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i'm looking for somebody to build me a pda-phone that recognises handwriting in landscape format and runs voice recognition software (ibm viavoice 10 for usb). it seems to be impossible for technical reasons i don't understand, but if there's a programmer/engineer out there with some tips, i'd love to have such a gadget for my work. thanks.
why dont you get yourself a TABLET PC?
I'd love to build that for you. Your budget is at least $3000, right?
And would you like fries with that?
The handwiting in Landscape form already exist doesn't it?
Select Transcriber as your input method, then click the black arrow in the bottom left so that it points to the left (i.e. to the top when you hold it in landscape).
Viavoice (sorry don't know if it's version 10) also apparently works on some ipaqs(H3600, H3700, H3800, H3900):
http://www-3.ibm.com/software/speech/ipaq/mobility_suite/sysreq.shtml
and since they are running PPC2002, I assume they also have Transcriber?
Oh! and if you want to make it a phone add the GSM expansion jacket:
http://www.compaq.co.uk/products/ipaq/pocketpc/solution.html
I'd love to build that for you. Your budget is at least $3000, right?
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Is this just irony or could you seriously do a custom build PDA/Phone for $3K?
If someone gave me $3k I know I could come up with something. It seriously would not be that tough to integrate various accessories currently available into one case, write custom software, etc... I made my own "laptop" in 1992.
ntabikha said:
why dont you get yourself a TABLET PC?
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thanks ntabikha. i was also thinking about a tablet pc, but i wanted something smaller and something i could also use as a cell-phone. but i was just about to give up and buy a tablet pc when "carlos" offered to build my dream gadget. stay tuned to the discussion thread and i'll keep you posted on how that develops. best, commandante
bdarras said:
The handwiting in Landscape form already exist doesn't it?
Select Transcriber as your input method, then click the black arrow in the bottom left so that it points to the left (i.e. to the top when you hold it in landscape).
Viavoice (sorry don't know if it's version 10) also apparently works on some ipaqs(H3600, H3700, H3800, H3900):
http://www-3.ibm.com/software/speech/ipaq/mobility_suite/sysreq.shtml
and since they are running PPC2002, I assume they also have Transcriber?
Oh! and if you want to make it a phone add the GSM expansion jacket:
http://www.compaq.co.uk/products/ipaq/pocketpc/solution.html
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Click to collapse
thanks bdarras. i assume you are talking about applying the above settings to the xda (or xda II)? best, commandante
Carlos said:
If someone gave me $3k I know I could come up with something. It seriously would not be that tough to integrate various accessories currently available into one case, write custom software, etc... I made my own "laptop" in 1992.
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thanks carlos. just returned from 2 weeks biking across switzerland and black forest - thus the late reply. i'm in france and you're in arizona. as you know, our mobile networks are different over here. besides that, i guess the rest is just a matter of hardware/software engineering and programming. maybe you can send me an email to [email protected].com with a description of how you foresee us making this happen. please also include how you arrived at the $3000 figure. looking forward. best, commandante
There is such a device already on the market, Ms OS CE, PDA, Phone incl GPRS, GPS. (bluetooth/802.11?) waterproof, drop tested. but, they are Not cheap!! try www.gotive.com
RGS///Peter T
Nice device, but *way* too big to use as a personal device.
Peter T said:
There is such a device already on the market, Ms OS CE, PDA, Phone incl GPRS, GPS. (bluetooth/802.11?) waterproof, drop tested. but, they are Not cheap!! try www.gotive.com
RGS///Peter T
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Excellent tip!!! Thanks a lot Peter T. After visiting the website, I think what I need is a WEC that is preferably very flat & will do or let me do these 4 things:
- (hand)write on screen (horizontally) with a stylus
- convert my handwriting into text (even for up to 2-hrs of note-taking)
- run IBM's ViaVoice 10 voice recognition system - this seems to be tough
- use a bluetooth headset for longer phone conversations
The Gotive H41 is the closest thing I've been introduced to - but I'm not convinced it can handle the above - but maybe it could be modified (??). Many thanks for any further advice you may have. Commandante
By the way, the big size doesn't bother me - but it looks like they made the casing too thick & heavy for the screen (no?). Anyway, I'll buy it, if I find the answers to the above questions.
Peter T said:
There is such a device already on the market, Ms OS CE, PDA, Phone incl GPRS, GPS. (bluetooth/802.11?) waterproof, drop tested. but, they are Not cheap!! try www.gotive.com
RGS///Peter T
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Hi Peter,
I sent you an email 2 days ago and didn't hear back, so thought I'd try to reach you here again. My question is whether the Gotive H41 fulfils the below system requirements - or whether it can be modified to fulfil the below system requirements. Thanks, Commandante
(1) IBM ViaVoice 10 Voice Recognition Software
Operating System Requirements:
For Microsoft® Windows 98SE and Windows XP Home & Professional Editions:
• Intel® Pentium® 300 MHz processor and 256K L2 cache or equivalent (including AMD-K6® with 256K L2 cache)
Minimum System Requirements:
• 64 MB RAM for Windows 98 and Windows Me
• 192 MB RAM for Windows XP Home & Professional
• 510 MB of available hard drive space
• Windows 98/Me compatible 16-bit sound card with a speaker out jack and microphone input jack or USB port for USB microphone input
• Quad-speed CD-ROM drive or faster
(2) CalliGrapher "Handwriting to Text" Software
System Requirements:
Microsoft Windows-powered Pocket PC 2000/2002/2003 or Handheld PC 2000/Professional.
Microsoft Windows CE 2.11 or later. Approximately 1.9MB of the free storage space on the device. Windows-powered desktop PC or laptop with ActiveSync 3.0 or later is required for installation
Specifications:
Version: CalliGrapher 6.5.2 (Multilingual)
Platform: OS: Windows 2.11 or later
CPUs: SH-3, SH-4, ARM, MIPS, XScale
Devices: Pocket PC 2003, Pocket PC 2002 Pocket PC, H/PC Pro, H/PC Pro 2000
homemade Super XDA-II
wow you need a full PC not a super pda, no the H41 will not meet your spec. on Gotive site you can get a pdf of their full spec.
Yes, you can change the screen, yes, you can use the CE form of Word, Yes, you can load up the memory for a price, yes, it will talk to Win XP, but, :? sound cards on a PDA?? running IBM Talk sholdn't be too much but I am at alost as to how you load that app, the H41 is sync loaded like the XDA, for this operation you need to turn the program into an image, or use th Mem Car, there are some good apps on CE sites that may help. I use the GPS with OziExplorer, and the Phone, but the hands free causes humm / side tone, and voice is somthing Gotive are working on, MicroSoft are behind the upgrade path and you know all about that.
RGS///Peter
commandante
I am informed by an outher that http://www.speereo.com/Download/index.html
Have a very good speech package that will run on a Pocket PC.
Peter T said:
commandante
I am informed by an outher that http://www.speereo.com/Download/index.html
Have a very good speech package that will run on a Pocket PC.
