Database Users

will bluespoon works with xdaII?

anyone heard about bluespoon headset? its the smallest bluetooth in the market now i think... really small believe me... but im not sure it will works with xda II or not.. if someone tried it.. pls inform me.. thanks.

I have the Bluespoon chameleon (analog version) and YES it works great.

Bluespoon and XDA II
I am using the NextLink Chameleon Bluespoon headset with the XDA II with no problems. Lightest and a long talk time of 4 to 5 hrs.

because i plan the buy Chameleon as well.. can u pls tell me how u feel about it? thanks. hope to hear from u soon.

do the bluespoon HS have the same disconnection issues that the jabra suffers from every time it goes out of range of the XDA-II?

Generally, I like it, but there are a few points to be aware of.
It will only fit in your right ear. Not the left. I am not kidding.
It takes a little practice to fit it in, but ones you get the hang of it, it feels natural.
There is a necklace kind of thing included that you can (optional) attach to the unit if you are afraid of dropping it out of your ear.
I tried briefly to use it with Skype on my laptop, and I got sound, but the other person did not hear me. But I spend less time on that than writing this comment
The blinking on the unit was a bit confusing to me. Is it on? discoverable? Low on power? Etc.
I've stepped away about 10 meters from the XDA II (Actually called SPV M1000 in Denmark) without significant loss of sound. When walking downstairs I lost sound, but not the connection.
Over all the "could be" down sides mentioned are not of any matter to me, but they might be for you.
I'm satisfied.
Hope this is the kind of info you are looking for. If there is anything specific you would like to know, just write back.
/Torben

Its a really great heatset. Putting it on needs getting used to. Its like putting on earphones the whole day. But its really comfortable. Though you would get the occasional stares at "what's that bug on your ear" look :lol: Also, sad to say that the earpiece does not fit all ears. i have read that some people with small ear holes are unable to fit the blusespoon in properly. Talk time and standby times are great. Mine can last me almost 5 days without charging it at all with above average usage. Though is still suffers from the other party not being able to hear you well in a noisy envoironment. All in all, its a worth investment!

I have a Bluespoon Digital. My friend and I ordered one each. He has an XDAII, I have an i-mate. We ordered both from the States (not available here in Australia). Here is a mini-review.
Purchase price: USD$289 + shipping. It took 12 days (8 working days) for the unit to arrive from USA.
Box contents: Bluespoon Digital, Charging cradle, Charger, Adapters for US, UK, and Japanese power, foam earpieces, CD, manual. USB charging cradle was missing in one of the boxes. One of the boxes had an extra foam earpiece. Does this say something about Nextlink's quality control?
Build quality: Average. The Bluespoon digital consists of two halves which are glued together. The bottom half is made of a hard black plastic which feels quite sturdy. The top half is clear plastic which has been painted with membrane switches over the buttons. On my copy, the paint was applied unevenly. One of the membrane switches was not completely painted. Also, when the blue light illuminates, the silhouette of a wire is visible under the cover. My friend's unit does not suffer this flaw.
Usage: Average. The volume up/down buttons do not work (yes, I know you can only use these buttons in the middle of a call). You are supposed to hear a beep when max/min volume is reached. Pressing the volume button does not change the volume, nor do you hear a beep. You are stuck at the same rather soft volume all the time. As a result of this, incoming calls are not clear when compared to a Jabra BT200.
Outgoing calls are OUTSTANDING. My friend placed a call to my landline and I compared the sound quality with the bluespoon, with a fan blowing on the bluespoon, with the XDAII, and with the XDAII speaker phone. Sound quality was much better than the standard XDAII. The Bluespoon digital (which has a noise cancelling feature) did an acceptable job of reducing wind noise. In comparison, the Jabra BT200 drowns out in white noise.
The Bluespoon Digital supports voice dialling but for some reason it does not work with the XDAII (I have tried it with Fonix and Neuvoice - which I have registered). You have to make calls the "normal" way.
The Bluespoon feels comfortable in my ear when the correct ear spring is selected. I have worn it all day with no problems. Inserting it is tricky at first but you get used to it. The buttons are poorly placed - when you press them you mash the bluespoon into your ear and it's not a comfortable feeling.
Some of the interface choices are rather bizarre (e.g. to do a hard reset you have to use your cradle) but you get used to it.
I have not yet run the battery flat because I charge my unit every night.
Customer support: Good. We contacted them about the missing USB cable and they said they would send one over immediately. I have not asked them yet about why the volume control does not work. I might even ask for a new unit.
Conclusion: Would I buy it again? Definitely not. This is the most expensive BT headset around and I expected better than the awful build quality and the below-average sound quality.

