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This message contains all postings in this thread
dated before January 19th 2003
Subject: XDA Display
From: Kamil
Date: 18 Jan, 2003 22:51:49
I'm thinking of buying a XDA but I have one question I need
answered before I do :
The XDA is very much like other PPC's (iPAQ, Casio, Toshiba).
The main difference (compatibility wise) is the display. The XDA
can only display 4096 colours while other PPC's can display
96000 colours (aprox). Will this difference pose a problem with
applications and games designed for non-XDA PPc's?
Thanks in advance....
Kamil
With the forum's new software my message kind of got lost on the second page. A little boost to bring it to your attention again. Hope you don't mind
Kamil
Screen and keys
The fact that the screen can only do 4096 colors doesn't really matter for anything but photos, IMHO. The problem with using some games is the fact that some of the iPaq keys are missing. Mame, for instance, runs, but you cannot use it because you cannot push the coin button.
I'm sure this can be fixed, but haven't had a chance to really look at it.
The latest version of MameCE has incorporated a hack made by one of the guys over on the PPCThoughts forum to allow button remapping, which is a workaround for the button issue.
However, many games (such as the Capcom releases) don't work, and that is a definite problem, as mentioned above.
To return to the topic, the screen's 12-bit nature is only really noticeable when looking at photos - it's fine for games. And in fact, for everything else, it's one of the nicest screens I've used. ClearType looks amazing. Obviously, it's not transflective, but you can't have everything: 64MB RAM, SDIO, Bluetooth...
You should also be aware that there are only two backlight settings: on and off. Not a problem for me, but it may be for you.
I'll stop rambling now.
I've played Lara Coft Tomb Raider on the xda without it spoiling my pleasure
However, two buttons aren't mapped is a bit of a pain.
I haven't come across any PPC applications where more than 4096 colours are mandatory.
Call me sad if you will, but.
I played a version of strip video poker by cherrysoft.
When you seen a naked woman in few colours (and few clothes) something is lost in the translation!!!
there are sites out there offering a 64mb upgrade thus allowing more colours. Although the $100 plus shipping is putting me off....
That programs deleted now onto the next!
MmF
More colours?
I don't think the 64Mb upgrade will offer more colours. Will it?
No. The 64MB upgrade does not replace the screen.
Just an FYI -
There is a NEW StarTrek coming soon. This, of course, will be available all over the world and Cingular will be caring it. There are some major upgrades to this device. (GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900, UMTS850, UMTS1900, UMTS2100, WM6, 400Mhz CPU and a 2MP Camera) Not to shabby for a clamshell.
HTC S420
Here are the specs - http://www.pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=727&view=1
Enjoy -
as cartman would say, sweeeeeeeetttttt!
Where have you read anything that Cingular will carry this for sure? I'm hoping that they will but to date all I have seen is speculation.
john1027 said:
Where have you read anything that Cingular will carry this for sure? I'm hoping that they will but to date all I have seen is speculation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
John - Here are some articles from the press. Also, this does have the GPS chip in it also. The downside is that the preliminary specs show a USB 1.1 speeds. Arghh!! Why have a phone this nice with USB 1.1 is crazy! Not all that bad though.
http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2007/03/more_htc_s420_details_emerge.html
http://www.uberphones.com/2007/03/htc/more_on_the_htc_s420/
http://www.instagps.com/entry/rumored-htc-s420-erato-has-gps-too/
Enjoy -
128mb rom and 64mb ram is useless in a device with these specs. You will have limited opportunity of putting it to use without running out of memory. And why such a meagre battery? I would have thought that cingular 3125 has set the way to go.
sales figures (the future of WM flipphones) ?
Does anyone have sales figures on the 3125 ?
Basically, I'd like to know if it appears that Smart flipphones like the 3125 are popular enough that we can expect strong future developments, even an increase in their prevalence.
There's a constant little battle, e.g. in Treo forums, WM forums, as to whether *everyone* wants a QWERTY, whether candybay-QWERTY phones are the "one true" form factor. I for one, prefer no QWERTY, and a flipphone. I have a feeling that I'm in the minority -- but that's ok. The real question is: Is it so small a minority that we can't expect much in the way of future offerings. The 3125 is really the only current example of this form factor (there were the Samsung i500, i600, and the Kyocera 7135 and the Moto MPX200 in the past). Is the future not terribly bright ?
I really want an 3125-like phone WITH a touch screen, running full PPC. No way ? Why not ?
