Database Users

Should I buy HTC Universal or Wait for Hermes?

Any advice from Universal owners would be welcome. I need an unlocked tri or quad band phone and I am ready to buy now. I see that Hermes has 2.0 mp camera which I read is a big improvement. I am not that interested in keyboards and have heard that hermes predecessor (magician?) had problems...so I am concerned about having a slide out keyboard that I do not need which might cause problems in future. The hermes has upgraded blue tooth and usb if I am not mistaken as well as EDGE? Universal has SD while hermes has mini sd.
Any suggestions from Universal owners if I should get my Unlocked Universal now or if I should wait for Hermes???
thanks
scott

scottshort said:
I am not that interested in keyboards and have heard that hermes predecessor (magician?) had problems...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're not interested in keyboards, the Universal really shouldn't be a choice because it has the biggest keyboard of all HTC devices.
You say that you're ready to buy now, you can start with the Universal. If you don't like it, you could always sell it and get a Hermes when they come out. That's what I would do.

I understand that Keyboard is not on your priority list. However do consider the VGA screen on the uniersal. It is really the best screen I have ever seen. As I do a lot of net browsing a smaller QVGA screen is somewhat a deterrent for me.
Regards

thanks
Thanks all for advice. I have stage fright in making my purchase decision!! I am ready to buy now, but am now concerned that the Universal is already outdated....BUT the hermes wont be available as unlocked for some time....(you can probably understand how my last pocket pc was a phillips nino!!....I keep waiting for the best, and by the time it is available...there is a new best right around the corner!)
From your experience, is the universal a good machine? Will I have huge problems out of the box? Will I need ROM upgrade for it to work?? I am not a super techy guy (don't understand much about modifying these machines and am frankly afraid that I might mess it up) and this machine will need to last me for at least 5 years....I am not one to purchase the latest model each year....
Will I really miss all of the new additions present in the Hermes model?? such as 2.0 mp camera (reviews have said the 1.3 mp cam sucks), and all of the newer email capabilities edge? utms? Or do you think for a regular user that I won't miss them??
Some things that I want for sure:
Blue tooth STEREO phone and mp3 headset combo (so I can keep this brick stored in my bag and make and receive calls without it clipped to my belt all the time....and listen to mp3s in stereo....is this possible?
Voice commands from bluetooth headset...possible?
If there was an unlocked model similar to hermes available now without keypad...I would consider....but only thing I have seen is eten g500 with integrated gps...looks cool but only 1.3 mp camera and no wifi....so I do not see anything else available on market that is better than universal
thanks for any advice/experience you can offer
scott

srmz said:
I understand that Keyboard is not on your priority list. However do consider the VGA screen on the uniersal. It is really the best screen I have ever seen. As I do a lot of net browsing a smaller QVGA screen is somewhat a deterrent for me.
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to disagree with the screen part.
HX4700 has the best VGA screen IMO.

Chatbox said:
I have to disagree with the screen part.
HX4700 has the best VGA screen IMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let's not get off subject here. Yes, HX4700 has a really neat screen. However, it is not a phone.

what about prophet?
I have been reading about prophet...as a possible alternative to universal......I am worried that 200 mhz processor might be too slow for skype...one review said it was really slow.....but then another review said it was as fast as universal... has anyone used universal with voip or skype ...does it work ok??
Thanks for any comments.... is there a huge benefit to having universal's umts and 3G (most of my time is in america).....or would the prophet's (or Hermes) EDGE be seen by current universal owners as a big plus..and a better choice today...?
thanks again for the advice
scott

Re: what about prophet?
scottshort said:
I have been reading about prophet...as a possible alternative to universal......I am worried that 200 mhz processor might be too slow for skype...one review said it was really slow.....but then another review said it was as fast as universal... has anyone used universal with voip or skype ...does it work ok??
Thanks for any comments.... is there a huge benefit to having universal's umts and 3G (most of my time is in america).....or would the prophet's (or Hermes) EDGE be seen by current universal owners as a big plus..and a better choice today...?
thanks again for the advice
scott
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Scott, currently 3G and UTMS, none of that stuff is avaliable here in the US. So if you spend a majority of your time here, it probably won't do you any good. EDGE will, but like I said it will only make a real noticable difference if you tether with a laptop and use it as a modem.
The 200mhz processor in the Prophet and Wizard series is a nice processor. For day to day usage, you probably won't even know that it's 200mhz. For Skype (If you use that feature a lot), I would steer away from the OMAP processor. I know some people say this and say that, in reality, it's really not a fast processer when coming down to run memory hogging big programs. The one thing I REALLY REALLY liked about the OMAP processor is how long those phones lasted on one charge. I can really use my Wizard all freak'n day and it would laugh at me. My Universal...that's a different story. :lol:

New phone: TyTn killer

http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/11/toshibas-g900-qwerty-hsdpa-tytn-killer/
What a phone !
Glad that I have not bought TyTn yet I will wait this phone for sure !
Amazing resolution at last !

for me the true killer of the TyTn is the HTC and the scarce quality that it uses for producing his ppcs...
HTC=scarce quality High costs

Too many unknowns about that one at the moment.
Could be a good one, the design looks a bit of a dogs breakfast though.
Size?
Mike

If it's Quad band and supports US 3G then it's a TyTn killer otherwise for us in the USA it won't be

PPC??
As far as I know it will not run with WM5 nor WM6. Screenshots suggest a total different OS. Go with it - but it will not replace my TyTN

It's not quad band and the GUI is flash.
Cool phone but lousy plaform and no north-american love.
The WM6 version of the LG Prada will end up more useful even if it is just EDGE.

It is running WM6 !
Check this side-by-side with TyTn:
http://www.phonedaily.com/news/?news_id=5404
More info from engadget:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/12/toshibas-g900-and-e01-with-windows-mobile-6/
... The behemoth features, as we mentioned an utterly unreal 3-inch WVGA (800 x 480) display, rear biometric scanner, 2 megapixel rear camera, front-facing video conferencing camera, 64MB of internal memory, miniSD expansion, tri-band HSDPA (yes!), 802.11b/g, Bluetooth, USB, video calling, and USB On-The-Go. The E01 is far more lower end, but still manages HSDPA, a 65k color display, A2DP Bluetooth, and that same 2 megapixel camera. ...
Applestar said:
As far as I know it will not run with WM5 nor WM6. Screenshots suggest a total different OS. Go with it - but it will not replace my TyTN
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Doesnt matter what it has I think its to big.

I would buy this phone for the biometric scanner alone.

stinger32 said:
Doesnt matter what it has I think its to big.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed! The phone dialer dosent seem to fit the display.

klasikahl said:
I would buy this phone for the biometric scanner alone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No way is this a TyTN killer, the only way to kill off the hermes is for the major networks to start using this, but they have it WAAAAAAY to easy with HTC at the moment. I can see it doing well but it has alot of catching up to do (especially with the major developments we have made on here with WM6, SSPL and HardSPL etc....)

The thing that puts me off that is the big border around the screen! I really think the TyTN looks smarter (I'm going entirely on looks here).
My Orange SPV M3100 (which is a HERM100 with silver/black colour scheme) is still the sexiest-looking phone I've ever seen.

You lucky bastard, I got the horrible T-Mobile Vario II - Never seen a phone being branded so ugly...

mrvanx said:
No way is this a TyTN killer, the only way to kill off the hermes is for the major networks to start using this, but they have it WAAAAAAY to easy with HTC at the moment. I can see it doing well but it has alot of catching up to do (especially with the major developments we have made on here with WM6, SSPL and HardSPL etc....)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought the best way to kill a Hermes is give it to a noob to flash.... (me included once )

naaaahhh...
The Glofiish X800 is the tytn killer and a Toshiba G900 killer...
Pir8

Pir8 said:
naaaahhh...
The Glofiish X800 is the tytn killer and a Toshiba G900 killer...
Pir8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMO, the Glofiish M900 is the true Tytn killer because it will have everything the X800 has plus a keyboard.

and Samsung F700 kills them all
have a look :
http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/08/samsung-outdoes-itself-with-ultra-smart-f700/

HTC Kaiser FTW!!!

pasil.pt said:
have a look :
http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/08/samsung-outdoes-itself-with-ultra-smart-f700/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can you be a TYTN killer and not have a 5 way D-Pad? The only thing you can improve on the TYTN is put iTunes on it, maybe make it slimmer, and if it can do my taxes, hahahah.
But really, with this XDA community, I am sure we will have the latest and greatest for while to come. You can increase magapixels all you want, but this is still a slick device.

Poll please vote: Would you purchase the P3600 again?

I am trying to figure out, which GPS Phone to purchase and I am hoping that you guys can give me some insides of your user experiences with the P3600.

After some further research, I am leaning towards the P3600 rather then Eten or Pharos.
This poll is starting to confirm that the users are pretty happy with the Trinity.

It looks that the majority is quite happy with the P3600 - good to know!
Now, if HTC starts shipping units with corrected paint jobs, then I am in for one and will retire the Prophet.

Craic Dub said:
It looks that the majority is quite happy with the P3600 - good to know!
Now, if HTC starts shipping units with corrected paint jobs, then I am in for one and will retire the Prophet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Who cares about some paint man!... I don't think any mobile phone that is put through daily use and abuse holds it's paint for very long...
It's about the tech inside; that's just awesome with this P3600 dude!