I have been using bluespoon for 2 months with MDA II ROM 1.06.00 WWE with no problem
and connection from bluespoon to my notebook Compaq presario 2500 used Bluetooth Class1 is OK
News from O2 over the ROM upgrade: Handsfree bluetooth profile is scheduled for the next wm2003 service pack - tentatively may/june before it appears in the Xda II rom (tekguru)

Bluespoon volume control
This is for Amfibius:
I thought my volume control was defect, but on my unit I have to press the volume button a bit longer than any other button on electrical things.
It's a little hard to explain, but it's less than a second, but longer than just press and release.
This may not be the problem in your case, but it's worth a try, and you may not have to wait for a new unit
Please let me know if it helped...
/Torben

Although the Bluespoon is very small and works perfectly with older phones I had, with the xdaII it sometimes did not work as it was supposed to. Sometimes I was unable to answer the call from the headset, and sometimes when making a call the sound did not transfer to the headset as it was supposed to do and stayed with the phone, embarassing me while people were saying "hello" over and over again and I was not speaking since I hadn't realized that I had established connection My bluespoon is the original one they had released sometime ago.

Bluetooth headset
I have trouble hearing well with my Ericsson HBH 60 bluetooth headset. Does anyone know of a bluetooth headset that works with the O2 and has good hearing volume.
Michael Jacobson

HTC Prophet - My first impressions!

Just got mine today and some of you have asked me to comment about it when I recieve it.
I got the black version and the look is in my opinion slightly more professional than the Magician's. Size and feel are exactly the same.
The first HUGE improvement over the Magician is the OS! Yes WM5 is awesome!
One handed-operation:
As many have said before me, one-handed operation is very very easy. Also thanks to the Start and OK buttons. From my little experience so far, the extra hardware buttons on a WM5 device are a MUST! A further improvement towards one-handed operation is that in WM5, tabs, volume bubbles, etc. are all NAVIGABLE with the D-pad.
Key Lock:
Device locking can be done from the today screen using the D-Pad, pretty much like a normal phone. The touch screen is also disabled when the keys are locked!
Camera:
The camera quality is awesome. I found the refresh rate before taking the picture a bit slow when set to 2 MP but I can live with that, especially after looking at the results! (Sample pic attached)
Memory:
For the time being I decided to install all the customisations in the extended rom. This left me with 41.95MB of (permanent) storage and 25.6 MB of Program memory.
Battery:
I can't say a lot about this so far, but looking at the battery settings it was nice not seeing a Backup Battery level (not required for WM5!). A battery level is now included on the Today screen without installing any plug-ins.
Photo Contacts:
This program, usually included in all HTC devices, is not included. I don't know why yet, but presumably WM5 can store pictures against a contact so no 3rd party program was required.
File Explorer:
Now supports a "Back" feature, not included in previous versions. Thought I should mention cause I could never understand why it wasn't always there. Btw, navigating in file explorer without a stylus is now possible.
Performance:
For the time being I cannot say much, but loading as many programs as possible DID NOT slow the device at all! I did not find opening applications slower than the Magician. If it's milliseconds slower I won't notice it ... sorry!
Comm Manager:
A program called Comm Manager (not sure if it's standard Windows or HTC yet) allows you to control all wireless activity, i.e. BT, WIFI and ActiveSync.
Headset:
The quality of the headset is improved, built quality as well as sound quality
It's too early to comment on call quality, GSM signal quality, etc. but I promise I will keep you posted
BY THE WAY, DEAR ADMINISTRATORS, WHEN CAN WE HAVE AN HTC PROPHET FORUM SECTION PLEASE? THIS DEVICE IS BEING DISCUSSED IN ALL THE OTHER BIG FORUMS, WHY NOT HERE AS WELL?

Hi there mate can i ask where u got it from ive been after 1 for a while but being in the uk its pretty difficult to get hold of 1
Thanks

I think he ordered it direct from Expansys

Yes, from expansys.

Some uppdates
After some hours of use I'm in love with WM5 already. M$ have finally put more phone in their OS.
With regards to performance I cannot notice any difference from the Magician at all. As I'm posting this I have the following programs running:
Wifi switched on
Pocket MSN
MSN Messenger
Text Messages
Windows Media Player playing
TCPMP
Internet Explorer
Activesync
This has no performance impact whatsoever.
I think you should try the device yourself to really know if the OMAP performance is OK. People's opinions can be misleading at times!
Built:
As I said in my previous post, the built quality is similar to the Magician. Buttons have a better feel though. They feel more robust.
Audio:
Audio quality is a major improvement I think, during calls and while listening to music. It has more bass, no more tinny audio
So far it's perfect. Feel free to ask any questions

Some uppdates
After some hours of use I'm in love with WM5 already. M$ have finally put more phone in their OS.
With regards to performance I cannot notice any difference from the Magician at all. As I'm posting this I have the following programs running:
Wifi switched on
Pocket MSN
MSN Messenger
Text Messages
Windows Media Player playing
TCPMP
Internet Explorer
Activesync
This has no performance impact whatsoever.
I think you should try the device yourself to really know if the OMAP performance is OK. People's opinions can be misleading at times!
Built:
As I said in my previous post, the built quality is similar to the Magician. Buttons have a better feel though. They feel more robust.
Audio:
Audio quality is a major improvement I think, during calls and while listening to music. It has more bass, no more tinny audio
So far it's perfect. Feel free to ask any questions

Well..will kindly ask you to give an update in a week's time. I think you've got a lot of Magician users here excited :-D

Would love to know how you find video playback using TCPMP, video streaming as well as playing DVDs....take your time....

