Database Users

O2 XDA EXEC Essentials

Hi,
I'm due to uprade my phone on nov20th and intend to get the O2 XDA EXEC. As I'm lokingto gert a PDA as well as a phone this device looks like the best of both! I travel a lot in my job and want to be able to use some navigation software like tomtom on this.
My question to you guys is, what accessories, software etc, do you think is essential to get the best use out of the XDA EXEC, what navigation software shld i get and when it comes to GPS should i get Wired GPS or Bluetooth?

187 views and no replies!!! thanks for your help

Q: "what accessories, software etc, do you think is essential to get the best use out of the XDA EXEC"
A: That depends entirely on what you want to do with it.
Q: "what navigation software shld i get and when it comes to GPS should i get Wired GPS or Bluetooth?"
A: You'll find from other threads that TomTom 5.1 with bluetooth works fine.

If you're with o2 direct you can do it a month early.

Essentials:
TomTom
PocketBreeze
Pocket Informant
iLauncher
GSPocketMagic
GSFinder
PHM Registry Editor
VJdiallerSMS
PhoneAlarm (once it works on WM5)
Macintosh with bluetooth (essential to me anyway
Small fingers
Lots and lots of patience
Daily call to O2 to attempt 3G data promotion clarification
forum.xda-developers.com
That's all I can think of for now...

page3 said:
Essentials:
TomTom
PocketBreeze
Pocket Informant
iLauncher
GSPocketMagic
GSFinder
PHM Registry Editor
VJdiallerSMS
PhoneAlarm (once it works on WM5)
Macintosh with bluetooth (essential to me anyway
Small fingers
Lots and lots of patience
Daily call to O2 to attempt 3G data promotion clarification
forum.xda-developers.com
That's all I can think of for now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do they all do?

Thommie said:
what accessories... do you think is essential...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My first three accessory purchases have been:
- Bluetooth headset - essential to make phone calls with the thing without looking completely stupid
- SD card for storage
- Screen Protectors - i dont use the stylus much, but when i do, i'm pretty paranoid about scratching the screen!
hope that helps a bit!

Moandal said:
Q: "what accessories, software etc, do you think is essential to get the best use out of the XDA EXEC"
A: That depends entirely on what you want to do with it.
Q: "what navigation software shld i get and when it comes to GPS should i get Wired GPS or Bluetooth?"
A: You'll find from other threads that TomTom 5.1 with bluetooth works fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looking at the other threads on Tomtom it seems as though people were having problems installing it. I just wondered whether any of the other navigation packages were as troublesome to install. Or are they not as good as tomtom?

What they do - as requested!
TomTom - Satellite Navigation. I'd be lost without it.
PocketBreeze - Decent diary display on the today screen.
Pocket Informant - Brilliant Diary. (although I prefer the built in Contacts screen for dialling quickly)
iLauncher - tabbed shortcuts on the today screen
GSPocketMagic - better 'start' menu and proper application closer. Also speed things up somehow!
GSFinder - proper 'finder' (err, Explorer?) to replace the pathetic built in one.
PHM Registry Editor - if you don't know then don't use this!
VJdiallerSMS - Allows shortcut to dial or sms - I use this with iLauncher to have quick dials
PhoneAlarm (once it works on WM5) - stunningly brilliant profiles app and more. Not WM05 yet. I miss it. Essential app
Macintosh with bluetooth (essential to me anyway - I don't like Windows. <G> )
Small fingers - To make typing easier.
Lots and lots of patience - To help sort out all the WM05 'issues'.
Daily call to O2 to attempt 3G data promotion clarification - Because I don't want to use 'unlimited free' data and then find out I have been charged for it!
forum.xda-developers.com - We'd all be lost without it!!!

page3 said:
Daily call to O2 to attempt 3G data promotion clarification - Because I don't want to use 'unlimited free' data and then find out I have been charged for it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you manage to get it clarified? I'm on O2 Online 200 Talker and have been told I get 5MB free browsing in month 1, thereafter I get 1MB. Correct?

CJSnet said:
page3 said:
Daily call to O2 to attempt 3G data promotion clarification - Because I don't want to use 'unlimited free' data and then find out I have been charged for it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you manage to get it clarified? I'm on O2 Online 200 Talker and have been told I get 5MB free browsing in month 1, thereafter I get 1MB. Correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did get it clarified, but then when I asked for written confirmation, it confirms the OPPOSITE of what I had been told See the thread 'O2 free GPRS promotional offers' for details. Its ridiculous, I wouldn't have been using all that data if it wasn't included.

