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  1. #1
    ship
    Guest
    Hi

    What is the best PDA / mobile phone (i.e. cell-phone)?

    I am looking for something that:
    - is high resolution
    - has a QUERTY keyboard.

    I basically need a good clear calendar/diary
    and HIGH RESOLUTION screen so that I can CLEARLY read
    everything that I need to do this week... on one screen.

    All the phone/PDAs that I've seen so far use something
    like 240x320 pixel resolution. Or at best 320x320.

    For the last 18 months I have been using a
    SonyEricsson P910i (208x320) which I am not very
    happy with. I am thinking of upgrading to a new P990i which
    has SLIGHTLY higher resolution (240x320) - both of which run
    Symbian.

    One thing that bugs the Hell out of me is that if I enter
    OTHER PEOPLE'S holiday dates into my calendar in Outlook and/or
    the SonyEricsson thing, then my own diary becomes almost
    un-readable during those dates!

    I was looking at some phones that run at 320x320
    (e.g. HP iPAQ hw 6915?) but I read somewhere that Windows Mobile
    cant handle resolution higher than 240x240 (is this true??)

    Then I discovered the Nokia N80 running Symbian again
    but although its at 352x416 resolution, it doesnt have a querty
    keyboard...

    Is there NOTHING that works at higher resolution that
    fits in your pocket and which you can call a phone...?

    With thanks


    Ship
    Shiperton Henethe

    P.S. I am confused what does "Smartphone" mean? Is it a generic term
    or is it Microsoft brandname...?




    See More: What is the best HIGH RESOLUTION combined PDA/mobile phone?




  2. #2
    Mehdi
    Guest

    Re: What is the best HIGH RESOLUTION combined PDA/mobile phone?

    On 27 Aug 2006 02:18:53 -0700, ship wrote:

    > What is the best PDA / mobile phone (i.e. cell-phone)?
    >
    > I am looking for something that:
    > - is high resolution
    > - has a QUERTY keyboard.
    >
    > I basically need a good clear calendar/diary
    > and HIGH RESOLUTION screen so that I can CLEARLY read
    > everything that I need to do this week... on one screen.


    Nokia E61 (QVGA screen - 320 x 240) + Papyrus (third party calendar
    application: <http://www.sbsh.net/products/papyrus_symb/>). Papyrus is not
    yet available for the E61 but is currently in beta testing. I'm part of the
    beta testers and given the progress made with the last beta it shouldn't be
    long now before the release version comes out.

    > For the last 18 months I have been using a
    > SonyEricsson P910i (208x320) which I am not very
    > happy with. I am thinking of upgrading to a new P990i which
    > has SLIGHTLY higher resolution (240x320) - both of which run
    > Symbian.
    >
    > One thing that bugs the Hell out of me is that if I enter
    > OTHER PEOPLE'S holiday dates into my calendar in Outlook and/or
    > the SonyEricsson thing, then my own diary becomes almost
    > un-readable during those dates!


    What do you means by unreadable?

    > I was looking at some phones that run at 320x320
    > (e.g. HP iPAQ hw 6915?) but I read somewhere that Windows Mobile
    > cant handle resolution higher than 240x240 (is this true??)


    Not true. In fact, many Windows Mobile devices have a QVGA (240x320)
    resolution. The i-mate JASJAR even has a VGA screen (640x480). If you buy a
    Windows Mobile device, make sure that you get one running Windows Mobile 5
    (or 2005) and not one running the previous Winodws Mobile 2003 version
    which, well, isn't as stable as the latest version to put things nicely.

    > Then I discovered the Nokia N80 running Symbian again
    > but although its at 352x416 resolution, it doesnt have a querty
    > keyboard...


    Forget about it. It does have a high resolution but the higher resolution
    on this model is not used to display more things on the screen but to
    display icons and text with more details. So the N80 can't show much more
    on its screen than the previous 208x176 devices but what it shows looks
    beautiful thanks to the extra resolution. Not what you're looking for.