I will try a DIVx with TCPMP later on today. With the applications I mentioned above all running, I had no problem playing AVI files, but these were only like 10MB each. No frame skips, no nothing!
I'll let you know how it goes with a 160MB DIVx later ...

you're the man!! :lol:

Some more updates, not the DIVx yet
I wanted to say this earlier, but wanted to be sure before I post it here. I noticed that the screen is slightly brighter than the Magician's and is also much better when used in sunlight.
I think HTC do listen to their customers after all. With the Magician we complained a lot about the tinny sound, quality of the headset headphones, no WiFi, bad camera, etc. ... and guess what? The sound is awesome, the headset quality is very very good, WiFi is included (and g not b) and the camera is probably the best PDA camera as of now. Until I recieved it I was thinking that it cannot be much of an improvement over the Magician but I'm starting to change my mind now

congr. on your new toy..
I would love to know more about video capturing.. is the same as on the magician or is it changed > better worse?!! :?
cheers

I've encoded a 320x240, 360Kbps, 235MB avi movie and played with TCPMP without any problems whatsoever. I then made a call to the Prophet and did not have any issues either.
I then switched on Wifi (known for its CPU power consumption) and continued to watch the film without any interruptions. I then loaded the following programs and could still watch the film without any problems:
Activesync
Windows Media (just loaded a playlist but this still consumes memory)
File Explorer
Pictures & Videos
MSN Messenger (signed in)
TCPMP (of course!)
Pocket MSN
So I guess the performance has passed my test. I could never be watching a film, watching pictures, chatting on MSN and browsing in File Explorer at the same time!
I think the only real performance problem people have had with this processor was Skype. I'm not a Skype user so I will not try it, but if you ask me, I think the problem with Skype is code optimisation. Newer releases of Skype will run flawlesly on the OMAP processor as well. Mind you, some people on PPCSG forums are using Skype on the Prophet already!
Anyway, if you have any more questions, please just ask.

I've uninstalled Cyberon Voice Commander that comes shipped with the Dopod and installed Microsoft voice command. Cyberon is barely usable and the speech recognition is horrible.

hi kta, that's good to hear...well apparently quite a few members from the PPCSG (PPPC Singapore) forum are experiencing issues running avi divx movies on their Dopod 818 Pro, using tcpmp.

http://www.ppcsg.com/index.php?showtopic=68322
maybe it could be to do with the encoding...maybe they tried a high encoding rate?

I went back to a Magician after having a Vario, bored of the slowness of WM5 and the weak processor. Can't see how this Prophet pulls any tricks out of the bag.

O2mini_noob said:
http://www.ppcsg.com/index.php?showtopic=68322
maybe it could be to do with the encoding...maybe they tried a high encoding rate?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure someone was experiencing problems with avi file encoded over 500kbps. Pocket Divx did not allow me to go this high. Anything over 300kbps is probably too much size wise anyway.

monkeyphonix said:
I went back to a Magician after having a Vario, bored of the slowness of WM5 and the weak processor. Can't see how this Prophet pulls any tricks out of the bag.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the MDA Vario implementation of WM5 is inferior to the HTC Prophet's. This is evident from posts on PPCSG from owners of both devices. To start with, the HTC Prophet does not have anti virus installed. There could be many reasons why the Vario is slower as the device is slightly different as well. No keyboard drivers, different camera, different screen, etc. The slow down in a ROM could be caused by many things, a bad device driver implementation for example. But surely the next Vario ROM will be improved.
WM5 is not the culprit. Users of the HTC Prophet and the E-Ten M600 are not complaining, on the other hand Atom users (read 416Mhz Xscale) are complaining. This shows how much difference a ROM implementation can make.

duke911 said:
congr. on your new toy..
I would love to know more about video capturing.. is the same as on the magician or is it changed > better worse?!! :?
cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In VERY good light conditions video capturing is OK. Nothing more than the Magician. In dark light condtions the refresh rate is horrible, nothing worse than the Magician but nothing better either.

Wizard Pro's & Con's

I would be interested to find out what people thought were good and bad about the wizard, as this will change for what people want to get out of their phone / pda. If you have time could you list your pros and cons of the Wizard? Thanks, heres mine...
PROS
Phone / Text works good
Games are excellent
Can connect to the internet through wi-fi / bluetooth / t-mobile
MSN
The keyboard
Touch screen
Easy to navigate
MP3 player with up to 2gb storage
Can play videos
Can be used as a webcam
Calendar works well
MP3 ringtones
CONS
Controls for some games are difficult to use
Sometimes my alarm doesnt go off...
Hmmm... I broke my headpohnes...
I cant think of any!!! I love this phone too much

Here are mine
PROS
Excellent communication abilities
QWERTY keyboard
Organizer
CONS
Not enough CPU speed
In spite of this it is great!

That would be "Wizard Pros & Cons" - I'm an apostrophe nazi
I was going to write a full review but this is easier. So:
Pros:
* Great keyboard, innovative input design.
* Nice, large screen
Cons:
* The operating system for being unreliable and hard to use (definite feature creep getting in the way of useability and maturity).
* Connectivity (wifi & BT) seems sketchy at best
* Poor battery life
* Hardware unreliabilty

BT and Wifi works fine for me.
Battery life is comparable with any phone I've had previously - I regularly get 2.5 days with some average usage and with calls. That's using Wifi and GPRS too.
Install some crap like phonealarm or Wisbar and it drops through the floor, but leave a vanilla install and it's pretty good IMO.

