I may have to return our two new PPCPE's!

[BillTheCat]

and am very sad.

The problem is with the cell carrier from T Mobile. It is badddddd. I get maybe 1 strength bar or less, usually no signal strength. This is equal on both units.

try an SMS with no signal. it sends like normal, but the other side never gets it. No fail notice at all, just no communication.

Have talked to the company service folks, an am awaiting a tech's ideas in my area (north of Orlando). They *say* they have 100* coverage, but I know it aint. I said they would be losing about 1000 $ worth of hardware sales, and two accts for years to come. Tech not impressed much. I guess he doesnt need the biz.

I don't know if another carrier will sell the PocketPCPE either.

I am sad....... :mecry:

[Janak Parekh]

Sorry to hear that :cry: T-Mobile's service is definitely not as ubiquitous as other providers', although it works OK for me.

Have you considered trying AT&T and their Siemens SX56? I've heard decent things about their Florida GSM service.

Last: Verizon and Sprint are slated to release PPC phones within 1-2 months.

--janak

[BillTheCat]

thanks.

tech data grp said to upgrade the rom as it was older. they said the newer rom upgrade was for connection issue and sig strength.

I am backing up now and will do the upgrade and see.

[Janak Parekh]

tech data grp said to upgrade the rom as it was older. they said the newer rom upgrade was for connection issue and sig strength.
Ah, you haven't done that. Yes, it helps quite a bit, but it won't do magic -- if you have a weak signal, you have a weak signal. I'm sure you'll find out soon enough -- good luck. :)

--janak

[ucfgrad93]

Good luck. Let us know how it works. Since I am in Winter Springs, I eagerly await your findings. I currently use Cingular.

[BillTheCat]

OK, I made the software upgrade. It wasnt really ROM, but everything. Funny, it appears to be exactly the same version I already had. So much for the tech.

my Version was 3.14.40 and the software made it 3.14.40.

*yawn*

of course nothing has changed. I am seriously considering taking the two of them back. Will have to look at another Pocket PC type I guess, with phone I hope.

The PPCPE from T Mobile is a nice peice of equipment. pretty, easy to use and comfy.

But with no signal strength it aint much of a phone, sms, or web browser is it?

The ATT listed earlier in the thread and the new Titanium from Palm are two to look at I guess.

:?

[Brad Adrian]

Hopefully, you're still inside the 14-day period during which T-Mobile will allow you to cancel your contract. If you do that, try the ATT and see if you get better coverage in your area. If that still stinks, you can dump it within the 14-day period and consider other options (which should never, ever include a Palm ;))

[BillTheCat]

yes within 14 day period. Funny you should mention ATT and Palm. They have a new Palm called Tungsten W which looks pretty neat:
http://www.palm.com/products/handhelds/tungsten-w/

and they also have the Siemens which look almost identical to the T-Mobile, except i dont see SMS:
http://www.attws.com/business/data/individual/siemens/

the Palm is bluetooth.....

yer thoughts????

[Janak Parekh]

the Palm is bluetooth.....

yer thoughts????
The Tungsten W, unlike the TT, is not Bluetooth, although an SDIO card might work. The Siemens is the exact same hardware as the T-Mobile PPC. The front-page SMS program is gone in the updated T-Mo firmware anyway, you just use the Inbox to do SMSes.

--janak

[BillTheCat]

I noticed that about the SMS text today at ATT. I kinda like the way it was in the Tmobile.

The two TMobiles are going back tomorrow. The two Siemens (looks like both are made by Siemens to me) are ordered and will pick up tomorrow night or friday.

The only real difference I see is the ease of SMS in the T Mobile vs the ATT. which may get easier once I store some contacts-like my wife's.

The other thing is the T Mobile gives you a headset w two earbuds, vs the ATT with a cheap single. I will probably get a boom over the ear plantronics anyway.

I looked at the versions and both are the same software version, so don't really understand why they look different in the software. is ok tho.

The best thing is that ATT has much better signal strength thru Central Florida.

The ATT pkg seems to cost a tad more than the T Mobile but not prohibitively so.

My wife loves the Pocket PC PE. Me too! The Palm just wasnt anywhere near the same animal!

also, anyone in the area that gets a phone from ATT ans mentions my referral gets me a credit toward my bill.

I could use it with two new PCPE's to feed! :sunny:

[Abba Zabba]

hey sorry to hear about your troubles with T-mobile. I have the AT&T GSM/GPRS service and I am constantly all over central FL. It works almost flawlessly. I am quite happy with the service and dependability I have found using AT&T.

Good luck. 8)

[BillTheCat]

I returned the T-Mobiles today and the guy was crushed. ah darn. I hated to see it, but with a weak or no signal what could I do?

I have the two new SX56's now and they are mechanically the same. I found out about the SMS on this new one and it's easy. The real test will be tomorrow from the dreaded Longwood office where the T-Mobile signal crashed and burned. Since other folks are doing ok with AT&T I have good expectations. Heck, I can *see* the AT&T cell tower from the office!

I want to learn to do neat things with the PPC, like insert new backgrounds on the main menu, insert new ringtones, d/l music, and make the web work. I tried to log onto msn for hotmail, but it wouldnt do it. Maybe I have to set up something at MSN to allow wireless?

I want something different than ActiveSetup, or whatever it's called. I don't care for it to move stuff from the pc to pocketpc.

I also want to add a memory card and get a better earset.

But all in all I am happy. The wife is happy, and you guys done good helping me out!

[Janak Parekh]

Good luck :) Let us know how it goes.

--janak