Smartphones Eh?

[ZodiacfreaK]

Hello to all,
I have been a Tapwave Zodiac user for the past 2 and a half years, unfortunately though I need to look towards the future and sadly I don't see Palm OS anywhere in it. So with the recent need of a cellphone I have decided to purchase a Windows Mobile Based Smartphone. Several months back I did alot of research (and almost bought) an Axim x50v when the unit was only $278 straight from dell. For some reason I didn't end up buying it but anyways I have done some research to know what I wan't and what Windows Mobile has to offer but what I do not know is all of the "top" Smartphones. Now trust me I am no stranger to forums and the first thing that you wil say is "well it all depends on what you wan't" and then walk away, but don't worry I won't let you do that. ;)

Here is a list of all the *REQUIRED* features I need.

-Has to work on the cingular network as a cellphone
-Screen Larger than QVGA (either Half-VGA or VGA)
-Needs a 1.3 Megapixel Camera or better
-Processor faster than 416MhZ
-Bluetooth
-Wifi
-Must have at least one SD card slot (Not mini SD)
-Needs to have Windows Mobile 5 or a sophisticated Windows Mobile OS
-At least 128mb built-in memory
*I would like to have a mini keypad built in but this is not a must.

A better description of what I wan't is a Full Fledged Pocket PC that can also be used as a cell-phone.

I know that sounds demanding, but yes, I am looking for an All-In-One device :)

[Nurhisham Hussein]

The only thing that remotely fits the bill is the HTC Universal, but this is GSM only (is Cingular GSM?) and not sold in the US, and it really depends on what you mean by memory - are you refering to storage or RAM? NO WM5 devices currentl available (phone or otherwise) have more than 64MB RAM available.

[ZodiacfreaK]

Hmmm I am now rather confused on what to get. I really wanted something to replace my Tapwave Zodiac that was windows mobile and a phone, now I am thinking about just getting a nice smartphone bluetooth, wifi, sd, and maybee tether my zodiac onto it. That HTC looks amazing but as I am only in high-school the price range isn't to appealing at $1,100 ;) that would take me 6 weeks to work off :). But my fault for not stating a price range.
I guess what I am looking for now is a smartphone or Pocket PC phone with

-Bluetooth
-Wifi
-1.3 Megapixel camera (has to support video)
-$200-$300 maybee $400 price range
-SD card slot
-Processor greater than 200MhZ (198 counts obviously)

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Good luck - I don't think you can get a Pocket PC Phone edition at that price range brand new. Smartphones would obviously be a little cheaper, though you'd lose the touch screen and Office support. E-bay?

[Sven Johannsen]

hishamh is probably right in his assessment. WM devices with phone capability, whether Smartphone or PPC are not cheap. The only way most get them is to take advantage of the carrier subsidies. On that note, take a look at what Cingular offers (yes they are GSM BTW). The 2125 is a pretty good unit, but you would need to tether it with a larger screen PPC/zodiac if you want the screen real-estate you indicated. Phone devices with better than 320x240 (QVGA) are pretty rare. It's one of the tradeoffs to get reasonble battery life. The iPaq 65xx units are kind of interesting too.

I would like to point out that many here would be a bit envious of of your taking 6 weeks to work of a Universal..~$200 a week disposable income is nothing to sneeze at. I assume you would still be eating regularly and living indoors while you did that ;)

[ZodiacfreaK]

Hey all thanks for the suggestions. I am going to try to go for an HTC Universal, at the cheapest ebay price I can find (that isn't a scam) :) . Anyone know something extremely similar to the HTC Universal I just love the device. (After a couple hours more of research I understand the whole O2, XDA Exec, 9100, HTC Universal thingy :) )

[Sven Johannsen]

Hey all thanks for the suggestions. I am going to try to go for an HTC Universal, at the cheapest ebay price I can find (that isn't a scam) :) . Anyone know something extremely similar to the HTC Universal I just love the device. (After a couple hours more of research I understand the whole O2, XDA Exec, 9100, HTC Universal thingy :) )Don't forget i-Mate JasJar. I don't think there is any real difference between the units, so note that it runs 900, 1800, 1900, & 2100 for 3G. You lose the 850 band which may or may not be a problem, and I think the US 3G is in the 1900 band, so you are limited to GPRS in the states. It's a neat unit, but not a dream come true for everyone. Make sure you understand it before you lay down that much scratch.

