I HATE my Universal for at least three reasons...

[Chatbox]

1. Damn Bluetooth on the Universal gives static to soooo many different Bluetooth headsets/handfrees.
2. The 1.3 MP camera quality is worse than my bloody webcam.
3. Graphics performance is not suitable for smooth full-screen DivX playback.

God damn HTC...Taiwanese company...Why do they release products that are so "crap"? The specs look good on paper...but the quality of the product is really questionable!

[DavidT.]

Cool. My fish drowned.

[xxnoelziexx]

1. Damn Bluetooth on the Universal gives static to soooo many different Bluetooth headsets/handfrees.
If you search the forum you will find that some bluetooth headsets work without this issue, I have one which gives of static but that is only if I am at least 10 feet from my universal, Bluetooth isn't perfect by a long shot on the universal

2. The 1.3 MP camera quality is worse than my bloody webcam.
Camera quality on most phones are bad, I never use my phone camera unless I have too.

3. Graphics performance is not suitable for smooth full-screen DivX playback.
What frames per second are you using to encoded your movies, I have only had it stutter for a few times on my ones, Lost season 2 on my way to work.

There are a few things you can do to speed up the universal make it run far better, it is one of the best pda/phones on the market. For VGA it is in it's own league.

[jaceuk]

how long have you had the device?

its takes some getting use to but IMO it a first in a step in diffrent direction for PDAS.
If your looking for a normal phone and good camera try a samsung or nokia ,even these megs pix cams are never as good as a digi cam

but if your after a tiny laptop,mp3 player and net surfing on the move than its ideal

horses for courses as they say.nothing in life is pefect but you have to choose how to pick whats suits your own needs the best and make a compromise
this method also works with women :lol:

[Chatbox]

1. Damn Bluetooth on the Universal gives static to soooo many different Bluetooth headsets/handfrees.
If you search the forum you will find that some bluetooth headsets work without this issue, I have one which gives of static but that is only if I am at least 10 feet from my universal, Bluetooth isn't perfect by a long shot on the universal

2. The 1.3 MP camera quality is worse than my bloody webcam.
Camera quality on most phones are bad, I never use my phone camera unless I have too.

3. Graphics performance is not suitable for smooth full-screen DivX playback.
What frames per second are you using to encoded your movies, I have only had it stutter for a few times on my ones, Lost season 2 on my way to work.

There are a few things you can do to speed up the universal make it run far better, it is one of the best pda/phones on the market. For VGA it is in it's own league.

1. Yes, I know there are a "few" that work with the Universal without much issue. That's besides the point though. The ratio of static-giving headset vs no-static headset is just too high. Making the universal a product with questionable compatibility issues.

2. I don't think that's an excuse for the universal in this case. (a) It's not a camera phone, it's a PDA/phone. (b) The price tag isn't exactly low. (c) You've now lowered your standard of what a good product should be like? :?

3. Having come from the HX4700...I KNOW the Universal graphics performance sucks. I used to be able to download DivX off the internet and play directly on the HX4700 without further conversion/encoding. It's just NOT convinient if I have to re-encode those DivX just so that I can watch them on the Universal. The Universal is just INCAPABLE of doing this same task that another cheaper, older PDA CAN.

[Chatbox]

how long have you had the device?

its takes some getting use to but IMO it a first in a step in diffrent direction for PDAS.
If your looking for a normal phone and good camera try a samsung or nokia ,even these megs pix cams are never as good as a digi cam

but if your after a tiny laptop,mp3 player and net surfing on the move than its ideal

horses for courses as they say.nothing in life is pefect but you have to choose how to pick whats suits your own needs the best and make a compromise
this method also works with women :lol:

Been using it for 2 months.
I don't need a great camera...I just need one that at the very least doesn't give me noise/bright pixels...which my (and other people's) universal is giving me a lot of.

The screen refresh/windows redraw on the universal is quite annoying, it's not snappy at all. It's like using those old S3 video card on your computer where you SEE the graphics being refresh on one area at a time :shock: .

To me, right now, the only thing that's keeping me from selling the universal is the keyboard. And that's, subsequently, means it's a bloody expensive keyboard.

I still don't understand why they release such a poorly thought out product out the door.

[Chatbox]

Cool. My fish drowned.

Sorry to hear that.
Did it drown in the hot water (hot weather)...or did a family member piss in the fish bowl/tank?

[cmonex]

strange that you hate your universal... i love mine! probably because i dont care about the things you listed...