Qwerty-haters unite
I really want an 3125-like phone WITH a touch screen, running full PPC. No way ? Why not ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We may be in the minority, but I'm totally with ya - that is my ideal converged device. The numeric keys are the important ones (especially in my case, where my employer enforces passcode lock if I choose to do Exchange sync, so I am punching in numbers all the time). But Qwerty tends to add a lot of bulk on a device that I want slim and pocketable - so if you want slim like I do, touchscreen and stylus should be good enough for text entry. I think most people haven't worked with stylus enough to see that it can be pretty fast.
The 3125 is really the only current example of this form factor
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, if you are in the US, there is one other offering now. If you don't mind a CDMA network, Verizon recently came out with the Pantech PN-820 WM5 flip smartphone. Not significant worldwide, but maybe a hopeful sign for our favorite form factor...
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/03/verizon-gets-pn-820-smartphone-out-the-door/
Is the future not terribly bright ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I still agree we are in the minority, but a couple of manufacturers are about to give us our wildest dream and see if it flies. If you haven't already, you need to check out the upcoming i-Mate Ultimate 9150, supposed to be available in June this year. It's everything you've mentioned - flip-phone with WM6 Pro (full PPC with touchscreen) and a very nice spec sheet:
http://www.pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=720
The only thing it is missing that I really want in my ultimate converged device is built-in GPS. For that, I am keeping my eye on the upcoming HTC P5500 (aka "Nike"), supposed to be available in September. It is a numeric slider instead of flip, but similar idea so maybe close enough for me...
http://www.pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=736
I agree, the 3125 form factor is the way to go. I can type much faster with T-9 than with the Qwerty anway. Unfortunately, everyone seems to be in love with either the bricks like the 8525 or the Treo.
Thanks for the pointers to coming promising smart flipphones. Perhaps there *is* a god ... We should throw the upcoming Samsung SGH-i770 into the same mix: with its innovative QWERTY, it might just solve the debate between dialpad and QWERTY:
http://www.handcellphone.com/archives/innovative-qwerty-full-keyboard-design-samsung-i770-cellular-phone#more-109
Is there any way we can ask/suggest to HTC to build a StarTrek with a touch screen and full PPC ?
still no wifi? WHY?!
I'd gladly forget 3G and include a WiFi chip... Because when I don't have a signal, I love to surf and find WiFi hotspots, and I have all my calls forwarded to a skype number when unavailable (sort of like UMA, tho uma isn't available yet).
I wanted the StarTrek so badly, but lack of WiFi breaks the deal for me! I was hoping they'd add it to this one... *sigh*, guess I'm stuck with my tornado for now, with wiFi.
new start trek
i have qtek 8500 and its a fantastic phone now with this new one i could replace it
pitty the new one hasnt got wifi otherwise what i heard about it is a very good phone much better and faster than qtek 8500
I agree, I would give up 3g for a Wifi chip if it would cost acouple bucks more. I access the internet at higher speeds with a Wireless internet at home and work! The internet via Cingular is SLOW, even at it's fastest. Its like comparing dialup with high bandwidth. Cingular can not come close to 15 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speeds.
Hello,
I found the Advantage to be very slow with TomTom. I used the same application on my old HP 2795 (QVGA display) and the navigation was nice and smooth unlike the fragmented, slow-motion like display on the Advantage.
I have the original TomTom 6.010 with the latest North America 6.75 (build 1409) maps (purchased). I don’t have any problems getting the GPS signal but when on a route the screen only refreshes about once every second. For example, after making a 90 degree turn it takes about 50 to 100 meters to actually show the current direction and the turn itself (which is supposed to be a continuous, smooth transitioning movement) is shown as 3 intermediate angle segments in a rough, broken movement.
I saw another thread, addressing a similar issue where an upgrade to the next 6.030 application version was suggested. I tried both 6.030 and 6.032 (these aren’t the original ones) and despite a faster acquiring time and a lot better lock when configured to use the internal GPS rather than another NMEA (on the 6.010) the newer the application version the slower overall performance – strange isn’t it?
On the other hand: any suggestions on the CorePlayer 1.1.1 settings? I plaid with pretty much all of them with no much difference anyway, overall getting a medium-poor performance.
I would really appreciate a feedback on both
Thanks,
By chance are you storing your maps on the microdrive?
Many people here have experienced the map skipping you mention and all of
them were storing the maps on the MD. Moving the maps to the MiniSD card
always seems to fix the problem. Give that a try. if it still happens, then you might have another program running in the backround causing problems.
