My athena is gone!!!! - Advantage X7500, MDA Ameo General

Hey guys,
i recently traded my belloved Athena for a Sony vaio UX 380N,
i used my Athena mostly to send pictures using pocket phojo
and read email and navigation, and for a pocket pc it worked like a dream,
no crashes, well the magnetic design was kinda akward for me
but all in all it was a great little machine, working on a umpc
is different though its slower but i benefit greatly since i have a
better display and a photo shop installed. For me having a device
with pc and ppc combined would be a dream come true.
What do you think?
Tito

isnt that a Shift? dream come true is possibly not the word for it though. pipedream come true? daydream come true? the problem is it came true and it's there if you really want it.......

Everybody is entitled to their own preferences for the gadgets they use. Frankly I love the viao more than the athena. It's small, it does have a phone and it works with a full windows xp. The downside is the price. USD 2k for a phone is too much for me. If a small screen fits well with you while using photoshop, that's also fine. Personally, I perfer a 21 inch or bigger screen when I do graphic intensive stuff like color separations. Good luck on your new gadget!!!

I work as a photojournalist and have to send daily asigments on loacation
or real time so carring a 20" imac or even a small laptop isnt really and option...

Let me know if you get bored of the UX380, I may trade you for a X7500

Tikej said:
I work as a photojournalist and have to send daily asigments on loacation
or real time so carring a 20" imac or even a small laptop isnt really and option...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suggest you look into the OQO model 02 it's a pretty cool gadget, just my 2 cent.

Pricey though.....

Tikej said:
Hey guys,
i recently traded my belloved Athena for a Sony vaio UX 380N,
i used my Athena mostly to send pictures using pocket phojo
and read email and navigation, and for a pocket pc it worked like a dream,
no crashes, well the magnetic design was kinda akward for me
but all in all it was a great little machine, working on a umpc
is different though its slower but i benefit greatly since i have a
better display and a photo shop installed. For me having a device
with pc and ppc combined would be a dream come true.
What do you think?
Tito
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You were using your GPS on your Athena before. You've given that up in the process?
How do you find the battery life of UX380N and its speed ? Do you listen your MP3 on it? What about your PIM? Is the lack of instant on capability a problem for you or no? Does it have a phone or are you having a separate smaller phone with MP3/GPS?
OQO Model 2 looks a lot sexier, but as you said the price is also much higher. I like its 5 inch 800x480 screen.

I was using gps on my Athena a lot, I also liked build in hsdpa modem a lot,
sure ux takes forever to boot and you can put it to sleep(crashes sometimes) but i dont know different tools all together. Mostly i like ux becouse its a regular pc and its more versatile if you ask me....

The better mobile PC is... my HOME/OFFICE PC
I have a vista mobile, an XP mobile, I just use the athena as mobile PC as 5' device to connect, via RDP or logmein.
THEN I have some movies, music, PIM and e-mail on-the go
Why Athena? Size matters for remote PCs

Well ive had it with Vista, i sold Vaio UX(with profit), i desided to go back to PPC and got a new Hp hx 4700 with wm 2003 and iam back to step one,
i had with umpc, giant PPCs(Athena, Qtek 9000 etc.), this baby is kinda unstable(use backup a lot) but it flys in Pocket Phojo and gps is way better
with an external antena(have one built it under the bonet). Iam waiting for
better device to use as a mobile editing station/navigation/office work,
i realized that smal screens (5" and smaller) and small keyboards just doesnt
work good in my hands. I prefer using OS X better than Win devices,
Macbook Air is lightweight but not really light or small enough,
so the search continues. Yeeezzz.....

Related

TRADE - My Universal for your Wizard?

