I have created this thread after asking this question in a different thread. drupad2drupad suggested i create a thread and sticky it. I agree, thought it might be useful to others. Hope its helpful.
I used to always use Windows phones (back in the days of WM6.5), but the draw of android tempted me. Now i am considering a returning to the the land that is Microsoft. The titan looked like a really good bet for me, but i had the following concerns:
Single core: I know microsoft says there is no real need for dual core phones, but a friend of mine has got a sensation XE, and compared to my desire HD, it flies! Even though my desire is clocked at 1.8Ghz the sensation is running stock 1.5Ghz x2. Can WP7 be that different?
512 MB of RAM: This seems pityfull in todays phones, my old HD2 that! Does WP7 have better memory management than android?
No SD Slot: This is just plain criminal, i have a 32 Gig card and its almost full! Adding a slot could not add that much to the price/Bulk of the device.
Screen Resolution: That lovely big screen was a major attractant to me, But 480x800. 640x960 is becoming the norm with screens nearly a inch smaller in size.
Beloved TomTom: This is more of a general WP7 Gripe. I used TomTom with my old WM6.5 devices, it is hands down the best navigation software. I know android has no TomTom but this would get me back to windows handsets in a flash! I use sat nav for 3-4 hours a day at work, mostly in rural places. Nothing matches TomTom for accuracy or re-routing. Come on TomTom, sort it out!
Please don't take any of this as criticism over the phone. I was seriously tempted when the titan came along. Just me venting my thoughts.
Sorry if i hijacked the thread, just seemed like a good opportunity to ask.
So the big question is, to stay with android or run with WP7?
Have you or any other WP7 users got any thoughts on that?
Regards
Your friendly HTC Titan Moderator
Android To Titan?
original_ganjaman said:
Hi there
This might be a good question(s) for you, as you have come from a android device.
I used to always use Windows phones (back in the days of WM6.5), but the draw of android tempted me. Now i am considering a returning to the the land that is Microsoft. The titan looked like a really good bet for me, but i had the following concerns:
Single core: I know microsoft says there is no real need for dual core phones, but a friend of mine has got a sensation XE, and compared to my desire HD, it flies! Even though my desire is clocked at 1.8Ghz the sensation is running stock 1.5Ghz x2. Can WP7 be that different?
512 MB of RAM: This seems pityfull in todays phones, my old HD2 that! Does WP7 have better memory management than android?
No SD Slot: This is just plain criminal, i have a 32 Gig card and its almost full! Adding a slot could not add that much to the price/Bulk of the device.
Screen Resolution: That lovely big screen was a major attractant to me, But 480x800. 640x960 is becoming the norm with screens nearly a inch smaller in size.
Beloved TomTom: This is more of a general WP7 Gripe. I used TomTom with my old WM6.5 devices, it is hands down the best navigation software. I know android has no TomTom but this would get me back to windows handsets in a flash! I use sat nav for 3-4 hoursa day at work, mostly in rural places. Nothing matches TomTom for accuracy or re-routing. Come on TomTom, sort it out!
Please don't take any of this as criticism over the phone. I was seriously tempted when the titan came along. Just me venting my thoughts.
Sorry if i hijacked the thread, just seemed like a good opportunity to ask.
So the big question is, to stay with android or run with WP7?
Have you or any other WP7 users got any thoughts on that?
Regards
Your friendly HTC Titan Moderator
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi!
I am so glad you asked this!
Probably your question and my answers need to be stickied somewhere, because I have been long time user of WinMo 6 and 6.5 and then Android's so called openness tempted me. I gave it a shot too. Ran gingerbread stock ROM with 1Ghz processor, ran Cyanogenmod 7 as well as custom gingerbread ROMs. Over clock to even 1.3 Ghz make that android pant for breath and oh those force closes! I still get those nightmares about things force closing right when you are trying to show off how cool your phone is with all those apps in it!
So I gathered courage (and money) to jump the android ship even after the reviews saying ICS will make it all better for android. Guess what? I don't regret it at all. I am so glad I made that switch.
Windows Phone 7 - is what professionals can design. Android is what open source can give. I just tweeted this morning about an interesting article that said, why Android will stay sluggish compared iOS and WP for rest of it's life until they do something what Microsoft did - it's in their framework.
They need that huge processor and huge dual cores because they got their framework wrong. The way they manage memory is ridiculous now that I have understood the difference between WP and Android. I know this will make my post long, but I think it's best if I summarize that article:
1) The UI rendering in android isnt done by separate dedicated thread in framework like WP7 or 7.5 does. So the priority of rendering UI is same as anything else on the phone = more memory requirement
2) In WP each view is rendered separately and stored in the memory. However in Android the UI is flattened before rendering. So this makes android to redraw the whole screen elements from scratch = more processing power
3) About memory - I think this is very much a personal preference. I don't sync my documents to my phone, I keep them on the SkyDrive most of the time. The only things that take up my memory is my songs, lots of them. But my requirement is nothing compared to yours. Say roughly 250 songs = 1GB, I will need to have 8000 songs that I listen to. Honestly, by the time I finish listening to these 8000 songs even once, I am sure there will be atleast 200 new songs. So I don't bother with music or storage much. 12GB serves me well.
4) Screen Res - If you are using AMOLED on Android, you will miss it for may be 3 days. If you are using LCD - you won't notice much difference in resolution. It would have been nicer to get higher res as you suggested, but for this price - it's much worth it with this UI!
5) TomTom - you've got to try Bing Maps! Come on, if you are on android and already don't have TomTom, I bet you've settled for something else. So if you can settle for something else on Android, why not on WP? And the market apps are being added, I don't think TomTom is much farther.
After such a lengthy post, I think I should add, that I've used exactly same spec and same size phone i.e. HTC Sensation XL on the side with HTC Titan. Sensation XL runs Android, Titan runs WP7.
I can bet anyone £500, without rooting and overclocking Sensation XL - show me that it works and looks as good as Titan! - It doesn't.
Every evening I try to play with Sensation XL, trying to make myself regret buying WP because I don't have so called 'must have apps' - but that counts for nothing as soon as I see live tiles on WP and think of the flawless working.
Hint: I bought both phones 3 weeks ago. I got 8 force closes and 2 reboots on Sensation XL so far. I haven't got single freeze or reboot on Titan. - see how different WP7 is compared to 6.5?
Sorry, I forgot to add - if you are a phone user whose life depends more on apps than flawless UI, integration and speed - Don't switch from Android. WP will need at least 12-15 months to have even half the apps (good or ****e) any other platform has.
original_ganjaman said:
Hi there
This might be a good question(s) for you, as you have come from a android device.
I used to always use Windows phones (back in the days of WM6.5), but the draw of android tempted me. Now i am considering a returning to the the land that is Microsoft. The titan looked like a really good bet for me, but i had the following concerns:
Single core: I know microsoft says there is no real need for dual core phones, but a friend of mine has got a sensation XE, and compared to my desire HD, it flies! Even though my desire is clocked at 1.8Ghz the sensation is running stock 1.5Ghz x2. Can WP7 be that different?
512 MB of RAM: This seems pityfull in todays phones, my old HD2 that! Does WP7 have better memory management than android?
No SD Slot: This is just plain criminal, i have a 32 Gig card and its almost full! Adding a slot could not add that much to the price/Bulk of the device.
Screen Resolution: That lovely big screen was a major attractant to me, But 480x800. 640x960 is becoming the norm with screens nearly a inch smaller in size.
Beloved TomTom: This is more of a general WP7 Gripe. I used TomTom with my old WM6.5 devices, it is hands down the best navigation software. I know android has no TomTom but this would get me back to windows handsets in a flash! I use sat nav for 3-4 hoursa day at work, mostly in rural places. Nothing matches TomTom for accuracy or re-routing. Come on TomTom, sort it out!
Please don't take any of this as criticism over the phone. I was seriously tempted when the titan came along. Just me venting my thoughts.
Sorry if i hijacked the thread, just seemed like a good opportunity to ask.
So the big question is, to stay with android or run with WP7?
Have you or any other WP7 users got any thoughts on that?
Regards
Your friendly HTC Titan Moderator
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Single core - My experiences with WP7 have gone back to the beginning and the single core has never been an issue. Even with loading all my email, text message, pics, games, and apps that i use. I'm one to reset my phone (and reformat my PC) just to keep it fresh but I haven't had to do that with the Focus from day 1. I can't say the same for my Captivate which, when I compare it to my Focus being both 1GHz processors, had its slow moments and I've reset that a couple times. WP7 has been more responsive at the same single core speeds. To me this became a non-issue based on experience.
RAM - My experience here is the same as with the single core question. I must say, when they built WP7, they did an excellent job with how it handles memory it would seem. As a programmer and project manager myself, I've seen apps just explode over time (been doing this since the late 80's) because of memory requirements or space requirements. It seems that MS has done a good job keeping the overhead down.
No SD Slot - I agree with you 100% here. As someone who isn't into putting all their stuff on the web I also think an SD slot is called for in all of todays phones. Especially when you reach this stage of feature phone that is supposed to be your one-in-all device. Manage what you have and it will be ok but it might be tedious depending on how often you need to change things up.
Screen Resolution - After handling the Focus, the Titan, and the Vivid on AT&T, I would say that this should be a non-issue for most. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Titan looked on the bigger screen. Side by side, there was no real difference. People might say there is (to a purist techy, yeah) but in using it, there really isn't.
TomTom - There are a couple big names that already have GPS apps for WP7. TomTom will follow shortly I'm sure. Garmin already has theirs as well as others. WP7 is finally getting traction in the real world and companies are starting to get that. I think it was a "wait and see" scenario from a business perspective for most companies but they're starting to realize the market really is bigger than they thought it was going to be.