[Biffert]

1. Damn Bluetooth on the Universal gives static to soooo many different Bluetooth headsets/handfrees.
2. The 1.3 MP camera quality is worse than my bloody webcam.
3. Graphics performance is not suitable for smooth full-screen DivX playback.

God damn HTC...Taiwanese company...Why do they release products that are so "crap"? The specs look good on paper...but the quality of the product is really questionable!

Maybe you should ask yourself why you bought the phone/pda in the first place. Does it have all the functions that you need/want? As for performance... there are tweaks and stuff to speed it up a little. And the camera... i never have high expectations about camera's in devices where the main function is NOT taking pictures :)

[richardlai]

Chatbox: I do agree that the hx4700 has a far superior graphics performance, but one must bear in mind that it was only a PDA rather than a PDA phone.

As for the price tag: nowadays you get large price tags for tiny devices, i.e. the smaller (hence not-so-good performance) the more expensive. You cannot expect an all-in-one device to beat every camera/phone/PDA. I am not trying to defend HTC or Microsoft, but I just want to point out that you get this in most types of product.

If you're not enjoying your Universal, you can consider selling it so that you can try something else. I live in Hong Kong and I know someone who would LOVE to buy a second-hand Universal for a reasonable price.

DON'T get the xda Atom series though! Quanta - the company who makes the Atoms - is not as good as HTC.

[Chatbox]

Maybe you should ask yourself why you bought the phone/pda in the first place. Does it have all the functions that you need/want? As for performance... there are tweaks and stuff to speed it up a little. And the camera... i never have high expectations about camera's in devices where the main function is NOT taking pictures :)

I guess it's good to have no/little expectation at times, especially in this case.

Let's see why I bought the Universal:
1. 3G capable phone.
2. APac region tri-band phone.
3. All contacts on one single device. No need to sync phone then sync PDA.
4. Portable device consolidation (PDA & Phone in one).
5. Keyboard.
6. VGA display (reasonable quality...crap performance though).
7. 802.11b supported
8. Bluetooth 1.2 (but have major compatibility issues...IT'S PICKY)
9. 1.3MP camera (It was supposed to replace my K750i's camera).

So, if I'm going to a new, different device, what are my options...if any?

[cmonex]

Maybe you should ask yourself why you bought the phone/pda in the first place. Does it have all the functions that you need/want? As for performance... there are tweaks and stuff to speed it up a little. And the camera... i never have high expectations about camera's in devices where the main function is NOT taking pictures :)

I guess it's good to have no/little expectation at times, especially in this case.

Let's see why I bought the Universal:
1. 3G capable phone.
2. APac region tri-band phone.
3. All contacts on one single device. No need to sync phone then sync PDA.
4. Portable device consolidation (PDA & Phone in one).
5. Keyboard.
6. VGA display (reasonable quality...crap performance though).
7. 802.11b supported
8. Bluetooth 1.2 (but have major compatibility issues...IT'S PICKY)
9. 1.3MP camera (It was supposed to replace my K750i's camera).

So, if I'm going to a new, different device, what are my options...if any?

if you need all these you have no other options at the moment.
if you can live without VGA, htc hermes is out soon.

[Chatbox]

Hum...tempting...the Hermes is already available here in HK, if I'm not mistaken. It's the Dopod CHT 9000, right?

[chosl]

IMO I think:

1. the hardware is great
2. wm5 is good, far better than wm 2003.

if anyone/anything should be hated its the absence of rom updates. htc & operators/distributers are so fired up selling devices that they don't care about devices that have been sold. honestly, its only the devices that are sold most that gets the most frequent updates and even then its not enough. perhaps when ms releases microsoft update for windows mobile it will get good (not great ;)

[vondutch]

3.

Try to install TCPMP on you SD CARD instead of the phone. I heared it fix the problem of looking divx movies. On my MDA PRO the performance is great. I don''t have to reencode divx movies I downloaded , just copy and play.

[Chatbox]

3.

Try to install TCPMP on you SD CARD instead of the phone. I heared it fix the problem of looking divx movies. On my MDA PRO the performance is great. I don''t have to reencode divx movies I downloaded , just copy and play.

Thanks, but I've already tried everything there was to try before I came to my conclusion of how I feel about the unit. Such as: install on SD, run with and without XScalar, with USB plugged in, hardware VSync, no zoom...etc, even overclocked (That's just out of the question because the unit became even more unreliable than what it already was. I am looking for a rock solid PDA...or at least can handle one full week without restart/hang/pauses/jerks.)

It is just NOT SMOOTH...watch your videos carefully, very carefully.

