Related
:?:
I am just about to purchase a new PDA. I am deciding between the Wizard (o2 xda mini s) and Universal (o2 xda exec).
The universal seems to have everything I want, but I am scared by the posts here.
So I have one basic question for you guys:
Do you think:
1. There are basic hardware problems which can't be resolved until there is a new version
2. It is just a buggy software/firmware issue, and this will be fixed by the current and future firmware upgrades ?
If it is 2, I will not mind buying it ?
thx
Only a personal viewpoint, but my view is that most of the problems are being caused by software that claims to support WM5.0 - but the reality is that although they do support it, not all software is as robust as it should be. I have installed and uninstalled a whole range of applications (purchased and trial versions) - and found that many cause lock-ups etc. After trial and error I have settled on a PIM (Pocket Informant) and a closer/launcher (GSPocketMagic) that work reliably, do not cause my Universal to lock up and do not seem to have any effect on system speed. Others I have tried may cause lock-ups or at least really slow the system performance down significantly. Not sure if others have found the same - just what I have found by trial and error. Hope it helps
that is a very interesting point. I was very influenced by this article:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=35177
Also it seems if you read aximsite re: dell x51v, that Wm5 is not as compatable with wm2003se software as people think.
What also seems to be adding to the issues is that the service providers (o2, orange, etc.) are NOT aware of this and are installing applications as standard (e.g. battery meter) which actually cause lags in answering phone calls as they are not correctly for Wm5.
I guess the question is now, does the jasajr work fine when all bad the sowftare is uninstalled, and is it possible to uninstall monitoring software that service providers have installed ?
I just bought mine on Monday... great piece of kit!
If you are just going to use the software that came with it you shouldn't have any problems at all (i haven't anyway) all is working well.
I think as soon as WM2005 becomes more established and more developers cater for it the glitches will go, like NH said, it's more 3rd party software that's causing the problems
hey budo, which service provider did you buy from ?
how is surfing the internet using 3g (the real reason I want to buy it, as I will keep my normal mobile for phone calls)
rgds
My position is clear. WM5 itself has bugs and does things you don't expect. Here are just four examples of WM5 probelms which are nothing to do with third-party apps:
- If the Camera app is left on it heats-up the devices as it drains the battery
- On downloading email over GPRS/3G the Messaging app can freeze
- Media stored on the SD card when used by apps when the "suspend" option is used can cause the app to fail when you re-start your device
- WM5 can report it has insufficient memory even when it has 20MB of RAM free
- Memory leakage means you need to reset the device daily
- If you do reset it is possible to loose settings and data if this data has not been written back to the persistent storage from the real RAM
O2, and they give you 3 options for "install type" so if you want all the bells and whistles you can switch it on, or if you want just the basic software you can switch that on lol...
I have to sort my internet out for 3G, needs to be config for some reason.... but from what i have seen from GPRS it's top dog esp with sites that cater for mobile internet....
this is not good jah, i am put off again. although this could be fixed with a firmware update if htc provide that kind of thing. Anyone know their record on this for other devices ?
hey budo. If 3g is turned on, it should use it automatically for connection, even if it says gprs. that is normally how all my 3g phones have worked when 'bluetoothed' with a pda.
Colonel
I assume you have seen this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=33871
I am not trying to put you off but just want to make sure you have a balanced perspective. I have an Exec and all I can say is that it is "high maintenance" like all M$ based systems
thanks, i'll read.
