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I am so amazingly happy since I made the switch from Universal to Wizard.
The Universal, whilst clearly higher spec, more powerful, more impressive screen etc - was an unusable bit of kit. I battled and battled and battled - I wanted this 'superior' equipment to serve me well. I upgraded and tested various ROMs, tried every minor registry tweak and software trick known to man. Despite everyone in the Universal forum saying it *was* possible to get a solid, fast, reliable setup - I battled hard but never got close. It was still impossible to do the important little things like make or receive calls reliably, perhaps with one hand.
The Wizard is a proper phone - you can hold it between your ear and shoulder whilst stirring pasta with one hand and sipping vodka in the other.
The Wizard has proper buttons, ones that get used. The Universal had a multitude of useless buttons on the side that got pressed by accident thereby hanging Windows so that when you wanted to actually do something you may as well reset. The Universal had stereo speakers for God's sake. STEREO SPEAKERS? Does anyone else see the stupidity of such a thing? The whole point of stereo is that one channel feeds sound to one ear and the other channel to the other ear. What's more, the Wizard's handsfree speaker is clearer and brighter than the Universal's stereo speakers.
On the Wizard, I can make phone calls with one hand. I can pick up calls straight away, with one hand - I press the button and I'm talking immediately. With the Universal, not so. It's a long process involving three steps, invariably failing in most cases resulting in my having to call the other person back. Useless.
Sure, the Universal has a 520MHz processor. And when it's all optimised you really can feel the speed. But frankly that processor power is wasted on the most basic and major functions: the screen flip when answering a call. With the Wizard, sometimes screen flip lags, but thankfully I don't need to wait for the screen to flip just to answer the call!
That little Wizard collapsing stylus is a gem.
Here's what I use my Wizard for. I'm sure we are all used to this amount of functionality from one device - I've had most of it for years. But finally I have something close to the perfect all-in-one, and I'm happy!
Phone
Text messages
Voice command and phone in the car
Alarm clock (using the app Chronos) - how brilliant
Notebook
Calendar
Email on the move
Satellite navigation - tells me to slow down for speed cameras and talks to me when I get lost in London!
Portable music player (gigabyte mini SD card for MP3s)
Camera
Checking the news with RSS reader
Checking the next few days' weather in London from Today screen
I've even experimented with streaming video from my desktop over wireless. Works a treat, can watch a whole episode of The OC.
Yes, I can get rid of my old sat nav unit, my old pda, my old phone, my ipod, my alarm clock. It's everything in one tiny but beautifully usable package. (Actually, not entirely true, see below.)
There is ONE thing I am disappointed with. I had really hoped to eliminate the need for buying myself a new ipod. I am happy with a gigabyte of music - it seems fine to copy music as and when I need it. However I connected up my lovely Shure sound isolating headphones and the quality of the sound wasn't what I had hoped for. So sad about this - good sound would have completed the perfect package. There's just too much noise on the output, and the sound is horribly mid-range distorted. Gutted.
Anyway, I had to get this all out of my system - overall I am a very happy Universal to Wizard convert.
Thanks for listening
Mat
I can confirm all that. I ditched my Universal a week ago and bought a Wizard: Its LIGHTYEARS better in ease of use., speed, etc.
DO NOT BY UNIVERSAL. IT SUCKS BADLY !!!
completely agree. if i wanted a proper tiny computer i would buy a toshiba libretto. not the flawed, heavy and unstable universal.
Sounds right - the thing to remeber is that threse units are no laptops.... they are PDAs with phones ( not phones with PDAs if you see what I mean ).
Having swapped form a Jornada 540 I probably wont see the difrence your talking about but as a I can access most of the major features - Sat Nav / Phone / PIM I'm happy - its a portable viewer and ideal for when I am not in my own car.
Re the Ipod - doubt you'll beat that in this case - thats an Audio device - this is one that can do audio if you see what I mean.
Glad you like the change.
Terran
I'm finding this a very interesting topic.
I've just switched from aHP iPaq hx4705 to a Universal and so far I have been very pleased. however the choice between the Universal and the Wizard was a difficult one for me as I wanted a connected PocketPC / Windows Mobile device as opposed to a phone with a PPC in it.
My iPaq has clearly paid for itself in 15 months and time was right for an upgrade to WM5 and full connectivity. However my decision between these two devices was clouded I had a small chance to play with the Wizard in Dixon's one day when there was no Universal to play with.
And I liked it. Small, responsive, good lucks, surprising good keyboard (I wasn't sure what to expect to be honest) - all in all very good.
However I need to run a couple of power apps - PI and Planmaker - and I wasn't sure how it would cope.
I then had a try on a Universal in a O2 shop and I liked that. Everything looked good especially the screen (smaller than my iPaq but possibly even better quality) and the general speed.
So I got to the point to go for one of these. Initial cost wasn't a big deal as I was getting it on a contract with only about £50 difference between the two. And at this price £50 isn't enough to worry about.
I've currently got a Universal and am typing this out on it now. I'm loving it but that doesn't mean that the Wizard wouldn't also suit me as well. I have another 11 days before I lose the chance to take this back and swap it and I would really like to know from those of you using the Wizard how it copes with things like Planmaker due to the processor and the smaller screen size.
What a difficult choice though?! Two great devices to choose between.
I have an xda exec and xda mini s or wizard (two separate contracts). Both brill bits of kit. I use the exec for planmaker and textmaker and the xda mini just as a bit of fun. I like gadgets. You can't fault either device. I use both equally but for different purposes. I also used to have ipaq's for years but i wanted thephone functionality. The exec makes a wonderful mini laptop and the wizard a super ppc. If you shop around you can get bothdevices on contracts which added together give you a great deal in minutes+texts etc. yet give you the devices at a bargain price.
best wishes
Patricia
I agree. There really are some amazing devices out there at the moment and I am really pleased to be using one of them.
