Ultima
08-27-2004, 06:37 AM
I am having fairly good luck with my iPaq 6315. I got it from CompUSA paying the difference in money from using their Replacement Plan program on my (IMNSHO) defective Sony Ericsson T610.
I used their old-style replacement plan on my iPaq 2215 a while back, and put it on a gift card which I quickly squandered on an Archos video player (NICE device, by the way, but I know you all like to use your PDA for that. I wanted the 20 gig HD). When the 6315 came in, I was itching for a new PDA anyways (withdrawl?) and figured I'd give it a shot.
Pros:
1. It's a cool device, GREAT connectivity.
2. The speaker IS louder than my T610, I can actually hear it ring, huzzah!
3. Battery life. While I don't use it as a phone, I do use the WiFi. My previous 5455 and 2215 (with CF WiFi card) collapsed and died later in the day if I spent my lunch break on WiFi. I tested this one and it was still at 80% after it. That is SWEET.
4. "HOLY &#*@!" WiFi Reception. It picks up the Linksys access point that's near my house, but wandering outside with my laptop (after a wardriving friend picked it up) earlier this year yielded almost no results. I looked like an idiot up and down my street after my laptop saw it for about 2 seconds. All I wanted to know is what channel it was sitting on so I could remove interferance, heh.
5. Comes with the full version of the ClearVue suite? AWSOME! That's $30 that I was going to pay but now I don't have to!
6. BlueTooth Dialup Server! Cool, I can connect via GPRS on my laptop with my D-Link BlueTooth adapter. I am not going to miss any of the functionality of my T610 because of this iPaq.
Cons & Problems
1. Snap on keyboard is kind of cheesy. Where's the backlit buttons? Why does it stick out so much? Will someone make a better one PLEASE?
2. No wireless survey software that is capable of logging and connecting to GPS? I tried PocketWarrior and MiniStumbler, but they both report "No Wireless Card." I don't have a GPS yet, but I just ordered the Delorme Blue Logger GPS. Looks like a spiffy device.
3. I seem to be having problems doing WiFi ActiveSyncs. The solution that I know of (turning on "This network connects to the internet" under the Proxy Settings of the "Work Settings" connection) doesn't stick. I'll browse the forum and experiment some more, or i can stop being so damn lazy and go and plug my cradle in. One or the other.
4. BlueTooth internet connection and data transfer is flakey with my Logitech MX Duo BlueTooth. Oh well, it was flakey with my T610 and transfers from my laptop using it's BlueTooth adapter too. Nothing new to see, move along.
5. Agile Messenger (one of the reasons I bought the device) puts away the input area if you type on the keyboard. Hell, it doesn't even let you use the Transcriber. Maybe the official AIM client will let me do it? And I so wanted to let the underdog take a shot, darn.
I don't notice a speed problem. I think the camera is pretty cool, if I want to take GOOD pictures, I'll bring out my 8 megapixel Nikon, but I'm not carrying that everywhere. It's good enough for snapping quick pics of info I need. A product spec sheet at a store, for example.
wap.voicestream.com works fine for me, as does internet3.voicestream.com. wap.voicestream.com is faster and T-Mobile assures me it's covered by my $29.99 internet plan, as I am running with no voice.
As far as the case goes, I kind of like the one they provided. It's big enough to carry the PDA with the keyboard, which I will do for now. When I see smaller ones, particuarily the flip-style with magnetic closure, or a metal case with horizontal leather-covered clip, I'll take a second look.
Today at work, I printed in big 72 point font "GIGANTIC CELL PHONE CASE" and cut and taped it to my case. I got more than a few laughs, it was dorky but amusing, the best combination. More than a few people were interested in the abnormally large cell phone, and they thought it was VERY cool when I showed it to them. First words out of 3 separate people's mouths: "Nokia?"
My ideal case: Anodized black aluminum (VERY important, non-buckle shiny things stink) metal form-fitting case, with a horizontal belt-clip (non-swivel, non-plastic, preferably leather-covered metal like the case that came with the iPaq). Cutouts for the side buttons, speaker, sync connector, stylus, but preferably not the SD (I don't swap SD cards often) and also preferably not for the camera (I will slide it out of the case a little bit if I need to snap a shot). The lid would open from the right to the left, hanging to the left when it's open, and when closed, and on the belt, should be facing down. It is acceptable to point it the opposite too. Fitting the keyboard is optional but not ideal, they gave me a case for that already. The case must cost $40 or less.
My ideal case 50 years from now when I'll probably still be using this PDA because I'm liking it so much: Case is the size of the T610. It floats alongside my belt, it doesn't clip on any more, nothing does. It warps the dimensions of space and time to fit the iPaq inside, kind of like a pocket dimension (no pun intended), and is password encoded to my DNA. It's black and nobody notices it.