Maybe it's just my battery, but with moderate use (music & frequent calls) I pretty much require a recharge every day. Seems the state of phones these days. I remember the time when a phone would last a week! :x

True, but they were also useless blocks of concrete which could barely make a call, let alone play video and music, organise your life, surf the web, etc.

for my Cingular 8125
PRO:
eliminate multiple devices and performs those functions well
keyboard
exellent conectivety options
CON:
mobile Windows Media player interface and functions
face buttons get activated easily in a bag or pocket (so i end up calling people)

Sir.B said:
CON:
face buttons get activated easily in a bag or pocket (so i end up calling people)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Go to Settings, Buttons and there is a tab that says "Lock"
2. Choose "Lock all buttons except power button".
3. Place phone in your pocket without worries.
4. When you need to use the phone, press the power button and call.

Yorch said:
Sir.B said:
CON:
face buttons get activated easily in a bag or pocket (so i end up calling people)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Go to Settings, Buttons and there is a tab that says "Lock"
2. Choose "Lock all buttons except power button".
3. Place phone in your pocket without worries.
4. When you need to use the phone, press the power button and call.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i set that setting...
but when on the bus and listening to music the phone is on
it dials sometimes...
thank you for trying to help...

True, but they were also useless blocks of concrete which could barely make a call, let alone play video and music, organise your life, surf the web, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Largely true, but I had a very nice Treo beforehand that would do all that, with a very stable and usable interface, that would last a good 4-5 days.
But I digress. Sorry for hijacking this thread :roll:

Sir.B said:
Yorch said:
Sir.B said:
CON:
face buttons get activated easily in a bag or pocket (so i end up calling people)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Go to Settings, Buttons and there is a tab that says "Lock"
2. Choose "Lock all buttons except power button".
3. Place phone in your pocket without worries.
4. When you need to use the phone, press the power button and call.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:roll: i got that setting...but when i'm on the bus and listen to music the phone is on it dials sometimes...
but thank you for trying to help...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you have windows media player on if you close it the music still plays and you can lock the device then

I hate mine. Bought 2x at Xmas one for me one for the Wife. Wife refused to use it so cancelled contract. I have made 10 calls on it since and it hasn't been used for 6 months.
Really long winded to send a text or multimedia message. Too small to be a practical PC .
I intend to get one of the new 5" tft mini notebook/tablets.
PROS
Phone is good
Can connect to the internet through wi-fi
keyboard good
Touch screen
sat nav use
MP3 player with up to 2gb storage
Can play videos
MP3 ringtones
CONS
too flippin heavy and thick
Text sending takes too many keystrokes
screen too small
alarm problems
headpohnes socket 2.5mm ? wrong size

Pros:
keyboard
Connectivity
Expandable Storage
Compatibility with MS Office ( word, outlook, excel, PPoint)
Music
video
flaunt value
Geek factor
Cons:
os (but this is not a Wizard fault)
Battery life (heavy use -wifi, games etc only last- 2 hours)
Camera -poor at best
limited memory
Slow processor (You Can over clock it but only to an extent and it affects the battery life )
Poor Stylus
But I like the phone and have reached the stage where I no longer Carry my laptop with me
a video out port and 'built-in FM would have been great
cheers!

The texting seems quicker for me with the keyboard than the old phone methods.
A fm radio would of been great, a big miss for me that is.
Why do people think the phone processor is too slow? Everything I have tried to run on my mda including games such as tomb raider have ran great.

I have the 8125 using T-Mobile
Pros:
Excellent phone with loud ring;
Extremely reliable and acceptably fast (with Mr. Clean AKU 2.3 ROM);
Works well with BT Stereo Headsets and other hands free devices;
With a simple hack, it can be controlled from a bluetooth headset;
Extremely customizable due to the xda-developers site and all the hacks and .cab files available.
Most flexible pda/phone available.
Standard Mini USB Charging
Cons:
No 3G UMTS/HSPDA (I'm waiting for TyTN bugs to get worked out);
Processor could be faster but with proper ROM and customizations, it works acceptably fast;
Camera takes marginal photos bue comes in handy in a pinch;
Battery life is one to two days depending on usage. This is better than some devices with WiFi.

I have the 8125 using T-Mobile
Pros:
Excellent phone with loud ring;
Extremely reliable and acceptably fast (with Mr. Clean AKU 2.3 ROM);
Works well with BT Stereo Headsets and other hands free devices;
With a simple hack, it can be controlled from a bluetooth headset;
Extremely customizable due to the xda-developers site and all the hacks and .cab files available.
Most flexible pda/phone available.
Standard Mini USB Charging
Cons:
No 3G UMTS/HSPDA (I'm waiting for TyTN bugs to get worked out);
Processor could be faster but with proper ROM and customizations, it works acceptably fast;
Camera takes marginal photos bue comes in handy in a pinch;
Battery life is one to two days depending on usage. This is better than some devices with WiFi.

