SPV NO GOOD

[Guest Monolithix [MVP]]

Give me the SPV with built in camera and the Symbian OS and I'm a happy man.

It's called the Mitac Mio 8380 :)

[Guest Gorskar]

It's called the Mitac Mio 8380 :)

... except of course the Mio 8380 has MS Smartphone2002

The thing that I find most annoying about my SPV is the slow menus. But apart from that it really is a superb phone. The camera was fine (although no good for video) until I lost it (doh :cry: ) 128kb MP3 playback is flawless, and has replaced my minidisc player. I need to get a bigger memory card before I can start putting films onto it though.

Oh and the games are much higher quality that any rubbishy java offerings - have you played Links, Motocross Stunt racer, Rocketelite, or interstellar flames? As a gamaholic I find this phone a dream come true.

There are also a number of high quality freeware games which have emerged as a result of the open C++ programing environment (free SDK) as well as the hard work of some dedicated programmers.

I will admit that the phone isn't perfect... but when the next iteration comes about, with bluetooth and an inbuilt camera, as well as the updated (fixed) OS then I think we will have a mobile device that is extremely hard to better.

[Guest Monolithix [MVP]]

Er yeah, sorry. My point was more that if you're comparing camera's, trhe mio is just as good as any nokia offering.

(didn't cut down the quote enough :))

[Guest JOB]

As a follow up the new Nokia 6660 would seem to be my dream come true, with mmc slot and new series7 OS.

But I've just found out is has no stereo hardware for mp3's OMFG, Nokia have fooked up there.

So that's why it's got to be the Siemens SX1, which also has a radio, but looks a bit weird.

[Guest midnight]

and has a totally unuseable keypad, have siemens not learnt from nokia experimenting with changing the keypad layout (3650 main complaint was the keypad layout)?

and without wishing to flame, your phone crashes/hangs a lot? sounds dodgy, mine rarely crashes, hangs, or even runs slow (only does that if i mess something up), and i do a lot of beta testing of the games we write.

also, you cant blame the software for the slow camera, its a hardware fault (serial connection), anyway, as i always recommend.... if you want a camera buy a camera not a cameraphone.

Gorskar, slow menus, tried my speedup tweaks? :)

anyhoo, horses for courses, you dont like the phone, fair enough, it isnt compulsary, i personally dislike nokias, they have some nice basic phones, but with the more recent advanced ones nokia seems to have lost the plot, especially from a design point. Siemens have pretty nice phones, but i dont get the sx1, they have moved the keypad to the sides, yet, the area they have moved the keypad from is still big enough to fit in the keypad, and the first part to get damaged on any phone is the edges, right where they have the keypad, but, suppose i'd better reserve judgement until i get to use one ;)

[Guest midnight]

oh, just thought of something, JOB, is your spv application unlocked?

cos for the spv you have only mentioned freeware games (most about on par with java games i admit), and also streaming vid (with wmp, which to be honest is a bit crap), if you are running a locked spv then you arent using it to its full potential, in fact, nowhere near its full potential, cmon Orange, get all the SPV's unlocked so people can see what they are missing. :)

[Guest StormB]

Sorry for not starting a new topic, but my query seemed quite relevant to what was going on in this thread.. so:

I have an Ericsson T68 (upgraded to T68i firmware) at the moment, and when I upgraded to it from my Nokia 8210 a year ago, the main difference I noticed was the menu speed (which is pretty slow)..

Now I've got another upgrade available, and being quite geeky (the use of telnet from the SPV thrills me :-p), and a bit of a gamer (And I'd love to watch Divx movies from my phone) etc etc etc, I'm looking at buying an SPV.

The only thing is that I don't know if I could take it if the menu's were even slower than the T68. So has anyone used/owned both the T68 and the SPV and can comment on which has faster menus? (And I appreciate you'll all try to sway me on the SPV will all kinds of other reasons, but I've already picked those up from other posts) :)

Cheers for any help,

Will

[Guest xanadu]

The post by Job, looks like a virtual copy of one about 8 months ago when the SPV was first released. (Possible plant by Vodafone)

The SPV is obviously not the phone for you, as you are expecting too much.

