Phone opinions

[quik5i1ver]

My girlfriend is looking at upgrading to a new phone and her current highest scorer is the O2 xda mini S.. Main reason for her choice is that she has a 2 hr daily commute to and from uni so the fact that it's a micro computer with MS Word etc is rather handy. Just wondering if anyone has experience of this phone, or anything similar and can give any feedback?

Cheers,

Rich (& Katie!)

 

[Steve]

Rich

Should have asked Friday night, I've got the XDA Orbit. It works OK, the sat-nav was the main reason I bought it because it was cheaper than buying a tom tom, to be honest though it can be a pain in the arse using it as a phone, it doesn't have an actual keypad, instead a touch screen so you can find you do about 10 things accidentally with your ear while making a call! It's a great PDA though and because it's a phone means you always have it on you, whereas a normal PDA you would probably leave it behind and not have it when you need it. Proper internet access and MS programs like Excel and Word are the best things. There are even mobile CAD packages, so I can receive drawings via e-mail, amend them and e-mail them back when out of the office. Very useful as I'm often jet-setting around the world business class and I'll probably do this erm...once in my whole life.

Best thing to do is go into O2 shop and try out the different ones.

Steve

 

[quik5i1ver]

Cheers Steve!

Man, that jet-setting must be hard work :wink: It's a shame we didn't know on Friday - Katie only looked at upgrades today.. I don't believe this one has a number pad either, perhaps we'll have to find someone that has one and try it.

Mobile CAD package is pretty neat, they must harness some fairly reasonable processing power in order to do things like that! Do they tend to come with much memory? Also, is there any limit on the size of document that you can work on? - Would they handle a doc with multiple images embedded and say 10,000 words..?

Sat nav would be very handy indeed, so long as it automatically defaults to Trophy friendly country lanes..!!

 

[oliie]

If you want to use the device for typing you can't beat the new Ameo (HTC generic but so far only available with T-mobile). I can't tell you how it is like to use on a plane as we're not allowed to do any work while travelling in public...

This really is the best PDA at the moment.

8GB memory? Check
GPS capable? Check
5" screen? Check
Windows Mobile 5? Check
3G? Check
Thinner than a Vario II? Check

I refuse to migrate to a CrackBerry (much to my Employer's dissapointment) so this will replace my M600 in a month or so...

 

[Steve]

How you would feel a bit of a pen-arse getting that out at the pub though, I already write text messages under the table so no-one sees the wanky stylus thing!

Orbit's still the only one with an in built GPS receiver though, so you don't have to connect it to anything in the car.

 

[quik5i1ver]

That does look seriously cool in terms of techi-ness! Hardly something that you could send a quick text on as you're walkiung down the street though...!!!

All this talk of upgrades has got me thinking that I'd rather like a PDA now.. Steve, what's it like to walk around with the xda in your pocket? Must be a bit of a pain sometimes?

 

[hyb]

How you would feel a bit of a pen-arse getting that out at the pub though, I already write text messages under the table so no-one sees the wanky stylus thing!

Orbit's still the only one with an in built GPS receiver though, so you don't have to connect it to anything in the car.

Got my Orbit the other week, fantastic bit of kit !

 

[Steve]

That does look seriously cool in terms of techi-ness! Hardly something that you could send a quick text on as you're walkiung down the street though...!!!

All this talk of upgrades has got me thinking that I'd rather like a PDA now.. Steve, what's it like to walk around with the xda in your pocket? Must be a bit of a pain sometimes?

Depends how big your pockets are! I don't find it any more of a pain than the Samsung D60 slide phone I had before, which was thicker. Forget writing texts on the move though, it's a two hand affair, and trying to type on 2mm x 2mm keys with a two inch toothpick while walking is almost impossible.

 

[Cue]

wait for the iphone, I'm looking forward to that

 

[Steve]

Instant design icon, but alas no GPS or software to support an external receiver. And it'll probably crash as often as an iPod too.

 

[Cue]

comes with un graded version of google maps inbuilt - has a traffic system built into it.