In the absence of *any* offers for my MDA Pro, I'm going to get it unlocked and port my T Mobile number over to my Orange PAYG sim card. Hopefully, the "Try 3g" offer will be applicable? I mean, they sell 3g PAYG handsets, so I guess it will :? If not, I'll have to go through the rigmarole (and expense) of ordering the unlimited GPRS until midnight offer.
Anyway, my MDA Pro cost me a lot less than expected due to
a) T Mobile extending my contract by 12 months, not the 18 they quoted, but still charging me the 18 month deal's upgrade price :lol:
b) My line rental was, erm, £2.60. Technically speaking. Made the cancellation fee a pleasant surprise 8)

I will continue to use the GPRS untill 31st December for free.
As this was how I was sold the device and have confirmed this with both O2onlineShop & Customer Service.
I bet they've had plenty of requests for confirmation of offer.
And stil haven`t removed or changed the wording of the offer.

GSPocketMagic - better 'start' menu and proper application closer. Also speed things up somehow!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A small price to pay i know, but gspocketmagic looks rubbish compared to all of the other high-res icons that is on the exec. It also leaves an ugly blank square on the top right hand corner of the screen when on the today screen.
Other than that though it is awesome. I just hope it gets updated to look nice

How about a case:
http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/product/8075.htm
or
http://www.pdair.com/welcome.php
or
http://www.krusell.se/product.php?prodGrp=3&s=2&product=713&x=6&y=13

PocketBreeze 5 on Universal

Its fantastic!
I can finally have my screen real-estate used how I want it to. I've found that very few programs are designed for landscape mode and fitting everything on the screen has been a real problem.
Down the left I have my tabs, with Calendar, tasks, birthdays, notes and iLauncher available. That allows the whole depth of the screen for display of information. When ContactBreeze works then it will be even better.
I Highly recommend giving it a go

Screenshot!
V

Yes, fantastic. Finally PB is fully working on my JJ, and with added features, I got in nice and early this morning (second to d/l, I think) and my JJ is now almost exactly how I want it. Only work is preventing me from spending the time I need to spend on tweaking.
There are plently of screenshots of PB5 on this page.....
http://www.sbsh.net/products/pocketbreeze/

hmm
true it works great.. looks lovely on the Universal!!
only thing is that i have to find a way to remove the soft buttons at the bottom.. messages/ calendar.
I am ONLY using pocketbreeze and the universal is very fast!!
Don't feel like installing wisbar though.. maybe slows all down. and you need WAD plugin to the soft menu buttons at the bottom..
I would just like pocketbreeze 5.0 and a removal off those buttons. but how :roll:

PB with WM5
Just about the best Application for PPC
"The Mother of all Applications"
Full support of WM5
Cheers
hrb

I'm desperately trying to stick to the basics on my JJ too - Resco Explorer, TCPMP, and PocketBreeze are all that I have installed at the moment.
It's running like a dream, and almost everything I want is covered by these three pieces of software, but I need to get my 'X' button working 'properly'...
I may go back to WA2, but that's an oh-so-slippery slope into the world of time-consuming skinning (and slowdown) which I've done so well to avoid recently.
What to do....?!?

Does it come with a weather panel included? Or is that an add-on item? The notes on that page, sub69, are rather vague.
Looks nice though. Gives more strength to the idea that provided software is specifically written/adapted for WM5 it doesn't slow down the Universal at all. Seems that all those complaining about slow speed must be using non-compliant software maybe?

SiliconS said:
Does it come with a weather panel included? Or is that an add-on item? The notes on that page, sub69, are rather vague.
Looks nice though. Gives more strength to the idea that provided software is specifically written/adapted for WM5 it doesn't slow down the Universal at all. Seems that all those complaining about slow speed must be using non-compliant software maybe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need PocketWeather, also from SBSH
Cheers
hrb

timed profiles

My old basic nokia phone had a feature that I miss - the ability to set a ring profile to be active until a certain time. Is there an equivalent for the wizard (actually an O2 miniS)?
I've seen posts about PocketZenPhone which does it, but I just need this one function. I also don't particularly want to install the O2 plus stuff (although I don't know if it has that feature anyway).
Anyone got any suggestions?
Thanks,
John

Pocket Phone Zen .. or PocketZen
And PhoneAlarm

PPC profiles will do the job

frigit said:
PPC profiles will do the job
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for pointing me to that one. Definitely not as flexible as the 2 hanmin suggested but it does pretty much what I need. Would be nice to have more than just 3 auto configurations.
John