    > Is there NOTHING that works at higher resolution that
    > fits in your pocket and which you can call a phone...?


    The best device for you would probably be the i-mate JASJAR with its
    excelllent keyboard and VGA screen but it's huge, heavy, ugly and it's more
    a mini-laptop than a phone.

    The E61 (QVGA) and Papyrus as i said above would be a good alternative i
    think.That's what i have and i'm quite happy with it, the only thing that
    really annoys me with it is its rather poor joystick which feels loose and
    creeky. Apart from that, it's a very thin device and fits nicely in a
    jean's pocket.

    Otherwise the new HTC TyTN (QVGA) which runs Winodws Mobile 5 looks like
    something you'd like too with its touch screen and slide out thumboard.
    I've never used it so i can't comment. The only thing is that it's very
    thick and you'll probably want to use a case because of its touchscreen so
    it's not really pocket friendly.

    > P.S. I am confused what does "Smartphone" mean? Is it a generic term
    > or is it Microsoft brandname...?


    Smartphone is a term that has been coined long before Microsoft even
    discovered what a smartphone was. There's no official definition for the
    term but most people over here use it to designate a phone that is running
    an open operating system (Symbian, Palm OS, some Linuxes and of course
    Windows mobile); open in the sense that you can add third party native
    applications to it as opposed to the closed operating systems used in most
    "normal" phone which don't allow you to add any other applications other
    than Java midlets.
    When Microsoft realized that everybody started to develop smartphones and
    that they might be loosing a huge market there, they woke up, developped a
    horrible buggy as hell smartphone OS, lied and stole the technology
    developed by the company (Sendo) which was supposed to be their exclusive
    partner for their first Windows smartphone, ended up in a massive trial
    (settle out of court for an undisclosed sum) then turned to HTC in asia to
    build their smartphones and decided to call their smartphone OS "Windows
    for Smartphone", in the hope i suppose that people would associate
    "Smartphone" with "Windows".



  3. #3
    ship
    Guest

    Re: What is the best HIGH RESOLUTION combined PDA/mobile phone?


    Mehdi wrote:
    > On 27 Aug 2006 02:18:53 -0700, ship wrote:
    >
    > > What is the best PDA / mobile phone (i.e. cell-phone)?
    > >
    > > I am looking for something that:
    > > - is high resolution
    > > - has a QUERTY keyboard.
    > >
    > > I basically need a good clear calendar/diary
    > > and HIGH RESOLUTION screen so that I can CLEARLY read
    > > everything that I need to do this week... on one screen.

    >
    > Nokia E61 (QVGA screen - 320 x 240) + Papyrus (third party calendar
    > application: <http://www.sbsh.net/products/papyrus_symb/>). Papyrus is not
    > yet available for the E61 but is currently in beta testing. I'm part of the
    > beta testers and given the progress made with the last beta it shouldn't be
    > long now before the release version comes out.
    >
    > > For the last 18 months I have been using a
    > > SonyEricsson P910i (208x320) which I am not very
    > > happy with. I am thinking of upgrading to a new P990i which
    > > has SLIGHTLY higher resolution (240x320) - both of which run
    > > Symbian.
    > >
    > > One thing that bugs the Hell out of me is that if I enter
    > > OTHER PEOPLE'S holiday dates into my calendar in Outlook and/or
    > > the SonyEricsson thing, then my own diary becomes almost
    > > un-readable during those dates!

    >
    > What do you means by unreadable?


    Well it's like this.
    When you add a diary/calendar entry that spans a period of time
    anything that overlaps with this period of time goes black.
    Thus you cant see what colour it's suppoed to be - if that is
    you can see that it's there at all.

    Basically I need to be able distinguish things that *I* have to do
    from things that I need to be valuely aware of when they are happening
    (e.g. other people's holiday dates!)


    I would also (in a separate view) like to be able to see on one screen
    everything that I'm supposed to do this week!

    The problem with low res screens (like my current SonyE P910i)
    is that titles of entries get cut right back to about 6 or 7
    characters...

