I am seriously thinking of letting the Omnia go!

[Guest samjuan]

Hi,

I know many of you will be emotional and non realistic about this, however, I think I had it with this device! it took many MANY days of my life just trying to figure out workarounds for its flaws! major fatal issues had contributed to it, no need to mention all the flows, just take a quick look at this forum and you will see!

I was one of the first who had a WM device, starting with the 2003, then I had it with WM, so I changed, then WM5 was announced, I was tempted, got it, then again I was frustrated, so I let go and moved on, then the Omnia got announced, I looked and searched, and really searched about it, and finally I got it, but since the day I got it, never a day passed without going through its problems!!! Black-screen of death, My Storage Dismount, Battery life, total hang/reset whole needed!, lack of multi-language support, very poor multimedia player, very low sensitive touch screen (compared to other WM devices of course!), very bad sound quality (what are you saying? repeat that again? come again!...), very poor built quality "very scratch prone to the smallest things", 16GB?? never been able to use it properly - 10GB of music? cannot import it to touch player! - programs to be installed on the 16GB? ahh please...

I am not really asking for much, my configuration is as follows:

1. Email: 1 exchange account, 1 hotmail account, 1 pop account and 1 imap account

2. S2U2 for full screen receiving calls and screen lock

3. other non system programs "dictionary, coreplayer..."

4. .NETCF3.5

If you want to argue, yes this device is the perfect toy... you can play around with it to the limits, reflash million times, install applications, hard reset whenever you feel like, experiment on it, develop on it... play games on it "I doubt it would be that fun though"... and so on, but reliable? can I really depend on it in a normal day to day business tasks and environment? well WM is for business I know, but I can sacrifice functionality for the sake of stability, it really feels like a Win95/98/me PC, and trust me, there will be a day where Samsung will stop enhancing and fixing this phone, while still it is flawed, because they now have a bigger fish to fry! and expect this day to be very soon... Look at the i780, it still has WM6.0! although Microsoft said devices can upgrade, however it still has WM6.0, oh, yeah and upgrading alone is another story...

The sad thing is that this thing cost me an arm and a leg! so I am totally lost...

Sorry for the long repeated(many times) post, but I just have nothing to do except write here on this great forum, which is the best thing I got back from this Omnia, however even the man himself is changing after less than 3 months... ahh well...

[Guest Geronymous]

Hi samjuan, this probably won't help, but I am very happy with my Omnia, and don't have any of the issues you mention... And I've also had other PDA's before (first one was a Handspring, then a hp 2210h, then Dell Axim x51v, then Eten X800, and now Omnia 16GB), and this one is by far the most stable one, and at the same time the most useful and complete one.

The only thing I can suggest is to give it a try without S2U2... to be honest I have never used S2U2, but I have tried other similar locking programs, and always uninstalled them in the end as they were not good for the device's stability. At the same time, I don't need a program to lock my Omnia, as I can do it by switching it off (and TouchPlayer continues playing) or by locking with the End key... In case of wake-up, no buttons are pressed, as I keep my Omnia in a ADVERTISING SPAM leather case... just perfect!

[Guest saznpins]

Sorry to hear of your discontent with your Omnia samjuan and I hope you find the perfect device for you. I also do not have many of the problems you mentioned so I can't really help with most of it.

I have found that experimenting with different ROMS has helped me get a lot more from my Omnia, and the frequency with which the new ones come out here is really great (thank you Secany, PaSSoA et. al.) The Omnia is really still a relatively new device and there are a lot of bug fixes and such that still need to be addressed by Samsung and I think they will come with more time.

Windows Mobile is an imperfect beast, but I still find it the best for both my professional and personal lives and I've been using Windows handheld devices since the late 90's (an old Cassiopea with CE!) Although I've tried everything under the sun I always come back to WM. So I guess I'm just used to the soft resets and quirks of WM and they don't bother me... maybe some would say that I'm settling but I don't see anything else out there that does everything that WM does.

I wish you luck and "device bliss" with whatever you try out next!

[Guest 3shirts]

I have managed to twaeak and install and modify and change to the point I am now happy with my Omnia so I feel your frustration. If you are set on changing phone try swapz.co.uk which is a service for straight swapping stuff like this. Good service

[Guest lochindaal]

Hi Samjun

I put on ROM MD02 Lite with iFonz and S2U2.

I now have a good platform for business use and play (S2P and coreplayer) which is very fast and stable. Best it all works with one touch for every aplication I use.

