Thinking about gettting a converged device...

[Joelacrane]

Hey all, I'm a teen, still at home of course with my parents. Mom mentioned today that maybe I need a leash- uh, i mean cell phone to keep track of me. I imagine that we'd split the bill or something.

I've got a Dell Axim x51v. Since Windows Mobile is just the bomb, I don't really want to get a "dumb" cell phone. I think a cheap(er) WM5 phone would do just fine. Maybe I could use it as a modem for my Axim when WiFi isn't nearby.

How easy is it to use two WM devices? Will ActiveSync sync them both up together? Can I use the phone as a modem for the Axim? (Browsing with VGA would be much, much better) Or should I just sell the Axim and use a single device? Or should I just get a Sony Erricson?

If I did get a PPC phone, I'd really like either a clamshell design (Looks more like a normal phone) or one of those cool HTC's with a slideout keyboard for texting. Choices choices.

I've never owned a cell phone, so i know little about what they cost and how everything works. Thanks in advance!

[Cybrid]

Hey all, I'm a teen, still at home of course with my parents. Mom mentioned today that maybe I need a leash- uh, i mean cell phone to keep track of me. I imagine that we'd split the bill or something. Uh. Yeah....Uh... One of those GPS enabled firefly (http://www.fireflymobile.com/phone/superman.php?osCsid=1733e6ae6cf79f7d4dd32b763c48fc0b) thingies? :lol:

I've got a Dell Axim x51v. Since Windows Mobile is just the bomb, I don't really want to get a "dumb" cell phone. I think a cheap(er) WM5 phone would do just fine. Maybe I could use it as a modem for my Axim when WiFi isn't nearby. Cellular modem rates are still high enough that I think your parents will veto that idea, real quick. :?

How easy is it to use two WM devices? Will ActiveSync sync them both up together? Can I use the phone as a modem for the Axim? (Browsing with VGA would be much, much better) Or should I just sell the Axim and use a single device? Or should I just get a Sony Erricson? Been doing it for years with minor issues. Don't sell the Dell for a smaller screen device. I tried it, my 6700 has a 2.8" screen and I'm still keeping the dell.

If I did get a PPC phone, I'd really like either a clamshell design (Looks more like a normal phone) or one of those cool HTC's with a slideout keyboard for texting. Choices choices. For a first phone, just go with the el-cheapo, You should save the dough for a few PPC accessories.

I've never owned a cell phone, so i know little about what they cost and how everything works. Thanks in advance! Rates vary by region and country. Say a canadian cheap plan $20 + $6.95 sys access fee + 13% GST and PST. Oh and $0.35 for Emergency access fee.

[Mark Kenepp]

I am currently syncing three Windows Mobile 5 devices with my desktop at work and have no issues, except a few conflicts arising with synchronized documents which I have to manually resolve.

If you are editing information on two devices then sync, you will probably get conflicts that require manual resolution but that is the worst that can happen.

Yes you can use the phone as a modem, if it supports it. I use my T-Mobile SDA (as well as my SE p800) as a modem for my Loox n560. It took a little digging to find the settings but after it was set up correctly, it works without issue.

This all depends, of course, on the service plan you have for your mobile. If you do not have data enabled on your service, you won't be able to use your mobile as a modem (you also wont be able to access the Internet with your mobile).

Assuming that your folks will just add you to their existing plan, then you won't have much of a choice as to what plan you will have.

Find out what plan you will get and then look for solutions particular to your plan.

[Joelacrane]

One of my friends has a Razr (Way overrated phone) and for like 10 bucks a month he has a kind of dial-up internet on it. We connected it to my laptop and installed the software and then "dialed" in. Windows was claiming like 256kbps, but it didn't quite work right. I could get to one web page, but the next web page would never load. I'm not sure what the problem was. I didn't think to fire up Trillian or Skype to see if they made it through.

I think he has US Cellular. He says it is just supposed to use his minutes, unless you connect at night or on the weekends.