Hope this helps...
-Cyber
Echo sentiments on memory and cores. I'll add that the best way to manage music is through playlist. I pick albums to sync via playlists on my Focus. Remove an album from the playlist, add a few more, whatever, makes it easier than manually syncing. I also set up auto playlists for recently added and recently favorited music.
GPS, I used the new flavor of Bing Maps and the direction assistance. Pick a destination, it picks the route. The screen goes into a split mode with the upper half a map auto rotating with current direction and the lower half with the next waypoint. Double tap the screen for audio assistance telling you distance, street name and direction. Once you execute the correct turn, the phone confirms you're on the right path with a ding. Just double tap the screen again for the next step spoken to you. Very easy to do while driving with a level of interaction that keeps you on course with out nagging. I loved it.
Single core:
and
512 MB of RAM:
My HD2 runs winmo 6.5 much better than my friend's captivate runs android. Winmo was much leaner and faster (though prone to locking up) and WP7 takes after that, but never locks up. Winmo also uses roughly 150-180MB leaving an excess of memory... my friend is anal retentive about ending processes on android and I don't remember exactly how much, but he always has significantly less memory available than me. WP7 also inherited this good trait. Honestly, the only drawback is I don't think you can play 1080p video with only 1Ghz, but with the wvga resolution that isn't something worth doing anyway.
No SD Slot:
Kind of annoying, but aside from media, my SD card is otherwise entirely filled with cabs and exes and apks... tools not yet available for use on the titan/wp7. The reason there is no SD expansion is because by locking down the file system size they were able to increase performance. If you invest in a larger data plan and the zune market / get the zune music pass, media storage isn't really a concern. You could even set up a home server and just stream your music, or set up playlists on youtube and get the metrotube app, which can load youtube playlists and it still plays the audio from videos while the phone is off (think: music from youtube).
Screen Resolution:
Since there is no HDMI out, resolution is a non issue. WVGA is fine, there is no stretching or pixelation, you'd never even know it was wvga from looking. This saves space as well, as you don't need to waste space with HD videos; if you properly convert all your videos, you save a lot of space and lose no quality.
Beloved TomTom: Garmin has an app, there are other apps, and there are apps to come. Bing works fine. I really don't see the difference between tomtom / garmin or other major brands: they both work fine and those who like one over the other are generally nit picking extremely irrelevant features, or had one bad experience with one and now unfairly judge it as nonfunctional.
WP7 is a new OS, and for a new OS it's doing very well. Android SUCKED when it first came out, but has grown quite well. WP7 will do the same, in both updates and through here, with the hacking / dev community. The base for WP7 is still windows CE, and technically it can support winmo 6 stuff, technically we can do everything we used to on our old winmo phones... when someone hacks that ability in
Here's hoping we can still dual boot with android in some years
original_ganjaman said:
Your friendly HTC Titan Moderator
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Am I misreading this, or is the moderator of the Titan forum not a Titan owner, not even a Windows Phone user?
Wow. That explains so much.
YES you should make the jump! Love my Titan...not sure Android will ever be as smooth and efficient as WP, no matter how much processor and RAM you throw at it.
This device’s brilliance isn’t limited to the hardware either. Windows Phone Mango is really, really good. Nearly nothing about Microsoft’s OS works anything like iOS, while still feeling very fresh and accessible. It’s exactly the opposite of the way that Android normally feels, which is an uglier and slower version of iOS.
Speed is one of the biggest pitfalls that befall Apple’s rival operating systems. Time after time, touch is proven the biggest reason that iOS feels better to use.
At first, people blamed it on specs, or types of touchscreen. But now that phones are all coming with dual-core processors saddled with blazing GPU’s powering mutitouch tech that is potentially just as good as what Apple is running, it’s a different story.
There is simply no excuse for any mobile device not to scroll, zoom and navigate smoothly any more. Period.
It’s crazy to me how many Android devices still fail this simple test, dramatically. The Lumia 800 is a different beast. With a 1.4GHz CPU, underpowered by most modern standards, the scrolling and zooming experience is absolutely flawless.
Menus scroll and flow with well-timed inertia, pinch-to-zoom is brilliant in the browser as well as in apps like Bing Maps. It really is a first class interaction experience that is matched only by the iPhone in terms of smoothness.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From http://www.thenextweb.com/microsoft...device-that-would-make-me-give-up-the-iphone/
drokkon said:
Am I misreading this, or is the moderator of the Titan forum not a Titan owner, not even a Windows Phone user?
Wow. That explains so much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have not misread, i am not a Titan owner let alone a WP7 user. I have gone through a few OS's now, Theming and developing for them. As of yet i have not tried WP7 (but that might well change)
As of the second comment, it is not helpful. If there is anything i have done that you are not happy with, please feel free to point it out. I try my best to keep everything nice a tidy and keep everyone happy, the great users here in the Titan forum help me out, which i am most grateful for. I do put my time into this free of charge, Its all for the love of this great forum.
Anyway, i am here to moderate not to help with the device itself.
For most of thing i have seen, i think you should have bought the Sensation XL. It is Titan in Android, have almost everything you listed.
But personally, when i chose Windows Phone 7 for another 2 years, i have already kept the idea of no other mobile-based OS. Everyphone got its own optimized hardware for the OS it uses. I would prefer my Titan has the Metro UI instead of a custom build HTC Sense 3.0 .
original_ganjaman said:
You have not misread, i am not a Titan owner let alone a WP7 user. I have gone through a few OS's now, Theming and developing for them. As of yet i have not tried WP7 (but that might well change)
As of the second comment, it is not helpful. If there is anything i have done that you are not happy with, please feel free to point it out. I try my best to keep everything nice a tidy and keep everyone happy, the great users here in the Titan forum help me out, which i am most grateful for. I do put my time into this free of charge, Its all for the love of this great forum.
Anyway, i am here to moderate not to help with the device itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Give WP7 a try. It might surprise you. I enjoyed flashing ROMs, testing versions of Sense, battery life issues, glitches, incomplete features, app launching, instability, ...wait... no I didn't.
WP7 is the only OS on the market. The others are app launchers with afterthought to social networking and notifications. Metro UI is clean and efficient while still delivering plenty of info with out launching an app.
I used to moderate message boards back when I was an editor and reviewer for a tech site. It isn't easy, so much respect.
HalcYoN-Fuze said:
Give WP7 a try. It might surprise you. I enjoyed flashing ROMs, testing versions of Sense, battery life issues, glitches, incomplete features, app launching, instability, ...wait... no I didn't.
WP7 is the only OS on the market. The others are app launchers with afterthought to social networking and notifications. Metro UI is clean and efficient while still delivering plenty of info with out launching an app.
I used to moderate message boards back when I was an editor and reviewer for a tech site. It isn't easy, so much respect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am most tempted by WP7. Just waiting for my ideal phone. Thought it might be the titan, but the lack of a SD slot is a real issue for me. But i am sure the twelve gig you get is fine for a lot of users.
Thanks for the support. It is much appreciated.
Peace!
original_ganjaman said:
You have not misread, i am not a Titan owner let alone a WP7 user. I have gone through a few OS's now, Theming and developing for them. As of yet i have not tried WP7 (but that might well change)
As of the second comment, it is not helpful. If there is anything i have done that you are not happy with, please feel free to point it out. I try my best to keep everything nice a tidy and keep everyone happy, the great users here in the Titan forum help me out, which i am most grateful for. I do put my time into this free of charge, Its all for the love of this great forum.
Anyway, i am here to moderate not to help with the device itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're totally right. I didn't mean any offense - you're doing a bang-up job, and this Titan forum is great.
I confused this forum with the generic WP7 forums, in which EVERY thread devolves into a WP7 vs. Android debate. It's tiresome to the point of being entirely counter-productive.
As a moderator, do you think you could talk to the "powers that be" and request a few things?
First off, not all of the WP7 devices, 2nd gen specifically, have their own forums yet, even thought they've been on the market for a while now. Focus Flash and Focus S users are left to post in the 1st gen/original Focus forum. Here's a list of WP7 devices.
Also, the drop down at the top of every forum screen that says "Devices by OS or Manufacturer" only has Android and "Windows Mobile" listed as OSes. If you click on the latter, the Windows Phone devices appear at the very bottom of a tediously long list of old WinMo handsets. It would be more efficient (and more CORRECT) if the "Windows Phone" OS were split from the "Windows Mobile" OS.
Sorry to hijack your thread, and my apologies once again for my counterproductive comment. I don't have much experience with Android, but my thoughts on the Titan specifically may be found here.
I switched from HTC Desire to Titan yesterday. So far so good Everything looks and feels nice and fancy
original_ganjaman said:
I have created this thread after asking this question in a different thread. drupad2drupad suggested i create a thread and sticky it. I agree, thought it might be useful to others. Hope its helpful.
I used to always use Windows phones (back in the days of WM6.5), but the draw of android tempted me. Now i am considering a returning to the the land that is Microsoft. The titan looked like a really good bet for me, but i had the following concerns:
Single core: I know microsoft says there is no real need for dual core phones, but a friend of mine has got a sensation XE, and compared to my desire HD, it flies! Even though my desire is clocked at 1.8Ghz the sensation is running stock 1.5Ghz x2. Can WP7 be that different?
512 MB of RAM: This seems pityfull in todays phones, my old HD2 that! Does WP7 have better memory management than android?
No SD Slot: This is just plain criminal, i have a 32 Gig card and its almost full! Adding a slot could not add that much to the price/Bulk of the device.
Screen Resolution: That lovely big screen was a major attractant to me, But 480x800. 640x960 is becoming the norm with screens nearly a inch smaller in size.