One thing that improves TT performance generally is to turn off POI's displayed on the map. I leave on the speed-camera one's and thats about it. You can still navigate to them without them being displayed, and does up the performance somewhat.
Madhadder said:
By chance are you storing your maps on the microdrive?
Many people here have experienced the map skipping you mention and all of
them were storing the maps on the MD. Moving the maps to the MiniSD card
always seems to fix the problem. Give that a try. if it still happens, then you might have another program running in the backround causing problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine works without any problem on microdrive.
Yes, I'm storing the maps on the MD, but I plaid around with it and stored maps on both, MD and card and honestly I didn't notice any difference. Besides I'm sure there is no other program running in the background; I ran TomTom after a hard reset just to test it - nothing else installed and still works crappy.
Eaglesteve, what TomTom version (application/maps) are you using?
Are you running WM6 or WM5? Mine runs WM6 and I suspect this to be one of the issues. Funny thing is I tried the very same application and maps on an ASUS running WM2003 SE and it works just great.
As far as I know TomTom does not support WM6 and probably they have a reason not to. I've opened up a ticket with TomTom and asked them the same question...2 weeks ago and still no answer.
nacos said:
Yes, I'm storing the maps on the MD, but I plaid around with it and stored maps on both, MD and card and honestly I didn't notice any diffrence. besides I'm sure there is no other program running in the backgroung; I ran TomTom after a hard reset just to test it - nothing else installed and still works crappy.
Eaglesteve, what TomTom version (application/maps) are you using?
Are you running WM6 or WM5? Mine runs WM6 and I suspect this to be one of the issues. Funny thing is I tried the vary same application and maps on an ASUS running WM2003 SE and it works just great.
As far as I know TomTom does not support WM6 and probably they have a reason not to. I've opened up a ticket with TomTom and asked them the same question...2 weeks ago and still no answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is version 6, running on wm6.
nacos said:
Yes, I'm storing the maps on the MD, but I plaid around with it and stored maps on both, MD and card and honestly I didn't notice any difference. Besides I'm sure there is no other program running in the background; I ran TomTom after a hard reset just to test it - nothing else installed and still works crappy.
Eaglesteve, what TomTom version (application/maps) are you using?
Are you running WM6 or WM5? Mine runs WM6 and I suspect this to be one of the issues. Funny thing is I tried the very same application and maps on an ASUS running WM2003 SE and it works just great.
As far as I know TomTom does not support WM6 and probably they have a reason not to. I've opened up a ticket with TomTom and asked them the same question...2 weeks ago and still no answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have TT6 wunning on WM6 no problem. I always store maps on the SD. However, the size of the map makes a big difference to the performance. If I use the Western europe map, it crawls. If I just use an individual country map (eg UK or France), it is much much faster.
ir runs ALOT faster in landscape try it and see, even moving through the menu's is faster
It REALLY made a huge difference when I disabled all POI. Now it runs nice and smoothly and it recalculates the routes just as fast as TomTom Go 720 – which is almost instantaneously. No more complains there – thanks a lot.
I also believe that using a smaller map vs. the whole North America would probably help but since I leave on the border and constantly swing between Canada and USA I cannot really benefit from that – I have to use the whole map to be able to cross border without having to switch maps.
I must disagree with increased performance in landscape; I thoroughly tested both modes and I believe the software was actually made and optimized for portrait. Depending on what application version is used the modes are differently interpreted however the best results are always yielded in portrait: faster refresh, better auto zooming and no horizontal sweeping effect on video refreshes (only visible in v6.010).
Again, thanks everyone for all your valuable feedback.
On the other hand, anyone ever tried to install/convert the application from the stand alone units (like TomTom Go xxx or One xx) to PDA? I guess I’m asking weather there is any way to make it work? I tried with no success. Funny thing is the maps used by TomTom Navigator are correctly interpreted and used by, say Go720 but it doesn’t work the other way around. It would be really sweet to have the latest v7.220 on my Advantage. Thanks again
nacos said:
On the other hand, anyone ever tried to install/convert the application from the stand alone units (like TomTom Go xxx or One xx) to PDA? ... It would be really sweet to have the latest v7.220 on my Advantage. Thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No warez here please (just in case that was what you were suggesting!) - we do not want this place shut down.
nacos said:
Hello,
I found the Advantage to be very slow with TomTom. I used the same application on my old HP 2795 (QVGA display) and the navigation was nice and smooth unlike the fragmented, slow-motion like display on the Advantage.
