Database Users

Newbie needs your help in choosing a phone

hello,
first of all let me thank you for a brilliant forum. I was looking for a forum with loads of information on pocket pc phones and i guess i found you guys.
Okay I'm a total newbie and I need help with choosing between three phones and i'm extremely confused as to what i should choose.
I'm with orange and they are offering me:-
1. NOKIA N95 (Not the black edition, but does come with 8gb) - Has all the features, but i've heard these are very buggy and slow
2. TYTN II - Has all the features that i need, except the keypad is eithier virtual or i have to pull out the keyboard to make calls, which is a NO NO
3. TOUCH DUAL - Now this phone is the dream i was wishing for..i.e there is a keypad which exists, allowing me to quickly make calls, but then it has NO GPS and NO WI-FI .
My problem is that all phones have their advantages and disadvantages and therefore make it difficult for me to choose. Here is what i'm looking for:-
1. The phone must have a hard keypad (Not a keyboard or virtual keypad) to make immediate calls.
2. GPS is not immediately needed, but i hope that i can add it in the near future
3. WI-FI again is not urgently needed, but i hope that it can be added later in future
4. The phone software must be very adaptable software wise
5. Must be unlockable to all networks
6. Needs to have a decent battery life
I especially want to know about the Touch Dual..can this give me what i need?

2 & 3, u'd better assume a "no" in touch dual forever. if finally a brilliant brain solves it, it's a bonus. better not assume you can get it in "near future". meanwhile, you may have interest on this thread
4. Windows Mobile is an open platform that allows installation of the millions of programs in the market. meanwhile, pls be prepared that "soft reset" is unavoidable for the M$ product, just like reboot upon "blue screen" in win98.
5. see this
6. it's very dependent on personal habit. e.g. how many phone calls a day? how much data connection? how much online/offline content browsing? how much game playing? the word "decent" is very subjective as well. in general, if you work in office for most of time, it's not a worry at all, as you can easily recharge your WM devices from a pc using a standard usb cable.
hope this helps

many thanks pp18 your reply has been very helpful.
I use the phone 90% of the time to make outgoing calls..so battery life is fairly important
Regarding GPS...for the time being, can Touch dual work with a GPS receiver?

if you're very worried about the battery life, you can always bring a spare battery with you. can't share much on this, as it's always easy for me to find a usb cable to charge up my device even i forget to do it the night before.
re gps, yes you can use an external gps module and let it communicate with touch dual through bluetooth. you may have interest on this.

hi pp18.
I rang orange yesterday and after having a long chat with them, they backed off the n95 and tytn II as they said that the person who offered the mobiles made a mistake. I only had a choice between a nokia 6500 classic/slide or the Touch Dual II. Hope i made the right choice as i chose the Touch Dual II.
I thank you for helping me with all these questions and definately have interest in using an external gps receiver.
As a total newbie and after reading your links, can you clarify the following questions i have please? :-
1. If i use the recommended GPS receiver with the t-dual, is it as accurate and speedy & reliable as a general tomtom device would be? What i'm trying to say is that are there any known issues with GPS receivers and a phone? For example does the phone regularly lose signal and can't tell where i'm going.
2. Can i install tomtom software on it?
3. From your experience, has the guy who charges £5 to unlock this mobile, messed up anyone's phone?
4. I live in an urban area...Is it true that this phone has serious signal issues?
5. Lastly i have heard that the orange installed software is slow, drains the battery and unreliable. How difficult is it for a novice like myself to install a new rom that is faster and better than orange? Also what is the best/reliable rom going at the moment?
Many thanks for your very helpful info.
regards
newbiefone

in general, bluetooth communication between an external gps module and a WM device shouldn't be a problem. for details and specific to your area, i suggest you ask in the Niki Accessories forum so that your neighbours can offer better help.
for flashing cooked rom, i personally not recommend it to newbies, as the worst case for a wrong operation is "brick" the device. and, a device with cooked rom will void the warranty as well. you'd better find a friend to help. for choice of rom, suggest you read the great articles in the Niki Upgrading forum.

i had pretty much the same options as you. and i went with the touch dual. it kind of puts a dampner on it not having gps or wifi inbuilt like the other 2, but wifi isnt really that big of a deal, internet surfing on a phone screen is pretty worthless - if need be i just use gprs, its fine for my needs (i bearly ever used wifi on my old tornado). i already had a bluetooth gps reciver so gps isnt a problem, i just leave it in my car.
the touch dual is by far the most attractive out of the 3. the only thing i dislike is the camera, its not as good as the n95s. and i'd love tv out like the n95 has. i wouldnt want a tytn ii though. they're bulky and heavy and there is no need for all the extra weight just for gps and wifi.

thanks pp18 and ducamie.
From what you guys have told me so far, it sounds like i've made the right choice. Would you kindly help me with my remaining questions:-
2. Can i install tomtom software on it?
3. From your experience, has the guy who charges £5 to unlock this mobile, messed up anyone's phone?
4. I live in an urban area...Is it true that this phone has serious signal issues?
Thanks So Much!!!