PhoneAlarm will also do this. www.pocketmax.net
J-Man5

Yeah, as Hanmin said, Pocket Zen Phone and Phonealarm both have this feature, but they also have a huge stack of other features I don't need (and more to the point, don't want to pay for). I tried both and they do look like excellent add-ons - just way more than I need.
PPC Profiles Pro, whilst not perfect, does close to what I need (and it's free). However, I'll see how it behaves over the next week or so and, who knows, may jump to one of the other apps if necessary.
Thanks again for all the suggestions. Much appreciated.
John

I just ordered a copy of PocketZenPhone http://www.pocketzenphone.net/ I also came from a Nokia Phone and that is exactly what I was looking for.
Here is my phone/pda history.
http://pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=26729&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30
The new Cingular 8125 with a bluecard is about a month old.
SeanH

SPB Mobile Shell opinions anyone ?

Has anyone tried ^subj ?
I've just installed that thing on my Vario II, seems to be ... quite cool I'll give it a try for the next 2 weeks ...
link is in here
cheers
w

First impressions: bloody marvelous.
It'll take a few days to put it through its paces.

same here... looks NICE... $30.00 is a bit on the excessive side, but doable

We have been discussing it on HoFo. The consensus is SUPERB APPLICATION, why didn't we think of it first.

HOFO forum? Can you point me in that direction please.
Mobile Shell looks interesting. Might as well give it a spin as the other Spb titles I have on my TyTN are all stable and funtional.

is a cool app but for me it takes way too much today screen space and leaves little for my fav today app spb diary.
the 'show now screen when device wakes up' is the feature i like most.

@WineCape:
HOFO is Howard Forums.

Great great great.
This is fr... AWESOME.
I asked a few developers to integrate a one-finger navigation with big buttons. But it seemed that every developer was happy using his stylus just everywhere.
This application just gives you the "Nokia phone" feeling... I just deleted some components of SpB Pocket Plus (via settings) since they are not needed anymore

I've been using this for a while now and think it is awesome. I wish that my first pda had had this interface, and I believe there is more to come as the app developes.
Fastest, you get the whole screen for Diary if you use it as a tab in shell.
I use it as the first tab, that way it can use the whole screen and is the tab which shows automatically most of the time. Give it a try.

$30.00 is a bit on the excessive side, but doable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have other SPB products it is much cheaper. I tried it yesterday and think it is a keeper. SPB DIary works great with it.

The thread on HoFo is here: http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1104037&page=1&pp=30
17.99 if you have other SPB Products.

Thank you aadadams!

Very attractive.
Might one be able to achieve similar effects with the freeware app CLaunch?

This was mentioned in the HoFo thread as well. I would say that you can have a similar effect using several programs one of which being cLaunch, but one must admit that the implementation provided by SPB is very nice and the NOW screen is a great addition.

very nice indeed i haven't used diary before but I like this better than pocketplus to a degree...if i can get the mem status on the today screen cha ching

marisa4755 said:
Fastest, you get the whole screen for Diary if you use it as a tab in shell.
I use it as the first tab, that way it can use the whole screen and is the tab which shows automatically most of the time. Give it a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aha. just tried that. Superb! Thanks

i like it also.. i just wish they would make a plug in for it so the analog clock would actually display speed when connected to my gps reciever.... only cause i got stopped by a cop that said i was speeding.. then i checked my speed on my speedometer with my gps speed and there seemed to be a 5mph difference...

I just installed all my spb apps (time, weather, pocketplus and diary) on my new AKU3.3 ROM and then I read about the mobile shell.
Looks excellent, going to try it now, from the screen shots, it make wm5 more intuative.
One question I have, does it provide functionality as those found in PhoneAlarm?

No, it isn't a Phone control application. Basically it acts like an improved operating system, but lots of people on spb forums are asking for Phonealarm type capabilities. If there are enough requests they will do something about it.

I'll submit my vote that it's a great app. (The Now screen especially.)
I just wish that PocketWeather integrated nicely. (SPB Weather is a bit lacking IMHO.)

spb software group?

Is there any problem using spb pocket plus, weather, time, diary and etc.?
Does it affect the performance of the Wizard?
Thanks!

amar963 said:
Is there any problem using spb pocket plus, weather, time, diary and etc.?
Does it affect the performance of the Wizard?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have them all and use some of them. I have kept Plus and Diary on my MDA and use it daily.
Weather is not accurate. Get SPB Traveler instead of Weather and Time.
I would not buy SPB Finance if you use Quicken 2007 or 2008. It is not compatible with SPB.
SPB Backup is good.
Tried SPB Wallet and it was not an app that I found to be something that I couldn't do with phone contacts or Excel.
Hope this helps.
If you want a Weather app, I would suggest Pocket Weather.