[isajoo]

if i did not already have a cellphone i would have gotten this for my ppc.

link
http://cgi.ebay.com/Audiovox-Toshiba-RTM-8000-RTM-8000D-GSM-GPRS-CF-Card_W0QQitemZ330091756256QQihZ014QQcategoryZ11182QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://i5.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/85/e4/0687_1.JPG

just add sim card and you are good to go.


or you could get this....

http://images.tigerdirect.ca/itemDetails/S/S266/S266-1000/S266-1000-callout-2.jpg

link
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1648349&CatId=1809

[Joelacrane]

Those are both pretty cool. Could I use my PPC as a cell phone with that card or is it just a data modem?

I like that phone. Its pretty slick. I'd want Windows Mobile Smartphone edition 5 though.

[boyetc]

Those are both pretty cool. Could I use my PPC as a cell phone with that card or is it just a data modem?

I like that phone. Its pretty slick. I'd want Windows Mobile Smartphone edition 5 though.


if you like just one device, my advice would be to sell the axim and get the samsung blackjack from cingular. its a convergence device and runs on windows mobile 5 just like your axim

[Joelacrane]

I doubt any device has a 624mhz processor, 64mb or RAM, 256mb ROM, a VGA screen, dual memory card slots, bluetooth and WiFi... just like my Axim.
8O

[isajoo]

the cf sim adapter comes with software...not sure if it works as a cellphone..but i would think so.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Those are both pretty cool. Could I use my PPC as a cell phone with that card or is it just a data modem?

It'll work like a GSM phone (with GPRS data) - you can look it up, I remember a couple of threads about it here (Audiovox RTM 8000G). A couple of gotchas though:

1. You have to have your PDA on AT ALL TIMES to get incoming calls - go into standby and you lose the cell connection. That absolutely will kill battery life.

2. You can't use the speaker or mic on the Axim - sound is only processed through a wired headset connection (no, no bluetooth either).

[Cybrid]

or you could get this....

http://images.tigerdirect.ca/itemDetails/S/S266/S266-1000/S266-1000-callout-2.jpg
The Voq is very outdated and really end of life.

Joel; First settle on a carrier. Who's your pick? CDMA providers like Telus,Verizon,Bell and Sprint are non-sim card companies with strict control over hardware.
Cingular, Fido, AT&T, Rogers are GSM and SIM card. A sim card in an phone with the right frequency works and can be traded used worldwide.
GSM is slower, HSDPA (GSM based) is fast but not widely available.
EVDO is fast and now fairly well established in N. America.

This affects your choice the most.

[Joelacrane]

Thanks Cybrid, that cleared a lot up.

I think one of those little Sony Erricson phones would be the way to go. Do they take SIM cards? I'll have to find a model number or something. I'd like to find out if I can use it as a modem. It DOES have bluetooth, i know that much is true.

[Cybrid]

Thanks Cybrid, that cleared a lot up.

I think one of those little Sony Erricson phones would be the way to go. Do they take SIM cards? I'll have to find a model number or something. I'd like to find out if I can use it as a modem. It DOES have bluetooth, i know that much is true.What carrier?

[Joelacrane]

I really like these little Qtek 9100s... I'm going to watch them on eBay to see how much they are worth.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Brand-New-in-Box-UNLOCKED-Qtek-9100-PDAMDA-Phone_W0QQitemZ120095730792QQcategoryZ38331QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Today I needed to write a note while I was walking... very difficult to do. Those slideout keyboards are looking better and better. I'll bet they are awesome for texting. If I bought one of these Qteks, I wonder what the chances of me getting a WM6 update are? Pretty slim?

Most people around here have either Edge Wireless or Verizon. The Sony Ericson model number is z250a i think.

[applejosh]

I'm kind of jumping into the conversation mid-way (so I apologize for that), but I thought I'd add to the whole carrier thing that Cybrid brought up.

