Help choosing Pocket PC Phone with Multimedia Capabilities

[vendiddy]

I need help choosing a PPC Phone. Here is a list of what I'm looking for.


Works with Cingular
Good battery life (I want to listen to music)
At least 1GB of memory (I am willing to buy a memory card)
Good resolution & good sized screen for playing movies
Not too bulky


I am willing to make some sacrifices.

I have a question also: Do CF and SD cards have unlimited read cycles? I know you can have limited number of writes, but I don't know if there's a limited number of reads. Can I put a bunch of music on a CF card and not really have to worry about it dying after too much use?

I'll put the question about flash cards in another thread too. Thanks for the help!

[vendiddy]

No one has any suggestions? :?

[Darius Wey]

I need help choosing a PPC Phone.

Cingular's own 8125 Pocket PC Phone Edition (http://www.cingular.com/8125_consumer) is a good fit.

I have a question also: Do CF and SD cards have unlimited read cycles? I know you can have limited number of writes, but I don't know if there's a limited number of reads. Can I put a bunch of music on a CF card and not really have to worry about it dying after too much use?

To my understanding, general "wear and tear" results from write and erase cycles. Reading is excluded. Regardless, this is something you really won't have to worry too much about. The day the card dies from excessive write cycles will be the day it becomes obsolete, anyway.

By the way, sorry for the late post. I seem to have missed this thread in my daily forum visit.

[Sven Johannsen]

I think part of the issue is a lack of quantification on some of your specs. I could say most all GSM based PPCs meet your requirements, or non do.

PPC Phone. Good battery life
Are things many would say are mutually exclusive. I don't think there is a unit out there that is going to last the day if you use it as an iPOD. If you are going to listen to an hour or two (maybe some more) and make phone calls, you should be OK with most. You throw video in there though, and it eats battery.

Good resolution & good sized screen for playing movies
Not too bulky
This one is kind of tough too, unless you define too bulky. They are most all 320x240. The packaging varies though. The 8125 is pretty thick in most peoples eyes, but it has th advantage of a keyboard and the fact that Cingular supports and subsidizes it. About anything else, and there are thinner units, will cost you full price.

[vendiddy]

The MyPal A716 seems to have caught my eye at the moment:
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=8&l2=0&l3=0&model=334&modelmenu=1

Is 320 x 240 a good resolution?

[Sven Johannsen]

The MyPal A716 seems to have caught my eye at the moment: It's not a phone.
"also a road navigator, phone, radio, digital camera and presenter in disguise through additional GPS, GPRS, FM, Camera, or VGA card CF modules*.

It's a 2 year old OS.

Is 320 x 240 a good resolution? It's what there is. 640x480 devices are very limited, and more so with a phone. In fact I think the only one is the Universal, or JasJar, and it likely doesn't meet your 'not bulky' requirement. It's also $800 - $1000.

[vendiddy]

Oh, I should have read more carefully. I just assumed it was a phone because of the antenna sticking out of the side.

One more thing, I don't want/need a keyboard. That Cingular one looks really bulky because of that. Also, bluetooth and WiFi would be good.

The phone doesn't have to meet every requirement.

[Janak Parekh]

One more thing, I don't want/need a keyboard. That Cingular one looks really bulky because of that. Also, bluetooth and WiFi would be good.
I'd encourage you to visit a local Cingular store and take a look at the unit. It's a little thick, but I think you'd be surprised at the compactness.

If you're looking for something smaller, you'd have to buy an unlocked phone from a third party, which will cost more. There are units like the XDA Atom or the i-mate JAMin. The former, unfortunately, is only triband and so will work poorly on Cingular. The latter may be worth a look (try Expansys, for example).

--janak

[Sven Johannsen]

If you go to Cingular and feel up an 8125, you can get an idea of the Jamin by imagining it being just the bottom half of the 8125. It's about the size of the part that has the keyboard, if the screen piece was gone.