Am thinking of trading my Universal for someone's Wizard. Was wondering what you guys think of that.
Thoughts?
Offers?
Thanks!
Cyb
Do it and dont look back.
Main reason? EDGE compatibility. Especially as your in the US.
Only thing the Uni has that I want over and above the Wizard is VGA. But I can live with the tiny QVGA screen on the Wizard. The VGA screen is the main reason the Uni is so sluggish anyway, as it uses the processor as its video controller instead of a seperate VGA chip.
Cya
Stot
I suggest you check the Pocket PC forum on HowardForums.com first. Quite a few people are extremely unhappy with their Wizards, while owners of Universals seem rather happy.
You are stupid...
change a ferrari into a bmw (normal version)
Responses!
bohr2005 said:
You are stupid...
change a ferrari into a bmw (normal version)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well I'm definately getting opinions! keep 'em coming...
Cyb
Ferarri - BMW.. Not entirely true.
The Universal on its face is a good device. But once you start using it it has its annoyances that can outweigh the VGA screen, the only great thing it has going for it. It has a faster CPU but its impacted by the fact that the CPU is drawing 4 times the screen real estate which slows it down a LOT.
Ram/Rom is the same
Both have a QWERTY K/B
Both have Bluetooth
Both have 1.3MP camera.
Also be aware that in the US there is no 3G WCDMA network, there is 3G EDGE rolling out tho, so the Wiz can go 3G out here.
Oh and the Wiz has Wifi b and g and will be upgradeable via rom to e and i too. Universal is b only.
IMO the Universal is a little too fragile also. Not sure about the Wiz as i havent got it yet but its on its way and I had a play with it. its seemed to be more sturdy.
So. Its more like comparing a Ferarri towing a caravan, looks great fairly slick and fast engine bogged down, to a Caterham 7. Looks great, bit smaller, less powerfull engine, fairly robust, No caravan.
Cya
Stot
i had a Wizard for a couple of weeks. to be honest i loved it but i found the screen too small for easy reading of mail, spreadsheets, internet browsing etc. As a phone it is definitely preferable to the Universal BUT, from my humble point of view, the Universal is the best all rounder i've ever used - it's awesome. Also, once you've tweaked the Universal it's realy fast AND reliable and it does mean that for short journey's abroad i don't need to take my laptop. oh yeah, the Wizard uses mini SD which means you are limited to a 1GB storage card and if you like music, video etc that just ain't enough!
Mikey Mike
i had a Wizard for a couple of weeks. to be honest i loved it but i found the screen too small for easy reading of mail, spreadsheets, internet browsing etc. As a phone it is definitely preferable to the Universal BUT, from my humble point of view, the Universal is the best all rounder i've ever used - it's awesome. Also, once you've tweaked the Universal it's realy fast AND reliable and it does mean that for short journey's abroad i don't need to take my laptop. oh yeah, the Wizard uses mini SD which means you are limited to a 1GB storage card and if you like music, video etc that just ain't enough!
Mikey Mike
The Wizard has a keyboard.....all right.....BUT, it doesnt have a separate row for numbers (0-9). It shares it with the qwert... keys, and that's simply bad!
IMHO, i think this is a handicap, and is a bad limitation for a device which claims to have a native hw based keyboard...
S
ferrari and BMW?
Think not you are giving the wizard too much credit.
Main problems with the wizard: Too small, it is a stuck up mda compact.
The processor is downright slow.
You are living in the US so yeah, edge is the only option for the 3g network.
Still I think you should not just throw it away and get the wizard.
Furthermore if you do change it is a waste of your money, as the wizard is much cheaper then the universal.
Offcourse there are problems with the universal... what did you expect.
The universal uses vga, which is not supported yet. It uses wm5 too which is not highly compatible with known programs either.
I suggest you wait a while before you do something I am sure you will regret sooner or later.
Thanks!
I want to thank you guys for your responses... I have decided to keep my universal and just continue to use my Sierra Wireless VOQ as a back up when the Uni is TOO MUCH
Now... let's begin with a new ROM...
Thanks again...
Cyb
Im down with the trade!!
I would check your exec they are just as cheap. I dropped my orange variant and the case split open. I am unbiased as I have both and actually vga is supported nativly since wm 2003. So it is not a new thing manuafactures choose not to implement screens.
Wizard thogh a tad slower gets the job done, remeber the tortoise and the bunny. Besides have you actually looked at the benchmarks for the exec they are not that inspiring.
I guess I am British in that sense I am used to waiting, like British transport you will be waiting but it will get yo there though.
battery life
however the wizard is like a moped sipping vegetable oil compared with the universal like a mustang on premium gas when it comes to battery life...