[Guest samjuan]

See what I mean by a great forum? thanks guys for all the honest replies.

however one thing I miss whenever I use ANY WM device... stability/reliability... "sigh"

I don't want to upgrade and wipe out everything every week, I don't want to reset once or twice a day!

[Guest Arramond]

however one thing I miss whenever I use ANY WM device... stability/reliability... "sigh"

I don't want to upgrade and wipe out everything every week, I don't want to reset once or twice a day!

I wouldn't want to have to do either of those things too. Luckily with my Omnia I don't have to. It's very stable and and I've not seen any of the problems that you have had. Maybe you have a faulty phone. It might be worth checking out before you let it go.

good luck.

[Guest mobilehappy]

Cant say i have had any of the problems mentioned eighter, mine has been very stable and dependable from day one.

The few "problems" i have had has been in regards to testing out some 3 party programs.

( Actually mostly when trying out "free" programs and cooked Roms that is. B) )

Otherwise i usually run one of the un-cooked Roms from Secany and have 10 + extra apps/software installed at all times and it still runs smoothly.

As for media players, get Kinoma Play and you have as close to a standalone music player functionality as you can get on a phone.

Edited November 25, 2008 by mobilehappy

[Guest kurniawan]

Why don't u try something like Symbian, let's say Nokia. I just had a N95 and i have to say that the Omnia is very poor with multimedia. For example, the videorecording on the omnia: i have never seen something so baaaaaaaaaad!!!! the sound was like a low bit qualty amiga or atari recording back in those days. even that sound better. The first time i recorded something and played it back reminded me of something like a scrathing noise over the blackboard at school. haha, and if that wasn't worse enough.... sound and video didn't even sync!!!!

But it's the customizing i like about the Omnia! U can change the looks of it anythime uwant. Got sick of the samsung widget? put on today2 or get an other one. If this gets bored... Get SPB mobile or something similair. Or get a custom rom with TouchFlo like PaSSoA's and stil u can modify it's looks and interface.

Need other prog like calendar, email or whatever.... there are loads of them

But what must i say... it's a good thing to try whatever brand or phone, but whatever u try, there is always something u don't like. i hope u will find yours

[Guest samjuan]

Exactly, I think I got mixed up with Stability VS. Customization freedom.

I will give it a final hard-reset today, and then I will see.

[Guest b06]

Hi,

I know many of you will be emotional and non realistic about this, however, I think I had it with this device! it took many MANY days of my life just trying to figure out workarounds for its flaws! major fatal issues had contributed to it, no need to mention all the flows, just take a quick look at this forum and you will see!

I was one of the first who had a WM device, starting with the 2003, then I had it with WM, so I changed, then WM5 was announced, I was tempted, got it, then again I was frustrated, so I let go and moved on, then the Omnia got announced, I looked and searched, and really searched about it, and finally I got it, but since the day I got it, never a day passed without going through its problems!!! Black-screen of death, My Storage Dismount, Battery life, total hang/reset whole needed!, lack of multi-language support, very poor multimedia player, very low sensitive touch screen (compared to other WM devices of course!), very bad sound quality (what are you saying? repeat that again? come again!...), very poor built quality "very scratch prone to the smallest things", 16GB?? never been able to use it properly - 10GB of music? cannot import it to touch player! - programs to be installed on the 16GB? ahh please...

...

Of the problems you listed, I'm only experiencing the Black Screen Of Death. And that is enough to put me on the same boat as yours. I'm thinking to let my Omnia go too.

I'm running one of the latest rom (HJ9) and this is really disappointing....It's a nice WM phone full of features but I just can't live with resetting my phone every SINGLE day....

[Guest 1Mack]

bo6 have you tried a registry cleaner? Try to clean your registry during the day and see if that helps.

samjuan I would hate to see you leave the i900 community B) But I need to know how much you want for that rig and can you ship to a US APO address? I need a testing Omnia for tweaks and cooking B) B)

[Guest samjuan]

bo6 have you tried a registry cleaner? Try to clean your registry during the day and see if that helps.

samjuan I would hate to see you leave the i900 community B) But I need to know how much you want for that rig and can you ship to a US APO address? I need a testing Omnia for tweaks and cooking B) B)

Oh God, finally someone realistic enough to admit that he cannot live with resetting that phone even once every two days! I feel you brother...

Anyway, 1Mak, thanks for your support, if you want, I have listed the Omnia for sale on souq.com, you can check it out, let me know if you really want it.

http://www.souq.com/item.php?id=4164799&am...de=1&lan=EN

[Guest 1Mack]

Oh God, finally someone realistic enough to admit that he cannot live with resetting that phone even once every two days! I feel you brother...