Moaske said:
Who cares about some paint man!... I don't think any mobile phone that is put through daily use and abuse holds it's paint for very long...
It's about the tech inside; that's just awesome with this P3600 dude!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To me, this is a very important issue!
I take good care of my gadgets, so that I am able to sell my stuff and re-invest in new toys a year later - that is a normal cycle in my eyes.
I currently own a Prophet and even after a year of daily use, the device is in excellent condition and I am planing on selling it for $300 in order to be able to buy the P3600. So, if the P3600 looks like crap after two month of use, then this decreases the re-sell value, which poses a problem.
On the positive side though, the P3600 seems to be a great toy and the paint issue really is just a cosmetic problem (which I really, really hope they will fix very soon)

"So, if the P3600 looks like crap after two month of use, then this decreases the re-sell value, which poses a problem."
The paint problem is subjective, I also bough a black P3600, in november 06, I have a minimal paint problem, when I tried to show it to my sis she didn't even see it, but it is there, it peeled of because of the memory card cover, when I opened it it scraped(i think that's the right word) a little bit of the paint.
My glossy screen protector worries me more than that tiny piece of paint, I miss the shiny screen lol.

I would purchase the HTC P4500 (HTC Kaiser) or the HTC P5500 (HTC Nike), which are currently not yet available..
So I maybe would have wait till they were released before buying the P3600.
They both got gps, fm radio,...

Kaiser no FM radio.... but it's not correct compare p3600 with phones that not available at the moment

Svenitos said:
I would purchase the HTC P4500 (HTC Kaiser) or the HTC P5500 (HTC Nike), which are currently not yet available..
So I maybe would have wait till they were released before buying the P3600.
They both got gps, fm radio,...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like the look and specs of the Kaiser but I would not want to be the first one to go through a test cycle and subsequent bug fixes of a new released model.
The Nike is a smartphone right?

I see indeed that the Kaiser has no FM radio, weird, I thought I read somewhere it did..
Anyways, it has a built-in flash camera etc.
The Nike is a bit in between of pda and smartphone, I don't know what it really is.. It has a touchscreen, has a camera with built-in flash etc.
But if they wouldn't be releashed in the future, I would definately go for the P3600.

Let the future alone..
Making purchase choices, based on specs only, for machines that need months to come to market..... Get the real thing! By the time they are "stable" products, the P3600 would have been near 2 years in the market..... IMHO we, xda-dev readers, don't hold our machines that long...... just read most senior signatures....
Enjoy your 3600 as much as you can, this is TODAY the best PDA/PHONE/GPS/3G etc A-V-A-I-L-A-B-L-E

I really like my Trinity.
I've only had it for about 2 months now, but in general I'm very well pleased.
I hav't had any of the paintpeeling problems - I bought a white one and have put it in a silicon cover as I have a bit of a grip problem holding anything.
I did have a problem with a 4GB memory card, I kept a lot of media files ot it and Windows Media player wouldn't see the card and update its library. There are plenty of threads about that one and its easy sorted.
You can have a few problems with the GPS unless you manually configure the Comm port to 9 and the baud rate to 4800, after doing that, I get a valid fix withn 2 minutes, although the strength of the receiver is quite weak in comparrison to some other units and you can lose the fix. But hey, its a PDA not a garmin.
I am a bit dissapointed with video media playback, the trinity being a bit slow sometimes.
It has enough processing power for most things and is elatively fast enough.
the camera is decent for a PDA, way better than most phones.
Overall though - well reccomended, best PDA I've had so far. out of the 6 i've owned.

I think that my vote will change if HTC will not upgrate p3600 to WM 6. If so; I will never buy any HTC product in the future.

I have mixed feelings, I'm probably satisfied with it, but I'm not over the moon. I still feel it's quite slow for the apps that I need to run on it, and the RAM is a bit low too. In terms of the looks, it's pretty nice, I would like it to be a bit thinner but it's not that much of an issue.
If I had to get a device unconnected, I wouldn't have bought the Trinity, I probably would have waited about a month for something from the I-Mate Ultimate range...but the Trinity, aka M700 was the best thing I could find on UK Networks, which specifically has to be Orange for me anyway!

Want to upgrade to new phone, anything comparable or better than universal

I had this phone for about 2mths its the greatest phone in the world except in virginia reception sucks with cingular. So i have to change despite my many long waiting period of finding any way to keep it.
So im gonna sell this. Now i need something either comparable or better, the size is not an issue for me as i would keep this if the reception was better.
Any suggestions?
Thanks

Hi dude!
I had... a mean I have a UNIVERSAL, so I try to sell... je je
My new baby is Athena or HTC Advantage X7500... it's awsome.
At first glance it's bigger... but the design it's really nice and light.
Find the specifications you'll love: http://www.htc.com/product/03-product_x7500.htm
So the UNI it's cool too but I have since 2005...
davicito

HTC Omni - it'll be the REAL Universal replacement.