[ZodiacfreaK]

Yeah after reading this review I am having some doubts.
http://www.pdagold.com/articles/detail.asp?a=257
http://www.pdagold.com/articles/detail.asp?a=258
It still isn't the no. 1 ultimate thing out there. I am thinking the Sprint PPC-6700 is more what I am looking for despite the considerably less specs. I really would like to be able to run GTA and Driver 1 on the Playstation emulator on the sprint phone. But would the 416MHz processor be able to handle it? I am only asking for maybee 15 or 20 fps. I am a noob to Windows Devices but have been using Palms for 7 years. I really need to do some more research on the Playstation Emulators. Anyone got any good reviews or recomendations on the PPC-6700?

[ZodiacfreaK]

Allright I have revised what I am looking for
Pocket PC Phone
Windows Mobile 5 Phone Edition
At least 1.2 megapixel camera (supports video)
Bluetooth
Wifi
QVGA
Has to have a slider keyboard
Processor needs to be 416MHz or higher. (I really wan't at least 500MHz)

The 6700 comes really close and I think thats what I will end up getting but I wan't to check and make sure there is nothing else out there that has the same specs with a faster processor. I am going to try to do alot of emulation so good processor is a must.

[phreaker18]

Well personally would suggest the 8125

Inside, they're all the same, sporting Windows Mobile 5.0 phone edition, a 195 MHz processor, 128 megs of flash ROM, 64 megs of RAM, a 1.3 megapixel camera, WiFi and Bluetooth. Don't be discouraged by that seemingly slow CPU: the device feels just as responsive as other Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PCs under most circumstances.

he Cingular 8125 is designed to work on the 850/900/1800/1900MHZ GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks:

* US (850/1900 MHz)
* Canada (1900 MHz)
* Europe/Asia (1800 MHz)

Multislot configuration

GPRS / EDGE.

Image Format Support: JPEG, GIF87, GIF89a, BMP, PNG, WBMP
Audio Format Support: AMR, SP MIDI, MIDI
Video Format Support: MPEG4, H.263.

Tone quality: MIDI-0, MIDI-1, SP, MIDI, WAV, WMA, AAC, AMR-NB/EFR.

Camera: Integrated
Resolution Standards Supported: VGA/QVGA/QQVGA
Resolution (pixels): 640 X 480
Digital Zoom: 2X / 4X
Image Format Supported: JPEG
Resolution Capture Options: Normal / Fine
Image Storage Capacity: Limited only by available device memory
Flash: No
Shutter Sound: On/Off
Other Features/Modes/Effects: Picture Theme, Photo ID, Video MMS modes, Night Mode.

and u can find the user manual here (https://onlinecare.cingular.com/devicehelp/Cingular_8125.pdf)

u might want to real the review on mobile tech review (http://www.mobiletechreview.com/cingular-8125.htm)

[ZodiacfreaK]

hmm the 8125 is the closest cingular supported device I can find but the processor completely kills it for me. 195MHz!? My Palm from 3 years ago has a 200MHz. I wan't an upgrade. lol The PPC-6700 has a 400MHz processor which isn't bad, but I would really like 500MHz. I find it hard to beleive that there isn't a single Pocket PC phone out there with a 500MHz processor (Other than the HTC universal)

[stsanford]

Actually, I'd recommend you have a look at the ETEN M600. Should fit your needs,and while it's not over 416 MHz, it's very peppy indeed.

[ZodiacfreaK]

wow the ETEN M600 looks amazing! Perfect for what I need. Only downside is that the price is the exact same as an HTC Universal ($500) so I don't know which one... :)

[ZodiacfreaK]

Ok wow I am sold, the E-TEN M600+ is absolutely amazing! It looks great, it has perfect specifications, Sd slot, 400MHz SAMSUNG! processor (Approx. equivelant to Xscale 574MHz) Plus it has GSM!! and also is unlocked. It also has 256mb or ROM and a 2.0Megapixel videocamera! Wow this device is great! Thanks so much STSanford! One question does it have an FM radio?? How can you tell if a pocket pc phone has an FM radio?

[Sven Johannsen]

How can you tell if a pocket pc phone has an FM radio? You can only get it in Korea ;) Seriously, I don't think any generally available PPC does.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

One question does it have an FM radio??

No it doesn't, I'm afraid.


How can you tell if a pocket pc phone has an FM radio?

I'd suggest the manufacturer's site. In this case, here (http://www.etencorp.com/).