Totally fed up with unreliability of WM

[Guest Spaceman Spiff]

;) I've had it! Totally fed up! hacked off!

What with?

The general unreliability of WM smartphones and Pocket PC devices.

I've been using 'gadgets' since I bought the DOS based HP PDA thingy (can't even remember what it's aclled now, it was such a long time ago!), then I bought the original Psion Series 5 the week it was launched, then had the Revo, Compaq Aero, Palm IIIc.

Now comes the smartphones:

Orange SPV (original)

Motorola MPx200

SE P800

Motorola MPx220

Trialled a prototype Motorola MPx (horrid thing!)

T-Mobile MDA Compact

Triled an O2 XDA IIs

Now, through work, an O2 XDA SP (I-mate SP3i)

They all have one thing in common: they are all really unreliable! They can't be trusted for serious work.

For instance, I've received SMS messages that frequently lock the phone up (MPx220) - resorting to a battery out/in/reboot, with the SMS lost forever.

Starting the Messaging app to read my email - get the SP 'hourglass' symbol and phone locks up, resorting to a battery out/in/reboot - sometimes several times before the Messaging app will start!

GPRS disconnect/refusal to reconnect - resorting in a reboot (SP) or reset (PPC).

Messaging app just 'hangs' on PPC, resorting in a reset.

The latest problem I have is that when listening to music using MP on the O2 SP and an activesync OTA takes place, I lose ALL sound....

The only reliable smartphone I've had was the SE P800.... Except it's a bit big and won't sync with Exchange OTA with the corporate system.

What can I do?

All these devices have been WM2003SE (apart from original SPV and MPx200). Is WM2005 any better?

Is it reliable? Considering an Orange SPV C600 - but I'm concerned about reliability. I want a phone that

a) can sync with my Exchange based corp network for contacts, calender and email

:) sync with my hotmail (but no POP3/IMAP so consideing a switch to Gmail...)

c) I can watch my movies on (divx format - using TCPMP currently)

d) I can listen to my MP3s on.

e) Is totally reliable!

Does it exist? I used to love my WM SmartPhones, but now I'm not so sure...

Richard

[Guest Dr Who]

My C500 is pretty much bombproof, but not sure whether it will sync with exchange though.

[Guest peekie]

wm5 is far better than the older version with the upcoming windows live mobile hotmail is also better , you can do the same as the current phones you have , only difference for ppc owners is if the battery is dead you dont loose the data and have to reinstall everything with the latest rom updates it works good , the c600 is a good phone would be great if it had wifi , mp3s play good as well and the phone boots up quicker as well ;) get a c600 or wait for the c700 and you will be happy again :)

[Guest harrysaab]

try imate sp5,

u wont be fed up

feature packed - wifi,push email,bluetooth,qvga etc...

;) I've had it! Totally fed up! hacked off!

What with?

The general unreliability of WM smartphones and Pocket PC devices.

I've been using 'gadgets' since I bought the DOS based HP PDA thingy (can't even remember what it's aclled now, it was such a long time ago!), then I bought the original Psion Series 5 the week it was launched, then had the Revo, Compaq Aero, Palm IIIc.

Now comes the smartphones:

Orange SPV (original)

Motorola MPx200

SE P800

Motorola MPx220

Trialled a prototype Motorola MPx (horrid thing!)

T-Mobile MDA Compact

Triled an O2 XDA IIs

Now, through work, an O2 XDA SP (I-mate SP3i)

They all have one thing in common: they are all really unreliable! They can't be trusted for serious work.

For instance, I've received SMS messages that frequently lock the phone up (MPx220) - resorting to a battery out/in/reboot, with the SMS lost forever.

Starting the Messaging app to read my email - get the SP 'hourglass' symbol and phone locks up, resorting to a battery out/in/reboot - sometimes several times before the Messaging app will start!

GPRS disconnect/refusal to reconnect - resorting in a reboot (SP) or reset (PPC).

Messaging app just 'hangs' on PPC, resorting in a reset.

The latest problem I have is that when listening to music using MP on the O2 SP and an activesync OTA takes place, I lose ALL sound....

The only reliable smartphone I've had was the SE P800.... Except it's a bit big and won't sync with Exchange OTA with the corporate system.

What can I do?

All these devices have been WM2003SE (apart from original SPV and MPx200). Is WM2005 any better?

Is it reliable? Considering an Orange SPV C600 - but I'm concerned about reliability. I want a phone that

a) can sync with my Exchange based corp network for contacts, calender and email

:) sync with my hotmail (but no POP3/IMAP so consideing a switch to Gmail...)

c) I can watch my movies on (divx format - using TCPMP currently)

d) I can listen to my MP3s on.

e) Is totally reliable!

