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View Full Version : O2 Unveils XDA II Availability, Pricing

Janak Parekh
10-22-2003, 07:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/33528.html' target='_blank'>http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/33528.html</a><br /><br /></div>"Cellular network provider O2 will launch its second-generation wireless Pocket PC, the XDA II, on 1 November, the company said today. The device was launched earlier this year, but until now, the company has not said when it will offer the product to customers."<br /><br />Looks like they're going to offer it for £349 with contract in the UK. That's not a bad price, and is certainly quite a few notches cheaper than this <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3054529911&category=38331&rd=1">eBay auction</a>... :lol:
Yorch
10-22-2003, 07:42 PM
How much is £349 in US dollars?
carphead
10-22-2003, 07:46 PM
Such a shame that o2 is a awful network with such good toys. 8O I'd love a XDA. But I'm stuffed if I'm going to use o2.
Duncan
10-22-2003, 07:57 PM
How much is £349 in US dollars?

I'm afraid the question is pointless. This is a subsidised price conditional on you taking out a 12 month contract with 02 (minimum of £180 over a year - not including data charges) - which you can only get if you are a UK resident. It won't necessarly reflect the price anywhere else in the world (especially the US where you don't have VAT - a type of sales tax - at 17.5% added in).
Shaun Stuart
10-22-2003, 07:58 PM
How much is £349 in US dollars?

about $580 depending on the exchange rate
Duncan
10-22-2003, 08:00 PM
Such a shame that o2 is a awful network with such good toys. 8O I'd love a XDA. But I'm stuffed if I'm going to use o2.

I'm curious - what problems have you had? Bearing in mind that all the networks can give poor service at times, I live in the same town as you and find the O2 network to be just fine at present (better than the service I used to have with Orange).
surur
10-22-2003, 08:02 PM
I plan on getting this in a few days. Any idea if it is it sim-locked to O2, or can I use my vodaphone sim-card in it?

Also what kind of data packages will they be selling it with.

Anyone in the know out there?

Surur
Duncan
10-22-2003, 08:06 PM
Surur,

They will be sim-locked to O2 (and of course you get the whole 12 month contract obligation) BUT you can go for the GPRS only data package even if you want to stay with Vodafone for voice - £15 per month with 5MB inclusive. It may cost more than £349 that way though - possibly up to £499 (depending on how closely they follow the route they took with the original XDA).
dum spiro, spero
10-22-2003, 08:21 PM
The price on that ebay auction has gotten to be absurd...it's almost $1500.00!!! ....poor sap :twisted:
carphead
10-22-2003, 08:21 PM
Such a shame that o2 is a awful network with such good toys. 8O I'd love a XDA. But I'm stuffed if I'm going to use o2.

I'm curious - what problems have you had? Bearing in mind that all the networks can give poor service at times, I live in the same town as you and find the O2 network to be just fine at present (better than the service I used to have with Orange).

Okay my profile lies. I'm actually just outside Ipswich. :oops: But I work in Sudbury. The network quality (in my experiance) is poor. I spend most of my time in the country. In the last four years I've tried the networks in the following order... Orange, O2, Vodafone, Orange, O2, T-Mobile,Orange, O2. Vodafone.

I rate O2 third (orange is my prefered) only slightly ahead of T-Mobile. Tomorrow I switching back to Orange as they now have Panasonic X70 in stock in BSE. :rock on dude!:

The network coverage outside of medium/large towns is poor. Yes the data service is pretty good but I spend between 60 - 90 minutes a day on the phone and need voice as much as data.
Duncan
10-22-2003, 08:29 PM
Okay my profile lies. I'm actually just outside Ipswich. But I work in Sudbury. The network quality (in my experiance) is poor. I spend most of my time in the country. In the last four years I've tried the networks in the following order... Orange, O2, Vodafone, Orange, O2, T-Mobile,Orange, O2. Vodafone. Just a friendly warning - up until last October I was living in Sudbury and was on Orange - the reception was patchy for Orange as well as O2 - fine for the most part but with large-ish deadspots (probably the same reason why TV and digital signal reception is so poor there). I will give you that Orange is probably slightly better - but not significantly (in my experience of course!).

Anyway - enough of that before we get a keep on topic warning! :)
snazzy
10-22-2003, 09:39 PM
the xda II is already up on the O2 website tho. might be available even sooner than nov.
carphead
10-22-2003, 10:03 PM
Just a friendly warning - up until last October I was living in Sudbury and was on Orange - the reception was patchy for Orange as well as O2 - fine for the most part but with large-ish deadspots (probably the same reason why TV and digital signal reception is so poor there). I will give you that Orange is probably slightly better - but not significantly (in my experience of course!).

Anyway - enough of that before we get a keep on topic warning! :)

Thanks for the warning. I still have a phone on Orange as my Vodafone contract. I find the coverage in Sudbury and the area to many times better than any other network.
suhit
10-22-2003, 10:24 PM
I may have missed discussion on this, but is there any word on how good/bad the battery life is? I remember from personal experience that the XDA had fantastic battery life.

Suhit
Pocket PC Dubai
10-22-2003, 10:52 PM
I may have missed discussion on this, but is there any word on how good/bad the battery life is? I remember from personal experience that the XDA had fantastic battery life.

Suhit

Now it is even better!
suhit
10-22-2003, 11:14 PM
Now it is even better!

Really? :D Is there an article corroborating this, or have people used it and sung it's praises? Or both? :wink:

Suhit
Jonathon Watkins
10-22-2003, 11:30 PM
I'm on O2 at the moment and I'm pretty happy with the service - apart from the fact they are trying to chop my 20% long service customer discount. :evil:

I wonder what the price for this toy is as a repacement handset.
tekguru
10-22-2003, 11:58 PM
I've been using a review model of the XDA II for the past few days and I can safely say... Wow!

The problem the old XDA had of poor signal reception have been eradicated and the device has good battery life.

A typical working day (7:00am to 4:30pm) containing around 5 long phone calls (including ones using the speaker phone), numerous SMS receipts and sends, automatic email collections every 30 minutes, an hours eBook reading in the dark, plus the daily excursions into PI and Excel for lengthy sessions dropped the battery life down to 58%. This is also taking into account the photos which were taken and the video recording system which was tested at least 4 times as well.

The iPAQ 5550 on a similar working day dropped down to around 70% without any phone usage or to under 50% when linking to the T610 via bluetooth for only occasional network usage.

I'll be putting the first part of a review up on Tekguru towards the weekend: http://www.tekguru.co.uk
surur
10-23-2003, 12:52 AM
Ive ordered it..! Should be here in less than 10 days!

Wish me luck

Surur
Pocket PC Dubai
10-23-2003, 07:53 AM
Now it is even better!

Really? :D Is there an article corroborating this, or have people used it and sung it's praises? Or both? :wink:

Suhit
I am using it this is my personal opinion
possmann
10-23-2003, 05:20 PM
Great! Now when will it hit the States?