I have the original TomTom 6.010 with the latest North America 6.75 (build 1409) maps (purchased). I don’t have any problems getting the GPS signal but when on a route the screen only refreshes about once every second. For example, after making a 90 degree turn it takes about 50 to 100 meters to actually show the current direction and the turn itself (which is supposed to be a continuous, smooth transitioning movement) is shown as 3 intermediate angle segments in a rough, broken movement.
I saw another thread, addressing a similar issue where an upgrade to the next 6.030 application version was suggested. I tried both 6.030 and 6.032 (these aren’t the original ones) and despite a faster acquiring time and a lot better lock when configured to use the internal GPS rather than another NMEA (on the 6.010) the newer the application version the slower overall performance – strange isn’t it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using HTC's WM6 & TomTom 6.010 no problem, quite often with a lot of other programs running. It is better than on my Uni. I am using Western Europe maps and have the POIs turned on (will turn them off to see if there is a change).
I am interested in how you managed to get hold of upgraded versions, where from, I can't ever find anything through the normal tomtom channels.
nacos said:
It REALLY made a huge difference when I disabled all POI. Now it runs nice and smoothly and it recalculates the routes just as fast as TomTom Go 720 – which is almost instantaneously. No more complains there – thanks a lot.
I also believe that using a smaller map vs. the whole North America would probably help but since I leave on the border and constantly swing between Canada and USA I cannot really benefit from that – I have to use the whole map to be able to cross border without having to switch maps.
I must disagree with increased performance in landscape; I thoroughly tested both modes and I believe the software was actually made and optimized for portrait. Depending on what application version is used the modes are differently interpreted however the best results are always yielded in portrait: faster refresh, better auto zooming and no horizontal sweeping effect on video refreshes (only visible in v6.010).
Again, thanks everyone for all your valuable feedback.
On the other hand, anyone ever tried to install/convert the application from the stand alone units (like TomTom Go xxx or One xx) to PDA? I guess I’m asking weather there is any way to make it work? I tried with no success. Funny thing is the maps used by TomTom Navigator are correctly interpreted and used by, say Go720 but it doesn’t work the other way around. It would be really sweet to have the latest v7.220 on my Advantage. Thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im such a dufus, I meant portrait and even had it pictured in my head and yet somehow typed landscape
tomtom
it runs quite fast on my advantage actually. no problems there perhaps there are too many background processes running on yours or a lack of running memory?
How you turn off the PQI?
Is that going through preference, and uncheck all of the PQI..?
Did Pawel062, ltxda, Cmonex and Olipro give up on the Athena and move on to the polaris?
Its been a couple of months since the their last rom and I have been hoping to try another one. Has it really been two months?
Wonder if anyone else is willing to build one, or Midget update his rom kitchen with new os and easier to use like pandora's kitchen for Hermes, or will the original group still release their secret rom version 4?
A new rom from Pawel062 would be my preference tho.
Post #423 in the AP Dual Thread indicates they are working on it.
they will be releasing a surprise in a few days or weeks that will make our athena become more powerful. Maybe a video driver fot he ati chipset?
They have said it will be a while before V4 is released so more likely weeks rather than days. Not sure what else they can add but I'm sure it will be great.
In the mean time I'm happy with V3
an update for the kitchen is on its way
takes longer because i have to get someone with an athena to test it
well im waiting to recieve a new build *cough* midget.. the new build with have the latest of all the apps. we before have been working on expanding the os.nb so more will fit in the rom making the extended rom maybe even empty. this would mean u would have as much storage as if u wouldnt let anything install from extended rom.
we are hopping to also maybe get the snapvue orientation done for 4.0 I dont know if what we want will work but we haven't really tried yet. remember also im working t the same time on a polaris rom for those people. that doesnt mean i aint working here. i am using a newer beta of a build i got a few weeks ago. too bad this build isnt releaseable.
we have a few more suprises up our sleeves but i cant reveal everything
Thanks for the update Midget and Pawel, can't wait to see your latest developments. We appreciate both of your efforts and time spent to make our devices more productive and usefull. And thanks to ltxda for his contributions, testing and very helpfull responses to many, many questions.
