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Ok here is my dilema. I am due to renew my T-Mobile contract at the beginning of October. My current phone is the HTC Wizard and I have been looking at the N95 as it has a lot of nice features. However I have recently been told about the kaiser and that its about to be released on T-Mobile in September. Can anyone give me any suggestions what I should do or if anyone knows how much it is likely to cost on TMobile UK?
Thanks
I like Windows Mobile, so my choise is Kaiser
I tried Symbian before, but I dont really like it. Especially application wise.
N95 seems to support only Nokias own GPS soft.
Well, I've got an N95, having just switched to Vodafone and been given one for free. It's my fist S60 phone since the Siemens SX1, and I have to say it's really rather nice. Has become my first choice over the Hermes until my Kaiser is delivered...
I'm using Roadsync for MS Exchange and Route66 for GPS navigation with no problems at all (I've also seen TomTom running perfectly on an N95, so don't worry about the compatibility of GPS software). The only thing I'm really missing is the QWERTY keyboard for the many e-mails I knock out every day. Basically, it's not a phone to go for if you'll be writing lots of text, but apart from that it's hard to fault.
The main advantage of the N95 over my other current phone (the Hermes) is the way that S60 deals with data connections. No need for manual switching between Vodafone's Wap and Web connections in order to use either Vodafone Live! or "anything else" because it's all handled automatically with two simultaneous connections if needed. Something that Windows Mobile certainly can't do as far as I'm aware... And WiFi connections are handled more sensibly (in my opinion) under S60, too.
All that said, S60 isn't as configurable as Windows Mobile, and although S60 may have better games, I'm more interested in productivity from my device, so I'm still eagerly awaiting my Kaiser, at which point my N95 will become my weekend phone....
no competition
im due an upgrade in two weeks. i tried the n95 for two weeks an i believe it to be the most over-rated handset ive seen since the razr.
granted, gps is a nice feature for a phone to have, but everything else is laggy and slow. the camera is average - certainly not as good as the k series from sony ericsson - just try taking a snapshot on a nokia and try not to get irittated by its slowness! video is excellent i have to say but marred by an inability to have the flash on constantly during filming. also the gallery is painfully slow to refresh thumbnails. battery life is terrible for a phone and the menu navigation system is dreadfully long-winded and ill thought out.
i would definitely wait for the kaiser as it has so much more to offer.
I'm struggling to think - Qwerty keyboard aside - of anything more that the Kaiser will actually offer?
Anyway, in reply I'd have to say that GPS is perfectly adequate, but the built in software is pretty dodgy. Remains to be seen whether the Kaiser does any better but I'm assuming it will be pretty similar in practise.
Yep, the camera is definitely slower than my old K800i, but significantly better than any PPC phone I've ever owned or seen. Video is pretty good, but I don't really use video so that's not a big deal for me, and at least the N95 has a flash - I definitely can't see the Kaiser being any better for video or stills.
Generally, I find the phone no more laggy than my Hermes (even after it's WM6 speedup) especially when multitasking. The gallery certainly seems to be no worse than "Pictures and Videos" on my Hermes when it comes to speed, but I only have about 75 pics / videos on the N95 at the moment compared to a couple of hundred on my Hermes.
Battery life isn't good, but I'm getting the same sort of time between charges with my N95 as I do with my Hermes (which is not a long time - about 24 hours).
I didn't particularly like the S60 menus either. The first thing I did was create folders and subfolders all over the place and rearrange virtually every single icon in the phone. After getting used to it though, I find it better in many ways than Windows Mobile - you can at least shift program icons around and have them in any order you want rather than just alphabetical (Probably why there are no pieces of "Launcher" software made for S60 - there's no need for them when it's basically built in to the OS).
I would like to point out that the "Active Standby" screen (or Today screen as we WM users would call it) is utterly useless on the N95. You can't put anything on it except for a row of 6 program shortcuts and a couple of other rows which are all but identical to the default WM setup (Next Appointment & Messages received). Massive mistake by Nokia not allowing custom plugins as I believe they have on their E-Series smartphones.
Anyway, it's all personal preference and you have to go with what suits you better. Kaiser is definitely my number one choice because I use my devices for business and messaging more than games and pictures. However, after a good few years away from Symbian phones I'm very glad that this Nokia fell into my lap - I'd never have thought of paying for one and I've been very pleasantly surprised by the *lack* of limitations that I've found compared to my WM devices.
The qwerty keyboard is quite a 'deal-breaker' really, compared to the squat t9 keypad of the n95. The fact that the difference in size is not all that great sways it for me, and you can tilt the Kaiser too! I certainly believe that the Kaiser is more of 'what computers have become' than the flimsily-built and rather frustrating Nokia N95. I just wish the Kaiser had a VGA screen, then it would be PERFECT.
If the Kaiser has the same camera as the Ameo then it will take superior black and white pictures to the N95 (in my opinion anyway) with greater depth and clarity. The shutter lag on the 3mp HTC cams might be an issue but the response time on the Nokia's camera application is so poor that they're kind of on a level really. Also 5mp vs 3mp is rather an insignificant comparison considering most of us will rarely blow our pictures up above 7" by 4".
I will concede that the N95 camera is better at night.
