decebal
18th October 2005, 02:49 PM
Hello everyone. As you might be aware I'm the owner of a MDA Pro for about a month. It's time to light up some things for everyone interested in a thorow review.
1. The price
I'm in Italy and I work as a freelancer (this means that I have a VAT number). I followed the german launch of this toy and grab it a.s.a.p. it was available online for non-german users.
Shop: http://www2.computeruniverse.net/
Price: 702 euros
Accesories bought at the same time: 1 GB Ultron HighSpeed SD Card at 61 euros
Total spending including shipping 785 euros
2. The arrival
After 4 days the pack arrived with a beautiful box with my new MDA PRO. Everything in german , but who cares (FYI i am not able to speak more than 2 words in german).
* MDA Pro
* battery
* headset
* leather case
* usb cable
* power charger
* manuals
* CDs
* 2 stylus
* 1 screen protection
3.The unlock code
Everybody knows that T-Mobile has all the handsets locked. Initially they charged everyone 99 euros for unlocking. After a couple of days, for those without a contract (like me) they will send it for free. The story of unlockyng an MDA Pro (german version) is here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=28606&highlight=
It's an easy process.
4. The Universal - first impression
Now let's get to the comments about the new toy. First comment IT'S BIG BUT NOT AS BIG AS YOU THINK. Being used for a couple of years with the XDA I it's not a big jump.
I do like the silver version and I wished for the blue leds, but I cannot complain on this one. Seems extremely well build, the hinge mechanism looks nice and I do hope that it will last at least 2 years.
The screen gets a 10+ without additional comments.
For the speed, I think that it's a little bit slower that my old XDA but it will get better with each new ROM.
5.The accesories
I do like the leather pouch included but I HATE the missing belt clip. So ... to a new research ... after a while and 5 days shipping time got it along a new screen protector and a car USB charger ...
Actually after doing some research it seemed that it's a nice leather pouch that fits well my needs. And indeed it's a nice addition for my Universal.
http://www.pdair.com/scripts/main/viewitem.php?itemid=1923&pdaid=190
Costs: 25$ the case + 12$ the protector + 10$ the USB charger + 15$ the fast shipping option.
Otherwise the protector stories are always dark for me. I am not able to attach well one. The one orriginaly included didn't make it. The new one either. I definite need a manual on how to attach a screen protector. Now I'm using the first one with some small air bubbles. :roll:
The headset is ok but i'm looking into a nicer one even if I have to cut some wires.
6. The battery
As I'm a heavy user I'm glad if i can survive a day without recharging. I'm in Milan so I have a lot of WIFI spots. I'm in a UMTS country and i'm using it heavily (around an hour a day for videocalling my girlfriend :wink: ). I'm also using the GPS with TOMTOM.
In summary one day with around 1 hour voice, half hour videocall , 1 hour wifi and 1 hour bluetooth navigation is a reasonable thing for me.
I do not have a bluetooth headset as I'm waiting for the Nokia like HS-12W type with caller id and A2DP (i do hope that we will have this one)
7.The GPS
No problem at all for my BlueLogger bluetooth GPS. Connected to the COM0 and offered to other apps on COM8 after enabling the GPS Panel. Tested with various GPS apps and tomtom.
8. Applications
Here we do have some problems but everything is working on the new , compatible apps. I'm using:
* tomtom
* pocket plus
* SBSH pocket breeze
* pocket informant
* some small games
For this chapter we'll have other long threads in the coming years.
9. What's missing
* USB host - have no ideea if we will ever get it or it is not phisically doable. only question is what is the OHCI cab on the dopod extrom do.
* A2DP - hoping that we will have it soon
* longer battery - as soon as the ROM will develop we will have it
10. The stability
The voice, video, and in general the stability is ok for this kind of hardware and at this stage. I'm after one ROM upgrade Jasjar and the latest Dopod Radio 1.04.01 and i'm ok.
How many resets : soft resets ... around 1 a day and around 4 hard resets in total.