Just look at all the things my SPV can do... read emails, browse internet and WAP pages, store friends names and adresses in address book, take photos, wakes me up with alarm clock, store my appointments and birthdays, listen to MP3 music, play games, and it even makes phone calls too :)

I would say that was amazing when you think that not long ago mobile phones only made phone calls, and the SPV is much smaller and lighter than those old bricks.

[Guest JOB]

Expecting too much?

My old Nokia 6210 could browse WAP access e-mail, store adresses e-mails in contacts, thats old hat.

The only adavantage of the SPV is MMC slot and stereo MP3 play.

Even that is very poor, everything else is done slower and more glitchy than every other smartphone OS out there.

OK you've bought one ,it's not that bad, it is the cutting edge, you've invested a lot of money in it, but I'm sorry Microshite have let you down.

With regards to T68-SPV comparison, the SPV is a bit faster at texting, the T68 is very slow, texting on the SPV is not bad. but overall your old Nokia will feel like a sports car compared to an SPV milkfloat, you know when you have too many programs open on your PC and everything takes 10 seconds to catch ip? Thats an SPV at it's best.

[Guest Arisme]

Please consider that HTC is not really what I'd call experienced in handsets design ... for a first try, it's not that bad, at all (I don't know what the very first Nokia looked like :wink:)

[Guest Hax]

My old Nokia 6210 could browse WAP access e-mail, store adresses e-mails in contacts, thats old hat.

Yeah, but was it anywhere near as nice to use as the SPV for doing these tasks? With a lowly monochrome screen at a much lower resolution than the SPV, things certianly didn;t look too nice on it and it was pretty much useless for writing e-mails (IMHO) as you could only see a couple of words on the screen at any one time. Now the SPV not only aloows many more words on the screen, but it's also more pleasing to look at and it feels more like an e-mail application.

As for the contacts on the 6210, I have to say that is was pretty lame really, well for the use that I wanted - which was to sync it with the names and addresses of people that were being stored in my favourite contacts manager - Outlook. You have to admit that no other phone even comes close when you start talking about synchronising the information that you have in Outlook with the information you have in your phone. And even though MS missed some fairly major chunks out (notes missing altogether and taks list is pretty lame on SPV) applications *are* available that will synchronise and display these seamlessly. Fantastic!

The only adavantage of the SPV is MMC slot and stereo MP3 play.

Even that is very poor

I dont's get it - what's so poor about the MP3 capabilities of the phone? I've not had any problems with them - and TBH the sound from the handset is great - providing you use headphones of course! Built in speaker is a tad on the low quality side for MP3 playback :D

OK you've bought one ,it's not that bad, it is the cuttin0g edge, you've invested a lot of money in it, but I'm sorry Microshite have let you down.

Nope - have to disagree with you here - I wanted a PDA to sync with my Outlook on my PC but knew that I wouldn't carry one around with me as well as a phone - also thought that the PDA-phones were too big for me to just take out and about on a regular basis. So, along come the SPV which is a phone with the bits of PDA functionality that I wanted included as standard - yipee! And to make things even better, it also had Windows Media Player that allowed me play MP3's, WMA and WMV files *and* in addition to this, once unlocked it was possible for anyone to write an application to fill in any holes that might have been present - oh and these apps turn out to be of good quality and many of them free.

Yeah - actually I can see your point - boy have I been let down by MS! :roll: :roll: :) ;) :D

overall your old Nokia will feel like a sports car compared to an SPV milkfloat, you know when you have too many programs open on your PC and everything takes 10 seconds to catch ip? Thats an SPV at it's best.

Yeah - that'll be the sports car without it's seats, steering wheel, brakes and engine - most phones now seem like a fairly empty shell once you get used to the SPV and all it has to offer. Yes it does take a little bit more effort to get used to the way it works, but as for being as slow as JOB says, nah - it ain't that slow. Some applications take a while to open up such as games and Windows media player - but that's to be expected. Games are written by 3rd parties and the media player is scanning your storage looking for files to play. Commonly used apps such as the calendar and e-mail/SMS editor open more or less instantly.

It's a great phone - if you get one from Orange (UK at least), then you have a 14 day no-quibble period in which you can return the phone if you don't like it (IIRC) - so what have you got to lose? Gotta be worth a go...