HTC Shift vs. HTC Athena

I am still trying to decide what i should buy. HTC Shift, HTC Omni and HTC Kaiser will be announced in Q3 just like HTC X7501. I am still waiting as my friend WU told me to do. I will wait till Summer July or September where more juicy stuff will come and therefore I decided not to buy HTC Athena.
One is a UMPC and the other is a Pocket PC. Compare both in all ways, from price, technical spec's and style.
I find the Shift to be much better than the Athena. What do you all think?
I have the Ameo now, and by the time the novelty of that has worn off, the Shift will be out.
And of course, I'll have to have one of them as well.....
nuclear said:
I am still trying to decide what i should buy. HTC Shift, HTC Omni and HTC Kaiser will be announced in Q3 just like HTC X7501. I am still waiting as my friend WU told me to do. I will wait till Summer July or September where more juicy stuff will come and therefore I decided not to buy HTC Athena.
One is a UMPC and the other is a Pocket PC. Compare both in all ways, from price, technical spec's and style.
I find the Shift to be much better than the Athena. What do you all think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will never buy the HTC Shift, and none of the UMPC. You see, i think PPC and UMPC are completely different product. I don't like UMPC, you can't turn it on in one sec, even you put it in stand by, it will still take a while. And also, none of the UMPC can last for whole day, i do not want to charge my device every so often.
I want my device to be 24hr connect to Internet to check mail, that you can't do with UMPC.
So i still prefer Athena, and don't forget this, i can use my U1000 to do remote control to my home pc.
If you compare Athena with other PPC, yes other PPC might have better spec when it comes out, but i find it quite hard to go to any smaller screen size then Athena. So again, it's all depends on personal needs and use, personally, i find Athena meets my needs
I agree with Wu. Why would need some slow device, I have it at home. When I am mobile I want something that would last for whole day, would be with me when I need it to check my emails, use it to go on MSN or Yahoo messenger, would have big screen and wont take ages to respond in some action (for instance Symbian phones).
schoofter said:
...wont take ages to respond in some action (for instance Symbian phones).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait till you see E90 in action it will blow Athena apart
I don't like XP/Vista in my phone. Slow startup and wake up from hibernation is a huge problem. Another con is since it is essentially a XP/Vista machine, it uses the ordinally desktop application which comes with all none-essentially adds-on and this blown up the size they needs. 40G storage will depleted in no time.
Battery staying power is another huge issue for UMPC.
Granted E90 is quite good but Symbian apps. is more on multi-media centric, so professional softwares are quite limit and hard to come by.
raven2000 said:
Wait till you see E90 in action it will blow Athena apart
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sure E90 would be a interesting device but after my N73 I doubt I would like any other Nokia. It is all sparkly and nice on paper and when you read it on Net it is super duper but when you start to use it then it gets on your nerves. Nokia maps is so nice on first look but would be with maps of other countries? I don't think they would ever make map for my country so no use of it and you can't use any other app for GPS because it is made just for Nokia.
schoofter said:
and wont take ages to respond in some action (for instance Symbian phones).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welllll, that's some really controversial statement
All the Symbian devices I've ever used performed WAYS faster, than their CE/WM competitors, though the specs were usually much lower.
E90 ????
raven2000 said:
Wait till you see E90 in action it will blow Athena apart
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know with you all, but for me what is nokia E90 caps so beat Athena. I don't have them both, but
1. Do E90 will be supported by many software developer?
2. Do it will doing many "assistan" thing?
For me it's not a "smart phone" at all... it's just a phone...
Once again it's personal opinion, i doubt if someone already use PPC/Palm will move to NOKIA thing...
But everyone have their opinion..
cornelius said:
I don't know with you all, but for me what is nokia E90 caps so beat Athena. I don't have them both, but
1. Do E90 will be supported by many software developer?
2. Do it will doing many "assistan" thing?
For me it's not a "smart phone" at all... it's just a phone...
Once again it's personal opinion, i doubt if someone already use PPC/Palm will move to NOKIA thing...
But everyone have their opinion..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i totally agree with you, i think E90 can only be call a phone, looks at the number of third party software that PPC has, yes it might be faster on E90. But slow is just usual for Windows device, for example, Windows is slower then Mac, but does that mean everyone will run and get Mac? No, because windows has much more application.
chtan said:
I don't like XP/Vista in my phone. Slow startup and wake up from hibernation is a huge problem. Another con is since it is essentially a XP/Vista machine, it uses the ordinally desktop application which comes with all none-essentially adds-on and this blown up the size they needs. 40G storage will depleted in no time.
Battery staying power is another huge issue for UMPC.
Granted E90 is quite good but Symbian apps. is more on multi-media centric, so professional softwares are quite limit and hard to come by.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always with 2 devices with me, 1 PDA and 1 Phone..
Before Dopod 900 / Nokia E60
Now Dopod u1000 / Nokia E60
Get the smallest and most powerful phone around for normal phone call.
Nokia E series (edit/view word/powerpt/excel.. wifi, Really good webbrowser + another Opera), PDA (Contact/Schedule/Todo can make it by 1 hand..)
WM5/6 for web/email/entertain and relax ur eyes
its very interesting..
im thinking of either the E90 or the HTC Advantage! the advantage will be out earlier and the prices of both will not differ by much. at the end of the day, the desicion of buying one rather than the other relies on what do you really want from a phone/pda.
maybe someone can help me:
my interest after all is to:
-have a device good with making calls and good for using to sync with your PC. both have the abilities but one rather probably has a better phone functionality than providing a pda/sync functions.
-as for multimedie, i have my digital camera which will never be replaced but to have a 3 mp is not too bad to take pix of some urgent things
-as a music player im not too picky as long as i get some sound
-storage wise, Advantage has plenty of those and it beats E90 easily.
-emails and so forth are important ot me. however, i would liek to upload email from my organization server which can be done through B.berry connect i suppose only. i believe both phones have the capability of doing such a thing, right? but i think the wm5/6 has a better email capability in geenral than symbians, right?
-i would get some softwares to add to my phone ans it seems windows based phones have far more titles (professional ones atleast).
-battery life: i think the E90 wins here..not sure.
-GPS capabilities: not sure which set has a better nad a more reliable one. it seems like nokia has introduced maps which can be downloaded on individual basis which is a nice idea depending on the country you are travelling to.
-multimedia again---watching movies..hmmm..it could be interesting if you are in your car as a passenger for a while..i guess it is easier to watch it on an advantage due to bigger screen..and the hard drive will assist in having bigger files on board. what do you think? but how many movies can you watch with the battery before it runs out of juice?
interesting comparisons and it is difficult for me to decide really as both devices cost lots of money and i dont want to make a desicion then regret. perhaps a user fo both devices can shed more light.
Cheers!
you said: but one rather probably has a better phone functionality than providing a pda/sync functions.
so E90 will be able to do phone thing than Athena becaus lack of earpiece on athena and vibrate notification...
just get yourself a bt headset(Jabra BT8010 is recommended) and everything will be fine, or may be excellent?