At the moment I can't see me getting rid of the Universal for a Wizard but that is because I have a clear idea of what I am after in this device. The Universal I know already after a few days is meeting my full needs.
Maybe if things go well I can buy a Wizard sometime late in 2006 when I guess they will drop in price! Just don't tell the wife!
dnt regret my purchase of a wizard. hope it stands the test of time and I'm using it for a long time. I think the trick to enjoying it is to remember in reality its your phone, everything else is a bonus.
i like to have 2 or 3 devices on the go and find if u shop around u can get really good deals recooping losses later by selling the devices on.the wizard is being offered for a small price on contract and like all similar devices will hold its value so why wait.i enjoy using the exec and wizardand find both equal as regards performance and functionality.planmaker, textmaker and tom tom work great on the exec whereas i use the wizard more for the phone side.
my other half uses tom tom but finds everything else a waste of time.i always have to explain that when we broke down in france this year in the motorhome my devices came to the rescue. tom tom for navigation and the predecessor to the xda mini a magician a great way to communicate to the rescue service and to find the nearest garage for repairs etc.
best wishes
patricia
Wizard v Universal
The wizard really is a great piece of kit but the BIG disadvantage for me is the missing 3G radio.
We have been crying out for this type of pocket pc ever since 3G was launched and I must say the breach has been filled admirably.
Obviously size is important and having owned both (and still do) I would agree that that the universal platform is not the most stable and the last thing you want to do is take a call on the Universal whilst in public
I have managed to incorporate all the settings taken from a symbian platform handset ie Nokia 6680 and managed to use the device successfully even browsing with the '3' homepage. The security of the '3' was the most difficult to crack and I can now download the various downloads offered by the cheapest network.
I also have subscribed to the £45 package which gives you 512mb of bundled data which allows me to visit other sites now the 'garden wall' has been demolished once and for all. This really is where the universal comes into its own.
One thing I will agree with is the size prevents use as a normal handset so I use a bluetooth headset with the appopriate hacks from the wi-ki developers page.
I cant help thinking that the Universal would be a far slimmer device if they hadn't incorporated the keyboard which I find absolutely useless due to my prolonged use of the graffiti facility(far quicker to write anyway).
I look forward to a new alternative to the Universal which may do away with the keypad once and for all. This should make the device a more suitable size instead of the similarities with the old handhelds ie HP 720 and the like which I'm sure many of us remember.
I think this is crucial given that devices like the Sony Ericsson P990i are just about to be launched with 3g capability and many people will see this as a more pocketable phone/pda. Not in the same league I agree as a windows mobile 5 device but still blessed with a good email client and now of course wi-fi.
Just my personal experience but I felt necessary to post in order to even things up a little bit.
Re: Wizard v Universal
jonboy8841 said:
The wizard really is a great piece of kit but the BIG disadvantage for me is the missing 3G radio.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2 things... is it '3' that no longer have a walleed garden ? Im just curious...
Re 3G ( and I know this is Off topic ) - is it me or is there no actual use for 3G for joe public ? Yes I can understand business use and to a certian point show off to your mates video calling but until its on all networks and all phones ( inc fixed ) in all contries its best feature wont be used... again another reason to go for the Wizard rather than Universal.
Terran
PS Before any one says 'but you can watch TV' DVB-H will kick that in to touch soon
3G makes a BIG difference if you actually go websurfing... (which is actually the only reason I find it interesting, I really don't care about video calling, actually I really hope it wont become standard for a long time)
I don't have a universal, but I'm guessing the bigger screen (and more importantly resolution), along with the 3G, makes it perfectly suitable to websurfing.
Universal is a great gadget, but it is not a usable phone. The way I see it it can be used as a small notebook, provided you don't expect too much. VGA and UMTS are great for browsing and mail. Also connected with BT mouse it can be used for Word or Excel (TextMaker and PlanMaker) and even Project. The issue is only that lack of USB Host and no Video out mean it can't be used as full laptop. So it comes down to personal preference and at least for Phone and PDA I'm going with Wizard for small notebook we'll see...
Finraziel said:
3G makes a BIG difference if you actually go websurfing... (which is actually the only reason I find it interesting, I really don't care about video calling, actually I really hope it wont become standard for a long time)
I don't have a universal, but I'm guessing the bigger screen (and more importantly resolution), along with the 3G, makes it perfectly suitable to websurfing.
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Click to collapse
Wizzard supports EDGE, it is more than enough to do web-sirfing..
It's really interesting to see how different members use their devices-I didn't realise when i first purchased the exec that i needed a different sim card and tariff to use 3g. I think 3g is also more expensive and as other members have commented limited by network coverage and most people still having basic handsets. None of my contacts use 3g-in fact they find my interest in these amazing gadgets bemusing, eccentric...This doesn't bother me but thankgoodness there are othersout there who share my interest.
I really didn't think that the difference between 3g and a good gprs was much. i played with both in the o2 shop and couldn't think of a reason to buy the universal, although it does have a few advantages.
FYI I have a vodaphone 3g motorola 770 as my main phone (cost £90 payg) and I successfully linked the wizard to it via bluetooth and surfed at 3g speed. So I have the option if needed.
One other advantage to 3G is that in a few months you will be able to dial into video servers that will have news, television, etc going over the circuit switched network, so you'll have much more reliable and responsive service, if you're willing to use your video minutes on it.
With the new ROM, i'm glad i didn't give up my universal. It is now worlds faster WITHOUT any tweaking, and even more with tweaking.
I also had the Universal or WIzard dilema and only one factor mattered to me : SCREEN REAL ESTATE!