Beloved TomTom: This is more of a general WP7 Gripe. I used TomTom with my old WM6.5 devices, it is hands down the best navigation software. I know android has no TomTom but this would get me back to windows handsets in a flash! I use sat nav for 3-4 hours a day at work, mostly in rural places. Nothing matches TomTom for accuracy or re-routing. Come on TomTom, sort it out!
Please don't take any of this as criticism over the phone. I was seriously tempted when the titan came along. Just me venting my thoughts.
Sorry if i hijacked the thread, just seemed like a good opportunity to ask.
So the big question is, to stay with android or run with WP7?
Have you or any other WP7 users got any thoughts on that?
Regards
Your friendly HTC Titan Moderator
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) and 2)
HTC Titan is faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast !! ^_____^
I understand what you are saying. I had doubts too ...
1.5 Ghz and 512Mb of Ram grants on titan the faster smartphone I experienced so far.
3) Here you have a point. I would have appreciated an SD slot too. I didn't see any Windows Phone 7 with SD card so far. Could this be a way to fight piracy ? (to force people using zune to trasfer files? really dunno).
4) Trust me, the screen is amazing, you won't argue about resolution or anything else every time I turn up my Titan all that I think is "WoW!!"
5) There are several alternatives to Tom Tom. Some are free, some are not, some are 'hidden' ... I hear strange voices in the wind whispering " ... use nokia drive ... "
Microsoft of nowdays keeps on giving us high quality products ...
So : YES, buy a Titan over any Android and enjoy the experience
dragonide said:
1) and 2)
HTC Titan is faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast !! ^_____^
I understand what you are saying. I had doubts too ...
1.5 Ghz and 512Mb of Ram grants on titan the faster smartphone I experienced so far.
3) Here you have a point. I would have appreciated an SD slot too. I didn't see any Windows Phone 7 with SD card so far. Could this be a way to fight piracy ? (to force people using zune to trasfer files? really dunno).
4) Trust me, the screen is amazing, you won't argue about resolution or anything else every time I turn up my Titan all that I think is "WoW!!"
5) There are several alternatives to Tom Tom. Some are free, some are not, some are 'hidden' ... I hear strange voices in the wind whispering " ... use nokia drive ... "
Microsoft of nowdays keeps on giving us high quality products ...
So : YES, buy a Titan over any Android and enjoy the experience
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used a Samsung focus. You could add a MicroSD to it. We were effectively able to upgrade both of our Samsung Focus' with a 32gb MicroSD card. The phones had 40gb of memory. Very nice. Be warned though, that when you try to remove the card and reset the phone, the MicroSD card is locked and cannot be used by anything else, EXCEPT your Windows phone. Yes, it locks the MicroSD card so that it cannot be read by any other device.
drokkon said:
You're totally right. I didn't mean any offense - you're doing a bang-up job, and this Titan forum is great.
I confused this forum with the generic WP7 forums, in which EVERY thread devolves into a WP7 vs. Android debate. It's tiresome to the point of being entirely counter-productive.
As a moderator, do you think you could talk to the "powers that be" and request a few things?
First off, not all of the WP7 devices, 2nd gen specifically, have their own forums yet, even thought they've been on the market for a while now. Focus Flash and Focus S users are left to post in the 1st gen/original Focus forum. Here's a list of WP7 devices.
Also, the drop down at the top of every forum screen that says "Devices by OS or Manufacturer" only has Android and "Windows Mobile" listed as OSes. If you click on the latter, the Windows Phone devices appear at the very bottom of a tediously long list of old WinMo handsets. It would be more efficient (and more CORRECT) if the "Windows Phone" OS were split from the "Windows Mobile" OS.
Sorry to hijack your thread, and my apologies once again for my counterproductive comment. I don't have much experience with Android, but my thoughts on the Titan specifically may be found here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firstly apology accepted, no hard feelings and thanks for the positive feedback
On the first part of your question, i do agree with you the forums are not up when the phones are available. I have had many problems in other forums because of this (Focus S being one of them). But with the sheer number of devices that get released at one time, its hard to keep up and know which ones will be popular. There is a thread somewhere explaining it, but i cant remember where i read it now, sorry!
The second point is a difficult one, i do tend to agree with you. But what about the other builds of android? They could be thought of as different OS, So we get a Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich (not counting the ones before that) So the OS list might get a little complicated. And before you shoot me down saying there not different OS's. Other Android users might totally disagree. Its all a balance of keeping everybody Happy. As i said i personally agree with you, but not so sure others would.
What i will do is post your comment in the MOD section. See what sort of comeback i get and let you know.
Thanks for your feedback and if you have any more questions/issues, please feel free to ask i will do my best to sort them.
Glad you are enjoying the HTC Titan Forum
PEACE!!
rvbarton said:
I used a Samsung focus. You could add a MicroSD to it. We were effectively able to upgrade both of our Samsung Focus' with a 32gb MicroSD card. The phones had 40gb of memory. Very nice. Be warned though, that when you try to remove the card and reset the phone, the MicroSD card is locked and cannot be used by anything else, EXCEPT your Windows phone. Yes, it locks the MicroSD card so that it cannot be read by any other device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did read about the locked SD card. Sounds like locking you down to zune is what microsoft wants. Not a massive issue, i would assume its still easy to use zune to transfer your music/video?
original_ganjaman said:
I did read about the locked SD card. Sounds like locking you down to zune is what microsoft wants. Not a massive issue, i would assume its still easy to use zune to transfer your music/video?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
transferring through zune is very easy and i love the interface, i wish it would be faster though...
there are solutions for unlocking the sd card. the most common one is to format it using a nokia symbian phone. there is also an app made by xbmod which unlocks the sd card but i don't know if it works on any device. i used it on my htc hd2 running yukixda & xbmod's "back to the future" wp7 rom.
however, unlocking the card won't give the ability to transfer usable files to the phone. the wp7 partition has a special format type which cannot be read (yet). unlocking the sd card is necessary if you want to:
- partition your sd card and use part of it as removable storage space. again, this was made possible by xbmod on the hd2.
or
- replace it with another one and transfer the wp7 partition to the new card. also, you will be able to delete the wp7 partition from the old card and format it to be usable again on another device.
Ok so I should be getting my Titan by the End of Next Week and am curious about the Navigation on the phone. With my Android phone all I have to do is cache some of the maps zones using google maps than I can turn off data completely and just have the GPS chip work it's magic. So I guess the question is does the built in maps do this on WP7 and is there a way to completely turn off Data and only have Wi-Fi running so I don't run into overages as I cannot afford a higher tiered plan than the 200mb one. If not I will most likely wind up selling the phone or returning it as I cannot have my Data running my bill through the roof.
try turn by turn nav. You can cache your route at home over WiFi before you set off
Related
http://www.geek.com/first-look-qualcomms-new-fairbanks-and-anchorage-mobile-platforms/
The anchorage with its tasty 1ghz processor seems like it might be a easy replacement for the x7500. Who knows when it will arrive and in what shape internally. Some nice xp or linux action on the anchorage might be nice.
I saw that too, and am really interested in getting more info. However, I would still like it to run window mobile, hopefully wm7. XP will be a bad news for me. XP is simply not appropriate as a mobile, from the viewpoint of battery efficiency, software availability, instant on capability, etc. I'll be disappointed if it is Linux, as third party software just isn't good enough.
150% agree with eaglesteve.
I do hope that by the time these devices come out, WM7 will be out AND that it will, finally, fully support VGA and higher resolutions, and provide a truely ergonomical and good-looking user interface without the need for heavy tuning.
That will make the GHz processor more than a marketing argument in my opinion.
Thanks for the heads-up !
HeartOfDarkness said:
150% agree with eaglesteve.
I do hope that by the time these devices come out, WM7 will be out AND that it will, finally, fully support VGA and higher resolutions, and provide a truely ergonomical and good-looking user interface without the need for heavy tuning.
That will make the GHz processor more than a marketing argument in my opinion.
Thanks for the heads-up !
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By that time iPhone 2.0 will be out and this will be a moot issue. I say this as a Windows Mobile user since the original TMobile PPC phone. I mean, I really like my Advantage, but it's crazy how much time I have invested in it to get it to work like it should have from the first. The iPhone is not for me right now -- much too limited -- but when I watch my friends use them they actually work! And quickly! When the iPhone goes to the next generation, watch out! Not looking for a fight, just chatting.
wgary said:
By that time iPhone 2.0 will be out and this will be a moot issue. I say this as a Windows Mobile user since the original TMobile PPC phone. I mean, I really like my Advantage, but it's crazy how much time I have invested in it to get it to work like it should have from the first. The iPhone is not for me right now -- much too limited -- but when I watch my friends use them they actually work! And quickly! When the iPhone goes to the next generation, watch out! Not looking for a fight, just chatting.
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IMO phone is more for demonstration than actual utility. It is too tightly controlled by Steve Job. There isn't the same openness to foster third party software. Without the richness of third party software and choices, what you bought is what you get. It will always be limited relative to winmo devices. With winmo, each of us is able to change the device to our very individual taste.
I won't underestimate the power of microsoft to bring about a really good hand gestured based OS that works really really well with mobile devices, and that will heap frog the competition. May be wm7 feels like a late start, but I get the feeling that it will be solid.
wgary said:
By that time iPhone 2.0 will be out and this will be a moot issue. I say this as a Windows Mobile user since the original TMobile PPC phone. I mean, I really like my Advantage, but it's crazy how much time I have invested in it to get it to work like it should have from the first. The iPhone is not for me right now -- much too limited -- but when I watch my friends use them they actually work! And quickly! When the iPhone goes to the next generation, watch out! Not looking for a fight, just chatting.