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thanks again for your tips. i was internet-less for the last 3 days (terrible!). last week i wrote to gotive and they agreed to test the handwriting-to-text and voice-to-text software if i could send them the respective "trial versions". any idea where to get such things?
in the meantime, i've written to speereo to see if they have voice recognition software that would allow me to convert voice to text using the H41. could i ask how much you paid for your H41? (didn't see any prices on the website).
just on the side, olympus makes a dictaphone (ds-150) that you can record on and then plug it into your computer while it converts your speech into text. but this only works in combindation with IBM, thus my hope to find a way of putting this magic to work on the H41, which seems to me to be an excellent pda-phone. all the best, commandante
XDA II
H41 is about £600k+ depending on build, +Mem +GPS £250, GSM £250 ect it runs on a form of Microsoft CE v4 not ppc2002, so its a bigger PDA,
RGS//Peter
H41
Peter T said:
H41 is about £600k+ depending on build, +Mem +GPS £250, GSM £250 ect it runs on a form of Microsoft CE v4 not ppc2002, so its a bigger PDA,
RGS//Peter
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the price seems reasonable. i'm just hoping gotive will find a way of building in a soundcard to overcome the problem to pointed out (still looking for trial versions of the software to send to gotive for testing and customisation). rgrds, commandante
This bloke is sitting next to a woman carrying two huge shopping bags on the bus, this woman pulls back her sleeve and starts laughing at her arm, the bloke peeks over and sees she is watching a little television no bigger than a watch, then the woman says to the watch "alright deary I'll be home in 10 minutes"
the bloke turns to the woman and says " that's amazing it's a tv and a phone no bigger than a watch?"
"yes" says the lady "it's also a mini computer, temperature gauge and a laser pointing device"
"WOW" says the bloke "how much did that cost?"
"funny you should ask" says the woman "I'll sell you this one for £50"
"£50, your on!" says the bloke digging notes out of his pockets.
the lady hands over the watch and the bloke says to her"thankyou very much but I've got to go it's my stop next" he stands up and starts to walk to the bus door.
the lady calls him back"here deary ain't you forgot something?"
"err what?" says the bloke
"your batterys" says the lady handing him the two huge shopping bags.
moral: technology is all about shopping bags.
......or maybe buses.
As for the performance and speed, Iphone is good.The looks also is fantastic and stylish.If you are a music lover, the ipod function w/ builtin 8gb or 4 gb storage is good enough to play your favorite songs for long time. Touch & scrolling is fantastic. So for me iphone is a simple phone, ipod & very less PDA function. Why? a lot of us is using Windows Mobile since we have PC mobile. Iphone is a OS X system, a system based from MAC OS. You can count the program that iphone have that you use before. I need Isilo but this program cant run to Iphone. The only advantage I can see is the safari browser & youtube. If you are on the wifi, browsing thru ur iphone is superb. That's it. The only main thing here is the HYPE of having an Iphone. Yet I can say that it will now give you so much headache regarding bugs except to 3rdparty program that not yet really made for iphone. To be fair, Iphone is a great phone with IPOD, period ;-) Maybe after more months, we can now enjoy a lot of program on iphone that we use to enjoy in our windows mobile.
Well About XDA ATOM (Atom Pure for me) , this is one of the goodwindows mobile i've seen. This became great because of Jiggs ROM. No more words i can say, in terms of PDA function and everything, this is great PDA Phone. There are cons but as a whole package its good. In my own opinion, its better than HTC touch. IF i compare this in IPHONE, this have a better PDA function.
So the conclusion, which one you want to buy? or which one will stay on ur palm. Its up to your needs and wants. IT's UR CHOICE, both have good side.
Thats why i have both;-) hehehe just kidding.
One of the thing about music is.. how much music can it play? I'm using Storage card, and default WMP, which gives me about 20% battery per hour. So, that is, if I have a full charge, and wanted to leave 20% of battery for the phone function, that would take me.. about 4 hours. It may be less than that because that time, I was on the train, which it gets connect/disconnect which may make it to 4.5 - 5 hours. How does the iPhone one this? Consider their 8G capacity.
However, having said, with all the functionality of WM phone, I still think the non-instant, hour-clock waiting of WM is still an issue. A lot of Palm users like to stick to Palm mainly due to the fact that Palm OS has an instant responds (most of the time).. rather than WM's short wait.
hanmin said:
One of the thing about music is.. how much music can it play? I'm using Storage card, and default WMP, which gives me about 20% battery per hour. So, that is, if I have a full charge, and wanted to leave 20% of battery for the phone function, that would take me.. about 4 hours. It may be less than that because that time, I was on the train, which it gets connect/disconnect which may make it to 4.5 - 5 hours. How does the iPhone one this? Consider their 8G capacity.
However, having said, with all the functionality of WM phone, I still think the non-instant, hour-clock waiting of WM is still an issue. A lot of Palm users like to stick to Palm mainly due to the fact that Palm OS has an instant responds (most of the time).. rather than WM's short wait.
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continously you can play your music for 20-24hrs ...for videos, around 2movies and not more than that.
internet use for 5-6hours
pda freaks like us may find the iphone lacking with the 3th party software limitations but that could change but there are still many more wm apps out now
for
normal phone users
i think they miss t9 and maybe mms
but i does look cool though
Rudegar said:
pda freaks like us may find the iphone lacking with the 3th party software limitations but that could change but there are still many more wm apps out now
for
normal phone users
i think they miss t9 and maybe mms
but i does look cool though
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yes its true...
----
wow all moderators are coming to comment on this. Do you love IPHONE? hehehe
love it a strong word
but i think many of us like that new innovation and competition is brougth to the table to keep ms, htc and the rest on their toes
yeah, this will make other pda brand and maker be better and compete to iphone. Look out HTC, they introduce TOUCH. well having an iphone to the market benefits the consumer not only iphone users.
how about an I-phone with Windows mobile as an os,,is this possible?
gtech777 said:
how about an I-phone with Windows mobile as an os,,is this possible?
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very illogical...do u think APPLE will create a product with Microsoft software? is like asking that Coca cola will have a package of Pepsi.
yes.. microsoft will create some special
could be part the of Microsoft Deepfish project
http://labs.live.com/deepfish/
By the way.. whats the cost of an unlocked Iphone.. I bought atom for 200$ (usd)
i phone cost
ironeagle said:
By the way.. whats the cost of an unlocked Iphone.. I bought atom for 200$ (usd)
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iphone cost in india is RS.27000
ironeagle said:
By the way.. whats the cost of an unlocked Iphone.. I bought atom for 200$ (usd)
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i bought this thru online for 600$ including Int'l shipment but here in UAE it is expensive in the market , unlocked price is 3800 AED = 1100$
jeffkewin said:
yes.. microsoft will create some special
could be part the of Microsoft Deepfish project
http://labs.live.com/deepfish/
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this is only for web browsing...not really a good thing
generalriden said:
i bought this thru online for 600$ including Int'l shipment but here in UAE it is expensive in the market , unlocked price is 3800 AED = 1100$
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Would you mind sharing the online site?.. thanks in advance..
"could be part the of Microsoft Deepfish project"
http://msmobiles.com/news.php/6809.html
hope they dident can it then
ironeagle said:
Would you mind sharing the online site?.. thanks in advance..
