Just bought a mini s to replace my exec brick

[steverae]

Hi guys,

just thought i'd post this message up on the forum in case anyone is looking for a genuine o2 Xda Exec, unlocked and standard in the lovely black case....

I am selling this on ebay soon as i have just bought a mini s instead.

The exec comes with all original o2 packaging, cables and cd's and has the latest t-mobile rom installed with no extended rom so the ext_Rom can be used for storage.....

i'm looking for around 400 quid on ebay but would accept offers over 300 from anyone here.

pm me if you are intested, the auction will be posted up probably monday.

[steverae]

well, got my mini s this morning.... apart from the fact it doesn't take sd cards and i'll have to buy a mini sd card,

ITS SO COOL...

Gonna put my exec on ebay on monday

[belfast-biker]

Re: "Just bought a mini s to replace my exec brick"



Next time you'll perhaps buy the correct device in the first place? Were you not aware of it's dimension before you bought it?

Really? :)

[steverae]

Next time you'll perhaps buy the correct device in the first place? Were you not aware of it's dimension before you bought it?


I just looked at the specs, could not go into a shop and look at the device as i got it before it was released in the o2 shops....

Don't get me wrong, the device is the best bit of kit around at the minute but because i have to use this asmy main phone, it's just too big and awkward to use.

anyway, got me mini s now and it's just so cool..... i guess i'll miss the vga screen, but i can live with that especially if pocketvcs works on this device,


cya

[belfast-biker]

What if someone released a bluetooth headset that you HOLD that looked exactly like a Nokia 8800? :)

[steverae]

Nah, still think the mini s is better than the exec all round, okay it's processor is not as fast, it does not have a vga screen and does not support 3g but apart from that, it's perfect for me.

just look at the amount of people who are swapping their exec's for mini's on this forum, you don't see many people swapping their mini's for exec's.....

lets agree to differ on this subject and close this thread..... don't forget i've still got my exec and compared to the mini, it's just too big and awkward to use as a regular phone. sorry

[HPJ]

Steve,

Most interesting post. I have recently been thinking of doing similar.

I love my exec but simply cannot stand using it as a phone. I have a decent Jabra headset, however still feel very odd using it. I think we all knew the size of the thing before buying, however thought we'd all 'cope'. Well I tried and now I'm bored of coping.

Plus, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has felt very vulnerable when having to use the brick in public.....let's face it, it is an expensive bit of kit and having to flash that screen when in close proximity to an apparent 'undesireable' is no fun......

Another point to add would be to come clean about just how much of the Exec's features I use. I am probably the least technical person on this board. I use my exec as a phone, for my emails, for my diary (where it is INVALUABLE, due to my shockingly bad memory...), to occasionaly go on the web, for my contacts.....ummm...think thats it. I have no idea what VGA is, 3G is great but only for speed (never used video phone yet). A quick game of solitare and I'm done. Oh ok and a few songs and games, but hey doesnt the mini do all that?

Would be very interested to hear of your progress with the mini.

Cheers

HPJ

[weasel]

I think that there are many people who will swap an Exec for a Mini and for most of the reasons stated above. I'll keep my Exec because I really bought it to replace my XDA2s for the 3G data speed. I'll put up with its faults & foibles because it gives me high speed internet access pretty much wherever I am. The VGA screen is a bonus too.

[BRosenow]

I have to agree that while I appreciate my JasJar as an internet connected PDA - it is just impractical to use as my main phone. I too knew the specs before I bought it - but knowing the specs and carrying the device are two different things. I guess this has been building with me for a while though - this is not the first PPCPE device I have owned - first there was the iMate (HTC Himalaya) and then the iPaq 6315 (what a disappointment!) and then the JasJar (Universal). I guess in the end convergence is not as important as comfort and convenience.

So - I added a new line to my account for my JasJar and bought a Motorola PEBL (which fits NICELY into my pocket) to use as my main phone. The JasJar is connected as my internet device and the PEBL is only used for phone calls. I am a very happy man! :)

[steverae]

Well guys, an update on my mini s experience.... perfect, small, compact, and does exactly what my exec did (apart from the bells and whistles) in a nice small bo....

now, a big pain in the ass with the exec was that i could not get my favourite emulator (pocketvcs) to run, thought it was a vga thing as it ran on my himalaya with wm2005 installed, so when i got my mini s, the first thing i did was install this....

guess what, it still didn't work :(

gutted, dunno what i could be, if some one could reverse engineer it, that would be cool as the author does not seem to respond to his emaila anymore.

for all those psople pondering the idea of ditching the exec for a min s, like me, DO IT !!! YOU WON'T REGRET IT unless you 3g or want to strain your eyes running the exec in true vga mode..... also this thing fits into a standard mobile phone car holder ;)

[xerxes]

for all those psople pondering the idea of ditching the exec for a min s, like me, DO IT !!! YOU WON'T REGRET IT unless you 3g or want to strain your eyes running the exec in true vga mode..... also this thing fits into a standard mobile phone car holder ;)

...Or you could have the best of both worlds by keeping the Exec and getting a high spec feature phone (I use a Sony-Ericsson K750i with my Exec) to use alongside it.