There are a ton more applications for windows mobile including a huge array of GPS applications (an advanced windows live search, tomtom, copilot etc), a free media player -TCPMP- which can play most video types and an integrated Remote Desktop which is superb.
It's touch screen so it feels more 'hands on'. This really shows itself when you're browsing the net. Despite the cute pointer on the N95's browser it still feels a little rigid and limited.
Hot-swappable sim slot - suprisingly handy if you're stuck on contract with someone other than t-mobile and want to take advantage of T-Mobile's quid a day PAYG internet service without taking your phone apart.
As regards the menu system - well I don't know which wm6 ROM you were using but mine on my TyTn was like **** off a shovel. INFINITELY faster than nokia's sllloooooowwww and overly-snazzy gallery facility, and snappier in menus. Since the Kaiser is so much higher spec we can expect lightning fast menu transitions.
My Nokia was on T-Mobile, though I also tested a friend's on Orange. After installing a number of applications we both found that the N95 would restart after heavy use with more than a few applications running in the background.
So there we have my reasons for choosing the Kaiser over an N95.
Oh and another, shallower reason for owning the Kaiser.....
It's all shiny and lovely.
I want one and i want one NOW!
wait.......tmobile is getting the kaiser? US tombile? if this is true than my day has just been made
AT&T is getting the US Kaiser.......not tmob
d
I like how customizable Windows Mobile is. I got my Hermes last year and in these short 10 months, my phone has transformed so much, from the original WM5, then to the Elf LSVW WM6, then to the various Black ROMs. I feel that my phone isn't 10 months old. It is very new and current. Same thing can't be said about Symbian phones or others.
So my next phone decision is easy. It would be a Windows Mobile phone. Only need to think about which one. For now, Kaiser would be the best out there.
Qwerty is most definitely a deal breaker for me too. That's why the Kaiser is going to be my main phone.
I've never taken a single black and white photo in my life, so I couldn't possibly comment on that specific aspect, but if you think that the Athena's camera is better than the N95, then I won't argue... My opinion is different, but there you go.
Yes, a hot-swappable sim slot may well come in handy. I have no use for it personally, but I can appreciate that someone might.
Apart from that, everything else falls into the category of S60 vs WM. It's a very old arguement. I'm very definitely in the Windows camp because of the tasks I use my devices for, but S60 will be a better choice for others.
The N95 shows how far S60 has come, but it was never designed to compete with WM PPC Phones - that's what S80 and UIQ have been trying to do (badly). I'm very happy with the N95, but for me it'll never replace a PPC phone.
Probably a better comparison with the WM6 Kaiser would be the S60 Nokia E90. The Kaiser still comes out on top for me, but again - it depends what features you want / need, doesn't it?
sub69 said:
Probably a better comparison with the WM6 Kaiser would be the S60 Nokia E90. The Kaiser still comes out on top for me, but again - it depends what features you want / need, doesn't it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would definitely pick the E90 before the Kaiser, with the display being the deciding feature.
I have been a total MS man too, for the past few years. Never thought I should own a S60 device, but the N95 made me change my mind. I have previously owned the original SPV, the HTC Typhoon, the HTC Magician and the Mio A701.
A few months back I found it was the right time to get rid of the A701 but couldn't find any MS device I really wanted. Especially the camera on the MS phones I have tried have always been so bad, that they couldn't be used for anything but MMS. So I took a closer look at the Nokia N95...
After about a month of considering, I finally bought the N95, making it my first Nokia in 5 years. I must say I am very impressed by the hardware. The camera is so good, that I no longer bring my Sony digicam on normal road trips aso, but only for those special occasions.
One very important thing before testing the Nokia N95 is to make sure it is running the latest firmware, called 12.0.0.013. If you run the old v11, you are really not testing the N95 but just an old beta product, which should never have been in stores.
The TV out feature is absolutely brilliant. I have used it while on vacation to stream live tv feeds of Tour de France from the N95 straight into a small 20" tv, which was very nice. But when using it to show video clips and pictures to friends and family on their own tv, the N95 really shines with this high quality tv output. You can even use it for movies, with Dolby Pro-Logic sound through any surround amp.
The same cable you use for TV out can also be used to plug you N95 into a standard amplifier, allowing for very nice quality playback of your MP3s. Or how about plugging it into the LCD's on the backseat of your car, so the kids can follow the route of the GPS program?
The TV/audio out is a very simple, yet effective feature. I think this is the thing I would miss the most, if I decide to replace the N95 with the Kaiser.
I don't do a lot of typing on my mobile device, so I personally don't need the qwerty keyboard, although it would be nice to have. Actually the T9 of the N95 suits me fine, because it enables me to write short messages while on the go. Absolutely impossible on the A701 that only had the onscreen keyboard, and using a qwerty on the street is a bit too nerdy, even for me
Running GPS on the N95 is fine, after upgrading to the latest firmware. Before it took forever to get a fix, but after A-GPS has been introduced in the latest ROM, a fix is available in 10 seconds. TomTom of course haven't heard of the N95, once again proving they are the slowest software manufacturer on the planet. But you can run Google maps, Route 66, Navigon, Copilot and Nokias own Maps, to name but a few.
The built in Real Player run most formats, but of course you can also install TCPMP which has been available since feb06. The commercial version The Core Player is in the final beta stages right now. Papyrus, the calendar app known from MS Smartphones, also runs on N95, for those of you who are hooked on the Pocket Informant style.
