I'd only mentioned the pros about my shortlist of camera cell phones.
Here's the Cons:
Motorola V600
- Expensive - not quite as much as the Treo 600, but still as much as my last PDA cost.
NEC 525
- Camera the same resolution as the Sony Ericsson T616, which costs $100 less
- Too big and/or bulky (size really does matter when it comes to a cell phone!)
- Intellisync for PC Sync - I've used this software and don't like it
- 2 Mb of Shared Memory - same as the Sony Ericsson T616
- NEC only has one other GSM phone on the US market...
Sony Ericsson T616
- Average RF (so I've heard)
- Need to buy a holster/case
- photos can only be moved off the phone using the cellular carrier's network
Thursday, May 20, 2004
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
The shortlist
My shortlist for camera cellphones:
Motorola V600
- Built-in VGA Camera with 4x digital zoom
- video playback; world phone; crisp 65,536-color display; USB connectivity (cnet.com)
NEC 525
- 100,000-pixel camera with 2x zoom
- Solid camera features; large, vibrant display; one-click access to key functions; world phone; strong call quality and battery life (cnet.com)
Sony Ericsson T616
- (basic) camera
- 65K color LCD
- relatively cheaper than the NEC 525 and Motorola V600
Motorola V600
- Built-in VGA Camera with 4x digital zoom
- video playback; world phone; crisp 65,536-color display; USB connectivity (cnet.com)
NEC 525
- 100,000-pixel camera with 2x zoom
- Solid camera features; large, vibrant display; one-click access to key functions; world phone; strong call quality and battery life (cnet.com)
Sony Ericsson T616
- (basic) camera
- 65K color LCD
- relatively cheaper than the NEC 525 and Motorola V600
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Got a cellphone
The cellphone arrived today. Unfortunately it was the one I had ordered on Friday but later cancelled. I wasn't here to refuse delivery, so I had to phone my cellular carrier. They'll send labels for me to ship it back.
For a while I was tempted to revert to plan A (Free cellphone, buy unlocked PDA Phone etc), but partly out of stubbornness I don't won't to accept an order I've cancelled. Also, a phone with a camera seems more enticing...
For a while I was tempted to revert to plan A (Free cellphone, buy unlocked PDA Phone etc), but partly out of stubbornness I don't won't to accept an order I've cancelled. Also, a phone with a camera seems more enticing...
Monday, May 17, 2004
Wrong assumption
A conversation between myself and my cellular carrier:
Technofile:
In an advert for <carrier name> in the New York Times, it was mentioned that "service requires a compatible GSM 850 device". But some of the phones in the upgrade section of your website (for example the Motorola MPx200) are only GSM 1800/1900MHz. Are 850 MHz phones required in the New York area?
Tech Support:
Only if you want to be able to read off the 850 MHz network... The phone will still be able to read off of 1900 MHz.
Technofile:
Is the 850 MHz network any better or any different than the 1900 Mhz network?
Tech Support:
Only when it comes to going through walls. 850 works better in buildings.
Aha! and rats....
Technofile:
In an advert for <carrier name> in the New York Times, it was mentioned that "service requires a compatible GSM 850 device". But some of the phones in the upgrade section of your website (for example the Motorola MPx200) are only GSM 1800/1900MHz. Are 850 MHz phones required in the New York area?
Tech Support:
Only if you want to be able to read off the 850 MHz network... The phone will still be able to read off of 1900 MHz.
Technofile:
Is the 850 MHz network any better or any different than the 1900 Mhz network?
Tech Support:
Only when it comes to going through walls. 850 works better in buildings.
Aha! and rats....
Sunday, May 16, 2004
Thought it was a good idea at the time
My plan had a hole in it. A small technology matter. The plan was to upgrade to a free GSM phone from my cellular service provider. Then I would buy an unlocked Treo 180 or Treo 270. Then I would switch the SIM card to the Smart Phone (that being the correct term for a PDA/Phone combo, according to MobilePC magazine). Of course I would also use the free GSM phone occasionally.