Anyway, 1Mak, thanks for your support, if you want, I have listed the Omnia for sale on souq.com, you can check it out, let me know if you really want it.

http://www.souq.com/item.php?id=4164799&am...de=1&lan=EN

No thanks bro B) . Even though I will be in Dubai next month I will pass because your current bid is what I can get a new one for B) .

[Guest samjuan]

No thanks bro B) . Even though I will be in Dubai next month I will pass because your current bid is what I can get a new one for B) .

Well, I think without all the add-ons and no warranty, maybe you could B) .

in any case, this is a first-bid-wins, but thanks for looking it up anyway B)

Edited November 26, 2008 by samjuan

[Guest stuzathegreat]

sadly i think its a bit late as you seem determined not to keep your phone but, are you sure you've tried firmware updates? My BlackSOD has been cured since HJ5 and im now on a HJ9 firmware and loving it. I only need to reboot once a week - oddly, it seems to stop giving any sounds over the cabled headphone - but thats it. As far as "Windows" devices go, i've had at least six or seven and this is by far and away, the most stable and quickest I have ever used.

I too use mine and all its features, from a satnav system (when on my motorbike) through to Exchange Push email sync and also a pop/smtp client for an older mail account. I often use mine in meetings to take minutes and notes which I then email out to the people involved as we walk out of the meeting room!

If you are getting lots of crashes etc I can only think you have one of two issues going on: Your phone is hardware fault or a 3rd part app is crashing it.

[Guest scoiattolo]

Item description:

The Samsung Omnia i900 is the BEST Windows Mobile pocket PC ever released.

B) B) B)

BTW the current bid is the price you can get a brand new one (24GB) with FULL 2 years warranty.. accessory not included tough B)

[Guest samjuan]

Item description:

The Samsung Omnia i900 is the BEST Windows Mobile pocket PC ever released.

B) B) B)

BTW the current bid is the price you can get a brand new one (24GB) with FULL 2 years warranty.. accessory not included tough B)

:( I have put this statement because I am moving away from WM anyway! If you like WM and can live with it, then maybe this statement can hold some truth in it.

Here in the UAE, its retail price from the dealer is "now" around $870USD, without any of the accessories, I purchased it for $955USD, so with the Warranty still included and all the added accessories, I think this is a fair deal. B) thanks for pointing that anyway.

[Guest samjuan]

sadly i think its a bit late as you seem determined not to keep your phone but, are you sure you've tried firmware updates? My BlackSOD has been cured since HJ5 and im now on a HJ9 firmware and loving it. I only need to reboot once a week - oddly, it seems to stop giving any sounds over the cabled headphone - but thats it. As far as "Windows" devices go, i've had at least six or seven and this is by far and away, the most stable and quickest I have ever used.

I too use mine and all its features, from a satnav system (when on my motorbike) through to Exchange Push email sync and also a pop/smtp client for an older mail account. I often use mine in meetings to take minutes and notes which I then email out to the people involved as we walk out of the meeting room!

If you are getting lots of crashes etc I can only think you have one of two issues going on: Your phone is hardware fault or a 3rd part app is crashing it.

Well, maybe its from the 3rd party software, but what am I supposed to do with this device without the add-on applications? besides even without the add on applications, I still experience the WM issues, I took it to the service center where I have my warranty and all they can say it "we will upgrade your firmware", add to that I need true multilingual support, which microsoft will never develop.

Maybe I cannot live with WM, plus it is not fully finger friendly and the mouse is not very precise, especially when you want to move it millimeters diagonally, the outer cover is very scratch prone, well... I have the invisible shield so that can do it, but still, I don't feel happy with it, but I am not yet determined to sell it, I have listed it, and will try to work it out in the mean time, if anyone wants to take it, I think it will be a good deal, especially if he is a WM fan like most of the forum members here.

[Guest bpivk]

My two cents:

This is my first WM phone. I'm used to smartphones and i nearly got a headache when i used my omnia for the first time.

Everything was different and nothing wus like i wanted it to. I wanted a plain phone that holds a beast inside and i got a ton of lousy widgets which would be fine if you could fix them and they would stand in one place. And changing sound settings would be great if you wouldn't have to change the via stylus and start menu every time.

And then i found out that you can tweah the hell out of your WM phone. Smartphones can't be tweaked and this thing could really take a ton of my abuse. So i updated the firmware (so i got rid of the stability issues) and tweaked my phone with SPB software and Paul's apps so that id did what i wanted it to do. Then i recalibrated my screen because i put on a screen protector and i solved my sensitivity problems plus i used a invisible shield body kit.