Since 6.1 for UNI is released, I can post here a basic clean 6.1 ROM for athena.But Before that I must take permissions from Oli and Pawel, if they say yes, then I do that.
no need. we will have same space if clean or full as said previously. u probable have seen this already.
hdubli said:
Since 6.1 for UNI is released, I can post here a basic clean 6.1 ROM for athena.But Before that I must take permissions from Oli and Pawel, if they say yes, then I do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you give us your initial impression of 6.1 versus 6? I'm very curious to know the difference in terms of performance, signal strength, battery life, and what major UI enhancements there are.
Thanks!
hdubli said:
Since 6.1 for UNI is released, I can post here a basic clean 6.1 ROM for athena.But Before that I must take permissions from Oli and Pawel, if they say yes, then I do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A clean basic one would be fantastic. I don't mind not using up the space as long as I don't have unwanted software appearing. I would rather install all software myself, so that I can choose my own and upgrade to newer version whenever I want.
Would be fantastic to go to 6.1 now. Can you PM me to let me have it please?
I was about to stop using athena, but then came 6.1 and I could cook using pawel kithen with T mobile wm6 ROM as a base ROM.It became so responsive that i can't imagine.very fast and snappy, feels like there is a 624 Mhz processor.Threades SMS is good, and now u hv signature "Sent from my Windows Mobile Device" in mails, and some improvement towards phone side, viz easy contact lookup.
Would be great to see a nice clean ROM with as less as possible! can hardly wait to discover what you can do with 6.1!!
yetdy said:
they will be releasing a surprise in a few days or weeks that will make our athena become more powerful. Maybe a video driver fot he ati chipset?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Checking the registry, the filesystem, and the ati config txt file in \windows, it looks to me like the ATI is very much being supported. Its not the same issue as the big Qualcomm problem HTC is having - the Advantage is a PXA270+ATI.
The video playback issue is likely due to the fact that TCPMP/CorePlayer team have *never* gotten their ATI support sorted. Since thats the only player we've got, the problem effects everyone.
Performance on my x7501 is about the same as my HX4705 and the registry settings indicating ATI drivers are definitely there.
HKLM\Sytem\DDraw\DeviceEnum indicated ace_ddi.dll (thats the ATI driver)
\Windows has the ATI driver files and also the config file: atihwtbl0.txt
Selecting Imageon Decoder in TCPMP *does* work, the support just totally sucks and their support is for a different Imageon series to begin with (the 3200). The CorePlayer team claim they expect to sort out the ATI issues and have been working with ATI. We'll have to wait and see.
other than TCPMP, video performance for me on the Advantage is fine (scrolling, games, menus, etc). The symptom of having no driver support (as on the Qualcomm chipset) is horrible ddraw performance all over the place (scrolling, switching orientation, etc)
OK, so we are now saying that Athena has got ATI supported?
If so then why is media player so crap at playing videos full screen? Or has Microsoft not integrated ATI support properly into that too?
The whole thing is a shambles as Microsoft and HTC clearly work closely together as the wizard has been a part ofthe MS Windows Mobile website for ever and they cant use the image etc without permission can they....
If it's TCPMP's fault then shame on them... letting this run away with us and not bothering to comment that it's their fault all along!! You're not telling me they dont read this forum! LOL Come on guys own up and let's get on with things. The Athena is a brilliant machine let down by a few niggles that can easily be sorted I'm sure!
Basically yes, thats what Im saying.
WMP has always been pretty horrible on Win Mobile, so I dont even count that.
TCPMP support for ATI has always been REALLY bad going ALL the way back. My first VGA ATI device was the Toshiba E750! They've never gotten it right. They have always blamed ATI but claim (now that they are a commercial entity) that ATI is working with them and a final fix MAY be in 1.2 (which MAY be due in Feb)
You can go to coreplayer.com, search for ATI and see the gory details. WAY more devices have had the Imageon chip then this batch and NONE of them have been good. The Qualcomm chips have a different problem. If you check the registry, I believe that on those guys, the generic MS drivers are referenced and the ATI drivers arent included. Im not sure if anyone has tried copying them on and changing the registry, but the key would be getting that ATI driver config txt file right. That would be hard I think.
On the x7501, that stuff is all there. It looks JUST like my HX4705 just with different settings in the ATI txt (which makes sense - its a different Imageon). That leads me to believe that the ATI is integrated just fine.
What leads us to believe it isnt? TCPMP performance and WMP performance right? Well... performance on those has sucked for EVERY Imageon device and is an acknowledged issue by them.
This is good news really! If 1.2 comes out in Feb and does what they say,these issues on the Advantage will go away. The HTC Qualcomm devices will still suck.