    Papyrus sounds promising.
    I wonder if it works on SonyEricsson P910i or P990i

    > > Is there NOTHING that works at higher resolution that
    > > fits in your pocket and which you can call a phone...?

    >
    > The best device for you would probably be the i-mate JASJAR with its
    > excelllent keyboard and VGA screen but it's huge, heavy, ugly and it's more
    > a mini-laptop than a phone.

    Yes there are limits... this does look TOO big.
    Basically it needs to fit comfortably inside a normal-ish pocket...
    If JASJAR is too large, JASJAM looks like a cunning design.
    I like the idea of a retractable keyboard. And having the screen
    contents flip by 90 degrees looks sensible too.

    To me a clam looks like the best design because you could
    have a touch sentive screen that you wouldnt touch by mistake
    in the pocket, plus you wouldnt be wasting screen space
    with the keyboard area...

    Nokia do one (communicator 9300i) but although its screen is
    wide it's not very tall (640x200). Plus it's hellish ugly on the
    outside!


    > The E61 (QVGA) and Papyrus as i said above would be a good alternative i
    > think.That's what i have and i'm quite happy with it, the only thing that
    > really annoys me with it is its rather poor joystick which feels loose and
    > creeky. Apart from that, it's a very thin device and fits nicely in a
    > jean's pocket.


    Hmm... 320x240
    Yes that phone *is* slightly tempting. I think my boss has just got
    one.
    I'll have to ask him how he's getting on with it.
    Still not very high resolution though - albeit at least the more
    important
    dimension of WIDTH is the higher number...
    Does it have a touch screen?

    > Otherwise the new HTC TyTN (QVGA) which runs Winodws Mobile 5 looks like
    > something you'd like too with its touch screen and slide out thumboard.
    > I've never used it so i can't comment. The only thing is that it's very
    > thick and you'll probably want to use a case because of its touchscreen so
    > it's not really pocket friendly.

    Hmm 240x320
    Any idea if it goes into landscape mode when you slide out the keyboard
    (it doesnt appear so from their photos on their website
    http://www.europe.htc.com/z/pdf/cont...N_LFLT_OUT.PDF )

    Hmm yes, very thick could be a pain (2.2cm)

    Ship
    Shiperton Henethe




  4. #4
    Beverly Howard [Ms-MVP/MobileDev]
    Guest

    Re: What is the best HIGH RESOLUTION combined PDA/mobile phone?

    >> combined PDA/mobile phone? <<

    There are several pocketpc-phoneedition devices that run full vga
    (640x480 in landscape mode) ...you might have to move up to reading
    glasses though.

    Beverly Howard [MS MVP-Mobile Devices]




  5. #5
    Mehdi
    Guest

    Re: What is the best HIGH RESOLUTION combined PDA/mobile phone?

    On 27 Aug 2006 08:53:50 -0700, ship wrote:

    > Well it's like this.
    > When you add a diary/calendar entry that spans a period of time
    > anything that overlaps with this period of time goes black.
    > Thus you cant see what colour it's suppoed to be - if that is
    > you can see that it's there at all.
    >
    > Basically I need to be able distinguish things that *I* have to do
    > from things that I need to be valuely aware of when they are happening
    > (e.g. other people's holiday dates!)
    >
    >
    > I would also (in a separate view) like to be able to see on one screen
    > everything that I'm supposed to do this week!
    >
    > The problem with low res screens (like my current SonyE P910i)
    > is that titles of entries get cut right back to about 6 or 7
    > characters...


    Well, it's difficult to tell wich particular calendar software is going to
    suit you best. Best would be to try which of course isn't really possible
    unless you can borrow various devices before buying them. For what it's
    worth, here are some screenshot of the latest beta of Papyrus running on my
    Nokia E61:

    Week grid view:
    <http://cjoint.com/data/iBudojVs1l.htm>
    As you can see, if you've got less than 5 meetings and tasks per day, you
    can see everything in one screen.