Regarding speed I think the N95 is at least comparable to the Mio A701's WM5 on the Intel 520MHz cpu. Besides, it has a graphics cpu (gpu), making it almost unbeatable in 3D speed. Sweet, considering the 3D style of several upcoming GPS proggies. I have no idea why some would call it slow, unless they have been running the old firmware. Boot time is 30 seconds, or about 50% the time of my A701.
Here are some of my personal pro's and con's of the N95:
Pro:
1. TV-out
2. Very easy to switch between connections (HSDPA, WLAN, BT, IrDA, the N95 have them all)
3. Extremely nice camera for a phone, albeit a bit slow
4. Standard 3.5mm ear plug connector
5. Built in radio (can be used for TMC)
6. A-GPS extremely fast
7. Small(ish) size
Con:
1. TomTom still doesn't run on internal GPS antenna
2. Amount of 3. party applications very low, compared to PPC. Example: No app to configure the hardware keys (huge con)
3. Symbian forums are of a lower quality than those of PPCs. Kids arguing and name calling aso. Not many user developed apps or deep insight from a S60 forum
4. Battery life is 2-3 days if used as a standard phone. Use it 1-2 hours during the day with the screen on = don't expect it to last until bed time
5. Low on memory. Expect less than 20MBs of RAM at boot time. How can Nokia do this in the year 2007?
6. Today screen plugins are not allowed by Nokia (why?). You get date/time, a list of MRU's, your calendar and a wifi scanner. That's it!
(Notice that only 2 out of 6 points are hardware related)
Overall I am very happy about the N95. Weird... I never thought I would say that about a Nokia, or a S60 model Not sure I wanna swap it for the Kaiser, because I would miss the camera and the TV out very much indeed. No third device is of any interest to me.
Conclusion:
If you are torn between N95 and Kaiser, I would say it depends on your daily needs.
A. Input style is a huge difference, so if you type much, the choice is simple.
B. How many apps do you run each day? Low number = not much reason to go for the more advanced Windows Mobile OS.
C. How much does your usage differ from the average user? If much, then you may not be able to find what you are looking for on the S60 platform.
I have always considered S60 a 'functionally challenged' version of the PPC's and I still do, but if you don't use the extra options of the PPC, the N95 may be the better option.
I have a Hermes personally, but my best friend owns an N95 and I have a Test Kaiser to play with right now and it's a pretty great phone. It feels more phone-like than the Hermes and it is definately slimmer and the keyboard tilt is a nice feature. As future ROMs become available for it as far as the biotouch or TouchFLO interface, I think the Kaiser will be a serious iPhone competitor. If you love a no-hastle multimedia interface, go for the Nokia. If you like expandability and touchscreen and rely on Exchange for mail, I'd go with the HTC.
I think I agree with everything HBK has said. Although there is a patch to allow TomTom to run with the N95's internal GPS.
I never used the old firmware, because as soon as I received my N95, I altered the product code with Nemesis and reflashed it with the latest Nokia unbranded firmware (mainly to get rid of all the garish operator themes).
I think that the first thing everyone does with a new smartphone should be to update the firmware, but maybe that is why some N95's are running slowly?
My brother-in-law works for Nokia and has had a prototype N95 since late last year. (At the time I have to admit to being totally uninterested when he showed me his new toy. I dismissed it as "just another nasty Nokia"). He's never reflashed the thing, and hates it because it's so slow and nothing works. I've tried to tell him to update it, but never has.
As HBK says, it depends what you want your device for. I think gooshy needs to think about whether he'd rather have a keyboard and the best productivity software, or a phone with better games software and a better camera?
Unfortunately there isn't a N95 patch for TT. A fraudster with a company named gpsmidlands (beware!) did his best to make us believe such a patch exsisted, but no. He got busted two days ago by some clever guys. It was only a scam to attract attention to his site. He used a bunch of nicks to promote his views and even after being busted, the mods have done nothing to stop him. I believe he has close to 10 nicks right now...
You can read the thread here http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62954. That will also show you the quality of this site, compared to what is available for the S60 series. After reading that thread, you will agree with item #3 on my 'con' list, I am quite sure
The N95 runs Exchange mail quite nice too.
I've got a Hermes and N95, which I bought for my fiancee when she dropped her SE W850i into a bucket of water
It's sleek and nice, and if I needed a phone rather than a "real thing" I would sell my Vario II and buy another one for me. But even when I tried TT6 with a Bluetooth receiver it wasn't that smooth as on Vario II. The battery drainage is also a problem. The only thing that I perceive as better is that in my area it keeps 3G signal better than Hermes, and it's got far better camera (pic are really good outside, but when you take them inside eg. museum with limited light, it's no match for a normal camera).
I think they are both good phones but I would go for the phone with Windows Mobile at the end of the day because I like that there is more software available and the fact that there are a lot of developers tweaking and improving the operating systems for the rest of us (which is much appreciated )
The N95 looks prettier and is more compact, plus has a great camera but the touch screen, keyboard and operating system of the Kaiser wins everytime for me.
I guess it very much depends what you need and expect from your phone, for a lot of people a standard compact phone that just does texts, makes calls and looks pretty is all they need so something like the Razr or SE's would be fine, and for others they need a full mini office which is where the Kaiser is in its element.
