Easy Nooby Question about Athena

[ameiurus]

I'm REALLY tired of small phones. I'm ready to let go of my Tilt and make the jump to an X7501 Advantage. My question is can it operate as a handheld phone? Can the phone be used w/o any other hardware? I downloaded the users manual and I cannot find where it has a built-in front-facing microphone and speaker. Thanks.

[Robson]

I'm REALLY tired of small phones. I'm ready to let go of my Tilt and make the jump to an X7501 Advantage. My question is can it operate as a handheld phone? Can the phone be used w/o any other hardware? I downloaded the users manual and I cannot find where it has a built-in front-facing microphone and speaker. Thanks.

the advantage, in my opinion, was not meant to be used as a handheld phone. there is a speaker on both sides of the unit but when you take a call it's more on "conference" mode where everyone else will hear the other caller's voice. the microphone is on the front face of the unit. it's the little hole / dot on the lower left side of the screen....which i thought was a reset slot when i first got my unit ages ago =) you can talk freely, but the drawback is the privacy of your conversation. you can put the unit close to your ear, but it seems a little akward to have something that big being used as a handphone...no offense to anyone who does and to each his own =)

with that, you have 2 options:
1) plug in the 3.5mm handsfree jack. you'll probably have to put your advantage in your pocket or strapped to your side with the wire dangling out

2) most of the chaps here use bluetooth units (myself included)

cheers

[ameiurus]

the advantage, in my opinion, was not meant to be used as a handheld phone. there is a speaker on both sides of the unit but when you take a call it's more on "conference" mode where everyone else will hear the other caller's voice. the microphone is on the front face of the unit. it's the little hole / dot on the lower left side of the screen....which i thought was a reset slot when i first got my unit ages ago =) you can talk freely, but the drawback is the privacy of your conversation. you can put the unit close to your ear, but it seems a little akward to have something that big being used as a handphone...no offense to anyone who does and to each his own =)

with that, you have 2 options:
1) plug in the 3.5mm handsfree jack. you'll probably have to put your advantage in your pocket or strapped to your side with the wire dangling out

2) most of the chaps here use bluetooth units (myself included)

cheers

Thanks for the info! That's too bad about the speaker. If this thing had a built-in earpiece and a slide keyboard it would be the absolute perfect phone in my opinion.

[techntrek]

Believe me, you aren't the first person to complain about the lack of a private earpiece (and lack of vibrate). The best work-around is to use a Jabra BT8010, which gives you vibrate, caller ID, and private conversation. After a year of that I got tired of carrying the headset and I just hold it up to my ear with the volume as low as it can go - only for the occasional call in public. I usually can find a semi-private place to chat for a minute or two. My headset is left at work so I can listen to music and take private calls there, and a BT-enabled radio takes care of calls in the car.