    Week tree view (my prefered view):
    <http://cjoint.com/data/iBudZbS0Fs.htm>
    There's a bug in the current beta which causes each meeting name to be
    displayed twice. Won't be in the released version of course. The nice thing
    about this view is that you can select a particular task or meeting
    directly and you just have to click OK to view all the details. You can
    also collapse a busy day to see the rest of the week without having to
    scroll.

    Month view:
    <http://cjoint.com/data/iBufsVGeb4.htm>

    >
    > Papyrus sounds promising.
    > I wonder if it works on SonyEricsson P910i or P990i


    No, no UIQ version. They do have a Windows Mobile version though.

    > To me a clam looks like the best design because you could
    > have a touch sentive screen that you wouldnt touch by mistake
    > in the pocket, plus you wouldnt be wasting screen space
    > with the keyboard area...
    >
    > Nokia do one (communicator 9300i) but although its screen is
    > wide it's not very tall (640x200). Plus it's hellish ugly on the
    > outside!


    I've never used these but all the people i know who own one love it, seems
    to be one of the best productivity smartphone out there. The only thing is
    that, as you said, it's ugly plus it's getting old now and has a quite slow
    processor. Also, Nokia has given up on their Series 80 UI platform (the one
    used by the communicators) and now focuses on their S60 platform (the one
    used by their N-series and E-series smartphones). So even though the
    communicators still work as well as ever and are still supported by Nokia,
    there won't be any new devices running this platform in the future.

    > Hmm... 320x240
    > Yes that phone *is* slightly tempting. I think my boss has just got
    > one.
    > I'll have to ask him how he's getting on with it.
    > Still not very high resolution though - albeit at least the more
    > important
    > dimension of WIDTH is the higher number...
    > Does it have a touch screen?


    No, no touch screen. On one side it means that everything can be done one
    handed without having to take out a stylus. Also its screen is less fragile
    than a touchscreen. But it's true that with some apps such as the web
    browser, i wish that i could simply tap on the screen to click a link or a
    button rather than having to use the fiddly joystick.

    > Hmm 240x320
    > Any idea if it goes into landscape mode when you slide out the keyboard
    > (it doesnt appear so from their photos on their website
    > http://www.europe.htc.com/z/pdf/cont...N_LFLT_OUT.PDF )


    Yes. There's a video review here:
    <http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/sshow/ss14.html>

    And a video review of the Nokia E61 there:
    <http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/sshow/ss10.html>



  6. #6
    Mehdi
    Guest

    Re: What is the best HIGH RESOLUTION combined PDA/mobile phone?

    On Sun, 27 Aug 2006 11:37:47 -0500, Beverly Howard [Ms-MVP/MobileDev]
    wrote:

    > >> combined PDA/mobile phone? <<

    >
    > There are several pocketpc-phoneedition devices that run full vga
    > (640x480 in landscape mode) ...you might have to move up to reading
    > glasses though.


    Are there any other MS smartphone than the JASJAR (and clones) that have a
    VGA screen? I thought it was the only one.



  7. #7
    Beverly Howard [Ms-MVP/MobileDev]
    Guest

    Re: What is the best HIGH RESOLUTION combined PDA/mobile phone?

    >> Are there any other MS smartphone than the JASJAR (and clones) that
    have a VGA screen? I thought it was the only one. <<

    best bet is probably going to be to google for POCKETPC VGA and see what
    appears... pretty sure Dell has one, but not up to date on what's
    currently available.

    Here's the first result of the above; http://www.firstloox.org/VGAppc.htm

    Quick question... what are your needs for vga? Reason I ask is that the
    physical screen size being similar to QVGA is going to limit it's
    effectiveness unless there is a specific need or magnification... for
    example, I have found advantages with a QVGA screen at full (desktop)
    resolution and scrolling for detail rather than vga plus the fact that
    apps such as pie often can't present readable text for many sites due to
    limited zoom capabilities.