I have the 8125 using T-Mobile
Pros:
Excellent phone with loud ring;
Extremely reliable and acceptably fast (with Mr. Clean AKU 2.3 ROM);
Works well with BT Stereo Headsets and other hands free devices;
With a simple hack, it can be controlled from a bluetooth headset;
Extremely customizable due to the xda-developers site and all the hacks and .cab files available.
Most flexible pda/phone available.
Standard Mini USB Charging
Cons:
No 3G UMTS/HSPDA (I'm waiting for TyTN bugs to get worked out);
Processor could be faster but with proper ROM and customizations, it works acceptably fast;
Camera takes marginal photos bue comes in handy in a pinch;
Battery life is one to two days depending on usage. This is better than some devices with WiFi.

I'm using tmobile with the data plan, I've used both the Treo and Wizard and like the wizard for it's extensive connectablity and the treo for its elegant OS and deeper application pool. Since I have the MDA, I'll use it until something better comes along
Pros
Excellent screen
good connectivity via gprs/bt/wifi
fairly easy to tweak, unlock, overclock
good selection of win mobile applications
Ability to use phone as WAN modem to laptop
Outlook sync
Bluetooth headset support
Cons
Stylus falls out of phone, this is a design flaw it is fixable but a pita
Camera is awful, why bother
Windows mobile - do we really need to multitask on a phone?
Windows media - what a half ass attempt, I wish Ptunes supported this OS
Windows email client, I guess I'm just used to some of the excellent palm apps, this is really lame
not really designed for one handed operation, you need to use a bluetooth headset
The phone connectivity could be better, I have a small Siemens phone that's much better than this & can pull in a distant signal where the MDA is still searching
Most of my gripes are not so much with the phone, it's an elegant design but rather with the MS OS, it's not like MS is a startup, I just expected more, its ok but could be so much better.

chrisredmayne said:
Why do people think the phone processor is too slow? Everything I have tried to run on my mda including games such as tomb raider have ran great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try playing Resco Guardians final stages with your phone not in flight mode (pun incidental). @195 Mhz you'll know what I mean.

Sir.B said:
Yorch said:
Sir.B said:
CON:
face buttons get activated easily in a bag or pocket (so i end up calling people)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Go to Settings, Buttons and there is a tab that says "Lock"
2. Choose "Lock all buttons except power button".
3. Place phone in your pocket without worries.
4. When you need to use the phone, press the power button and call.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:roll: i got that setting...but when i'm on the bus and listen to music the phone is on it dials sometimes...
but thank you for trying to help...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I find on WMP I am able to switch off the display while I am listening to music through my HT820 headsets!!!

Looking to get a universal, some questions here!

I am seriously considering getting a universal to replace my pda (dell axim x51v) and cell phone (moto v551).
I got some questions to clear up before pulling the trigger
1) between the different variants, is there any difference other than software? Which one is supposed to be the best one? the worst one?
2) How does the universal handle video playback using the latest ROM, because according to an early review, the universal performed quite poorly.
3) Any universal user out there who also own(ed) an x51V, how does the universal behave compared to x51v generally?
Thanks a lot.

1) I've only ever used the O2 ROM, as I really like their visual style.
2) I can play XviD 640x360 (16:9) and 640x480 (4:3) both fullscreen with no resizing and they only stutter on lots of fast-changing detail e.g. fire, ripples, heat haze etc. 98% of the time, it's VERY watchable The other 2% last less than 5 seconds roughly on the types of video I watch. WMVs are not really watchable, MPEG1 / 2 are perfect, MPEG4 I don't have much experience with, but the clips I record with the Universal's built-in camera play fine.
3) I've never had another PPC
4) Get the true VGA hack if you get one!

1) i have used the O2 ROM, dopod ROM, Lt. Cmdr. Ivan's AKU3 ROM [beta 8 was the last ROM I used I think it's now on beta 15], JW's AKU3 imate ROM currently using JW's ROM [1.90.96] it's pretty stable and fast.
2) I barely use it for Video, I use it mainly for music. But when I played WMVs [all my WMVs are 320 x 240 as I encoded them all to this resolution when I still had QVGA devices not too forward thinking I know...] it did the job pretty well. Note I usually soft reset before and after watching a movie so that I get the most RAM I can.
3) Sorry never owned a DELL PPC.

Thanks for the input, guys.
Another quick question, how does the universal work as a phone? I know it's a pda phone and I shouldn't expect it to be as good as a regular phone.
But how is the usability of the universal as a phone? Missed calls problem or any other known problems?

renhui said:
Thanks for the input, guys.
Another quick question, how does the universal work as a phone? I know it's a pda phone and I shouldn't expect it to be as good as a regular phone.
But how is the usability of the universal as a phone? Missed calls problem or any other known problems?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My MDA Pro is usable as a phone since I got a bleutooth headset. Before that it wasnt a great phone. It is since I got a Siemens-Benq HHB-130, just love that headset.