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Click to collapse
Let's see what Apple will be coming up with. Looking at their reputation, it will be something unexpected. However, to see is to believe.
yetdy said:
Let's see what Apple will be coming up with. Looking at their reputation, it will be something unexpected. However, to see is to believe.
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Click to collapse
a 1ghz processor on a wm6 device is pretty pointless if you balance out barely-noticeable speed upgrade over loss of battery life. I have found the difference between windows mobile machines to be more about individual tweaks than the power of the processor: i certainly wasn't wowed by the Athena's performance after upgrading from a Hermes.
One thing windows needs to get right in the next upgrade is that it needs to LOOK AND FEEL NICE, and be EASY TO USE. This will take the windows mobile platform out of the nerd/office exec market and into the mainstream, something that just cannot be done at the moment despite the valiant tweaks of HTC with the Touch series.
Windows Mobile is fine for me, I'm used to it, but for the novice it's long-winded.
The performance of Windows mobile is abysmal when lined up against Linux and especially Apple machines: look at the smooth menu systems on Iphones, and the way the integrated pinch zoom mechanism fluidly drifts in and out. No programmer on earth could acheive these results around the current windows mobile architecture, this despite the fact that the Iphone has a 620mhz ARM processor comparable to the Athena's.
The Iphone is also capable of rendering web pages more reliably than the Athena - the only drawback in this respect is its meagre Edge connectivity.
Linux on the other hand has lots of potential:With open-source development, and loads of easily-ported software it's interesting to say the least.
Haavard Nord, the CE of a big mobile Linux developer recently said " if you want to build a phone using the Microsoft operating system it is pretty restricted what you can do with the user interface due to the licensing agreement between the customer and Microsoft. Microsoft wants to make sure everyone knows it’s a Windows Mobile phone so it limits what branding you can put on the phone."
This could cause problems for microsoft: the pda market is known to be decreasing, while Symbian continues to develop a huge foothold in the market.
If the capabilities of Symbian and Linux continue to develop then I see a great market loss for Microsoft unless they buck their ideas up and start WORKING with their manufacturers.
Get out of the fricking dark ages Microsoft before you screw up big time.
ONly a few weeks ago, leoni, I would have agreed with you about pretty much everyting but now, I have to say that WinCE (the "heart" of Windows MObile) is FAR from being that bad performance-wise, now that I have had the opportunity to dive deep into it (at work).
It's actually Windows Mobile that sucks, which basically is CE + crappy GUI, not Windows CE, and it's WinCE that you have to compare with LInux and stuff. Because Linux by itself may be cool, but you will not be able to run very heavy GUIs like Enlignhtenment on current mobile devices, however great Linux may be.
MY POINT being: WinCE is an extremely solid, fast and reliable OS. Simply looking at how 90% off all autonomous GPS run under WinCE, and knowing that the fastest of them are equipped with 300 MHz processors should convince you of that.
Look at what HTC, which is NOT a software company by far, managed to do for the Touch line in pretty much the blink of an eye.
It's the Windows Mobile team that needs some extremely heavily applied butt-kicking. Both because they still do not understand that people want simplicity and beauty on their mobile device, but also because they want to stick, absolutly, to this "Windows Desktop-like" GUI.
I *think* Microsoft finally got the message. But as they're also trying to converge all their OSes, the future is quite uncertain...
As to the iPhone 2... It's both way too remote, and way too "locked-down" a system to work for me... If Apple wants to have someone like me interested (and I don't mean they should necessarily, but we're talking about how Apple could please me with the iPhone2), they need to review their content management policies.
i agree with you that CE underpins a great many devices we use everyday. I'm sure it's not ce which is at fault, however it needs to be understood that running a basic satnav or epos system isn't the same as running an effective graphics-heavy mobile device.
Another point i don't entirely agree on is about the touch gui - this has nothing to do with winCE, it is an extension to wm6. They did a good job, but it's no miracle! Like i said, windows mobile in the end ruins it, since as snazzy as touchcube and touchflo look on the face of it you invariably end up back at the unfriendly and stylus-dependant windows gui.
On the whole i think you are right in that it is the windows mobile programmers who are at fault, but eaglesteve's boundless optimism is possibly unfounded as these programmers have had YEARS to make the interface nicer and improve the user experience and have patently failed to do it.
Wm6 is inherently the same as all the rest but for bug fixes and some tweaks, what's to say wm7 will be any better?
I really hope they see sense, but who knows? It could be that they've seen the market lead symbian is getting in the mobile arena and are content to release windows mobile updates only for the hardcore. They might not see themselves as competitors to apple and nokia in this field. I hope i'm wrong...
Fl3.0 has just been embedded into the N95 8gb firmware. This means that N95 8gb users have FULL ACCESS to youtube and other flash sites. Nokia are already ahead of the game, and despite the limitations of a qvga, non-touchscreen device it seems that not only will N95 users have a better video and multimedia playback device than Athena users but also full, uninhibited access to most websites.
I see a microsoft-killing PDA on the horizon.
leoni1980 said:
Fl3.0 has just been embedded into the N95 8gb firmware. This means that N95 8gb users have FULL ACCESS to youtube and other flash sites. Nokia are already ahead of the game, and despite the limitations of a qvga, non-touchscreen device it seems that not only will N95 users have a better video and multimedia playback device than Athena users but also full, uninhibited access to most websites.
I see a microsoft-killing PDA on the horizon.
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Click to collapse
I've already seen N95. You would have to hold a gun against my head to make me use it as an internet browsing device. It does not have an acceptable input method. It does not have an acceptable screen. The browser is too slow as compared to Athena's.
It's true that Athana could not access classical youtube without first downloading it, but there is still youtube mobile that you can use.
The Anchorage will be even better than Athena, I'm sure, although I have not have enough info on it. It is at least a device that has GPS, Phone, Camera, PDA, Wifi, Bluetooth all in one, and stays with the mainstream winmo environment, with the widest choice of third party software. That's why this is going to be such a interesting device to watch.
When it is released, I think Leoni you will abandon your N95/N800/Asus eee solution immediately and go for this, despite your negative attitude toward anything microsoft now.
eaglesteve said:
I've already seen N95. You would have to hold a gun against my head to make me use it as an internet browsing device. It does not have an acceptable input method. It does not have an acceptable screen. The browser is too slow as compared to Athena's.
It's true that Athana could not access classical youtube without first downloading it, but there is still youtube mobile that you can use.
The Anchorage will be even better than Athena, I'm sure, although I have not have enough info on it. It is at least a device that has GPS, Phone, Camera, PDA, Wifi, Bluetooth all in one, and stays with the mainstream winmo environment, with the widest choice of third party software. That's why this is going to be such a interesting device to watch.
When it is released, I think Leoni you will abandon your N95/N800/Asus eee solution immediately and go for this, despite your negative attitude toward anything microsoft now.
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Click to collapse
The N95 renders pages just as quick as the Athena - trust me I've owned and burned out every device under the sun! its drawback is - I agree - the screen size and input method, but given that I only use it for short-term browsing and checking information it is more than capable. It allows me flawless access to more web pages than either of the Athena's browsers do too.
the Anchorage is just a mocked-up device. It will never be released, and was simply designed to show off a new chipset from Qualcomm which has lots of snazzy features. The site linked on this page is somewhat misleading.....
The Snapdragon chipsets will obviously hail marked improvements on performance, but they are more than capable of running Linux AND (if rumours are to be believed) full windows OS. With this in mind I fail to see how this has any bearing on my experience of Windows Mobile. For a decent Windows experience we will have to wait for number 7 and I doubt that will be backwards-compatible with older applications since it's going to be a total overhaul.
leoni1980 said:
The N95 renders pages just as quick as the Athena - trust me I've owned and burned out every device under the sun! its drawback is - I agree - the screen size and input method, but given that I only use it for short-term browsing and checking information it is more than capable. It allows me flawless access to more web pages than either of the Athena's browsers do too.
the Anchorage is just a mocked-up device. It will never be released, and was simply designed to show off a new chipset from Qualcomm.
The Snapdragon chipsets will obviously hail marked improvements on performance, but they are more than capable of running Linux AND (if rumours are to be believed) full windows OS. With this in mind I fail to see how this has any bearing on my experience of Windows Mobile. For a decent Windows experience we will have to wait for number 7 and I doubt that will be backwards-compatible with older applications since it's going to be a total overhaul.
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I suppose we just have to disagree over the N95 versus Athena's ability to deliver good internet browsing experience.
You said the Anchorage will never be released (not may never be released). What makes you so certain?
I have no qualm with using Linux if it has the same array of quality software. I heard that the GPS software on N810 is a piece of crap, for example. I have never come across any website that indicates I can get third party software at this moment. It may be true that more software will be available in the future, but that does not help because I need it right now. For GPS, I only want iGO, or one that does warn me if I exceed the legal speed limit; is iGO available on linux? Can I get Cash Organiser on linux? What about creating and editing Word and Excel documents, can that be done on linux yet? What about MobileGolfScorer, which is the best golfing software that I know of? Does it run on linux? If not, is that anything as good? The list goes on and on.
It may be true that with WM7 some software may not run. We know that from the wm2003se to wm5 upgrade experience. However, almost all the software vendors quickly adapted with the newer version, so I'm not worried. I've watched a video interview with the WM7 development team, and know that they do try their best to minimise migration difficulties.
One of the attractions of Qualcomm's SnapDragon platform is its low battery consumption. It consumes between 250 to 500 miliwatt of battery. In contrast, the A110 and A100 chip from Intel consumes about 3 watts, which is 6 to 12 times more power hungry. The Intel's Silverthorne consumes power between 0.6 and 2.0 watts.