Fortunately for me, the free phone I had chosen was suddenly out of stock.
Still trying to decide between the grayscale Treo 180 or color Treo 270, I happened to read a full page advert advertisement for my cellular carrier, who I won't name (to protect innocent people involved....) except to say that they are currently merging with or being acquired by another larger cellular carrier. Some of the fine print at the bottom of the page caught my eye "service requires a compatible GSM 850 device". GSM 850, according to phonescoop.com, is more correctly referred to as 800(MHz) GSM. The Treo 180 and Treo 270 both 900/1900 MHz GSM "devices", so I assume they will not work on my carrier's network.
The only GSM 850 Palm OS Smart Phone I've seen is the $499 Treo 600.
This wasn't totally unexpected, but I'd been hoping that my service provider also used 1900 MHz GSM on their network.
After some thought, I canceled the order for the Motorola T721, intending to order my second choice. No surprise, the Sony Ericsson T616 is listed as "Out of Stock"....
Fortunately for me, the free phone I had chosen was suddenly out of stock.
Still trying to decide between the grayscale Treo 180 or color Treo 270, I happened to read a full page advert advertisement for my cellular carrier, who I won't name (to protect innocent people involved....) except to say that they are currently merging with or being acquired by another larger cellular carrier. Some of the fine print at the bottom of the page caught my eye "service requires a compatible GSM 850 device". GSM 850, according to phonescoop.com, is more correctly referred to as 800(MHz) GSM. The Treo 180 and Treo 270 both 900/1900 MHz GSM "devices", so I assume they will not work on my carrier's network.
The only GSM 850 Palm OS Smart Phone I've seen is the $499 Treo 600.
This wasn't totally unexpected, but I'd been hoping that my service provider also used 1900 MHz GSM on their network.
After some thought, I canceled the order for the Motorola T721, intending to order my second choice. No surprise, the Sony Ericsson T616 is listed as "Out of Stock"....
Saturday, May 15, 2004
It's been back-ordered...
I placed the order for the Motorola T721 last night, and today they email me and say it's "out of stock and has been back-ordered".
Argh!
Argh!
Friday, May 14, 2004
Just choose one...
Well, I've narrowed it down to these two cellphones now:
Sony Ericsson T616 ($99 upgrade)
Motorola T721 (Free upgrade)
Sony Ericsson T616 ($99 upgrade)
Motorola T721 (Free upgrade)
Thursday, May 13, 2004
Out of Stock!
Thought I'd found the right phone, a Nokia 6800.
The specs looked awesome:
Full QWERTY keyboard
PC synchronization with large assortment of PC tools;
Good java support (lots of applications are available)
Huge amount of memory available for games, graphics and ringtones
Built-in radio
Since I'm more likely to have a cellphone on me than a PDA, I could type on notes anywhere, on the go, and sync them to my PC.
Then I compared the size with my old Nokia 3360
Weight: 5.3 oz
Size: 4.5" x 2" x 1"
New Nokia 6800:
Weight: 4.4oz (125g)
Size: 4.7" x 2.2" x 0.8" (119mm x 55mm x 21mm)
Ooops, need to take a closer look at specs next time!
The specs looked awesome:
Full QWERTY keyboard
PC synchronization with large assortment of PC tools;
Good java support (lots of applications are available)
Huge amount of memory available for games, graphics and ringtones
Built-in radio
Since I'm more likely to have a cellphone on me than a PDA, I could type on notes anywhere, on the go, and sync them to my PC.
Then I compared the size with my old Nokia 3360
Weight: 5.3 oz
Size: 4.5" x 2" x 1"
New Nokia 6800:
Weight: 4.4oz (125g)
Size: 4.7" x 2.2" x 0.8" (119mm x 55mm x 21mm)
Ooops, need to take a closer look at specs next time!
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
To begin: a combo?
A PDA/phone combo is very tempting. While there plenty of options out there, I would prefer one with the Palm OS. Apart from a Samsung model or two, and the Tungsten W (which is not very good as a phone), the only alternative I know of are the Treos.