    Beverly Howard [MS-MVP Mobile Devices]





  8. #8

    Re: What is the best HIGH RESOLUTION combined PDA/mobile phone?

    On 27 Aug 2006 02:18:53 -0700, "ship" <[email protected]> wrote this with
    the utmost thought:

    >Is there NOTHING that works at higher resolution that
    >fits in your pocket and which you can call a phone...?
    >
    >With thanks
    >
    >
    >Ship
    >Shiperton Henethe
    >
    >P.S. I am confused what does "Smartphone" mean? Is it a generic term
    >or is it Microsoft brandname...?


    Why don't you stop asking so many questions and do a bit of your own finger
    and brain work first? Use Google and other search facilities, try
    manufacturers' websites for information and and if you then can't make up
    you mind, try asking back here.





  9. #9
    David Friedman
    Guest

    Re: What is the best HIGH RESOLUTION combined PDA/mobile phone?

    In article <[email protected]>,
    "ship" <[email protected]> wrote:

    > Hi
    >
    > What is the best PDA / mobile phone (i.e. cell-phone)?
    >
    > I am looking for something that:
    > - is high resolution
    > - has a QUERTY keyboard.


    Take a look at the Nokia 9300 and 9500. The screen is, I think, 600x200,
    QWERTY keyboard. The 9300 is smaller, and doesn't have a camera. The
    9500 and the new version of the 9300 (not available in the U.S., but I'm
    guessing that you are in the U.K.) also have WiFi.

    --
    http://www.daviddfriedman.com/ http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/
    Author of _Harald_, a fantasy without magic.
    Published by Baen, in bookstores now



  10. #10
    ship
    Guest

    Re: What is the best HIGH RESOLUTION combined PDA/mobile phone?


    > > Hi
    > >
    > > What is the best PDA / mobile phone (i.e. cell-phone)?
    > >
    > > I am looking for something that:
    > > - is high resolution
    > > - has a QUERTY keyboard.

    >
    > Take a look at the Nokia 9300 and 9500. The screen is, I think, 600x200,
    > QWERTY keyboard. The 9300 is smaller, and doesn't have a camera. The
    > 9500 and the new version of the 9300 (not available in the U.S., but I'm
    > guessing that you are in the U.K.) also have WiFi.


    Hmm yes I think the clam -design makes huge sense.
    But a) 200 pixels of height sounds far too tight.
    and b) I think someone said that that line had been discontinued
    and c) on the outside they are hellish ugly! (I know it shouldnt matter
    but it's me that has to live with the damned thing...!)

    Other than that, yes a good suggestion.

    Ship
    Shiperton Henethe




  11. #11
    ship
    Guest

    Re: What is the best HIGH RESOLUTION combined PDA/mobile phone?

    > Yes. There's a video review here:
    > <http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/sshow/ss14.html>
    >
    > And a video review of the Nokia E61 there:
    > <http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/sshow/ss10.html>


    Interesting site. Though he seems to favour Nokia gear.
    And he doesnt much care for VGA machines - too big I guess...

    Ship
    Shiperton Henethe




  12. #12
    ship
    Guest

    Re: What is the best HIGH RESOLUTION combined PDA/mobile phone?


    BTW, any strong feelings about Ms Windows Mobile vs Symbian?

    What are the pros & cons?

    I confess to being emotionally against msoft, but in the end I am
    pragmatic - I have a WinXP PC running Office2003 - which whatever
    I end up using will HAVE to be able to synch well with.

    The two most important things are the CALENDAR
    plus of course the Contacts...

    Ship
    Shiperton Henethe




  13. #13
    Mehdi
    Guest

    Re: What is the best HIGH RESOLUTION combined PDA/mobile phone?

    On 28 Aug 2006 13:59:42 -0700, ship wrote:

    >> Yes. There's a video review here:
    >> <http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/sshow/ss14.html>
    >>
    >> And a video review of the Nokia E61 there:
    >> <http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/sshow/ss10.html>

    >
    > Interesting site. Though he seems to favour Nokia gear.
    > And he doesnt much care for VGA machines - too big I guess...