Guess who won
Me = Wizard ---> Universal
Agree Jorgee.
The universal with the latest O2 rom is working super. With the next rom update, with radio version 1.09 and push email it will be even better.
I had a wizard for a few months and had to get rid of it.
Firstly note that I do not use either as a phone. i have a small cell phone for voice calls. I use these devices as my pocket pc with data only tariffs (a key advantage of o2 above all the other providers).
In this context the Wizard is really not a player:
1. Terribly slow cpu and os
2. Screen too small
3. No VGA.
4. Too slow to run skype well
5. Too thick (universal is thinner) - difficult to fit in backpack with papers.
6. Horrible stylus
7. Minisd card. All my deivces use SD. Its another std too far.
8. Non-std headphone socket
9. No 3g. GPRS web browsing is a joke.
Sry guys, but as a PDA there is no contest!
Hi guys,
just thought i'd post this message up on the forum in case anyone is looking for a genuine o2 Xda Exec, unlocked and standard in the lovely black case....
I am selling this on ebay soon as i have just bought a mini s instead.
The exec comes with all original o2 packaging, cables and cd's and has the latest t-mobile rom installed with no extended rom so the ext_Rom can be used for storage.....
i'm looking for around 400 quid on ebay but would accept offers over 300 from anyone here.
pm me if you are intested, the auction will be posted up probably monday.
well, got my mini s this morning.... apart from the fact it doesn't take sd cards and i'll have to buy a mini sd card,
ITS SO COOL...
Gonna put my exec on ebay on monday
Re: "Just bought a mini s to replace my exec brick"
Next time you'll perhaps buy the correct device in the first place? Were you not aware of it's dimension before you bought it?
Really?
Next time you'll perhaps buy the correct device in the first place? Were you not aware of it's dimension before you bought it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just looked at the specs, could not go into a shop and look at the device as i got it before it was released in the o2 shops....
Don't get me wrong, the device is the best bit of kit around at the minute but because i have to use this asmy main phone, it's just too big and awkward to use.
anyway, got me mini s now and it's just so cool..... i guess i'll miss the vga screen, but i can live with that especially if pocketvcs works on this device,
cya
What if someone released a bluetooth headset that you HOLD that looked exactly like a Nokia 8800?
Nah, still think the mini s is better than the exec all round, okay it's processor is not as fast, it does not have a vga screen and does not support 3g but apart from that, it's perfect for me.
just look at the amount of people who are swapping their exec's for mini's on this forum, you don't see many people swapping their mini's for exec's.....
lets agree to differ on this subject and close this thread..... don't forget i've still got my exec and compared to the mini, it's just too big and awkward to use as a regular phone. sorry
Steve,
Most interesting post. I have recently been thinking of doing similar.
I love my exec but simply cannot stand using it as a phone. I have a decent Jabra headset, however still feel very odd using it. I think we all knew the size of the thing before buying, however thought we'd all 'cope'. Well I tried and now I'm bored of coping.
Plus, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has felt very vulnerable when having to use the brick in public.....let's face it, it is an expensive bit of kit and having to flash that screen when in close proximity to an apparent 'undesireable' is no fun......
Another point to add would be to come clean about just how much of the Exec's features I use. I am probably the least technical person on this board. I use my exec as a phone, for my emails, for my diary (where it is INVALUABLE, due to my shockingly bad memory...), to occasionaly go on the web, for my contacts.....ummm...think thats it. I have no idea what VGA is, 3G is great but only for speed (never used video phone yet). A quick game of solitare and I'm done. Oh ok and a few songs and games, but hey doesnt the mini do all that?
Would be very interested to hear of your progress with the mini.
Cheers
HPJ
I think that there are many people who will swap an Exec for a Mini and for most of the reasons stated above. I'll keep my Exec because I really bought it to replace my XDA2s for the 3G data speed. I'll put up with its faults & foibles because it gives me high speed internet access pretty much wherever I am. The VGA screen is a bonus too.
I have to agree that while I appreciate my JasJar as an internet connected PDA - it is just impractical to use as my main phone. I too knew the specs before I bought it - but knowing the specs and carrying the device are two different things. I guess this has been building with me for a while though - this is not the first PPCPE device I have owned - first there was the iMate (HTC Himalaya) and then the iPaq 6315 (what a disappointment!) and then the JasJar (Universal). I guess in the end convergence is not as important as comfort and convenience.
So - I added a new line to my account for my JasJar and bought a Motorola PEBL (which fits NICELY into my pocket) to use as my main phone. The JasJar is connected as my internet device and the PEBL is only used for phone calls. I am a very happy man!
Well guys, an update on my mini s experience.... perfect, small, compact, and does exactly what my exec did (apart from the bells and whistles) in a nice small bo....
now, a big pain in the ass with the exec was that i could not get my favourite emulator (pocketvcs) to run, thought it was a vga thing as it ran on my himalaya with wm2005 installed, so when i got my mini s, the first thing i did was install this....
guess what, it still didn't work
gutted, dunno what i could be, if some one could reverse engineer it, that would be cool as the author does not seem to respond to his emaila anymore.
for all those psople pondering the idea of ditching the exec for a min s, like me, DO IT !!! YOU WON'T REGRET IT unless you 3g or want to strain your eyes running the exec in true vga mode..... also this thing fits into a standard mobile phone car holder
steverae said:
for all those psople pondering the idea of ditching the exec for a min s, like me, DO IT !!! YOU WON'T REGRET IT unless you 3g or want to strain your eyes running the exec in true vga mode..... also this thing fits into a standard mobile phone car holder
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...Or you could have the best of both worlds by keeping the Exec and getting a high spec feature phone (I use a Sony-Ericsson K750i with my Exec) to use alongside it.