The chipset apparently allows even full OS to run on it. This may be the start of a more useable UMPC running full OS??
HTC is currently testing SnapDragon. Let's hope that they adopt it and come up with a battery efficient mobile device.
eaglesteve said:
It's true that Athana could not access classical youtube without first downloading it, but there is still youtube mobile that you can use.
QUOTE]
Or, of course, vTap
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Confucious said:
eaglesteve said:
It's true that Athana could not access classical youtube without first downloading it, but there is still youtube mobile that you can use.
QUOTE]
Or, of course, vTap
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Youtube is only sited as a prime example of a flash-based site. Vtap, and other solutions do not allow access to all Flash 9 based sites.
On the subject of the Anchorage - it is definitely not being released, which is no surprise since its primary function was to demonstrate the Snapdragon Chipset - the device wasn't even fully functional and was only running WM5. HOWEVER HTC wil be adopting the Snapdragon Chipset, this is a certainity.
HTC are demostrably not concentrating soley on Windows Mobile anymore so it's a good bet that these new chipsets will herald more full windows/linux devices - I'll be happy with that!
Maps software on the N800 is not crap - Maemo mapper integrates loads of mapping applications - including google maps and is very responsive. It also informs you of your current speed limit.
And it's free.
Nokia Maps (wayfinder) also works fine. To be honest though I don't really need GPS as I don't drive.
I don't know if any Word apps are available for os2008 as I would never wish to edit word docs, or even view them on such a small screen. The keyboard is so crap on the Athena that I never edited word docs anyway.
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leoni1980 said:
Confucious said:
HOWEVER HTC wil be adopting the Snapdragon Chipset, this is a certainity.
Maps software on the N800 is not crap - Maemo mapper integrates loads of mapping applications - including google maps and is very responsive. It also informs you of your current speed limit.
I don't know if any Word apps are available for os2008 as I would never wish to edit word docs, or even view them on such a small screen. The keyboard is so crap on the Athena that I never edited word docs anyway.
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Good to confirm that HTC is coming up with a Snapdragon Chipset. As long as it is a convergent device like Athena, hopefully running WM7, they would have my money.
I think most GPS software inform you of your current speed. However, very few compares it against the road's legal speed limit and gives an audio warning when one exceeds it. I sometime forget to look at the speed sign and unintentionally exceed speed. Fine is hefty and its easy to be slapped with license suspension. I use iGO even if I'm already familiar with the direction, for the purpose of giving just that speed warning.
I do have lots of words and excel documents created on Athena and shared on the desktop.
Creating words document is extremely productive if you use Tengo soft keyboard. Tengo would not be availalable on Linux again, I believe.
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eaglesteve said:
leoni1980 said:
Good to confirm that HTC is coming up with a Snapdragon Chipset. As long as it is a convergent device like Athena, hopefully running WM7, they would have my money.
I think most GPS software inform you of your current speed. However, very few compares it against the road's legal speed limit and gives an audio warning when one exceeds it. I sometime forget to look at the speed sign and unintentionally exceed speed. Fine is hefty and its easy to be slapped with license suspension. I use iGO even if I'm already familiar with the direction, for the purpose of giving just that speed warning.
I do have lots of words and excel documents created on Athena and shared on the desktop.
Creating words document is extremely productive if you use Tengo soft keyboard. Tengo would not be availalable on Linux again, I believe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You've got a long wait for WM7 so don't hold your breath, there's life in wm6 yet as far as MS is concerned.
Not so bothered about on screen keyboards on N800 - there's a stylus kboard and a thumb kboard which are both fine. I don't do extensive typing anyway, mostly listening to bbc onine or fm radio with the plugins and browsing the net. I do pretty much all my major typing on the EEE. I can't imagine a long period of typing with onscreen input but I take my hat off to you for managing it. I don't imagine you can type many words per minute though!
Igo sounds good i'll give you that, but I don't drive and even if I did I wouldn't necessarily rely on the speed limits given by a satnav. It's a great-sounding feature though.
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leoni1980 said:
You've got a long wait for WM7 so don't hold your breath, there's life in wm6 yet as far as MS is concerned.
I don't imagine you can type many words per minute though!
Igo sounds good i'll give you that, but I don't drive and even if I did I wouldn't necessarily rely on the speed limits given by a satnav. It's a great-sounding feature though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One year passes very fast. By then I would have already got 2 year use and would pass on Athena to one of my sons who frequently fight over the use of Athena with me now.
As to the typing speed, watch the speed demo on this website:
http://www.tengo.net/
You'll then understand why Tengo is so different and unique as compared to the normal softscreen keyboard.
The speed limit is accurate for most of the roads. On some roads the speed limit has not been entered into the database. I understand that in one of the Tom Tom versions, users are able to manually update a particular road's speed limit as well as to add/change/delete road. I don't rely on it to the extend of not watching the speed sign and speedometer, since some road's speed are not there. I use it just to mimimise the chance of speeding when I day dream away, or got distracted.
So, there are GPS software and there are GPS software. They are'nt created equal. What I like about my existing winmo platform is that I have already sourced the best of bread in almost all areas. Finding applications which are as good on Linux platform may be a challenge.
leoni1980 said:
i agree with you that CE underpins a great many devices we use everyday. I'm sure it's not ce which is at fault, however it needs to be understood that running a basic satnav or epos system isn't the same as running an effective graphics-heavy mobile device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you hugely underestimate what a "basic" satnav application does, I believe. TomTom, or others in kind, probably are the most power-hundgry applications running on our devices, especially so since they are, on top of CPU hungry, usually greedy on graphic resources. Yet most of the WinCE devices that run dedicated satnav solutions are 200, at most 300 MHz.
leoni1980 said:
Another point i don't entirely agree on is about the touch gui - this has nothing to do with winCE, it is an extension to wm6.
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As I said in my previous post, it has everything to do with WinCE. Of course, the Touch GUI is, basically, a Windows Mobile application. But, Windows CE is, just the same, underlying all this. And it's WinCE that allows for easy, fast and efficient application development and allowed HTC to produce the Touch application that fast.
leoni1980 said:
They did a good job, but it's no miracle! Like i said, windows mobile in the end ruins it, since as snazzy as touchcube and touchflo look on the face of it you invariably end up back at the unfriendly and stylus-dependant windows gui.
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Click to collapse
Right. But do not forget that the GUI of the Nokia and iPhone you mention end, too, at the nice-looking GUI. The difference, and advantage, we have on these devices is that however flawed the ergonomy of the rest of the interface is, it is at our disposal, while it does not even exist on those other devices.
leoni1980 said:
On the whole i think you are right in that it is the windows mobile programmers who are at fault, but eaglesteve's boundless optimism is possibly unfounded as these programmers have had YEARS to make the interface nicer and improve the user experience and have patently failed to do it.
Click to expand...
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They didn't do it for multiple reasons: they didn't need to (the WinCE platform was self-sustaining, competition faded to nothingness...), and they were even required to make an interface that even vaguely ressembled the desktop versions of Windows...
leoni1980 said:
Wm6 is inherently the same as all the rest but for bug fixes and some tweaks, what's to say wm7 will be any better?
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Click to collapse
Mainly the fact that, in they roadmap, they said from the start that:
- WM6 would be a "consolidation" of WM5;
- WM7 would provide a significant overhaul, in particular with the GUI and the general user experience.
leoni1980 said:
I really hope they see sense, but who knows? It could be that they've seen the market lead symbian is getting in the mobile arena and are content to release windows mobile updates only for the hardcore. They might not see themselves as competitors to apple and nokia in this field. I hope i'm wrong...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nokia is, for now, the leader in mobile devices. Whichever OS they use is, therefore, the most distributed OS. But that's valid for "regular" phones, NOT PDA phones. In the PDA, and PDA phones market, Windows Mobile is quite simply the undisputed leader.
leoni1980 said:
Fl3.0 has just been embedded into the N95 8gb firmware. This means that N95 8gb users have FULL ACCESS to youtube and other flash sites. Nokia are already ahead of the game, and despite the limitations of a qvga, non-touchscreen device it seems that not only will N95 users have a better video and multimedia playback device than Athena users but also full, uninhibited access to most websites.
I see a microsoft-killing PDA on the horizon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't agree more that PocketIE should be much better. In fact, much more than the "Windows-like" GUI, I find it infuriating to have such a basic 'HTML experience" on such a state of the art device, in 2007/2008. If the iPhone has any impact on our WinMo machines, I hope it is to show that integrating functionnalities such as Youtube, weather forecast, etc. is a minimum requirement for integrated functionnalities.
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
hello im new here. i dont have hd2 but interested on it . is it true that u can run android 2.2 froyo rom in this phone? please share thanks
yes, go look in the android thread in here
just buy the new HTC Desire HD and you are done
yes, but the device was never meant to be for android, better to get an adroid device if ur interested in it.
no its all lies.
Yeah, it is just a rumor proliferated by some Android fanboys jealous of our hardware.
So if I buy htc hd2 is it for sure ill get android on it and also windoes. I think its awesome. I saw it on gsmarena website that they put android 2.2 rom in hd2
Sent from my X10a using XDA App
My friend has android on his HD2, he complains about its functionality a lot!
So i guess it's better to stick to WM and use CHT for a better interface
sevoflurane said:
My friend has android on his HD2, he complains about its functionality a lot!
So i guess it's better to stick to WM and use CHT for a better interface
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Android = No good on Hd2
An entire os running from an SD card is rather clunky and just cant really compete.
ap3604 said:
+1
Android = No good on Hd2
An entire os running from an SD card is rather clunky and just cant really compete.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To offer an alternative view:
I've recently switched to running Android permanently on my HD2. I've even flashed the ChuckyDROID cut-down winmo ROM designed to boot Android as quickly as possible, so I'm not even using winmo as a fallback.
