T68i, P900, Orange SPV M2000, O2 XDA Exec, Orange SPV M3100

A Few things are clear, one of which is that I am a hoarder (of old phones)

From Left to right are the phones I have used for their respective years.

2002 = Sony Ericsson T68i
2003 = Sony Ericsson P900
2004 = Orange SPV M2000
2005 = O2 XDA Exec
2006 = Orange SPV M3100

2002 = Sony Ericsson T68i
The T68i was a great small phone with excellent battery life.

2003 = Sony Ericsson P900
I had a Sony Ericsson P800 first, sold that and got the P900. It was another great phone. This was the first usable “email on the move” device I had.

2004 = Orange SPV M2000
The SPV M2000 had one inherent pocket PC flaw, that when the device lost power you lost everything, contacts, e-mails, texts etc. This flaw affects all PocketPC’s/Smartphones running prior to windows mobile 5.0. so as good as this device was this design flaw was the reason I would eventually replace it.

2005 = O2 XDA Exec
This is a great little computer but an awful phone. Its simply too large to be practical. However is suited me at the time. I get 25 e-mails for every telephone call I got on the device. So for me it was the right technology.

2006 = Orange SPV M3100
The M3100 has everything, it has the same feature set of the XDA Exec but none of the issues relating to the size of it (see picture above).

Summary

Over the years I have been happy with all these purchases and all have contributed to making me more productive when I am mobile.

I am wondering what now? I have a great smart phone what do the developers have up their sleeves to keep pushing the envelope.

Link: N/A

I have been using the O2 XDA exec for a full month now. Initially it is difficult to get over the actual size of the device (chunky I call it) but you soon get passed that when the real value of the device kicks in – Information on the move.

A Phone: The XDA Exec will always be a rather cumbersome telephone, but its only fault is aesthetic when used as a phone its great, good reception, integration with contacts etc.

My Contacts: I sync the device with my Outlook 2003 Contacts, it all works fine and dandy

My Calendar: Like my contacts my Outlook 2003 Calendar synchronizes with no problems

My To Do List: My ever-growing “To Do” list is now all syched up and stressing me out. Not the device but the sheer number of things I have “To Do”

My E-mail: In 2005 I received 5200 e-mails inbound and sent out 4100 so that volume of e-mail requires constant attention. E-mail on the move works perfectly connecting either GPRS/3G or WIFI.

Music(Mp3)/Podcasts/Video: I purchased a 1GB SD card that can hold a lot of mp3 content, I listen to about 3 or 4 podcasts a week as well as two video episodes of www.dl.tv as a mini Multimedia box on the move its fine.

Access to RSS feeds: www.bloglines.com the web based service I use to manage all the RSS feeds I am subscribed to.

The Good Bits
Wifi Works Great
The Stereo Speakers are good

The Bad Bits
Out of the Box I was a tad dissapointed with the perfomance, changing screen orientation refresh for example. This later turned out to be the software O2 installed on the device. I also upgraded the firmware that fixed a few performance bugs.

I needed to purchase and install SBC’’s Pocket Plus to really take control of the device.

This offered the following features:-

Today Plug-in:
Tabs. Battery, backlight, memory indicators, drag-and-drop, …
File Explorer:
ZIP support, encryption, “Folder Up” button, storage card format, file properties, …
Close Button:
The close (X) button really closes programs, task manager, …
Pocket Internet Explorer:
Multiple windows, full screen mode, save as, view source, …
Buttons:
Alt-Tab, backlight change using a button, keyboard navigation in the Today plug-in, …
Safe Mode:
Loading the device in safe mode to prevent it from hard-reset in case of any problems.
Other:
Taskbar battery indicator, extended Pocket PC themes, plug-ins, …

I would recommend this piece of software on any Pocket PC device, even the older ones.

http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/

http://www.gadgetspy.co.uk/2005/11/30/xda-exec-review

Review Link
http://www.coolsmartphone.com/news1940.html

I finally took the plunge and chose a service provider for my next generation smart phone.

The final decision came down to cost, as the device is the same on all the networks.

Orange my current mobile telephone company have the same device (HTC Universal) on Orange its called the SPV M5000.

The device would be more expensive on orange for me.

From Orange

Device £299
Monthly Rental £20 (100mins/100texts) Data Allowance 4mb £4
Monthly Cost £24

TCO Year1 £587
TCo Year2 £288

From O2

Device £199
Monthly Rental £19 (50mins/25texts) Data Allowance 5mb £8
Monthly Cost £27

TCO Year1 £523
TCo Year2 £324

So if the mobile Companies are listening a £64 TCO year 1 price difference is enough for me to change service provider.

The year 2 TCO on o2 is higher, but 12 months from now I can negotiate a killer airtime deal, or leave them, it’s as simple as that. I have used this strategy a few times, suffer in year one then run with more reasonable costs in year 2 or 3. My last year with orange was something like £100 all year including voice/texts and GPRS data for e-mail on the move.

The hardware in my retail supplied version is unlocked allowing me to use my preferred network supplier.

Cost wise there is not a lot in it, Cosmetically the Orange SPV M5000 is silver and the O2 Model is Black.

The low amount of minuets in each service plan doesn’t bother me, I work in tech support, people call me, not the other way around.

You can buy the phone out of contract its currently £540 + VAT
http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=119353

Note TCO=Total Cost of Ownership