Some Call it The Orange SPV M2000

[Jon Westfall]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.coolsmartphone.com/index.php?option=articles&task=viewarticle&artid=404' target='_blank'>http://www.coolsmartphone.com/index...ticle&artid=404</a><br /><br /></div><i>"I'm on holiday right now. In fact, I'm about 50 metres from the beach. It's bloomin hot and I've read through pretty much every magazine we brought. Now, not being a terrific book-reader, I'd normally spend this time drinking some Banks beer (it's a beer they do in Barbados). However, I've brought the Orange SPV M2000 with me. I can work wherever and whenever I choose without having to lug around my laptop (which doesn't exactly fit into my pocket), plus I can use it as a regular phone or simply browse the net on GPRS or Wi-fi. I also brought it along so that I could write this review on it as I'll probably never get time at home! :)"</i><br /><br />Some bold statements appear in this review of a device we know better as the HTC Blue Angel. What makes this review unique is the fact that the author has never owned a PPC before, so some of his thoughts and perspectives may refresh our memories of how it was to be a PPC "newbie"! Bursting with photos, here is a review with some fresh ideas and helpful insights. Not to mention probably one of the only reviews we've posted that was written at a beach...

[ricksfiona]

I don't think Microsoft, or the Pocket PC manufacturers have done a very good job at telling the public what the Pocket PC can really do.

I'm always using my Pocket PC when having lunch in a diner or somewhere out in public. People ALWAYS come to me saying "that's so cool" and when I tell them I haven't used my laptop in over 2 years, they get this look of awe. I tell them I can get my e-mail, play MP3, create documents and include the usual contacts and calendar stuff... It's also a way for me to give out business cards if they want any more information on these devices!

But, these devices are not for the newbie types. They are certainly not easy enough that the average non-techie can get through and not get frustrated. If this is explained to them, then they can make the right decision for them.

[surur]

Reading the article its clear that one of the main reasons he got on so well with the device is because of the keyboard.

Its clear that keyboard=ease of use, and that this is the best way to attract and serve new users. (look at the success of the blackberry and treo).

Surur

[Jon Westfall]

Reading the article its clear that one of the main reasons he got on so well with the device is because of the keyboard.

Its clear that keyboard=ease of use, and that this is the best way to attract and serve new users. (look at the success of the blackberry and treo).

Surur

In my opinion, the keyboard on the HTC Blue Angel could stand to be a bit better. It doesn't have the tactile qualities (i.e. you aren't always sure if you hit the button or not..) that I'd want. I suppose the point is, any built-in keyboard is better than no keyboard for power users.

[surur]

I suppose the point is, any built-in keyboard is better than no keyboard for power users.

Actually I disagree. Its newbies who benefit most from keyboards. More experienced users would long have gotten used to fitaly or transcriber or have gotten a wireless folding keyboard. New users need the keyboard to get have confidence in starting to use the power of the device.

Surur

[stevelam]

I think they like keyboards because there is one on their desktop :D

[dMores]

i'm amazed.
not only did he write a whole lot of text on his pocketpc, but he added screenshots and photos. i notice they're all resized to fit, so i guess he also had to browse through his digital camera's memory card, find to pics, crop and resize and then publish them.
to be honest, that would be too much of a hassle for me.
that's why i think the review is cool.

i also like the fact that it's from a newbie point of view.
except, some things like the "wow, it lasted for 24 hours without charging" statement are not really helpful :)

[Paundskumm]

I'm on holiday right now. In fact, I'm about 50 metres from the beach

Yeah... well don't drop it in the ocean like I did my XDA II in Phuket last year. :oops:

Strangely enough, they don't have warning labels that say "device is not waterproof... do not drop into salty corrosive ocean water". I think I should sue.

[Jason Lee]

I post to my blog all the time from my pocket pc. Pictures included. I always off load my pics to my pocket pc, or just take them with my ppc to start, for viewing with resco photo viewer. When I find one i want to post a can crop and/or resize it with resco and then use resco file explorer to ftp it to my server the post the blog via email. That is actually the primary way i post to my blog. I very seldome do it from my desktop. :D

[TMann]

I suppose the point is, any built-in keyboard is better than no keyboard for power users.