Hope that will clear up some things. I'll develop the answers on request or if you have others ...
But do not forget to enjoy your new toy.
1. The price
I'm in Italy and I work as a freelancer (this means that I have a VAT number). I followed the german launch of this toy and grab it a.s.a.p. it was available online for non-german users.
Shop: http://www2.computeruniverse.net/
Price: 702 euros
Accesories bought at the same time: 1 GB Ultron HighSpeed SD Card at 61 euros
Total spending including shipping 785 euros
2. The arrival
After 4 days the pack arrived with a beautiful box with my new MDA PRO. Everything in german , but who cares (FYI i am not able to speak more than 2 words in german).
* MDA Pro
* battery
* headset
* leather case
* usb cable
* power charger
* manuals
* CDs
* 2 stylus
* 1 screen protection
3.The unlock code
Everybody knows that T-Mobile has all the handsets locked. Initially they charged everyone 99 euros for unlocking. After a couple of days, for those without a contract (like me) they will send it for free. The story of unlockyng an MDA Pro (german version) is here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=28606&highlight=
It's an easy process.
4. The Universal - first impression
Now let's get to the comments about the new toy. First comment IT'S BIG BUT NOT AS BIG AS YOU THINK. Being used for a couple of years with the XDA I it's not a big jump.
I do like the silver version and I wished for the blue leds, but I cannot complain on this one. Seems extremely well build, the hinge mechanism looks nice and I do hope that it will last at least 2 years.
The screen gets a 10+ without additional comments.
For the speed, I think that it's a little bit slower that my old XDA but it will get better with each new ROM.
5.The accesories
I do like the leather pouch included but I HATE the missing belt clip. So ... to a new research ... after a while and 5 days shipping time got it along a new screen protector and a car USB charger ...
Actually after doing some research it seemed that it's a nice leather pouch that fits well my needs. And indeed it's a nice addition for my Universal.
http://www.pdair.com/scripts/main/viewitem.php?itemid=1923&pdaid=190
Costs: 25$ the case + 12$ the protector + 10$ the USB charger + 15$ the fast shipping option.
Otherwise the protector stories are always dark for me. I am not able to attach well one. The one orriginaly included didn't make it. The new one either. I definite need a manual on how to attach a screen protector. Now I'm using the first one with some small air bubbles. :roll:
The headset is ok but i'm looking into a nicer one even if I have to cut some wires.
6. The battery
As I'm a heavy user I'm glad if i can survive a day without recharging. I'm in Milan so I have a lot of WIFI spots. I'm in a UMTS country and i'm using it heavily (around an hour a day for videocalling my girlfriend :wink: ). I'm also using the GPS with TOMTOM.
In summary one day with around 1 hour voice, half hour videocall , 1 hour wifi and 1 hour bluetooth navigation is a reasonable thing for me.
I do not have a bluetooth headset as I'm waiting for the Nokia like HS-12W type with caller id and A2DP (i do hope that we will have this one)
7.The GPS
No problem at all for my BlueLogger bluetooth GPS. Connected to the COM0 and offered to other apps on COM8 after enabling the GPS Panel. Tested with various GPS apps and tomtom.
8. Applications
Here we do have some problems but everything is working on the new , compatible apps. I'm using:
* tomtom
* pocket plus
* SBSH pocket breeze
* pocket informant
* some small games
For this chapter we'll have other long threads in the coming years.
9. What's missing
* USB host - have no ideea if we will ever get it or it is not phisically doable. only question is what is the OHCI cab on the dopod extrom do.
* A2DP - hoping that we will have it soon
* longer battery - as soon as the ROM will develop we will have it
10. The stability
The voice, video, and in general the stability is ok for this kind of hardware and at this stage. I'm after one ROM upgrade Jasjar and the latest Dopod Radio 1.04.01 and i'm ok.
How many resets : soft resets ... around 1 a day and around 4 hard resets in total.
Hope that will clear up some things. I'll develop the answers on request or if you have others ...
But do not forget to enjoy your new toy.