Hi, Kassad, is it the bulky factor or the not-so-good sound quality of the internal speaker and mic that stops you from using it without a bluetooth headset? I've got a bluetooth headset, but I am not sure if I want to use it everytime I want to make a phone call or have a call come in.
BTW, how is the picture quality of the 1.3MP camera? How well does it capture video stuff? I will be interested in using it to take some short videos from time to time.
Thanks a lot.

on BT Headsets and Camera Functions
For me call quality is great but the bulk makes it akward to use at times. I wouldn't want to be fumbling with my Uni whilst walking, with a headset you just press the MFB and your talking... of course I get the: "hey did you earse my number???" everytime I ask who's on the line [as I don't see who's calling]. or the oddest thing I've gotten was: "Are you a handicap, a deaf-mute?" [not too many people with headsets here I suppose hahaha. By using a headset your hands are free to do other things as well.
--
As for the camera I barely use it as it's doesn't have the best of qualities. I wouldn't leave my Digicam if I wanted nice photos or a basic video clip. Maybe for spur of the moments snaps or vids in the morning [with good lighting] the camera is bearable.
--
Anyway apart from the bulk and the poor camera [I don't think theres any PPC with a nice camera, doesn't make it right but I guess it's a fact of life for the meantime] the Uni is a great device

renhui said:
Hi, Kassad, is it the bulky factor or the not-so-good sound quality of the internal speaker and mic that stops you from using it without a bluetooth headset? I've got a bluetooth headset, but I am not sure if I want to use it everytime I want to make a phone call or have a call come in.
BTW, how is the picture quality of the 1.3MP camera? How well does it capture video stuff? I will be interested in using it to take some short videos from time to time.
Thanks a lot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its the bulky factor, the sound quality is ok. With the headset much better tho.
Quality of the camera is only acceptable in full daylight when you're outside, any other situation, forget the camera.
But as an internet connected very small laptop its superb! I use it as my business device and love it.

I normally will not buy a phone that is 1 year old or more in the market, mobile phone technology moves very fast, you must get the latest!
Why not wait for HTC Omni or some other devices like O2 Flame?
Some will be out early next year.
Camera is ok, its 1.3MP but it has a extrapolated 2MP mode. But cannot beat the 3, 4 or 5 or event more MP digi cameras.
Night pics are ok if you have a stable hand and holding your breathe, the flash light is quite useless.
Video is also ok, in *.mp4 files. Full screen playback can be possible using TCPMP player.
Ringtone or stereo audio from the phone speakers ok. Phone Mic & Phone earpiece ok.
Bluetooth headsets with caller id or caller number type can be used.
Bluetooth stereo headsets can be supported with a registry hack available on this forum if you are not using the qtek rom.
My other PPC is iPAQ as in my signature.

A few questions rtegarding Acre F1

I wonder if ppl are still using their F1/S200?
I'm currently stuck on my Samsung Omnia SGH-i900 because it's the only device that does 2 things that i need.
1) Torchbutton: to use the LED-flash as a LED-lamp. Currently mapped to the taskswitch-button.
2) Vito audio Notes touch can records phone-calls (automagically) even when the call is through a bluetooth headset.
I wonder can the F1 do the same?
Is there a program to use the LED-flash as a lamp
and does vito audio notes touch work to record calls? Perhaps someone can try this out for me (there's a demo to download on Vito's website or PM me)
I also wonder how's the camera? And are the latest ROM's any improvement on call quality (I hear it's not very good on the acer)?
Just a few questions. I ask this because the HTC Desire (which i wanted first) has no incall-recording whatsoever). Froyo-ROM's have a function to use the LED as a lamp though. And I tried an Omnia II (GT-i8000) and Vito Audio notes touch doesn't record calls (or wm notes for that matter). The only other alternative is to go for a Nokia Symbian device X6 or 5800 but that's a step backwards imho.
thanks in advance for the answers

Hi,
I try Torch button (v2.2) recently but it doesn't work on F1 with the actual driver on Arto's ROM. I get an Error Message : "Couldn't detect a supported device, exiting...". I'm interested if someone success to make it work, (also by use the flashlight to signal messages when phone is placed on the side of the screen, I know there is an HTC app to do this, but doesn't work on my phone).
I havn't test any call recorder.
The camera is not so good (disapointing for a 5M pixels), but for a phone it stay 'correct'.
Hope this helps

hey, the user stephano released a little program to use your led as flashlight.
I cant say much to vito audio recorder app,never used it, and dont have time to test it atm.
Regarding the camera, you re going two or ten steps back concerning quality if you compare acer neotouch vs samsung omnia. Acers camera quality is poo comparing it to the omnia. i owned a omnia before the neotouch and believe me i was very disappointed about the lack of features and very bad picture quality unless the light conditions are perfect.
On the other hand, the neotouch is indredibly fast, it has a hotswitch microsd slot, an audio jack. and a wvga resolution That were the things i ve missed on the i900
If you can stand the bad camera quality, the neotouch might be worth a try
Concerning the call quality, it's actually pretty good. It doesnt have a second mic to supress the background noise but i encounter the call quality as quite decent

the camera sux. no matter what rom u are using.
video camera sux too...

riotman said:
hey, the user stephano released a little program to use your led as flashlight.
I cant say much to vito audio recorder app,never used it, and dont have time to test it atm.
Regarding the camera, you re going two or ten steps back concerning quality if you compare acer neotouch vs samsung omnia. Acers camera quality is poo comparing it to the omnia. i owned a omnia before the neotouch and believe me i was very disappointed about the lack of features and very bad picture quality unless the light conditions are perfect.
On the other hand, the neotouch is indredibly fast, it has a hotswitch microsd slot, an audio jack. and a wvga resolution That were the things i ve missed on the i900
If you can stand the bad camera quality, the neotouch might be worth a try
Concerning the call quality, it's actually pretty good. It doesnt have a second mic to supress the background noise but i encounter the call quality as quite decent
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also coming from I900 OMNIA...Totally agree!

