T68i question

[bigkingfun]

I caved in to temptation yesterday and picked up an iPAQ 5450 and now I'm finding myself tempted once again to buy a T68i to complete my completely unnecessary, but oh-so-cool wireless setup.

I've played with the T68i a little but I'm looking for some feedback from anyone who uses one as to how good a cell phone it is, beyond the Bluetooth operation. How is the sound quality and how well does the phone pick up weaker signals? I've got a Motorola P280 right now which has fantastic sound quality and seems to be quite good at finding a signal. As much as I would like the Bluetooth, I do need a usable phone too.

Any feedback would be appreciated...

[bdeli]

T68i sound quality and reception are good - much better than the previously T28w (which i gave to my dear wife) is. Lots of features and nice screen + battery life is simply awesome - i can get around 290hrs on stand by mode.

[Janak Parekh]

FWIW, the T28 was one of the notoriously weakest phones receptionwise.

The reviews on the T68(i) are decidedly mixed with regards to reception. I personally find it almost as good as my Motorola P280 in both strong and marginal areas. The voice quality is slightly noisier than the P280, but not a problem for me. On the other hand, I've read posts on newsgroups saying "The T68(i) sucks, going back to my P280." It's worth mentioning that the newest firmwares are better at making calls in weak signal areas.

My suggestion is to buy it from a place where you can return it if you're not happy with it. I personally dislike the P280 as a phone (terrible UI, mediocre screen and very weak earpiece) and the marginally improved reception isn't worth it (i.e., I can make a call everywhere I can with my P280). Plus the Bluetooth is a great, great thing.

I also agree with bdeli - its battery life is unreal. I keep Bluetooth on all the time, which makes it a little less, but the thing would easily still stay on for days on end. I recharge it every night out of habit and haven't thought of the battery in a very long time.

--janak

[Mona13]

I have the T68i that I use with T-Mobile and my 5455. I love the bluetooth capability. It's awesome. I use it with my 5455 and also with a JABRA bluetooth headset. It's wonderful with both products. Oh, and voice is excellent also.

I second the "be sure you buy it at a place you can return it". My first phone went bad, it was a T68m, and I had to keep mailing it back to T-Mobile. They were very nice about exchanging it, but it was a hassle. It was also time consuming since I wasn't willing to pay the $15 overnight shipping. I have a "spare" Cingular phone that I use for long distance, roaming, and about 300 regular minutes so I just used that while waiting, but I missed my 3,000 minutes.

Next phone I buy will be from Best Buy with their warranty, possibly CompUSA if they cover breakage. It took 4 or 5 exchanges before I finally got a phone that worked correctly. Mainly because they would send out refurbished phones. I use all of the features, bluetooth, voice dialing, talk about 1,700+ minutes a month. I expect a phone to be as good as my home phone, do more and work all of the time.

The last two times they gave me a T68i instead of the T68m. The difference is incredible. The T68i works much better. Using the same battery, I get more than twice the battery time. I don't have to worry about the charge and as I said, I talk a lot and leave the bluetooth on constantly with my JABRA headset. I also charge both the headset and the phone nightly. It's habit.

Good luck, I really like the T68i with 5455 and JABRA. Built-in Bluetooth is a must have for me, both on a phone and PDA.

I just read about a new program (sorry I don't remember who it's by) but it works with the bluetooth PDA, the phone and headset. You can press a number on the iPAQ and it will dial it on the phone for the headset. I hope I can find it again. I probably should have bought it when I first saw it.

[stevelink]

Mona13, it's amazing that I read your post, as I am strongly considering the very outfit that you use...the HP 5455 with T68i phone. As a Palm (Treo 180) user thinking about moving to Pocket PC, I am only hesitant because of my extensive Windows OS (and hence, BSOD) experience. I don't want to abandon a relatively stable OS for the Pocket PC realm without firsthand knowledge of its reliability.
Can you give me an idea of the robustness of the Ipaq 5455/T68i combination in terms of "always on" reliability?
Many thanks!
Steve

[TheWhiteRabbit]

Mona13 or any other knowing person,

I've got a T68i now and looking at a new 5455. Question is...