Since the Treo 600 is just a tad too expensive (just a tad!), I looked around, and found that there are older and cheaper Treos available. One of them is only a PDA (the Treo 90).
The others don't a camera, which is not a factor - last year a keyboard won over a camera when I was choosing a new PDA.
So there is
Treo 270/300 - color screen
Treo 270: GSM world phone - but seems to be discontinued...
Treo 300: Sprint PCS - ah, Sprint - cellular service good, customer service sucks...
Treo 180:
Treo 180 - 16-bit grayscale screen
This one is very tempting, as I can get it for around $90 dollars, and unlock for my preferred cellular provider. But I'm not sure I really need another Palm PDA, considering I recently got the Tungsten E.
Since the Treo 600 is just a tad too expensive (just a tad!), I looked around, and found that there are older and cheaper Treos available. One of them is only a PDA (the Treo 90).
The others don't a camera, which is not a factor - last year a keyboard won over a camera when I was choosing a new PDA.
So there is
Treo 270/300 - color screen
Treo 270: GSM world phone - but seems to be discontinued...
Treo 300: Sprint PCS - ah, Sprint - cellular service good, customer service sucks...
Treo 180:
Treo 180 - 16-bit grayscale screen
This one is very tempting, as I can get it for around $90 dollars, and unlock for my preferred cellular provider. But I'm not sure I really need another Palm PDA, considering I recently got the Tungsten E.
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Looking for the right cellphone (again)
I've just started looking for another cellphone. Since I last bought one, cameras have become the rage.
There are just so many different combinations with these features to choose from:
A camera phone
Color display
PDA/phone combo
Without looking too hard, if I wasn't on a budget it would be the Treo 600. It has all of the above.
Currently the Treo 600 goes for $499 with a contract.
Another possibility is the Sony Ericsson T616.
It's got a camera and an amazing color screen.
It's also a lot smaller than the Treo...
There are just so many different combinations with these features to choose from:
A camera phone
Color display
PDA/phone combo
Without looking too hard, if I wasn't on a budget it would be the Treo 600. It has all of the above.
Currently the Treo 600 goes for $499 with a contract.
Another possibility is the Sony Ericsson T616.
It's got a camera and an amazing color screen.
It's also a lot smaller than the Treo...
Monday, May 03, 2004
Tungsten E Battery continued...
My brand new Palm Tungsten E replacement still has some quirks with the battery. After
HotSyncing (without recharging) the battery percentage increase improves. Then, when
I run the BatMon utility to check the charge, and press the Update button a few times,
the Battery percentage returns to what it should be. Weird.
HotSyncing (without recharging) the battery percentage increase improves. Then, when
I run the BatMon utility to check the charge, and press the Update button a few times,
the Battery percentage returns to what it should be. Weird.
Friday, April 30, 2004
Free Palm database software!
I find free software hard to resist, so I tried Freeware DB 1.0.4
with VFS and MobileDB plugins. It caused a Fatal Reset (soft reset) within minutes.
Well, it's free!
And I might even try it again sometime!
with VFS and MobileDB plugins. It caused a Fatal Reset (soft reset) within minutes.
Well, it's free!
And I might even try it again sometime!
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Friday, April 16, 2004
New Tungsten E
Received a brand new replacement Palm Tungsten E today. The battery hadn't even been charged yet.
It may take a while to trust the battery on this handheld again
It may take a while to trust the battery on this handheld again
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Low Battery again...
Turned on Palm Tungsten E this morning before leaving for work and got "Battery Low" warning.
The battery level was at around 10%. This is no good, as I fully charged it last night.
Returned the handheld to be fixed/swapped.
The battery level was at around 10%. This is no good, as I fully charged it last night.
Returned the handheld to be fixed/swapped.
Saturday, April 10, 2004
Woody and apt-get
This weekend I installed "Woody" twice. The first time I did not read the important information at Distrowatch (here and here).