I used their old-style replacement plan on my iPaq 2215 a while back, and put it on a gift card which I quickly squandered on an Archos video player (NICE device, by the way, but I know you all like to use your PDA for that. I wanted the 20 gig HD). When the 6315 came in, I was itching for a new PDA anyways (withdrawl?) and figured I'd give it a shot.
Pros:
1. It's a cool device, GREAT connectivity.
2. The speaker IS louder than my T610, I can actually hear it ring, huzzah!
3. Battery life. While I don't use it as a phone, I do use the WiFi. My previous 5455 and 2215 (with CF WiFi card) collapsed and died later in the day if I spent my lunch break on WiFi. I tested this one and it was still at 80% after it. That is SWEET.
4. "HOLY &#*@!" WiFi Reception. It picks up the Linksys access point that's near my house, but wandering outside with my laptop (after a wardriving friend picked it up) earlier this year yielded almost no results. I looked like an idiot up and down my street after my laptop saw it for about 2 seconds. All I wanted to know is what channel it was sitting on so I could remove interferance, heh.
5. Comes with the full version of the ClearVue suite? AWSOME! That's $30 that I was going to pay but now I don't have to!
6. BlueTooth Dialup Server! Cool, I can connect via GPRS on my laptop with my D-Link BlueTooth adapter. I am not going to miss any of the functionality of my T610 because of this iPaq.
Cons & Problems
1. Snap on keyboard is kind of cheesy. Where's the backlit buttons? Why does it stick out so much? Will someone make a better one PLEASE?
2. No wireless survey software that is capable of logging and connecting to GPS? I tried PocketWarrior and MiniStumbler, but they both report "No Wireless Card." I don't have a GPS yet, but I just ordered the Delorme Blue Logger GPS. Looks like a spiffy device.
3. I seem to be having problems doing WiFi ActiveSyncs. The solution that I know of (turning on "This network connects to the internet" under the Proxy Settings of the "Work Settings" connection) doesn't stick. I'll browse the forum and experiment some more, or i can stop being so damn lazy and go and plug my cradle in. One or the other.
4. BlueTooth internet connection and data transfer is flakey with my Logitech MX Duo BlueTooth. Oh well, it was flakey with my T610 and transfers from my laptop using it's BlueTooth adapter too. Nothing new to see, move along.
5. Agile Messenger (one of the reasons I bought the device) puts away the input area if you type on the keyboard. Hell, it doesn't even let you use the Transcriber. Maybe the official AIM client will let me do it? And I so wanted to let the underdog take a shot, darn.
I don't notice a speed problem. I think the camera is pretty cool, if I want to take GOOD pictures, I'll bring out my 8 megapixel Nikon, but I'm not carrying that everywhere. It's good enough for snapping quick pics of info I need. A product spec sheet at a store, for example.
wap.voicestream.com works fine for me, as does internet3.voicestream.com. wap.voicestream.com is faster and T-Mobile assures me it's covered by my $29.99 internet plan, as I am running with no voice.
As far as the case goes, I kind of like the one they provided. It's big enough to carry the PDA with the keyboard, which I will do for now. When I see smaller ones, particuarily the flip-style with magnetic closure, or a metal case with horizontal leather-covered clip, I'll take a second look.
Today at work, I printed in big 72 point font "GIGANTIC CELL PHONE CASE" and cut and taped it to my case. I got more than a few laughs, it was dorky but amusing, the best combination. More than a few people were interested in the abnormally large cell phone, and they thought it was VERY cool when I showed it to them. First words out of 3 separate people's mouths: "Nokia?"
My ideal case: Anodized black aluminum (VERY important, non-buckle shiny things stink) metal form-fitting case, with a horizontal belt-clip (non-swivel, non-plastic, preferably leather-covered metal like the case that came with the iPaq). Cutouts for the side buttons, speaker, sync connector, stylus, but preferably not the SD (I don't swap SD cards often) and also preferably not for the camera (I will slide it out of the case a little bit if I need to snap a shot). The lid would open from the right to the left, hanging to the left when it's open, and when closed, and on the belt, should be facing down. It is acceptable to point it the opposite too. Fitting the keyboard is optional but not ideal, they gave me a case for that already. The case must cost $40 or less.
My ideal case 50 years from now when I'll probably still be using this PDA because I'm liking it so much: Case is the size of the T610. It floats alongside my belt, it doesn't clip on any more, nothing does. It warps the dimensions of space and time to fit the iPaq inside, kind of like a pocket dimension (no pun intended), and is password encoded to my DNA. It's black and nobody notices it.