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the one who i get an order is from US yet have 3rd party in Dubai for coordination. i tried ebay also, a little higher. So i prefer this person. there is also some adds here that have the same cost.
iphone problems and solutions
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=339945
i just make a new thread to for the troubleshooting of iphone
O2 XDA Flame Against Apple iPhone Comparison
http://www.iphoneworld.ca/iphone-editorials/2007/02/20/o2-xda-flame-against-apple-iphone-comparison/
o2 XDA flame compare to IPHONE...LOL how about our XDA atom? hehehe
O2 ATOM is better!
Form factor, O2 ATOM is actually smaller compared to the IPHONE; eventhough the IPHONE is alot slimmer.
O2 ATOM is pretty nice to hold once I put the black rubberized covers on it to protect it.
The cool things I like about the ATOM are -
1) Its on a platform that provides lots of apps to play with.
2) I like the fact that our ATOM has A2DP which allows for Stereo bluetooth headphones.
3) The Radio function is really nice to have.
4) Now with HTC Touch cube working on the ATOM, its for finger friendly than before and easier to navigate around apps, etc.
5) With the new HTC T9 Keypad, I can SMS without using my stylus anymore!
ATOM is a all-round champion for its price and features/functions!
The smooth IPhone graphics is overrated anyway. Plus there's alot of copy-cat apps that mimic the Iphone themes on PocketPC environment.
Plus I find the Iphone a little too long for my liking. ATOM is still nice to hold and comes with a pretty zippy processor!
I never thought id see the day I'd get rid of my beloved Athena, but yesterday I had an awakening.
Only a few days before i'd had a play on an IPhone and marvelled at its intuitive, smooth and just bloody BRILLIANT interface. it almost shocked me just how crude, ill-thought-out and unsatisfying windows mobile is in comparison. Now please don't baulk at this statement; i'm NOT going to buy an IPhone, it doesn't do enough for me and it's overpriced. But remember, this is Apple's FIRST. need I repeat FIIIIRRRSSST attempt at the mobile os market. how have they got it right so effortlessly while Microsoft, with all their years of experience in the field continue to make such crap?
I have shaken off my bias towards Microsoft and now simply resent their seeming inability to produce a mobile os that works well.
I don't wish this thread to be about the iphone. We all know its only 2g, can't do mms and doesn't have a particularly good camera. what it does do it does WELL though.
The same is true of Nokia's n800 and n810 internet tablets with os2008. they play YOUTUBE with flash 9. they render web pages smoothly and effortlessly. they look and feel nice. my n95 also - its web browser loads up data-heavy web pages PHENOMINALLY quicker than my Athena, despite its processor and ram spec being distinctly inferior.
why am I getting rid of my Ameo?
Put simply: it just doesn't work. it works a hell of a lot BETTER thanks to PK and the developers, but to all intents and purposes, when you really need it to work, it just doesn't. This is true of ALL windows mobile devices.
How often have you needed to use Internet Explorer to check something on the fly and been frustrated by a constant 'connecting' or 'opening' message for no apparent reason? How often has your windows mobile device crashed, frozen or botched up for no reason? I could go on, but I prefer to give my own personal remedy to the situation, and here it is....
dig out my old Hermes, dust off the cobwebs. use this for all my organising, scheduling etc...
install WmWifiRouter so my Hermes acts as a perfect wifi access point when its HSDPA capabilities are required.
buy a shiny tiny black ASUS eee subnotebook for a little under 230 quid.
connect shiny tiny black ASUS eee subnotebook to Hermes access point when internet is required away from home.
sell Athena to anyone who hasn't realised Windows Mobile is crap yet.
it seems to me that Microsoft are about to fall under the shadow of Apple and Nokia quite abruptly. somebody tell me i'm wrong!
p.s. - Athena for sale if anyone wants one
sounds like you either did a bad flash or got a bad batch coz my athena has never crashed once or had any of the problems you described.never the less,how much are you selling it for?is it an x7501 or x7500?
i can see what your on about , but personally i find that my Athena(Ameo) ticks about every box i want it to.
I want an all in one device for browsing, streaming, phoning and texting and running some other apps and the Athena is the only all in one device that ticks all those boxes for me. I like the thought of the Eee PC but only if it can run XP properly but still you need 2 devices which isnt what i want to do.
Hi Leoni1980,
I think its a question of how you configure your device. I agree that WM6 in its native mode is crap. It takes too many strokes to start an applicatio. It does not tell you what applications are active. It is difficult to switch from one to another. Yes, the list could be long.
However, I also find that with WM6 there are so many good third party software to overcome these limitations. While it takes too many clicks to start an application, iLauncher allows me to put every single applications on the today screen. While Wm6 does not tell you what applications are alive, wktask puts every running application on the taskbar and let me switch to anyone easily. WM6 lets me multitask. While pocket IE is crude in its navigation, pieplus makes it all pleasant.
For me, everything works extremely well. Athena is almost perfect in terms of portability, battery life, screen size and connectivity..
However, I agree that internet browsing is too slow. Even comparing it with a dialed up connection on a pc, it is relatively slow, unless I use the "mobile" versions of webpages. With the mobile versions, everything is snappy and instantaneous. Is Nokia not like that? Is Nokia able to let you browse the desktop version of webpages without any response time delay? If it is, microsoft would truly got to wake up and do something about it. Another thing that we have to be careful is not to fall into the trap of thinking grass is greener on the other side. According to Nokia customer support the N800 does not support 802.1X authentication with EAP-TTLS and PAP. Also, despite being a Linux based device the N800 lacks out of the box support for Ogg format media files.
So, Nokia is able to play the desktop version of youtube. I agree that this is a glaring disadvantage of Wm6 at the moment. W don't have the latest version of flash. Why is this the case is hard for me to understand. Why can Nokia have it and not WM6? Now, the only way to watch youtube desktop version is to download the flv files. Would be nice to be able to watch them without having to first download the videos.
You're now carrying two devices. A subnotebook and an old Hermes. This is definitely not a good way for me, because the subnotebook is too big and too battery short for me to carry it with me all the time. Not to mention that now there are two pieces of gear to carry instead of just one.
Having an all in one requires some compromises. You won't have the best digital camera in the world with this arrangement. Similarly, you won't have the biggest screens to go with it. There is always room for improvement, but for now, I still think Athena is the best device available in the market.
if i had to carry the subnotebook about ALL THE TIME i would agree, however i have the hermes for when i'm unfortunate enough to have to use internet explorer mobile.
The EEE is not actually THAT MUCH bigger than the Athena, and has very good battery life- almost twice that of the Shift running Vista. It is also capable of running full Xp. there are lots of videos on the subject and the EEE manual even tells you how to do it. Although on paper the EEE has a poorer battery life it is also far more responsive and thus allows me to do things in a quarter of the time it would on the Athena. As such battery life is not really an issue.
With regard to the N95's ability to display full web pages - I promise you this is the case. I've even found it capable of accessing sites the Athena was not capable of.
I initially wrote this off as perhaps a better 3g transmitter on the N95, but i tested my Athena over wifi for the first time the other day and still it rendered web pages in a painfully sluggish manner, despite our relatively fast broadband connection. The same was true when tested with Opera. This makes me believe that there is an inherent problem with the architecture of windows mobile which even the greatest developer couldn't overcome.
I wholly disagree with shortyboy's bad flash assertion - I've owned windows mobile devices for years and this problem has always existed.