As a result, I had to go out and buy a PMP to do the job (Archos AV500...for the curious ones). :?

[int.inc]

get a laptop

then u will be happy

obviously the universal was not a smart buy for u

u are expecting desktop performance on a pocket pc phone plus u are watching too many movies and listening to too many mp3s. the universal is too serious a device. u need something more like a toy.

[Chatbox]

get a laptop

then u will be happy

obviously the universal was not a smart buy for u

u are expecting desktop performance on a pocket pc phone plus u are watching too many movies and listening to too many mp3s. the universal is too serious a device. u need something more like a toy.

Unless there's something wrong in my interpretation, you're saying a laptop is like a toy, and, a desktop performance can be found in a laptop(but the last time I checked, last weekend, there wasn't any hardware raid in any workstation class laptops from IBM nor HP). That, or your advice is warped. Or, you just haven't seen/experienced anything better from a PDA. Feel sorry for you that you can dream big, want more...and only settle for less.

I watch tv eps to and from work as I spend approx 1 hour each way on a daily basis. What's there better to do when you're on public transport? I don't really like sitting in front of the TV like a stone when I have other things to do at home.

[indra9110]

Is Weird.... I Really love my UNIVERSAL ...... until I buy the 2nd one ....
:D :D :D
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/9799/xdacu0.jpg


cheers...

[cmonex]

That's just out of the question because the unit became even more unreliable than what it already was. I am looking for a rock solid PDA...or at least can handle one full week without restart/hang/pauses/jerks.


ram problem or bad software installed? mine is stable as rock. i don't even have any memory leaks.

[Chatbox]

I'm starting to think it might be a ROM version difference.
I was using the Dopod 900 WWE ROM when I was having all those issues.

Now using a T-Mobile ROM...Radio 1.10. Bluetooth handfree audio quality is a lot better. However, the universal wasn't able to find the handfree this morning when I woke up (they were already pair the night before, both were powered on), had to restart the unit (just toggle bluetooth on->off->on didn't help).

The camera and the DivX playback...well, they're still hopeless.

[richardlai]

I found that the camera got worse with the new ROM (currently the latest Dopod traditional Chinese ROM).

I have come across a laptop with RAID, and I think it was a Fujitsu (about HK$30,000!). It was featured in "ezone", the gadget magazine from Hong Kong, if you're a Chinese reader.

[Chatbox]

I found that the camera got worse with the new ROM (currently the latest Dopod traditional Chinese ROM).

I have come across a laptop with RAID, and I think it was a Fujitsu (about HK$30,000!). It was featured in "ezone", the gadget magazine from Hong Kong, if you're a Chinese reader.

I'll try to look into the Fujitsu laptop...if I can find it. Thanks for the info. Let's hope that it also has FireGL or a Quardro on it (currently using a T41p with 2GB ram and 100GB 7200rpm drive...just so you know what I expect from a laptop). However, I'm not sure about the quality of Fujitsu laptops as I haven't use any before. But, Fujitsu-Siemens, on the other hand, makes some very sweet HA servers. :twisted:

To an extent, I might seem a bit nut to request a minimum of 7 dyas uptime from a PDA. But think about it, your cheapo (or extremely expensive) phone-capable-only phone can run for two weeks without crashing. Your laptop (x86, in my experience), can run for 2 months without crashing (OS dependent, of course). And your free alarm clock from Kellogg's can run for one year without problem. So, why should you expect less from a PDA-phone?

Here's why I'm annoyed with the universal's reliability. At first, I use it as an alarm clock, set to 07:30 and 07:45 every morning. On two seperate occasions, it crashed over the evening. No auto reboot, it just stopped responding. Nothing was running at the time as I usually robust test all my PDAs for 3 months with their original ROM from manufacturer. So, I started to question the quality of the product, both hardware and software. Do I need to buy two Universals to make an HA solution to the alarm clock problem? Now, I hope some of you would understand where I'm coming from.

[cmonex]

no, you don't seem to be a nut to me with your requirement of 7 days' uptime, i'm used to that kind of uptime on a pda myself. now still learning my qtek 9000, so have done a few soft resets, but never due to a system crash or similar. :) it can also multitask very well, better than older winCE or WM versions. even if the CPU load is at 99% it doesn't seem to want to crash. for example when loading a 1.6 MB doc file for example hehehe - but: this is one thing i'm not happy with on the universal. it opens rtf fast but not doc. wtf? my 6 year old 206 mhz hpc2000 hpc pda can do it very fast..
however i don't think it is a good idea to compare the universal to a plain cellphone, the latter is capable of almost nothing. just calls and sms and such, what else? nothing - very dull. no wonder it is easier for it to be absolutely stable. and even then, i've seen normal phones that needed a turn off - turn on (which is equivalent to a soft reset on these) to bring a function back to life (gprs modem for example).
wow 3 months solely for testing a new pda? that seems a little crazy :) i'm already using my qtek 9000 as my phone. (have had it for five days now :D )
your other requirements are certainly more than what i need from a pda or a laptop, but that's not a problem. hope you can find what fits your needs the best!