tomtom installs great.. version 6 is pretty awesome with touch screen.
if you need it unlocking, i'd deffinatley use olipro's simunlock, its £5, its very safe, and your only other option is to pay £20 at imei check. with olipro's it cid unlocks your phone too. i wish he'd brought it out sooner.
ive never had problems with signal, its always been fine, if youre living in an urban area i wouldnt worry about it.

thanks so much ducamie!!! i look forward to seeing my phone.
Btw, do you have an orange dual? If so, have you updated it with another rom or have you left it as it is?

hey. yeah, got an orange branded niki.
i flashed tom_codon's rom after flashing the hardspl to get rid of the orange stuff on the phone more than anything but its a good rom generally, i'd upgrade it if i were you (once youre familiar with what youre doing ofcourse). might aswell.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=364335

Help Upgrading Tilt

Hi everyone, glad to see a comprehensive forum on HTC/Kaiser products.
Recently bought a Tilt and really do like this product, less the feathery lite feel in my pocket.
I do have a couple of questions to ask anyone familiar with the Tilt variation of this product.
I would like to upgrade my Tilt (already lol) to some of the better UI and utility screens that I have seen on the, TyTn II. Namely, the cool home screen & possibly even the "Touch Flo" utility if that actually works on my device. I was searching the posts in the XDA forums, but there seems to be many newer versions of these I assume because of improvements or...bugs maybe.
I found one called, "HTCHome6." Anyone know if this is a current or good one that also shows my local weather or weather where I am traveling too?
One other item that is concerning me, I migrated to a Tilt from an older iPAQ unit that was also "wi-fi" capable. However, when I try to connect to my home wireless (WEP) network utilizing a very standard LinkSys router, the Tilt will not connect to it, although the network is available. My iPAQ never had issues, so I am wondering what is going on with this.
Thanks for any help or suggestions. Look forward to this forum and maybe contributing something useful someday.
Michael

Compatibility Amongst the Different Touches?

I first off would like to start off by saying I'm in the market of getting a new cell phone, and am really interested in the touches. I'm a college student, so I really can't afford TOO much, but am just wanting some good bang for my buck, and I feel the touches are just what I'm looking for.
However, I really don't have much of a clue which I'm wanting to get. First off, my carrier is GSM (T-mobile). My concern is the number of applications or ROMs that the various touches have. For example, do roms and apps that are meant for the elf work on the Opal? I'm wanting something like the touch, but a bit faster, as I've heard many complain that the elf is a bit slow. Also, is the Opal considered the "Touch Enhanced"? There are WAY too many nicknames, and they are all very confusing for me.
Simply put, I'm trying to find a touch that can at least play youtube movies at good frame rates (from wi-fi), and run most apps or roms well. However, I don't want to buy a model of touch and realize that there are no real mods for it to "pimp" it out. I have looked around on the search, but I feel these questions are a bit too "common sense" to be easily found anywhere.
Lastly, I'm not interested in a data plan, as I'm mainly wanting to use it as a PDA (don't need push-email or internet everywhere I go). Frankly, I live in a city dominated w/ wifi, and will be covered by that everywhere I go. Without a data plan, what apps or features will I be missing out on?
I really appreciate ANY help. Thanks for everything!

TAhsifter88 said:
I first off would like to start off by saying I'm in the market of getting a new cell phone, and am really interested in the touches. I'm a college student, so I really can't afford TOO much, but am just wanting some good bang for my buck, and I feel the touches are just what I'm looking for.
However, I really don't have much of a clue which I'm wanting to get. First off, my carrier is GSM (T-mobile). My concern is the number of applications or ROMs that the various touches have. For example, do roms and apps that are meant for the elf work on the Opal? I'm wanting something like the touch, but a bit faster, as I've heard many complain that the elf is a bit slow. Also, is the Opal considered the "Touch Enhanced"? There are WAY too many nicknames, and they are all very confusing for me.
Simply put, I'm trying to find a touch that can at least play youtube movies at good frame rates (from wi-fi), and run most apps or roms well. However, I don't want to buy a model of touch and realize that there are no real mods for it to "pimp" it out. I have looked around on the search, but I feel these questions are a bit too "common sense" to be easily found anywhere.
Lastly, I'm not interested in a data plan, as I'm mainly wanting to use it as a PDA (don't need push-email or internet everywhere I go). Frankly, I live in a city dominated w/ wifi, and will be covered by that everywhere I go. Without a data plan, what apps or features will I be missing out on?
I really appreciate ANY help. Thanks for everything!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please read WIKI's for information on each device
ELF - http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Elf
Elfin - http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Elfin
Vogue - http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Vogue
OPAL - http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Opal
JADE or Touch 3G - http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Jade
To answer your other question - most apps and programs can work with any windows mobile device - Most programs will say whether they are Windows 5 only or 6 only or 6.1 only if so. Also screen resolution is a factor for some programs vga - qvga etc..
ROM upgrading is device specific - do not put a ROM intended for Opal on a ELFIN or a ROM for Elfin on a Vogue etc....... Despite there similarities, there are differences and they are different devices.