Nor is it a configuration issue. I spend most of my days off tweaking phones to improve their performance. The fact is that no amount of tweaking will make an Athena as good at rendering web pages as a nokia or an iphone. Once microsoft sees this they might (we hope) scrap their plans to release wm7 with (no doubt) its FEW performance tweaks, the cute little flag in the top left-hand corner and the new, hardly-improved I.E. and build a whole new O.S. from scratch which makes the most of modern mobile cpus, doesn't look 10 years old and does everything it should out of the box. That way stupid hybrid devices like the Shift would never get off the ground as there would LITERALLY be no need for them.
Yes the Athena ticks every box in terms of connectivity - unfortunately this fact clouded my judgment of its actual performance - and that of all such devices - yes you can purchase all the third party software under the sun to make windows mobile usable but this software only makes life a little better, it doesn't FIX the problems.
Just have a play on an n810 when it comes out this month and you'll see what I mean -os2008 is so smooth, well-considered and functional. Just try browsing the internet on it, or watching a video on it. It just WORKS and works well. Even OS 2007 outperforms windows mobile.
Cex sell n800s for 200quid. This month they will all be upgradeable to os2008. The pocket gadget side of me is SORELY tempted!!
p.s. its an x7500 t-mobile branded. It has the 4-in-one and lots of other bits.
I agree with many of your points on the Athenas lack of usability.
Mine is used for little more than a wireless access point these days, I'm in prison typing this on my Asus Eee pc running XP, which is much more of a pleasure to use for email and web browsing. (Not in prison as an inmate, I'm an officer...)
This nokia N800. It does not have a GPS, does it?
How about third party software?
I hope to check out on this myself. Anyone knows where in Sydney I could try out this device?
athena project need an athena
Midget_1990 said:
athena project need an athena
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Its here if you need it Midget.
eaglesteve - the n800 has no inbuilt GPS receiver, although it is compatible with map software (including gmaps and Nokia Maps) and any bluetooth receivers. Many people prefer separate gps receivers as they can be positioned more effectively in the vehicle. It is pretty much identical in hardware terms to the n810 aside from the built-in keyboard and GPS. processor and ram are the same and it has two SDHC slots as opposed to the single one on the n810.
I think it's a bargain myself.
Took delivery of my black eee pc today and I'm so impressed by its size and performance. Everything works out of the box, from BBC online to divx stage six to youtube. It even picks up and syncs with my Ipod, and you can mod the look of the os to your heart's content.
ALL FOR JUST OVER 200 QUID!
It's bigger than the Athena, sure, but I had to carry the Athena in a bag anyway and the weight/mass difference is negligible in this scenario. The battery life is not technically as good either - but it boots SOOOOOO quick that this almost isn't an issue. I can fire it up and use it when I need it if I'm out, and merrily use my old Hermes for practical pocket pc/telephone duties - even Wifi access point functionality.
I literally don't need the Athena anymore.
I don't like a separate GPS unit. It means I need to carry two devices when I play golf, and can't get the fix prior to entering my car. Also, when I get off the train and walk, I can't use it to tell me direction to my destination as easily as Athena.
I still think Athena is the best for now. But I'm all ready to switch if there is a better product. I don't see such a product yet.
WM6 = WM5
Just think about that and try to realize that Windows Mobile 5 is A LOT OLDER than the OS'es on the iPhone and N800/N810.
WM7 will change a LOT on an HTC. (Different shell, different hardware)
And before you insult HTC, you need to wait on the new OS.
Agree.
WM6 is still based on ce5. Ce6 is about to be released. Looking forward to major major improvements
@ leoni's posts mainly
heh when i was in the US i had a chance to see the iphone. ... i was probably expecting too much, the crazy hype had me believe it had a truly revolutional interface and lots of amazing animations.
nope.
it was sorely disappointing... just a few ordinary tricks, nothing special or anything that would make the device more usable... for example, i prefer being able to multitask in a way i can see what apps are running without clicking anything, also a way to easily switch.. basically the good old taskbar
...so, i wouldn't be able to live without magicbuttons, or now, without wktask on WM6. yes WM GUI sucks out of the box at least as much as the iphone gui, but at least you can install these wonderful apps!
to be honest i still prefer plain CE because that has all this and more working out of the box - much nearer a real PC than the too much simplified down WM ... as i said only third party apps save WM.
where we disagree is i think the apps do fix most of the issues of WM.
my only problem with my athena is how it sometimes slows down if i type a lot on it. then i need to wait about 1 min, maybe close word mobile, then it is back to normal again. i sometimes use the wordpad i got out of platform builder, better in several respects than the sucky word mobile. that one app drives me crazy sometimes.
...though, i don't see how the iphone has any kind of word processor onboard.
i don't give a damn if it can't do MMS or 3G (i'm fine with gprs when i turn off pictures in the browser and i'm using vodafone's great APN which compresses data), and i don't care for the camera on any mobile phone so far.
what i need is just office and a proper browser and irc client and some more apps, and the iphone has NONE of those. crazy how limited it is.
oh before you start telling me how fabulous the browser is on the iphone ... it is not. it is slow loading pages, and the requirement of zooming in and out drives me crazy. and, the real deal breaker is how i could not open links in a new window at will. i do not mean opening a new empty window, i mean opening a link on an already loaded page, in a new window!! no one so far could show me how so i'm assuming it lacks this basic capability - for me, absolute dealbreaker, i cannot comfortably browse pages without that option.
i'd like to see the n800, though, the OS i hear is sluggish when multitasking. so i'm just curious about the browser.
200 quid.. hmm the 770 is only 100 : ) tempting yes, just no keyboard so that's a bit of an issue to me.
i'm not sure if your athena has no specific issues... i don't have the complaints on mine that you do... mine doesn't crash (except for above mentioned slow down but no reboot is required) and the browser is fast. but, i don't touch pocket internet explorer, i've never ever tried using it on the athena. opera is just so much faster and has none of the quirks of crappy PIE
so no, i don't have this "connecting" or "opening" message problem as i don't touch PIE.
also, opera here is quite fast! not sure what your issue is with it...
though maybe not as fast as the opera on my zaurus C760 pda linux does excel at browser speed options!
all in all... yes WM sucks, and microsoft should fix this, but until then i'm happy with wktask and the amazing hardware of the athena. finally a ppc that has a good enough (large enough) display which looks good in realvga too!! yeah realvga is again third party add on ... sigh! so to be really honest i wouldn't touch WM (except for hacking things! ), and would just use plain CE if it weren't for htc universal / athena (mainly athena!) and some essential third party apps. well CE is made by microsoft too so i don't understand how they got it so wrong with WM.
CE6 will be based on a different memory architecture and improved security (grr for hackers) and many other things, so i'm curious, but for me the GUI is the issue on WM and not really the kernel except for the couple of slow downs i mentioned. other than that WM5 and later seem to be exceptionally stable to me and no slow down just because i'm running several apps at once! i find that great!
so i'm hoping MS gets themselves together and improve on the GUI but please don't imitate the iphone - i like CE better. this is quite a personal view of course.
one last note.. as for the EEE, battery life and size is an issue for me. so sticking to athena (and my universals and my CE devices)
yes the EEE is that much bigger than the athena. :sigh:
also some of the tasks i use my devices for, cannot be done in a shorter time on XP, for example if i want to go online and chat for a few hours...good battery life is a must
ok i'll stop ranting here .. but this is such an interesting subject
p.s.: how is that i can only insert four smilies?! had to remove three because i typed seven of them, wtf
I saw an Asus Eee today in black.
looks very very nice for the money, the missus said she might buy it 4 me for xmas if I want it
hmm decisions decisions
spacecat said:
I saw an Asus Eee today in black.
looks very very nice for the money, the missus said she might buy it 4 me for xmas if I want it
hmm decisions decisions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got the black one myself on thursday through Ebuyer, though I believe they're out of stock at the mo. I've installed XP on it just to test it and it works perfectly, even the webcam works fine. It boots up in seconds which is unfamiliar territory for me!