Thickness with Keyboard

The specs say it is .6 inches or 16 mm thick. Is that with or without the keyboard... what about in the leather wallet?
bandersnatch said:
The specs say it is .6 inches or 16 mm thick. Is that with or without the keyboard... what about in the leather wallet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 16 mm specs is without keyboard, 20 mm with keyboard, 27 mm ~ 31 mm (aproximately because the leather wallet form is not uniform).
Regards!
Thanks
Thanks much. Seems pretty big. I wonder if it will fit in my shirt pocket...
Not unless you're on the 'large' side. I can only just get it in the big pockets on my combat style trousers. 'Tis a beast for sure!
not going to be the phone for me.
I hate to say it. I've been lusting after this thing since I heard it might be coming to tmo usa. But if it is as big as I think it is, I wouldn't be able to carry it on my person. That 5 inch screen is probably going to be too much of a good thing for me. I would have happily settled for 4.
thinking on the same lines
bandersnatch said:
I hate to say it. I've been lusting after this thing since I heard it might be coming to tmo usa. But if it is as big as I think it is, I wouldn't be able to carry it on my person. That 5 inch screen is probably going to be too much of a good thing for me. I would have happily settled for 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel the same way, when i first saw this device (heard the announcements about availability on T-Mobile in the UK) i was well excited and pleased, but then i did a thourough study regarding the size, including measuring my old diary which strangely seems to be about the size of the ameo in its case. I gave it some deep thought like "Gavin do you seriously think you can carry that around?, and the fact that you need a headset", hmmm will wait to hear about how others are getting along, especially after a few more weeks or months down the line. Ameo/ Athena users would like to hear more about:
1) You and your device on a daily basis, where do you carry it, and how do you use it? on a table/ lap/ other?
2) How is the keyboard getting along, or maybe you are using some other input methods?
3) What about calls are you using a wired headset or bluetooth stereo?
Just general impressions from owners over the last 3 weeks ( i know its not been long, sorry)
The Weight...
It is also 375 grams. The wizard is 150 grams. It weighs 250% MORE than a wizard....
bandersnatch said:
It is also 375 grams. The wizard is 150 grams. It weighs 250% MORE than a wizard....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where to begin after 2 weeks of owning an Ameo....happy. Yes very happy!
I would never have contemplated doing the things I do with the Ameo that I probably couls have done with previous devices owned (JasJar, Hermes, Prophet, Wizard, Xda Mini and Xda IIi....and others).
The Ameo can do what all these devices put together couldn't do.
TV out is quite a treat and allows everything to be displayed on virtually any other type of display that supports S-Video, Composite or VGA.
The USB host functionality allows a FULL PC USB keyboard or mouse (with pointer) to be used.....and it works extremely well!
Remote Desktop (WM6 version) is a joy to use on the Ameo...a smaller screen just would't be up to the Job. Whilst I'm having problems connecting to my own PC, I am easily and quickly connecting to my wife's XP Pro PC via RDP. It is truly astounding and responsive. You literally see and operate the XP PC as you would through your native monitor hooked up to your desktop PC.
Movie Playback when the occasion calls for it is pure eye candy if your using a DVD Rip. Sheer quality!
The speakers are no sound system but prove to be worthy of being best-in class from my experience of PPC devices to date. It is loud and NOT tinny or hollow.
WM5 is no faster than any other 520Mhz device I have used....but that will change when we can upgrade to WM6.
WMLive (from WM6) works seemlessly and beautifully and you even get a Message tone and visual notification of incoming Instant messages or Voice clips...if on-line at the time of incoming message. It's fast and works very well for me.
Wisbar Advance 2 completely changes the look and feel of the device and this is where standard VGA as opposed to ozVGA comes into its own for me, as the font size is just right for me and the cascading start menu etc works well with this size screen.
The Screen. Yes the screen is amazing.....and if screen real estate is tht important to some...you instantly have a choice of a host of resolutions if using RDP to XP/Vista and there are tweaks such as ozVGA and others if you really need it in the WM O/S.
The keyboard....NOT impressed in the slightest! I much prefer the keyboard on the Universal. With that I can type up a book if need be in comparison to the non-tactile feedback of the keyboard buttons on the Athena....but it's not a major issue for me as I am usually at a desk where this problem is much alleviated by a steady base on which to place the Ameo. Full size USB keyboard and mouse come into their element here with the standard non-supplied 4-1 cable.
The Ameo is a great GPS device with a screen large and clear enough to rival the biggest dedicated in-built GPS systems in top-spec luxury or performance cars. I'm not complaining.