The way it works with MSFT isnt quite what you'd imagine. They supply the OS and its agnostic. They supply it to OEMs and it requires two key things in order to actually be implemented - a BSP (board support package) and a RIL (radio interface layer). It is up to the OEM (HTC in this case) and the radio provider (often Qualcomm) to come together and integrate the Win Mobile OS onto the hardware and "plug it in" to those two lower level components.
Its almost like imagine if Windows NT was out of MSFT control from the HAL on down. Thats how it is with Win Mobile basically. Its a deliberate decision to give OEMs and carriers power and hence 1) stay out of monopoly court which is where EVERYONE wants MSFT ALL the time from now on and 2) encourage them to actually jump on board (in the face of powerful phone incumbants).
It can be good and bad. The good its lots of devices from all kinds of folks with all sorts of neat possible hardware and a common set of APIs, system software and UI. The bad is **** like this debacle with HTC. Apple and Nokia would be the diametrical opposite. Where the hardware OEM is also fully integrating the OS and, presumably, the radio and just submitting it to a carrier for compat testing. They have monolithic control over their devices and are, in essence, monopolies within their platform. Qualcomm is a pain in the ass in that they are a huge radio provider, jumped into software with BREW (which got huge traction) and generally is a powerhouse in the mobile space, yet is notoriously very difficult to work with and pretty draconian.
It's a shame, but I have been visiting this forum for a year or two now and must say - this forum is dead. It's a shame because , looking at new tablet pcs and similar devices entering the market, I think athena still is a good device, offering a lot of possibilities. Unfortunately I know nothing of ROM cooking and all the cooks have left us. Too bad
mietulo said:
It's a shame, but I have been visiting this forum for a year or two now and must say - this forum is dead. It's a shame because , looking at new tablet pcs and similar devices entering the market, I think athena still is a good device, offering a lot of possibilities. Unfortunately I know nothing of ROM cooking and all the cooks have left us. Too bad
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, this is the way with all devices these days..... I still use my Athena as a backup unit in case I muck up one of my other units....LOL
Later........... B)
I also think the HTCx7500 continues to be a good device. The things that is attractive with the new devices is the advancement of touch screen technology. Cypress true touch technology for example offer not only multi touch but also the ability to do hovering because the screen can sense the finger as soon as the finger is near the screen.
Undeniably Nice to play and might offer conveniences to a certain degree. But unless there is a way to browse the net as fast as a proper laptop or a way to do document processing or powerpoint slides editing 70% as efficiently as a desktop, what the newer device can offer as compared to HTC x7500 is just cosmetics. I can get the same job done with not much of a problem with the Athena as compared to the newer devices.
So, the things that will attract me to newer devices will be
1. Faster internet browsing
2. Document processing / slide editing
3. Looonger battery life
4. Snappiness of the operating system even after installing many programs
5. softwares availability - not specially controlled by a central "market" and all software makers have to pass their work to them and let their work be distributed by one central point where users can download and use free or paid.
Zooming with 2 fingers or 5 fingers is interesting but zooming by just pushing my athena directional buttons up and down isn't such a difficult job either.
Special today's page / Home menus like the ones in Androids or iphones are also not something difficult to reproduce or customized under windows mobile.
Athena still rocks!
Glad I chose to sell mine when I did. It was a device that was ahead of its time. Shame Android never took off on it.
Something different
The prices of these babies have dropped so much that I just bought one recently... after using various newer HTCs, etc, that are all basically the same, this ancient gadget was actually a breath of fresh air. Besides the marginal interior updates, OS versions, and the gradual screen size upgrades, I really can't figure out what's inherently different with almost all smartphones today... although using the athena needs somewhat of a change in mindset (especially of what is a phone), having something different to play with is already a big plus and an actual experience.... please phone makers, lets make the effort of trying to do something different and not just marketing something as different.
I want to browse the internet, do some emailing, write something in my blog, check auction sites, watch youtubes, can the HTC x7500 handle that? (YES - Opera mini, streaming player, etc)
I want to do some word processing, write a novel, edit some documents, and make sure the work can be in sync with my laptop/desktop. Can the HTC x7500 handle that? (YES - pocketword. document2go, softmaker textmaker, pnotepad)
I want to go through my powerpoint slides and rehearse, re position/re sort the slides, correct a few wordings and make sure i can keep both the slides i have in my desktop and my pocketpc in sync, can the HTC x7500 handle that? (YES - pocket powerpoint, clear vue slides, ...)