[zoroskynet]

There are more reason not to choose IMATE

1. It can stuck in bootload screen even you try official rom.
2. No repair under warranty you have to pay another fortune.
3. There are limited service location and online service that does not work
4. ...............
5. ...............

Try another supplier HTC is a good device but on the right supplier

[richardlai]

There are more reason not to choose IMATE
I disagree here: i-mate only optimizes the devices they sell, i.e. they are basically programmers, and their service is good. IMO i-mate actually has the most stable ROMs.

You should also know that the founder and now CEO of i-mate was the designer of the very first xda, should this help at all.

[HeartOfDarkness]

1. Damn Bluetooth on the Universal gives static to soooo many different Bluetooth headsets/handfrees.
2. The 1.3 MP camera quality is worse than my bloody webcam.
3. Graphics performance is not suitable for smooth full-screen DivX playback.

God damn HTC...Taiwanese company...Why do they release products that are so "crap"? The specs look good on paper...but the quality of the product is really questionable!

Hummm... I'm not completly sure what your "aim" is here: do you want to start a flame-war or something ? Because as for your remarks:

1. Bluetooth is on par with most phones I've tried / used. With the net advantage on the Universal that you can upgrade / downgrade / change your ROMs (especially the Radio ROM) to suit your needs / tastes, which you cannot do on most other phones. Of course some phones are better. But lots are much worse...
2. Same goes for the embedded camera: since it is supposed to be a secondary camera at best, I find it pretty good, considering what can be found on other mobile phones on the market. I'd say your web-cam's pretty good, I guess;
3. You know, never was the Universal supposed to be a PMP killer... It's supposed to be versatile, not flawless on all respects. I find DivX playback pretty good myself, considering what other smart-phones on the market do (especially considering I'm using TrueVGA).

As to HTC being a "crappy" taiwanese company... Aside from the fact that most cutting-edge technological stuff come from there and NOT from anywhere else, the internal design for Windows Mobile based / ARM processor-based PDAs is mostly standard stuff, mostly edicted by Intel (in regards with Microsoft specifications, and that works both ways). If it's a crappy design, how is it HTC's failure ? HTC actually went out of the "beaten bushes" to provide us with a uniquely featured PDA, and even if it is a bit bulky, can you name another viable alternative to the Universal in terms of feature set / performance / usuability ?

When it came out, the Universal simply integrated the best of what existed: fastest ARM, VGA screen, wifi b/g, Bluetooth... Even now, you can count PDAs with a VGA screen using only two hands, not to mention PDA-phones... And how often is a 520 MHz ARM processor used even in PDAs ?

You know, in an ideal world, Sony Clié would be the ruling PDAs... When you see the current trend in the smart-phone / PDA market, I find the Universal extremly interesting... Of course perfectible, but what isn't ?

[skywriter]

HTC actually went out of the "beaten bushes" to provide us with a uniquely featured PDA, and even if it is a bit bulky, can you name another viable alternative to the Universal in terms of feature set / performance / usuability ?


the only one that might fit the PDA bill is the Zaurus Cx000's. but judging from the brick-like nature of mine for the last year i would say "Not even close" :)

[cmonex]

HTC actually went out of the "beaten bushes" to provide us with a uniquely featured PDA, and even if it is a bit bulky, can you name another viable alternative to the Universal in terms of feature set / performance / usuability ?


the only one that might fit the PDA bill is the Zaurus Cx000's. but judging from the brick-like nature of mine for the last year i would say "Not even close" :)

how do you mean brick like nature... it is not bigger than the universal.

i have a zaurus Cxxx and i have to say the qtek 9000 is slightly better. :P for my usage at least. especially as the universal is a phone as well. the zaurus lacks other hardware features (built in wifi or bt) but so does the universal (dual slots, usb host, hdd - not that i'd need a usb host or a hdd). and which OS is better? hard to decide for me... neither is the absolute best for me, i already have another favourite (no, not palm).