Dual TV screen for GPS, Movies or internet surfing using HSDPA whilst travelling a few hundred miles with the kids is great. The possibilities are staggering.
I won't go on.....because the Ameo has much more to offer IMHO. I was considering a Sony UX UMPC, now I've got the Ameo, forget it. I've got me direct access to a powerhouse desktop PC where I can edit videos download torrents and other large files directly to my home or office PC whilst retaining the enhanced Mobile telephony functions of this baby via a tiny BT earpiece.
Call quality is excellent and I'm able to receive calls whilst on wi-fi or GPRS/3G/HSDPA...but this is sometimes temperamental. The new HTC Shift will be the new king, but for me, I'll be sticking with the barely pocketable Ameo.
Yes it's larger than any other device called a Pocket PC, but then this is far more than the sum of its or any other devices parts.
Did I mention that the on-board 3megapixel camera was the best I have come across in any PPC? and that it far surpassed my expectations? Well it has, enough so that I no longer need to carry another camera around at any time.
Long live the Athena....you could do worse....but I doubt you'll do better for quite some time. It just comes down to what you're comfortable with.
For your information....I carry mine without Leather casing or keyboard happily in my front or rear jeans pocket or inside suit pocket....but it actually fits with everything together aswell, but then it is a tight squeeze.
Hope my long boring post helps some of you to stick to your original decision and get one...you won't regret it...but if not..why not try one for a week and return it to your supplier if your not happy with it.
Very good and informative post. Thanks for sharing your opinion.
eagle 1 said:
Very good and informative post. Thanks for sharing your opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the positive feedback.
@ All....Additionally thanks to Eagle1 I can now connect to all PC's in my office/home from my Ameo via wi-fi!! Great stuff....HSDPA - Home network is next on the Agenda.
This device is become more and more like a UMPC, but without the ability to play movies or games....but that can be done natively through WM5 and a PSP if one is that way enclined.
Well, looks really like a cool device, was waiting for a VGA, GPS, fast processor, WM6 with keyboard for a loooong time...
but first what i did was look for the size of Qtek 9000, which had all that, but could not have it (had it for testing for 2 weeks), since it was too heavy and big for a device that i carry with me all the time...
If it was only a little lighter and smaller.... the HP 4700 screen was more then big enough for PDAs, think it was 4", and bigger device then that (also fatter) just does not get me. But the features are perfect, they just need to squeeze it into 4"vga, 250g max. and then ill be running into the store looking for it.. untill then whoever buys it, hope you enjoy it, it looks really like the best pda out now..
But here is somthing that catches my eye...
http://www.gsmarena.com/i_mate_ultimate_7150-1882.php
is this a HTC product? and if, anyone knows their version of this phone?
a VGA 3.5 + keyboard , secondary display outside so you dont have to open the pda if getting a call ...
now thats a heart breaker for me
As far as I know, it's not a HTC product...
Moskus said:
As far as I know, it's not a HTC product...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's not, iMate is no longer partner of HTC, this device is made by also a Taiwanese company, but not HTC.
papizdono said:
But here is somthing that catches my eye...
http://www.gsmarena.com/i_mate_ultimate_7150-1882.php
is this a HTC product? and if, anyone knows their version of this phone?
a VGA 3.5 + keyboard , secondary display outside so you dont have to open the pda if getting a call ...
now thats a heart breaker for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I took a look at this, but was disappointed that it does not support SDHC, which means I can't have wikipedia and lots of MP3 music with me.
I understand that HTC is the one designing and manufacturing the i_mate (please check this out yourself from wikipedia under HTC). HTC in fact designs and manufactures just about everyone's PDA including Dell's, HP's, etc. but they just put in other's labels until recently when they starts to use their own HTC label.
eaglesteve said:
I took a look at this, but was disappointed that it does not support SDHC, which means I can't have wikipedia and lots of MP3 music with me.
I understand that HTC is the one designing and manufacturing the i_mate (please check this out yourself from wikipedia under HTC). HTC in fact designs and manufactures just about everyone's PDA including Dell's, HP's, etc. but they just put in other's labels until recently when they starts to use their own HTC label.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is only true about 4 months ago, now HTC don't design and manufacture for iMate anymore, it's done by another taiwanese company (can't remember the name).
wu5262 said:
that is only true about 4 months ago, now HTC don't design and manufacture for iMate anymore, it's done by another taiwanese company (can't remember the name).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see... Thanks for the updated info, Wu.