I'm not sure I totaly agree with you about M$ stuff. I had a dell x50v and currently have an orange m500, and they are perfectly reliable and low mainentance. It does seem however that the hardware people have rushed out wm5 systems without really doing their research and I am sure M$ is responsible for a load of bugs. Roll on WM5se ......
colonel said:
hey budo, which service provider did you buy from ?
how is surfing the internet using 3g (the real reason I want to buy it, as I will keep my normal mobile for phone calls)
rgds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sux. This pixel doubling issue means that you don;t get anywhwere near the estate you expected. U can switch to Oz VGA but that costs a 5 min reset either way - easier to get to a PC! The other issue is that the IE browser is SO bad that 3G surfing feels like GPRS - in fact I used to fire up my laptop just to check that I had a good 3G signal in the area and was indeed surfing on UMTS!! Issue is that browser renders slowly, and cache's so badly that it actually reloads the whole friggin page when u go 'back'. I could have my laptop working on a 3G card right alongside my JJ on 3G, type in xda-developers and press 'go', and my laptop would give me the screen in seconds, whilst my JJ would take a full minute!! We're taking over 10x slower. Also, many sites do not render in PIE - blank drop boxes etc. In SA that's movie booking gone, not a SINGLE TV guide site works, and altho my private bank works, my company bank does not. However, terminal services in VGA is awesome...
craigiecraigie4
I don't really have problem with 3G and PIE. I use T-mobile and o2 in the UK and the rendering etc is reasonable given that I did not expect laptop like performance on my Exec. The Exec in corp mode with GSPMagic+ is very quick.
I'm getting close do a desicion, and that will probably be to buy an Atom Life, not wait for the I-Mate Ultimate 7150. But is there anything that should make me rethink that? I have owned an original Atom for more than a year, so I know about the not so good screen, and I know that the battery time isn't all that great (but I have extra batteries). But the 3.5G, the fast CPU and the small form factor is what's winning me. Any suggestions?
y dnt u go for O2 Flame ??
i knw its a bit huge !! but its really good!!
No HSDPA. Slower CPU. And I prefer smaller form factor to bigger screen, basically.
man buy d flame
atom life will ruin your life
You should look at the date of threads... I have had the Life more than a month now, and I'm very satisfied with it. A few early problems turned out to be software that didn't want to play nice with WM6.
I have had my Atom Life for about 4 months now. I upgraded it to the latest WM6 ROM found on the O2 web site. My previous device was an I-Mate Jam.
I don't use a lot of the advanced features in the Atom Life, because of my current Telco provider (T-Mobile USA). So, I'm only using Edge, not 3G or 3.5G. I'm also not using VTCall or the FM radio. I do use WiFi and this seems to work well, although not as convenient as being on a PC. I do use Skype on occasion (under WiFi) and that has worked well too. I have a stereo blutooth earphone by Motorola that works great. I'm checking email (POP3) and going to the Internet, no problem. I bought Spb Mobile Shell for launching application and that's probably the smartest buy I've ever made for my device. I almost never use the stylus for most standard operations, thanks to this great application. I also use Microsoft Voice Command. With this, no need to ever look at your screen or fumble with searching for contacts: making phone calls and launching applications are a cinch. I also have a bunch of other applications (various databases, MetrO, PDF reader), all working flawlessly. The camera is adequate. It's never going to replace a real camera, but for quick shots it's actually pretty decent. I don't use my PDA as a major input device. Therefore, I mostly use the build-in keyboard for typing things in and that's fine for me. I do travel extensively overseas and the Atom Life has worked flawlessly on any network it's been connected to.
The only major issue I have with the Atom Life. It doesn't notify me when I have a voicemail waiting for me. Technical support was useless. They basically told me: "sorry, we don't support the Atom Life in the US". I do get notification for missed calls and SMS, but not for voicemail. I have searched the Internet every which way and found no solution, except for a recommendation to change my Radio ROM (I have no clue on how to do this and I don't want to brick my phone). If anyone has any ideas on how to solve this problem, let me know. I will be forever grateful!!
Otherwise, I am fairly pleased with the Atom life, as you may have guessed.
After hearing the news of O2 Atom Life being planned for release, I, like most of the users out there who bought it was restlessly waiting for its release.
Sadly, after getting my hand on the device, I am faced with the following problems (WM5 and WM6).
1. Video Call - The vtcall application requires 10mb of free ram to start. When in use, it only uses about 2-3mb of ram (confirmed by O2 support). The problem is, the average free ram of most users is around 8-10mb. When receiving video call, vtcall fails to start up.