Thank for the response!
I've taken a look over those wikis, and they helped quite a bit. However, I'm a bit lost with the elfin. In concerns of updating ROMs, is it the same as the Elf? There is no board for the Elfin, and there's not much data about the Elfin. I understand the main difference is the increase in RAM, as well as the jump from wm6.0 to 6.1, but I've also heard that the elf is compatible with 6.1. Would elf roms work just fine w/ elfin? I know that's not the case /w most others, but it just seems to me that the site combined the two.
Lastly, I can imagine the best place to find a list of roms is on the boards dedicated for that specific phone. Are there any major apps or features that won't function if I am not on a data plan? I tried searching, but it seems the majority have plans, and the few that do not don't mention the downfalls. I understand there is no push-emailing or no internet everywhere, but do some apps flat out not work at all w/o a data plan? Will the apps that require internet work over wifi? I know blackberry is STRICT with what they limit you on, and I was wondering if it's the same case here?
Thanks again for the reply!

TAhsifter88 said:
Thank for the response!
I've taken a look over those wikis, and they helped quite a bit. However, I'm a bit lost with the elfin. In concerns of updating ROMs, is it the same as the Elf? There is no board for the Elfin, and there's not much data about the Elfin. I understand the main difference is the increase in RAM, as well as the jump from wm6.0 to 6.1, but I've also heard that the elf is compatible with 6.1. Would elf roms work just fine w/ elfin? I know that's not the case /w most others, but it just seems to me that the site combined the two.
Lastly, I can imagine the best place to find a list of roms is on the boards dedicated for that specific phone. Are there any major apps or features that won't function if I am not on a data plan? I tried searching, but it seems the majority have plans, and the few that do not don't mention the downfalls. I understand there is no push-emailing or no internet everywhere, but do some apps flat out not work at all w/o a data plan? Will the apps that require internet work over wifi? I know blackberry is STRICT with what they limit you on, and I was wondering if it's the same case here?
Thanks again for the reply!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, my elfin only came with Windows 6.0 not 6.1. With regard to Rom's I havn't upgraded mine ever, so I can't tell you much about it but that there are some WM 6.1 custom Roms available for the Elfin in these forums. Most are linked to the Elf forum and Elfin Rom's I have found in Elf ROM threads with Elfin ROM Links. I don't have a data plan with mine - Use only WIFI as there are tons of open WIFI networks in my area. I havn't yet found any apps that dont work over WIFI instead of using data plan but I havn't tried every single app out there yet. Most apps that require internet will work over WIFI though. I check my email, surf the web, use various weather apps, listen to internet radio and Sirius radio online and even use google maps etc... all work great over WIFI. I live in Canada so (rediculous data plans here) so do not have a data plan for that reason. Would love an unlimited data plan to be able to listen internet radio anywhere I go.

Wow.. you're a goldmine of information. I really appreciate all the help! I feel completely sold on it now. Thanks again!

problem with WIFI on TYTN

hello Everyone, i'm new around here, but still i've got to benefit from all the information and knoledge poured on these pages for upgrading my TYTN to WM 6 (Schaps 3.54b) as well as adding the Hard-spl and upgrading the radio to 1.41
so, let's start from the begining. before doing the upgrade i was already having the problem with the WIFI, and that is that one day, it started searching for networks, but never found any, not even if i was 20 cm close to the Access Point. the problem persisted until i upgraded it to WM6, which was 2 days ago, and then miraculously it started working again, and detected my home's wireless network. but yesterday it begun to have the same problem again, searches for networks, but never finds any....
i really don't know what to do now... has nayone else had the same or a similar problem and found out a way to solve it? or does anyone know what might be causing the problem so that i can fix it?
thank you very much in advance for all the help that i'm sure you will all provide.

the problem has been solved, sorry to everyone if i made you loose some time reading this thread.
the thing is that i didn't look at all the options on the connectivity tab, and on schap's rom, there are 2 wifi icons, one for the settings, and another one to manage the networks, i didn't see this last one, but now after studying all the options, i've managed to set it up correctly and all is working fine now.
again, thank you very much, and sorry if i made you waste your time
to any mods out there who might be reading this, you can delete this topic.
thank you.

[Q] SG4 on CyanogenMod: Wi-Fi Tether Fix !?

Hey all, I'm experiencing an annoying problem that could become a major problem if I find no fix.
I'm on CyanogenMod ROM, 4.4.2, 11-20140210... Wi-Fi tethering is broken on CyanogenMod, that is a known fact; I'm looking for a fix, seems some people are able to implement workarounds. I have read like a hundred threads here on XDA and elsewhere, but still not sure what should I do.
Does anyone have this problem, and is there a reliable fix (besides changing ROMs)?
PS: this is not a phone problem or a provider limitation; I have been tethering for years with Galaxy phones on Fido... It's confirmed it's due to Cyanogen and something to do with IP Tables (whatever that is).