[skywriter]

HTC actually went out of the "beaten bushes" to provide us with a uniquely featured PDA, and even if it is a bit bulky, can you name another viable alternative to the Universal in terms of feature set / performance / usuability ?


the only one that might fit the PDA bill is the Zaurus Cx000's. but judging from the brick-like nature of mine for the last year i would say "Not even close" :)

how do you mean brick like nature... it is not bigger than the universal.

i have a zaurus Cxxx and i have to say the qtek 9000 is slightly better. :P for my usage at least. especially as the universal is a phone as well. the zaurus lacks other hardware features (built in wifi or bt) but so does the universal (dual slots, usb host, hdd - not that i'd need a usb host or a hdd). and which OS is better? hard to decide for me... neither is the absolute best for me, i already have another favourite (no, not palm).
\
i meant brick, like 'inert heavy object of little value'

my zaurus went from a sharp rom with an upgraded kernel to support a GPRS modem to an OPIE gui on a newer kernel. i should have stuck with the old sharp rom - it's been flakey, and most of the apps don't work. i can go back - if i find enough time to bumble through the vague rom reinstallation directions... but i doubt i'll find the kernel upgrade again. not really worth the time i suppose.

on the other hand, whatever faults WM devices have, they've given me way more bang/buck.

[cmonex]

i meant brick, like 'inert heavy object of little value'

my zaurus went from a sharp rom with an upgraded kernel to support a GPRS modem to an OPIE gui on a newer kernel. i should have stuck with the old sharp rom - it's been flakey, and most of the apps don't work. i can go back - if i find enough time to bumble through the vague rom reinstallation directions... but i doubt i'll find the kernel upgrade again. not really worth the time i suppose.

on the other hand, whatever faults WM devices have, they've given me way more bang/buck.

oh, sorry to hear about your bad experiences. all i did to mine was to upgrade it to the most recent rom usable for normal users (old kernel though - who cares), it is based on the sharp rom, just developed a little further with lots of little useful stuff, drivers for everything on earth, and new apps. i never tried hacking the new kernel, could not be bothered about it. anyway the installation is easy (to the old kernel :P ) and takes 5 mins, if you ever need help just drop me a private message :)

sorry for being off topic :)

[Chatbox]

Hummm... I'm not completly sure what your "aim" is here: do you want to start a flame-war or something ? Because as for your remarks:
Not trying to start a war of any kind. Just want to know what is it that other people see in the universal that made them fall in love with in.


1. Bluetooth is on par with most phones I've tried / used. With the net advantage on the Universal that you can upgrade / downgrade / change your ROMs (especially the Radio ROM) to suit your needs / tastes, which you cannot do on most other phones. Of course some phones are better. But lots are much worse...

Yes, it's nice to be able to change raido ROMs...but it doesn't help if the end result is still not the same as what it is on paper (BT specifications).

2. Same goes for the embedded camera: since it is supposed to be a secondary camera at best, I find it pretty good, considering what can be found on other mobile phones on the market. I'd say your web-cam's pretty good, I guess;

Oh, come on! Have you really taken a look at the 1.3MP camera photo output on a computer? The amount of noise and bright pixels is almost unheard of. Sorry, but some camera-equipped phones from 2 years ago can do hell of a better job in comparison.

3. You know, never was the Universal supposed to be a PMP killer... It's supposed to be versatile, not flawless on all respects. I find DivX playback pretty good myself, considering what other smart-phones on the market do (especially considering I'm using TrueVGA).

I just have to let this one go. The HX4700 and Dell's X51v are just way better at video playback.

As to HTC being a "crappy" taiwanese company... Aside from the fact that most cutting-edge technological stuff come from there and NOT from anywhere else, the internal design for Windows Mobile based / ARM processor-based PDAs is mostly standard stuff, mostly edicted by Intel (in regards with Microsoft specifications, and that works both ways). If it's a crappy design, how is it HTC's failure ? HTC actually went out of the "beaten bushes" to provide us with a uniquely featured PDA, and even if it is a bit bulky, can you name another viable alternative to the Universal in terms of feature set / performance / usuability ?
Question: Who picked the camera lens? Who decided not to have a dedicated video chipset? Why is the BT quality, stability soooo different (as in poor) from other PPC on the market?

As for features, here's a Chinese saying (goes something like that): You have so many knives on you, but all of them are blunt. :roll:


When it came out, the Universal simply integrated the best of what existed: fastest ARM, VGA screen, wifi b/g, Bluetooth... Even now, you can count PDAs with a VGA screen using only two hands, not to mention PDA-phones... And how often is a 520 MHz ARM processor used even in PDAs ?