You are right that the Exec is too big to be a main phone but it is absolutely the best connected PDA on the market. And lets face it, there's no WinMob device on the market that comes close to a decent Sony-Eric, Nokia, Motorola, or Samsung for battery life, call quality, Bluetooth profiles, and other core phone functions like being able to send contacts by SMS.

I've used a variety of smartphones (MS, Palm and Symbian) and PDAs (MS and Palm) and keep coming back to the fact that convergence creates more problems than it solves.

[lie_ui]

For you guys that use dual device (a decent cell phone combined with Universal), how do you handle SMS? Can you use the native built in Universal/WM5 SMS messaging software to send and retrieve SMS via another cell phone?
For connectivity like GPRS or 3G, I guess you can set that up in the Universal so that it will use that cell phone for the connection.
Otherwise, it means we have to have 2 SIM cards, means 2 accounts, means double to pay...
When I was in Asia, I found out that pre-paid SIM card is extremely cheap so that everyone can buy it easily. Not here in the US, very expensive to maintain 2 accounts...

I agree with most things you guys said about the Universal. I myself have retired my Universal for a week now. I have switched back to my old Wallaby, which I consider much more natural for handling calls and most simple PDA things I need. My Wallaby is very easy to carry to almost any environment I have to be, compared to my Universal. The Universal, however, its very nice device to use whenever I'm at home or office environment.
I used a mini before for couple of weeks. Which one do you guys have right now? Is it the old Magician or the new Prophet? How's the Prophet's performance and speed?

[alese]

I have tested Universal last December and enev though I loved device and features, at least for me it's unusable as a phone. Don't get me wrong, I used Himalaya for 1,5 year as my only phone and PDA, but I really wanted smaller device.

I got a Wizard as my phone and PDA to replace Himalaya, but in a moment of weaknes I also bought Universal. I don't use it as a phone or even as a PDA, but it's a nice mini Notebook/Tablet that I use for browsing and more "computer" stuff, like Word processing, Excel...

[BRosenow]

lie_ui said For you guys that use dual device (a decent cell phone combined with Universal), how do you handle SMS? Can you use the native built in Universal/WM5 SMS messaging software to send and retrieve SMS via another cell phone?
For connectivity like GPRS or 3G, I guess you can set that up in the Universal so that it will use that cell phone for the connection.
Otherwise, it means we have to have 2 SIM cards, means 2 accounts, means double to pay...


I personally do not use SMS much, but regardless of whether they send the SMS to my phone or JasJar, I will reply with my JasJar. I have software that synchs my PEBL with my Outlook contacts as does my JasJar, so I always have the same phone numbers in both - that makes it easy to reply to those in my contacts, which is most of the people I communicate with.

I do not know of a way to communicate from my JasJar through my PEBL - I do not believe it is possible - So . . .

As to two accounts, yes - I have two SIM cards, two numbers and more cost. It is not exactly twice as much though, since I was able to strip everything but a reasonable amount of minutes from the phone account and only have an internet plan on the JasJar account. It is a bit more, but not twice as much. The upside is that since we here in the States still have to use GSM/GPRS I can now talk on the phone at the same time I am running terminal server or some other communication-intensive application on my JasJar (one radio, one connection). Very Handy!

[xerxes]

For you guys that use dual device (a decent cell phone combined with Universal), how do you handle SMS? Can you use the native built in Universal/WM5 SMS messaging software to send and retrieve SMS via another cell phone?
For connectivity like GPRS or 3G, I guess you can set that up in the Universal so that it will use that cell phone for the connection.
Otherwise, it means we have to have 2 SIM cards, means 2 accounts, means double to pay...
When I was in Asia, I found out that pre-paid SIM card is extremely cheap so that everyone can buy it easily. Not here in the US, very expensive to maintain 2 accounts...

I agree with most things you guys said about the Universal. I myself have retired my Universal for a week now. I have switched back to my old Wallaby, which I consider much more natural for handling calls and most simple PDA things I need. My Wallaby is very easy to carry to almost any environment I have to be, compared to my Universal. The Universal, however, its very nice device to use whenever I'm at home or office environment.
I used a mini before for couple of weeks. Which one do you guys have right now? Is it the old Magician or the new Prophet? How's the Prophet's performance and speed?

I do all my SMS from the K750 as I'm pretty fast with T9 and SMS by definition has to be short.