I quite like the Linux interface though so I might go back to it eventually. Everything worked out of the box- youtube, stage 6, even Ipods. Only real prob I had with Linux was that I couldn't use Activesync but I liked the amount of tweaking you can do to it.
If you need any pics, comparisons or whatnot I can post them or forward them. I won't be looking back. It's a brillliant bit of kit, especially for the money.
p.s. you can even install mac osx on it, though the procedure is a tad complicated for me.
cmonex said:
@ leoni's posts mainly
heh when i was in the US i had a chance to see the iphone. ... i was probably expecting too much, the crazy hype had me believe it had a truly revolutional interface and lots of amazing animations.
nope.
it was sorely disappointing... just a few ordinary tricks, nothing special or anything that would make the device more usable... for example, i prefer being able to multitask in a way i can see what apps are running without clicking anything, also a way to easily switch.. basically the good old taskbar
...so, i wouldn't be able to live without magicbuttons, or now, without wktask on WM6. yes WM GUI sucks out of the box at least as much as the iphone gui, but at least you can install these wonderful apps!
to be honest i still prefer plain CE because that has all this and more working out of the box - much nearer a real PC than the too much simplified down WM ... as i said only third party apps save WM.
where we disagree is i think the apps do fix most of the issues of WM.
my only problem with my athena is how it sometimes slows down if i type a lot on it. then i need to wait about 1 min, maybe close word mobile, then it is back to normal again. i sometimes use the wordpad i got out of platform builder, better in several respects than the sucky word mobile. that one app drives me crazy sometimes.
...though, i don't see how the iphone has any kind of word processor onboard.
i don't give a damn if it can't do MMS or 3G (i'm fine with gprs when i turn off pictures in the browser and i'm using vodafone's great APN which compresses data), and i don't care for the camera on any mobile phone so far.
what i need is just office and a proper browser and irc client and some more apps, and the iphone has NONE of those. crazy how limited it is.
oh before you start telling me how fabulous the browser is on the iphone ... it is not. it is slow loading pages, and the requirement of zooming in and out drives me crazy. and, the real deal breaker is how i could not open links in a new window at will. i do not mean opening a new empty window, i mean opening a link on an already loaded page, in a new window!! no one so far could show me how so i'm assuming it lacks this basic capability - for me, absolute dealbreaker, i cannot comfortably browse pages without that option.
i'd like to see the n800, though, the OS i hear is sluggish when multitasking. so i'm just curious about the browser.
200 quid.. hmm the 770 is only 100 : ) tempting yes, just no keyboard so that's a bit of an issue to me.
i'm not sure if your athena has no specific issues... i don't have the complaints on mine that you do... mine doesn't crash (except for above mentioned slow down but no reboot is required) and the browser is fast. but, i don't touch pocket internet explorer, i've never ever tried using it on the athena. opera is just so much faster and has none of the quirks of crappy PIE
so no, i don't have this "connecting" or "opening" message problem as i don't touch PIE.
also, opera here is quite fast! not sure what your issue is with it...
though maybe not as fast as the opera on my zaurus C760 pda linux does excel at browser speed options!
all in all... yes WM sucks, and microsoft should fix this, but until then i'm happy with wktask and the amazing hardware of the athena. finally a ppc that has a good enough (large enough) display which looks good in realvga too!! yeah realvga is again third party add on ... sigh! so to be really honest i wouldn't touch WM (except for hacking things! ), and would just use plain CE if it weren't for htc universal / athena (mainly athena!) and some essential third party apps. well CE is made by microsoft too so i don't understand how they got it so wrong with WM.
CE6 will be based on a different memory architecture and improved security (grr for hackers) and many other things, so i'm curious, but for me the GUI is the issue on WM and not really the kernel except for the couple of slow downs i mentioned. other than that WM5 and later seem to be exceptionally stable to me and no slow down just because i'm running several apps at once! i find that great!
so i'm hoping MS gets themselves together and improve on the GUI but please don't imitate the iphone - i like CE better. this is quite a personal view of course.
one last note.. as for the EEE, battery life and size is an issue for me. so sticking to athena (and my universals and my CE devices)
yes the EEE is that much bigger than the athena. :sigh:
also some of the tasks i use my devices for, cannot be done in a shorter time on XP, for example if i want to go online and chat for a few hours...good battery life is a must
ok i'll stop ranting here .. but this is such an interesting subject
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't deem that a rant. Some very fair points very well put.
I must admit my experience of the Iphone is not as extensive as yours so I'll have to capitulate on that one. Though it seems to ace out windows mobile in terms of user input (on screen keyboard) and generally usability - takes a long while to get used to windows mobile if you've never experienced it.
I never experienced any slowdown on the n800 and i tested it a fair bit. With the os2008 upgrade things should only get better. It's a lot more user-friendly and the new os includes Firefox (which I prefer) instead of Opera.
I appreciate that the EEE is bigger than the Athena. when I said 'not that much' I meant that when carrying the EEE in the supplied case in a bag, compared to carrying the Athena in a bag - which I used to do in preference to cramming the device intpo my pocket - the difference is negligible.
I used to carry a bt keyboard and mouse with it also. Now compared to carrying a separate keyboard and mouse AND an Athena the difference is CERTAINLY negligible.
I can do everything on my old Hermes that I can do on the Athena - yes chatting and PDA stuff - and it has a better battery life. It also fits in my pocket nicely when I'm out and about.
For when I need full browsing, multimedia and office capability I've got the EEE - which is VERY portable, very rugged and even has a webcam if you want to do slightly more advanced chatting!
This is why I'm happy with my current setup.
leoni1980 said:
I didn't deem that a rant. Some very fair points very well put.
I must admit my experience of the Iphone is not as extensive as yours so I'll have to capitulate on that one. Though it seems to ace out windows mobile in terms of user input (on screen keyboard) and generally usability - takes a long while to get used to windows mobile if you've never experienced it.
I never experienced any slowdown on the n800 and i tested it a fair bit. With the os2008 upgrade things should only get better. It's a lot more user-friendly and the new os includes Firefox (which I prefer) instead of Opera.
I appreciate that the EEE is bigger than the Athena. when I said 'not that much' I meant that when carrying the EEE in the supplied case in a bag, compared to carrying the Athena in a bag - which I used to do in preference to cramming the device intpo my pocket - the difference is negligible.
I used to carry a bt keyboard and mouse with it also. Now compared to carrying a separate keyboard and mouse AND an Athena the difference is CERTAINLY negligible.
I can do everything on my old Hermes that I can do on the Athena - yes chatting and PDA stuff - and it has a better battery life. It also fits in my pocket nicely when I'm out and about.