You are right that the Exec is too big to be a main phone but it is absolutely the best connected PDA on the market. And lets face it, there's no WinMob device on the market that comes close to a decent Sony-Eric, Nokia, Motorola, or Samsung for battery life, call quality, Bluetooth profiles, and other core phone functions like being able to send contacts by SMS.
I've used a variety of smartphones (MS, Palm and Symbian) and PDAs (MS and Palm) and keep coming back to the fact that convergence creates more problems than it solves.
For you guys that use dual device (a decent cell phone combined with Universal), how do you handle SMS? Can you use the native built in Universal/WM5 SMS messaging software to send and retrieve SMS via another cell phone?
For connectivity like GPRS or 3G, I guess you can set that up in the Universal so that it will use that cell phone for the connection.
Otherwise, it means we have to have 2 SIM cards, means 2 accounts, means double to pay...
When I was in Asia, I found out that pre-paid SIM card is extremely cheap so that everyone can buy it easily. Not here in the US, very expensive to maintain 2 accounts...
I agree with most things you guys said about the Universal. I myself have retired my Universal for a week now. I have switched back to my old Wallaby, which I consider much more natural for handling calls and most simple PDA things I need. My Wallaby is very easy to carry to almost any environment I have to be, compared to my Universal. The Universal, however, its very nice device to use whenever I'm at home or office environment.
I used a mini before for couple of weeks. Which one do you guys have right now? Is it the old Magician or the new Prophet? How's the Prophet's performance and speed?
I have tested Universal last December and enev though I loved device and features, at least for me it's unusable as a phone. Don't get me wrong, I used Himalaya for 1,5 year as my only phone and PDA, but I really wanted smaller device.
I got a Wizard as my phone and PDA to replace Himalaya, but in a moment of weaknes I also bought Universal. I don't use it as a phone or even as a PDA, but it's a nice mini Notebook/Tablet that I use for browsing and more "computer" stuff, like Word processing, Excel...
lie_ui said
For you guys that use dual device (a decent cell phone combined with Universal), how do you handle SMS? Can you use the native built in Universal/WM5 SMS messaging software to send and retrieve SMS via another cell phone?
For connectivity like GPRS or 3G, I guess you can set that up in the Universal so that it will use that cell phone for the connection.
Otherwise, it means we have to have 2 SIM cards, means 2 accounts, means double to pay...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally do not use SMS much, but regardless of whether they send the SMS to my phone or JasJar, I will reply with my JasJar. I have software that synchs my PEBL with my Outlook contacts as does my JasJar, so I always have the same phone numbers in both - that makes it easy to reply to those in my contacts, which is most of the people I communicate with.
I do not know of a way to communicate from my JasJar through my PEBL - I do not believe it is possible - So . . .
As to two accounts, yes - I have two SIM cards, two numbers and more cost. It is not exactly twice as much though, since I was able to strip everything but a reasonable amount of minutes from the phone account and only have an internet plan on the JasJar account. It is a bit more, but not twice as much. The upside is that since we here in the States still have to use GSM/GPRS I can now talk on the phone at the same time I am running terminal server or some other communication-intensive application on my JasJar (one radio, one connection). Very Handy!
lie_ui said:
For you guys that use dual device (a decent cell phone combined with Universal), how do you handle SMS? Can you use the native built in Universal/WM5 SMS messaging software to send and retrieve SMS via another cell phone?
For connectivity like GPRS or 3G, I guess you can set that up in the Universal so that it will use that cell phone for the connection.
Otherwise, it means we have to have 2 SIM cards, means 2 accounts, means double to pay...
When I was in Asia, I found out that pre-paid SIM card is extremely cheap so that everyone can buy it easily. Not here in the US, very expensive to maintain 2 accounts...
I agree with most things you guys said about the Universal. I myself have retired my Universal for a week now. I have switched back to my old Wallaby, which I consider much more natural for handling calls and most simple PDA things I need. My Wallaby is very easy to carry to almost any environment I have to be, compared to my Universal. The Universal, however, its very nice device to use whenever I'm at home or office environment.
I used a mini before for couple of weeks. Which one do you guys have right now? Is it the old Magician or the new Prophet? How's the Prophet's performance and speed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do all my SMS from the K750 as I'm pretty fast with T9 and SMS by definition has to be short.
I'm pretty sure there is software out there lets you manage your SMS on a standard pocket PC (i.e. not phone edition) over Bluetooth.
I keep the Exec for PDA/Computery stuff like Pocket Informant, browsing with PIE, email, Excel, Word, Powerpoint, TCPMP audio/video, and TomTom. I find the big keyboard and screen are excellent for these functions. In fact I tried to use my old iMate Jam for a weekend away when I didn't want to risk losing my Exec and I found that I HATED going back to the small screen and stylus.
Steveae:
Having had the mini for a few days now, whats the deal with the slower processor?? Is it noticeable?
I know it will be slower, but in you opinion is it a hindrance?
Cheers
HPJ
PS as-new exec for sale shortly if anyone's interested....UK only pls.
Well, I'm pondering the purchase of a soon-to-be-released P990.
I do wish the Trinity was coming out soon. 3G and WiFi are essentials as far as I'm concerned, but I also find the Uni a bit cumbersome so I want something smaller, and losing VGA and the keyboard is something I'm willing to do...
Even a Muse would do, actually. When's that out?
I love my Universal. I came from an HP h6340, so i'm sure you'd understand.
And sorry, after using a VGA device, It would never EVER be justified for me to buy a QVGA one. I just recently opened my H6340 and compared the 2 screens. I just couldn't believe i managed with QVGA for 1 year and thought the display was BEAUTIFUL!