One more vote for Kaiser!!!
I have N95 (since April 07) and Kaiser (for 2 days) and to be honest I still can't decide
Hi all,
Today is the time to depart the formums as an existing Kaiser owner and help out only as a once windows owned device person
I've not contributed THAT much - atleast not using this name but I had another and was forced to change it due to a "run in" with a moderator on here who got kicked out soon after - this was a while ago though so it's been an interesting ride.
So not much of a story - Been a windows device owner since the first Ipaq in B&w screen and slowly moved onto the windows phones as soon as they came out (starting with the XDA). While my main job revolves around business intelligence, I still have a "side job" in repairing phones/electronics and the company I do this for gives me 15% on products hence changing my phone everytime a new one comes out!
I stop at the kaiser purely for a handful of reasons. While the bluetooth issue was somewhat sorted by reg changes, it still was not enough and it was heavily impacting my main job in where consultants require to be mobile on the phone wherever I go. In the car, it became dangerous at high-speeds where I was having to undock the phone and hold it - something now illegal here.
The other reason was purely down to the whole HTC Suit going on and rumours (not one to listen mind you) about HTC stopping production on the kaiser until this blows over.
I thought, while the price is high, get rid of it, migrate to something else and see what the future holds!
What did I get?
Well, last sunday, I was given two N95's to fix, one hardware, one software. The software was easy enough, hardware was interesting as it was my first N95 to rip open to its bare bone (liquid damaged).
Once I got it working, I started to play around with it and before handing it back to the customer, I have to ensure EVERYTHING works - minimum 48 hour testing.
I instantly decided I would want this IF I did not have the Kaiser...a few days later, I had a call in the car and again, could barely hear the person... I decided to use the customer's N95 and it was perfect.
I decided then to buy one and get rid of the Kaiser.
Thats pretty much it! I now have a N95 Nokia in Black (8GB version), loaded what I would use on the kaiser and so far, not had to pick up the kaiser once in 2 days.
Differences?
The biggest is the touch screen... I sometimes get frustrated I cant just select text and have to use keys to do it...something I'll get used to.
The other biggest is the keyboard. I used to be a typical txt'r on the nokia phones when I was a kid and thought it would be fine now - WRONG!
I would say it took me 3 times longer to txt then it would have on the kaiser!
Other than that, phyically, the screen is the same size (2.6") but much sharper and clearer on the N95 (I think the N95 has a much better resolution). And then theres the weight, while size doesnt make that much of a comparison, the weight is very noticable.
Software:
Ok, again biggest is windows vs symbian but speed-wise, no difference at all. It's a bit "noddy" in symbian to have everything in icons almost to spoonfeed even those who know the system but I can live with it.
Bluetooth is excellent, satnav is also good though it cannot handle TomTom unless used with an external reciever (something apparently waiting to be fixed)
Alarms work and is not limited to 3 like Windows. Small things like SMS on rejecting a call, having a delivery reports folder for SMS and so on is default on the N95, something windows still cant seem to grasp (despite numerous requests).
At the same time, you dont have the luxury of the proper Office, you have to go quite deep into symbian to change a theme, windows you dont, then theres the wonderful scrollwheel, something missing in the N95.
Overall, they both are excellent, what windows missed out, symbian got and viceversa. For me, I require bluetooth to work properly and not sound like I'm listening through a glasswindow. As long as this is the case, and GPS/satnav works... I'm happy. The n95 has a lot more features - one of the biggest being the accelometer which is like a motion detector - I can make my phone go landscape simply by moving the phone that way or I could navigate through menus simply by moving the phone in the direction I want to go in.
It's a gimmic but still, its there and its for the consumer to use .. or not to.
Hope this isnt too long and boring you but I didnt want to be like the typical leaver on the forum to say kaiser is crap, nokia is better because on the whole, I still would prefer the windows one if they fixed the issues, but now also if they made it ligher and more ergonomic (not that it already is!)
Based on the closing paragraph above, don't bother replying if all you're going to say kaiser is the best blah blah blah, though constructive comments are also welcome.
WIll pop in now and again and I think I have a few donations to make too!
(I could type the above on the kaiser, but I'll be damned if I have to type that on a normal N95 keypad...another user for the kaiser keyboard )
Yeah. Sorry to say, mine's hitting the road as well, but I'm not a smartphone kind of guy, i need a full-blown mobile office. so I got an E90 instead. Guess Nokia's getting the better side of things, eh?
Im the same mate ! Ive gone back to the Treo 750 and if not anything else , backto a rock solid phone thats works well all the time.
Just carried out HSPDA update on it and the speeds on net is fine . Email collection is spot on .
And on going back ive realised that i should never have jumped from it in the first place .
Still a HTC handset , but one thats working 100% for me
Can't comment on Symbian - never tried it. I used to use Palm OS and switched to PPC a few years ago.
Had a Dell X50v with VGA screen. Going to the Tilt/Kaiser was a step way down on screen resolution, but many steps up in other ways (like it fits better in my pocket and I don't have to carry a separate phone anymore, GPS, HSPDPA, nice keyboard, up to 32 gb memory card, lots of custom roms, ect...).