Alright, which year do you live in? And what unit do you have?
1. Fastest was the 624MHz, not 520MHz.
2. VGA screen was 4 inches, with much better colour and contrast (honestly...just go and look at the screen on the HX4700. Here's a link to a chinese site: http://www.mobile01.com/iopiop/dopod900.htm Just look at the photos and tell me which one look better?).
3. Universal only has wifi B IIRC.
4. Bluetooth 2.0 was already available.

You know, in an ideal world, Sony Clié would be the ruling PDAs... When you see the current trend in the smart-phone / PDA market, I find the Universal extremly interesting... Of course perfectible, but what isn't ?
Perfectible, yes, as with almost all things. But even more so in this case, IMO.

[PReDiToR]

To add my 0.02GBP:

Camera is CRAP. No two ways about it.

Sony Ericsson making the w810i and the w900i have put excellent cameras in them that have wonderful flashes.
The phones are a lot smaller than my Uni, yet the speakers are louder and bass-ier, yet positioned badly for stereo.

The BT on my Uni sucks, but mainly due to the open/shut issue with the lid.

The WiFi will connect with the 802.11g protocol, but only at 802.11b speeds.

Why is it that the newer HTC units are using slower processors? Moore's law doesn't apply in the PDA world?

I love my Uni, but it isn't perfect.

Can we just all agree that there are significant problems with it but until another unit with this form factor comes along it is the best on offer?

[HeartOfDarkness]

Can we just all agree that there are significant problems with it but until another unit with this form factor comes along it is the best on offer?

lol That was exactly my point. :-)


Hummm... I'm not completly sure what your "aim" is here: do you want to start a flame-war or something ? Because as for your remarks:
Not trying to start a war of any kind. Just want to know what is it that other people see in the universal that made them fall in love with in.
?

Well, exactly what I said in my previous post, and what Preditor ends his with: the Uni, whichever standpoint you look at it from, is unique on the market. Nothing even comes close, not when it came out, not even now, a year after its mass availability to the public.


Yes, it's nice to be able to change raido ROMs...but it doesn't help if the end result is still not the same as what it is on paper (BT specifications).


Where did you see it's not completly bt-specifications compliant ? Even I who has problems with BT (the "disconnects randomly" thing), can't complain much about BT quality and features. And I tried a variety of BT peers with the Uni, everything worked as expected. And even my random disconnections, I know are a result of my flashing to the latest ROMs, since I didn't have that problem before. And I know of no other modern apparels that do not have the slightest trace of a bug in their firmwares... Even when they integrate far less technology than the Uni...


Oh, come on! Have you really taken a look at the 1.3MP camera photo output on a computer?


I have, actually. And compared to photos taken with Sony Ericsson's T900's, T910s, for instance, they're top notch...


The amount of noise and bright pixels is almost unheard of. Sorry, but some camera-equipped phones from 2 years ago can do hell of a better job in comparison.


There's noise all right, but I wonder what phones you're talking about. Two years ago, almost all phones came equiped with extraordinarily crappy optics, completly outdated CMOS sensors, and almost all of them VGA...


I just have to let this one go. The HX4700 and Dell's X51v are just way better at video playback.


Of course they are. And aside from that, they are not PDA-phones, they're simple PDAs...


Question: Who picked the camera lens? Who decided not to have a dedicated video chipset? Why is the BT quality, stability soooo different (as in poor) from other PPC on the market?


Before I flashed my ROMs to the latest WWE, I had used my Universal with its headset without a single glitch. Not even one. And I was actually amazed at my Wifi sensitivity, which was on par with my top-of-the-line IBM ThinkPad, and far superior to HP, Siemens and other top-notch *laptops*.

I guess it's all a matter of experience and luck, but it would seem that not only is your web-cam very good, your Uni may have a faulty hardware...

And you can't judge an equipment on the feedback of these forums or others, since it usually represents a "loud minority" of people who experience problems with their items...


As for features, here's a Chinese saying (goes something like that): You have so many knives on you, but all of them are blunt. :roll:


I don't know, as I said, I didn't find mine to be blunt. Granted, they're not the sharpest knives in the drawer, but they do get the job of cutting stuff done. And as long as it's able to cut your meat, why care about your knife's sharpness compared to other knives' ?

Actually, your choice of the knives example is excellent. I consider the Universal to be the swiss-knife of PDAs. The Axim may be a Buck knife, but what good is it for you when you want to cork a bottle out ? Or saw off a branch ?