Actually, I really wanted a VGA PDA/Phone and there was only one choice for this.
No complaints from me. I even had a Nokia 9000.... Yes the Black and White PDA Screen. Now THAT was a brick, this is sleek compared to that device.
Whell.... for me this is it at the moment as far buisness management on the go goes although it has a few limitations at the moment due to under development at the moment and the network signal strength stinks compared to £30 phones you can buy now days and i wouldent even complin about its size (already knew what i was getting anyway) if it wasnt for all the other flaws with it at the moment like btooth, battery, poor range on wireless and again poor network signal quality..... I have upgraded the radio rom but that was about it and cant be bothered to keep messin around with hacks since a reliable buisness tool is what i need.
Im waitting to grab a SE p990i until i consider ditching this.
BR
well what can i say, group of unhappy uni users eh...
Just thought I would butt in and put my two bobs worth....
I love it. Love everything about it. The size isnt an issue for me, I dont get embarrased easily, I dont mind holding the phone to my ear, I dont care that it doesnt have an external screen, i am either available and take the call, or I am not available and dont take the call, dont need to hide from anybody.
I love the keyboard, I love the clam protection of the screen, I love the quasi screen, I love 3G data speeds, I love the qwerty keyboard, I love the WIFI, I love SD cards, I love the camera facility, I love the video facility, I love the hacks, I love the custom software installed.
I would like more memory, and more storage, but that is all. I thought I was getting 128mb of RAM and 128mb of usable storage, but other than that, I manage well.
We all make mistakes, we all have different choices and needs, but if you didnt get the hint.... I love it. I think the main thing people need to think about in all of this is whether they wanted a phone with PDA functions, or a PDA with a phone function. Mine was the latter. My wife was the former, so we both sold our XDAII's she got a phone, I got the Uni.
Cheers and happy PDA'ing.
Hi,
Did a search and couldn't find exactly the question I have so here goes. I'm looking to buy a phone/PDA unit and am currently stuck between the Prophet/JAMin and the Atom.
Main uses will be standard PDA stuff, however I do a lot of 4WDing and will be installing Oziexplorer mapping software (for offroad use) and perhaps TomTom or Destinator for city/urban use.
I am leaning more towards the JAMin for its fullsize SD card slot (I have a few cards already available), however I am concerned about the speed of the unit when running mapping given its 200Mhz chip compared to the Atoms 416Mhz one.
Anyone out there able to shed some light on this and allay or confirm my concerns? Other than the chip speed and slot size, I don't really see much difference between the specs for the two that would impact me - I can live with either Bluetooth 1.2 oe 2.0 and tri-band will suit as much as quad-band, although the one thing I haven't seen on the spec sheets is that the Atom will playback music files in AAC format whereas the JAMin will. Can anyone confirm this?
Hi!
I don't know much about the Atom, but as a recent switcher from JAM to Qtek S200 I would advise you to made a carefull move.
S200 Omap processor is slow, not by Mhz itself, but a poor performer, specially doing Bluetooth-GPS navigation.
I know it depends on ROM and radio versions, but mine is definitely lagging behind any other machine I had before, HTC machines I mean.
I'd rather stick with Intel processors and even WM 2003 if you are not fully commited to something that only WM5 provides... and I see nothing really.
Too early and poorly implemented the last HTC changes......
Jamin is better in so many ways
1. Atom screen my self-identify as transflective but it is not. Prophet (Jamin) screen is HQ TFT transflective. As result the Atom is almost "blind" outdoors. This is a serious drawback, specifically for SatNav
2. Atom has a 416 MHz CPU but it's integration leaves a lot for improvement. Prophet may be relatively slow 195 MHz (nothing realy disturbing but for demanding games and/or number crunching), but so is Atom, the latter for bad engineering.. Besides, comparing TI OMAP and Intel Bulverde only by numbers is wrong to start with...
3. Prophet on latest AKU2 ROM (all Jamin/Qtek/Dopod) is stable enough, Atom on latest ROM still gives headache, freezes, etc.
4. Prophet Quality of build materials is years better than Atom's.
I had both, had to choose one, finally chosen the Prophet sold the Atom (for what it's worth..)
my opinion about prophet
First of all I must say that I do not have an atom and I did not have a chance to use it.
So far I had XDA, XDA II, XDA IIi, HP ipaq 4150, and a number of GSM phones including Motorola V600 and Nokia 6230i.
I was never happy with PPC phones. There was always a PPC feature that was missing like Wi-Fi or widdcom stack.
Then came XDA IIi. Ever since I saw it on expansys, I waited it like a lover Oh my god, what a disapointment it was. As a PPC it was perfect, simply perfect; but as a phone it was horrible. There was echo on the conversations and camera was the worst I have seen with a 1.3 MP sensor. If you look at i-mate site it is still written under the "known issues" topic that "there is a slight echo reported by users which will be solved soon" :-D
And I gave up using PPC phones. I bought an ipaq h4150 and Nokia 6230i, both which I find the best.
Then after a year, just for curiosity, I bought a prophet.
I changed the ROM to the latest Dopod. I loaded a number of applications and tried to test it. At the very beginning it was very very slow. The starting was taking 2:15 minutes after soft reset and for Resco explorer 5.20 it was taking 13 to 19 seconds to open windows folder (Where all the files wer choosen to be viewed, ie "hide ... files" choice was unchecked). I have loaded and removed a lot of applications; most likely the registry was full of weird keys.
After a week, I hard reset the device and reloaded the applications. Now I am using a number of applications like spb diary, imageer, weather, pocket plus, time, gprs monitor, omega one calculator, Adope 2.0, Agile messenger, Resco explorer and Keyboard, Megasoft2000 Pocket Clock, Lygea 12C; TCPMP and some more and relativeley light applications. It takes 1:35 minutes from soft reset to open and 4 -5 seconds to view windows folder.