Does it exist? I used to love my WM SmartPhones, but now I'm not so sure...

Richard

[Guest cng]

To be honest, reliabilty is directly related to the software you install and how you use your device. I've used Palm and WM5 (Dell X51v) and notice no difference in reliablity at start. Out of the box, all three (Sony Clie UX50, Treo 650, and Dell X51v) were rock solid. The hardware worked and was fast and everything seemed good. There were no freezes or hang ups.

However, with the Palm, once you start experimenting with software, especially trying to work a program not suited for that type of device (whether, screen resolution restrictions, performance requirements, etc) and installing background applications to enhance the functionality of your device, you might run into some trouble every now and then. If you try to use unstable software, such as betas or cracked programs, you are definitely going to run into some trouble. The Treo 650 had many system programs (or so it seems) that have conflicts with my other programs. For example, when there is something like a call coming in, my device might freeze when I'm using some other program. I've had many times when my device just restarted and all my data was lost for no reason (after a while of using it - the Treo community found the problem but no idea how to stop it, only keep it to minimal).

My experience with WM5 was short because after using the Treo, I couldnt stand not having a convergence device. The hardware on the X51v was premium but I needed cellular a lot too. The opportunity I had with WM5 gave me the impression that WM5 is very solid. It does what it is built to do. Again, out of the box, I used the preinstalled programs without any problems at all. MSN, Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, etc but when I started using plug-ins for Today screen, and other third-party programs, there were a few occasional resets. However, maybe because of the nature of the persistent memory, all my data were safe after those potentially dangerous resets. Overall, I think I had fewer random resets with WM5 because I havent played with it long enough (4-5 months) but I definitely like it a lot. Its an OS with a lot of potential and I loved the experience with it. I look forward to having a second device. A tip with WM5 is (I dont know whether this applies to smartphone because Im not sure if they can multi-task but if so, it would be even more so applied since they tend to have slower processors) dont multi-task many power hungry applications like Media Player, Internet, etc as they tend to slow down your device and might even freeze.

All in all, its unfair to say an OS is more reliable than another. There are times when two or more programs have conflicts with each other or just cant work well on the specific device. Be easy on the device and the device will treat you well.

Good luck on your next purchase, I can give my recommendation for WM5 PPC (I'll try Smartphone next).

Edit: the devices I would look at are HTC Prophet, HTC Hermes, HTC Tornado/Faraday (Wifi/no Wifi), Treo 700W/P (P if you want Palm and higher resolution), and Motorola Q (of couse, you have to either way or be in North America - otherwise, Samsung i320 is also good), and some Nokia ones if you want to try Symbian. Other than freezing due to slow processor speed, Symbian has no reliablity issue. The new business line E-series, has Wifi and all of the connection you would want (Blackberry, Exchange, etc).

Edited July 26, 2006 by cng

[Guest Tech]

tbh, its got nothing to do with WM but rather the operator ROM's and the devices themselves in all seriousness.

its amazing the amount of ppl that blame such issues on the OS when really there isnt but to do with the ROM (you can see the changes made for the better in newer versions of ROM's)

in my honest experience, the SPV E200, C500 (I have 2), Imate SP5m and the tmobile MDA Vario are all very reliable, and I use them seriously (daily usage on MDA Vario, Imate SP5m and C500)

[Guest Dr Who]

tbh, its got nothing to do with WM but rather the operator ROM's and the devices themselves in all seriousness.

its amazing the amount of ppl that blame such issues on the OS when really there isnt but to do with the ROM (you can see the changes made for the better in newer versions of ROM's)

in my honest experience, the SPV E200, C500 (I have 2), Imate SP5m and the tmobile MDA Vario are all very reliable, and I use them seriously (daily usage on MDA Vario, Imate SP5m and C500)

The E200? Really? I kept mine for a week before binning it and going back to using my E100. Maybe later ROM's were more stable?

[Guest jimbouk]

The E200? Really? I kept mine for a week before binning it and going back to using my E100. Maybe later ROM's were more stable?

Early adopters usually do have to put up with some issues. My WM2003se M500 needed a soft reset once a week to keep it going, but my WM5 Imate JAMin/Prophet has always been good and since the AKU2 roms came out in Apil, I haven't had to soft reset once (well I did once to see if it made any difference -as you sometimes find a soft reset does speed devices back up - but it obviously didnt need it!).

As another poster said, it is often down to what you install - and often it is down to the Networks tweaks to the rom and their proprietary software that screws these devices up.