23 replies to this topic

[PaulOBrien]

A couple of lil videos for you on this Friday night, my earlier unboxings of the Pantech Duo and the T-Mobile Shadow. Heck, i'm opening the boxes, might as well film it right? Both are US handsets of course, but of interest to both our US and non US readership.

'Why' I hear you ask?

Well, I bought the Shadow, brand new, on eBay for $300. That's 150 quid. Shipping is pretty cheap, and although the device is SIM locked to T-Mo USA, it actually takes a T-Mo UK SIM no problem! This makes it an EXTREMELY competively priced Smartphone, and something of a unique choice for a UK buyer. I'm loving it too The same applies to the Pantech. Although my unit is a press device, they can be picked up pretty cheap on eBay, unlocked for a cent under $15, and bring dual keyboard 3G goodness you won't find on this side of the pond.

Check out the videos below, feel free to hit me with any questions about the devices, and definitely check out http://Juno.MoDaCo.com if you're a Shadow owner - i'm tweaking away already

P

PS Also check out my Asus Eee PC unboxing... it's not Windows Mobile, but it's a hot device atm

[encece]

First thoughts...Pantech seems like a nice device...execpt I hate it's looks. It's not the size or the shape...it that there is too much going on in the front. It's very shiney in some areas and textured in others. Would have been happier if the whole exterior were matte black all on one consistent layer.

The Shadow is much nicer. Screen seems ALOT bigger even though it is marginal. Makes a big difference. Would be a great form factor for a PPC as well. The brown color is actually a nice change...Havent seen the sage...but I'm sure it's a nice change as well. The scroll wheel seems very cool as well.

The homescreen seems very cool as well. Seems to be a trend for smartphones to resemble the familiar experience of "regular" phones with basic functions in an easy to use and east to get to way....in this case, the homescreen functions. Makes it easier to sell to users not experienced with, or intimidated by, smartphones.

Nice unboxings...cant wait to see more.

[mikeeey]

i played with one of those fake models of the Pantech when i got my kaiser. it seemed alright, but the duel slider is kinda weird, especially since you can slide both at once, seems like something that might break?

im still disappointed in t-mobile, never exceeding the limit of 200mhz..

[encece]

I believe I read that you can't slide both on the real units.

[PaulOBrien]

Correct, that was only on display models

P

[HerpezP]

I was just wondering why you didn't try to slide both keyboards out at the same time

[PaulOBrien]

Because I know you can't

P

[Alex (nedge2k)]

oooo...Shadow looks gorgeous in real life and only £150

[Syphon Filter]

Juno/Shadow looks awesome...is it QVGA?

Out of interest, is the HTC warranty international Paul?

EDIT:

If they made something like that, with the specs of the Kaiser (including the touchscreen/3G/GPS etc) + VGA or higher...I'd pull my pants down, bend over and...well you get the idea!

Having suretype style keypad makes a big difference.

Edited by Syphon Filter, 17 November 2007 - 10:16 PM.

[e-v@n]

T-Mobile Shadow looks really nice. It is probably the best smartphone that T-Mobile US ever had. Plus my SDA is pretty broken now...

Edited by e-v@n, 18 November 2007 - 02:24 AM.

[micaels]

The Shadow looks cool. Is there any way of unlocking it?

[major_sarcasm]

The Shadow is one of the nicest looking Smartphones I've seen to date I reckon and the UI looks rather swish. Although...

200mhz
2MP camera

Isn't it about time these particular specs were ditched once and for all?

[Syphon Filter]

major_sarcasm, on Nov 18 2007, 08:52, said:

The Shadow is one of the nicest looking Smartphones I've seen to date I reckon and the UI looks rather swish. Although...

200mhz
2MP camera

Isn't it about time these particular specs were ditched once and for all?

Is it the same processor that was in the SPV C600? If so...it's definitely getting long in the tooth now!

HTC have so much talent in their various departments...yet they still havnt really come up with the "ultimate" smartphone/PPC phone. They have flashes of genius in some of their devices, the Touch, the Juno, the Kaiser, dare I say it, the Universal, yet somehow...they never seem to think to themselves...

"Hey guys...each of these devices has some awesome features that make it really cool...why dont we make ONE device which has ALL these cool features!"

If they did, I reckon they'd clean up...both in the PDA and the smartphone markets!

[e-v@n]

Syphon Filter, on Nov 18 2007, 12:13, said:

Is it the same processor that was in the SPV C600? If so...it's definitely getting long in the tooth now!

I think that the processor in Shadow is the same as in Tornado.

[encece]

how does the scroll disk work with PIE and email? smooth?

[PaulOBrien]

encece, on Nov 18 2007, 18:35, said:

how does the scroll disk work with PIE and email? smooth?

I'm not a fan of the scroll disk generally (I find it takes too many 'turns', perhaps the turn to activity ratio is adjustable somewhere tho!)

Thankfully you can use it as a regular dpad too

P

[PaulOBrien]

Syphon Filter, on Nov 17 2007, 22:00, said:

Juno/Shadow looks awesome...is it QVGA?

Out of interest, is the HTC warranty international Paul?

EDIT:

If they made something like that, with the specs of the Kaiser (including the touchscreen/3G/GPS etc) + VGA or higher...I'd pull my pants down, bend over and...well you get the idea!

Having suretype style keypad makes a big difference.

QVGA, yup. No idea on the warranty TBH

P

[PaulOBrien]

micaels, on Nov 18 2007, 08:37, said:

The Shadow looks cool. Is there any way of unlocking it?

There's a good few people offering unlock on eBay US, assuming you need something other than a T-Mo UK SIM.

P

[PaulOBrien]

major_sarcasm, on Nov 18 2007, 08:52, said:

The Shadow is one of the nicest looking Smartphones I've seen to date I reckon and the UI looks rather swish. Although...

200mhz
2MP camera

Isn't it about time these particular specs were ditched once and for all?

Well, the 256MB/128MB memory makes a big difference, both on the Shadow and the Touch.

For all it's faults, the 200MHz solution does seem to give the best performance to battery life ratio!

P

[micaels]

Paul (MVP), on Nov 18 2007, 19:40, said:

There's a good few people offering unlock on eBay US, assuming you need something other than a T-Mo UK SIM.

P

Cool. Thanks. Was the price including shipping? Sent a question regarding which seller you purchased from.