2. Slow performance while scribing - Writing using the stylus is misery with this device. Each strokes appeared slowly and you are unable to write naturely. Instead you have to write very slowly, letter by letter. The excuse given by O2 Support is because of it using the rom as temporary memory for the touch screen and also because of the rom size (1gb). I was told that it is so because they can't foresee what will be effected when they decided to put in 1gb of rom. For me, it seems like it has a design flaw. I wonder if I can return the product and get back my money as this is the main reason why I regret getting Atom Life.
1. Windows Live - All features of Windows Live will try to connect via 3G/GPRS even though the device is already connected to the internet via wifi. Anyway, can't blame this on O2 as it seems to be the problem with WM6 but if they did a good testing, they should have known this and as Microsoft to fix it.
2. O2 Calendar - When tapped, it always open the native Calendar application even though the default calendar application has been set to other application (Pocket Informant, Pocket Agenda, ect).
3. O2 Filler - The filler has problem calculating the free space left with certain today plugins like the native Calendar plugin and Spb Mobile Shell (with auto-hide enabled).
4. O2 Connect - It has only 3 items. Support, Collection Points and News. Where's the updates, tips and ect as stated in www.seeo2.com? The O2 Connect at the site is also worthless. The service is far worse than the O2 Connect service for O2 Xda II mini. Further more, the News item has problem. After refreshing it, about 80% of the time, the content is corrupted. Can only see the first news followed by damaged text display. Anyway, the today plugin can display the news correctly.
5. Camera Templates (Photo Frame mode) - The template is placed in the hidden partition of the rom and users are stuck with only 5 templates. Unlike O2 Xda II mini, users can place additional templates in the My Documents\Templates folder and they are automatically accessible in the camera. Upon contacting O2 support, they asked me to look for 3rd party software to solve it.
6. Notification Queue - The WLMSchedule has mutiple duplication. Need to remove them or the duplicated events will grow in number over time. Again, this is more to Microsoft but as stated above, O2 should have known about it.
I have experienced the same problem but the most irritating for me is the problem with Video calling. How I wish the 1G ROM can share memory with the exhausted RAM like before with Windows 2003.
thanks for the info....how about flame???it hv the same problem??
Here an update from O2:
Prob 1:
After several phone conversation with O2, it is decided that O2 can't do anything with this. The 10mb start-up requirement for VTCall is for performance sake (used for buffer). O2 confirmed that they are aware that Atom Life does not have enough main memory after (extensive use) before it is released to the market.
From my point of view, the designers should be sacked. If they knew about it, why not just increase the main memory to 128mb? Sigh, too many fools working at O2.
...
1. I don't know why but I consistently get 12-15MB of free RAM. Like right now, I have 16MB. I can only seem to get less than 10MB when I play Windows Media Player in the background.
2. I use transcriber and I agree that it's quite slow but compared to the old way of writing on my Palm then it's like light speed.
Now the other part
1 and 6. I don't blame a device (or the maker) for Microsoft bugs. I mean seriously, look how many people go out to get Vista even though it's full of bugs. I got my Atom Life with WM6 and never even touched Windows Live (and don't understand what you mean by WLMSchedule <-- ignorance is bliss ). If I don't like a built-in function, I'll try to get 3rd-party stuff for it or not use it at all.
2. I use SPB Diary and it works with Pocket Informant.
3. After a long process of finding out what is "O2 Filler", I finally figure out what it is. I don't install O2 Themes so it doesn't show up and my SPB Diary is pretty good at calculating the correct space.
4. You actually installed O2 Connect? I heard it was responsible for the random turning on of Wifi so I did not even install it. Got this after intensive research on internet.
5. Ok, this is a problem and the O2 people should do something about it.
So ya, I still blame the O2 people for not getting more RAM (more RAM is always better) and the terrible quality of their softwares. But overall, I love my Atom Life. Just wanna provide a more balanced viewpoint for those interested in buying the Atom Life.
