02-16-2006, 02:00 AM
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Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
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Dlmag.com Reviews the TORQ P120 (E-TEN M600)
"As a new entry in the competitive smartphone market the TORQ P120 offers a lot of capability in a compact, attractive package. Integrating the functions of a PDA, GSM/GPRS network phone, Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, and a 1.3 megapixel camera, the P120 elegantly covers all the bases for the mobile professional. The P120 builds on the features of its predecessor the P100 model. With a style change from silver to a cool black case, and the addition of 802.11b wireless networking the P120 is a much more capable portable device. This plus the incorporation of the Windows Mobile 5 OS vastly improves functionality."
Dlmag.com has posted a combined written-video review of the TORQ P120 (a re-branded version of the E-TEN M600 that I reviewed last November). It's a solid device that is definitely worthy of consideration for anyone wanting to purchase a new Pocket PC Phone Edition.
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02-16-2006, 02:32 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,041
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As soon as I can get one for under $500, I'm there!
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02-16-2006, 04:17 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 47
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Tomorrow, I will have had my P120 for two weeks. It is easily the best, most well-rounded device I've ever owned. And I've owned many, many PDAs over the last 10 years.
Actually, I'm posting with it right now.
The only complaint I have so far is that the max ring volume is not nearly high enough, and the vibrate is not strong enough. I often miss calls in loud environments.
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02-16-2006, 04:27 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 53
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Great product but couple major issues
I too own one of these guys and it really does rock the house when it's working. I owned two P100's prior to my P120; the screen died on the first one and both suffered from the now infamous STD (sleep 'till death) syndrome (taking up a large proportion of the posts on the E-TEN Forums site). Hence my upgrade to the P120. Major props go out to David at Mad Monkey Boy Gadgets for taking such good (and patient) care of me -- a true testiment to the very definition of the phrase "excellent customer service".
Unfortunately, this device also suffers STD's on a more-than-daily basis. Rather than demand you visit the E-TEN forums I'll provide a little background here: when the device is idle, i.e. the screen is off but it should respond to calls just like any other phone (kinda snoozing more than sleeping I guess) it will die. I define death as no response to my pressing the power button (or any other hardware buttons) on the device. The only recourse is to soft reset or, in the extreme cases that make up about 85% of the time, a hard reset -- yes, a hard reset. Now you can see why this was so bad on the P100's (running Pocket PC 2003) as this would wipe the device of all data. Yes, I could restore from a backup I'd make automatically at 5am every morning to the SD card, but there are some serious drawbacks to that.
Now, though, on the P120 (running Windows Mobile 5) a hard reset doesn't cost as much as no data is lost. I DO still suffer the major inconvenience of the phone having been unavailable for who-only-knows-how-long and the minor inconvenience of resetting it (it will then be out of commission for the next 100-200 seconds) usually when I've reached for the device to make a call right there-and-then (not right there and in two/three minutes time).
Additionally, the Activesync-by-Bluetooth functionality is badly handicapped. In order to provide this, one must first create the partnership between (one must "pair") the phone and laptop. This is fine and works great, but on subsequent attempts to synchronize, I'm supposed to be able to pick a menu item from within Activesync and simply sync there-and-then. Unfortunately, that menu item never materializes and I have to go through the pairing process on every subsequent occasion that I want to synchronize my devices again. Not much fun at all, as well you can imagine.
Anyways, as I said at the beginning of this post, when the device IS working, it really works fantastically. Now, with WiFi as well, I am so set for all my connection needs. The built-in camera is fun (and, after all, that's all it's supposed to be) and emailing and texting work great. I find the ring volume to be adequate for my needs but the vibrate a little too soft too. I'm still working my way through various BT headsets to find the best one for me. Listening to music (and even watching the odd TV show/movie) while on my many plane rides is unbeatable. The screen is incredible and (at twice as bright as the P100) is more than bright enough for indoor use at the very minimum setting (I haven't tried it outdoors yet). With all this and a responsive CPU, I have never even reached a 50% level on remaining battery life, as the battery life is just excellent too.