If I could do it over I would stick with the Tilt. Treo 750 lacks too many features (screen size, screen resolution, keyboard, GPS and doesn't sit nicely on a table for reading, 2GB max storage card). I want a Pocket PC 1st and a phone 2nd. But I'm not a business user. I could care less about talking in the car. Proven dangerous anyway, even when hands free, and those bluetooth headsets make you look like a cyborg.
I just came to the Kaiser from the S620. The Kaiser is really lacking in usability while "on the go". It was much easier to navigate the S620 I could respond to a text message with barley a glance at the phone. The S620 was also faster for most common tasks like making a phone call replying to an email etc... I find that I really like the kaiser as a data device and am very happy with it in that capacity. Surfing the web with opera mini is great much better experience than O-Mini on the S620 The keyboard is nice if you are using it with 2 hands the extra flexibility of WM6 on the PPC vs WM on the SmartPhone is also nice.
I can appreciate why you are peeved with the kaiser, I would be too if I was trying to use it as an all features phone.
However I do not, and I always view windows devices as a PDA with a phone built in, or as an add on in the software. Therefore it will never out perform or match a well specified Nokia mobile phone for example.
My solution is this:
Run the Kaiser as a device, for email internet and controlling your diary, schedule and files etc. Run it on a data only tariff, for example for £15 a month at the moment with vodafone uk you can get 1GB a month.
Then run a well equipped Nokia mobile phone as your phone, you get great call quality, good handsfree support when in the car as well as being able to leave the Kaiser at home if you do not want emails etc.
I do this, I run a Kaiser on data only, it does my gmail via imap as well as outlook email and internet plus in control my diary on it.
I then run an Nokia E65 which does my phone, test messaging etc etc etc. I also run my gmail via the Symbian onboard email client which means if I am out I can check headers and download an email if I need to read it.
I think for the small extra monthly outlay the kaiser is a fantastic device for what its designed for and I am not going to blether on about that.
Food for thought.
Tom
Tom Williams said:
My solution is this:
Run the Kaiser as a device, for email internet and controlling your diary, schedule and files etc. Run it on a data only tariff, for example for £15 a month at the moment with vodafone uk you can get 1GB a month.
Then run a well equipped Nokia mobile phone as your phone, you get great call quality, good handsfree support when in the car as well as being able to leave the Kaiser at home if you do not want emails etc.
I do this, I run a Kaiser on data only, it does my gmail via imap as well as outlook email and internet plus in control my diary on it.
I then run an Nokia E65 which does my phone, test messaging etc etc etc. I also run my gmail via the Symbian onboard email client which means if I am out I can check headers and download an email if I need to read it.
Tom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or you could just get a laptop with a built-in 3g card from whatever provider you want. I heard they have pretty nice qwerty keyboards on those. If that's too expensive, there's always an EEE PC + USB card, especially since those cards are usually free if you sign a contract.
Then you could drop the smartphone and just get your choice of free crappy samsung/motorola flip phone for phone and text.
The point of these devices is convergence. To re-split them is to go backwards in time.
Hmm.. if HTC doesn't fix this soon, I'll get the Meizu M8 (IF it will be released that is..).
Finally a sleek WM phone, 16 million colors baby!
akash_84 said:
Hi all,
Other than that, phyically, the screen is the same size (2.6") but much sharper and clearer on the N95 (I think the N95 has a much better resolution). And then theres the weight, while size doesnt make that much of a comparison, the weight is very noticable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate your story, but just a little note - the N95 has the same 320x240 screen resolution as the Kaiser, and the Kaiser is 2.8 inches of course (same as the latest N95 of course)
I wish the kaiser had a better camera, and proper graphics acceleration, (and that accelerometer seems more and more useful each day) but mostly I appreciate the N95 is more of a phone than the Kaiser.
After years of WM however I find other phones (and especially the N95) completely unintuitive, and cant really see myself switching away from the rich ecosystem soon.
Surur
meorah said:
The point of these devices is convergence. To re-split them is to go backwards in time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldnt have said THAT better myself.
who in their right mind would carry loads devices for music, taking pictures, sat nav, a mobile, a pmp, thats just stupid
I'm sorry that the Kaiser didn't work out for you, but each person is an individual, and what works best for me, may not be good for you. That's why we have hundreds of models of phones available. Personally I love my Kaiser, and I think its far better than my old PDA phone, the HP iPAQ hw6515. The RF reception is just as good as a good regular handset, not like the iPAQ which was only good in urban areas where you were surrounded by plenty of towers. I used to keep a Motorola A845 and a V551 in my truck and when in rural areas I'd have to take my SIM out of the iPAQ and put it into another phone to be able to make a clear call. I haven't had to switch my SIM card once since I bought my Tilt.
Sorry this hasn't worked out for you, and I wish you luck in finding the perfect device for your needs.
-Jay
That was an interesting read. It's a shame that the kaiser isn't all everyone wants it to be. I like my kaiser, sometimes I love it other times I find it incredibly frustrating. For example when sitting in my living room playing around with it, it's great.
But I was out and about over the weekend, standing on a very cold football touchline texting the results to my wife. The kaiser was running like a dog. Sloooowwww to update while entering contacts into the search as you type 'To:' field. Then the text failed to send (despite a full signal). I really started to think about other options such as the N95 or SE P1i - you know, devices that just WORK!