Now my phone doesn't have a scratch on it. It works really well. And has a ton of apps. (About 50 but i don't have the patience to count them all.) It never froze even though i play games and listen mp3's on it. Sure it freezes but that happens only when i experiment with beta or unstable (WM 5) apps like my BT keyboard for instance.

I have to say that i'm thrilled with my new phone and now that it's finger friendly i really like it.

So as you can see this phone isn't that bad. I like to think that it's different.

Sorry if i have bored you but i wanted to add a little of my experience.

Edited November 26, 2008 by bpivk

[Guest somedude]

all you have to do is just update your omnia with a custom rom. I dont have battery issues no more, the interface is better, and the phone is much more stable(no black screen of death)

[Guest cici]

Well, maybe its from the 3rd party software, but what am I supposed to do with this device without the add-on applications? besides even without the add on applications, I still experience the WM issues, I took it to the service center where I have my warranty and all they can say it "we will upgrade your firmware", add to that I need true multilingual support, which microsoft will never develop.

Maybe I cannot live with WM, plus it is not fully finger friendly and the mouse is not very precise, especially when you want to move it millimeters diagonally, the outer cover is very scratch prone, well... I have the invisible shield so that can do it, but still, I don't feel happy with it, but I am not yet determined to sell it, I have listed it, and will try to work it out in the mean time, if anyone wants to take it, I think it will be a good deal, especially if he is a WM fan like most of the forum members here.

If you are not happy with it and you don't want to sell it, it means you just give it as present! OK, I take it, almost always is a good deal to take something for free! B)

Edited November 26, 2008 by cici

[Guest WearTheFoxHat]

I agree with you the OP.

Windows Mobile is fiddly at times, and does desperately need an update. There are fixes to improve the devices, TouchFlo, MobileShell etc. But when you have to drill down to the OS, it is still antiquated and fiddly.

But then again what other options are there:

Nokia - Great multimedia, not so good at business tools.

Blackberry - Great Business tools, not so good at multimedia.

Iphone - Excellent multimedia, good email, crippled handset ... locked to one network

The nirvana I want ...will never really exist.

Great camera, akin to carrying a digital camera. (Not DSLR quality, but just a good camera)

Microsoft Exchange capabilities - Email, task, calendar and contacts ... all in sync

Simple enough interface for emailing, making calls and texting. (Phone only is great for making calls or texting ... but go touchscreen and it gets fiddly)

Decent batter life

GPS with turn by turn navigation

Decent media player for mp3 and video

Good internet ... WITH tethering!

All of the ones listed above do this, but each have their strong points and negative points. Its just up to the user to select the ones they need primarily.

Oh and lastly LOLZ @ SOUQ.com for looking identical to ebay!

[Guest samjuan]

I agree with you the OP.

Windows Mobile is fiddly at times, and does desperately need an update. There are fixes to improve the devices, TouchFlo, MobileShell etc. But when you have to drill down to the OS, it is still antiquated and fiddly.

But then again what other options are there:

Nokia - Great multimedia, not so good at business tools.

Blackberry - Great Business tools, not so good at multimedia.

Iphone - Excellent multimedia, good email, crippled handset ... locked to one network

The nirvana I want ...will never really exist.

Great camera, akin to carrying a digital camera. (Not DSLR quality, but just a good camera)

Microsoft Exchange capabilities - Email, task, calendar and contacts ... all in sync

Simple enough interface for emailing, making calls and texting. (Phone only is great for making calls or texting ... but go touchscreen and it gets fiddly)

Decent batter life

GPS with turn by turn navigation

Decent media player for mp3 and video

Good internet ... WITH tethering!

All of the ones listed above do this, but each have their strong points and negative points. Its just up to the user to select the ones they need primarily.

Oh and lastly LOLZ @ SOUQ.com for looking identical to ebay!

Nice one, nice one mate...

What you have said is exactly what I want, and how you drilled it down is again exactly like I did, and there where I found the Omnia, Although I have the iPhone 3G (for my wife B) ) and I had the P1i, well I don't don't to start a comparison flame "cause people tent to get unrealistic and very emotional!" however, now what I want after all this experience, is the most stable phone with "most" of the features, the thing is what are you going to do with all of the features if the phone will froze on you while you are trying to make a TV-OUT presentation in a meeting or it just mutes by itself or goes to vibration and never comes back unless you restart?

Nevertheless, I am on K1, just hardrestted the phone, and will not install any of the applications, just the exchange and email configuration and that's it, will see after that.

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

WTFH, sounds like what WM7 will hopefully deliver to us all! B)

P