to have full WM6
3. battery life on my laptop is half an hour.. so the shift is more than what I'm used to ... maybe this is why I'm not worried about. and if you have read my scenario (few threads before) you would see that the Shift is not on a battery life that much in Vista mode.
4. I have watch the unboxed videos and read many reviews about the shift.. and what they said was always "resuming from hibernate take longer time than a cold boot" and that a cold boot take about a minute and a half to 2 minutes but these times were from the "test prototype" of the shift. And if resuming from hibernate take only a minute... you just have to use it and you should not care about the cold boot time ! (I'm on vista on my desktop and always use hibernation mode ... and it comes back in less than 30 seconds .. and from sleep in less than 2 seconds... but it's a faster computer than the shift).
5. I have read a lot about $1200 announced before the official released ... but maybe the price is a higher .. the iphone is 1000€ and I think that it is less than $1000 ... so don't believe that the price in € is significant to the price in $ .. it used to be the same price ($1000 --> 1000€ .. even if $1000 is only 680€) but I can't say if there is shops where the shift will be under $1400.
I don't want to enter in a war with you too .. I'm just sharing my opinion that's all. I have read a lot on the shift for more than a year (like so many people) and I'm not a current owner of a shift.

danielherrero said:
No luck....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.. I hope we will find out to do it ... I'm sure there is a way ! because they need to remove snapvue for the support !

I think the clue is to know how the updates will be applied. Probably It will be done using vista side. So I think there will be a way from this side to access flash chip WM6. This weekend I couldnt research about it but tomorrow I will do it because I want to install bandswitch to use gprs with direct push instead of umts to increase battery live. (althought I ve to say battery live is good so far..
Dani
ps. I bought it on shopping center in Madrid, Spain. They have it since last monday.

There is a way from vista, because the manual state you can install a certificate for the WM side from the vista control pannel. I think this is just a com port to redirect on the WM part for getting AS, but if the trick I gave you doesn't work, it's just a question of time before getting access to the OS.
Maybe you could try on you PDA to check what I'm talking about. Presse the center of your D pad instead of CTRL in this case.

danielherrero said:
I think the clue is to know how the updates will be applied. Probably It will be done using vista side. So I think there will be a way from this side to access flash chip WM6. This weekend I couldnt research about it but tomorrow I will do it because I want to install bandswitch to use gprs with direct push instead of umts to increase battery live. (althought I ve to say battery live is good so far..
Dani
ps. I bought it on shopping center in Madrid, Spain. They have it since last monday.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi danielherrero, do you have any 16 GB SDHC Memeory card? if so can you let us know whether it works fine with the Shift, thanks !