Yes, forgetting the neotouch even has a camera is probably the best way to approach things, it has impressive speed and a great resistive screen, good call quality, great wifi reception, and an incredibly worthless camera

Acer F1 incall-recording
OK. According to http://pocketnow.com/review/acer-neotouch-s200-f1
The neotouch has native incall-recoring. Can anyone confirm this? And has anyone tried Vito's audionotes touch or Resco's audio recoring with incall-recording enabled? There's a demo on either website to try before you buy. I already bought it and would like to (keep) using it.
I asked if I could try it in a shop nearby but the gent wouldn't let me do it :-(
I already bought and returned a Samsung Omnia II because it didn't work (neither did iGo navigation but that's a different matter).
I have found Stefano's torchlight program so I presume this is solved. He kindly sent it to me and referenced me to his (italia) website. (Thanks Stefano).
So my options are this:
1) look for a second hand i900 (which I know everything I have works on)
2) Get a cheap Nokia C6 (i have an 2-way incall-recorder program for it and a program that can use the flash as led. I tried them on an X6 and 5230 so I think they'l work on this one too.
3) get this Acer F1 (which cost about the same as the Nokia C6). I have the software that I need, I'm unsure if they'll work. It seems to have a worse camera than the above models.
4) Get a second hand HTC HD2. These cost second hand about the same as a new Acer F1. There's a patch that allow 2-way incallrecording and I've a torchlight program.
5) Get a SE featurephone with LED lamp. They can use it as a torch and SE-phones have 2-way callrecording build in (just as Nokia featurephones).
6) forget all this and get an HTC Desire android phone (froyo has a torchlight app build in). There's no call-recording possible on the desire for now.
What shold I do?
The reason I can't keep using my Omnia 1 is because the metal frame (topside around the digitiser) is cracking open. I fear that soon the screen will break in two. Then it'll be over. But since I'm reluctant to spend yet another +400 euro's on a phone and then discovering things don't work as intended (as with the Omnia2). I ask this.
Anyway thanks in advance if anyone test these apps out. You can also PM me and I can sent you the program to test it for me?

epdm2be said:
And has anyone tried Vito's audionotes touch or Resco's audio recoring with incall-recording enabled? There's a demo on either website to try before you buy. I already bought it and would like to (keep) using it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, i have Vito´s Audiotones and the incall-recording is very functioning, in both ways and also over the loudspeakers. You can also map one of the three Acer Hardkeys for starting the incall-recording with Vito´s Audiotones.

Took the plunge
OK fella's
After my bluetooth headset wouldn't function on my omnia anymore I sped up my decisions. I finally took the plunge and went for the Acer F1. It's about the same price as a Nokia C6 and (from the intel gathered here 2way call-recording works on the F1).
My first impressions so far.
It looks nice. I haven't removed the stickers (yet) as I might return it if it doesn't work as wanted. The screen is very nice (for an TFT) and responds very well. Much better than the Omnia 1 (which is famous for its awfull screen). The device is notably snappy even with a screen resolution 4x times as high as on the Omnia. Other good things. It uses mini-usb to charge (though not every mini-usb cable can be used as I have discovered) and a separate audio-jack (unlike the omnia). So you can both charge and use the headphones, great. The FM radio seems to work without headphones plugged it?! The first time that I have seen this. The Acer dialer has NATIVE call recording. This is also the first I've seen on WM especially in such a userfriendly and logical way... right on the call-screen
Then there's the bad things.
The sound although good in quality, is very quiet compared to my Omnia. I admit that I tweaked that Omnia with some inbuild program. If ppl want to fiddle with that little program, I've included it as attachment. I strongly doubt it'll be of any use but it does seem to start-up. The camera is notoriously bad as everyone in here as already mentioned (compared to the omnia). Speakerphone is too low to be of any use. This unfortunately defies the use of that one program that I require (audio notes) to record calls since you can't properly hear them afterwards. Although the headphone-jack is on the right place (on mid-top) it's also too quiet to be of any use :-(.
Other things that I discovered when installing and using some software. I've installed SPB Mobile Shell (tried both 3.5.4 and 3.5.5) but whenever exit the camera-software, SPB MS returns in "change layout" mode (with the last widget, used before opening the cam-software, ready for removal or changing). I tried with both the cam-software in rom (3.003c) and Xakep TURBO camera to no avail. Very annoying. At one point I couldn't remove "Getting started" from today screen (WM Standard). But eventually I did manage to remove it (though I still have no idea what I prior did to make it happen. Again I tought this was due to SPB Mobile shell but since I could eventually remove it (while MS was running) it must have been something else. As of now, (after fooling around with Coreplayer, SPB Mobile shell, Vito's audio notes touch, a few games and utilities) whenver I use WM Standard today screen and try to open a picture (which gets neatly displayed on the pictures bar) it gives an error (file-associations seem to be ****ed up along the way). Again a minor hassle (like the "getting started" that wouldn't go away) but a hassle nonetheless :-(
Apart from the lousy camera (which i expected) and the low audio volume (which I didn't expect) this devices fares quite well. It definitly needs some kind of invisible shield (or other protection) for exterior protection as the shiny cover easily gets dirty. I haven't yet decided whether I'll keep it. If the audio was better then I could have used it as a small PMP but because of the low volume (even with headphones)... The speed and great screen considering its price are its main strenghts.
Included is the Omnia's Soundtester-program that Omnians use to tweak their handsets audio volume (by quite a bit I might say). I compared my omnia (before sending in for repair) to the Acer and the Omnia is not only much louder. The inbuild speaker produced better quality as well while playing this loud. I boosted volume with Coreplayer on mediafiles but it never matches the Omnia without distoring the sound. headphone output on the omnia is allmost on par as on my ancient iPod 60GB (this thing kills your ears definitly!) while the acer is no-more than whispering compared to both. Oddly enough call-quality wasn't so bad at all. Call-volume was reasonable (even in populated environments).
Thanks for the ppl who helped me out with regards to incall recording (the prime reason for sticking with WM) and to Steff (with info on his Torch program).
regards,
EPDM2BE

