Still Using Harrier/Blue Angel Because You Prefer It?

[hatoncat]

I'm testing the waters a bit to see what the HTC enthusiast community thinks of the Blue Angel and Harrier in comparison to HTC's current product line.

While the Wizard and TyTN are fine products, they clearly are not the Blue Angel's design. The display has been downsized to 2.8 inches, and the Omni's handheld use is significantly diminished.

So, please vote in the poll. We'll try to let decision makers at HTC know if you want the Blue Angel brought into the 3G era.

[PPCNUT]

I think there should be a 3G Blue Angel but they should still be progress in the development of more devices similar to the Tytn as the Tytn is proving one of the most popular devices I have seen and I feel is opening up mobile computing to people who thought about getting a connected PPC but didn't like the bulk of the units which had the features to make them useful.

[GapBoyT]

Personally I stick with my BA because of how large the screen is and IMO the only phone that is worth switching too is the TyTn.

I also like how much thinner it is than any of the current HTC phones with a keyboard.

Meh... just my $.02

[HDuser]

for Me its the screen, could do without the keyboard as i never use it.

[rambo6]

I was using a Blue Angel (Harrier) on the Verizon EVDO network. It is a terrific device. I can watch videos real time. The larger screen is also awesome and much easier on tired eyes.

I finally put my Blue Angel aside and have been using primarliy a Wizard.
Even with all the Tweaks and overclocking, the Wizard is relatively slow. However, the Wizard has been much more reliable and is a much better phone.

I'm just about ready to order a TyTN because it seems the bugs are getting worked out. I'd rather have a Blue Angle sized unit with all the new Windows Mobile Features.

It looks like all the future HTC phones are small screened. The HTC Herald looks like a verizon/sprint EVDO (possibly Rev.A) phone. Looks great but still no Blue Angel.

I'd like to have a TyTN type phone for everyday, and then an "Arch Angel" phone with a large screen to travel with. It should have a fast processor, accept Standard SD cards.

[PPCNUT]

I think you almost need two devices depending what you are doing. A 3G Blue angel with the same screen or possibly a VGA one for some tasks and a Tytn for most of the time. I have a Tytn on order but I will still use my IIs a lot because of the screen.

[kdskamal]

I love my BA. I had executive, then, IIi(alpine)..now back to my BA

Its a complete device(for those who dont want GPS)

[CJBS]

Ditto. Screen (so many new devices have such small screens). Keyboard. Large RAM memory (yes I know WM5, but persistant storage read/write is slower). Still the best device.

Although, there's always something missing (GPS/FM Radio/a huge internal memory/Some devices even have TV!/direct USB access without an adater/EDGE/3G/etc.).

[Gvotuc]

I've gone thorough half a dozen phones in the past couple months trying to find an ideal unit for me. Seems everyone these days want the cute little phones that you could swallow if you got it too close to your mouth. Whats the point ? If its just for making and receiving calls fine, but if it's meant provide visual display and input (emails and surfing) than why wouldn't you want it big bright and loud ? Within reason of course..but some of these newer phones with all the great features are too small to make them easy to use. In my case it has to be Quad band as I need the 850 for CellularOne in my area.
I had a Blackberry 7100 which was great for push mail and work stuff but not so hot for display or web stuff. I just bought and then sold a very nice Hermes (Softpoint/Jasjam) device which was probably the best phone I have seen for coverage and features. It flat out worked great. I just could not see me using that needle size stylus on the 2.8 inch screen for very long. The display was nice but just too small enjoy using for me. It might work as a heads up display, but for my main device it need to be bigger. I mean... do you really want to run GPS map apps on this while your driving ? Or shop on eBay while squinting at that little thing. It looked MUCH bigger in the Ads :)
I've run a Symbian based Nokia e61 (still do) and find it one of my favorites for ease of use without a touch screen. It's not a touch screen but you would never notice with the neat smart key layouts and center joystick control. The display is not huge but the layout works great for web use and the browser is very quick. The problem with this phone is it seems to have a weaker over all RF module and I constantly loose my GPRS lock when going through fades and the only way to get packet (GPRS) back is to power cycle it. Maybe it's just my phone thats bad but the dealer won't exchange it as this point and I really doubt their "repair" shop would even find the problem.