If I had, I would have read about the secret method of installing Debian with an up-to-date 2.4 kernel (see mini glossary below). So the first time I ended up installing Debian Linux with the old 2.2.? kernel. I also managed to miss the step which installs lilo (the Linux loader), so I was not able to boot into Debian anyway.
The second installation went much better. I made sure installed the 2.4 kernel and LILO to the Linux partition. Once I'd booted up into Debian I used apt-get to download and install a couple of packages.
Then came the setting up of X-Windows(see mini glossary below). The last time I tried Debiam Linux (the "Potato" version) I gave up at this point after trying a few times. This time I was able to look up the X86Free Setup options on the internet on a second machine. The X-Windows setup went without a hitch, and I was soon running KDE.
Mini Glossary
As an aside, for Linux newbies:
kernel - something like the DOS command.com, but supercharged.
X-Windows - think of numerous versions of "Windows" which can be run on top of "DOS". User friendly (and non-free) versions of Linux like Xandros, Lindows and Mandrake configure X-Windows automatically during setup.
If I had, I would have read about the secret method of installing Debian with an up-to-date 2.4 kernel (see mini glossary below). So the first time I ended up installing Debian Linux with the old 2.2.? kernel. I also managed to miss the step which installs lilo (the Linux loader), so I was not able to boot into Debian anyway.
The second installation went much better. I made sure installed the 2.4 kernel and LILO to the Linux partition. Once I'd booted up into Debian I used apt-get to download and install a couple of packages.
Then came the setting up of X-Windows(see mini glossary below). The last time I tried Debiam Linux (the "Potato" version) I gave up at this point after trying a few times. This time I was able to look up the X86Free Setup options on the internet on a second machine. The X-Windows setup went without a hitch, and I was soon running KDE.
Mini Glossary
As an aside, for Linux newbies:
kernel - something like the DOS command.com, but supercharged.
X-Windows - think of numerous versions of "Windows" which can be run on top of "DOS". User friendly (and non-free) versions of Linux like Xandros, Lindows and Mandrake configure X-Windows automatically during setup.
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Low Battery
Turned on my work Palm Tungsten E this morning and got a critical "Battery Low" warning.
The battery level was at around 7% (after being at 88% last night). I couldn't back
anything up to the SD Card, because the Palm OS had disabled access to the Card to
preserve Battery power. Since the charger cable was at work, this was a problem.
Fortunately I didn't lose any data.
What caused this sudden drop in Battery power? It's possible that a button was being
pressed in the generic case overnight.
I’ve also noticed that from within ZLauncher the battery level is flaky, 88% one
minute, 95% the next. The battery life is definitely not as good as the Sony NX60.
On the Palm support site is says "If the battery drains to the point where your handheld does not operate, it stores your data safely for about five days". That's good to know.
The battery level was at around 7% (after being at 88% last night). I couldn't back
anything up to the SD Card, because the Palm OS had disabled access to the Card to
preserve Battery power. Since the charger cable was at work, this was a problem.
Fortunately I didn't lose any data.
What caused this sudden drop in Battery power? It's possible that a button was being
pressed in the generic case overnight.
I’ve also noticed that from within ZLauncher the battery level is flaky, 88% one
minute, 95% the next. The battery life is definitely not as good as the Sony NX60.
On the Palm support site is says "If the battery drains to the point where your handheld does not operate, it stores your data safely for about five days". That's good to know.
Saturday, April 03, 2004
Here we go again
As I couldn't (quickly and easily) find much help on reconfiguring the "Sarge" version of Debian Linux, I erased it, and have begun installing the current stable version 3.0 (or "Woody")...
Status update
Windows XP up and running.
Debian - not yet booting. I have to get hold of some documentation on how to make Debian bootable again (without restoring it). Then go through the whole process of getting a copy of the boot image. Oh well, such is computing...
Debian - not yet booting. I have to get hold of some documentation on how to make Debian bootable again (without restoring it). Then go through the whole process of getting a copy of the boot image. Oh well, such is computing...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