Athena vs. UMPC

By way of encouraging discussion -- The HTC X7500/7501 is the closest current HTC product to the emerging class of computers being dubbed UMPC (ultra-mobile PC) that seems to be catching fire. Of course the appeal of the UMPC is its reliance on currently popular PC OS -- WinXP or Vista, as well as its small size (most have screen sizes between 4.5 and 8 in). The Athena's 5 in VGA screen, relatively powerful cpu, 8GB HDD, and form factor with the easy-to-use keyboard makes it very close IMHO to the appealing features of the UMPC's, although it's not officially classified as such because it uses the WinMobile OS rather than XP or Vista. I'm personally torn between my x7500 (with WM6) and one of these UMPC -- have tried the Sony Vaio UX390N but sold it because I found its limitations (unreadable screen, reliance on mouse vs. touchscreen, slow processing with vista) too great. But there are a number of newer UMPC versions coming out that seem worth trying (but who can afford them?).... the OQO Model 02 is only slightly larger than the Athena but offers Vista (at twice the Athena price).... the Raon Everun due out shortly is also only slightly larger than the Athena but not as powerful as the OQO but seems like a "hot" seller.
As a longtime proponent of pocketpc/pdaphones and similar pocketable devices, I'm intrigued -- what thoughts do others in this forum have regarding the emerging UMPC compared to our Athena/Advantage devices?
brucewilsonpa said:
By way of encouraging discussion -- The HTC X7500/7501 is the closest current HTC product to the emerging class of computers being dubbed UMPC (ultra-mobile PC) that seems to be catching fire. Of course the appeal of the UMPC is its reliance on currently popular PC OS -- WinXP or Vista, as well as its small size (most have screen sizes between 4.5 and 8 in). The Athena's 5 in VGA screen, relatively powerful cpu, 8GB HDD, and form factor with the easy-to-use keyboard makes it very close IMHO to the appealing features of the UMPC's, although it's not officially classified as such because it uses the WinMobile OS rather than XP or Vista. I'm personally torn between my x7500 (with WM6) and one of these UMPC -- have tried the Sony Vaio UX390N but sold it because I found its limitations (unreadable screen, reliance on mouse vs. touchscreen, slow processing with vista) too great. But there are a number of newer UMPC versions coming out that seem worth trying (but who can afford them?).... the OQO Model 02 is only slightly larger than the Athena but offers Vista (at twice the Athena price).... the Raon Everun due out shortly is also only slightly larger than the Athena but not as powerful as the OQO but seems like a "hot" seller.
As a longtime proponent of pocketpc/pdaphones and similar pocketable devices, I'm intrigued -- what thoughts do others in this forum have regarding the emerging UMPC compared to our Athena/Advantage devices?
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Click to collapse
Battery life is what separates the men (athena) from the boys (umpc). Even the ulv editions don't have that much staying power I have tried the Sony umpc TZ...., and now have the Stylistic ST5112 (not real umpc cos of larger screen) which claims 10hrs battery life, but not really getting that much.
personally i like zippy performance...
and the thing with vista is... with a 1.2ghz chip as these current umpcs are offerning these days...
i dont feel its well worth it for laggy performance...
and it really depends on what your use for the said device is.. ?
is it going to be primarily a workhorse type eqiupment ?
or is it going to be a simple phone that is powerful ?
i prefer to go for something like an athena... for quick work on the go...
but if im going to be doing any REAL work that requires a computer as in web design / various other apps ... i dont see myself successfully utilizing a umpc...
i prefer the large displays at home for webdesign and coding etc.
and there are many of small notebooks you can buy these days for a good price ... in the range of something like 10" notebooks
this is no bigger than a 8.5 x 11 notebook great for note takign etc.
i was thinking of getting one for college work...
boinger66 said:
personally i like zippy performance...
and it really depends on what your use for the said device is.. ?
is it going to be primarily a workhorse type eqiupment ?
or is it going to be a simple phone that is powerful ? ...
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Click to collapse
I think this is the key point -- and one which is acknowledged by some of those doing reviews of UMPC -- right now the UMPC's available, while pretty cool in lots of ways, still have a lot of limitations so they can't even match what our WinMobile devices can do. OTOH.... I keep asking myself if I really use all that power of my "primary" computer (core2duo laptop with lots of cpu power, ram and large HDD)..... maybe my challenge is to decide just what I really need??????
I am curious. Has anyone used the Advantage to drive a PPT presentation on a projector? How limited is P-PPT?
That would really drive my behaviour.
jab said:
I am curious. Has anyone used the Advantage to drive a PPT presentation on a projector? How limited is P-PPT?
That would really drive my behaviour.
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Click to collapse
I use PocketSlides from Conduits. http://www.conduits.com/products/slides/
While you do have to go through a "convert" step, I have found that it faithfully reproduces all features and layout, including most animations. Also allows editing on PPC, which for me is the downside to PocketPPT and why I have never given it a try.
I have projected presentations and videos with no problems using the VGA cable. (Other than troubles finding a video player that handles MPEG-2, which 90% of my stuff is encoded in.)
wgary said:
I use PocketSlides from Conduits. http://www.conduits.com/products/slides/
While you do have to go through a "convert" step, I have found that it faithfully reproduces all features and layout, including most animations. Also allows editing on PPC, which for me is the downside to PocketPPT and why I have never given it a try.
I have projected presentations and videos with no problems using the VGA cable. (Other than troubles finding a video player that handles MPEG-2, which 90% of my stuff is encoded in.)
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Click to collapse
have you tried TCPMP ?
I personally think it boils down to cpu, I would love to have the ameo running vista, xp, but it would take ages to do anything. I was looking at umpc's today, "was really looking for a bluetooth mouse, no joy as usuall, thanks pcworld." and thinking, nice, but the cpu isnt that much better than my ameo, plus running vista, which is cpu hungry, I just think no, I would like one, but since I got my ameo I don't turn on my pc as much, unless im video converting or doing somthing, which a umpc would be to slow. dual core and a 64 bit operating system, I like speed.
with wm6, or 5, I can do pretty much what I need to do. and lets face it I can remote desk top if I really wanted to do somthing else while I was killing time at work.
its a nice idea, but I think after contiplating one for this lenght of time, I think WM6 is enough for what your average Joe does with it. Be it presentations, excell in my case or sending emails.
Anyway, thats my drunken opinion, and im off to bed.
boinger66 said:
have you tried TCPMP ?
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honestly, I tried it once a while back and it really gummed things up. I do use CorePlayer, but no mpeg-2 support yet. guess I need to give tcpmp another go...
wgary said:
honestly, I tried it once a while back and it really gummed things up. I do use CorePlayer, but no mpeg-2 support yet. guess I need to give tcpmp another go...
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Click to collapse
download the tcpmp file that mackaby posted it has all the codecs in it
boinger66 said:
download the tcpmp file that mackaby posted it has all the codecs in it
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Click to collapse
Does it have WMA support? I could not play a film with that format on tcpmp
victoradjei said:
Does it have WMA support? I could not play a film with that format on tcpmp
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i didnt know there were wma films...
i thought it was windows media audio .. implying audio only ?
boinger66 said:
i didnt know there were wma films...
i thought it was windows media audio .. implying audio only ?
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Click to collapse
WMV, sorry. My question still hold
victoradjei said:
WMV, sorry. My question still hold
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Click to collapse
Yes it has support, but is very poor. Corecodec are aware of this and will improve on the new Coreplayer over time, but for now, the best solution for WMV is to stick to WMP.
Personally, I detest playing vids in WMV.
jab said:
I am curious. Has anyone used the Advantage to drive a PPT presentation on a projector? How limited is P-PPT?
That would really drive my behaviour.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It works fine, I have just loaded a 20MB PPS file to the Hard Drive in the Ameo and it runs great via the 4in1 output cable to the projector, no video embeded, just text and photos, not quite as fast as the laptop but it certainly works well - the time lag is only apparant on certain slides with a number of pictures embeded in them - Mike
so talk about getting off topic...
but anyways to get back on...
i am actually considering the htc shift... but it will really depend on its price point... as i find it would be good for me to use at school... ofcourse the athena would still be my main device