Recent HD2 Android builds are quite stable, and the performance and battery life is easily comparable to what I had under WinMo. I use Bangsters version, and it's great; there are many others reported to be working fine too.
It does take a bit of reading to find a good combination of the available options to suit your needs - the most important thing I found was to get the right radio version and a suitable winmo ROM build flashed to your device.
There's plenty of information on how to get it all working in the HD2 Android Development forum, but I can vouch that it does work.
joelfinch said:
To offer an alternative view:
I've recently switched to running Android permanently on my HD2. I've even flashed the ChuckyDROID cut-down winmo ROM designed to boot Android as quickly as possible, so I'm not even using winmo as a fallback.
Recent HD2 Android builds are quite stable, and the performance and battery life is easily comparable to what I had under WinMo. I use Bangsters version, and it's great; there are many others reported to be working fine too.
It does take a bit of reading to find a good combination of the available options to suit your needs - the most important thing I found was to get the right radio version and a suitable winmo ROM build flashed to your device.
There's plenty of information on how to get it all working in the HD2 Android Development forum, but I can vouch that it does work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 on this. Android has come a very long way. However, this IS a WinMo phone and I would not recommend that you buy it if your intention is using android as your primary OS. There are TONS of devices out there now that are either identical to or better than the HD2 in hardware and they run android flawlessly as the primary OS.
Faelok said:
+1 on this. Android has come a very long way. However, this IS a WinMo phone and I would not recommend that you buy it if your intention is using android as your primary OS. There are TONS of devices out there now that are either identical to or better than the HD2 in hardware and they run android flawlessly as the primary OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TONS is really a bit overstated.
Samsung has Android phones of comparable hardware, however most of them perform bsdly (If the reviews are right) and running on Android 1.6,,,,
There are only a few phones comparable not tons.
If one comes from WinMo, it is a nice option to run Android.
I have not(yet) heard of Android devices running WinMo.
The HD2 is still the most powerfull machine around beeing able to run both.
Completely switching to Android is a very definitive step in my opinion.
Beeing able to switch between the two is (again, n my opinion) a big plus.
Also: NAND is apparently just around the corner, meaning one can FLASH Android on the HD2, thus no longer run it from SD. (And loosing dual boot possibilities) This should perform better, and since the IO is not going to SD, probably the batterylife will be longer.
As rumours go: It should be possible to flash to Android and back to WinMo
Another great option for this remarkable machine.
But enough of pro-HD2 talk, Could you give me a list of phones beeing able to do all that?
The Droid X, Droid2, All the variants of the Samsung Galaxy, Desire HD, EVO, Nexus One, Droid Incredible. 3.7" on a couple of those but they are still very similar devices hardware wise. Since xda members make sure to root every phone weeks before it even launches the version of android that it happens to be running is sort of a moot point.
Compared to the options that were out there when the HD2 came out, I consider this tons.
But I think the point of my post was missed entirely. I would never trade the HD2 for any of them. It is by far the BEST phone for ME.
However, I cannot recommend someone buying a phone with the sole intent of running an alternate OS when there are so many similar options out that are designed with android. The HD2 may be the most versatile phone out there but aside from those of us who are able/willing/committed/experienced enough to take advantage of that, your average user typically is not happy with it. I have had 3 people I work with purchase the phone (despite my warning) after seeing what I have done with it. 2 of them returned it. The 3rd constantly complains to me about x y and z.
Anyway, my point was that the OP should consider whether they are getting the phone only to run android. If that is the case, they should take a look at some other options before doing so.
Like posted above, I would not buy this phone if your main intention is running Android. But if you are interested in dual booting Android and Winmo then this is the best choice. I use both an equal amount of time, my info is in my signature and I can tell you I am extremely happy. WinMo will always be my primary but it's nice to use Android to sample a few new games or listen to Pandora. I prefer the option of which to use so I will never flash the Nand version.
But finding the right combination is really up to you as a lot can depend on your Winmo build of choice, the radio, and which Android build you use as different combinations can have varying results. For example I use the builds in my sig with that radio as it works best for me in my area in terms of battery life and connection speed. Now someone in say, New York may get better results with a different radio or different WinMo build. It's up to you to try them all
Maybe it's me but way will people buy a WM device if thy will/need a Android?
Okay fore people who have there HD2 already, and thy will switching to Android I could understand (white lots of imagination)
but peoples who don't ha a device, and must buy one way you will buy a WM device if you need a Android?
I don't understand it!
it's the same fore me to buy a diesel car and after that I will transform it to a engine car!?
not to blame peoples but way make live complicate?
kurt-willems said:
Maybe it's me but way will people buy a WM device if thy will/need a Android?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps because they are used to WinMo and would like to eperiment with Android?
kurt-willems said:
Okay fore people who have there HD2 already, and thy will switching to Android I could understand (white lots of imagination)
but peoples who don't ha a device, and must buy one way you will buy a WM device if you need a Android?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well: Use proven technology, while beeeing able to experiment with Android and eveluate its possibilities/capabilities.
HD2 is the top on speccs and has dual boot capability.
kurt-willems said:
I don't understand it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do: it's a hacker thing, beeing able to put things to your hand, make it do what you want, not what it is intended for.
kurt-willems said:
it's the same fore me to buy a diesel car and after that I will transform it to a engine car!?
not to blame peoples but way make live complicate?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is not the same, it is like buying a Diesel car, adding a petrol engine and using whatever you want (either depending on fuel price, or depending on driving style you want to experience that moment)
Running Android of SD Card is not transforming your device, it is extending it's capabilities.
One can experiment with Android while it is still possible to "revert" to WinMo.
eg: during the office hours WinMo, in the evening Android, as a hobby, from interest, playing games fill in....
Faelok said:
The Droid X, Droid2, All the variants of the Samsung Galaxy, Desire HD, EVO, Nexus One, Droid Incredible. 3.7" on a couple of those but they are still very similar devices hardware wise. [...]
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
still no TONS....
Quite a few, but it is not like HD2 is completely outclassed by these devices....
But remains: wich ones can do dual boot?....
Rest my case
Wilco said:
still no TONS....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Semantics
Quite a few, but it is not like HD2 is completely outclassed by these devices....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct. The HD2 is absolutely not outclassed by any of those devices and I never said it was. I simply noted that they are very similar in terms of hardware. The EVO is perhaps the only one that has same or better stats in all areas. My wife has an EVO but I personally perfer my HD2 because of the dual-boot versatility you mentioned.
But remains: wich ones can do dual boot?....
Rest my case
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AFAIK none. But I don't think that is relevant to the advice I gave.
To reiterate: Buying the HD2 with the intention of running android as the primary OS is in my opinion a mistake. There are better options that do not require -
a) running off of the SD card
b) changing the radio (and possibly the ROM as well)
c) 99% functionality
d) waiting (and hoping) for a quick nand solution
However, already owning an HD2 and deciding that you are bored with WM is completely understandable. If the OP is good with tech/gagets, experienced with WinMo, enjoys the occasional hard-reset when tweaking has gone awry, and wants a phone that can dual-boot WM and droid, then the HD2 is an outstanding choice for him/her. If the OP wants to buy an HD2 and use nothing but android on it... I think that is kind of silly. Since they never made clear thier intent, this is really all pointless speculation.
ap3604 I can also report, the android ins't better than hd2 in native OS
Wilco said:
Perhaps because they are used to WinMo and would like to eperiment with Android?
Well: Use proven technology, while beeeing able to experiment with Android and eveluate its possibilities/capabilities.
HD2 is the top on speccs and has dual boot capability.
I do: it's a hacker thing, beeing able to put things to your hand, make it do what you want, not what it is intended for.
It is not the same, it is like buying a Diesel car, adding a petrol engine and using whatever you want (either depending on fuel price, or depending on driving style you want to experience that moment)
Running Android of SD Card is not transforming your device, it is extending it's capabilities.
One can experiment with Android while it is still possible to "revert" to WinMo.
eg: during the office hours WinMo, in the evening Android, as a hobby, from interest, playing games fill in....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Faelok said:
Semantics
You are correct. The HD2 is absolutely not outclassed by any of those devices and I never said it was. I simply noted that they are very similar in terms of hardware. The EVO is perhaps the only one that has same or better stats in all areas. My wife has an EVO but I personally perfer my HD2 because of the dual-boot versatility you mentioned.
AFAIK none. But I don't think that is relevant to the advice I gave.
To reiterate: Buying the HD2 with the intention of running android as the primary OS is in my opinion a mistake. There are better options that do not require -
a) running off of the SD card
b) changing the radio (and possibly the ROM as well)
c) 99% functionality
d) waiting (and hoping) for a quick nand solution
However, already owning an HD2 and deciding that you are bored with WM is completely understandable. If the OP is good with tech/gagets, experienced with WinMo, enjoys the occasional hard-reset when tweaking has gone awry, and wants a phone that can dual-boot WM and droid, then the HD2 is an outstanding choice for him/her. If the OP wants to buy an HD2 and use nothing but android on it... I think that is kind of silly. Since they never made clear thier intent, this is really all pointless speculation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All you guy's statements are on point.
My experience is coming from the G1 phone - HD2. I loved Android when it was on my G1. I rooted, hacked, and flashed a billion times (exaggerated; but felt like it). But when I found out that the HD2 was coming to the US, I had to jump on it. The hardware and spec sheet was HUGE compared to the phones that were available in the US at the time. C'mon, 4.3" screen vs. a 3.2"? No contest. I'm a multimedia geek, and this was a huge plus!
