Media player

[Guest Wizard]

I find that when playing WMA files the sound regularly breaks up. This is extremely annoying and means that the chances of me using the device as an MP3 player as extremely low. If I bought a discman and it did this, it would have been back in the shop already along with complaints about its fitness of purpose. The file in question was a 96k file. I tried a 400k and that was so broken up I couldn't hear it. If the device can't handle these higher definition files, it shouldn't bother to attempt to play them.

I tried the Windows Media site, followed the SmartPhone link and saw a message saying "if you are a smartphone user, click here". I would expect the web site to know I am a smartphone user and automatically redirect me. I clicked the link for a trailer and it asked if I wanted to download the asx file. I expected it to do this behind the scenes (my PC doesn't ask me this before playing a video file). The trailer itself was barely watchable with so much buffering going on it rarely showed more than 2secs straight without stopping. It's pretty unusable. I haven't watched a single trailer off the Microsoft Windows Media site yet that hasn't buffered so much it's unwatchable.

If I select Media Player from the Programs list, the handset freezes for 2-3 seconds while it starts up. That's fairly annoying, but if it has to be that slow please at least show the hourglass so I know it's doing something. That kind of visual feedback is *absolutely* essential and the lack of attention to giving the user feedback is probably my greatest annoyance with the phone.

Developments in desktop operating systems have been highly user-driven, but the need to follow what the users require is much much stronger with a mobile device because it is used in more variable situations where the stress levels are higher. For the SmartPhone platform to succeed I think it's going to need to be much more user friendly than it is right now, although I'm very pleasantly surprised by some aspects of the SPV.

Wizard

[Guest Bazz]

I find that when playing WMA files the sound regularly breaks up. This is extremely annoying and means that the chances of me using the device as an MP3 player as extremely low. If I bought a discman and it did this, it would have been back in the shop already along with complaints about its fitness of purpose. The file in question was a 96k file. I tried a 400k and that was so broken up I couldn't hear it. If the device can't handle these higher definition files, it shouldn't bother to attempt to play them.

Yeah, but a discman is a dedicated device for playing music. This phone does so much more, so I'm not surprised it jitters so much. Also if a discman did that then you're swap it for another discman. There's no other phone like this on the market. As smartphones (whether by MS or Symbian) become more common place and technology develops, bugs like this will be fixed. As a work-around, I suggest using lower bitrate MP3 files. You don't need the higher rate and you're probably just wasting valuable storage space on the phone by using it.

I tried the Windows Media site, followed the SmartPhone link and saw a message saying "if you are a smartphone user, click here". I would expect the web site to know I am a smartphone user and automatically redirect me. I clicked the link for a trailer and it asked if I wanted to download the asx file. I expected it to do this behind the scenes (my PC doesn't ask me this before playing a video file).

You aren't charged per byte for downloading on your PC. I imagine the phone will (and probably should) always ask before running up your GPRS costs. Unless networks start offering unlimited deals.

The trailer itself was barely watchable with so much buffering going on it rarely showed more than 2secs straight without stopping. It's pretty unusable. I haven't watched a single trailer off the Microsoft Windows Media site yet that hasn't buffered so much it's unwatchable.

Well GPRS isn't the fastest. That's why everyone's getting excited by 3G handsets. I'd still rather they gave us the option (which they have) than say "Nah it'll be fairly crap so we didn't bother including it". I didn't even realise it could handle streaming audio/video before I bought it so was pleasently surprised that it even attempted.

If I select Media Player from the Programs list, the handset freezes for 2-3 seconds while it starts up. That's fairly annoying, but if it has to be that slow please at least show the hourglass so I know it's doing something. That kind of visual feedback is *absolutely* essential and the lack of attention to giving the user feedback is probably my greatest annoyance with the phone.

Developments in desktop operating systems have been highly user-driven, but the need to follow what the users require is much much stronger with a mobile device because it is used in more variable situations where the stress levels are higher. For the SmartPhone platform to succeed I think it's going to need to be much more user friendly than it is right now, although I'm very pleasantly surprised by some aspects of the SPV.

Wizard

All your other points are things I'd expect with new bleeding-edge technology. I'd be very surprised if smartphones had half these problems this time next year, though they may have all new problems by then :-)

Barry

[Guest Wizard]

I can see your point that it's a new product, but I don't accept the argument that "it does a lot of stuff, so some it will do badly". If a device is going to have an MP3 player in it, I expect it to actually play MP3s, not choke on them and jump like a scratched CD. FWIW, I have tried lower bit rates and although the continuous play is fine, I still see a couple of breaks right at the start of the track.

I see what you mean about asking me before downloading files to the phone that are large and liable to run up my bill, but right now I'm paying £6 a month for unlimited data usage and also if I clicked a download link there's a fairly good chance I want to listen to it. Maybe this is an opportunity for an option. I'd prefer to lose the confirmation screen and risk paying for a couple of incorrect link clicks.

I understand why there are issues with the handset, but some of them are fairly fundamental and I'm surprised they are in a commercial product. Some aspects seem distinctly beta grade, but I'm very pleased to see that the phone supports over-the-air-updates and I am very much hoping Microsoft will use this to release a new version every 6-12months with regular bug-patches in between where they are needed. I for one and very happy to put up with problems as long as I know they will be fixed fairly quickly.

Wizard