I want to enjoy listening to some mp3, can the HTC x7500 handle that? (YES - tcmp player, coreplayer)
I want to watch some movies in avi, wmv, flv, rm, mp4 format, can the HTC x7500 handle that? (YES - tcmp player with the correct codecs)
I want to do some voice recording, can the Athena handle that? (YES - resco audio recorder)
I want to share some photos album with friends sitting together in a restaurant, can the Athena handle that? (YES - resco picture viewer)
I want to connect to internet using 3g/ HSDPDA, because WIFI is unavailable, can the ATHENA handle that? (YES - just make sure 3G services in my data card is active)
I want to transfer file from pc, mobile phone to Anthena or transfer from my athena to my friend's mobile phone without using wires, can the Athena handle that? (YES - bluetooth connections, mocha ftp server, ...)
I wan to play some games, ?? (YES - gba emulator, nes..., playstation 1 emulator, Java, Just games made for pocket pc, etc)
I don't see what the other devices (androids or Ipods) can do that i cannot do with my ATHENA. Yes, I would love it if there is a way to try out putting ANdroids os in my athena but it will be just for fun and to know that there is one more choice of os i can use if i feel like it. Honestly, if there is a 7 inch windows mobile device, I might consider.
One of the MOST important thing that keeps me monitoring the android development is actually BATTERY LIFE (7 hrs with wifi on) and fast zooming.
Many people who try to impress me with android will show me how smooth the screen scrolls here and there with just a flick of the finger. Impressive but when i stop to think over, I realized that i am not going to spend my whole time flicking the screen here and there and just for the thrill to see how the screen can actually change simply by a flick of a finger.
What i will do mostly is click on a program i need to use and start typing or imputing. Scrolling and panning is only useful when i am reading long documents like webpages or ebooks. That is why i like isilo because it allows you to scroll without the need to use the scroll bar.
Fast zooming is another thing that i would like to see on mobile devices. The kind of fast zooming used in opera browsers and netfront browsers are heading in the right direction. FAst zooming is already something that is fast developing even under windows mobile environment.
So, in the end, it comes to a matter of which operating system uses less battery power and will allow longer battery life.
My Athena is going on ebay this weekend because I have one of these now, might be something to look into for the rest of you, as there is an active hacker community too:
http://www.slatedroid.com/wiki/index.php?title=Pandigital_Novel
I only used the Athena as a nightstand emailer/websurfer/weatherchecker, so I have no use for a phone. It worked well enough for that, but the PDN is even better for my needs, and now works with android market. Very cool not to have to activesync to move downloaded cabs to the athena, plus there won't be much activity for winmo anymore since everything is incompatible with wp7 as I understand, while android market is just beginning. Just found a solution that works for my needs, and thought I would share it. Athena was good to me, but it's time for her to move on about her life's work.
Fashion
It does seem a shame that just as big screen devices like this one are coming into fashion this forum has fallen into disuse. It doesn't stop it from still being a very good device, and still very usable in my view. Plus with the amount of ROMS to choose from on this forum there must be one to suit most people. You never know, we may get another cook some time.
regards
Jay
Yes, the Android os is very interesting to look at. If someone created a 7 inch - 10 inch screen tablet with windows mobile 6.1, (or even wm5,6), I would seriously consider but of course the battery life must be good and the processor and ram should have enough power to improve internet experience.
I've used all sorts of devices, from Psion to OQO, Everun, Zaurus, HTC BA etc etc. Recently I bought the Ameo and I can say that after some customisation this little device fits my bill perfectly.
The Ameo has been more flexible (keyboard/Tablet, case, landscape/portrait, 3G/WiFi) than the Archos 5IT it replaced. Sure, Android is nice and iOS is fluid and modern, but the Ameo kills them all with a large 4/3 screen.
I'm using it right now with a Logitech wireless mouse, it's been on all day with a 30% battery drain, browsing with Opera Mobile 10 over 3G.
I wish manufactures would revisit the 4/3 aspect ratio, not everybody wants to watch widescreen films all day, and books look terrible in portrait on thin devices.
Many thanks to the members of these forums for all the tweaks and custom ROMs. this Ameo isn't dead yet.
Last week I bought one of the android tablet made in china. It is called APAD 7 inch styleflying.
