Long Time user needs advice..

[thanos255]

Hello all,

I am a long time PPC owner, but have never owned a Dell.

I was thinking of the Dell x51v, but I am not sure. I used to think that the Dell pda's were a joke....but things have changed alot of the past few years.

So I am an old dog.....but willing to learn new tricks!

Anyway, in the past, using the pocket inbox to connect via Bluetooth to a bluetooth phone and sending and receiving mail on a regular basis (30-45 min) was not really something that worked well or regularly.

Have things gotten better? It was never clear to me if it was a Windows Mobile issue OR a Bluetooth Hardware/Software issue, etc.

I have had several ppc phone combo's (treo, Imate jam, Samsung i730, etc) and have found their phone functions unreliable and signal strength not very impressive.

So I went and got a GREAT phone, and it has bluetooth. So I am wondering if the new dell's have a good solutions for me to get my mail automatically etc.

What about all these WM5 issues I am hearing about.....
I would LOVE to have one with a built in hardware keyboard (like the treo, samsung i730) but I don't see any dell's with that function.

I also need/want to surf the web regularly via wifi and also when I am on the road via bluetooth with the phone.

Battery life is important to me, but I am used to having my pda charging in the car and every night...so I am not looking for days of pda power at once.....

If the Dell is NOT the best choice for I described can you suggest any others?

Any help would be great....

[JPD6825]

I've got an X50v and love it - and have finally converted my wife to a PDA user by getting her an X50v also. (THAT tells you it is a good device!)

WiFi works great on these units. I have only used Bluetooth a little - to do wireless sync - but have actually almost completely abandoned that -- I most sync via a cradle at work and was using BT at home -- then after I got the PPC for my wife, Lo - a cradle was available at home!

Email by wifi is great! -- I usually have it set to just download headers. Then open the messages of interest - then choose 'mark for download' and it downloads the body of the message in a flash. This actually turns out to be quicker than sitting down in from of the desktop PC to pick up email - so it is now my preferred way to check email.

Outlook Web Access works pretty well for checking my email from my employer's system. Again - very quick. The display of the OWA screens leaves a little bit to be desired - but that may improve when/if they make the OWA page layout more friendly to mobile devices.

I'd recommend the X50v or X51v without reservation.

I wouldn't worry too much about WM5 issues. I'm still confident they will be resolved soon. (I myself am still using WM2003; my ROM upgrade CD is sitting on my desk waiting for me to install it. I might do it in the next couple of days since I have a few days off work this week.) The biggest issues may be how many and which WM2003 apps you would want to carry forward into the WM5 world? I think I've read that those cause the biggest headaches - if you've got none you want to carry over - I think you'll probably be in pretty good shape.

[mattp]

Have you read all the discussion about the x51v at Aximsite? If not, I'd look at this. It looks like the newest model has some pretty crippled bluetooth implementation, which you discussed quite a bit as a need.

Lots of people speculate that Dell will address and fix the issue, and I imagine they will, but it sure looks like many people are frustrated. To be honest, I haven't read many of these posts because I'm not in the market to upgrade, but it appears many people like yourself that expect a great deal from the device and know how to make it do all the usual tricks have been disappointed.

I use bluetooth with mine all the time. My experience has been that it is neither a Windows Mobile nor hardware issue. Rather, my problem has been the simple fact that my mobile carrier -- Verizon -- doesn't supply an SMTP server. Receiving e-mail and browsing is not a problem. Sending e-mail over http is fine also, but I can't find a way to attach documents without SMTP. I don't use it often enough to pay a monthly charge for this service, so I make due.

Suggestions? Holy cow, yes, do a lot of reading!!!! If I was to go for a new device now, it would probably be an Asus A636 with its integrated GPS. I use my GPS receiver quite a bit and love it, and would appreciate a receiver that is integrated as this device has. It also has a significant leg up on other GPS-integrated devices in that it has built-in wi-fi and bluetooth along with a decent processor. Most of the other models don't have all this built-in with a capable processor. Having used an Asus for a year-and-a-half, my only knock is that they don't have a great deal of support for cases, periperals, etc. But, that's kinda the point of wireless connections, now isn't it?

Really, though, if you can wait for a bit, I'd watch the x51, and see if they get it fixed. Dell really seems to have done a good job with their devices, and will likely "fix" this one. You simply can't beat their prices for the quality of Pocket PC they offer.