Part 1: It's O2 fault as the VTCall application is choosen by O2 for video call.
Part 2: If you have used Magician before (O2 Xda II mini), you'll be amazed that the old device outperform O2 Atom Live. When you scribe on it, it feels like you are using a real pen.
Part 3 & 4: Heh he, I don't use it actually... just pointing out that O2 are not planning very well with the applications they are providing
Part 5: The great part is, the O2 support ask me to buy a 3rd part application for it... like it does exists. Made me think that the support team is stupid or living in a remote area somewhere in.... dunno where.
Part 6: You can disable the damn WM Live thing using Memmaid... but since I'm using Messenger and Hotmail... sigh...
I have had my Atom Life for about 3 months now. I upgraded it to the latest WM6 ROM found on the O2 web site. My previous device was an I-Mate Jam.
I don't use a lot of the advanced features in the Atom Life, because of my current Telco provider (T-Mobile USA). So, I'm only using Edge, not 3G or 3.5G. I'm also not using VTCall or the FM radio. I do use WiFi and this seems to work well, although not as convenient as being on a PC. I do use Skype on occasion (under WiFi) and that has worked well too. I have a stereo blutooth earphone by Motorola that works great. I'm checking email (POP3) and going to the Internet, no problem. I bought Spb Mobile Shell for launching application and that's probably the smartest buy I've ever made for my device. I almost never use the stylus for most standard operations, thanks to this great application. I also use Microsoft Voice Command. With this, no need to ever look at your screen or fumble with searching for contacts: making phone calls and launching applications are a cinch. I also have a bunch of other applications (various databases, MetrO, PDF reader), all working flawlessly. The camera is adequate. It's never going to replace a real camera, but for quick shots it's actually pretty decent. I don't use my PDA as a major input device. Therefore, I mostly use the build-in keyboard for typing things in and that's fine for me. I do travel extensively overseas and the Atom Life has worked flawlessly on any network it's been connected to.
The only major issue I have with the Atom Life. It doesn't notify me when I have a voicemail waiting for me. Technical support was useless. They basically told me: "sorry, we don't support the Atom Life in the US". I do get notification for missed calls and SMS, but not for voicemail. I have searched the Internet every which way and found no solution, except for a recommendation to change my Radio ROM (I have no clue on how to do this and I don't want to brick my phone). If anyone has any ideas on how to solve this problem, let me know. I will be forever grateful!!
Otherwise, I am fairly pleased with the Atom life, as you may have guessed.
Radio Upgrading
frenchygeek said:
I have had my Atom Life for about 3 months now. I upgraded it to the latest WM6 ROM found on the O2 web site. My previous device was an I-Mate Jam.
I don't use a lot of the advanced features in the Atom Life, because of my current Telco provider (T-Mobile USA). So, I'm only using Edge, not 3G or 3.5G. I'm also not using VTCall or the FM radio. I do use WiFi and this seems to work well, although not as convenient as being on a PC. I do use Skype on occasion (under WiFi) and that has worked well too. I have a stereo blutooth earphone by Motorola that works great. I'm checking email (POP3) and going to the Internet, no problem. I bought Spb Mobile Shell for launching application and that's probably the smartest buy I've ever made for my device. I almost never use the stylus for most standard operations, thanks to this great application. I also use Microsoft Voice Command. With this, no need to ever look at your screen or fumble with searching for contacts: making phone calls and launching applications are a cinch. I also have a bunch of other applications (various databases, MetrO, PDF reader), all working flawlessly. The camera is adequate. It's never going to replace a real camera, but for quick shots it's actually pretty decent. I don't use my PDA as a major input device. Therefore, I mostly use the build-in keyboard for typing things in and that's fine for me. I do travel extensively overseas and the Atom Life has worked flawlessly on any network it's been connected to.
The only major issue I have with the Atom Life. It doesn't notify me when I have a voicemail waiting for me. Technical support was useless. They basically told me: "sorry, we don't support the Atom Life in the US". I do get notification for missed calls and SMS, but not for voicemail. I have searched the Internet every which way and found no solution, except for a recommendation to change my Radio ROM (I have no clue on how to do this and I don't want to brick my phone). If anyone has any ideas on how to solve this problem, let me know. I will be forever grateful!!
