PC Mag Reviews the Sprint PPC-6700

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1870470,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,175...,1870470,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div><i>"The PPC-6700's balance of portability and power kicks every other Pocket PC phone to the curb, but one issue remains—one-handed versus two-handed operation. Owners of Palm Treo and RIM BlackBerry devices can operate them one-handed. While it's possible to check e-mail on the PPC-6700 by twiddling the little joystick, you need to slide the device open or grab a stylus to dial the phone or enter data, which means gripping it with two hands."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20051014-PPC6700.jpg" /><br /><br />I'm not a huge fan of antenna bulge, but the Sprint PPC-6700 offers plenty of nice features that would still make me consider it. PC Mag thinks the speakerphone could do with a bit of a tweak, but that aside, they believe it's still one of the best Pocket PC Phone Edition devices out there. If you're lucky enough to own the device, do you agree with them?

[code-frog]

I'm way beyond in love with this phone. I get special notices when you guys say anything (in email) that involves this phone. I'm so desperate for this phone I'm ready to sell one of my kids on eBay to get it.

I'd really like to hear from people who own and what they think about it as well.

After reading the comments in this opening article I have a few questions.

1. For one handed operation whats to prevent a person from leaving the keyboard open while driving?

2. Does the phone support voice dialing? (I'm sure *it* must.)

3. I am currently using a digital voice recorder to take verbal notes and lists while I drive. Does this phone have a recording (audio only) function?

4. Did I read somewhere that it doesn's support full size SD cards only a mini card?

Okay, that's my questions for now. Still abstaining for a bit just to make sure I'm not impulsing over a tech-toy.

- Rex

[MG]

Considering that WM5 was supposed to be this "magic bullet" to achieve one handed dialing, I'm surprised to hear them complain. Did M$ screw this up?

Mark

[IpaqMan2]

Well I am hoping tomorrow I will have some answers about this device. I just placed an order to get one and will have it on my door step by tomorrow. I took the 2 year contract and got it at a discount for around $350 or so from a dealer which I believe is in New York some where.

From all the reviews I have read (and I have dug around like crazy) the phone is not perfect and has some issues. The less than Zippy response kinda bothers me, but I don't know if that is a WM5 issue because of how it loads programs now or if it some design issue with the phone. The speaker on the phone is pretty bad from what I hear which is sad given how much the phone cost, a few other things which at this point is only hear say. Still all the major players that have given reviews have given it a good raiting which leads me to believe that perhps the people I have heard really complain about the phone are non-PPC/PDA users and expected the phone to be just dumb phone with some perks.

[shindullin]

I just came back from my local spint store and they said that this phone was still only available to their business/enterprise customers...

[unxmully]

...don't those "soft buttons" at the bottom of the screen look dumb when the device is in landscape mode and the hardware they apply to is up on the right.

Waste of space springs to mind.

[mghannigan]

...don't those "soft buttons" at the bottom of the screen look dumb when the device is in landscape mode and the hardware they apply to is up on the right.

The slide out keyboard has extra buttons to the left of Q and the right of P that trigger the soft buttons.

[IpaqMan2]

I just came back from my local spint store and they said that this phone was still only available to their business/enterprise customers...

Call this guy...
John
888-235-8958
He can be a butt head sometimes... but he will sell you the phone with a contract. He only does new services and you need to have pretty decent credit to get the discount whichwill bring the phone to like $350 or $360 or somthing like that..

Good Luck

[unxmully]

...don't those "soft buttons" at the bottom of the screen look dumb when the device is in landscape mode and the hardware they apply to is up on the right.

The slide out keyboard has extra buttons to the left of Q and the right of P that trigger the soft buttons.

Doh! Thanks for pointing that out.

Still don't like the loss of screen area though :(

[rhorton]

I have been luckier enough to get one through work and while this may not be perfect... it is nearly EVERYTHING I have been looking for...

In my opinion...

Pros:
- Wifi, EVDO, PCSVision, BT - I can get onoine ANYWHERE...
- Best built-in keyboard I have ever tried...
- much smaller than it looks on the web
- full blown Pocket PC
- great screen
- Solid
- good volume on earpiece and speakerphone

Cons:
- Little delay when issuing some commands
- keyboard shifts slightly quite often (but understandably)
- bigger than my previous attempt at all-in-one (SMT 5600)
- As with most PPC Phones.. battery life isn't outstanding

Comparing it to my SMT 5600, I wouldn't ever go back... I didn't like the rocker button / joystick at all, the sound quality was below average in my mind... and although I would have dealt with it, I got quickly tired of typing things in T9, One better feature of 5600 was dialing via contacts... much easier to do it one-handed, but I think I should be able to buy a third party app to do this...

Overall, this IS the convergent device I have been looking for... If it was only a little thinner, it would be near perfect... I highly reccomend it..

2 more items.. reception on Sprint Network? much better than Cingular, especially when I only have 1 bar, like in my house, quality is still good. Download speeds are very good, again, especially when I only have a bar or two...

[rhorton]

A couple more items of note...

Active Sync 4.0 seems to be a very good improvement..

and Windows Mobile 5 adds a lot to help out the phone functionality of this device... even the built in PIM apps are quite improved. I have previously been a PI user (on an HP 2210), but the built in apps are quite usable and quite a bit speedier at this point... (tried a beta version of PI with support for 5).

