How about the forthcoming Blackberry 9000 Bold... it's certainly tempting me!

You can find it... together some others you might like even better... here!

Enjoy!

That's still not too bad then isn't it... over a 12 month period each additional user is paying £89.99 for their phone, and is of course getting all the useage benefits etc.

Anywhere between £90 - £100 including postage... some classed as 'refurbished' though, with possible slight marks etc.

Look as if there are some BT branded ones on there also... personally I think I would rather get one directly from BT though... especially if it was only going to cost me an extra £5 per month.

Just to clarify the position here... it is only an additional £5 per month if you are already on Option 3 Broadband with BT, which I would suggest a lot of users in so called rural areas where we don't get the option of the higher speeds anyway probably aren't!

The idea looks good... at a first glance!

Then you look into their inclusive minutes & text... wow! 50 minutes + 50 texts – inclusive with every Broadband Anywhere package... then there's the broadband cap, which Paul mentioned, and what I gather from BT at the moment, there is only one phone currently on offer... an HTC S620.

However as an existing BT Broadband customer who has all the necessary hardware anyway, I though I might be offered some sort of a deal... dream on! Upgrade to Option 3, and then pay a further £5 on top of that, I was told... oh, and of course I have to have all their hardware anyway, as it is of course all FREE... of course it is!!!

The final nail in the coffin is the fact that they use the Vodafone network... virtually unusable at my current location anyway!

In fact they messed me around so much, when all I wanted to do was to make a simple enquiry, I will be transfering my broadband away from BT and over to O2 as soon as I possibly can... enough is enough!

Hi Stephen,

I am please to hear that you are now happy with your Asus, and that is meeting your requirements.

Out of interest, what type of software are you after... applications, utilities possibly... but not, I suspect games?

Sorry to hear you are leaving us so soon Stephen... which network operator were you with, by the way?

I will be interested to hear which phone you finally end up with!

Thanks for your input anyway, it is always good to hear the views and thoughts of other users.

Hi Stephen,

Welcome to the Asus M530W Owners Club! ... and to the MoDaCo Forums also, although I am probably too much a 'new boy' here myself to offer you any sort of 'official' greeting!

I don't think unfortunately that I am really going to be able to help you very much with either of the two points you mentioned. Inded I have often wondered myself how to actually terminate an active application, other of course than be using a built in 'Close Program' option, which a lot of them don't include anyway. I am sure there are other far more experienced users than me around though, who will hopefully be able to assist.

In regard to your other issue, could it be a similar problem to the one I experienced with CoPilot 7, where the program is in effect trying to install itself in portrait, rather than in landscape mode, do you think?

I am probably way off the beam here anyway, but is just a thought!

In the meantime, I hope you will continue to enjoy your new 'toy' anyway!

Very impressed with it , so far... I don't really think I can blame Asus for the problem I had with CoPilot anyway!

It is my first Smartphone, and I am pleased I chose one with wi-fi connectivity... I almost bought a Motorola Q9H, and am glad now that I chose the Asus instead.

My current quest is to find a network which will 'work' from home. I am currently using an O2 PAYG SIM but can't seem get internet access. Hence my earlier question as to whether you (or any other users) have had any success in this area?

I will probably move to a contract eventually, but want to make sure that I go with an operator who can provide the services I require first.

Thanks for getting back to me anyway!

No idea yet I am afraid, as they didn't 'phone me until late (6 pm) on Friday, and only emailed the instructions to me then.

The chap I am talking to is now out of the office until Wednesday, bit I will try and find out a bit more information from him, when he returns.

Presumably ALK will now have to modify some part of the installation routine to prevent this happening with similar devices. But it does at least look as if they have managed to come up with a 'quick fix', which is something I suppose, and probably more than I would have got from some companies.

You can stop searching for it now Paul, as ALK have finally managed to solve the problemI was experiencing with CoPilot Live 7.

What it appears was happening is that the program was trying to install in portrait, rather than in landscape mode.

I was therefore asked to manually edit a small configuration file, by just changing a '1' to a '2', and it then ran and installed OK.

A few minutes later I was paired up with my Emtac Mini-S3 which accurately pinpointed my location.

Although the problem shouldn't have occured in the first place, it is encouraging that ALK were able to offer a solution.

That is odd, as I have had one working in mine OK... mind you, when you say that it doesn't work, are you not even able to make an outgoing call?

I am sure I have read somewhere that another user (it might even have been 'vincemod') also had this problem, which was cured when he eventually persuaded his local Orange shop to replace it with one of their newer sims.

My latest problem is that having tried, and successfully managed an internet connection with Vodafone, I am unable to do so with O2... despite selecting O2 on the auto-configuration screen, which does include Orange also, of course!

Is anyone else on O2, out of interest?

Thanks for your reply Simon, but as you say, it doesn't actually appear on their compatibility list, and they did even try to advise me earlier this week that it wasn't compatible after all, (having previously confirmed in an email that it was!) so I get the feeling that they hadn't yet tested it specifically on an Asus. Hopefully though they will now do so, and will advise me of their findings.

I did try to run it again after updating the firmware on the 'phone, but with the same result.

Everything else seems to work OK, and my current thoughts are that it is a software problem, but I think I will wait for their feedback before doing anything else.

Fingers crossed!

Thanks for your replies guys.

I would however just like to clarify a couple of points.

Before purchasing CoPilot Live 7, I did in fact email ALK to ask them whether or not it was compatable with my M530W, and as I received an email back confirming that it was, I therefore purchased it on that basis.