I'm pretty sure there is software out there lets you manage your SMS on a standard pocket PC (i.e. not phone edition) over Bluetooth.

I keep the Exec for PDA/Computery stuff like Pocket Informant, browsing with PIE, email, Excel, Word, Powerpoint, TCPMP audio/video, and TomTom. I find the big keyboard and screen are excellent for these functions. In fact I tried to use my old iMate Jam for a weekend away when I didn't want to risk losing my Exec and I found that I HATED going back to the small screen and stylus.

[HPJ]

Steveae:

Having had the mini for a few days now, whats the deal with the slower processor?? Is it noticeable?

I know it will be slower, but in you opinion is it a hindrance?

Cheers
HPJ

PS as-new exec for sale shortly if anyone's interested....UK only pls.

[sub69]

Well, I'm pondering the purchase of a soon-to-be-released P990.

I do wish the Trinity was coming out soon. 3G and WiFi are essentials as far as I'm concerned, but I also find the Uni a bit cumbersome so I want something smaller, and losing VGA and the keyboard is something I'm willing to do...

Even a Muse would do, actually. When's that out?

[Jorgee]

I love my Universal. I came from an HP h6340, so i'm sure you'd understand.

And sorry, after using a VGA device, It would never EVER be justified for me to buy a QVGA one. I just recently opened my H6340 and compared the 2 screens. I just couldn't believe i managed with QVGA for 1 year and thought the display was BEAUTIFUL!

Actually, I really wanted a VGA PDA/Phone and there was only one choice for this.

No complaints from me. I even had a Nokia 9000.... Yes the Black and White PDA Screen. Now THAT was a brick, this is sleek compared to that device.

[agent003]

Whell.... for me this is it at the moment as far buisness management on the go goes although it has a few limitations at the moment due to under development at the moment and the network signal strength stinks compared to £30 phones you can buy now days and i wouldent even complin about its size (already knew what i was getting anyway) if it wasnt for all the other flaws with it at the moment like btooth, battery, poor range on wireless and again poor network signal quality..... I have upgraded the radio rom but that was about it and cant be bothered to keep messin around with hacks since a reliable buisness tool is what i need.

Im waitting to grab a SE p990i until i consider ditching this.

BR

[simon_darley]

well what can i say, group of unhappy uni users eh...

Just thought I would butt in and put my two bobs worth....

I love it. Love everything about it. The size isnt an issue for me, I dont get embarrased easily, I dont mind holding the phone to my ear, I dont care that it doesnt have an external screen, i am either available and take the call, or I am not available and dont take the call, dont need to hide from anybody.

I love the keyboard, I love the clam protection of the screen, I love the quasi screen, I love 3G data speeds, I love the qwerty keyboard, I love the WIFI, I love SD cards, I love the camera facility, I love the video facility, I love the hacks, I love the custom software installed.

I would like more memory, and more storage, but that is all. I thought I was getting 128mb of RAM and 128mb of usable storage, but other than that, I manage well.

We all make mistakes, we all have different choices and needs, but if you didnt get the hint.... I love it. I think the main thing people need to think about in all of this is whether they wanted a phone with PDA functions, or a PDA with a phone function. Mine was the latter. My wife was the former, so we both sold our XDAII's she got a phone, I got the Uni.

Cheers and happy PDA'ing.

[RyanZA]

well what can i say, group of unhappy uni users eh...

Just thought I would butt in and put my two bobs worth....

I love it. Love everything about it. The size isnt an issue for me, I dont get embarrased easily, I dont mind holding the phone to my ear, I dont care that it doesnt have an external screen, i am either available and take the call, or I am not available and dont take the call, dont need to hide from anybody.

I love the keyboard, I love the clam protection of the screen, I love the quasi screen, I love 3G data speeds, I love the qwerty keyboard, I love the WIFI, I love SD cards, I love the camera facility, I love the video facility, I love the hacks, I love the custom software installed.

I would like more memory, and more storage, but that is all. I thought I was getting 128mb of RAM and 128mb of usable storage, but other than that, I manage well.

We all make mistakes, we all have different choices and needs, but if you didnt get the hint.... I love it. I think the main thing people need to think about in all of this is whether they wanted a phone with PDA functions, or a PDA with a phone function. Mine was the latter. My wife was the former, so we both sold our XDAII's she got a phone, I got the Uni.

Cheers and happy PDA'ing.

Agreed completely! Except I don't have any problem with the ram/storage. Increasing RAM means that you are decreasing battery life. If its at all possible to get by on lower amounts of ram thats always a better option for me as battery life is a much bigger issue. Would instead prefer a nice graphics chip. One of those new nvidia ones or the one in the X50 would be perfect. Oh, and HSDPA. Pretty clear upgrade path though, so Im hoping to see this come out in the next few months. :D

[BRosenow]

simon_darley wrote:
We all make mistakes, we all have different choices and needs, but if you didnt get the hint.... I love it. I think the main thing people need to think about in all of this is whether they wanted a phone with PDA functions, or a PDA with a phone function. Mine was the latter. My wife was the former, so we both sold our XDA II's she got a phone, I got the Uni.


