Mobile Phones

New PDA Phone~

After almost using for 2 years on my old SE D750i handphone, I decided to get myself a PDA phone instead. Why am I changing my phone? Well, the old SE D750i phone is great, but over the years, I’ve been facing quite some problem lately. The navigator stick is stuck (common problem for Sony Ericsson phones), the phone hangs a lot due to the firmware problem, and yet the biggest problem I’m facing with is, I have to stick the phone to my ears so hard whenever I’m having a call, due to the sound coming out from the speaker is way too soft. This causes my friends always complaining they have to repeat their words so many times whenever they call me and end up frustrated :mrgreen:

Then why getting a PDA phone? I need a phone that can install some softwares, for managing my daily expenses, appointments, surfing the internet… In short, something that can function like a laptop but smaller in size. Or maybe I just wanna make my life more miserable by getting something this complicated to use ๐Ÿ˜† Unfortunately, PDA phones nowadays is so expensive, that most new and high-tech ones are sold at the price of my 1 month salary! Damn! The solution? Get a used phone instead ๐Ÿ˜†

I started hunting for PDA phones in some forums for weeks, and finally I found myself one that can meet my budget. Introducing… the used O2 Atom Exec :mrgreen:

o2.jpg This Pocket PC is running on a Intel XScaleร‚ยฎ PXA 27x processor 520MHz, 192MB flash ROM and 64MB of RAM. The processor speed is almost like the old Pentium III processors running on a pc! Most of the PDA phones nowadays are running with a processor much slower than this, and you can feel the speed when using this phone by running all kind of applications. (Am I over elaborating on this??)

Yet, there are quite some down side of this phone. Due to its high speed processor, the battery drains much faster than any other phone. I can hardly use the phone more than 2 days without charging it in between. The phone is capable of connecting wireless LAN connection, but without 3G connections (The phone line that I’m using does not have 3G services yet, so it’s not a concern for me).

Running on Windows Mobile 5, many users complain that this version of Windows Mobile tends to hang a lot. Hopefully this phone won’t encounter such problems… touch wood ๐Ÿ˜‰ Another problem is, I’ll be having a hard time learning to type sms using my thumbs on a touch screen :mrgreen:

Overall, this is a good PDA phone. The price? It’s the same price as the old phone I bought last time. So figure it out.. haha.. The seller was really friendly, teaching me how to use the phone and all.. Telling me all the problems I might face when using the phone. Luckily I still manage to understand his english accent haha..

Do you own a PDA phone? How’s your experience with yours? Mind to share?

An engineer which have a lot of interests in gadgets and technology stuffs. The blog varies from life events to gadgets reviews and hacks.

26 Comments

  • menghua

    Are you referring to the stylus? There are some keyboard software where you can use both your thumbs to type messages. It is much faster compared to using the stylus. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  • melvin.foong

    Yes, you use your stylus to “draw” the Graffiti .. and it is supposed to be smart enough to guess what you want to SMS out.
    O2 Exec has it .. not sure if the mini has it (why my avatar shows old man?)

  • menghua

    oh.. you mean something like handwriting recognition right? I tried using it, but I have to write so properly or else it will show something else.. :mrgreen: For me, typing with my thumbs on the keyboard software is much faster than writing with the stylus. ๐Ÿ™‚

    btw… why is your avatar showing an old man??? ๐Ÿ˜† Have you checked your mybloglog account? Funny..

  • didi

    How to u feel after using such PDA phone ?
    It is better than using handphone ?
    Cosz i’m also planning to get 1, but perhaps next year…

  • menghua

    erm.. lots of software can be used on pda.. better management also.. but yet, typing sms without a keyboard is still a problem.. especially when you are trying to reply sms when you’re driving (which you are forbidden to do so :mrgreen: )

  • Chong Zhemin

    but isn’t this phone too bulky? Initially i wanted to get this phone but when i think i need to carry such a big phone in my pocket i changed my mind. Besides o2 is not producing this model anymore.

    I got a brand new O2 orbit with a sat nav software in london for 200 pounds. it’s roughly RM1400. satisfied with it so far, though i still havent explore all the functions and use it to its max…

  • menghua

    Chong – this phone is not really that bulky. If i’m not mistaken, it’s almost the same size as your orbit. Yet, the processor is 520MHZ while orbit is only 200MHZ. Just comparing ๐Ÿ˜‰

    RM1.4k for your phone is a good deal though…

  • DDV

    looking for a brand new pda phone which is less than 2000. i have very little knowledge on pda phones and its specs. any suggestions? or better if i am provided with some useful info on what i should look for when buying a pda phone by some pda-logists…

  • menghua

    less than 2000? You can try the new LG KS20. it’s around RM1800. Try google it. I’m actually considering to change to that phone as well. Slick design and very good specs! ๐Ÿ˜†

  • DDV

    man.. u r quick. i have seen KS20. well, there are 2 things that’s holding me back from getting it. first, its the green line on the sides of it. that takes the beauty of KS20. second, a guy whom i always buy my phones from and someone i trust in dealing with him told me that LG isn’t a very good brand to go for because it’s difficult to get its parts and not as reliable as HP or o2. this is what he told me. as u already know, i have very little knowledge in this. by the way, why did u ask again “less than 2000?” is it too low to ask for a pda phone?

  • menghua

    For a good pda phone.. like o2 or htc and so on, most of them the price is over 2k.. and yes, LG is still new into handphones and pda, and ks20 is the first pda that they produced. But so far I haven’t seen any complaints about faulty parts of the phone yet. And the hardware they used is almost similar to other brands’ pda phone. not much difference though.. only the price.. ๐Ÿ˜† just focus on the specs of the phone.

  • menghua

    they said it’s slow? that’s strange. for a 420MHz processor pda, the response is quick. If you compare with HTC touch which is almost the same price, the processor is only 206MHz. So you can know what’s the speed is like..

  • DDV

    well, i dont know why but u have convinced me to get KS20. i’ll leave a comment on the phone when i get it. should be getting it by end of this month. if u or anyone else gets it first, do comment on it 1st. thanx alot.

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