Menneisyys
07-26-2006, 08:00 AM
Many (including me) have eagerly been waiting for the new converged device, the T830, from Fujitsu-Siemens.
After the GpsPasSion (http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=60925) (also see this (http://firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6489)) and the Pocket.at (http://www.pocket.at/ppc4/loox800.htm) (also see this (http://firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6518)) reviews, French site Mobinaute has just published (http://www.mobinaute.com/mobinaute/article.php?id=20060725151000) a new, cool review of the T830. (If you can’t speak French, the “translation” is here (http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=fr_en&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mobinaute.com%2Fmobinaute%2Farticle.php%3Fid%3D20060725151000).)
(Note that the site has also published some other, cool reviews as well; for example, on the N100 (http://www.mobinaute.com/mobinaute/article.php?id=20060714170814).)
OK, lets move straight to comparing the device to the HTC TyTN, the hottest, HSDPA, QVGA PPC PE device on the market today.
Compared to the HTC TyTN
Disadvantages
it’s much taller: the TyTN is much shorter
the TyTN has a QVGA screen (as opposed to the cr@p... sorry, underpowered 240*240 square one in the T830)
the TyTN has HSDPA (it seems the T830 will NOT be software updatable to HSDPA because its hardware simply doesn't support it. HSDPA is very important and has clear, proven, practical advantages over UMTS. While, for example, in this (http://www.firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5733) and this (http://www.firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5809) threads well-known PPC community members state HSDPA isn't as important as one would think, you should note that those posts are pretty aged and a lot has been changed in the meantime - in addition to the U.S. Verizon, a lot of European carriers have also started widely deployed, consumer-accessible HSDPA services)
the TyTN is considerably faster in everything (also see the benchmark charts in the article - they directly compare the two devices!)
the TyTN not only has a “simple” jog dial (like the one on the T830) but a much faster, easier-to-use wheel
the TyTN seems to have a much better built-in camera (compare the example shots!)
the TyTN has an IrDA (infrared) port; the T830 doesn’t
in the test, the TyTN is said be much faster to transfer files over Wi-Fi (“Indeed, at the time of a transfer of a file of 4.4 Mo by Wifi on several terminals under Mobile Windows 5, it appears that the FSC Pocket Loox T830 is slowest of the market with more than one minute of waiting necessary, this time passing to 17 seconds on PDAPhone HTC TyTN, 24 seconds on PDAPhone E-Ten M600 Wifi 802.11b or 47 seconds on Qtek S200 Wifi 802.11g. For this test, Hotspot Wifi 802.11g was used.”). As I’m not sure about the test methology (as opposed to my fully documented Wi-Fi throughput tests – see for example this (http://www.firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2562) (alternate: this (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=35119)) article), I take this with a grain of salt. However, I think this will be the first thing I’ll test when I have access to a T830 :)
Advantages
Built-in SiRF III GPS (even with an external antenna socket)
Widcomm BT stack (the TyTN only has the highly incapable Microsoft one) supporting A2DP too
USB host
Standard SDIO card slot (as opposed to the microSD in the TyTN)
Better battery (1530mAh)
Remarks
Note that simultaneous Wi-Fi and GSM/UMTS (this was a major stumbling block at the time of the GpsPasSion review (http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=60925)) is supported in the final version of the device, according to the latest news (http://firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6518) and as can also be seen in here (http://www.pocket.at/ppc4/ppcpics4/loox800sc1.gif).
Also, the “frame” around the visible screen is considerably smaller than in the first versions shown in February and discussed everywhere on FirstLoox (for example here (http://www.firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5827)); still, it’s noticeable.
Personal opinion
Now that the HTC TyTN is on the European shelves (see for example my latest availability reports (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1041&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1)), I don’t think I would buy the T830. Sorry Fujitsu-Siemens, the size, the lack of HSDPA support/upgradeability and the worse screen are showstoppers for me – try harder next time :)
Additional info
In addition to the FirstLoox T8x0 forum (http://www.firstloox.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=76), I also recommend the F-S forum of German site PPC-Welt.info (http://www.ppc-welt.info/community/forumdisplay.php?f=42); particularly this thread (http://www.ppc-welt.info/community/showthread.php?t=92751).