I just bought, powered up and re-boxed an Ipaq 6945/15 device. Worked good signal wise and packet data stuff/Wifi devices were good. The phone just has a overall cheap feel to it. The keyboard is a joke (compared to my e61) and the joystick and side buttons are hard to use. Would it be that much more expensive to put a rubber tip on the joystick ? The 240 x240 display was weak and grainy as well. It has about 15 minutes on it and will listed for sell at a auction site near you soon ! I am waiting for my first BA device I just purchased off the web (O2XDAiis) and hope it's what I'm looking for. The 2003se software will new for me and it will probaly go to some version of WM5 soon after I get it. I'm hoping the screen is bright and pretty and I can actually use the "touch" screen with my finger instead of digging for a matchstick while cruising at 70 miles an hour. I like heft too, it signals quality to me. I searched long and wide for a 3.5 inch display, quad band phone and found Nothing but the older BA at this point. I'd love a new device to come out with WM5, 3.5 to 4 inch display, bright screen and the latest interfaces. I'd buy one RIGHT NOW.

Guy

[bukwit]

BA all the way...big screen..nice keyboard..

[caswell]

I thought I would put my .02 cents in on this topic since I had a BA for 2 years and just recently got a Cingular 8525.

I did a pro's and con's list to help me make it very clear which phone I wanted and why. I'll just share the list with you...

Pros FOR the 8525 over the BA:
- Edge speeds are about 5x faster than regular GSM (120-150kbs)
- 3G speeds are about 30x faster (800-850kbs)
- Universal USB charger
- 2mp camera is much higher quality
- Camera application is much more advanced
- Native WM5 OS. No hacking or slowdowns from non-supported upgrades
- Jog Dial (this is a big one... Can't be without it now)
- MUCH improved bluetooth reception for handsfree
- Wifi type g and b (noticeably faster)
- Free push email w/ web2mail (simply amazing, no more disappearing gmail!!!)
- Smaller form factor... nicer fit in my hand than BA
- BT headset can start VoiceCommand. No need to touch the phone anymore.
- No soft reset to make the WiFi work start up
- PTT will be supported in the future and might be nice to have.
- Multiple sounds play without garbling (ie. VoiceCommand announcement and ringtone)
- Sharper more vibrant screen (the clarity and overall quality difference is significant)
- MUCH louder speakerphone and ring volume
- I like the navigation pad a bit better than the BA and it seems much more responsive.

Cons of the 8525 compared to the BA:
- Micro SD format max's out at 2GB (at the moment)
- No standard headphone jack
- Battery drain is higher due to 3g and push email
- The main buttons are a bit cramped around the navigation pad, but you get used to it, just like anything.

On the con side... Micro SD cards (typically) come with a standard SD card enclosure so you can use it with standard flash card readers or even put them into standard SD card devices like phones or the BA even. This is a nice thing in case you want to transfer information from one device to the other. Mini SD seems to be the real loser format out of the three in my opinion.

The headphone jack isn't really an issue for me so far. Yeah it would be nice to listen to the tunes with whatever headphones I choose, but I'm thinking a dedicated music player would be better anyway since I'm already running my battery into the ground as it is, but that doesn't change that my options are certainly limited. I'm sure someone will come up with an adapter solution soon. I've already seen some, but they are still getting better.

Battery drain is a big one... Other than disabling 3g and turning off direct push... I don't see a way to save battery. I just turn the back light down as low as it can go and use vjlumosiii (handy little app) mapped to a button to get max brightness when I need it.

Overall... I have to say that the 8525 is going to be a device that I will use for the next 2 years or so with MUCH fondness. I loved my BA and after having it all tricked out was still better than many peoples phones.

That's just my opinion on these 2 devices. I like them both... but the 8525 is going to be my work horse no doubt about it.

Mark

[Gvotuc]

http://www.apple.com/iphone/

Looks like my next BA replacement. It's everything a new BA should be if they upgrade it... Now I just need to see one on eBay and someone to provide unlocker for it ..:)

[BA_Flash_GOD]

Personally I stick with my BA because of how large the screen is and IMO the only phone that is worth switching too is the TyTn.

I also like how much thinner it is than any of the current HTC phones with a keyboard.

Meh... just my $.02

yeah but it's only 240x320.. maybe if they released a new vga version with a good camera/ wifi g/i/e, native WM5, id be down, the BA just too big! :P

http://www.apple.com/iphone/

Looks like my next BA replacement. It's everything a new BA should be if they upgrade it... Now I just need to see one on eBay and someone to provide unlocker for it ..:)

baaaaaad idea man.. why do you think apple is getting sued by cisco.. they don't think things through! Hence the intel macs killing the g5's in benchmarks on OSX, APPLE Should stick to software!! (And ive got cingular!)

[INHUMANITY]

Yup, yup.

Still using my 6600 and love it!

The screen size and the full size SD card is what kept me from going to a 6700.

[moosethebiker]

i've got the BA PH20B on 02 (2yrs now) i use it alot with tomtom, i was thinking of the HTC 3300 its got built in GPS, 2.8'' TFT-LCD 240 X 320 with 65,536 colours, but only a 201mhz chip so gotta look into it more. and i found out you can get it with out the navigation software. save a few pennies there.