For when I need full browsing, multimedia and office capability I've got the EEE - which is VERY portable, very rugged and even has a webcam if you want to do slightly more advanced chatting!
This is why I'm happy with my current setup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
like i said wait till dual comes out. the team had a breakthrough yesturday and a new app will be in dual.. more details when rom comes out.
cmonex said:
@ leoni's posts mainly
my only problem with my athena is how it sometimes slows down if i type a lot on it. then i need to wait about 1 min, maybe close word mobile, then it is back to normal again. i sometimes use the wordpad i got out of platform builder, better in several respects than the sucky word mobile. that one app drives me crazy sometimes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder what your thoughts are on Softmaker office Textmaker, which should be superb on the athena in 96dpi? You may not even get the slowdown that you describe in Word. I use PlanMaker (their spreadsheet) and it works quite well in (96dpi) on my athena.
leoni1980 said:
Got the black one myself on thursday through Ebuyer, though I believe they're out of stock at the mo. I've installed XP on it just to test it and it works perfectly, even the webcam works fine. It boots up in seconds which is unfamiliar territory for me!
I quite like the Linux interface though so I might go back to it eventually. Everything worked out of the box- youtube, stage 6, even Ipods. Only real prob I had with Linux was that I couldn't use Activesync but I liked the amount of tweaking you can do to it.
If you need any pics, comparisons or whatnot I can post them or forward them. I won't be looking back. It's a brillliant bit of kit, especially for the money.
p.s. you can even install mac osx on it, though the procedure is a tad complicated for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my current thinking is to get one and leave it at work, which is where i do most of my 'ATHENAring' ...is that a word !
And use my athena as an HSDPA modem for the Eee with XP installed on it.
I would then keep my Athena for when im out and about and NOT at work, hence keeping the full Athena mobility including the important ability to make calls and send texts.
Im not in a terrible hurry to do this and i understand that Asus are going to bring out upgraded versions of the Eee.
Bigger drives , 10 inch screen etc. Mind you its the small form factor that interests me esp as i may want to carry the Eee at some point.
I am however still well into my Athena and by the rom updates, looking forward to the DUAL rom which sounds exciting but im clueless as to what it can do more than PK3.0
Hey all,
A while ago I've started my hunt for a UMPC. My demands were not simple:
1. Relatively cheap - up to 700$
2. 3.5G connectivity
3. TV-OUT port
4. ~7" screen size
5. Good battery life
6. Keyboard of some kind
7. GPS
I've looked around and couldn't find anything that answered those demands. The biggest issue with UMPCs I've looked at is poor battery life. After a while, I started to think about the Athena as a UMPC alternative. It answers almost all of my demands except the smaller screen and of-course being a WM device its not a fully capable PC. I wanted to ask you Athena owners, if you think that the Athena could be the device for me. Do you feel the need for a more capable OS? Do you wish to replace it with a bigger UMPC? Do some of you have a UMPC and the Athena and feel they complete each other?
Thanks a lot....
EDIT: Just realised that I've posted this in the wrong forum. I'll put a new one in the main Athena forum.
I have owned the Athena for nearly a year now. I also own a Sony Vaio U70 (See info at this site: )
http://www.mobiletechreview.com/notebooks/sony_vaio_U50.htm
Although both are small, portable, lightweight, same screen size, etc... I find more effective use of the Athena. The main features that make this a plus over the UMPC you have already stated, GPS, a keyboard of sorts, and HSDPA. I can travel for up to a week or so without the need for a laptop computer without compromise in keeping up with e-mails, opening almost every form of attachment, browse the web, connect with Hotel WiFi and have phone capabilities in one device. Carrying one charger is also a benefit. I can (have) connected the Athena to a full size monitor, a full keyboard and added a USB mouse. No reason a Bluetooth mouse shouldn't work as long as you pick your external components wisely.
I don't use the Athena every day as a UMPC replacement, but given the chioce while travelling, carrying it is always better than carrying a phone and the Sony or a phone and an 11 pound (5 kilo) laptop. The perfect UMPC has not yet been created in my view. The HTC Shift is getting closer, but is MUCH LARGER than the Athena and can not serve as a mobile phone. In time, the real UMPC that does it all will come, but when ???? is anybody's guess.
I was in the market for a new phone and laptop, and after getting the Athena I'm not looking for a laptop at this point. As the last poster said, its not perfect, but its close.
I own a Asus R2H UMPC along with my Athena, and i dont think that the athena type devices will replace umpc's or laptops in the near future, I believe that its windows mobile that limits their usefulness,
On my UMPC, i can open multiple windows at the same time, have tabbed browsing, be chatting to 3 of 4 people in messenger and very easily switch between them all.
In theory, my Athena can do all of these things, but in practise, the graphics are way too slow to switch between apps quickly (i believe this is a lack of driver issue though), you cant do tabbed browsing, and msn messenger on the athena is less than useless for me !, everything in WM seems very clunky and slow compared to my UMPC, the 2 do live side by side, but there's too many features that overlap between the 2 devices really, and i will likely be selling my athena soon to get a smaller mobile phone with a gps in it for sat nav (and one that has a graphics driver in it so that my phone can update tomtom at more than 1 frame every 3 seconds !!)
Overall, i think you either need to accept the limitations of the athena and use it as it is, or get a smaller mobile and a decent umpc like the R2H
Mosser said:
I own a Asus R2H UMPC along with my Athena, and i dont think that the athena type devices will replace umpc's or laptops in the near future, I believe that its windows mobile that limits their usefulness,
On my UMPC, i can open multiple windows at the same time, have tabbed browsing, be chatting to 3 of 4 people in messenger and very easily switch between them all.
In theory, my Athena can do all of these things, but in practise, the graphics are way too slow to switch between apps quickly (i believe this is a lack of driver issue though), you cant do tabbed browsing, and msn messenger on the athena is less than useless for me !, everything in WM seems very clunky and slow compared to my UMPC, the 2 do live side by side, but there's too many features that overlap between the 2 devices really, and i will likely be selling my athena soon to get a smaller mobile phone with a gps in it for sat nav (and one that has a graphics driver in it so that my phone can update tomtom at more than 1 frame every 3 seconds !!)
Overall, i think you either need to accept the limitations of the athena and use it as it is, or get a smaller mobile and a decent umpc like the R2H
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Opera, netfront 3.5 and mozilla all do tabbed browsing on the athena !
Mosser said:
I own a Asus R2H UMPC along with my Athena, and i dont think that the athena type devices will replace umpc's or laptops in the near future, I believe that its windows mobile that limits their usefulness,
On my UMPC, i can open multiple windows at the same time, have tabbed browsing, be chatting to 3 of 4 people in messenger and very easily switch between them all.
In theory, my Athena can do all of these things, but in practise, the graphics are way too slow to switch between apps quickly (i believe this is a lack of driver issue though), you cant do tabbed browsing, and msn messenger on the athena is less than useless for me !, everything in WM seems very clunky and slow compared to my UMPC, the 2 do live side by side, but there's too many features that overlap between the 2 devices really, and i will likely be selling my athena soon to get a smaller mobile phone with a gps in it for sat nav (and one that has a graphics driver in it so that my phone can update tomtom at more than 1 frame every 3 seconds !!)
