SMT5600 vs. Nokia 6620 / Will keep the Nokia

[mbranscum]

I was using a Nokia 6620 Symbian phone for a while and decided to get a Audiovox SMT5600 (which I got new for $150 no contract! ). I was very excited about the MS Smartphone at first but excitement quickly grew to disapointment. Here's why...

1. One of the prgrams I use on the Symbian phone in my business records a call when I get it, if I want to document the call. After I didn't find any programs of this nature for the 5600, I found out from a MS tech that due to the design of their OS, it is not possible for a programmer to write a program of this nature. (Way to go MS!!! :doh: ) Symbian programmers offer many options for this.

2. There is no was to disable GPRS without disabling the phone and sometimes it doesn't turn off itself. That'll eat your battery up in about 2 hours! One solution I was offered was to reboot the phone. I don't want to have to worry about rebooting every time I check email or log onto the net! On the Nokia I press and hold the end key and that disconnects GPRS.

3. Bluetooth....I use a headset. To turn BT on or off I have to go through 3 layers of menus! Oh, I can get a program that'll do it in the press of a button, but I have to buy it. It's a free shortcut I can install on my display on the Nokia.

4. Software in general is much more plentiful for Symbian. Whith the intro of MS Smartphones in the US I hope that changes for the better.

5. The Symbiam OS is much more intuitive and user friendly than MS. I compare it to Pocket PC and Palm, although Symbian is probably as versitle or more so than the current MS OS.

6. Camera and video playback and quality...do even get me started. The Nokia is so much better here there's no comparison. Video playback is MUCH more smooth. The video on the 5600 is unuseable.

Don't get me wrong, I like the MS Smartphones alot and when they refine it more, I might be back, but for now I'll stick with my Nokia 6620 and sell my unlocked SMT5600 on ebay.

[mbranscum]

I was using a Nokia 6620 Symbian phone for a while and decided to get a Audiovox SMT5600 (which I got new for $150 no contract! ). I was very excited about the MS Smartphone at first but excitement quickly grew to disapointment. Here's why...

1. One of the prgrams I use on the Symbian phone in my business records a call when I get it, if I want to document the call. After I didn't find any programs of this nature for the 5600, I found out from a MS tech that due to the design of their OS, it is not possible for a programmer to write a program of this nature. (Way to go MS!!! :doh: ) Symbian programmers offer many options for this.

2. There is no was to disable GPRS without disabling the phone and sometimes it doesn't turn off itself. That'll eat your battery up in about 2 hours! One solution I was offered was to reboot the phone. I don't want to have to worry about rebooting every time I check email or log onto the net! On the Nokia I press and hold the end key and that disconnects GPRS.

3. Bluetooth....I use a headset. To turn BT on or off I have to go through 3 layers of menus! Oh, I can get a program that'll do it in the press of a button, but I have to buy it. It's a free shortcut I can install on my display on the Nokia.

4. Software in general is much more plentiful for Symbian. Whith the intro of MS Smartphones in the US I hope that changes for the better.

5. The Symbiam OS is much more intuitive and user friendly than MS. I compare it to Pocket PC and Palm, although Symbian is probably as versitle or more so than the current MS OS.

6. Camera and video playback and quality...do even get me started. The Nokia is so much better here there's no comparison. Video playback is MUCH more smooth. The video on the 5600 is unuseable.

Don't get me wrong, I like the MS Smartphones alot and when they refine it more, I might be back, but for now I'll stick with my Nokia 6620 and sell my unlocked SMT5600 on ebay.

[aristoBrat]

Originally Posted by mbranscum

2. There is no was to disable GPRS without disabling the phone and sometimes it doesn't turn off itself. That'll eat your battery up in about 2 hours! One solution I was offered was to reboot the phone. I don't want to have to worry about rebooting every time I check email or log onto the net! On the Nokia I press and hold the end key and that disconnects GPRS.

2 hours? Mine stays connected all the time too and I can get at least two days out of the battery (with ~30 minutes talk / ~1 hour GPRS usage a day).

Originally Posted by mbranscum

3. Bluetooth....I use a headset. To turn BT on or off I have to go through 3 layers of menus! Oh, I can get a program that'll do it in the press of a button, but I have to buy it. It's a free shortcut I can install on my display on the Nokia.

FWIW, there's a free shortcut for Windows Mobile, too:
http://www.modaco.com/viewtopic.php?t=99493

[Kris Kumar]

Originally Posted by mbranscum

2. There is no was to disable GPRS without disabling the phone and sometimes it doesn't turn off itself. That'll eat your battery up in about 2 hours! One solution I was offered was to reboot the phone. I don't want to have to worry about rebooting every time I check email or log onto the net! On the Nokia I press and hold the end key and that disconnects GPRS.

SMT5600/C500/SP3/SP3i use persistent GPRS. On my SP3i. I can hold down on the Home button and it gives me a menu with "Disconnect GPRS" and "Setup BT" options. But I believe SMT5600 does not have it.

Here is a quick fix. Disable the persistent GPRS using this tool
http://www.modaco.com/viewtopic.php?t=114232
[Look for the 3rd post, by a reader named crafty]

Install the app called Smartease Shell Orange on your Smartphone. This nifty app lets you disable persistent GPRS (and also ClearType). Once disabled, after the specified timeout (default 10 mins) the GPRS connection will be released. Or you can hit the Call End button on the Home Screen to terminate the GPRS session. :-)

Originally Posted by mbranscum

Don't get me wrong, I like the MS Smartphones alot and when they refine it more, I might be back, but for now I'll stick with my Nokia 6620 and sell my unlocked SMT5600 on ebay.

Valid criticism. :-) I too have many frustrations with the Microsoft Smartphones. But it has been around only for a 3 or so years, it will take some time to mature and become truly robust. But I feel that it is a more open platform than Symbian and has better developer support.

[Kris Kumar]

I agree with aristoBrat, I don't think having persistent GPRS connection drains the battery. It is not sending any data packets.

[aristoBrat]

Well, if you consider the extra power that it takes for the screen to display the G icon all the time, ... <ducking>

[mbranscum]

OK...I have installed the 2 utils you mentioned on my 5600. Honestly didnt know they existed. Still looking and trying....