Have you tried to set up the ability to dial out from the 5455 via Bluetooth over the T68i to another modem (say a home modem)?

I have a system I would like to be able to remote manage, but it doesn't have a Net connection, nor do I want to give it one.

Looking forward to your, or anybody elses reply.

Please, experience only, no wild hairy guesses.

Thanks.

[bucho]

h5455 + T68i + Jabra

I also have a Dell laptop w/ BT PC card. Everyting is connected and the T68i is the "brains" of all voice + mobile data connectivity. However, I rarely even use the phone UI. I dial out either with voice control or via mPhone on the PPC and always talk on the Jabra. T68i is almost always in my pocket with the keys locked. It's ages ahead compared to my old Nextel 85s. I highly recommend it and cannot belive you can pick one up for less then $100... Got one for my wife, too.

[bucho]

MHave you tried to set up the ability to dial out from the 5455 via Bluetooth over the T68i to another modem (say a home modem)?


I don't see why not, but haven't tried it myself. Note that you can only make basic GSM data connections (circuit-switched) like this and you'll be limited to the 9600bps. You cannot use GPRS to do this.

[stevelink]

Bucho, that is exactly the configuration I am exploring, since I already have the T68i. My question is this: Since I don't need the WIFI of the 5455, but only the Bluetooth capability, does it pay to wait until the HP 5600 series comes out? I do like the replacable battery and awesome display of the 5455 as well.
Thanks!
Steve

[daS]

Have you tried to set up the ability to dial out from the 5455 via Bluetooth over the T68i to another modem (say a home modem)?
It depends if your contract supports circuit switched data - T-mobile does, AT&T does not, and Cingular does, but charges $0.15/minute regardless of any free voice minutes you might have.

Also, by not connecting to the Internet, you will not be able to use GPRS, so you will be limited to 9600bps. :sleeping:

You might want to consider using a VPN connection via GPRS instead.

[Brad Adrian]

...I don't want to abandon a relatively stable OS for the Pocket PC realm without firsthand knowledge of its reliability...

"Relatively stable OS" translates to "an OS that hasn't noticeably changed for many years."

[bucho]

Bucho, that is exactly the configuration I am exploring, since I already have the T68i. My question is this: Since I don't need the WIFI of the 5455, but only the Bluetooth capability, does it pay to wait until the HP 5600 series comes out? I do like the replacable battery and awesome display of the 5455 as well.
Thanks!
Steve

Hmm... Is the 5600 the one with built-in GPRS? If you get that, then you probably won't even need the phone. You need to make up your mind if you are a one device or two device person :) ... It sounds to me like you want the older 39XX series with built-in BT. You don't get the replacable battery, but the screen should be about the same.

[bdegroodt]

...I don't want to abandon a relatively stable OS for the Pocket PC realm without firsthand knowledge of its reliability...

"Relatively stable OS" translates to "an OS that hasn't noticeably changed for many years."

Ouch!

[bdegroodt]

Love my T68i. Had an /// T39M before. Loved it. Great phones. /// phones seem to please feature/control junkies (vs Nokia that gives you little control out of the box unless you know the field codes etc.). I like my T68 because it's acceptable as a phone (Though I have to give it a break for the concrete canyons of the city and the havoc that can wreak on reception from time to time-only indoors though). The GPRS reception has been great from Hawaii to NY and everywhere in between. The battery is a strong one for being so small. Wireless web is a nice to have in case you leave behind the iPAQ, as is the ability to pull POP email. I'd be really happy if I could get the calendar/contacts to sync with XP, but per Sony's own admission, the sync software and IR don't seem to play nice all the time on XP- However, BT sync is supposed to be solid.