The android os has somethings going but I have a number of complains. One of them is why did they do away with "scrollbars." While it is true that Many many people enjoy swiping the screen up and down and feel the screen moving at the command of the finger but it is also true that SCROLLBARS do make sense. Without scrollbars, i believe that many users have experience accidentally opening a program while they were trying to flip the screen up and down. android wants to do things differently I guess but in the process, they took away something very practical and useful. Just my personal opinion. If they want to do something that appears different, they can do what HTC hd2 did. When I look carefully, i realise that in fact, HTC hd2 has a kind of scroll bar on the main screen. It doesn't look like the traditional scrollbar but it does the same job. It allows the user to accurately move from page to page by pushing a slider. And who said programs in Android doesn't crash or hang or stop responding. In my experience, they do.
Anyway, it is a free operating system and it is open source so I hope it will improve in time to come.
Meanwhile, my Athena HTC x7500 rocks! If only I can wake up one morning and find my 5 inch screen Athena grow up and become 7 inch screen! Heh Heh!
5 inch is good size. But i would surely not mind having a 7 inch screen HTC x7500 in my collection.
I am new to the Athena myself by just having bought one for about 200 USD - and it was a great find as it is in perfect shape, looks brand new, no scratches whatsoever!
I sold my Acer F900, as I am through with touchphones, I hate them - it's too bulky and smart for a phone, but too little to do productive work (for me that's office and remote computer administration, mainly). So I decided to scrap the smarthphone, and go back to the roots: buy a small and light cellphone with physical buttons and a PDA.
So I went for the x7500, and I love it! It's 3 years old, and still getting the job done!
My only complaint now is with WiFi: it seems to 'forget' the passwords for APs for some reason...
Btw I use an extra light Taxist WM6.1 ROM (42 Megs), as I have my own proven programs I am using for years, so everything except the OS is unnecessary junk.
it is a shame it is not popular.
I have this device since June. I guess I am getting old, and the little screen of my Polaris was just not fun anymore. The screen of the Athena and the real keyboard were really the 2 attractive points before I touched the beast for real.
So here we go for a search and I found one almost new 5 months ago over the net for 200 Euros.
That's probably the best deal I have done.
I have the device at work and at home, also at customer site. I receive my calls (through Bluetooth), while taking notes or making reports. Even camera pictures are good to fill in reports. WM6.5 works great on this fast device, the only thing I miss is the letter recogniser mode when I have to take notes not seating somewhere. But vocal notes do the trick.
i check my mails both personnals and professionnals, review a presentation in the plane, give free phonecalls to my family while travelling, and finish by a good movie or the news on streaming TV.
It is said to be big, but in fact not bigger than a decent leather covered organizer.
So bad they stopped it...
And so bad there is so few brands believing in this all-in-one concept !!!
does anybody of you have a decent, stable ROM for it?
most of the links here are dead and trying the ROMs i was able to find was a great disappointment...i tried them all, even the Wm 6 ones.
thanks!
KukurikU said:
does anybody of you have a decent, stable ROM for it?
most of the links here are dead and trying the ROMs i was able to find was a great disappointment...i tried them all, even the Wm 6 ones.
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For dead links to ROMs, the trick is to Google the exact name and see if some kind soul has uploaded them somewhere - try it, it sometimes works.
I am using AGB 3.0 - to be honest, the device is slow by modern standards, and it not really finger-friendly, it takes quite a tap with a finger to get the thing to respond.
However, yesterday, a young American looked impressively at it as I used it in the train, and asked if it was a phone or a tablet - and what OS it ran. I told him it was old, several years old, and ran WM (albeit a new version). OK, he was disappointed - but that is it, this gadget was way ahead of its time, if they did it again, it would succeed with a few tweaks (modern CPU, faster and better battery).
rjstep3
KukurikU said:
does anybody of you have a decent, stable ROM for it?
most of the links here are dead and trying the ROMs i was able to find was a great disappointment...i tried them all, even the Wm 6 ones.
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check Michy's sigs in any of his comments - there is a link to all of his ROMs, he removed it from rapidshare.
I recommend his Clear Edition 6 R1 or something version - I found it quite usable as I wasn't able to revert the WM6.5 start menu, found in the AVG 3 rom, to 6.1.
Nah, not dead, still in daily use by many. My Athena was 3 years old last month and I still haven't found a phone that I might want (the HD2 is close, but I got one for my wife and the screen still just feels too small). Still carry it every day.
Me too! I have tested HD2, tested Androids but the Athena is still amazing!
help making it alive agine....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=849080