So, in summation? An excellent device that, if you can live with its faults, is truly unbeatable. If it suits your needs, just buy it, you won't regret your decision.
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02-16-2006, 05:20 PM
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Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
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Re: Great product but couple major issues
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Originally Posted by jalex
Unfortunately, this device also suffers STD's on a more-than-daily basis. Rather than demand you visit the E-TEN forums I'll provide a little background here: when the device is idle, i.e. the screen is off but it should respond to calls just like any other phone (kinda snoozing more than sleeping I guess) it will die.
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I suggest you update your ROM to the latest version (i.e. 0171). It includes a fix for the STD issue.
You can download it from here: http://update.eten.ch/
Edit: Oh, wait, you have the P120. Unfortunately, a TORQ version of the E-TEN 0171 ROM doesn't exist for it yet, but you can apply the latest TORQ 0170B ROM and apply the STD patch which exists on the site I linked to above.
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02-16-2006, 05:29 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 53
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M600 not equal to P120
Thanks Darius, but I've tried such an update before. The updates for the E-TEN M500 will not work on a TORQ P100 (and the E-TEN forums state the same is true for the M600:P120).
In fact, that's the one thing Mad Monkey Boy (or his hardware contact at Sound Solutions) wasn't able to help me with; they never could find me a ROM update for my TORQ device. The TORQ web site (as installed in PIE on the device itself, by default) points to a single static page that hasn't changed at all in the months I've been grappling with the STD issue. I don't know who else to turn to for such support.
Thanks for trying though.
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02-16-2006, 05:35 PM
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Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
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Re: M600 not equal to P120
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Originally Posted by jalex
Thanks Darius, but I've tried such an update before. The updates for the E-TEN M500 will not work on a TORQ P100 (and the E-TEN forums state the same is true for the M600:P120).
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Cross-company ROM updates will not work, but the STD patch is a generic one (a quick-patch) and should work on your P120. Of course, I've not tested it on the P120 since I have the M600, so I trust your opinion.
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02-16-2006, 05:38 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 53
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STD Patch?
Darius, I'm not sure if I didn't read your previous post in its entirety or if you edited it right after I got done reading it the first time, but I'm on the support FTP site right now trying to find the STD patch. I'm DEFINITELY going to give it a try ... if I can find it. I'll keep you posted...
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02-16-2006, 05:47 PM
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Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
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Re: STD Patch?
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Originally Posted by jalex
Darius, I'm not sure if I didn't read your previous post in its entirety or if you edited it right after I got done reading it the first time...
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Yep, I edited while you were reading it for the first time. After submitting that post, I remembered that you had the P120, so I thought I'd clarify the deal with E-TEN and TORQ ROM updates. 
Quote:
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Originally Posted by jalex
but I'm on the support FTP stie right now trying to find the STD patch. I'm DEFINITELY going to give it a try ... if I can find it. I'll keep you posted...
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If it helps, it's at http://update.eten.ch/ in this directory path: \Downloads\Updates\M600\Patch for OS 0170\Patch for Backlight. There is a file called DisableSyncSchedule.cpf. Download it and run it on your device. You should receive a message in your Inbox notifying you that the patch was successfully applied.
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02-16-2006, 05:48 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 53
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STD Patched?
Well, I found it in /Download/Updates/M600/Patch for OS 0170/Patch for Backlight. Translating the ReadMe file (using Google) from French to English revealed that it's simply a backlight issue -- that it won't turn back on, thus rendering the device useless.
I've applied the patch. I did a soft reset (just in case) and will report back here if-and-when I either get another STD or if (after a week or two) I don't.
Thank you for your help and if this really does work I'll be posting this solution on the E-TEN forums and will make a LOT of people very happy.
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