Thanks to the Uni, I don't look like Batman anymore, with his belt full of different pockets and apparels. I have only one, and it's in my work-case, and in my pocket there's only the tiny headset. And it keeps me up to speed with my schedule. And it synchronizes perfectly with my Outlook. And it allows me to surf the web almost as comfortably as my laptops, anywhere, and in a few seconds only. Etc. etc. What's not to love ? :-)


Alright, which year do you live in? And what unit do you have?
1. Fastest was the 624MHz, not 520MHz.


I cannot of course speak for all areas in the world. But when the Unicame out in France, the only PDA equipped with the 624 MHz proc. was the Axim. And it was on pre-order. Some web-shops had published the page for the HP I-don't-remember-what, but that also was on pre-order. If on any kind of order.

On top of that, those PDAs where pretty much 75% as expensive as the Uni.

Of course, France is not the ultimate place to get the goodies first, or at the best price (hardly), but well, I do speak for myself only. :-)


2. VGA screen was 4 inches, with much better colour and contrast (honestly...just go and look at the screen on the HX4700. Here's a link to a chinese site: http://www.mobile01.com/iopiop/dopod900.htm Just look at the photos and tell me which one look better?).


All right. The 4700 is slightly better. But is the screen on the Uni. bad ? Clearly not IMHO.

So I'm tempted to say: "the screen on the 4700 is slightly better. So what ?".

Finally, if you go this way, I suggest you check out the 3 years old Sony Clié VZ-90. Its OLED screen simply "buries" *anything* you can throw at me in the PocketPC world. And that was pretty much the last of the Clié line... My previous PDA, the Clié TH-55 (european version with wifi), a 5 years old PDA, has a better screen, higher resolution, better embedded camera than almost all *current* PocketPCs, flawless wifi, and a dreamy two-weeks of heavy use battery life. All in a package 40% slimer than the Axim... I can tell you that if I'd been able to upgrade it to phone functionnalities, I'd still be using my TH-55...

IMHO, PocketPC is *not* the ideal PDA platform. But since it's won the PDA-platforms war, the Uni is IMHO the best embodiement of what the PocketPC platform has to offer.


3. Universal only has wifi B IIRC.


Right. But you still can connect (pending a minor manipulation) to g-only networks. And I challenge you to prove me that a "fully wifi g" PDA makes for smoother web-surfing than on a Uni...


4. Bluetooth 2.0 was already available.


lol Even to this day, BT 2.0 apparels are almost non-existent !

And as I said, in France at least, when the Uni came out, I cannot think of a single headset (for instance), that was BT 2.0. The first largely available BT 2.0 item here was the Plantronics Pulsar pair of earphones, and even now, they're expensive and not so easy to get.


You know, in an ideal world, Sony Clié would be the ruling PDAs... When you see the current trend in the smart-phone / PDA market, I find the Universal extremly interesting... Of course perfectible, but what isn't ?
Perfectible, yes, as with almost all things. But even more so in this case, IMO.

It has an incredible amount of features. So I'll agree with you that it has an incredible amount of things to perfect. But even now... As cmonex very aptly put it... Nothing "even comes close".

PS: everything's IMHO of course. :-)

EDIT: typos.

EDIT, BIS: I see you're in Hong Kong, Chatbox. I can understand your grievances better , since you must see very good stuff on your shores, that alas never actually reach ours... For us in France, the Uni clearly is "as good as it gets" when it comes to PDAs...

EDIT, TER: have you seen, on the site you provided the link to, the framerate benchmark between the Uni and the HP and other Asus ? One cannot say there's such a HUGE difference in the framerate, for Div5 playback.... And the picture samples aren't, aside from the over-exposed one (and I'll grant you that the Uni's camera gets overexposed really easily), so bad, they even are actually pretty good: no visible deformation, no discoloration on the edges... It's not excellent, but nowhere near "sub-par" IMHO....