In the US, SprintPCS (not the Nextel only phones as that is a completely different network that Sprint still hasn't managed to really use for anything since it was a pretty proprietary network in the US/NA) and Verizon are CDMA based carriers. They use a different (incompatible) signal than the GSM carriers (eg. AT&T/Cingular, T-Mobile). You cannot use a phone made for a CDMA network with a carrier that uses GSM, and vice versa. It looks like the QTEK 9100 is a GSM based phone, so you would need to find a GSM carrier to have any chance of using it (still no guarantee as the frequencies in Europe and the rest of the world are different than those used in the US - hence the availability of "quad-band" phones). You mentioned Verizon as a carrier in your area, but the QTEK is not compatible with that carrier (again, if I read the correct specs and if the QTEK 9100 doesn't come in multiple "flavors").

The best thing to do (like Cybrid suggested) is to find a carrier that provides good signal in your area and anywhere you need to go, and then find a phone for that particular carrier. If you choose Verizon or the like, chances are you will have to find a device that was made for them as they tend to limit what devices (even any CDMA based devices) are allowed on their network. I think Sprint is pretty much the same way, but I'm not sure. Both those like to pretty much force you to buy their phones and get locked in to their network. The GSM providers will also sell phones that are "locked" to their network (meaning you can't use a Cingular locked phone on a T-Mobile network, at least not without some hacking and possible law breaking). But they generally are more tolerant of the use of "unlocked" phones (meaning phones that are not programmed/hardwired to only be used with a single carrier).

Moral of the story is not to buy a device and then go looking for a carrier. You may end up with a device that you can't use to the fullest extent (like be able to use the phone portion). Also, I suggest looking at the data plans because that is one of the biggest "pluses" of a converged device. And the cost varies greatly from carrier to carrier.

(And I didn't really look for the specs, but all Sony Ericsson devices I've seen have been for GSM networks.)

HTH

[Joelacrane]

The carrier I would be using is Edge Wireless/Cingular/AT&T.

[Joelacrane]

I think I've got a solution!

What if I bought a nice little HTC STrTrK, and then bought a cheap-o 30 dollar plan from US Cellular? The plan would include 300 minutes, no nights, no weekends, no texts. Then, for $10 a month, I would add unlimited easyEDGE. I could then take incoming calls on the phone, and make outgoing calls on Skype, which i have unlimited minutes for already.

4 questions. Is Edge fast enough for Skype? Is Edge widely avalible? (Will it be everywhere I go?) Can I leave Skype running on the phone all of the time? Does use of Edge use airtime minutes?

[Cybrid]

I think I've got a solution!

What if I bought a nice little HTC STrTrK, and then bought a cheap-o 30 dollar plan from US Cellular? The plan would include 300 minutes, no nights, no weekends, no texts. Then, for $10 a month, I would add unlimited easyEDGE. I could then take incoming calls on the phone, and make outgoing calls on Skype, which i have unlimited minutes for already.

4 questions. Is Edge fast enough for Skype? Is Edge widely avalible? (Will it be everywhere I go?) Can I leave Skype running on the phone all of the time? Does use of Edge use airtime minutes? Be sure to read the unlimited easyEDGE fine print. As a former bill collector, I know of atleast one company that has an "unlimited" mobile internet account capped at about 2Gb. It's unlimited if you don't use it all that much :lol: I've seen a guy facing a $10,000 CDN bill for not understanding its still got a limit.
EDGE is about 90Kbps (http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11288_7-5664933-5.html), slightly faster than dialup. Set a bandwidth cap on your PPC and try it.

Bandwidth Requirements

Skype is much more economical on bandwidth than other VoIP services. Unlike other VoIP services which require broadband, Skype seems to work acceptably well with dialup.

Skype uses an adaptive codec which responds to line quality and the bandwidth available, and requires between 25kb/sec and 130kb/sec.

To torture test Skype's bandwidth requirement, I placed and received calls between my laptop, connected via dialup line in New Zealand (at 51kb), and a friend, also on a dialup line, in London. To our amazement - and our delight - we enjoyed acceptably good quality service, although with more noticeable latency (delay) than on a broadband to broadband connection.

Taking things to the extreme, I also tested Skype using a GPRS connection on a GSM cell phone. This proved to be unreliable. In one scenario, between Britain and the US, the cell phone user could hear the regular user perfectly well, but the regular user struggled to understand the cell phone user. In another scenario, within London, the call worked acceptably well. GPRS calling on a cell phone is unreliable and - unless you have an unlimited GPRS plan - is probably much more expensive than calling direct from the cellphone without using Skype at all. Source (http://www.thetravelinsider.info/phones/skypevoipreview.htm).