But last night I was traveling on a coach to the Wales v Normay match and decided to play with my google maps and built in GPS on the Kaiser and I fell in love with it again. I arrived at the game and shot some images on the camera and blogged to through Shozu. It all worked well. I then turned to Opera Mini to check the England v Switzerland scores and the thing froze on me. SR later and I couldn't get a data connection on T-Mobile despite my sons' N73 having a full signal and gprs connection. (also on T-Mobile)
I know I am going to have a love/hate relationship with this phone, but hey! Thats Windows Mobile.
Now....... how much is that P1i on Expansys....Hmmm £284
Haven't bitten the bullet yet but seriously considering E-Ten X650. Won't satisfy those wanting a fast data connection or a keyboard, but it does have an FM Radio and VGA screen. My biggesst concern is smaller RAM. Anyway, I am looking to get something a bit smaller with better video and it seems like it will fit the bill. Before the driver thing came up, I was thinking of going to the Touch Cruise, as I don't use the keyboard all that much but I since have vowed to never again buy an HTC device. I think the lack of drivers may have been excusable if handled properly, but the disrespect they have shown their customers and this community is in my opinion deplorable.
Now if we could just get E-Ten devices into this forum. Maybe they would appreciate the awesome support this community provides.
I have to say, I'm surprised that the E-Ten devices don't get much credit around here. I've never used one (maybe that's why I'm surprised!) but on paper it seems like devices like the M800 have the Kaiser pretty much licked. I mean, not only do they appear to have the drivers and performance, but VGA too? Okay, they don't look quite so nice, and maybe the button arrangements aren't so good, but surely they're Kaiser killers apart from that?
I kind of got my Tytn II by accident, and stumbled into the world of Windows Mobile, and on the whole I'm happy with it - but if I was putting serious research into it now I'd definitely have to take a serious look at e-ten.
I left, then came back at the refurb price.
I love the phone, but not worth $400....I'll take $150 tho
Note: for anyone considering E-ten. don't get it. First and foremost, build quality sucks. and it's... I don't even want to go there.
Hey im thinking of leaving the kaiser 2 can any one sugest a few devices that might make a good replacment? checked out the P1i metioned above really im thinking iphone after they give it 3g but will it have hsdpa? xda had to unlock it on the kaiser didnt they?
there may be hope yet:
http://msmobiles.com/news.php/7085.html
I put my Tilt on the shelf for now and picked up a Blackjack II. It works for now, but I still visit the forums hoping for a fix. I am kicking myself for selling the 8525. That thing was really running great with the latest cooked ROM's.
Dave
very interesting comments, I was half expecting immature comments about my own thoughts on why I was leaving windows/kaiser but these were very good constructive comments
So I've been using the N95 for almost a week now.
I've still not had to use the Kaiser once though I have kept it at arms reach just incase.
The only time I used it was for TomTom until I get my Garmin software for the N95.
What do I think so far?
Well after a week of intensive use... I do really prefer it to the Kaiser. Yes I still miss the keyboard which still takes 3 times longer to type an SMS compared to an N95 and I miss the touch-screen time2time but aside from that, I've got used to it and it does everything I need to.
For those who considered the Ericsson P series... I used to be a P series fan a while back having owned a P800, P900, and a P910. I was not however impressed with the P1 at all and found it more of a chore to use than anything.
But each to their own- I've just gone of the UIQ symbian software yet I still like the Nokia s60 symbian software.
If anyone wants more information about the N95, Kaiser or any other phone that exists - do let me know and I can try and answer them.
I work part-time as ahobby in a phone repair place so I get a chance to mess around with a lot of the units!
Having used the phone for x2 days here are a list of the problems I have noticed so far ...
1) Battery life sucks. After a full recharge overnight the phone lasts from about 8am to 5pm, and that is without using it too much. I have pushmail activated so GPRS is always on.
2) The reception is definitely not as good (c/w trinity and tytnII). I am on T-mobile in the UK. My reception at work is not usually that good, but now it is non existant.
3) At times the Touchflo 3D menu can be quick jerky/sluggish taking more than a few seconds to refresh which makes selecting the correct menu item difficult. Other times it is smooth and works well.
4) Very tempermental when answering a call. Often cuts off after a few rings or when the green button is pressed. My wav ring tone file doesn't start properly and is distorted intially, then begins to work.
5) Despite having a gprs connection the weather doesn't always update.
6) On the browser tab of the TouchFlo, it can be difficult to select one of your favorite links, it doesn't always select.
Agree with above. In addition:
1. Does not remember backlight settings in battery e.g. I would like the backlight to remain for 1 min, but it always defaults to 10 sec (I have unchecked auto light adjustment)
2. Does not remember phone view settings under MENU\VIEW. I would like it to display ALL CALLS, but it defaults to CALLS AND CONTACTS even without a reset i.e. if I exit the phone screen and return after a few minutes, it shows this behavior.
3. ROM definately slower than Athena AP4 (6.1 base) by PK.
4. I thought it had 256 ROM and 192 RAM (thats what the box says), but the memory app reports 82.81 and 133.08M respectively (waiting for Comnex, PK team to see if they can come up with a similar cracker that they did for Athena)
I definately agree with the signal strength, my touch cruise had stellar signal strength in my house, the diamond is poor.
not had chance to fully test battery.
