PDA Buyer's Guide Reviews E-TEN P300B Pocket PC Phone Edition

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pdabuyersguide.com/Eten_P300B.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.pdabuyersguide.com/Eten_P300B.htm</a><br /><br /></div><i>"The P300B's specs won't make you drool, but its compact size and relatively small price tag will. This is one of the smallest Pocket PC phones, and weighs only 5.8 ounces. FutureCom Global will sell it for $499.95 unlocked, which means you can use it with any GSM provider and don't need to sign a contract. The unit runs the Windows Mobile 2003 Phone Edition OS, has a 2.8" non-translfective color display, an SDIO slot and a healthy amount of memory. It's a GSM world phone that supports 900/1800/1900MHz bands and GPRS for data."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/P300B_XDAII_i700_size_comp.jpg" /><br /><br />The specs might not blow you away, but $499 USD for an unlocked Pocket PC Phone Edition is the cheapest I've seen yet. Nice to see that price point coming down!

[GoldKey]

I have ATT GSM service. If I bought this, I could pop the chip from my current phone Nokia 3200 and put it in this and it would work?

[Jason Dunn]

I have ATT GSM service. If I bought this, I could pop the chip from my current phone Nokia 3200 and put it in this and it would work?

Yup, that's the way unlocked phones work. :way to go:

[GoldKey]

Nevermind, I read the article. My service area uses 850 mhz, so no go. :evil:

[Jason Dunn]

Nevermind, I read the article. My service area uses 850 mhz, so no go. :evil:

Crap - yeah, you'll need to have a quad-band phone for it to work in your area. Quad band phones are rare at the moment...

[GoldKey]

Yeah, I could not even get any of the smartphone options when I renewed my contract because of this. I only stayed because line number portability was not yet available here and I got a really, really good deal on my service.

[Janak Parekh]

You'll want to keep your eyes peeled for the 6300 series when it hits the market...

Also, minor clarification: there are triband phones that are 800/1800/1900 that will also work (although none of them are Pocket PC Phones). In other words, there are two kinds of tribands -- one optimized for NA and one optimized for Europe/Asia. Quadband is the most convenient, but apparently it's really hard to design a good antenna for it.

--janak

[dorelse]

Wouldn't the Audiovox PPC4100 work? Its got Tri Band GSM 850/1800/1900...so you'd have coverage.

[Janak Parekh]

Wouldn't the Audiovox PPC4100 work? Its got Tri Band GSM 850/1800/1900...so you'd have coverage.
Yep - in fact, I'd recommend Goldkey go that route, as the PPC4100 is an AT&T sold phone. However, it's probably more expensive without getting a contract extension at the same time.

--janak

[mbranscum]

I can't understand why more don't offer 850Mhz phones. Cingular and AT&T are quickly phasing out 900 band phones.

[yslee]

Because manufacturers make phones for Europe and Asia (and incidentally that's where a lot of manufacters are from). GSM 850 is pretty much a niche right now.

[bsoft]

"The P300B's specs won't make you drool, but its compact size and relatively small price tag will. This is one of the smallest Pocket PC phones, and weighs only 5.8 ounces. FutureCom Global will sell it for $499.95 unlocked, which means you can use it with any GSM provider and don't need to sign a contract. The unit runs the Windows Mobile 2003 Phone Edition OS, has a 2.8" non-translfective color display, an SDIO slot and a healthy amount of memory. It's a GSM world phone that supports 900/1800/1900MHz bands and GPRS for data."

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/P300B_XDAII_i700_size_comp.jpg

The specs might not blow you away, but $499 USD for an unlocked Pocket PC Phone Edition is the cheapest I've seen yet. Nice to see that price point coming down!

How about $200 for an unlocked Pocket PC Phone.

I picked up a Siemens SX-56 (it was brand new - in the box with all the accessories) for $200 on eBay. It was pre-loaded with the XDA-Developer firmware which unlocks the unit. I loaded the T-Mobile firmware (Windows Mobile 2003) without any problem.

Sure, it doesn't have Bluetooth or WiFi, or even SDIO, or 64MB of memor y, or a 600MHz XScale, or a transflective screen, or 16-bit color, or a camera.

But it is $200. And it does have an SD slot, and a phone, and GPRS, and enough flash to put Windows Mobile 2003 and a lot of apps (thank you XDA rom-kitchen).

[mbranscum]

[/quote]Yep - in fact, I'd recommend Goldkey go that route, as the PPC4100 is an AT&T sold phone. --janak[/quote]

That PPC has no joystick or rocker panel on the front. Plus the manual recommends a headset to talk on the unit. No bluetooth or wi-fi. Very basic PPC. I think I'd wait on the HP 6300.

[whydidnt]

I can't understand why more don't offer 850Mhz phones. Cingular and AT&T are quickly phasing out 900 band phones.

That's because AT&T and Cingular are the only major networks in the world using this frequency. Many manufacturers want to produce a phone they can market world-wide, not just to Cingular customers.

[whydidnt]

The more I look at this device, the more I don't get it. They used a 2.8" screen, but then there is wide strip of plastic around it, so it's about as wide as the XDA-II. Seems to defeat the purpose of using a smaller screen, IMO. Seems they really cut corners to get this thing delivered at this price point, the lack of complete bluetooth profiles is another example.

Bring on the MPx :devilboy:

[mbranscum]

I can't understand why more don't offer 850Mhz phones. Cingular and AT&T are quickly phasing out 900 band phones.

That's because AT&T and Cingular are the only major networks in the world using this frequency. Many manufacturers want to produce a phone they can market world-wide, not just to Cingular customers.

If they want one to market worldwide, they need a quad band phone.