[pocketpcadmirer]

Go in for dell without hesitation..its a great device all-in-all

Sunny

[Sven Johannsen]

On the more generic side, mail via BT and a phone hasn't changed much unless you have a 3G phone and data plan. It's still a matter of the PPC connecting through the phone and downloading mail at the rate allowed by the technology you are using. Not much better than an old dialup modem with GPRS, but pretty impressive when you get to Edge/EVDO. This doesn't change much whether you are using a phone/pda pair, or a combo device. 3G data is getting to the point though that it can download faster than BT can get it to the pda, so a combo device may have benefits soon. This still depends on where you live though. high speed data networks start in big metro areas first, and can take a while to get to everyone.

The nice thing about the phone/PPC pair is that you can upgrade the phone alone, where with a combo device, you need to get it with 3G if you want the speed. You can also get a phone for next to nothing, where if you have it integrated into a PPC, it seems to raise the price significantly.

As far as the Dell goes, my wife and I both like (love?) our X50v's, bought when they first came out. Personally I'd probably opt for another of these over an X51v at the moment. I don't think you get that much out of WM5 when shoehorned into a WM2003 device. Nothing wrong with WM5, I have a K-Jam and a JasJar, and they work fine. Dell has a pretty good history of doing updates that fix the little issues though, so it's likely the complaints you hear on the X51 will be addressed.

[thanos255]

On the more generic side, mail via BT and a phone hasn't changed much unless you have a 3G phone and data plan. It's still a matter of the PPC connecting through the phone and downloading mail at the rate allowed by the technology you are using. Not much better than an old dialup modem with GPRS, but pretty impressive when you get to Edge/EVDO. This doesn't change much whether you are using a phone/pda pair, or a combo device. 3G data is getting to the point though that it can download faster than BT can get it to the pda, so a combo device may have benefits soon. This still depends on where you live though. high speed data networks start in big metro areas first, and can take a while to get to everyone.

The nice thing about the phone/PPC pair is that you can upgrade the phone alone, where with a combo device, you need to get it with 3G if you want the speed. You can also get a phone for next to nothing, where if you have it integrated into a PPC, it seems to raise the price significantly.

As far as the Dell goes, my wife and I both like (love?) our X50v's, bought when they first came out. Personally I'd probably opt for another of these over an X51v at the moment. I don't think you get that much out of WM5 when shoehorned into a WM2003 device. Nothing wrong with WM5, I have a K-Jam and a JasJar, and they work fine. Dell has a pretty good history of doing updates that fix the little issues though, so it's likely the complaints you hear on the X51 will be addressed.


You make some great points....

So in your opinion does the process of the ppc and the phone connection and sending/receiving mail regularly (on a set schedule) work reliably??

Want to get on the net, having the two devices connect and stay connected while using it (not losing the connection all the time) work well?

I guess that is what I am worried about.

[thanos255]

Also I don't have much of a choice on getting the x51v as they don't sell a PPC 2003 version anymore as an option.

[PetiteFlower]

Whether the phone/PDA bluetooth combo will get you online reliably or not depends more on your phone and your cellular carrier and what they support then it depends on what PDA you have. The phone has to support the dial-up networking profile; which most of the Bluetooth phones on Verizon right now do not (though I'm told there's ways to get around that, I haven't looked into it yet myself since I'm not due for a new phone until April).

The X51 is a great device though; if your phone supports it, I don't see why there would be any problem getting it online with a bluetooth phone.

[thanos255]

Whether the phone/PDA bluetooth combo will get you online reliably or not depends more on your phone and your cellular carrier and what they support then it depends on what PDA you have. The phone has to support the dial-up networking profile; which most of the Bluetooth phones on Verizon right now do not (though I'm told there's ways to get around that, I haven't looked into it yet myself since I'm not due for a new phone until April).

The X51 is a great device though; if your phone supports it, I don't see why there would be any problem getting it online with a bluetooth phone.

Well I have a E815 from Verizon.....It is easy to get the Dialup Networking up and running on it...not a big deal.

I guess my questions are the reliablility of the bluetooth stack with other devices etc....

(I have gotten anal in my old age :) )

[Sven Johannsen]

So in your opinion does the process of the ppc and the phone connection and sending/receiving mail regularly (on a set schedule) work reliably??

I would bet it is pretty dependent on the actual phone and PPC. It seemed to work OK with my X50v and T610. I only had it set to check mail every hour and the account wasn't a particularly active one. I just left BT on on both units and when the time came, it would access GPRS and do a send/receive. I kind of quit doing this when I got a Smartphone, as I could get the mail directly on the phone. I could still use the phone as a modem for the PPC if need be. Then I got a phone edition device, and again the usage changed. A combined device is extremely convenient, but fairly pricey, as there aren't too many directly supported (read subsidized) available yet.

