Dear all,
I am very interested in the O2 xda but I've heard that the xda has reception problems:
1) it seems to require a strong signal;
2) once entered a low-singal area, it requires a long time to reacquire the signal (this topic appeared in this forum before but nobody really answered)
I live in Hong Kong and my job requires me to be reachable most of the time. I used Treo 180 before but it really really let me down. Not only it required a strong signal, the other party over the phone often heard loud echo. I only used it for 2 months and I had to give it up.
You know, O2 xda is not a cheap stuff and I don't wanna waste money again. Really really grateful if anyone can tell me how it is doing in HONG KONG?
I used my 32M o2xda over 6 months without any porblem. I was using 1010 now switched to orange with very good reception particularly GPRS for emails & internet pda news.
I used in China Shenzhen, Ningbo, Shanghai, Xiamen with China Mobile (CMNET) and is also working perfert.
What I like is the battery. The standby time takes three days plus I used it as alarm clock when I was in the hotel. I recharged only once for my four days trip in Ningbo.
Dear Henry,
Thanks so much for your quick reply.
Did you mean both telephone and GPRS singal reception are good? or only one of them?
Best Regards
I bought my XDA in Hong Kong, (Mongkok) and it worked perfect.
Both telephone & GPRS signal are okay.
At night time I turn off the telephone by press and hold the red hook up button for around two seconds, it will beep and turn off. The morning I do that again and the telephone is turned on.
The other good thing is the speaker phone, when I drive on the road, I just make a phone call then press and hold the green recevied button for two seconds and the phone will be turned to speaker phone feature. Just speak and drive on the road.
Another thing is the buttons can be locked by setting phone - option - hardware button lock - tap the lock all button except power button.
There are two things that determine the radio reception performance of a GSM phone. Receiver sensitivity and Network signal strength.
The xda has about the minimum sensitivity required by a tier 1 operator. That means that where the network has planed to have coverage the device should work. In practise the actual network coverage does not 100% match the predictions the operator uses to plan and design their network. Phones with high receive sensitivity will work better in marginal areas, but if the network has no signal (or specifically if the signal is less than the minimum value accepted by the network rxlev_access_min) then no phone will work, regardless of sensitivity.
In general phone sensitivity has been getting worse (phones get more deaf) over the last 5 years. Operators have had to build "better" networks. This is usually done by increasing power and increasing the minimal acceptable signal strength. So it is more likely that if you get coverage you will be able to make a call.
GSM in Hong Kong is pretty advanced by world standards, so the xda should work fine.
Hey guys ive done a pretty quick review of this GPS receiver.
You can find it HERE
You cna buy these things dirt cheap on ebay.
Do not BUY this GPS on EBAY from ANY SELLERS!
This product is sold by several different companies on ebay that are all the same.
NOTE: IF you win it cheaply as I did, THE COMPANY WILL NOT MAIL THE ITEM TO YOU.
This happened to me, I had a very long and nasty process with them, including false feedback from them (They said I didn't pay etc?? thank God for Paypal receipts...)
etc.
I only resolved this by contacting a senior guys there and getting hastled.
TWO WEEKS LATER, another ebayer, who won his cheaply too had the same thing happen to him and asked for my help. SURPRISED?
SO Do not win this item item for 14.99 GBP+ 12.99GBP shipping, they will try not to send it to you. OVERPAY FOR IT. Then you will get it.
Also, The tracking is sensitive (works in my jeans etc) BUT INACCURATE in a City like London, it just jumps around too much, wrong streets. CONCLUSION: not great for urban corridors.
Mine will go back to Ebay. Soon.
If only
If only I had seen this thread a little earlier. Purchased mine today for around £18.50 plus the P&P.
Yeah they are quite obviously the same company etc hence the timing of the auctions, but not sure whether I am bothered about that.
Will have to wait and see if it turns up - as I did not pay the supplement I don't expect it for around two weeks.
Any other comments on performance ? - this will be my first bluetooth GPS. (If it shows up).
crazyC said:
If only I had seen this thread a little earlier. Purchased mine today for around £18.50 plus the P&P.
Yeah they are quite obviously the same company etc hence the timing of the auctions, but not sure whether I am bothered about that.