I do not use any overclocking or registry tweak to run the device faster.
I find the ppc very acceptable. The phone is very stable. No hang ups or freezing. The camera is very acceptable, not same, but very close to nokia 6230i or Sony K750 camera.
If you plan to have a ppc phone and if you do not want to wait for future products, I reccomend the device.
But I must warn you about one thing: You will see a number of people that are suffering from loosing the GSM signal after they lost it once. This should be very annoying. I don' t have any of the problems that people write here and there. But for some reason there are people that have serious problems like this.
Before finishing, let me take your attention to ipaq 4150. It is, in my opinion, the best PPC that has been designed. The lightest and fastest of all PPCs that has 400 MHz processor and built in Wi-Fi and BT. It also has a very sharp screen and built in widdcom stack. It is also very cheap in ebay. It may be a solution to processor power demanding applications.
These are all I can write.
Cheers.
What about the MIO A701. It has a built in GPS receiver. 8)
You can pre-order at Expansys: http://www.expansys.com.au/product.asp?code=134278
No transflecting TFT
Had an A701 for a while. Having a transmissive TFT LCD (versus Transflective) is a serious handicap for any daylight/outdoor navigation, while this is one of device's main reasons of being.
In principle, I would suggest to avoid transmissive LCD for any use model involving outdoor activity, inclusive of Dailight driving. This technology is older than Transflective (actually was replaced by the latter) and comes back now as a measure of lowering production cost .
To those unfamilliar with the terms, the transflective LCD self reflects any front lighting (including Sun's), while at same time being backlit. This is "enjoying both worlds" and allows near optimal viewing all-arround (indoors/outdoors). Of course it is also expensive. On the opposite side there's Transmissive LCD that usually involves back lighting (exclusively) via a transparent LCD panel. Direct front light practically kills any decent chance to view the screen which becomes (in various levels) a mirror...
There were some discussions on this forum, where some claimed that a certain provider in Europe offers "dimmer" and narrower angle-of-view Prophets, different than generic iMate/Qtek. A quick search here will show screenshots which are pretty clear.
I haven't materially seen this provider's Prophet, but a look on a Mio A701 screen outdoors can easily be self explaining (BTW so is Atom and a whole new line of new devices with "retro" cheeper screens.
Go prophet! Mine loads slowly, 2:25 due to WA2 and WAD, but afterwards is quite snapy. 3 secs for opening win folder! No regrets whatsoever...
OK, my mind is now made up.
After some comments here, and a review of the JAMin against the Atom on another forum (in particular using Oziexplorer which is one thing I specifically want), I am buying the JAMin. Seems much better and faster in many respects, and cheaper, and I can use my full size SD cards.....
Now I just need to find the best deal.
Hi,
I'm in the (un?)lucky position of rolling out 14 devices to our Managers and they WERE going to be Qtek 9100s (HTC Wizard) from Vodafone until someone pointed out the 'better' Vodafone 1605 (TyTN).
As far as I can see there's not much in it apart from the TyTN having a facelift, better spec camera (+ one more camera), 3G capabilities, but having popped along here for some insight, I am concerned about the screen alignment issue (can't be having 14 pissed off Managers after my blood) and other general gripes so what would you guys do - stick with the 9100 (Wizard) or go for the 1605 (TyTN)?
Is the 9100 a better (safer, tried and more tested) bet?
I've had a 9100 to play with for a few days and it seems fine - if a little suggish even when overclocked to 240Mhz - does the TyTN's different processor make a lot of difference?
Also (a bit OT - hope you don't mind), as we're not on a 3G tariff (I presume?! - do you have to specifically ask for this on Vodafone business? We don't really want or need it), do we just ignore the 3Gness of the TyTN or will it 'do' 3G whenever and wherever it can?
Thanks
L3K
Really no comparison, the Tytn is what you want the wizard to be. You should try both and see the real difference. Its like night and day...The wizard was good, but needed a little more speed and refinement. The Tytn is almost there.. Again try both before making your decision. Good Luck.
I would also point out that the jog wheel makes navigation much easier, especially of contacts.
the whole unit is far more responsive and the extra browsing speed may be useful for retrieving e-mails.
I AM a Manager, Past CEO, now Director of Telemedicine activities.
I have both, Wizard (overclocked to 240, omapclock 0.4) and TyTN and I had almost all releases of Windows Ce since the first Casio Caiopeia.
DON'T BUY a TyTN NOW IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR JOB
Wizard ROM is Stable, (I have last I-Mate) the speed in all days activities is more or less the same between TyTN and overclocked Wizard, if you are in an EDGE area the GSM data speed is really faster enought to have fast e-mail and IE navigation.
TyTN is UNSTABLE, software and hw problems, like SD card problems (it disappear sometimes), windows media scrambled MSMETADATA, hangup during sync, some appz not compatible, Screen aligment issue, lot of small bugs also with "side" features, like camera and USB Sync (like wizard first rom) .
If they NEED video telefony is the only real PRO, but UNIVERSAL is a better solution, closer price, or new MITAC or Motorola one hand device ( this isn't the good forum to compare ).
So WAIT new hardware release and new ROM release, and tell them that they have to work so 80% MTBF isn't enought (Medium Time Between Fault)
We (here) are a special group of technology entusiast, and are the real wide beta testers, but business is business
sergiopi said:
I AM a Manager, Past CEO, now Director of Telemedicine activities.
I have both, Wizard (overclocked to 240, omapclock 0.4) and TyTN and I had almost all releases of Windows Ce since the first Casio Caiopeia.
