Dade's M2000 Review

[Guest philgriffiths]

just to add i intend to buy a C500 as a secondary phone after christmas when my funds are a little healthier

[Guest matd]

Thanks for the replies. I was hoping to avoid the need to have 2 phones, but i spose i could get a cheap Nokia 8210 for the wild nights out....

So all of you that had gone from an E200 to an M2000 - you wouldn't go back or have regretted doing so?..

Just out of interest, i understand if you don't want to comment, but how much did it cost you to upgrade?

[Guest philgriffiths]

When i first bought a smartphone i had a few misgivings, but now there is no way i could use any other kind of phone, i like the possibilities they offer me so much i couldn't use a regualr phone again. Since upgrading to the M2000 i couldn't see myself going back from a phone/PDA to a regular smartphone.

I paid 89.99 for my upgrade. I'm on a value plan matched 02 100 tarriff and that was the best price they could offer me. The orignally quoted 289.99 but when i asked for my PAK number they spoke to disconnections and sorted it out for me. There are a few people on here that have gotten it for free on some of the higher priced tarriffs.

Due to the current situation with no M2000 units available until Mid Jan some of you might do well to call into your local orange store. You can get some kind of voucher i think that gives you money off your upgrade price if you agree not to upgrade for another month, and you get more money off if you agree not to upgrade for two months. Since your probably not going to get your hands on one for a month anyway you dont really have anything to lose. Members like Blackhorse and other orange staff might be able to give you more details but i think its some kind of strategy by orange to reduce the cost to them of upgrades. Someone has worked out they can save thousands if they can delay their customers upgrading for a couple of months, rather than immediatley on 12 month expiration. (just look at all these 18 month/2year contracts that have started popping up, proabably due to simillar reasons)

[Guest matd]

Thanks for the tips Phil. Think i'll return this C500 and wait till January and then haggle with disconnections - that usually does the job! ;-)

[Guest davidhines]

I am confused...

What is the definitive answer as to whether Line 2 is available on the M2000?

Review says - no

'Official statement' from Orange says - no

Official user guide from Orange says - YES!!!

Look in the index: Line 2......page 50

So I understand that there is no way of switching lines - shame - the smartphone shortcut of press-and-hold-hash is useful.

But if the M2000 doesn't support Line 2 then why is it mentioned in the user guide? Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!

Anyone know whether this was an oversight and whether a s/w update will 're-enable' this rather important business feature??

Sounds like a minor thing, but this will be the deciding factor on any impending purchase.

Thanks to anyone able to shed some light on the matter.

[Guest Dade]

Line 2 does NOT work!

I have a Sim card with Line 2 and I have tested this with the M2000. While you can receive calls on both numbers you can ONLY make calls from Line 1.

[Guest davidhines]

Thanks Dade for your response.

Did/does the M1000 support Line 2?

With your knowledge of these devices, past and present, is this a feature that has been forgotten and is it likely to be added at a later date with an upgrade?

I use Line 2 for business and Line 1 for personal.

I guess I could enquire about switching numbers between Lines - if that is possible and isn't too much effort for Orange.

Thanks again for your help.

I look forward to hearing your views on the above.

[Guest Billy Marrafyass]

Thanks to all for helping me decide which phone to upgrade to from my e200! the m2000 looks like a winner: it's great that a 9-way joypad is enabled but bizarre that a 3.5 to 2.5mm plug isn't used - any news as to why???

i've been going slightly mental looking at smartphone variants - anybody in a position to compare the m2000 to the motorola mpx - apologies if covered elsewhere but like i say i am going crazycomparing and contrasting...

the m2000 does look like the one but i heard good things about the p900 and oh christ, a few others - help me decide please!!

[Guest Pondrew]

Well, the Pocket PC PE community seem to have dismissed the MPX as unusuable due to the ridiculously low memory (32meg). This apparently has resulted in it being very unstable, or at least that's what I read on another forum...

Can't really comment on the P910i as I'm rather biased and don't think I'd ever consider a non Windows device.

EDIT: Just remembered, unfortunately deciding upon an M2000 isn't the whole battle. You've now got to find one in stock somewhere. I've been trying to get the MDA III (the T-Mobile badged M2000) and like the M2000 it's out of stock with no estimate on when it'll return.