Will have to wait and see if it turns up - as I did not pay the supplement I don't expect it for around two weeks.
Any other comments on performance ? - this will be my first bluetooth GPS. (If it shows up).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HMM, after postage etc... it was around 25 quid i payed for it.
As for performance issues i havent had any complaints so far, first time i saw this unit was in Uni (Leeds) where a friend was using it on his Wizard, it was also a very built up area, indoors on the ground floor which is technically the basement but as it is on the side if a hill the room is exposed to the outside. He quickly got a fix etc....
I tested it out this weekend and it worked brilliantly! Hence why i wrote the review!?
It was due to the review that I went for it - total cost inc packaging for me was £31.
I will post as to (a) whether it shows up, and (b) what I make of it, in due course.
Have been emailed to say it is being dispatched.....
It has arrived.
The wife has put it on charge for me.
Could anyone who has one, confirm
(a) how long the first charge should be? and
(b) what lights should be on whilst charging.
It seems that she gets no lights, or all lights if she switches it on. It is currently on charge (I hope) with no lights showing.
crazyC said:
It has arrived.
The wife has put it on charge for me.
Could anyone who has one, confirm
(a) how long the first charge should be? and
(b) what lights should be on whilst charging.
It seems that she gets no lights, or all lights if she switches it on. It is currently on charge (I hope) with no lights showing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just leave it on charge... whilst charging you should have a red(ish) light on... which turns off when its finished charging!
Cheers,
How do you rate it?
crazyC said:
How do you rate it?
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Click to collapse
Very Good! I bought mine last year from ebay and compared to my previous GPS unit the Holox is fantastic! very fast satellite lock, easy to use, good battery life, works well in built up areas and can be kept anywhere inside car without the worry of loosing satellites!
My only negative is you can't use it whilst its being charged!
EDIT:: False alarm, Im confused, how come for the past few days the module has had problems getting a fix, then now it gets a fix no problem.
Turning the device back on later and it gets an instant fix.
Could somebody explain how the GPS works before/after it gets a fix?!
OK, keeping in mind I have nothing to compare with.
All seems to work well, seems to take a minute before TomTom settles down and communicates well with it, but once its up seems OK. reception when not under open sky not quite as good as I expected although ok.
the advertising all boasts about tracking 32 satellites but ....
Anyway, seems to do the job for me.
What I need now is a cheap air vent mount (passive as have charger etc) to clip my M3100 into. Seen some on ebay etc but they look as if they obstruct the USB socket.
Brodit one looks good but at at least twenty quid for the mount and vent attachment.....
Any suggestions?
crazyC said:
OK, keeping in mind I have nothing to compare with.
All seems to work well, seems to take a minute before TomTom settles down and communicates well with it, but once its up seems OK. reception when not under open sky not quite as good as I expected although ok.
the advertising all boasts about tracking 32 satellites but ....
Anyway, seems to do the job for me.
What I need now is a cheap air vent mount (passive as have charger etc) to clip my M3100 into. Seen some on ebay etc but they look as if they obstruct the USB socket.
Brodit one looks good but at at least twenty quid for the mount and vent attachment.....
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL so you werent tempted by the non-slip mat?
My indoors performance is ok upstairs but is garbage downstairs. I wasnt expecting much indoors though. I tested it on the train yesterday and it was working great, even had the speed fairly well on VisualGPSce
Actually I was. Its fine for the Holux but because of the angle I could not see the screen very well at all.....
I'm having a problem connecting it to my TyTN. I don't have the GPS settings that you're talking about in the control panel. I cannot even connect it to my notebook.
hZSoul said:
I'm having a problem connecting it to my TyTN. I don't have the GPS settings that you're talking about in the control panel. I cannot even connect it to my notebook.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Notice in the review i say you need to unlock the applet first if you are using WM5?!?!
Download HTweakC and you can unlock it using that.
If you are running WM6 (which is not clear from your signature) it should be present in start>settings>system(tab)>external GPS.
I did see that however, I wasn't sure exactly what you were talking about. I couldn't remember the name of the app anyways. I remember downloading it not too long ago.