DON'T BUY a TyTN NOW IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR JOB
Wizard ROM is Stable, (I have last I-Mate) the speed in all days activities is more or less the same between TyTN and overclocked Wizard, if you are in an EDGE area the GSM data speed is really faster enought to have fast e-mail and IE navigation.
TyTN is UNSTABLE, software and hw problems, like SD card problems (it disappear sometimes), windows media scrambled MSMETADATA, hangup during sync, some appz not compatible, Screen aligment issue, lot of small bugs also with "side" features, like camera and USB Sync (like wizard first rom) .
If they NEED video telefony is the only real PRO, but UNIVERSAL is a better solution, closer price, or new MITAC or Motorola one hand device ( this isn't the good forum to compare ).
So WAIT new hardware release and new ROM release, and tell them that they have to work so 80% MTBF isn't enought (Medium Time Between Fault)
We (here) are a special group of technology entusiast, and are the real wide beta testers, but business is business
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sergio,
I think that is a bit sensationalist. I have not had the SA issues with the latest v1605's S/N HT631x. I'd be surprised if the other issues that are being reported are not by people that are trying to use the device as a power device, running multimedia video and audio, games etc, not in the slightest in the way that a business user would be using it. I never had the issues that were reported with the Wizard, but a lot of people expect devices to be stable using software not designed for the chipsets and/or operating systems IMHO.
@linker I would look over at our review of the v1605 on www.4winmobile.com and also ask Voda for a trial version of the Treo 750v and the v1605. Make it clear to them that you expect devices that have been tested prior to shipment for the keyboard issues. The QTek 9100 is also know to be buggy, more than the other iterations AFAIK.
Believe me, the most important thing in a Manager mind is: "it had to work anytime, anywere, the only thing I can accept is to charge the battery!"
Read the tyTn and the wizard forums: tytn forum is full of "problems", wizard forum is full of "enhancements", and this is normal, the first has only 3-4 months of wide beta, the second is on the wild since one year.
Gold business lesson: don't be the first, try to be the SECOND! (so called "the windows lesson" )
I think I am a power user, but:
if I put away my SD I am afraid every time I have to put it in again, 50% not recognized at first insert.
- I am resetting my TyTn once a day (new USB drivers?)
- I still haven't heard ANY OFFICIAL NEWS that Screen aligment issue was solved
- I still have to delete manually MSMETADATA every day to have again my video and music list
- I can hangup my TyTN in several well known ways...
- HTC Service is not as good as we expected
So may be he will have still is job after swapping the management to TyTN, but he WILL BE VERY BUSY
Hi Guys - just to update you -
My Vodafone direct business sales contact spoke to their techies and they confirmed the screen problem.
Vodafone are sending me a 1605 to check out so I am going to bash it around (in the most technical sense possible) for a couple of days to see what happens)
I have both the Wizard and Tytn, using them on the Cingular network in California. On the latest ROM, overclocked to 260MHz (using BatteryStatus), the user interface is responsive enough to be usable, and the Wizard is stable for 6 to 8 weeks at a time, sometimes even longer. I have problems with the TyTn every few hours to every few days. The TyTN hardware is superior, but the software is worse than a lot of Beta software I've played with.
If my job were on the line, I would definitely go with the Wizard at this point.
linker3000 said:
Hi Guys - just to update you -
My Vodafone direct business sales contact spoke to their techies and they confirmed the screen problem.
Vodafone are sending me a 1605 to check out so I am going to bash it around (in the most technical sense possible) for a couple of days to see what happens)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bad (phones) girls are for fun, good (phones) girls are for business
As 2007 draws to a close, I have - thanks in large part to the people here on this forum - got pretty much a perfect setup going. I thought I'd share it with you:
I use my Ameo mainly for organising my work and personal life (a Filofax replacement if you like). I upgraded to the X-Black WM6 rom provided by your goodselves and as a by-product had to unlock the beast with a well-known program also supplied here (programmer may be rude, but he is certainly talented). This enabled me to insert my work SIM and to fully utilse the exchange-based activesync provided from work.
- Work/personal life updates, sorted
- Work E-mail, sorted
I have set up my home e-mail as IMAP and the server there is configured to use dynamic dns. Home e-mail on the Ameo configured to use gmail as SMTP client, leaving it fully mobile.
- Home E-mail, sorted.
The Ameo is kind of clunky to use a a phone. Thanks to this forum I found the LG I-style to use as a handset (ebay) - by FAR the best option I have used so far
- Work/Home Phone, sorted
In the car I have Brodit holder wired in (using the much more elegant Dashmount bracket rather then the ungainly Brodit), giving me power and a great looking platform for GPS functionality. Also just installed is Blaupunkt radio with integrated bluetooth so I can utilise the phone "on the go". As I get in the car, turn off the LG I-style and the Blaupunkt connects in its place. Seemless.
- Car Phone, sorted
- GPS (car), sorted
For music on the move, I have an I-tec bluetooth/radio with some really decent earphones. When I am travelling listening to music, this can connect instead of the I-style, switching between music and phone calls
- Music/mobile Phone, sorted
And finally, in my airplane I have configured my Pilot knee-pad to use the magnetic points on the Ameo to hold it in place whilst I am flying.
- GPS (Aviation), sorted
So with all that in place, could it be better? Well I bought the Ameo in the first place due to screen size (for flying), so I am happy with that. The keyboard I love (ex Psion Netbook, so of course I would) and the ability to leave it aside when not required is great. The WM6 is a HUGE improvement in both speed and stability over the original ROM. The only thing I think I would alter is the micro-drive - would love to swap for SSD version to achieve lighter weight and speedier access time.