My weather has always updated regularly and phone calls have been great on 3uk, no dropped calls at all.
Touch flow 3d is taking some getting used to but i definately think its an improvement.
All in all my moans are:
1. Signal not as good as cruise.
2. It was nice to have memory card in touch cruise (8gig) for dam fast file transfer (when taken out and used as usb drive) the 4 gig in the diamond is quite sluggish if your moving a lot of files.
Earlier this week I could have sworn you all would think I am nuts when I did my review.. I guess you are all experiencing the same problems I had!! HTC needs to fix!
The ringer is also quite soft !!!!
I'm sure a radio update, albeit not for USA, will be out and will improve reception!
If there really is a software issue thats holding back the UK release i'm sure you can expect a new rom in a matter of days.
But since all current diamonds are grey, where would you get that rom from?
Also if they are branded for a HK operator will you even be able to install the HTC rom without hard/soft spl.
Is anyone with a diamond able to register to any HTC site? UK, USA or HK?
Why are they saying they are grey?? All Diamonds are made in HongKong anyway!
mobilitytoday said:
Why are they saying they are grey?? All Diamonds are made in HongKong anyway!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Physically there's no difference of course, its just the serial number - which means HTC may not honour waranty in a different country, and possibly CID lock if its made for an operator - which means generic roms may not work.
In this case i think its just about the waranty and not being able to register to the HTC website to get ROMs.
someone1234 said:
Physically there's no difference of course, its just the serial number - which means HTC may not honour waranty in a different country, and possibly CID lock if its made for an operator - which means generic roms may not work.
In this case i think its just about the waranty and not being able to register to the HTC website to get ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the HTC site isnt accepting ANY diamond serial numbers yet as it has not been updated...
An update on the ROM though, HTC have identified some "undocumented features" and promise an update but will take a few months...
walshieau said:
the HTC site isnt accepting ANY diamond serial numbers yet as it has not been updated...
An update on the ROM though, HTC have identified some "undocumented features" and promise an update but will take a few months...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats another unconfirmed romour. Until its confirmed officialy or at least by more than 1 person you can't assume it to be fact!
someone1234 said:
Thats another unconfirmed romour. Until its confirmed officialy or at least by more than 1 person you can't assume it to be fact!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
whateva champ, i have my sources...
walshieau said:
whateva champ, i have my sources...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol if all else fails its the 'i just know trust me'
From what i've seen this is based on ONE guy who called HTC and says he was told that. That then got posted in various forums slightly modified, and now it seems it has turned into 'i have my sources...'
I'll wait for official confirmation thanks
someone1234 said:
lol if all else fails its the 'i just know trust me'
I'll wait for official confirmation thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
then pull up a chair and get in line with everyone else, because we all know HTC are hopless when it comes to "official" confirmation.
As if ANY company will own up to "undocumented features" in ANY product.
walshieau said:
then pull up a chair and get in line with everyone else, because we all know HTC are hopless when it comes to "official" confirmation.
As if ANY company will own up to "undocumented features" in ANY product.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I edited my post while u were posting that it seems.. see above!
More creditable sources are claiming that HTC are not happy at all about what expansys are upto.
someone1234 said:
I edited my post while u were posting that it seems.. see above!
More creditable sources are claiming that HTC are not happy at all about what expansys are upto.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
once again im not quoting other postings, im quoting people in the dev team at HTC.
walshieau said:
once again im not quoting other postings, im quoting people in the dev team at HTC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok fair enough, you'll forgive me if i'm not 100% convinced
What about the camera on the diamond ?
Is it the same as on the tytn2 and touch cruise (meaning dropping fps and lagging as hell in darker places) ?
the camera seems quicker in darker conditions, on other thing i need help on, how do you delete files in the windows folder, i need to free up some space as these vga apps kill the free storage space and i like to keep most progs installed to the main mem. The reason i ask is because there is alot of wasted space ie the opera cab file is in the windows folder at 4meg. i have resco explorer but cant unchecck "rom file". This opera browser is amazingly fast btw!
jkr284 said:
....how do you delete files in the windows folder....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
afaik you cant delete those files. to get rid of those you need your own cooked rom, where you exclude those files, before uploading the rom to your device.
there is a lot of information about rom cooking in the hermes thread and in the wiki, if you are interested.
hope that helps,
chaos42
Please help me out with this, I'm getting very annoyed, upset and whatever else you can think of. Two days ago, I brought my Tilt into the ATT service center because of a problem, and they replaced it with a brand new Tilt. My older one was running 6.0 but this new one is running 6.1 WinMo, which I fear is the culprit here.
I get full HSPA bars here in NYC (kaiser tweak) under most circumstances, and it stays this way while I'm surfing the net and such but, whenever I make a phone call, it automatically switches to G ! ? There are times when it might go through with EDGE *the call*, but it's seldom. I never had this problem before the phone switch. It also happens without using Kaiser Tweak, with 3G. And while I AM able to use the phone with G, I feel that this might pose a problem at some point, and would like the phone to be able to reach its full potential or.. just be the way it was.
Help is seriously needed !
Doug
dougrb said:
Please help me out with this, I'm getting very annoyed, upset and whatever else you can think of. Two days ago, I brought my Tilt into the ATT service center because of a problem, and they replaced it with a brand new Tilt. My older one was running 6.0 but this new one is running 6.1 WinMo, which I fear is the culprit here.