Bye Bye acer s200

Bye bye guys here in s200 forum.Tomorrow i will buy htc hd2 to use android and wp7.I will buy it used in my city for 280€ and sell s200 for at least 200€.I love my s200 but sadly windows mobile has too restriction compared to android,and i can t wait for the project that maybe will never come true on our phone.I wish i gave help with my disassembly tutorial and some other threads,and i thank you all for the great support you gave me
Thank you for your support,and good luck with your HD2. It was my previous phone (with android boot option) and it's one of the best smartphone I ever owned. Now, I jump to Android with a Samsung Galaxy S, and it's a great piece if technology. Android is also a nice OS even if I found it's a bit too intrusive in my private live and data...
Android in our S200...Great idea, but I can't see it growing very fast...
3 days with android on hd2 and i can t go back,android is a perfect os,you can do everything you want and more,without system hangs...3 days of intensive gaming surfing testing and never had to reboot.I really wished to use my acer s200 like this,cause i love this phone
good for u..
right now im content with wm on my s200..i wont be getting a new phone until q4 this year when my contract expires..
im not even sure i can sell my s200... dunno who the hell will buy it..
ill probably get a blackberry or some fone with a qwerty kb cos im just sick of touch screen fones.
Shame, I'm like you too. I have a tg01 but we have android but it is still in alpha. The development appears to have stopped. I think I will have to upgarde to a hd2 even though I like my phone
olyloh6696, android generaly it s the better os for phones,once you try it you can t go back.Every day you find a new feature that give you a better use of the phone.You have milion of applications,you can customize everything,and everything run incredibly stable and fast.
hd2+android = perfect phone for every use
Once you try you can t go back,
Axel85 said:
olyloh6696, android generaly it s the better os for phones,once you try it you can t go back.Every day you find a new feature that give you a better use of the phone.You have milion of applications,you can customize everything,and everything run incredibly stable and fast.
hd2+android = perfect phone for every use
Once you try you can t go back,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly my point. After I got the tab o decided iwant android. I am buying a hd2 and going to dual boot windows phone 7 and android on it. I have made a thread on it whether to get the HTC hd2
Sent from my Orange San Francisco using XDA App
i took a year using the acer s200, in that time i had the oportunity to compared to others phones; iphone, hd2, also wondows mobile 7 phones, andriod phones, sincerily the acer is the best, why? because 1.it,s have the pure version of Windows Mobile 6.5 . make it very fast, more fast than the hd2 2. W.M. 6.5 allow you used it like modem, wifi router, hard disk, and more others apps otherwise the f...ing iphone, if you don't hack it, is trash. 3. Android is a copy and paste of the windows mobile O.S., and you know that., 4. Windows Mobile 7 sucks definitely, no modem, no wifi router, no today screen set up, no free use, NADA. think about it..........
eb53750 said:
i took a year using the acer s200, in that time i had the oportunity to compared to others phones; iphone, hd2, also wondows mobile 7 phones, andriod phones, sincerily the acer is the best, why? because 1.it,s have the pure version of Windows Mobile 6.5 . make it very fast, more fast than the hd2 2. W.M. 6.5 allow you used it like modem, wifi router, hard disk, and more others apps otherwise the f...ing iphone, if you don't hack it, is trash. 3. Android is a copy and paste of the windows mobile O.S., and you know that., 4. Windows Mobile 7 sucks definitely, no modem, no wifi router, no today screen set up, no free use, NADA. think about it..........
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Click to collapse
1 i agree it s the faster one,better than hd2 in windows mobile
2 i agree
3 i disagree,seems like you never tried android,it s an innovative system,you can do everything, it s faster than any other os
4 i agree,seems like microsoft is going back 5 years
On 3 : You are right on speed, I had one in my hands for 20 minutes and I could experience that. but this was not hacked, and my friend could not get the maximum utility, same story as the iphone ........
Yesterday, after a full day of struggle to get my S200 functioning properly, I just gave up.
The story so far...
A few days ago my vibration didn't function anymore for no apparent reason. I had not installed any software nor did I do any registry-tampering. By the time I got the vibration back working (after a couple of factory resets) I couldn't get the damn thing to work with activesync. I tried everything, other usb-cables, other ports, re-installing activesync, you name it. Bluetooth did see the PC though activesync didn't get on with the BT-connection. In the end I managed to break Wifi and that's when I got so fed up that i smashed the whole thing.
It was good while it lasted but it's clear that Acer's quality is still hopeless. I'll miss the functionality of WM because I could access my windows shares from Windows Mobile (without ridicoulus things like DLNA). Also that acer phone was the last WM-phone that could record phonecalls out-of-the-box as far as I remember (the other one is the Samsung Omnia SGH-i900).
Therefore this will be my last post in the forum. The Acer S200 users are a dying breed. At least i can tell you that the bezel around the screen is indeed of metal
Since my finances are cut short I've reverted to a Nokia C7. Small, cheap, good looking and also has the ability to record phonecalls (which is important for me). Alhough I tested this on an N8, I believe the C7 is mostly the same. I tried the EDOF-camera and i must say: the pictures are much better (the videorecording is amazing on this thing).
So bye bye folks. I was a fun time here.
To Brainmaster: This means that I won't have the change to try out your custom ROMS and all that comes with it. Sorry mate.
dear epdm2be , a modern phone like Acer s200 or other big touch screen phone its not ment to last more than 2,3 years, not mention that if accidenatally falls on ground a few times. So, after a few falls, u cant ask to work properly.
eb53750 said:
i took a year using the acer s200, in that time i had the oportunity to compared to others phones; iphone, hd2, also wondows mobile 7 phones, andriod phones, sincerily the acer is the best, why? because 1.it,s have the pure version of Windows Mobile 6.5 . make it very fast, more fast than the hd2 2. W.M. 6.5 allow you used it like modem, wifi router, hard disk, and more others apps otherwise the f...ing iphone, if you don't hack it, is trash. 3. Android is a copy and paste of the windows mobile O.S., and you know that., 4. Windows Mobile 7 sucks definitely, no modem, no wifi router, no today screen set up, no free use, NADA. think about it..........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree at all points.
I have the S200, is not strong made like Iphone but is not that expensive. I don't want to talk about what you folks already know.
Also i like the reaction of people when i show my Acer, " Acer??, what??, phone, i thought acer make laptops"
I had 2 HTC in my life, not HD2, some older models, Qtek and HTC Diamond, and both with dead pixels or other problems. So i decided to not continue with HTC, sorry, its not worked for me.
If you install the right software, u can make acer s200 a very good peace of hardware.
The latest achievement is my battery setting, for normal battery, which i gain almost a week of using, of course, without BT and WIFI enabled.
I will change the phone only if its lost or broke, wont change for the sake of change, to get another phone with other problems and almost same usage, not mention, the price and loss of money. Maybe a Galaxy S mini from Samsung is what i prefer right now, mostly for size. I loved the Galaxy S, but a friend of mine had one and accidentally droped from hand and the glass was broked. So, that much about big screen phones fidelity
Same for me. Yet my device is fully working. And as long as it does so, i will continue using it....