Overall, i think you either need to accept the limitations of the athena and use it as it is, or get a smaller mobile and a decent umpc like the R2H
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't use MSN for chat. Try IM+ instead. It lets you simultenously chat in Yahoo, google, and eveything else that exist all at the same time.
I've used many UMPC before although they did'nt call it by that name then. The battery last too short, it takes too long to boot up, it is too big to be used as a mobile device and too small as a desktop.
If you tom tom update 1 frame every 3 seconds, something is wrong with your setup. Athena does not have such limitation, and there is no reason to accept such limitation.
eaglesteve said:
Don't use MSN for chat. Try IM+ instead. It lets you simultenously chat in Yahoo, google, and eveything else that exist all at the same time.
I've used many UMPC before although they did'nt call it by that name then. The battery last too short, it takes too long to boot up, it is too big to be used as a mobile device and too small as a desktop.
If you tom tom update 1 frame every 3 seconds, something is wrong with your setup. Athena does not have such limitation, and there is no reason to accept such limitation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second what eaglesteve said about the slow frame rate. Not even when I was running factory ROM it wasn't that slow. I suggest you try backing up and reinstalling the latest ROM for your device. IM+ is the best thing I've seen thus far for the Athena although, I didn't have any issues with msn messenger. I strongly recommend IM+ and just do a little research before the down the device. Plus it packs so much power for such a small device it's worth every penny.
Maybe i just need mine setup better then ?, I've never tried IM+, does it allow you to chat to many people at once ? and can it save your chat history ?, these are the 2 features i must have as i get told a lot of technical information when using messenger which i need to refer back to hours or even days later which is why i use a umpc, and is there an easy way to keep minimise rather than close running programs ?
The battery life on my umpc is fine, but then it goes between car and house and in both those places, i have a power lead for it, so it rarely needs to run on the battery, and i have an additional long run battery for my R2H anyway
tootallk2000 said:
I second what eaglesteve said about the slow frame rate. Not even when I was running factory ROM it wasn't that slow. I suggest you try backing up and reinstalling the latest ROM for your device. IM+ is the best thing I've seen thus far for the Athena although, I didn't have any issues with msn messenger. I strongly recommend IM+ and just do a little research before the down the device. Plus it packs so much power for such a small device it's worth every penny.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What frame rate do you get then ?, i have been watching youtube videos comparing the athena to hp pda's and tomtom running on the ameo is ridiculously slow, i actually miss turnings with mine sometimes because it takes so long to update the screen !
Mosser said:
What frame rate do you get then ?, i have been watching youtube videos comparing the athena to hp pda's and tomtom running on the ameo is ridiculously slow, i actually miss turnings with mine sometimes because it takes so long to update the screen !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use mine all the time, and it is not that bad at all, you would have to be cornering at 80 MPH for the athena not to keep up with you, SERIOUSLY
PS I think you have a GPS fault on your receiver, either that or the port baud speed might be incorrect !
kramerica2 said:
I've looked around and couldn't find anything that answered those demands. The biggest issue with UMPCs I've looked at is poor battery life. After a while, I started to think about the Athena as a UMPC alternative. It answers almost all of my demands except the smaller screen and of-course being a WM device its not a fully capable PC. I wanted to ask you Athena owners, if you think that the Athena could be the device for me. Do you feel the need for a more capable OS? Do you wish to replace it with a bigger UMPC? Do some of you have a UMPC and the Athena and feel they complete each other?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Athena is not perfect but a very good device - it is let down by WM which is a poor OS really given that MS have been trying for years on mobile devices and it is now version 6. If the Athena could run a proper OS then I think you would have what you want. For the time being we all put up with WM failings and mostly enjoy our Athena experience.
I don't see a long life UMPC coming too soon that will deliver everything that you asked for ....
In my belief, there can't be a perfect UMPC (or atleast better than athena) in near future ...
When we talk about a laptop or mobile device, we all need small size, good battery life, full connectivity etc etc ... Athena offers all that, except that it does not runs a fully blown windows, though: it may be running a full linux soon, there is a magician sitting and working towards it, his name is Cr2, find him on this forum.
Athena UMPC Features:
1. Emails: Athena can do wonders using Flexmail. I have it set with our IMAP server and with IMAP idle its as good as it can get. You get emails instantly, you get to view all attachments and everything that outlook can do on windows xp.
2. Browsing: Opera 8.5 alone itself is good enough for most of the websites, Netscape 3.5 and Opera 9.5 beta installed can take you 99% close to laptops or windows xp exp. Wait for some months and you won't even see that 1% difference.
3. Document editing: Install Softmaker office 2008. Once installed you will get to work on any document you want, make small changes and save/send them across.
4. For developers: Install Cedit, resco explorer (with ftp add-on) and there you go, you have a programmers editor and ftp support to download/upload pages from your website.
5. For db admins: Download and install PocketSqlMan, this will enable you to administer any mssql server (and you don't need to install anything on the server machine, just install PocketSqlMan on your ppc and connect to any ms sql server).
6. Chat: IM+ is the way to go, simply awesome. Multi chat, quick interface.
7. GPS: Set it right, do a simple search on this forum and you will find the correct settings, i don't remember them of hand.
8. Multimedia: With 8gb storage (and 12 gb minisds already in market) you cannot ask for more here. Install TCPMP, the core pocket media player and you can play almost anything, youtube videos, divx etc etc
9. Games: There are a handfull of games for pocket pcs, i am sure you will find something to keep you busy (while i prefer to keep it light and spend time on solitaire mostly).
10. System admins: There is PocketPutty for Linux admins and Remote desktop installed on the device already.
I mean what else people are looking for in a UMPC ... maybe i am those satisfied types, but do let us know what is missing and probably people developing Pk 4.0 can pick things up from here and make it an even greater ROM release.
...
dheerajjuneja said:
In my belief, there can't be a perfect UMPC (or atleast better than athena) in near future ...
When we talk about a laptop or mobile device, we all need small size, good battery life, full connectivity etc etc ... Athena offers all that, except that it does not runs a fully blown windows, though: it may be running a full linux soon, there is a magician sitting and working towards it, his name is Cr2, find him on this forum.
Athena UMPC Features:
1. Emails: Athena can do wonders using Flexmail. I have it set with our IMAP server and with IMAP idle its as good as it can get. You get emails instantly, you get to view all attachments and everything that outlook can do on windows xp.
2. Browsing: Opera 8.5 alone itself is good enough for most of the websites, Netscape 3.5 and Opera 9.5 beta installed can take you 99% close to laptops or windows xp exp. Wait for some months and you won't even see that 1% difference.
3. Document editing: Install Softmaker office 2008. Once installed you will get to work on any document you want, make small changes and save/send them across.
4. For developers: Install Cedit, resco explorer (with ftp add-on) and there you go, you have a programmers editor and ftp support to download/upload pages from your website.
5. For db admins: Download and install PocketSqlMan, this will enable you to administer any mssql server (and you don't need to install anything on the server machine, just install PocketSqlMan on your ppc and connect to any ms sql server).
6. Chat: IM+ is the way to go, simply awesome. Multi chat, quick interface.
7. GPS: Set it right, do a simple search on this forum and you will find the correct settings, i don't remember them of hand.
