I-Mate SPL... Any good?

[Guest Chaser81]

I am considering purchasing an I-Mate SPL from Expansys this week as I need a new phone having just sold my MDA Vario.

I am looking at either the HTC StrTrk (Qtec 8500) or the I-Mate SPL.

I must confess I prefer the look of the HTC StrTrk, but I prefer the better camera on the SPL.

Anyone actually own either of these two devices can give me some guidance as to which one I should get? They both cost about the same!

[Guest Twisticles]

I'm interested to hear from owners of these devices too...also considering the MTeoR.

Its taken me this long, but I realise that I want a decent phone with HUGE contacts database and calendar that easily sync's with Outlook. That's all. I don't watch movies, listen to music, navigate by the stars or want to shoot a feature film with it - I'd really, really just want it to make phones calls properly.

Oh, and occasionally check email. So infrequently that I can live with GPRS for now.

Actually, I want the O2 Stealth, but until then...what do you recommend between the SPL/MTeoR/StrTrk?

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

I'm waiting for a review unit... i-mate tell me they are not shipping yet.

P

[Guest simon211175]

I'm in the market for these phones too, but Expansys have updated their lead time for the SPL from 1 day to the end of this month - so I'm not convinced there is a definite release date yet.

If your netwrok supports EDGE, then you might want to consider the STRTRK as the SPL doesn't support it according to the specs I've seen. Also, apart from the camera and obvious shapes of each phone, both are running WM5, so will do the same things. The camera was the major point of preferring the SPL for me, but to be honest I don't actually use it that much on my current phone.

The only major bad point I've heard about the STRTRK is that it can "miss" calls, but from my understanding, this is only a problem affecting US owners of the phone, and only in the Qtek 8500 guise.

Also given the STRTRK has been out for several months now, I'd think it would have had some good testing, and most (read some or few) of the bugs will have been ironed out by now, whereas the SPL is as yet unseen by Joe Public.

Am I helping? Probably not - you shouldn't let anyone else make your decision for you, but those're my thoughts on this. :rolleyes:

[Guest Chaser81]

I had to replace my Vario, as I couldnt be doing with the Motorola PEBL a mate lent me, so I bought the Qtek 8500 in the end. I realised that I prefered the clam shell form factor, and I dont use the camera enough to justify the 2.0 megapixel over the 1.3 on the 8500. Received my 8500 this morning and so far all is well! Thanks for the posts guys.

[Guest Loukas]

I had to replace my Vario, as I couldnt be doing with the Motorola PEBL a mate lent me, so I bought the Qtek 8500 in the end. I realised that I prefered the clam shell form factor, and I dont use the camera enough to justify the 2.0 megapixel over the 1.3 on the 8500. Received my 8500 this morning and so far all is well! Thanks for the posts guys.

Hey Chaser,

How are you finding the Windows Mobile experience on a smartphone as compared to a PPC? I have a Vario as well, and look forward to going to the Excalibur (O2 S620) when it comes out - but am worried at losing functionality on Windows for Smartphone.

I mostly use my phone for calls and txts, with some PIM (tasks and calendar) use. I've only recently started receiving email on it, but not a big user of it yet.

Thanks for your thoughts,

Loukas

[Guest Chaser81]

Hey Loukas,

I am a seasoned smartphone user, having had the original SPV, SPV e200, C500, C550 and now the Qtek 8500. I have also had an I-Mate Jam and the MDA Vario as well as several other Windows Mobile Handhelds (non phone versions), so I am familiar with both variants of the Windows Mobile OS.

I really like the Qtek 8500, I must admit. The Windows Mobile 5.0 OS on the Smartphone is very similar to the PPC version, and i think its only the input methods that distinguish between the two, although others will probably point to a huge plethora of other differences! :-)

My main motivation for trading the Vario for the 8500 was size. I really like the MDA Vario, but after a while its size started to become a major issue for me. Although its not massive, by any means, its not that small either, and when you are on a night out with your mates, its a bit big to be lugging around in your jeans pocket! With that in mind, I sold it and got the 8500 instead. Huge difference in size and weight, but thankfully not that many differences in functionality between the two. I dont really miss the WiFi, as I hardly used it on the Vario, and the 8500 has everything else I need in a much more compact package.

Hope that helps!

[Guest Loukas]

Hey Chaser, thank you very much for your answer. These are my own thoughts exactly ... size ov the Vario can be cumbersome for everyday activities. On the other hand, I really like having a full QWERTY on my device, even though I could probably survive using the T9 predictive text.

Keep us posted of your experience as you use the phone more!

Loukas :rolleyes:

[Guest sporkguy]

QWERTY is nice, however I found I was faster using my Vario's on-screen T9 via 'Phonepad'

Mind you, I send 1000+ texts a month, so I'm well used to using a T9 keypad on a dumbphone.