I love my HD2. WM was a new experience for me thus I read pages after pages after pages just so I can better my phone than the next persons' HD2. You guys above me saying that the HD2 is versatile, YES.. Very much so. I did everything on my HD2 w/WM. But I really missed the Android Market and it's apps...
Now, when Android was being pushed into development into the HD2.. this changed the game. WM + Cookies / GTX / SPB MS / etc is great (still is).. but someone who has experience with Android, loves the OS, and wants to see it on a phone with this much on the spec sheet, wouldn't let it slip by. I didn't. I use Android on a daily basis. It is my primary OS, only because I feel as if I have come to an end with WM on my HD2.
When I found out dual booting WM + Android, this made my HD2 even better! What Android is missing on the HD2... WM has. Or vice versa, IMO. For instance... I use a 98% stable build.. At least. GPS / BT will not work. Not a big deal for me. When I travel, I switch to WM. Done.
Lastly, I do agree with one of the above post. If you don't have an HD2 and want the phone solely for the purpose of running Android as a primary... DONT. Unless you're willing to put some time in running WM and getting familiar with it.
I believe hacking the HD2 to dual boot WM+Android is like riding a motorcycle for the first time... Start off in a smaller displacement bike and work your way up. Don't shoot for the fastest bike or you're bound to drop it.
Hello there.
I'm a new Archos 101 16GB User having a mixed experience.
I feel that what I've got has huge potential, but just isn't being fulfilled - don't know if anyone else feels that.
I've come straight to tablets from netbooks and an iPhone, and have tried not to have any preconceived notions about how iPad sets the bar for these devices, although it does seem to be the case.
I'm finding, knowing very little about Android, that manufacturers have apparently rushed to force-fit a phone OS in a bigger package, which in respect of certain features makes the A101 seem like a giant (largeprint) smartphone. An example of this is the way in which the small, dainty iPhone-worthy icons for Apps can only be laid out on the 'desktop' panes with massive margins of space between them because the Android system seems to rigidly adhere to strict grid patterns for layout when really what users in this day and age want is user-definable pixel-perfect precise placement of elements. Of course, even iPhone is lacking this configurability.
Anyway, I'm currently trying to overcome my disappointment with the UI and the usability and consistency of desktops across horizontal and vertical orientations (Beautiful Widgets look 'OK' in portrait layout, and fugly in horizontal orientation), indeed the feeling that while what I wanted was the unified visual goodness of a WindowsMobile 7 type platform (or indeed the style brought by both HTC and third party developers (SPB?) to WinMo6, or indeed the carefully tuned visual loveliness of some of the HTC Android skins (Sense?) what I've actually got is a pretty clunky and grumpy Linux build that doesn't play well with its own software applications.
This is only a seventy two hour evaluation so far.
I've been looking at benchmarking, and have been led to Quadrant.
So I've got a batch of results, and I'm wondering if anyone cares to compare results and then compare notes.
I've already wiped and reinstalled the fresh FroYo firmware on the device, and am using gApps4 from these forums. I've populated with some apps and such, and had very unsatisfying attempts to switch from the stock Launcher (LauncherPro and ADW) as well as attempting to find usability in QuickDeskPro, mostly to no avail.
So in this 'stock' but loaded with apps state, Quadrant gives me a result of 780.
Then I've rooted with z4root and run SetCPU to give me 1000mhz on demand, and Quadrant gives me a result of 933.
Since then I've used SetCPU to give me 1000mhz on the 'performance' (non-scaled) setting and I get a result of 974.
With people in various forums talking about Archos Internet Tablet devices running Froyo giving them up to 1200 under Quadrant, I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong or lacking?
The 1200 scores you are talking about came from beta software and not the release software. Something was changed in the release version that brought Quadrant scores back down to those of 2.1. Don't read to much in to Quadrant scores though as they don't really affect real world use.
As for apps, the main issue is screen size and resolution. Many apps were not written with a resolution of 1024X600 in mind. So they don't scale very well. Beautiful Widgets is one of those. Once more developers become tablet aware and as Google increases compatibility with tablets this issue will go away.
The Android home screen is what you make it. There are other launcher, as you mentioned, that can be more customized however, there is no real theming that can be done on the 101 until it is rooted. This is the same for all Android devices unless of course you get a phone from HTC or one of the other OEMs that add their own theme to Android.
I think your main issue is that you know very little about Android and you are expecting it to be as evolved as iOS is even though it hasn't been around as long. New version of Android are coming that will be prettier and more tablet friendly but it will take a little time for it to be perfected.
with another beta beta firmware
the score is 1313
cajl said:
with another beta beta firmware
the score is 1313
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
any rumors regarding the release date?
About the same scores here. Topping out around 1000 in quadrant and a bit over 13 in Linpack.
Not sure about your problems installing launcherpro and adw, but I would try one or both again. The stock browser is horrendous in comparison (laggy, takes much longer swipes to see action, etc).
czesiu said:
any rumors regarding the release date?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With the A5A last year they gave us one on 14 Dec and another on 24 Dec.
Allen
AllenPapapetrou said:
and another on 24 Dec.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
crazy Archos devs
no firmware the friday
cajl said:
no firmware the friday
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
?
________________
I get 820 on a temp-rooted archos 101 8GB with 1GHz set by set cpu.
Appearently the H264-coding takes much too long... my htc desire takes a fraction of a second to pass this test while the archos takes several seconds (20+). I read in another thread that the hardware isn't supported yet by Android-API on the Archos, which will be changed in the future, i presume.
Another glitch: The second 3D-test is much slower than on the Desire (7fps compared to 25), with some errors on the moon (black triangles). Perhaps the OpenGLS-driver is faulty in some way. The first 3D-test, however, shows 3-5 frames more per second than the Desire (clocked at 1152 MHz).
Thanks for the input, guys. I'm sure you all know how comforting, and useful it is to be able to geek out on a forum, compare stories and get tips.
BlazingWolf, I'm certain that you're right. Android is entirely new to me other than a quick fiddle (ooh-err) with a Sammy GTab in a branch of PCWorld with a snotty little elf breathing down my neck to see if he could play games on it.
My big mistake in starting to experiment with this device was that I came at it from an iPhone background, expecting to just load up a device with apps from an app store and watch as it sings, dances and performs tricks for me.
I'm back down to earth with a bump (and not in a bad way) because of the greater openness, some would say 'fragmentation' of the Android platform which creates a scenario similar to that in the PC world where we can have any one of a number of preconfigured devices using specific but sometimes unique chipset combinations, with an array of OS's and software that can be installed on them.
I'm sure one day Android will mature to the place where we begin to see such harmony on the software front end in such a way as the hardware backend becomes irrelevant.
My first 72 hours with the device were bitty. I was expecting these instant results and instant satisfaction, and progress didn't really start to be achieved until I'd wiped the A101 and reinstalled 2.2 from scratch. That's a daunting task, especially to a casual user who might buy this off the shelf. Of course, I'm sure Archos are already looking at that and working to fix it so that the product is good to go from the off.
I'm warming very quickly to the A101. I want to like it. I still have an A504wifi which has only ever been used as a much-loved, if clunky looking and with a sucky interface, portable video player, which has had a great deal of use. So I've been excited about the A101 for a while.
And as a device it is an odd one to classify. The inevitable comparison with the iPad is not necessarily as clear cut as it seems. We have to be utilitarian, sometimes, in looking at these things. The iPad fulfils a multiple of tasks, like the Archos, and it does it within a tightly regulated and strictly defined 'controlled' environment which pushes constantly at 'parity' across all contemporary devices (the OS version for example). This gives us an elegant, reliable but inflexible interface, the trade-off for which is the relative safety of the apps in the app store. The Archos, on the other hand, has a less than elegant interface, is suffering from the issues of platform fragmentation and the remote relationship between the OS developer and the hardware manufacturer, has an App Store full of garbage that doesn't work properly but might get fixed one day, and takes a lot of 'taming' as an all-round package in order to get consistent and satisfying results. That said, the nature of the more open platform affords more opportunities, akind to jailbreaking the iDevices, in successfully customising the device to complete satisfaction, and as already said assuming the OS platform is sufficiently developed to catch up with these new 'tablet' formats, especially the larger screen varieties, we could see something really special and really refined happening.
Where the Archos succeeds, however, is that it is clearly a better platform for at least two of the intended functions of the iPad. We've got a better movie player, capable of working with more formats, with instant HDMI output, and with a proper widescreen display instead of the iPad's nearly 4:3 widescreen letterbox squinty vision. We've also got a better e-reader than the Apple ArmBreaker. OK, the bezel on the iPad is easier to grip single-handed than the Archos's much thinner, but much more elegant design, but this is a device I can sit in an armchair with and actually fall asleep while still holding the thing (I know... it happened). With an iPad, I have to keep shuffling position because the thing is so dang heavy.
The Archos seems to be only a few shades shy of perfect, as far as a hardware platform goes.
Granted, Tegra2 might be fun. And definately the low amount of RAM is an inexplicable and bizarre mistake. Plus we could have done with a 32Gb storage option. Oh, and a more easily viewable screen would be nice.
But as I tweek the thing, and accept the failings of OS and softwares, while anticipating future fixes, I'm really getting to like the little fella. I just need a really nice case to cart it around in, and a decent size memory card so I can store more, and I suspect that if someone can make a permanent root happen, that will pave the way to things like 'Startup Managers' so I can stop some of these apps auto loading when I don't need them to.
A question, though... is there any reason why the MicroSD capacity is listed as being limited to 32GB? Is that an actual capacity ceiling, or is it just the number that was most commonly available or tested at the time? Is the hardware limited to 32Gig or is it Android which is limited? Can the Archos 101 'scale' as MicroSD capacities get larger, or are we literally stuck with 32GB?