It also is reliant on the PPC dialing out and maintaining the data connection, a voice call will probably boot the data connection or vice versa. The bandwidth isn't high enough to support both. You could, however, make it WiFi capable and bypass the problem by calling from "hotspots".

[Joelacrane]

How can I cap the speed on my Pocket PC, which is a Dell Axim x51v?

I'll google this. Thanks!

[Cybrid]

How can I cap the speed on my Pocket PC, which is a Dell Axim x51v?

I'll google this. Thanks!Whoops, I pulled a WTF there.... :oops: You would need to cap the bandwidth to the PPC not on it.

Check if your router supports Quality of Service settings. You'll be happy if you did 8O You could use it to limit your brother/sisters access to 33 Kbps so that thier downloads wouldn't work. :devilboy:

Hardware solutions like using a virtual serial port through BT or a modem... (requires a BT adapter or a modem).

Creating a server from a PC like http://www.faqs.org/docs/Linux-HOWTO/Bandwidth-Limiting-HOWTO.html

[Joelacrane]

Yes, I had a feeling that you meant it like that.

I'm suprised that you remembered the whole sharing WiFi with my family thing. It's all been taken down now, my sister was staying up playing StarCraft until midnight every night. When I told my parents, I thought they would make her give me back the computer I was letting her use, but no... The told me to take down my wireless network. Its still up, but the one computer in the livingroom that has internet is not a client. All is not lost, I graduate from H/S here in just a few short months, and then I can have it all back. In reality, it was always easier to just use my Axim in town.

I tried a Skype test call from our family computer, which is a nice fresh installation of XP Home that has zero issues. Our internet connection averages 21.6kbps. The skype test call was close to acceptable, but not quite. We live almost 30 miles from the number that we dial to.

My router does not have any QOS settings, and I have not been able to get Linux Fedora Core 6 to boot on my main desktop in my room. Grub refuses to show up for some reason.

[Cybrid]

Naw, I didn't remember the WiFi episode but was younger with a brother and sister of my own...
flippin' know nuttin bandwidth hogs!
As for linux, I'm a novice and haven't done much practicing lately. Did you try a LILO bootloader instead?

[Spudley112]

When you mentioned that the Smartphone lacks the processor speed of the PPC I had to laugh. Many people with whom I work are grabbing smartphones and Blackberrys like mad men. I told them I preferred separate devices and they looked at me like I was growing a beard out of my forehead. I like to have my phone as a phone (mostly) and the ppc ready for work. I use PDA connect from Cingular to stay connected and with Emoze I can check my email at work easily. Although I use the phone to connect to the internet on my ppc (Bluetooth) it still seems to last much longer than the Smartphone batteries my friends have. The best part is how much more I can do with my device. I can edit documents such as Excel, Word and PowerPoint (Which I use ALOT) where some smartphones cannot. For me, separate devices is the way to go. But to each his own based on his/her needs.


I think the best thing overall is to hae two devices such as a smartphone AND a ppc. Being a gadget guy I would love that! BTW-I use an LG CU500 phone to connect my PPC.

[applejosh]

I have a converged device now for work. I do like the convenience factor. However, I don't like it when the device locks up (as Windows Mobile devices can do without much effort) and I miss calls, etc. So in that respect a separate phone and PDA is shaping up to my preferred combination.

[Joelacrane]

Was "Bandwidth" even a word back then?

Jus' kiddin.

Well, my OLDER brother (Even more of a Bandwidth hog) offered to add me to his Cingular plan. He is in the Coast Guard, and every month his minutes add up whenever he is on patrol (On a ship for 2 months). For 10 bucks a month, I would get to burn up those extra minutes. I'm off to Cingular's website to see about adding internet to that somehow.

Now to find a nice cheap GSM cell phone with bluetooth, a good little hunk of memory, and Windows Mobile 5.

(Is it even possible to use "cheap" and "Windows Mobile 5" in the same sentence?)