Although I bought the phone from Expansys at the end of February. I did not buy CP7 until one month later, at which time Expansys were awaiting stock, (I think) so I purchased it from Handtec (GPSK Ltd) who have so far chosen not to reply to the two emails I have sent them outlining my problems.

Incidentally, I did previously attempt to install Route 66, but found it impossible to enter the necessary activation code on the screen, so that was reurned.

As I think I mentioned earlier, ALK have now escalated my case, and have promised to get back to me by the end of this week, so if I haven't heard from them by Monday, I shall be 'phoning them again... oh, and before anyone asks I have also reported my experiences to Asus, who (needless to say) assure me that the problem could not possibly lie with the phone !

I just cannot believe that somewhere in the UK (or maybe even further afield) there is not at least one other user who has tried to install CP7 on his (or her) M530W, as I am sure this problem is not unique to me... any luck yet Paul?

Thanks for listening!

Maybe I am being slightly naieve here... although I hope not, but I would expect that when a reputable company such as Expansys lists an item of software as being one of the most popular accessories for an item of hardware, they would have some proof that the two are actually compatible.

Perhaps they have actually tested it themselves, possibly they are relying on information given by the software manufacturers, or maybe even some of their customers have actually managed to install and run it!

If it transpires that that CoPilot 7 is not compatible wth my Asus I would obviously like to get a refund on one or the other... preferably the former, as there is currently no viable option, so far as I am concerned, to the Asus M530W.

In the case of the software... which ALK are stilll looking in to, it might be slightly more difficult for me to return it, now that I have opened the product and also uncovered the activation code... at the request of their technical support incidentally.

However I am still hoping that my problem will be sorted out... preferably sooner rather than later, and that I will then be a happy bunny once again!

Rather difficult to say, as I can't even manage to run it, to check the version. I only bought it last week though!

Interestingly though the above zip file doesn't actually include the file 'copilot.m6sp.cab which is the one the Asus M530W uses!

I did try to run it from the supplied card... without success, so what I then did was to copy the files to my own micro SD card, using their CoPilot Central DVD, which incidentally had to be 'patched first

I then (after registering & downloading the 'live' updates) followed their instructions to prepare my own card, all of which which I assumed would have installed the latest version.

Despite all this it still won't even run though!

All help & suggestions will be more than welcome!

Well spotted indeed... it certainly wasn't there the last time I looked!

Presumably you both installed it from a PC running XP rather than Vista, as it does say (rather surprisingly I thought):

"2. Due to compatibility issue, please use ActiveSync version 4.5"

I suppose there is just a chance that it might even solve my CoPilot problems... perhaps you could let me know Paul if you are trying it with this latest firmware update, or not.

Thanks again!

Thanks a lot Paul... much appreciated.

Rather than repeat myself again her, can I refer you to my earlier post in this thread (No. 41) which outlines the problems I am still experiencing.

Basically though it appears to install OK, but will not then run at all. I have tried installing it both from the supplied micro SD card, and from my own card, prepared according to their instructions.

I am not even being presented with a license agreement, (not even at the installation stage) which apparently is one of the first things which should happen.

I would be VERY interested to hear how you get on!

Cheers!

Hi,

May I actually 'Ask Chris', and Paul too perhaps, a question?

You obviously have a special relationship with Expansys, or at least a much closer one than I do, and what I would like to know is whether they, or indeed any of their customers, have actually managed to get ALK CoPilot Live 7 software working on the Asus M530W?

I recently purchased one of these phones from them, and I see that they are now actually advertising CoPilot Live 7 as one of the 'Top Selling Accessories' for it.

In view of my experiences, and many hours spent in unsuccessfully trying to install this particular program, I would be VERY interested to hear their reply.

Many Thanks,

'Montala' (a.k.a. David)

As mentioned earlier, despite now having gone right back to the 'factory default' state, and starting again from scratch, I still find that I am unable to install the ALK CoPilot Live 7 program. Or to be strictly correct it appears to install OK, but then when I try to run the program for the first time (before I even get to activate it) I just get a 75% blank screen with just the right hand (vertical) quarter still visible, if that makes sense, and there it stays! I have already spent ages talking to CoPilot technical support, who have now escalated the problem as I have tried virtually everything, including going back to a 'factory reset' and starting from scratch as it were, using a different micro SD card etc., etc.

They implied that Expansys are also aware of this problem, which I thought was interesting, but just to make things worse, I am not even able to run their (ALK's) CoPilot Central Desktop Software program on my main PC, owing to a separate 'bug' of which they are also aware. Edit... They did in fact issue a 'patch' for this late on Friday afternoon!

Needless to say, I am not very happy at the moment!

I have posted a similar message in the Asus530W support forum on Expansys website, but am getting extremely frustrated now, so would appreciate any other thoughts or comments on this problem, as there don't seem to be too many AsusM530W owners/users around at the moment!

Answering my own question here, I though I had tried most of the Home Screen options, but now find that the default one is actually called 'Summer in Turkey' which gives me the layout I like (and in a smaller font size to!).

Talking about battery levels (which wapz was) I have just found quite a useful battery level indicator hidden under "Settings / Power Management", which might just be of help to someone!

Seems to be available at: http://www.efficasoft.com/celetask/index.html

Not sure whether or not that is the latest version though!

Not a program I had ever heard of before until you mentioned it.

It looks a bit 'old' now, and is not really one which appeals to me actually

I am anxious to get my CoPilot 7 sorted out first!