[corleno]

hi Iv only 1 problem(the worst one)
my
program memory is only 16 constant all the time....
it is around 24 whn the device starts up...
the bggest problem is it aint enough :/
is there any particular ROM i must try to get a larger program memory ?
I use the official O2 rom....the latest one..
and all i run is just wisbar advance and pocketbreeze on the today screen

[cmonex]

[b]
Just want to know what is it that other people see in the universal that made them fall in love with in.

easy to answer... it is the only one pocketpc that is usable for me... VGA screen, keyboard... and on top of all this, it's a phone and even has 3G!!
i don't care about the cameras but it is amazing it has two. :D
my "normal" cellphone (SE T610) has a crap vga camera... this has 1.3 mpixel... i'm ok with it.. but actually i never use it :P
what i use is the keyboard.. and the screen, i can't live with qvga. opera works so excellent, in real vga mode, and i need vga for a few other programs too.. the phone part is very good as well, sms sending has never been this easy, i don't even have to use the stylus to read a new sms and to reply to it! :)
...and last but not least, i love the design!!! it just looks so cool. especially when opened in mini laptop mode. :D
hmm all in all it is just amazing how this thing has everything in one + good design! ;)

trying to answer some of your notes:

about bluetooth, well i never use it, i turned it on only once to test if it works at all. :) it worked but couldn't figure out how to send files. i could send files to it from another device though.

hx4700 and video? haha you've not seen a sigmarion 3.
i have one and so i don't really care about video on the universal.. but i'm sure it would be good enough if i tried..

no other phone has 520 mhz... and a lot of newer pda's (without phone) don't even have 520..

i would love it to have a 4" screen though. the pda phone (yes phone too) i used before the universal had 4" and very good colours and brightness.. i think the universal's screen is a little worse but it is still excellent.. and the phone part is better than on that 4" phone.

what pda has real G wifi? tell me. none..... and the universal is G compliant, just doesn't have G speeds. why would i need it?

[cmonex]

hi Iv only 1 problem(the worst one)
my
program memory is only 16 constant all the time....
it is around 24 whn the device starts up...
the bggest problem is it aint enough :/
is there any particular ROM i must try to get a larger program memory ?
I use the official O2 rom....the latest one..
and all i run is just wisbar advance and pocketbreeze on the today screen

don't use spb pocketplus ... that eats a lot of ram i think.. oh i see you have wba, maybe it has the same effect?
i don't use either and i have about 30 mb after a soft reset (latest qtek rom), and it never goes below 25mb except if i use opera... with opera running but without any page loaded in it i get exactly 25 (with other programs and a taskmanager and batt meter etc running in the background). :)

[cmonex]

To add my 0.02GBP:

Why is it that the newer HTC units are using slower processors? Moore's law doesn't apply in the PDA world?

I love my Uni, but it isn't perfect.

Can we just all agree that there are significant problems with it but until another unit with this form factor comes along it is the best on offer?

mmm, no moore's law cant apply due to limited battery capacity. the 624mhz cpu came out in 2004 and we're in 2006 and still hardly any pda uses more than 400... the universal is one of the few exceptions :)
(though its battery life is still quite good)

yup it isn't perfect.. no i don't have very significant problems with it but i agree on all the other stuff you said :)
maybe one significant problem for me is that the OS won't support real true vga out of the box. luckily a few programs do. (i didn't like ozvga when i tried it..)
but this is a microsoft problem! and don't even mention other stupid things in the OS.. task managing etc :) oh well. :P

[eksekki]

I, for one, love my Universal. AFAIK, W-Zero3 is the only other PDA with VGA screen + UMTS but it doesn't work in Europe so... not much choice? ...and I don't want to carry an extra device like a phone :)

[richardlai]

I kind of love my Universal because whenever I show it to somebody, they would say, "Wow! That's HUGE!"

And then I can reply, "That's what they all say." 8)

Then it is the swivel screen (again, to impress both adults and kids), then the lovely keypad, then the processor, then 3G (although I haven't really used UMTS yet).

[HeartOfDarkness]

I kind of love my Universal because whenever I show it to somebody, they would say, "Wow! That's HUGE!"

And then I can reply, "That's what they all say." 8)


LOL Classic... :-) Although I personnally prefer to show off with my BT headset, which are still not too common around our parts, not to mention the gorgeous MOtorola HT-820... :-)

[Chatbox]

So, I spent the last 2 days thinking about this whole problem that I'm having. Right now, I really do see this as a "problem" for me. As I result, I've just got rid of my Universal and gone back to a phone & a PDA (seperate). At least I'll know for sure that are reliable. They're going to be "inconvinient"...but is better than what was in my eyes as "problem".

[HeartOfDarkness]

Ah, it's a shame, but one thing is sure: if it was a real problem for you, then you're right to have disposed of your Universal. :-)

[richardlai]

So, I spent the last 2 days thinking about this whole problem that I'm having. Right now, I really do see this as a "problem" for me. As I result, I've just got rid of my Universal and gone back to a phone & a PDA (seperate). At least I'll know for sure that are reliable. They're going to be "inconvinient"...but is better than what was in my eyes as "problem".
Just out of interest, what do you use now?