Actually I disagree. Its newbies who benefit most from keyboards. More experienced users would long have gotten used to fitaly or transcriber or have gotten a wireless folding keyboard. New users need the keyboard to get have confidence in starting to use the power of the device.

Surur

I am a big fan of thumboards and have owned most of the PDA's out there that have them, (4355, Tungsten C, various Clie's and my current Treo 650.) I think that the success of the Blackberry and the Treo has shown that there are a lot of people out there who would be that much more apt to purchase a PDA/Smartphone if it included a useable thumboard. Thumboards do not have a steep learning curve, the way Grafitti, Transcriber and Fitaly do; they work well out of the box. Also, there is this misconception out there that real "power users" only use Grafitti, Fitaly or someother stylus-driven means of text entry. In fact, I would surmise that there are many "power users" out there who find thumboards to be a much more efficient means of text entry.

The other interesting point, I took away from this review, was the shock and dismay that the reviewer had over the fact that a dead battery would lead to the loss of all of his files. This sort of data loss is a fact of life for long-time PDA users, but remember that for most people who are used to a desktop or laptop computer, this is something new (and unsettling) to have to deal with. For all of the problems that PalmOne had with the new non-volatile memory in their Tungsten T5, I think that there is a real issue here that PDA manufacturers need to be thinking about. At the very least they should include a good backup program and make it easy to use.

Anyways, it was a good review, and I enjoyed the unique insights of someone new to the PPC world. :)

TMann

[surur]

The new windows mobile 2005 will be non-volatile. Loosing everything due to power loss will be a thing of the past.

Like the Palmistas however we may regret getting what we asked for, when our apps run slower due to being in ROM, not much faster volatile ram.

Surur

[TMann]

The new windows mobile 2005 will be non-volatile. Loosing everything due to power loss will be a thing of the past.

Like the Palmistas however we may regret getting what we asked for, when our apps run slower due to being in ROM, not much faster volatile ram.

Surur

I thought that WM 2005 was going to use a combination of ROM for data storage, and standard "volatile" RAM for program storage?

TMann

[surur]

Check out this thread for a number of people struggling with an alpha of the os.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?p=103658#103658

Basically removing the battery results in the equivalent of a soft reset. Anything that would normally survive a soft reset is now stored in non-volatile memory i.e. ROM=hard drive RAM=RAM (finally). To "restore to factory state" there is now a new utility to zero the rom, accessible via the boot loader. This is then equivalent to a format.

Its what we have all been asking for for a long time.

Surur

[gibson042]

The new windows mobile 2005 will be non-volatile. Loosing everything due to power loss will be a thing of the past.

Like the Palmistas however we may regret getting what we asked for, when our apps run slower due to being in ROM, not much faster volatile ram.
I think programs will run just as fast as they do now (well, a bit slower when accessing uncached data), but they will definitely take longer to load (just think, the annoying "X does not close" functionality will actually become as useful as claimed!). In exchange, though, we'll get basically unlimited standby time and saved data that is really saved. It's definitely worth it to me, but I'm sure there will be complaints from those who didn't realize the changeover's implications. It's quite possible that some of them will even hack their devices back to a "RAM is storage too" model.

[surur]

Apparently flash rom reads as fast as normal RAM, but writes are a lot slower. If your app relies on writing files e.g. internet caches or database writes it will appear slower.

Surur

[gibson042]

I hadn't considered writes. But doing so now, I cannot think of an instance in which the write is not a parallelizable task. Microsoft will probably move writes to their own thread within all bundled software (if they aren't already), and I expect most developers to follow suit (again, if they aren't already). Doing this can minimize the perceived performance hit to the point of insignificance in most cases. One notable exception is large files, which are probably kept in flash storage already. Another is inefficient databases... unfortunately, I'm sure you can think of a few (:wink:) currently held in RAM. If they are designed poorly, things can get out of hand very quickly. That hopefully means that contacts, appointments, alarms, etc. will be re-optimized for flash ROM storage. Cross your fingers now.