Want to get on the net, having the two devices connect and stay connected while using it (not losing the connection all the time) work well? Seemed to. Certainly haven't had issues in any of those assorted combos when I was actively using them. Not a heavy enough user to give sound feedback on how the auto-retrieval of e-mail works with two devices. It did work though.

[GSmith]

Whether the phone/PDA bluetooth combo will get you online reliably or not depends more on your phone and your cellular carrier and what they support then it depends on what PDA you have.

I disagree with this assessment. I have used data service over bluetooth using a small variety of phones, PDAs, and carriers for the past 3-4 years. All of the carriers/phones used GSM of some sort (CSD, GPRS, or EDGE).

The PDAs: HP iPAQ 2215 (aka HP2215) and Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket Loox 720 (aka PL720).
The Phones: Ericsson T39 (T-Mobile and Cingular), Sony-Ericsson T610 (T-Mobile), Nokia 6820 (Cingular), Motorola V551 (Cingular).
The Carriers: PowerTel aquired by VoiceStream aquired by T-Mobile, and Cingular

In my experience, the reliability of the connections was hampered most by Bluetooth connection. Each generation of devices has gotten mostly better. I get fairly reliable data connections using the PL720 with the Motorola V551. I occasionally must power cycle the phone and occasionally must soft reset the PDA. "Occasionally" in each case meaning maybe 1-4 times per week, depending on circumstances. Sometimes I'll lose power in the phone, or the PDA will turn off while connected (usually either power related or I'll turn it off intentionally).

For a few months, I had been downloading 60-100 megabytes per day (well over 2 gigbytes for the month) using (mostly) Cingular or (occasionally) T-Mobile

I'm not sure if the issue is A) device compatibility or B) Bluetooth stack reliability on a specific device. I suspect it is B, because the HP2215 performs worse than the FL720 on each phone device, and the Motorola performs the best with each PDA.

Based on my experience, your (thanos255) anality is deserved, and well placed. I also think that the current generation of devices is very likely to be reliable. In any case, you will want to test the exact PDA you get with the exact Phone and Carrier. And work with a carrier and store that will allow you to easily switch devices. I have found it very useful to test devices (if possible) in a store, and work with a specific store to find the right phone. I have always worked with corporate/main stores of both Cingular and T-Mobile, not the stores that sell multiple carriers.

Once you get a phone, test it in as many locations as you can to make sure it will work (voice calls) where you need/want it to work. Then make sure the data connection works with the PDA/phone combination. If your calls work and you are happy with the coverage, then work with the store to get the right phone (although there will be limited selection that have both Bluetooth and EDGE for example).

Good Luck!

[thanos255]

So in your opinion does the process of the ppc and the phone connection and sending/receiving mail regularly (on a set schedule) work reliably??

I would bet it is pretty dependent on the actual phone and PPC. It seemed to work OK with my X50v and T610. I only had it set to check mail every hour and the account wasn't a particularly active one. I just left BT on on both units and when the time came, it would access GPRS and do a send/receive. I kind of quit doing this when I got a Smartphone, as I could get the mail directly on the phone. I could still use the phone as a modem for the PPC if need be. Then I got a phone edition device, and again the usage changed. A combined device is extremely convenient, but fairly pricey, as there aren't too many directly supported (read subsidized) available yet.

Want to get on the net, having the two devices connect and stay connected while using it (not losing the connection all the time) work well? Seemed to. Certainly haven't had issues in any of those assorted combos when I was actively using them. Not a heavy enough user to give sound feedback on how the auto-retrieval of e-mail works with two devices. It did work though.


Well I have had a Imate Jam, Treo, and currently a Samsung i730....but like I mentioned having one device for me is actually harder in alot of ways as I have to look up so much on my pda when someone calls that it is much more annoying.

I don't like headsets at all, so I have had several BT headsets but don't really like any of them, plus I even have a Acura with handsfree and I hardly use it!

So that is why I am thinking of two devices again.

[Sven Johannsen]

I don't like headsets at all, so I have had several BT headsets but don't really like any of them, plus I even have a Acura with handsfree and I hardly use it!
Not really a fan of headsets myself, though my car kit is the only way calls happen in the car. Pendant style, Motorola HS830 or Touch Bluetooth Clip, or Nokia HS-3W, is an option that might interest you if you haven't looked at them. Lets you work with the PPC during a call, but doesn't have to be in your ear all the time.