Otherwise, I am fairly pleased with the Atom life, as you may have guessed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can find how to upgrade the radio from the link below:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=549804&page=100
Im interested to know this.. I have the G1 and I love it. I actually had to give up my Diamond for the G1. So now my question is this how many devices do you now use?? Ive used windows mobile for years now and even though I want to see Android blow WM out of the water I still have to rely on wm for certain on the go things. Even though my G1 is my primary phone I also have a second work phone which is just a samsung and for entertainment I bought a Ipod Touch a few months ago. My Tilt still ends up in my messenger now though when I have to do WM document editing and tethering on the go. Anybody else finding they have to do this. I know its only matter of time before I can use the G1 for everything but I was interested to see if anyone else is toting around multiple devices.
I'm selling my old wm device. No reason to carry the extra bulk. The only reason I'd keep it would be for some better games and junk I'd never use. My G1 is just so much cleaner and does everything I need it to.
Holy cow, how many devices do you carry around?
Yeah but what about using wifi router and office applications like excel and word and what not. I know eventually software will be available but what are you doing for the time being.. And the google document viewer is crappy and buggy so dont even mention it
Currently On a day to day basis i carry
Sony 8.1 digicam
Jabra Bt 8040
Ipod Touch 16gb
Helio Mysto
Tmobile G1
and occasionally my tilt htc kaiser
I haven't even looked at my Wing since I got my g1. I might be selling it soon...
I use dash for internet sharing and games till internet sharing comes out for g1, primary phone is g1. Nrg came out with new rom and linux is available for dash now so i'm gonna check out both.
One reason only so far...
Just to tether... but even then, I am managing to surf WIFI most of the time so thinking about turfing the good ole MDA...
--M
I'm a geek and have my workout log in excel, so I have my wing with me at the gym, but that's it. Otherwise I don't need the Wing.
My Diamond is currently up for sale and I am carrying my iPhone 3G, G1, and my Blackjack 2 for work.
I just got rid of my Touch. I'm a huger advocate of having only one device for everything. It's seems a bit counter productive to walk around with three devices which all basically can do the same thing.
I mainly used my Touch for web, phone, messaging, and video/mp3. The G1 seems to be holding its own so far, but I had to convert video file to mp4. I'm hoping someone will release their own mp3 app for the G1 as well since I'd like to have mroe options there.
I have been a long time WM owner and have had almost every HTC device and manage atleast 15 in my company. I have dumped my Touch Dual and WM for now.
These are two completely different devices. WM is a device designed around productivity but has too many issues and is not a good gaming or media device. If you want Outlook to sync and connect with server platform support and security than stick with WM. The Android is more of a communication and socialization device with an easy polished User Interface. You can sync some Outlook components and use MS Exchange but they are work around apps and not natively supported so there are problems to be expected. This device was clearly not designed for Outlook so it shouldnt be expected to work great with it. But if you are smart and you rely on this, you can make it happen or find another app to suite your needs.
The Android OS handles memory so well and can take a faulty application without locking the device completely. I personally havn't locked my device to the point of reseting, I have crashed apps and have had the OS hang for a sec but it recovers quickly. Not saying it can't happen but having owned so many WM devices, I have not had one that I didn't have to soft reset every couple of days to get back perfomance or dodge issues.
HTC does a fantastic job creating UI shells for the Windows Mobile but it does not compare to the speed and styling of the Android platform. Touch Flo enviroments are a great jump in the right direction but it is masking an interface not designed for non stylus use.
There was some adjusting at first but I feel MS had been pushing me to use their conformed applications. I found away to do everything I need my G1 to do, but I did take some work arounds to get there. I am happy and maybe one day will go back to WM, but for now sticking with the G1. To me its finally a device that can compare to the iphone in alot of respects. Windows is a more powerful device just less gracefull and lacking the polished UI.