Hax

[Guest ClintEastman]

At the end of the day any experienced SPV user on here knows the SPV (and even more so with an e100) outstrips a 7650 every time on features and is a massive achievement in the mobile phone market. With the advent of SP2003 the competition is really going to heat up and Nokia are really going to have to think long and hard about its OS plans. The reason Nokia (and a lot of the other manufactures) are so reluctant to use an MS OS is because they fear that the brand loyalty with consumers will switch from the phone to the OS (which im sure it will).

I STILL amaze people with my phone, when they see the Matrix playing on there, sit and watch an episode of South Park with me on the train, catch me playing Super Mario or the look one there faces when my phone rings with Roots Manuva (witness the fitness). If you just wont a phone then no, the SPV is not for you, get over it. :)

[Guest mores]

obviously people who compare full-featured mobile internet access to WAP have no idea what they're talking about.

nokia 6210 was WAP capable, yes. i've had one. and i fought with it. i tried WAP emailing (half an hour ordeal, 100s of "clicks", only to be reading 2 lines of text at a time. and subject lines that get cut-off after 5 characters)

then i tried WAPing on my t68i, same sh*t. t68i could at least email, but that was a hassle too.

then i got myself a pocketpc, and finally found out what true internet access means.

poor me even had to develop WAP applications for my employer, hours of testing etc.

WAP SUCKS. even people who use(d) it regularly know that, but it's the only thing available for them at the time.

and contacts on the 6210 were a good step forward compared to other contacts, but they just can't keep up with the information in outlook's (and thus SPV's) contacts.

sheesh !

[Guest madu]

"SPV NO GOOD"

MWAHAHAHA :)

[Guest JOB]

I am aware of the features on the SPV , that's why I bought the freakin thing.

I was just so dissapointed by it's slowness and unreliability.

That's why I moved to the 7650, I was prepared to take the hit just to get a phone that didn't test my patience every time I picked it up.

Just read the webauthors comments on coolsmartphone.com

He says 'I bought the SPV even though everyone told me it was a piece of s***'

Just to say I have the 2 phones and the SPV is in a drawer, say's it all really.

And yes mine is unlocked and upgraded

[Guest TANKERx]

I've just read through this topic and it's really interesting. What I find even more interesting is the misconception around here regarding the Symbian Series60 devices currently on market. I don't know if these are deliberate or not, but they are quite whopping.

There are some areas where the SPV wins, and I think these are in multimedia and memory expansion. As for the person who said that the SPV wins every time on features 'hands down', I think that some correction is required;

* Multiple e-mail accounts (IMAP & POP)

* Native SMS and MMS. I know the SPV comes with MMS now, but it doesn't use the same interface as the rest of the 'messaging capability' so although it's in ROM, it's not native.

* Organisation of inbox messages into user defined folders is very handy.

* Add your own fields to the already comprehensive set for each contact, including a photo which appears even when you text someone.

* The 7650/3650 does not run 'only' java applications. It runs applications native to the machine and games like Interstellar Flames run at the same speed on both machines. It runs applications written in C++.

* There is a growing hobbyist developer base through the use of the Open Source language OPL. It's simple but powerful.

* Built in GPRS counter

* Runs all the midi files I've thrown at it and these make for quite funky ringtones. My SPV doesn't like most of them, but at least it has enough space for WAV files.

* Camera software on the SPV doesn't have features like 'Night Mode' - I know, if I want to take pictures, get a camera..... but a camera-phone should be able to take pictures.

* Joystick. 'Nuff said.

* The UI can be skinned and has been skinned.

* Already available for the platform; UI Enhancements, Ability to view and control one phone's screen from another over the internet in order to help someone (WinXP assitance style), FAX Client, IM, Video recorder and player, Web Viewer, Word Document viewer, Internet based SMS texting software, Games, TV Remote Control, Astronomy Application, Remote locking of the phone via SMS and password.

This list isn't to say "Haha! The 7650 is better than the SPV". Only to say that those who say the 7650/3650 phones are rubbish, are wrong.

Something else I'm noticing around here is that people say talk about comparing the SPV to 'a Nokia'. What is this 'a Nokia' that everyone is talking about? I saw one review on a Smartphone site comparing the SPV with a Nokia 6210 (or similar model). Come on!

Ok, so I use my SPV for all sorts of stuff, the multimedia is fine and it's losing my messages on a regular basis is something I can put up with for now because I like the MP3 capabilities. Both phones are good at something, so why people are saying lies about Symbian phones is a mystery.