I just wanted to say that I used this with Google Maps for WM, and it worked like a charm. I had up to 10 sats at one point, with the average being 8. Even indoors right now I have 8. Works quite nice. I have the GPSlim 236 though, not the 231.
Now if I can just get this thing to work in XP I will be all set.
I would also like to note that I have an unlimited data plan, and even using edge the map updated itself very fast, while being locked into my position when driving. That is on the Edge network to!
Anyone tried various buad rate settings - does it have any impact upon usage?
Er Indoors already rations my messing around with the hermes time and I can't really get away with going and playing with it and the BT GPS in the car etc.
Holox Bt441
HI GUYS, AFTER READING ALL THE THREADS ALL I CAN SAY ITS ALL A BIT HIT AND MISS ! I PURCHASED MY BT GPS ON E-BAY FOR AROUND £25 INC PP IT ARRIVED IN 3 DAYS AND AFTER A LITTLE FUN AND GAMES CONNECTED IT TO MY XDA MINI WIN 5. I USE IT LONDON ALL THE TIME AND FIND IT VERY RELIABLE AND ACCURATE, A LOT OF THE PROBLEMS SEEM TO STEM FROM SLOW SD CARDS AND TOMTOM SOFTWARE WHICH NEEDS CONSIDERABLE RESOURCES. I HAVE NOW GOT A T-MOBILE HTC KAISER WITH WIN 6 AND LOTS OF MEMORY AND 400MHZ CHIP ! SHOULD BE INTERESTING !
What software do you recommend to use with this? I tend to lose my way a lot around London. Could you post a link, so I can get it at ~25-30 quid.
NB: My first post
Has anyone else had frequently dropped calls even when you have 3 or more bars of service? Also, my wife says that she often hears an echo or a "digital " static while talking to me. I have made many calls from all the same places with my old iPhone with no trouble.
I am loving this phone in every other way, but this is still a phone after all
I would hate to have to go back to an iPhone!
I am having the same issues. The static only seems to happen while using a bluetooth headset. I've only had dropped calls happen in my local area. Since this is where I use the phone the most, it's an obvious problem. I tested this with my Captivate and no dropped call. I am returning my SGS2 for a new one. The store was thinking it might have an antenna problem. I did notice that side by side against my Cap the SGS2 was getting much better reception. Standing still the Cap had a signal of -95, the SGS2 had -77. This is a very big difference. So I really don't think it's an antenna problem but I'm willing to try it rather than give up on it. If this doesn't work I'll return it and wait until new modems start hitting the forum.
Possible fix for dropped calls
Update to yesterdays post. I did return my SGS2 and received a new phone and sim card. There was one area in particular where my ability to make a phone call was near impossible. My Capitivate had no trouble here so I was annoyed. The new phone had some improvement but still not great. Later in the day on the way to bringing my son to Best Buy the phone was back to terrible. If I had had my box and receipt with me, I would've returned it right there. I told the cellular manager about my call issue. She told me to turn off 4G if possible. I don't have a toggle for 4G/3G so I just turned off the data. That solved my problem! I called someone to stay on the phone while driving through the effected area. There was a small span of about 30 seconds where he said my call was getting garbled but the call didn't drop. Before turning off the data it would have dropped numerous times by then.
If you're having call trouble, it's worth a shot.
Just picked up a new HTC Titan at the AT&T store on Thursday -- now unlocked and using it on the T-Mobile USA network. The phone is a fair amount larger than my previous device (LG Optimus 7), but I have to say....I'm really liking this phone....
...except for one thing: this phone is dropping calls like crazy.
Honestly, it appears to be a "death grip" sort of issue. I'm in the same areas, talking to the same people, and mostly not walking around. I'll be talking to someone (even when I'm standing still) and all of a sudden I'm just talking to myself. The bars are usually "high" -- like 4 or 5 bars -- but the call drops without warning. I've dropped 5 calls within the past two days, and I typically have NO DROPPED CALLS during a normal week. Something is wrong.
I've also used the phone a fair amount with my bluetooth headset, but it's never dropped a call when I'm using that.
Is it the back cover? Do I need to bend some contacts in the phone somewhere? Do I just need to swap it out at the store??