    The guy is called Steve Litchfield and on top of developing his
    Psion/Symbian 3-lib web site he is also one of the main contributor to the
    AllAboutSymbian web site and a journalist in charge of all the Symbian
    stuff for the PDA Essentials magazine. So, yes, he is "slightly" in favor
    of Nokia/Symbian :-) But what i like about him is that, even though he does
    think that symbian is far superior than Windows Mobile, he always tries to
    be objective in his review and never hesitate to highlight the areas where
    Windows performs well or even better than Symbian. He's not one of these
    anti-MS extremist who discard anything that comes from MS without even
    loooking at them.

    At for the VGA machines, the problem is that there is only so much that you
    can display on a mobile device screen if you want the device to be
    pocketable and yet be able to read what's on the screen without needing a
    magnifier. 320x240, or maybe 320x320 really is the highest resolution
    you'll get if you want something that fits in a pocket. Devices with higher
    resolution usually use the extra pixels they have to display things in more
    details, not to display more things on the screen. The JASJAR for example
    (VGA) has 4 times more pixels than the TyTN yet doesn't have a display area
    4 times bigger. It simply has a much more beautiful screen thanks to the
    extra pixels. What helps more than extra pixels is an application than
    makes the most of your device screen real estate. Most of the time,
    applications that are built-in smartphones are designed to be easy to use
    and very readable with large fonts and so. But there are usually third
    party applications that use the screen real estate in a more clever way.



  14. #14
    Mehdi
    Guest

    Re: What is the best HIGH RESOLUTION combined PDA/mobile phone?

    On 28 Aug 2006 14:04:00 -0700, ship wrote:

    > BTW, any strong feelings about Ms Windows Mobile vs Symbian?
    >
    > What are the pros & cons?
    >
    > I confess to being emotionally against msoft, but in the end I am
    > pragmatic - I have a WinXP PC running Office2003 - which whatever
    > I end up using will HAVE to be able to synch well with.
    >
    > The two most important things are the CALENDAR
    > plus of course the Contacts...


    The onyly windows device i used was a high end iPaq PDA in 2000. I even
    developped applications for it. The thing was a piece of crap, the caracter
    recognition software was useless and I spent more time rebooting it than
    actually using it. But that was 6 years ago so I can't compare modern
    symbian devices with that.

    I'm also using Windows at home and at work, in fact, i'm a Windows software
    developper so when i bought my first smarpthone last year, i logically
    chose a symbian device so that i could see how something not MS performed.
    And i've been more than happy with decision ever since. Synchronisation
    wise, my E61 synchronizes with Outlook like a breeze. The only thing it
    doesn't synchronize are the emails but that doesn't bother me. I'm not sure
    if it synchronizes the calendar categories though (it does synchronize the
    calendar entries). The built-in calendar application is useless but with
    papyrus coming soon, that won't be a problem.

    I hear that current Windows Mobile devices are quite good though. And a
    major advantage of Windows Mobile over Symbian at the moment is the size of
    the third party applications library. The latest version of symbian is not
    compatible with software written for previous versions so developpers have
    to update their apps to make them run on the new devices. There are already
    quite a lot of applications available for them but still a lot less than
    what's available for Windows Mobile.

    So no, no strong feeling for or against any platform. I love symbian and
    will stick with it but WM might be good too.



  15. #15
    Nom
    Guest

    Re: What is the best HIGH RESOLUTION combined PDA/mobile phone?

    In article <[email protected]>, ship says...
    >
    >Hi
    >
    >What is the best PDA / mobile phone (i.e. cell-phone)?
    >
    >I am looking for something that:
    >- is high resolution
    >- has a QUERTY keyboard.


    It's not a question of "Which is the best" - because there is only one.

    http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=119353

    That's the SIM-free version - the different networks have different names for it
    (ie, it's an MDA Pro on TMobile).




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