Dear asctony,
Thanks for your reply
I just want to know if these applications cause any conflict in general.
As you mentioned, Weather is not accurate but at lease it's much better than HTC Touch Flo weather plug-in

I have SPB Weather and find it's reasonably accurate in the UK. (Not perfect 2+ days ahead, but to be fair nor are most online weather sites I find.)
I'm also evaluating SPB Phone Suite at the moment, which is useful for adding photo dialling icons to the today screen. It also adds a lot of other phone-related 'fixes', which I must admit I haven't really noticed/used. I will almost certainly buy this, although for $19.95 it's pretty expensive.

amar963 said:
Dear asctony,
Thanks for your reply
I just want to know if these applications cause any conflict in general.
As you mentioned, Weather is not accurate but at lease it's much better than HTC Touch Flo weather plug-in
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not incurred any conflicts and I have a lot of apps on my MDA and have had it for 14 months.
If I were to buy SPB Apps today, based on what is available, I would buy:
1. Backup
2. Diary
3. Pocket Plus
4.Traveler (Weather, Time, Conversion, etc., all in one)
SPB Apps are buggy at times and don't seem to be consistant in how they perform. So, again, I have tried them all, and only use Backup, Diary and Pocket Plus.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
Here is the site to obtain more info.
http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/downloads.html?en

I think the most popular are:- \ My experiences with them:-
SPB backup \ very good and simple, can have problems finding a file to backup, which causes it to fail the automatic soft reset after it backs up (this can be solved with a reg edit)
Weather \ I have used this every day since I bought it, it's the best if you can't use freeware and you can add custom data sources. I currently have data updating issues, maybe due to wm6. (Traveler is possibly better, but a much bigger program, which includes currency rates, clothing sizes, more cities by default and a small clock, but NOT the same functions as spb time)
Time \ It used to be a must have for me except for two reasons, 1 the alarm doesn't work correctly for wm6 and, 2 alarms don't support wma (only mp3)
Diary \ faultless. not the most customizable available (sbsh) or the simplest (today agenda (freeware)) but the best I think
Pocket Plus \ Simply put - not required. It looks nice but I can't think of anything it can do that freeware can't (wm5NewMenu is very good) can't do, so I gave up using it (SBSH's ilauncher is possibly better)
They're a good company for ease of use products, they all look nice and are uncomplicated in general. But, their support can be lacking, and their releases are slow and infrequent, compared to sbsh who often release updates weekly compared to twice a year from spb, and they are not as customizable as even some similar freeware apps.

I have Spb Mobile Shell and works great

bbobeckyj said:
I think the most popular are:- \ My experiences with them:-
SPB backup \ very good and simple, can have problems finding a file to backup, which causes it to fail the automatic soft reset after it backs up (this can be solved with a reg edit)
Weather \ I have used this every day since I bought it, it's the best if you can't use freeware and you can add custom data sources. I currently have data updating issues, maybe due to wm6. (Traveler is possibly better, but a much bigger program, which includes currency rates, clothing sizes, more cities by default and a small clock, but NOT the same functions as spb time)
Time \ It used to be a must have for me except for two reasons, 1 the alarm doesn't work correctly for wm6 and, 2 alarms don't support wma (only mp3)
Diary \ faultless. not the most customizable available (sbsh) or the simplest (today agenda (freeware)) but the best I think
Pocket Plus \ Simply put - not required. It looks nice but I can't think of anything it can do that freeware can't (wm5NewMenu is very good) can't do, so I gave up using it (SBSH's ilauncher is possibly better)
They're a good company for ease of use products, they all look nice and are uncomplicated in general. But, their support can be lacking, and their releases are slow and infrequent, compared to sbsh who often release updates weekly compared to twice a year from spb, and they are not as customizable as even some similar freeware apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right!
I've been using Time since 20 days and it was great with WM5, but after I flashed WM6 to my phone I noticed some problems.
I was thinking that maybe other ROM version will work fine with the application but failed with different ROMs.
Which software you recommend as best and guaranteed alarm? web address please?
Thanks to all

amar963 said:
Dear asctony,
Thanks for your reply
I just want to know if these applications cause any conflict in general.
As you mentioned, Weather is not accurate but at lease it's much better than HTC Touch Flo weather plug-in
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may want to read some of the postings on SPB's Forums before you decide to buy any of their products.
Here is the link for their forums:
http://www.spbclub.com/forum/index.php

asctony said:
You may want to read some of the postings on SPB's Forums before you decide to buy any of their products.
Here is the link for their forums:
http://www.spbclub.com/forum/index.php
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many thanks!
The web site you recommended is great

Spb backup is great.
I also use Insight every day to keep up on things.
I didn't like the weather app, I use Marsware WeatherPanel....It is very accurate and fast.