Help!
yipcanjo said:
Just picked up a new HTC Titan at the AT&T store on Thursday -- now unlocked and using it on the T-Mobile USA network. The phone is a fair amount larger than my previous device (LG Optimus 7), but I have to say....I'm really liking this phone....
...except for one thing: this phone is dropping calls like crazy.
Honestly, it appears to be a "death grip" sort of issue. I'm in the same areas, talking to the same people, and mostly not walking around. I'll be talking to someone (even when I'm standing still) and all of a sudden I'm just talking to myself. The bars are usually "high" -- like 4 or 5 bars -- but the call drops without warning. I've dropped 5 calls within the past two days, and I typically have NO DROPPED CALLS during a normal week. Something is wrong.
I've also used the phone a fair amount with my bluetooth headset, but it's never dropped a call when I'm using that.
Is it the back cover? Do I need to bend some contacts in the phone somewhere? Do I just need to swap it out at the store??
Help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's when being held then... It's probably a bad back cover or contacts. Give htc a call and see if they'll replace it or swap it at the store.
You could mess with the contacts but then you might brake them if you lift it to far or mess with it too much.
The contacts at the bottom are the Cellular ones unless I'm wrong, but then again the FCC requires all Cell Antennas be away from the head so bottom being most likely with Wifi up top
Thanks, Tachi. I guess I'll contact the AT&T Store first, since it's less than one week old. I'll see what they have to say...
It's interesting that some users have reported "low signal", but not so much "dropped calls" like what I've seen. Actually, I've witnessed low signal locations as well -- and even worse at my house than my previous phone -- but these "dropped call" scenarios have been in high bar locations mostly. DEFINITELY seems like a hardware issue.
Can't remember the last time I had a dropped call in the last decade on Sprint. I've had 3 since December with my Titan. All have happened inside my 100 year old brick home. Fortunately, they were all just random, meaningless calls. Any thoughts on building penetration...AT&T vs. Sprint? ...or is the phone the primary suspect? I have previously owned a Mogul, TP, TP2, EVO, and Arrive with no issues. The Titan does average 3 bars where the others always averaged 4.
Mods - If this doesn't belong here I do apologize, this is such a random topic I really did not know the most appropriate place to post...
also I do apologize if there is a similar post like this, but I did search and did not see anything related yet...
Back story
I was having dinner with my lovely wife at an Indian restaurant, and as I usually do I was carrying my messenger bag with me.
Long story short, left the restaurant without my bag.
I was determined to find a solution to this problem so it does not happen again.
I think I have found a simple and elegant and almost free / CHEAP solution and I wanted to share with the community that has provided me so much useful knowledge.
The 2 different approaches and the pros and cons of them...
First of all, after hours of searching, I decided the 2 best suited Android apps were:
Bluetooth Alert and Blue Unity
The original idea was to use a cheap $10 or less bluetooth headset, toss it in my bag
Once I walk out of range of my bag, the bluetooth signal will drop and the android app will alert me
Bluetooth Alert works by connection and Blue Unity works by proximity
Both will alert you once you are so far away that a bluetooth signal for the device can no longer be seen.
Problem 1:
The problem I had with the original idea is that the headset once paired and connected would take over my calls.
I didn't want that.
Problem 2:
And when I pair but not connect, then there is the issue of the device going to sleep.
Once the device goes to sleep it sets the alarms off. I didn't want any false alarms either.
Problem 3:
Turns out the free motorola headset I found has a long long range, while most people would not think this is much of
an issue, we usually park close to the restaurant, so that means we would be half way down the block before I get an alert.
So there is a possible theft issue that could occur before bag recovery.
I ended up using a Bluetooth Keyboard and pairing and connecting it to my LG Optimus.
1. It has a short range (maybe 20 feet or less)
2. It does not take over my calls.
3. It has a very decent standby mode giving me plenty of time to do lunch or run errands out
So far this solution seems to test out well. I hope this saves someone from loosing their property one day.
Other bluetooth devices may work even better, such as those bracelets that alert you when you have an incoming call
or other devices. You guys will have to experiment and post back.
If you find a better method/app/device combo please let me know!
Cheers,
dtmf