New Phone/PDA

[Guest chrisms_cotland]

Trying to pick a new phone, I had an MDA Vario PDA before and I loved it, the only downside being lack of 3G at the time and maybe the slow processor.

Trying to pick a replacement as I've had only a W880i for a year and really miss my email, messenger and internet on the move.

The iPhone 3G has caught my eye and a play around with it has made me more interested in it, but I am concerned that despite its iPhone features that its a fairly limited internet platform with little support for some formats and websites.

I loved my Vario and I like the look of the Vario III (Xda Stellar I think!) and the new MDA Compact IV on T-Mobile.

I also like the look of the new Vario IV that is coming out and I'm not sure whether to wait or not.

I can get the MDA Compact IV for free but even the Vario III is fairly expensive even on a high tariff.

How does the Vario III (Stellar) stack up against the MDA Compact IV?

[Guest jimbouk]

Fundamentally, they can do just about the same things - ie HSDPA 3G, Direct PUSH etc. The differences are in size and video.

The Vario3 is a big device with a QVGA screen and kayboard, the Compact4 is a tiny device with no keyboard but with an amazing VGA screen.

The Vario4 will bridge the gap and offer the VGA screen and a hardware keyboard, still in a small device.

[Guest chrisms_cotland]

Fundamentally, they can do just about the same things - ie HSDPA 3G, Direct PUSH etc. The differences are in size and video.

The Vario3 is a big device with a QVGA screen and kayboard, the Compact4 is a tiny device with no keyboard but with an amazing VGA screen.

The Vario4 will bridge the gap and offer the VGA screen and a hardware keyboard, still in a small device.

I take it the MDA Compact IV and the Vario IV are the same albeit with a keyboard on the Vario?

[Guest stunno]

I take it the MDA Compact IV and the Vario IV are the same albeit with a keyboard on the Vario?

The vario IV doesn't have the 4GB built in, but has expansion by a microsd slot, a slightly larger memory and a larger capacity battery. It is the same device as the HTC Raphael but will no doubt have some Tmobile specific branding and case design

[Guest chrisms_cotland]

The vario IV doesn't have the 4GB built in, but has expansion by a microsd slot, a slightly larger memory and a larger capacity battery. It is the same device as the HTC Raphael but will no doubt have some Tmobile specific branding and case design

Am I likely to notice the difference between the memory on the Vario IV compared to the Compact IV?

Edit: Can't say I'm too impressed about only having 4GB memory on the MDA Compact, didn't realise I couldn't add an SD/Micro SD card on that like, when comparing to a 16GB or even an 8GB iPhone.

Edited July 19, 2008 by chrisms_cotland

[Guest jimbouk]

Am I likely to notice the difference between the memory on the Vario IV compared to the Compact IV?

Edit: Can't say I'm too impressed about only having 4GB memory on the MDA Compact, didn't realise I couldn't add an SD/Micro SD card on that like, when comparing to a 16GB or even an 8GB iPhone.

Its a size trade off. The Diamond/Compact4 is tiny - if they had put in an external microsd slot it would have had to be bigger. The V4 is bigger due to keyboard anyway so they had room for the card slot. What do you need the expansion for? As a converged device that can just about everything, then Diamond is a complete success. If you really need to carry 15gb of music around or want to carry ten movies in your pocket, then get an iphone/ipod touch/archos/etc.

[Guest chrisms_cotland]

Its a size trade off. The Diamond/Compact4 is tiny - if they had put in an external microsd slot it would have had to be bigger. The V4 is bigger due to keyboard anyway so they had room for the card slot. What do you need the expansion for? As a converged device that can just about everything, then Diamond is a complete success. If you really need to carry 15gb of music around or want to carry ten movies in your pocket, then get an iphone/ipod touch/archos/etc.

Yeah your probably right, I will need to go into T-Mobile and see if I can have a shot of the Compact and see if I like it or not as I think it might be a better allround phone than the iPhone, its iTunes and video might be great but I fear that the internet and phone features are more limited than a Vario or Compact.