Spb Diary -- Could not get through a work-day without it. Rock-solid, no-nonsense app that gets the job done better than a lot of flashier programs.
Spb Pocket Plus -- Essential to the way I work and navigate in WM 5. It adds a few small but but critical tweaks. You may not need it though.
Spb Insight -- If you do a lot of reading on the internet, this is an indispensable app! It will change the way you use the web. Best 20 bucks I've ever dropped on any hardware or software.

kidlockatong said:
Spb Diary -- Could not get through a work-day without it. Rock-solid, no-nonsense app that gets the job done better than a lot of flashier programs.
Spb Pocket Plus -- Essential to the way I work and navigate in WM 5. It adds a few small but but critical tweaks. You may not need it though.
Spb Insight -- If you do a lot of reading on the internet, this is an indispensable app! It will change the way you use the web. Best 20 bucks I've ever dropped on any hardware or software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree with most of the comments. However, I don't use Insight anymore. I use NewsCopier - Free Edition V 1.1. I found it much faster and more selections. Here is the link for it:
http://www.freeware-palm.com/download-newscopier-v1-1.html

asctony said:
I use NewsCopier - Free Edition V 1.1. I found it much faster and more selections. Here is the link for it:
http://www.freeware-palm.com/download-newscopier-v1-1.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hear ya.
I'll bet there are several better headline/summary/link news readers than Insight, but that's not why I use it. What I like about it is -- I can update complete articles for 20 feeds in a snap on a wireless broadband at home every morning, and read them all day without having to connect to the internet or any cellular service at all.
And they don't need to be RSS/Atom/etc. feeds, either. Half the stuff I download comes from sites that don't even use feeds. Or if they do, I pull stuff that they don't feed.
But not everyone may want or need that.

I use Spb Mobile Shell (top of my Avatar photo) It's weather tab is fairly accurate and tracks with the local forecasts. The photo speed dial tab is nice as is the battery / most recent applications tab. The clock is there, but I don't access the multi time zones much.
As far as performance, I have only run it on the Uni and the Athena, without conflicts or hang-ups. Can't testify to using it first hand on the Wizard.

kidlockatong said:
I hear ya.
I'll bet there are several better headline/summary/link news readers than Insight, but that's not why I use it. What I like about it is -- I can update complete articles for 20 feeds in a snap on a wireless broadband at home every morning, and read them all day without having to connect to the Internet or any cellular service at all.
And they don't need to be RSS/Atom/etc. feeds, either. Half the stuff I download comes from sites that don't even use feeds. Or if they do, I pull stuff that they don't feed.
But not everyone may want or need that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I download from 20 different feeds daily also. I just counted them to see how much I was downloading from. I also read them during the day without being connect to the Internet or any cellular service using NewsCopier. So, there are commonalities among both apps. The good thing about this thread is that you now can try both of them and even more and make your own decision. Not every app is suited for everyone or anyone user.

asctony -- Thanks! The page didn't seem to mention that. Will definitely follow up on it. Is that version usable on a wizard?

Got it. Thanks again.

I've used them all. The only one I use now and is rock solid is Diary. Phone Suit is VERY buggy. Most of the features only work intermittently. Weather is not nearly as good as WeatherPanel. I could not get Finance to work with MS Money Plus (2007). SPB Shell, Plus, Time, Traveler, and all the rest are too heavy on the PDA resources compared with what they do. The cost benefit analysis leans too far toward cost to justify using them.

kidlockatong said:
asctony -- Thanks! The page didn't seem to mention that. Will definitely follow up on it. Is that version usable on a wizard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a T-Mobile MDA. Model: WIZA200 Pocket PC
I run with:
IPL 2.26
SPL 2.26
GSM Radio 2.25.11
OS WxtRom 2.26.10.2
I have been using that version on my MDA for over 8 months. No problems and I do use it daily.
Let me know if you need anything else.