What are the downsides of the JAM?

[Guest xerxes]

Hi,

I've never had a PPC phone but the JAM is really tempting me.

I've read a lot about how good the JAM is, but in order to make an informed decision, I need to know what's bad about it too.

Can anyone tell me where the drawbacks are?

I am comparing to a standard Nokia series 40 phone and an SPV C500 which I use for business everyday.

To give you an example of the sort of thing I mean, I found after buying the C500 that I cannot send contacts as SMS texts and that the reception strength is not as good as a Nokia 6810.

I would love to be able to run Pocket Informant again though!

[Guest Paul [MVP]]

Downsides...

It's expensive, it's not that easy to work with using 1 hand only...

Of course, for me, the plus sides (including Pocket Informant) far outway the downsides...

:D

P

[Guest Pondrew]

Only two downsides Paul? Surely there's more?

I'm in the same boat as you xerxes in that I'll be a Pocket PC novice if OneStop ever get the MDA III back in stock (they've charged me already so they better!). If OneStop don't get any in I may take my cash and get the I-Mate Jam on Vodafone off Expansys, assuming I can't persuade the Modaco shop to offer the Jam on contract (but not on Orange as I've no signal at home)!

[Guest skagen]

Expansys? That's just throwing money away. There are better deals avilable with a UK contract.

I got my I-mate Jam this past Tuesday for 87 quid (with a 12 month O2 contract at 35 qui per month) from www.phones2udirect.co.uk. They delivered it to me next day. With deals like that out there, why would you waste your money ordering from Expanys?

As for the Jam itself, my assessment so far is that its well worth the money. - Superb build quality (except of one thing, more on that later).

- Its a full fledged Windows PDA with a touchscreen and nothing crippled (unlike the SPV 500)

- Complete MS Outlook integration/syncing

- Can work in real MS Word/Excel/Powerpoint documents

- The phone functionality is there in full.

- It takes regular size SD cards as big as you want (no mucking about with obscure/limited size/expensive memory (eg Nokia 6630).

- It is a great MP3 player and audio recorder.

- Full E-book/pdf reader

- And as much as we all have heard about this thing, it feels surpisingly small in the hand whn you actually get to hold it.

What's not to like? In my opinion:

- the speakerphone/earpeice produces shrill and slightly off sound. (Via the headset, all is fine). - Memory is 64MB or RAM (but you can use unlimited size SD or MMC cards, I have a 1GB SD card in mine). But I'd rather have had 128MB onboard RAM as standard.

- I'd like Wi-fi too. But its not a must-have for me. For those who need it, there are Wi-fi SD cards out there you can add on.

- The Camera is so-so, (like every other phone out there). But hell I've got a 5Mp digital camera that fits in my shir pocket - should I really be micro-assessing crappy 1.3MP mobile phone (ie gimmick) cameras. Really - no.

That's all I can find to nit pick. But my bottom line assesment is that this thing is great. Get it. Its not a toy at all. Its a great tool that you get more and more thankful for every day. With a 1GB SD card in there its pretty much given me the option to access(and work on) almost everything I would need to carry around daily on laptop.

That in the palm of your hand? You will only get more and more addicted to it.

Edited January 16, 2005 by skagen

[Guest MECX]

Got mine from expansys for £58 on a £36 a month contract and free weekend calls, couldent ask for much more, why was your O2 deal better?

[Guest Disco Stu]

I'm also on the verge of buying one.

Can someone give me a pointer as to how necessary the on-board memory upgrade is.

[Guest Paul [MVP]]

I'm not finding it necessary at all, 64MB is fine... I install most stuff to SD, and only the odd thing to internal memory.

P

[Guest Chaser81]

64MB does me okay too, most programs I have are installed to my SD card and memory hasnt become an issue. I think the only downside I have found to the Jam is that texting with one hand is pretty much a no-no. Not a major issue for me though, as its no biggy to use two hands. Also, is it just me or does it seem slightly less stable than a C500? It has crashed on me occasionally, requiring a soft reset, but even that is something I have come to expect with devices like this.

[Guest Pondrew]

I got my I-mate Jam this past Tuesday for 87 quid (with a 12 month O2 contract at 35 qui per month) from www.phones2udirect.co.uk.  They delivered it to me next day. With deals like that out there, why would you waste your money ordering from Expanys?

Have to say that sounds more expensive then Expansys. They're doing it for less then £80 on the same tariff I think albeit with 3months half price line rental...

[Guest scott_donald]

Got mine from expansys for £58 on a £36 a month contract and free weekend calls, couldent ask for much more, why was your O2 deal better?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thats how i got mine the day they got them... but that deal has gone now... never knew about the free weekend calls... sounds good to me...

[Guest skagen]

That deal doesn't exist on Expansys. And not to mention Expansys has a nasty habit of lying to customers about delivery. Also a few people on other problems have had defective jam which Expansys refused to replace without chargeing them "restocking" fee. Not the kind of company I'd spend my money with personally.