epdm2be said:
OK fella's
After my bluetooth headset wouldn't function on my omnia anymore I sped up my decisions. I finally took the plunge and went for the Acer F1. It's about the same price as a Nokia C6 and (from the intel gathered here 2way call-recording works on the F1).
My first impressions so far.
It looks nice. I haven't removed the stickers (yet) as I might return it if it doesn't work as wanted. The screen is very nice (for an TFT) and responds very well. Much better than the Omnia 1 (which is famous for its awfull screen). The device is notably snappy even with a screen resolution 4x times as high as on the Omnia. Other good things. It uses mini-usb to charge (though not every mini-usb cable can be used as I have discovered) and a separate audio-jack (unlike the omnia). So you can both charge and use the headphones, great. The FM radio seems to work without headphones plugged it?! The first time that I have seen this. The Acer dialer has NATIVE call recording. This is also the first I've seen on WM especially in such a userfriendly and logical way... right on the call-screen
Then there's the bad things.
The sound although good in quality, is very quiet compared to my Omnia. I admit that I tweaked that Omnia with some inbuild program. If ppl want to fiddle with that little program, I've included it as attachment. I strongly doubt it'll be of any use but it does seem to start-up. The camera is notoriously bad as everyone in here as already mentioned (compared to the omnia). Speakerphone is too low to be of any use. This unfortunately defies the use of that one program that I require (audio notes) to record calls since you can't properly hear them afterwards. Although the headphone-jack is on the right place (on mid-top) it's also too quiet to be of any use :-(.
Other things that I discovered when installing and using some software. I've installed SPB Mobile Shell (tried both 3.5.4 and 3.5.5) but whenever exit the camera-software, SPB MS returns in "change layout" mode (with the last widget, used before opening the cam-software, ready for removal or changing). I tried with both the cam-software in rom (3.003c) and Xakep TURBO camera to no avail. Very annoying. At one point I couldn't remove "Getting started" from today screen (WM Standard). But eventually I did manage to remove it (though I still have no idea what I prior did to make it happen. Again I tought this was due to SPB Mobile shell but since I could eventually remove it (while MS was running) it must have been something else. As of now, (after fooling around with Coreplayer, SPB Mobile shell, Vito's audio notes touch, a few games and utilities) whenver I use WM Standard today screen and try to open a picture (which gets neatly displayed on the pictures bar) it gives an error (file-associations seem to be ****ed up along the way). Again a minor hassle (like the "getting started" that wouldn't go away) but a hassle nonetheless :-(
Apart from the lousy camera (which i expected) and the low audio volume (which I didn't expect) this devices fares quite well. It definitly needs some kind of invisible shield (or other protection) for exterior protection as the shiny cover easily gets dirty. I haven't yet decided whether I'll keep it. If the audio was better then I could have used it as a small PMP but because of the low volume (even with headphones)... The speed and great screen considering its price are its main strenghts.
Included is the Omnia's Soundtester-program that Omnians use to tweak their handsets audio volume (by quite a bit I might say). I compared my omnia (before sending in for repair) to the Acer and the Omnia is not only much louder. The inbuild speaker produced better quality as well while playing this loud. I boosted volume with Coreplayer on mediafiles but it never matches the Omnia without distoring the sound. headphone output on the omnia is allmost on par as on my ancient iPod 60GB (this thing kills your ears definitly!) while the acer is no-more than whispering compared to both. Oddly enough call-quality wasn't so bad at all. Call-volume was reasonable (even in populated environments).
Thanks for the ppl who helped me out with regards to incall recording (the prime reason for sticking with WM) and to Steff (with info on his Torch program).
regards,
EPDM2BE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install one of my ROM's - Manila or Clean, they have enhanced Audio with SRS WOW HD drivers. Your Sound will be much better, louder and over the headphones you will get better sound quality.