Edited January 16, 2005 by Pondrew

[Guest fraser]

You've now got to find one in stock somewhere. I've been trying to get the MDA III (the T-Mobile badged M2000) and like the M2000 it's out of stock with no estimate on when it'll return.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm holding off for the M2500 now, partly because of the stock issue. It's the same as the M2000, except the screen resolution is doubled, the camera is now 1.3 megapixel and it's a faster processor. Also known as the XDA IIi, try googling and all you'll find is the XDA III (damn case-insensitive google!). I've seen it called the XDA 2i as well, or you could look for HTC Alpine.

No due date as yet...

[Guest Pondrew]

I'm holding off for the M2500 now, partly because of the stock issue. It's the same as the M2000, except the screen resolution is doubled, the camera is now 1.3 megapixel and it's a faster processor. Also known as the XDA IIi, try googling and all you'll find is the XDA III (damn case-insensitive google!). I've seen it called the XDA 2i as well, or you could look for HTC Alpine.

No due date as yet...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sounds nice but expensive!

[Guest philgriffiths]

I'm holding off for the M2500 now, partly because of the stock issue. It's the same as the M2000, except the screen resolution is doubled, the camera is now 1.3 megapixel and it's a faster processor. Also known as the XDA IIi, try googling and all you'll find is the XDA III (damn case-insensitive google!). I've seen it called the XDA 2i as well, or you could look for HTC Alpine.

No due date as yet...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

From what i have read the HTC Alpine is not the same as the M2000. It is based on the XDAII, and so has no slide out keyboard. Granted there are some tasty positives, like the faster processor and higher screen res, but given the amount of time it taeks for these things to come from testing, to sale i wouldn't think it will be out anytime soon... but i have been suprised before.... Personally I'm still pretty damn happy with my M2000

[Guest fraser]

From what i have read the HTC Alpine is not the same as the M2000. It is based on the XDAII, and so has no slide out keyboard. Granted there are some tasty positives, like the faster processor and higher screen res, but given the amount of time it taeks for these things to come from testing, to sale i wouldn't think it will be out anytime soon... but i have been suprised before.... Personally I'm still pretty damn happy with my M2000

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've seen statements both ways, but from what I'm able to figure out it's mostly due to the confusion of the naming of the whole product line. I guess as the phones is OEM'ed out to and renamed, they didn't bother with consumer-friendly names. The most "authorative sounding" statements I've seen tended towards it's being the successor to the IIs (i.e. with keyboard), but those articles were dated around Oct/Nov last year, so it's a little stale. However, tech wise it would make more sense to be a successor to the III, as it would be easier to squeeze in the extra features on the non-keyboard model first, purely on a design viewpoint. But why call it the IIi? Are they mad? :shock:

I think you may be right on just biting the bullet and going for the M2000. Either way, it will be a while til it's available, I've googled high and low and I can't find ANY mention of a release date, and that doesn't bode well! No one lists it as "coming soon" either; the only references out there are short & sweet. I'm just one of those folk tho; hate to think I'd get something for it to be outdated within a couple of months! I have been considering getting a camera already, but I'm realizing that none of the 1.3 mp cameras really compare to a proper camera, especially for printing out glossies ultimately.

Out of curiosity, how fast is the Blue Angel in comparison to your average PDA nowadays? Would the extra CPU speed come in useful, or is the current speed adequate for your average PPC application? I'm a geeky user; I'll be doing SSH & VPN etc, and those will chew up a fair amount of cycles I reckon, plus I'll be playing the odd game/eumulator.

And if I can squeeze in one more question; now that some folk have had their phone for a while; what is the opinion on the usefulness of the keyboard? Do you use it instead of the stylus often?

[Guest sazoo]

And if I can squeeze in one more question; now that some folk have had their phone for a while; what is the opinion on the usefulness of the keyboard? Do you use it instead of the stylus often?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've been making a point of trying several input methods, the handwriting recognistion is fantastic for me for long text inputs (now that I've told it how I do my r, n, m and h letters - you can pick your favourite letter shapes this is quite handy if you notice it getting confused a lot). Handwriting recognition however works best on whole/real words, and actually is more accurate on a whole screen of text than 2 words, must help it get context better. However for entering web urls it's a nightmare, symbols seem to always come out as s/I ?!!? so for this I fall back to either the onscreen keyboard or physical keyboard.

I have found personally that it is more comfortable to hold/browse for extended periods on time with the keyboard pulled out. It seems more balanced in my hands. And as a consequence I tend to use the real keyboard for web based stuff.