Quite a few of my old games work perfectly, Sprintdb is quite a bit faster, and a lot of other apps work great, not to mention a better file explorer (not sure if it is specific to this phone or Windows Mobile 5)

[code-frog]

I have been luckier enough to get one through work and while this may not be perfect... it is nearly EVERYTHING I have been looking for...

Uh Oh! You just amped my impulse factor at least "1 Bar"...

{DANG} drums fingers...
{SIGH}
{BIGGER SIGH}

What do you think I could get for my 4 year old on eBay? :lol:

[Darius Wey]

1. For one handed operation whats to prevent a person from leaving the keyboard open while driving?

Accidental damage? I guess there is no real restriction.

2. Does the phone support voice dialing? (I'm sure *it* must.)

I'm not sure if there's an included voice dialing application. If not, there's always Microsoft Voice Command, which lets you voice dial.

3. I am currently using a digital voice recorder to take verbal notes and lists while I drive. Does this phone have a recording (audio only) function?

It has a microphone. And you can use the Notes application to record a quick note. But remember there are third-party applications out there which permit greater control over recording - e.g. NoteM or VITO SoundExplorer.

4. Did I read somewhere that it doesn's support full size SD cards only a mini card?

Yes, it only supports miniSD.

[Darius Wey]

Considering that WM5 was supposed to be this "magic bullet" to achieve one handed dialing, I'm surprised to hear them complain. Did M$ screw this up?

Without a numerical thumb-board (either hardware-based or software-based), a Windows Mobile 5.0-based Pocket PC will never be able to match the one-handed dialing experience as seen in Windows Mobile-based Smartphones, and even Symbian-based devices. And that's just common sense, really. But Microsoft has improved it by adding soft-keys (making it easier to launch Contacts, etc.), and I guess that's a step in the right direction as far as converged devices are concerned.

[QYV]

Considering that WM5 was supposed to be this "magic bullet" to achieve one handed dialing, I'm surprised to hear them complain. Did M$ screw this up?

Hardly. HTC made a design decision to put the hardware keys in the slider rather than sticking them on the outside like the Treo. I happen to think this is a better way to do it; those who differ have several choices as well. :mrgreen: You can certainly dial one-handed using the touchscreen as in past Phone Edition devices as well.

In terms of general usability improvements: I've had to take out the stylus about three times total when using this device with the keyboard - it is far superior to previous versions of Windows Mobile and the equal from a software standpoint to the Treo 650 I've used. It's only the decision to use the sliding keyboard that prevents one-handed dialing using hardware keys.

[ramjet73]

I've had the Sprint PPC-6700 since the Wednesday after it was released (September 21st) and I'm very happy with it. The phone works great for me, which is my #1 criterion, but it also works well as an MP3 player, calculator, email and calendar connection (to three different accounts) and a bunch of other stuff that you would expect from any PocketPC.

I now have over thirty apps loaded on it and it still runs fine, although many of those are on a Sandisk 1GB memory card. The best applications I've found are SOTI's Pocket PC Controller (version 5.0.4, and they have a skin for the PPC-6700), SPC Pocket PC Plus (3.0.1), the 1.2 beta version of Skype and Pocket Earth. I have found that with WM5 it's best to trial the software before buying it since a lot of programs have not been updated for compatibility yet.

Microsoft Voice Command is the best addition you can make if you're interested in one hand operations.

All in all, I am very please with this converged device.

ramjet73

[IpaqMan2]

Considering that WM5 was supposed to be this "magic bullet" to achieve one handed dialing, I'm surprised to hear them complain. Did M$ screw this up?

Hardly. HTC made a design decision to put the hardware keys in the slider rather than sticking them on the outside like the Treo. I happen to think this is a better way to do it; those who differ have several choices as well. :mrgreen: You can certainly dial one-handed using the touchscreen as in past Phone Edition devices as well.

In terms of general usability improvements: I've had to take out the stylus about three times total when using this device with the keyboard - it is far superior to previous versions of Windows Mobile and the equal from a software standpoint to the Treo 650 I've used. It's only the decision to use the sliding keyboard that prevents one-handed dialing using hardware keys.


I have to agree here... For me... one hand dialing was second to the ability of having a solid PDA first and using it to enter data while on the interenet or entering personal info. So I found this form factor to work out really well and with the use of Microsoft's Voice command I don't think I will even miss one hand dialing.

[ikesler]

I have had this phone since two days after it came out. I do like it alot and don't regret leaving my 6601 for it at all. Smaller screen was annoying at first, but I love it now. Pick up Micro VC for sure....... it is a little slower yes, and some apps don't work yet, yes. But overall it is the best combination of phone and ppc there is if you ask me. Small enough for a pocket and EVDO ROCKS. I have a hosted exchange account and a ton of apps...... is a solid device if you ask me and I am a heavy phone user too. as soon as the extended battery comes out I am all over it as I need one for sure, just like I did for my 6601.
I highly recommend this phone. Some flaws yes, but hold it and try it yourself..... I would be suprised if you didn't appreciate it.

[alex_kac]

BTW - the new builds of PI 2005 Rev 3 for WM5 have sped up all PIM access by up to 20x the original betas we did for WM5.

In fact, our Contacts portion is FASTER than Pocket Outlook on WM5. By a hair, but still :)