Having had several, as I said, I understand the PDA/Phone vs Phone/PDA decsion-point in these types of devices. And having said THAT, I am only disappointed with the JasJar as a phone - specifically as a Bluetooth-enabled phone - I did not make a wrong choice, it just does not function to my expectations. The BT software implementation is poor (static and functionality for example) as is the voice-dialing capability. For example with my PEBL I can use my BT headset to say the digits of the number I want to dial, get confirmation that the phone understood the number correctly, and then have it dial the number - all with the phone tucked safely in my pocket - and with crystal clear audio the entire time. When I can get that level of functionality and reliability with the JasJar, I will once again use it as a phone.

For now, I have a fabulous internet enabled PDA which is unparalled in it's utility for both work and personal use. I would not give up my JasJar for anything right now - it just needs a little brother to fill the gap in voice communications.

[taliesen]

Since i have seena few posts inm here about people wanting to ditch their exec, I am desperately wanting to get one of these devices, Can anyone please let me know if they have one they are wanting to get rid of for a price? Im looking to purchase one around the 20th (payday).

Thanks.....

[steverae]

Steveae:

Having had the mini for a few days now, whats the deal with the slower processor?? Is it noticeable?

I know it will be slower, but in you opinion is it a hindrance?

Cheers
HPJ

PS as-new exec for sale shortly if anyone's interested....UK only pls.

HPJ :D

I find the processor speed of 200 mhz not noticable at all. since the mini s is running a newer build of wm5, i find the speed no diffferent at all, in fact if the truth be known, for day to day use i feel it responds faster

Especially the screen rotate when you open the keyboard.....




really think it has been a good move for me personally, so if anyone is after an exec, i;m willing to sell it for 350ukp (payment via paypal).

let me know. It's going on ebay next week and i will get in excess of 400ukp for it on their.

It is sim unlocked and upgraded with the latest i-mate rom, which can be re-flashed back to o2 rom if needed.

[tomchap]

Yeah i know its greedy but i couldnt decide and i have both a universal and a wizard.

I brought the wizard first and before that, ive had alot of phones, mainly the SPV range, ive always loved the functionality and fair enough how the phones execute the functionality leaves alot to be desired in some cases (eg, fiddly bluetooth, patchy wifi) but since the Wizard, which i still think is an excellent phone ive opted for the Universal.

Wizard Plus points for me:

Great Keyboard,
Wifi,
Small but decent touch screen,
Small pocket sized phone, feels quality to

Wizard Minus points for me:

Cameras not to great,
Soft resetting the phone is a must (was for me) every few days

Universal Plus points for me:

HUUUUUUUUGE gorgeous touch screen!
Brilliant Keyboard,
Wifi works well,
3G (altho havent used it yet, have to change my contract next month),
Speedy processor (ive noticed the universal is quicker, wizard was alot slower to me),
Speakers are pretty funky, best ive heard on a phone so far,
Feels well built

Universal Minus points for me:

Get errors regarding the SD card and not enough power to run it, have to Soft Reset Still.
Chunky (learning to live with it tho!)
Cameras not the best, but seems better than the wizard

So far things are good, im now using the Universal as my main phone, didnt see the point in carry 2 x £300+ phones around with me when they both do similar things.

I hardly make any phone calls as im on the £20 a month 3000 free texts tarif, yes im a text a holic but what better phone to have than the Universal. I do alot of work on the move, yesterday a friend emailed me a PDF document, i wasnt at home, i just connected, received my emails and looked at the document from my universal. Great! A speedy and painless process!

Its still early days but if i can find the tweaks to get my phone just how i want it then i will def keep the Universal as my main phone, and i will keep the Universal anyway just for the email, pda, big screen, wifi connecting, internet surfing capabilities.

The strange thing is ive found that phone calls are better quality than the Wizard to, altho when I whip out me Universal (helllllo! ;) ) i do find sometimes its struggling for signal, and the G symbol has disappeared.

The guys on here are right, PDA or Mobile? It all depends on what your looking for i suppose.

Hopefully when ive tweaked my phone (and since having HTC phones ive noticed its all part and parcel of being an HTC phone owner, tweaking them!) I will have best of both worlds, I dont think i will EVER go back to a small phone again! Ive had Motorola, Samsung, Nokia, Sony ericsson phones and they are all pretty good phones its the HTC or the XDA range of phones that I will stick with.

Anyway, must get back to work now! Oops! Good ol fridays! Ahhh! :)

Hope my comments have helped someone!