I get full HSPA bars here in NYC (kaiser tweak) under most circumstances, and it stays this way while I'm surfing the net and such but, whenever I make a phone call, it automatically switches to G ! ? There are times when it might go through with EDGE *the call*, but it's seldom. I never had this problem before the phone switch. It also happens without using Kaiser Tweak, with 3G. And while I AM able to use the phone with G, I feel that this might pose a problem at some point, and would like the phone to be able to reach its full potential or.. just be the way it was.
Help is seriously needed !
Doug
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think theyre still using EDGE / 2G for voice calls.. not all markets have switched to 3G/HSDPA voice
I too have the same issue. I'm not saying a problem, cause in my opinion it is not. When a call is made it switches back to gprs. It takes about 30 secs after the call to switch it back to hsdpa. It is probably a bug or perhaps a lack of your carrier.
BTW. I'm with T-mobile Holland, perhaps it is network related.
What I'm trying to convey though is that my other phone (which was exchanged because I thought the top of the slider was loose) did not behave like this. It kept its full H bars through every call. And the only difference between the two phones is that the previous one ran WinMo 6.0 and this one runs 6.1
They DO use HSPA here in NYC, you have to turn it on with Kaiser tweak in order to use it, though.
Doug
u nailed it 2 times on the head here..
kaiser tweak..and ur stock winmo 6.1
- kaiser tweak is an essential tool for a kaiser..never leave it behind after a flash and always enable ur HSDPA
- winmo 6.1 is a dirty dirty devil, what i suggest is to reflash and use a good radio..i live in Central New Jersey and im in and out of NY daily ( midtown / diamond district ) and i have yet to experience a dropped call!
im running the below mentioned rom and radio..give it a go..most likely u wont be disappointed!
Jstar
JstarLuvsTina said:
u nailed it 2 times on the head here..
kaiser tweak..and ur stock winmo 6.1
- kaiser tweak is an essential tool for a kaiser..never leave it behind after a flash and always enable ur HSDPA
- winmo 6.1 is a dirty dirty devil, what i suggest is to reflash and use a good radio..i live in Central New Jersey and im in and out of NY daily ( midtown / diamond district ) and i have yet to experience a dropped call!
im running the below mentioned rom and radio..give it a go..most likely u wont be disappointed!
Jstar
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, it's interesting. Paulbates over at hofo suggests (and I agree w/him) that it would have been silly for them to release a ROM which did this, and we'd see tons of threads here and elsewhere about it if it were the case. I only asserted though, that the radio version might not like the area in which I live yada yada..
As soon as the problem started however, I did install Kaiser Tweak, and enabled HSDA. It worked as usual, but the H disappears just as fast as 3G was disappearing, so it makes no difference. I'm also experiencing data connectivity issues on this phone for the first time ever. Last night, even with full E or H bars, as I tried to open Opera or PIE, I'd get an error saying I had no data session open and the web page wasn't available. I tried many different pages of course, so it was the phone.. This never happened with my other phone, and I'm really regretting having taken it back now.
P.S. as far as changing the ROM and radio, I'm very inexperienced (re: have never done it before) and will wait to see if changing the phone makes a difference first. I only wish they had given me an exchange phone with 6.0 on it. Even the guy at the shop said that a lot of people have been complaining about 6.1. Do you live in NYC btw ? If so, perhaps I will take your advice about changing the ROM/Radio myself. Only thing is though, I run Linux. I do also have a Macbook Pro.. Can I do it with either of those OS's ?
Doug
Oh this is so very annoying... I just brought the phone into the store and they replaced it again. The girl I dealt with was very nice, and went through testing it out, and agreed that it was indeed doing something it shouldn't be doing. She even swapped the SIM card, but it was still the same. I then got a new (refurb of course) and it seemed to stay on E in the store, but then I wandered outside into Bryant Park (where I am now) and the same ol' junk occurred.
The last call I made actually stayed on Edge, but that was about 1 of 7 calls. Not only that, but now my voice mail doesn't work either... It asks if I have an account, then prompts me to put in my phone number. When I do, it says it's not a valid account. I'm really regretting switching my phone over, big time.
I'm going to call CS and see what they have to say (yes, we know the network isn't solid right now, but we're "working on it") Yah...
This really puts me off, but if they can't do anything, I'll start messing with the ROMS. It's just that my download speed right now sucks, too. Can someone direct me to a mobile internet speed test, which is good ? I tried toast.net, but it's too slow to load anything on any of the servers. And speedtest.net requires flash, but those probably aren't very good for mobile phones, anyway.
Doug
Hi all,
I've just got my grubby hands on one of our staff members Diamond (they were having mail problems) and found the UI (of the phone generally, not just the TouchFlo) rather sluggish.
The TouchFlo part doesn't seem very smooth at times, and the general browsing of the phone such as Programs etc is sometimes slow to respond.
Are the Diamond's usually like this? I was thinking of getting one as my next phone (couldnt belive the size of the Diamond compared to my TYTN-II, I just love the look of the Diamond ). I remember my XDA II was kinda slow, but it was due to the programs etc that O2 pre-load onto it.
I know this particular phone is pretty much straigh out the box as it comes ... if it were my phone I would of customised the hell out of it already