As for the idea that Microsoft is aiming the phone at geeks, I think they need to rethink this strategy. Sure, as a geek, the pretty colours and icons are fine and I don't think it's that complicated, but if Microsoft want their phone accepted and sold, they are going to have to make it easier to use. Sure, keep it for the geeks, but don't complain when Nokia sells in the millions and Microsoft in the tens of thousands.

Finally, I don't buy this "I know it has problems, but we're early adopters' argument. I wouldn't go to a restaurant, order a meal and tollerate having to pay for something that makes me ill just because the restaurant are 'testing a recipe'.

Anyway, my rant is over. It's not intended to flame anybody, just point out that the idea of a 7650 or 3650 as being a crippled device with no expandability is nonsense. It already has a FAX client, countless IM clients, movie recorders and players and even some media players (and the only reason it won't play WMV is not because it's incapable, but because it's a proprietry standard designed to lock users into a technology). Let's smile and shout for the Goose of Gordon's Uncle has sang his last song and the Pregnant Cow of Doom shall be made as naught before the Chubbergotts.

[Guest dinoalbert]

Could anyone tell me exactly what the SPV outperforms the 7650 at?

I believe the other guys already pointed them out to you...mostly on the internal aspect of the phone...since you ask about performance. Anyway I'd like to point out the physical aspect... when you see a 7650 and an SPVx (sorry there's only Tanager here in the Philippines, no SPV) side by side with their screen and backlites on (by the way have you seen a Tanager?)...which would you pick? The 7650? Hmmm... get real.

Now why is it that most guys who own this 7650, either officemates or friends, when I show off my Tanager to them.....they seem to hide their Nokias and not bother to show off what it can also do, instead they grab my phone and stare at it in amazement, or ask me to beam to them my MP3s and movies...only to get disappointed to learn that their poor phone cant handle large files.

The next day, they sold their 7650 and got a Tanager themselves. Yes! thats what happens to Nokia owners after seeing a Tanager!

I havent heard much of Tanager users selling their phone to get a Nokia? You're the only one. Or maybe there's only a VERY few of you. Im sorry it didnt satisfy you. But for me, its a real INNOVATION from those regular boring phones.

I see that you are only amazed with the Nokia's built-in camera and start comparing it to the SPV's detachable camera. Now why dont you start comparing it instead with a built-in camera too? Try the Mio, my friend. Oh, by the way, I dont give a damn about the camera, in fact I lost mine and Im not bothered. I buy a phone not because of its non-megapixel camera! Well there is no "great" cellphone-camera out there anyway, is there? Why bother to use a camera from a phone when you can get a real nice picture using a real digital camera? Cellphone cameras for me are just "toys", they're not real serious cameras. So stop boasting about your Nokia's camera...thats just a toy :wink:

Okay now throwing back the question to you: Could you tell me exactly what the 7650 outperforms the Smartphone ? goodluck..

[Guest TANKERx]

Now why is it that most guys who own this 7650, either officemates or friends, when I show off my Tanager to them.....they seem to hide their Nokias and not bother to show off what it can also do, instead they grab my phone and stare at it in amazement, or ask me to beam to them my MP3s and movies...only to get disappointed to learn that their poor phone cant handle large files.

When I show my SPV to my mates, the jibes soon start when they have to wait for the menus to appear and applications to launch. My mate has a 7650 and he can show me a video in seconds. It takes me a while to get the Media Player up and running and then I'm not confident that it won't crash because of other applications I've been using in the meantime.

My other mate has a 3650 and can play full movies on it, as can I on my old 9210.

A third mate has recently bought a P800. All I can say is Wow! But it's too big for me.

My point?

You buy a phone for what you want to use. I'm convinced that so many people buy PocketPCs simply so they can show off the multimedia's geek factor and don't actually use it for their own pleasure! Anyway, to my shame, I admit that's what I did and so decided to give up on the PDA ratrace and I refuse to get caught up with the same in Smatphones.

I strongly recommend Symbian phones to normal people who want a nice new and powerful phone because they are reliable (my 7650 never crashed, my SPV often does) and easy to use. They have all the features of an SPV, except for expandable memory on the sexy 7650:-(, so for most people who are used to using average mobiles anyway (7110, 6210, 8310 etc), a Symbian phone is a step to power use without having to go on an IT BSc degree!