With the correct software it is simply wonderful, and the greatest advantage is still igo 8 for windows mobile...I couldnt find any navigation software on other Operating Systems that would come near this wonderful program...
the acer s200 isnt the purest fastest WinMo device!
The TG01 has the same specs, and its clean pure and light!
riotman said:
Same for me. Yet my device is fully working. And as long as it does so, i will continue using it....
With the correct software it is simply wonderful, and the greatest advantage is still igo 8 for windows mobile...I couldnt find any navigation software on other Operating Systems that would come near this wonderful program...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about Igo 8 for Android? Or Navigon Mobile Select for Android?
brainmaster said:
How about Igo 8 for Android? Or Navigon Mobile Select for Android?
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Click to collapse
as far as i can remember navigon mobile select demands an online connection to use the navigation.
Igo for Android doesnt have that much features as igo 8 does. The day will come that i'll have to cope with igo for android but i definity prefer the feature rich igo 8...
Right now there is no need for me to change the os i got my calculator , calender my navigation software, swype and tetris . also important for me is a music player that doesnt use mp3 tags to sort the music but to use folder navigation. I think there are not too many players for android just like nitrogen which offer this feature.
Anyways, as soon as my neotouch doesnt work anymore, ill also switch to android
get a htc android phone. they have tomtom in them. they licensed it. but renamed it htc locations.
seriously. i didnt want to switch to android because of gps. but i have changed my mind.
even the galaxy has a good gps turn by turn app.
removed because of double post
RE:
aquagen said:
dear epdm2be , a modern phone like Acer s200 or other big touch screen phone its not ment to last more than 2,3 years, not mention that if accidenatally falls on ground a few times. So, after a few falls, u cant ask to work properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all it didn't fall. Never had been fallen; as I keep it in a Krussel leather pouch AND had a Zagg invisible shield wrapped around the screen AND back too (socalled full body armor). I took both measures after reading how scratch-prone the back-cover was. It wasn't 3 years old either. It was "only" 7 or 8 months old.
As I wrote earlier, the short time that I used it I was very happy with it. Fast, didn't look too bad, nice navigation with iGo, could record phone calls (although not when made over bluetooth), Wake on LAN (for my PC and Mac), could access windows shares through the file-manager, heaps of software to be found. The list goes on.
Negative points. The camera sucked big time as was expected. Windows Mobile needs to reboot every 2 days as we all know and tollerate. This was also with my much more expensive Samsung Omnia (WM6.1) that I owned before the Acer and it's clearly a problem with the OS not being stable enough for prolonged use. Though in reality it didn't bother me to reboot my phone very other day.
If it just wasn't so fragile :-(
I mean, suddenly vibration went dead, bluetooth behaved weird and then WIFI just stopped at all. Comm-manager didn't see any wifi-chip at all ???
Nonetheless the devices aren't available anymore. The only (acer) WM device that I could get was the P300 which is a lower specified device. And I didn't know if that device could handle call-recording which the S200 can without any other software (the S200-dialer simply has a record function build-in). In fact, the store-keeper even offered me a discount because of my bad luck with my former phones, which I found very fair of him. So if you live in Belgium and want to know what shop it is, then PM me. I can wholeheartedly recommend them.
The other WM6.x device on sale in that shop was the ridiculously expensive HTC HD2 (where call-recording doesn't work or at least not without patching/hacking/too-much-hassle-anyway).
The only device with the same price AND with call-recording (that I knew off) in stock was the Nokia C7 (or it's cheaper brother C6-00 with the older Symbian). The C6-01 wasn't available in that store at that time so my choices were very limited.
I must say I've had it now for over a week and I'm pleasantly surprised. It feels much better made than the acer with higher quality materials (metal rim around a real glass screen, metal back, metal cam-module and the plastic looks of better quality too). The screen is even supposed to be "gorilla glass", whatever that means. It's call quality is much, much better as its reception. And it can even record calls over the blue-tooth headset (which my Samsung also could but the Acer could not). Not to mention the recorded calls seem all of good quality and audio-volume (whereby on the acer some calls were very good and others were too quiet)
It's inbuilt media player plays divx, xvid (even with subtitles) and flv's. On WM6.x I used the excellent Coreplayer to play amongst others xvid/divx but as we all know it can't handle subtitles. On the other hand, Coreplayer on WM6.x is able to play streamed files from my windows-xp-shares. The Nokia player can't access my windows xp shares over wifi or at least I haven't figured this out yet.
The web experience is certainly better on the Acer because of it's 800x480 screen. The Nokia C7 has a very good capacitive screen but with a lower pixel count (640x360) and you definitely notice this when web browsing. It's also smaller than the S200 (Acer S200=3.8" while C7=3.5"). It's not bad though but a bigger screen with higher pixel-count simply shows more things and so you have to scroll around a bit less. On the plus side Opera is still being further developped for Symbian (I use Opera 11 now) while unfortunately further development ceased for WM (last version for S200 is Opera 10) :-(
As for the screen clarity and colours. It's day and night. The Omnia had a very bad screen with bad touch-input. While the acer has a very good resistive screen with good visuals. But these amoled screens are really good and capacitive touch is so much more fun to use (especially considering the premium glass feel of actual glass). I can understand that ppl rave on about those super amoleds. But I was happy with S200's screen, it was good enough for me and definitely isn't bad (it's probably the best restive screen out there IMHO). I didn't buy this C7 for it's amoled screen.
Oh, didn't I mention audio quality is great. I mean it's loud and clear without any hacks or tricks. Navigation sounds terrific, playing movies sound very good. Audio-wise, a major step-up from the awfully low volume on the S200.
I played a bit with Nokia's navigation. But I can't comment much on it. At first sight it looks okay. It's not as beautiful as iGO but it definitely looks better than TomTom. It's easy to use and starts up incredibly quick. But I only used it today for real navigation. It does it's job very well and comes free with the phone which is definitely a bonus. There are other navigation apps but so far I've only used Nokia's maps. I doubt that I'll use something else because it's sufficient enough for me and starts up very quickly. As with iGO (which inserts contact-addresses into it's on-board POI-list) you can navigate to stored contacts (you do it from the address book itself).
Tell you what. I like this C7 now but it could very well be that in 6 months time I dislike it (especially when it should break down as quick as the Acer did). Nonetheless I do realize that this too is also "just" a 300 euro's phone and not an 800 euro's iPhone. Of course my problems remain even if this phone should break down within 1 or 2 years... I need in-call-recording which isn't to be found easily with smartphones :-( (strangely enough both Nokia's and Sony-ericsson feature-phones are able to record phone calls without a fuzz.)
Oh well. We'll just have to wait and see how this device hangs on. At least it didn't cost me an ARM and a leg (unlike the Samsung Omnia)
Hope this wasn't too boring.
Cheers
Hi all! I have ordered an s200. I hope it will be a good choice. I think it deserve the price.

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