After the GpsPasSion (http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=60925) (also see this (http://firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6489)) and the Pocket.at (http://www.pocket.at/ppc4/loox800.htm) (also see this (http://firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6518)) reviews, French site Mobinaute has just published (http://www.mobinaute.com/mobinaute/article.php?id=20060725151000) a new, cool review of the T830. (If you can’t speak French, the “translation” is here (http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=fr_en&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mobinaute.com%2Fmobinaute%2Farticle.php%3Fid%3D20060725151000).)
(Note that the site has also published some other, cool reviews as well; for example, on the N100 (http://www.mobinaute.com/mobinaute/article.php?id=20060714170814).)
OK, lets move straight to comparing the device to the HTC TyTN, the hottest, HSDPA, QVGA PPC PE device on the market today.
Compared to the HTC TyTN
Disadvantages
it’s much taller: the TyTN is much shorter
the TyTN has a QVGA screen (as opposed to the cr@p... sorry, underpowered 240*240 square one in the T830)
the TyTN has HSDPA (it seems the T830 will NOT be software updatable to HSDPA because its hardware simply doesn't support it. HSDPA is very important and has clear, proven, practical advantages over UMTS. While, for example, in this (http://www.firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5733) and this (http://www.firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5809) threads well-known PPC community members state HSDPA isn't as important as one would think, you should note that those posts are pretty aged and a lot has been changed in the meantime - in addition to the U.S. Verizon, a lot of European carriers have also started widely deployed, consumer-accessible HSDPA services)
the TyTN is considerably faster in everything (also see the benchmark charts in the article - they directly compare the two devices!)
the TyTN not only has a “simple” jog dial (like the one on the T830) but a much faster, easier-to-use wheel
the TyTN seems to have a much better built-in camera (compare the example shots!)
the TyTN has an IrDA (infrared) port; the T830 doesn’t
in the test, the TyTN is said be much faster to transfer files over Wi-Fi (“Indeed, at the time of a transfer of a file of 4.4 Mo by Wifi on several terminals under Mobile Windows 5, it appears that the FSC Pocket Loox T830 is slowest of the market with more than one minute of waiting necessary, this time passing to 17 seconds on PDAPhone HTC TyTN, 24 seconds on PDAPhone E-Ten M600 Wifi 802.11b or 47 seconds on Qtek S200 Wifi 802.11g. For this test, Hotspot Wifi 802.11g was used.”). As I’m not sure about the test methology (as opposed to my fully documented Wi-Fi throughput tests – see for example this (http://www.firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2562) (alternate: this (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=35119)) article), I take this with a grain of salt. However, I think this will be the first thing I’ll test when I have access to a T830 :)
Advantages
Built-in SiRF III GPS (even with an external antenna socket)
Widcomm BT stack (the TyTN only has the highly incapable Microsoft one) supporting A2DP too
USB host
Standard SDIO card slot (as opposed to the microSD in the TyTN)
Better battery (1530mAh)
Remarks
Note that simultaneous Wi-Fi and GSM/UMTS (this was a major stumbling block at the time of the GpsPasSion review (http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=60925)) is supported in the final version of the device, according to the latest news (http://firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6518) and as can also be seen in here (http://www.pocket.at/ppc4/ppcpics4/loox800sc1.gif).
Also, the “frame” around the visible screen is considerably smaller than in the first versions shown in February and discussed everywhere on FirstLoox (for example here (http://www.firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5827)); still, it’s noticeable.
Personal opinion
Now that the HTC TyTN is on the European shelves (see for example my latest availability reports (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1041&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1)), I don’t think I would buy the T830. Sorry Fujitsu-Siemens, the size, the lack of HSDPA support/upgradeability and the worse screen are showstoppers for me – try harder next time :)
Additional info
In addition to the FirstLoox T8x0 forum (http://www.firstloox.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=76), I also recommend the F-S forum of German site PPC-Welt.info (http://www.ppc-welt.info/community/forumdisplay.php?f=42); particularly this thread (http://www.ppc-welt.info/community/showthread.php?t=92751).