8. Multimedia: With 8gb storage (and 12 gb minisds already in market) you cannot ask for more here. Install TCPMP, the core pocket media player and you can play almost anything, youtube videos, divx etc etc
9. Games: There are a handfull of games for pocket pcs, i am sure you will find something to keep you busy (while i prefer to keep it light and spend time on solitaire mostly).
10. System admins: There is PocketPutty for Linux admins and Remote desktop installed on the device already.
I mean what else people are looking for in a UMPC ... maybe i am those satisfied types, but do let us know what is missing and probably people developing Pk 4.0 can pick things up from here and make it an even greater ROM release.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't play pc games on the Athena.
The USB ports are only 1.1 so very limited with respect to copying files over, and even viewing content is a bit laggy.
UMPCs usually have at least 40gb storage out of the box.
For decent, UMPC-style input you need a separate keyboard. The squishy, unlit, and uncomfortably laid-out Athena hardware keyboard is not up to the job - particularly for word processing and extensive emailing - necessitating an external keyboard for decent 'umpc-style' usage.
No p2p or limewire clients. I remember there was winmobile torrent but that wasn't very good and you had to pay for it.
reolution is low compared to many current UMPCs
Photoshop, Premiere, blah-de-blah - all editing suites are infinitely better in windows, particularly with a higher-resolution screen.
Thank you all, I got my x7500 today. Looks good so far.
lucky guy, 2 weeks, and I'll have [another] one of my own
how you finding it? and is it a branded one, or just plain htc... or is even the x7501 :O ? lol
Rory
rorydaredkign said:
lucky guy, 2 weeks, and I'll have [another] one of my own
how you finding it? and is it a branded one, or just plain htc... or is even the x7501 :O ? lol
Rory
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far its been pretty good. You can see my thread with questions, so not everything is perfect for me. Its a plain HTC X7500 device.
dheerajjuneja's post looks something i could take note of too.
thanks. ciao!
maybe look into the HTC shift. it's only just released and is MUCH bigger but i think it may meet your needs
The shift IMHO is doomed to be a failure:
1. Battery life is far from sufficient.
2. Quite expensive.
3. The WM is too crippled, and from what I've heard isn't very usable.
Anyway, after almost 1 week with the Athena it seems that I've made the right choice and the size is perfect for me.
Glad to hear that ... yes, you made a very good choice.
If you are coming from linux background, linux is going to come to Athena soon ... our magician Cr2 is working on the drivers (Please confirm Cr2, if you are listening)
Anyways, enjoy your device ...
I have and love a Kaiser. Right now I have a Dutty Rom on it and love it as I commute, on a train, about 3 hours a day.
Anyway, I made a bet (6 pack of beer) that I can use an Athena for a week instead of the Kaiser. [We have one that sits unused in our office]. I have the Black Rom on it and wasn't overly excited when I made the change.
What should I install to ease my life and win my bet?
Use TCMP for videos, the Athena has a nice big screen. Both the NetFront pre release and Opera leaked alphas are good for browsing the internet. I would recommend using RealVGA if you would like to really utilize the large screen, 96 DPI is awesome. Compared to the Kaiser the Athena has a bigger screen, more storage and at least on paper a faster processor. I personally use a software keyboard and ditch the magnetic one to reduce to size of the Athena.
does the RealVGA thing work on the kaiser also?
chadvavra said:
does the RealVGA thing work on the kaiser also?
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No, Kaiser isn't a VGA device and if it were, the 400MHz Qualcom would struggle. It would probably be dog slow.
what a stupid bet
Well ok, I no longer have an Athena and I got rid of my TyTn 2 after a week so perhaps it's not my place to comment..
BUT WHAT THE HELL KIND OF BET IS THIS????
Fine, the Athena is a bit big, but what the hell is your problem with applications? IT'S THE SAME OPERATING SYSTEM so it shouldn't be much of a hardship unless you're an absolute doink.
Perhaps a better challenge might have been to live with a Motorola StarTAC for a week....or even a Nokia 6210.
Tsk.
leoni1980 said:
Well ok, I no longer have an Athena and I got rid of my TyTn 2 after a week so perhaps it's not my place to comment..
BUT WHAT THE HELL KIND OF BET IS THIS????
Fine, the Athena is a bit big, but what the hell is your problem with applications? IT'S THE SAME OPERATING SYSTEM so it shouldn't be much of a hardship unless you're an absolute doink.
Perhaps a better challenge might have been to live with a Motorola StarTAC for a week....or even a Nokia 6210.
Tsk.
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I was thinking the same thing as you, but in less words. Anyway Leoni when are you going to come back on the "wm" side of the world, i'm sure you miss the touch screen. Symbian...tsktsk! lol
tootallk2000 said:
I was thinking the same thing as you, but in less words. Anyway Leoni when are you going to come back on the "wm" side of the world, i'm sure you miss the touch screen. Symbian...tsktsk! lol
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Hmmmm not so sure. Maligned as it might be I can't help but love the old N95 classic. I've got an 8gb card for it and it's the most satisfying phone I've ever used....still. it even has embedded flash support and an accelerometer so the screen rotates automatically when i turn the phone.
Unfortunately there's nothing in the Windows Mobile world to touch it yet - I'm very much a multimedia guy and there's nothing comes close to the carl zeiss optics of the N95, the 30fps video, the flash support, the hardware acceleration, the huge array of multimedia applications and (finally) proper GPS support with Garmin XT or Route66.
The nearest phone to the N95 in the windows mobile world is probably the TyTn 2 and i'll never go back to that again:it's an inferior toy in comparison.
I'd wager a bet you can't list five things i'd do on a Kaser that I can't do on an N95 (aside from the obvious outlook calender issue which is not an issue for someone like me who doesn't use outlook)
one day i'll be back though no doubt.
chadvavra said:
. . . I made a bet (6 pack of beer) that I can use an Athena for a week instead of the Kaiser . . .I have the Black Rom on it and wasn't overly excited . . . What should I install to ease my life and win my bet?
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Click to collapse
leoni1980 maybe you could be more specific. What do you do with your Kaiser and why do you like it? Why weren't you happy with the black rom on the Athena? Why is there an expectation of hardship/w Athena?
You said that there was a train commute. So . . .your thinking entertainment? To "ease your life,"; since we know nothing about you or your life that's a hard one. Don't you think?
In general: Windows mobile devices are all-in-one mobile devices that do alot of things ok/good. In my opinion, they rarely do anything specificly the best. Read e-books--likely the kindle does it better. Listen to music--buy an ipod. Surf the net--desktop or laptops are more powerful. And so on.
So you need to figure what it is you like to do. Then evaluate whether windows mobile fits your needs. Then tweak the Athena in that direction with hardware and/or software.
Seems alot of work for one week.
If I had a three hour commute, I'd surf the one-day deal sites, & winmobile/news sites. I'd read e-books, listen to music and do writing. Maybe listen to sleepy music/set my alarm and take a nap. I don't even use the phone side, rarely watch movies,have no use for a pim.
Another guy would want to chat on the phone, and watch tv. Still another guy would want to sms, play games . . .
Keep track of your time, finances, diet, movie collection, appointments . . . Facebook, chatrooms, twitter, look at porn, read the Bible . . .
I mean . . . you can do all kinds of things.