For emailing I'm still falling back to the handwriting option, til I get an annoying difficult word or abbreviation, then I'll flip to the real keyboard, then back to handwriting, as then no onscreen clicks are required while it loads up the on screen keyboard (can take a few seconds sometimes, and I KNOW I'll want to flip back straight after).

So anyway, thats my 6p-worth after a 3 weeks of excessive forum-ing on my XDA2s variant.

Hope it helped

[Guest Jarrod44w]

Hi guys, gr8 reveiws/ discn and ans lots of my questions.

One that i wantd to ask.

Does the radio stack work ok? Any dramas?

I know it was a prob with some of the early qtek's (like 7070). Had a 7070 and got sick of calls dropping just prior to answering due to a "technical issue".

Has this been fixed in the later generation phones?

R u gettg as good recept as a dedicatd ph (as opposd to a combinatn device).

Apprec yr advice

Jarrod

Edited January 19, 2005 by Jarrod44w

[Guest fraser]

I've been making a point of trying several input methods, the handwriting recognistion is fantastic for me for long text inputs (now that I've told it how I do my r, n, m and h letters - you can pick your favourite letter shapes this is quite handy if you notice it getting confused a lot).  Handwriting recognition however works best on whole/real words, and actually is more accurate on a whole screen of text than 2 words, must help it get context better.  However for entering web urls it's a nightmare, symbols seem to always come out as s/I ?!!? so for this I fall back to either the onscreen keyboard or physical keyboard.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ah, thanks. I reckon I'll be the same. I've been around computers so long that my handwriting has degraded to the point that I strugle to read it! Seriously! So I was in a little doubt over whether the phone would be able to work with it.

You've really answered my question by not saying that it's a pointless gimmic! Just need to wait for some stock to arrive now!!

[Guest Dade]

The M2000 should be back in stock with Orange today.

I have heard officially that there are no plans to withdraw the M2000.

[Guest philgriffiths]

Yay Orange!

[Guest MrOrangeShop]

I'm Orange staff and have been waiting for an M2000 since I put my order in which was in November.

I have to say that Orange have been making sure customers get them before staff do which I suppose is a good thing for the customers.

They are in stock now and mine should be getting sent out immediately. Get on your phones now people... be warned though... retentions ain't going to be giving fantastic deals on them yet as they know they'll be able to shift them anyway.

[Guest RussellH]

Still no stock according to Orange website. Am still awaiting call back about my replacement.

[Guest MrOrangeShop]

I'm working tomorrow so I will have a look on the intranet to see what the problem could be.

I'm still waiting for mine... I'm staff and keep getting the same story that customer's have been getting... it'll be here next week. I am begining to think that is what HTC have been telling Orange. You'd think that they'd tell staff the truth so I support their belief that theyve been expecting it in any minute for weeks.

[Guest Pondrew]

I'm working tomorrow so I will have a look on the intranet to see what the problem could be.

I'm still waiting for mine... I'm staff and keep getting the same story that customer's have been getting... it'll be here next week. I am begining to think that is what HTC have been telling Orange. You'd think that they'd tell staff the truth so I support their belief that theyve been expecting it in any minute for weeks.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey MrOrangeShop, may have been HTC to begin with but the new batch of T-Mobile MDA IIIs have reached OneStopPhoneShop and I expect HTC are producing batches for all providers (ie, when T-Mobile get more Blue Angels so do O2 and Orange...). Could be wrong of course but it seems a coincidence that at the same time word of the new batch arriving for testing at Orange comes out, OneStop finally get the MDA III in...

[Guest MrOrangeShop]

Being Shop staff I get offered different handsets to call centre staff at different prices. I've had an M2000 (FOC) on internal order since November and ain't got it yet. Should be in soon though... as I said I will find out what I can next time I'm working.

[Guest MrOrangeShop]

Plenty stock assigned to new contracts and 28 day replacements... none assigned to upgrades.

[Guest walks17]

My contect finished today, I really want one of these super phones. I called Orange and they said that they had the phone in and they have been allocated to people already.

PISSED :D

ps I'm finally giving up everyday 50 after 3 years on that great tariff. I said to Orange I was leaving and have been offered the phone for £60 and a price matched 3 500min xnet contract - but no texts... what do you think? good deal or not?