Questions on the Siemens SX56

[jproudfo]

Hello again,

After some careful consideration, I've decided to get a PPCPE based device and not an upcoming Smartphone. In the end, I think I decided on a PPCPE device because I frequently send e-mails and surf the web... I don't think I could live with the keypad interface on the Smartphones for very long. :)

After talking with some of the local carriers, it seems that they are going to be offering the Siemens SX56 soon. I've got a few questions on this device, though, and I'm hoping someone here should answer them...

- Is the SX56 the same HTC device as the XDA? I assume they are, but I figured I would ask anyway.

- Can you talk on this device by putting it up to you ear, like a regular mobile phone? I was very annoyed by the Thera because you couldn't do this. You could only use it as a speaker phone or with a headset.

- What type of screen protectors would you recommend for this device?

- I typically send and receive a lot of SMS messages. How is the SMS functionality of this device?

- Can anyone share some real world battery life numbers with? How does the device perform compared to the published numbers?

- What about the RF performance? I've read a lot of complaints from early XDA adopters about poor signal reception... Can someone comment on this? Did any of the software updates fix these problems?

I think that's about it! Thanks in advance!

[smittyofdhs]

- Is the SX56 the same HTC device as the XDA? I assume they are, but I figured I would ask anyway.

yes

- Can you talk on this device by putting it up to you ear, like a regular mobile phone? I was very annoyed by the Thera because you couldn't do this. You could only use it as a speaker phone or with a headset.

yes, either as a normal cellphone or as speakerphone or with earbud

- What type of screen protectors would you recommend for this device?

write shields or brando are the best two.

- I typically send and receive a lot of SMS messages. How is the SMS functionality of this device?

works very well IMHO, and on most carriers MMS is available with the use of a 3rd part software, EZWAP

- Can anyone share some real world battery life numbers with? How does the device perform compared to the published numbers?

I can go all weekend using it normally with daily email checks, 3-5 sms per day, 2-10 calls per day. I can usually get thru the entire weekend under this usage, sometimes the 40% warnings are going off thru the end of sunday. PDA usage is about 3 - 3.5 continuous.

- What about the RF performance? I've read a lot of complaints from early XDA adopters about poor signal reception... Can someone comment on this? Did any of the software updates fix these problems?

??? do you mean the cell phone radio? if so, yes software patches have fixed this for other carriers. ATTWS is coming out with one by the end of the month that will seriously increase the performance of the device.[/b]