Android ≠ Windows Mobile ≠ iphone
They are all different devices for different people.
Jcostanza4
so then you only carry a g1 now
ckthunda said:
so then you only carry a g1 now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
Jcostanza4
I'm still having to carry around my HERALD along with the G1. To be honest for over half the things I have to do on a day to day basis the G1 just will not cut it. Great device for a power mobile but still not developed enough for the cross platform integration I need.
Wow, you guys are seriously hardcore cell phone users. I use my phone for text messaging and browsing the internet. I cannot even imagine any time when I would want to edit an Excel spreadsheet on my phone. I'm a software developer so my work doesn't require me to carry an exchange compatible device since there's no reason for me to be on call when I'm away from my desk.
I carry my G1 on me at all times, and I have an old black and white iPod at my desk at work for listening to music while I'm coding so I don't drain my phone's battery. That's pretty much it. I do have a T-Mobile Dash, but I keep it around just to play with it at home, I don't do anything productive with it and it doesn't have a SIM card.
sadly....I still use my Wing along with G1. I need the wing to tether my laptop during those boring lecture so I can at least look at those skimpy jailbait posing with their sexy bikinis to prevent me from falling asleep
second, I need the wing at my clinical lab rotation to look up medications, dosage, and side effects because there's no built-in drug guide for G1 yet (I could use the internet to access some site that do the same thing, but I don't wanna do it because it drains the living battery out of my G1). beside the hospital that i'm doing my rotation doesn't get covered by 3G so pulling data from online site can be pretty painful at times.
once someone put a tethering app on G1, drug guide app, and improved 3G network is happening, then I will completely ditch my Wing.
But then, rumors started about G1 source code being release soon, so I might keep the Wing to see if android will run on it. it would be double the fun.
I'm still holding onto my Wing, although it stays at home and doesn't follow me on the street. I do use it a bit here at home for what my G1 lacks.
With lack of screenshot ability, I need it to shoot screen of the G1 (which are horrible now that I've been spoiled by the G1's autofocus)
>> android screenshot app needed
Keep the WinMo of course for video recording, and being able to send an mms with image / audio / text.
>> more android mms options needed
Now when I'm not at home, I'd like to have the Wing around for things that android cannot yet do:
1. d/l and open pdf files - as well as d/l of other unsupported filetypes.
2. stream audio so I can listen to online radio - stereo bluetooth goes hand in hand with this
3. playin' some dragon warrior or simcity - someone get an emulator up!
(and since the Skyfire browser is on my wing: FLASH!!! - c'mon adobe, hurry up with the webkit version already)
I know this probably sounds dumb and i probably know the answer myself but what u mean when u say shoot screenshots?
jkiller122 said:
what u mean when u say shoot screenshots?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Saving whatever is onscreen as an image file which you can then mms.
Is really handy to tell someone longdistance what you pulled up from your weather app; even better for sharing web pages since a lot of folks just wont click given links but will read what is showing in image.
I am due an upgrade tomorrow (hurrah) from Vodafone and having spent the last 18mths on a N95 8gb, my 5th Nokia in a row I have finally decided no the plunge with the Magic.
Basically I figure the platform is going to be more improved etc over the 18-24mths that I am likely to get locked into the phone for.
HOwever, my experience with Vodafone is that the OS they install is generally sub standard and want to know the following.
I have flashed WM5 to WM6.1 devices and also Symbian phones so have some knowledge ofthe process.
How difficult is it on the Magic, and which ROM is the latest "Best". I don't want to lose any 3G, HSDPA or WIFI capabilities.
Also, is there an app that allows syncing to a mac yet? Not a big deal as I can sync it all through Google Apps account. But without BT transfer, is there a USB drive programme for file transfer.
DOes changing the ROM make it impossible to install OS updates from ANDROID like the new 1.5 or is that the same thing?
Thank you.
Looking forward to this phone, want to make sure I can get the right OS on it before I start loading it with apps!