And what am I carrying? - well normally just the main unit (without k/board, slipped into inside pocket) plus the I-style hand set. In my briefcase is the I-tec and the headphones plus spare battery. Total weight around 400g and it will all fit into suit pockets without spoiling the cut (the beer-belly does that without any help)
Let me know if you have any thoughts for improvements. Either way, thanks for all your help, especially the talented ones (let me know if you appreciatee contributions as this sort of work should not go unpaid).
Have a great Christmas and a better 2008.
Robert
Thanks for the well-written info
This is a great post: helpful, informative, inspiring. Thanks for taking the time to give back to the community!
I might take a leaf out of your book and try some of your ideas. I have kept a bog standard Ameo from T-Mobile in the UK which I bought 6 months ago. I always wanted to try upgrading to WM6 but I haven't found anywhere that will walk me through step by step. I think you just convinced me.
The keyboard broke on my Ameo (now has poor connectivity) so I'm hoping to get a Bluetooth keyboard as a replacement for Christmas.
The microphone and ear buds also are a bit dodgy now - I bought a "Discovery 655 Bluetooth Headset" so I can make calls but I'm not too happy with it - I might get a "LG BLUETOOTH STYLE-i HBM-700 HEADSET" like you suggest.
I understand your reticence - I held back for many months before taking the plunge.
There are a few step-by-step guides to the upgrade (see here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=347240) and it is worthwhile taking a few lunch-times to run through the threads here on the site. Then when you have a full evening spare, go through methodically.
Good luck
Robert
Mrsums said:
As 2007 draws to a close, I have - thanks in large part to the people here on this forum - got pretty much a perfect setup going. I thought I'd share it with you:
I use my Ameo mainly for organising my work and personal life (a Filofax replacement if you like). I upgraded to the X-Black WM6 rom provided by your goodselves and as a by-product had to unlock the beast with a well-known program also supplied here (programmer may be rude, but he is certainly talented). This enabled me to insert my work SIM and to fully utilse the exchange-based activesync provided from work.
- Work/personal life updates, sorted
- Work E-mail, sorted
I have set up my home e-mail as IMAP and the server there is configured to use dynamic dns. Home e-mail on the Ameo configured to use gmail as SMTP client, leaving it fully mobile.
- Home E-mail, sorted.
The Ameo is kind of clunky to use a a phone. Thanks to this forum I found the LG I-style to use as a handset (ebay) - by FAR the best option I have used so far
- Work/Home Phone, sorted
In the car I have Brodit holder wired in (using the much more elegant Dashmount bracket rather then the ungainly Brodit), giving me power and a great looking platform for GPS functionality. Also just installed is Blaupunkt radio with integrated bluetooth so I can utilise the phone "on the go". As I get in the car, turn off the LG I-style and the Blaupunkt connects in its place. Seemless.
- Car Phone, sorted
- GPS (car), sorted
For music on the move, I have an I-tec bluetooth/radio with some really decent earphones. When I am travelling listening to music, this can connect instead of the I-style, switching between music and phone calls
- Music/mobile Phone, sorted
And finally, in my airplane I have configured my Pilot knee-pad to use the magnetic points on the Ameo to hold it in place whilst I am flying.
- GPS (Aviation), sorted
So with all that in place, could it be better? Well I bought the Ameo in the first place due to screen size (for flying), so I am happy with that. The keyboard I love (ex Psion Netbook, so of course I would) and the ability to leave it aside when not required is great. The WM6 is a HUGE improvement in both speed and stability over the original ROM. The only thing I think I would alter is the micro-drive - would love to swap for SSD version to achieve lighter weight and speedier access time.
And what am I carrying? - well normally just the main unit (without k/board, slipped into inside pocket) plus the I-style hand set. In my briefcase is the I-tec and the headphones plus spare battery. Total weight around 400g and it will all fit into suit pockets without spoiling the cut (the beer-belly does that without any help)
Let me know if you have any thoughts for improvements. Either way, thanks for all your help, especially the talented ones (let me know if you appreciatee contributions as this sort of work should not go unpaid).
Have a great Christmas and a better 2008.
Robert
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
enjoy the phone and glad to hear another person is satisfied with this beast we call the athena.
It was kinda long fight but now i'm really satisfied with my Athena too.
The main reason for getting an Athena was the need to Remote Control of some Servers we got running under Windows and Linux. So i needed a device running Putty and Remote Desktop with UMTS speed.
A device with a Screen Resolution and Screen Size of the Athena is perfect for this.
When i got My Athena wich came as T-Mobile Ameo i was extremly disappointed with the T-Mobile WM5 running on it.
It was unstable, slow and nearly unusable for the things i really needed it to do.
So i tried the T-Mobile Upgrade to WM6 but still wasn't very pleased with it.
I decided to unlock the device and install the Athena Projekt Black WM6 ROM and it sorted out that running this ROM with RealVGA at the 128dpi setting made the Athena usable. It ran stable and with an acceptable speed but there was to much crap installed so i reinstalled the Athene Projekt ROM without the software in the EXTRom and finally had the device i wanted.
After setting up some extra Software like
- Navigon6
- Mort Player
- RemoteDesktop for WM6
- putty
- TCPMP
- HTC Home (the new one)
- Total Commander
- PocketVNC
- pBar
- Pocket CM (really stylish Contact Manager)
- PCM Keyboard (finally an usable OnScreen keyboard)
- SIM Display (really useful beacuse i use an Anlago DualSIM Adapter)
and some Registry Haking to get a German Keyboard Setting i had a really usable Device.
This setup runs for 8 weeks now. No Softreset since then, no SystemCrash.. just a really good working Device.
Usually i carry the Athena without Keyboard because the PCMKeyboard really works good and can be used with the fingers.
Only thing left is finding a good and usable Headset
If you know what to use it for, the Athena really rocks.