I've had no issues with build quality, possibly because I don't expect it to be as solid as an iPad, being a cheaper price and different materials. I've never really had much history of busting my devices with rough treatment or accidents, and even my 'expensive' iPhone 3GS has experienced the not-uncommon 'natural' phenomena of cracks appearing in the back casing around the dock port.
One thing I did notice is that when the A101 first arrived fresh from FedEx the box was freezing cold and so was the device, and when I unpackaged it, the top edge of the device (top of the screen when held in landscape) appeared to be quite significantly convex in shape, arced, not separated from the glass in any way, but definitely bulging. I did a lot of pressing back down on the bulge and letting the device get to room temperature before this 'bulge' became minimal. It is there ever so slightly even now, but doesn't appear to be putting any pressure or distortion on the screen.
Oh, and I think it is just the viewing angle issue, but when I hold the device in portrait to browse long pages or long lists, it almost appears as if the screen itself is convex, and I tend to tilt it back and forth to change the viewing angle on each section of the screen. The screen could definately have been executed better, and I don't think it would have raised the price too significantly.
Any other tips for an A101 n00b would be greatly welcomed.
32GB is atm the maximum you can build a sd to.
The std doesn't give more.
There is a new spec by sony that has more, but it seems not compatible.
I'm not sure if you're interested, but my Samsung Galaxy S used to only do about 900 on the Quadrant benchmark with Android 2.1, it was laggy and slow and really seemed a bit disappointing! Then came Froyo! My oh my, what a difference, unbelievable! It's snappy, touch, and it's there, spin, and it spins, breath, and it feels you! And, it also performs excellently in a Quandrant test now, usually in excess of 1700, even out performs most Nexus One phones I think.
It's absolutely blown me away that a simple software upgrade could entirely change a user experience so much! Battery life has also improved dramatically, at times giving me upto 12 hours or more with general use (regular texting plus photos etc). Which is really great for a 1500mAh battery.
So, I wouldn't give up. Froyo is a really smooth incarnation of Android, and future releases will no doubt get even better. It's exciting seeing what having a company as powerful as Google, backing an opensource project like Android can achieve.
While Microsoft and other companies are focusing purely on developing products from a financial profitability standpoint, Google seems to be able to focus more on simply developing a really excellent product.
I think the biggest 'downside' to Android is that numerous companies overload it with bloatware and don't optomise it enough for their hard ware. There is maybe just a general lack of understanding on the importance of making Android work WITH not against the hardware it's on.
Keep the faith though, have a play around with it and I'm sure eventually things will improve for you, otherwise, if you're really disappointed just go and buy a Samsung Galaxy tab or something similar! Samsung does a really good job, even though they take a looooooong time for updates!
Just ran quadrant, score was 1380. Gapps5 launcher pro plus non root.
2500 with urukdroid build
First smartphone was some low-end Android phone on a prepaid carrier, and even though it ran like crap, I've loved Android since. I took a shot with Windows Phone by buying a Dell Venue Pro, but the main reason I chose it (hardware keyboard) turned out to be a bit disappointing, and I kinda came with a negative attitude toward the OS, and eventually returned it. Plus, it was last-gen specs and it had its share of issues, so I probably wouldn't have kept it regardless.
Anyway, I've really been considering getting an HTC Radar on T-Mobile US, because I love everything about the phone (size, design, cameras, etc.)...but I need to be sold on Windows Phone and its functions/capabilities. I'm not too big on customization with Android (single homescreen with no widgets), and most apps I could live without on a daily basis (the few apps like Square I could plan in advance for and use an Android phone). I did like how smooth it was overall, but it seemed like a lot of basic phone/messaging/internet options were either hidden in weird places or non-existent (like manually refreshing certain stuff). And I did update the Dell to Mango, so I don't need to be told about the benefits, unless some of them apply only to the 2nd-gen WP devices like the Radar.
And in this case, I'd either get a Radar and then a Flyer so I can keep Android (and still use it as a phone if necessary), or just the new One S and no tablet.
First of all, everything is about your priorities and preferences. Mobile devices are a personal decision because there is always a tradeoff between cost, power, size, simplicity, customization, prior experience, and battery life. I can only tell you what works for me, then you can evaluate and come to your own decision.
In my signature you can see the devices that I have used, so I have some experience on both the Android and Windows Phone side. Last year I bounced back and forth between the two, but came down on the firmly on the Windows side for one major reason:
Simplicity.
It takes me two or three days to get an Android phone into a usable state so I have my major apps front and center, and eliminate as much "junk" as possible. (Of course, one man's junk is another man's favorite app.)
Windows Phone has most of what I need already set up once I've loaded my Google, Live, Exchange, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts. As a matter of fact, give me the standard Microsoft apps, plus a Google Voice client, and I can do just about everything I need to do.
Also, I find the Live Tiles and Hubs very useful in pulling information together from multiple sources. The clean, bold, unified design of the OS is icing on the cake.
After using Windows Phone, Android looks like a mish-mash of random interfaces and cluttered design.
But that's just me.
I've got a Radar on T-Mobile and a Nokia Lumia 900 on AT&T. One of them has to go this week. The Lumia is about the most beautiful phone I've ever used and the AT&T LTE is strong and fast where I live. On the other hand, the Radar feels perfect in the hand, and T-Mobile's HSPA+ is fast enough. (But the coverage doesn't stretch out into the suburbs where I sometimes go.)
If you like Windows Phone and are a T-Mobile customer, the Radar is a quality choice. Also take a look at the Nokia 710. Some people like that handset better.
That's my opinion, for what it's worth. Best of luck!
Thanks for the quick reply. I do agree that Windows Phone is much simpler, and that definitely does appeal to me. I looked around and saw that it's possible to get OEM apps like the Nokia-specific apps without much work, that's nice. It's also nice that there might be a ROM for the Radar sometime soon.
However, I'm a bit confused when it comes to side-loading apps and unlocking and whatnot. I read something about Chevron tokens, and that they're out of stock, but then the official site charges $9 to unlock - what exactly does that do? And then in another thread I read something about being able to unlock it for free through a student DreamSpark account...is there a simple explanation about unlocking and ways to do it?
Anyway, I might be a little more sold on it as a result...if I can get one for a good price, I might jump on it soon.
EDIT: Also, since I saw you had a Nokia N8...where does Symbian fall into any of this - would it be something you'd ever consider going back to? I haven't had the chance to experience it, and have no idea how it compares to Android or WP7.5
magus57 said:
I'd either get a Radar and then a Flyer so I can keep Android (and still use it as a phone if necessary), or just the new One S and no tablet.
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Ive also had experience of both and getting a tablet is a sensible thing.. I have a Galaxy 5 Wifi for my media player and now a Radar for my Phone.
As has been mentioned here.. the best thing is simplicity, unfortunately, Android is being hammered at us from every angle from the One X to the Sensation XE, the Galaxy S2 and now 3 to the Note and sadly, WP7 seems to be getting left behind.
This year we're now seeing HTC and Nokia battle it out, but ultimately.. its down to you.. My advice..
Dont follow the Advertising and Media circus.. it'll drive you mad and no matter what you buy, theres always something new coming out.. so is it Android, with its many apps and open source marketplace.. which can result in some rubbish apps or WP7 for simplicity and ease of use, but without the customisation, just add ons.
Bear in mind, at the end of the day.. they are just phones.. even though the adverts will tell you different. A ONE X is just a faster Desire.. but its still a phone. I find WP7 call quality is much better than my old Wildfire S and under Mango theres alot more to work with.
Good luck
magus57 said:
...However, I'm a bit confused when it comes to side-loading apps and unlocking and whatnot. I read something about Chevron tokens, and that they're out of stock.. Also, since I saw you had a Nokia N8...where does Symbian fall into any of this...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If side-loading apps is your goal, WP7 is not the best platform. The Chevron unlocker was available to aid developers of the first edition of Windows Phone. But it was never updated for later versions, and after Mango it is useless. So there is no easy way to open up the platform, although some have managed it on a phone by phone basis. But, really, Android is so much more open in that respect that I would stay in that environment if hacking is your goal.
As for Nokia, they consistently make the best phones. The N8 is still unsurpassed as a camera phone. No one has even attempted to put that large a sensor in any smartphone since. It will only be bested this month when Nokia releases the 808 PureView running Symbian. They are ahead of the competition in build quality and their radios usually pulll in better reception that others.
Their move into Windows phone looks very strong, and they have only been making them for six months. It will be interesting to see how that lineup grows.
The Symbian OS, however, gets mixed reviews. Back in the days of Windows Mobile, it was a very strong competitor. In a post-iPhone world, however, it cannot match the mobile operating systems that have been conceived from the ground up for touch navigation. Although they have made huge advancements, including touch-enabling the whole OS, it will always feel a bit more like a super-advanced feature phone OS when compared to Android, iOS, WM7, and WebOS.
Even so , I would say that the combination of Nokia hardware and Symbian represents the best value for money of any phobne / OS combination. For example, all of these phones can upgrade to the just released Symbian Belle update and are faster and have more features than they did when they were originally released:
N8 - Feels incredible in the hand and even more distingushed from the competition today. $340
E7 - The business phone; a tilt-up touchscreen with a great slide out keyboard. $380
C6 - essentially a thinner, lighter version of the N8, minus the super large camera sensor. $215
The problem for most Americans is that they have never used a Symbian phone before, so the whole feel of the OS is odd.
I think Nokia made the right decision moving to WP7, although Symbian will remain a strong platform for them, especially in new developing markets.