Live and let live.

Have an SPV? Enjoy it (I do)

Have a Symbian phone? Enjoy it (I do)

[Guest dinoalbert]

Oh yes! The Sony-Ericsson P800 is one nice phone, I could say! But Nokia 7650? :)

[Guest axe]

-Install the speed tweaks for your slow menus and stop complaining :)

-I can make a keyboard shortcut to (a playlist of) a movie in my memory card and have it play in 2 secs from the homescreen.

-The P800 is way too big and what if you loose the stylus on your night in the pub ?

-Update to the latest ROm version to avoid those nasty cracshes and random reboots. The latest ROM really fixes these issues. (I know about them because I was a tester for the first SPV's released ..)

-I dont know who said this but 'loosing half your sms messages' ??? I know hundreds of ppl with an SPV and they come to me with their questions, this is one I've nevber heard so I'm guessing it was pulled out of a magic hat :o

I could go on and shatter the rest of your arguments but I can't be bothered. When me and all my collegeus got our free SPV's, there where some people that actually returned them. The phone was too complicated for them.... these happened to all be people from management, who wanted their 6210's back ,,,.... so I'm guessing you're also over 40 years old if you actually had to look in the manual to turn the radio functionality back on ppffttt. So an SPV is too complicated for your mother, either educate her or get over it !

[Guest Hax]

Man I thought we'd done this thread to death! :shock: :) :o :twisted: :evil:

[Guest pmckean]

I'm coming from the perspective of owning both an SPV *and* a 7650.

I couldn't wait to get the SPV, and at first I though t it was very cool, but it WAS ruined by some irritating quirks and errors with the OS. Dialling numbers and entering URL's was painful, for instance.

After a week or so's use, I started to become annoyed at some of the omissions in the phone. Whilst supossedly less sophisticated phones had polyphonic ringtones, Java support and Bluetooth, the SPV seemed rather underequipped - mostly because the OS didn't support it.

It broke, which is why I got rid of it. Otherwise I would have stuck with it despite its foibles.

I replaced it with a 7650, and at first it was like night and day - very quick interface, intergrated functionality, and YES you can run plenty of native C++ apps as well as Java. Had Doom running on the phone with full digital sound effects and great speed within about 2 hrs of unpacking the box. Quality felt better, ringtones sounded better and there were hundreds of apps and games to chooose from.

HOWEVER.... I soon became disenfranchised with it too. The Bluetooth twas useless; no headset support, and wouldn't work with my PDA until it had been sent back to Nokia for an upgrade. The phone was bulky, and the menu structure very dull and obscure. Always took me ages to hunt around for feature.

The in-built apps were very limited, and the phone lacks much of the functionality you'd find in a cheaper Nokia without Symbian.

The lack of integration with my desktop PC was a constant irritation, and the lack of memory REALLY hobbled it!

So, I took a radical decision.

SOD SMARTPHONES.

I sold the bugger, bought a 6310i and spent the cash on a top of the range Sony Clie PDA. This does EVERYTHING I want. The camera functionality of the phone might have gone, but I've got it back in spades with the PDA.

I'm not sure that squashing functionality from several devices; camera, phone and PDA (all of which require a different form factor), into one chunky brick is the right thing to do. I MUCH prefer using the stylus and keyboard interdace to my Clie NX73, and it seemlessly communicates with my Bluetooth phone whenever I need to browse the web or read my mail. With a 320x480 resolution, it can cope with anything I throw at it, and I'm wondering why I ever suffered with the SmartPhones.

Sorry!!

[Guest dinoalbert]

As for me, after using it for 5 months, I never suffered with my Tanager Smartphone :)

And if I want a bigger screen, I use my PocketPC2002 :wink:

[Guest chucky.egg]

I've had a 7650, P800 and now an E100 (2 days so far), and I've got to say that the E100 *IS* slow and... well a bit wierd (I work in IT so I know a bit about all this Nerdy stuff).

I expected better to be honest.

I'm sure I'll keep it for a few months at least, but when there's a Symbian UIQ model in this size and weight I won't look back.

[Guest uzi_999]

MS Smartphone is the best out there........the list of things u can do with it goes on forever...