Did you consider changing to T-Mobile?

If you can bear QVGA, try Tytn II

kdskamal said:
If you can bear QVGA, try Tytn II
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The TyTn II (Kaiser) would be almost perfect, if only it had a damn VGA screen
I don't know why all the new HTC devices have micro-SD slots, I love normal sized SD cards because they are very cheap and very high capacity (8GB SDHC cards only £29.99 on eBay!). And what's with all these 2.5mm (and even mini-USB) headphone sockets?! The 3.5mm jack on the Universal is perfect, so why change it HTC!
I also like the cheap 3rd party add-ons for the Uni, I have a 3200mAH battery which was like $20 from eBay, and now 5200mAH are even available! So your phone can run with light use for almost 2 weeks without needing a single charge, no other phone even comes close to the Uni for battery life

kdskamal said:
If you can bear QVGA, try Tytn II
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
exactly how much of a difference would QVGA on a PPC make? The only QVGA phone I have used (and own) is a nokia 6300 and that would be too small for me.

sl9 said:
The TyTn II (Kaiser) would be almost perfect, if only it had a damn VGA screen
... no other phone even comes close to the Uni for battery life
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nor size for that matter, save the ancient analog (with the exception of the motorola GSM brick) devices of yore. *fond memories of hitting people over the head with a motorola MC750*

sl9 said:
The TyTn II (Kaiser) would be almost perfect, if only it had a damn VGA screen
I don't know why all the new HTC devices have micro-SD slots, I love normal sized SD cards because they are very cheap and very high capacity (8GB SDHC cards only £29.99 on eBay!). And what's with all these 2.5mm (and even mini-USB) headphone sockets?! The 3.5mm jack on the Universal is perfect, so why change it HTC!
I also like the cheap 3rd party add-ons for the Uni, I have a 3200mAH battery which was like $20 from eBay, and now 5200mAH are even available! So your phone can run with light use for almost 2 weeks without needing a single charge, no other phone even comes close to the Uni for battery life
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I am sticking with my Universal. I just bought a TyTN II and its going to my Uncle. I am actually planning to buy O2 XDA Flame but I will cancel on that because it has microSD and no SD. So I will wait for I-mate ultimate 7150 or HTC Omni. No exceptions. Our Universal is the best!!!! Even HTC Athena sux!!!
Go HTC Universal!!!!

ya i wish i could wait to either afford em or wait for the release but with my reception problems i cant
dang it for me

Hey Nuclear - DO NOT apply the upgrade for your iPhone when you get notified its available - Apple are BRICKING unlocked phones with this update!! It's happened all over the place.. be aware!

nuclear said:
Yes. I am sticking with my Universal. I just bought a TyTN II and its going to my Uncle. I am actually planning to buy O2 XDA Flame but I will cancel on that because it has microSD and no SD. So I will wait for I-mate ultimate 7150 or HTC Omni. No exceptions. Our Universal is the best!!!! Even HTC Athena sux!!!
Go HTC Universal!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the I-mate ultimate has been scraped and the htc omni looks a distant dream at best

coolbeans252 said:
the I-mate ultimate has been scraped and the htc omni looks a distant dream at best
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, a real shame to as an upgraded Universal is about the only thing I would consider buying right now. Universal was the perfect size and usability. I just wish it had a few upgrades (quad band, faster cpu, gpu, built-in gps, ext display, more memory).
I almost upgraded to Athena, but it is a bit to big, and the keyboard is just held on magnetically, not really a clamshell, hinged thing and so doesn't meet the need of being able to easily flip it open and type anywhere as there is that possibility of the main phone dropping away from the keyboard while typing on the go. Plus the size and no vibrate were deal killers.
The Universal is just perfect. Small enough to use as a phone should the BT headset not be handy. Form and Function it is just amazing.

Anyone considering the ETEN Glofiish M800 yet?
http://msmobiles.com/news.php/6768.html

I have used the Alpine,Trinity, Tynt II and Polaris now.
I am now looking for a replacement of the HTC Universal - screen size 3,5 with a nice keayboard with BT, Wifi, A-GPS, FM radio etc...
Any ideas?
Thanks

sayborg said:
I have used the Alpine,Trinity, Tynt II and Polaris now.
I am now looking for a replacement of the HTC Universal - screen size 3,5 with a nice keayboard with BT, Wifi, A-GPS, FM radio etc...
Any ideas?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would recommend to wait a few months, HTC is going to launch Rhodium!!
I think it can be a good Universal succesor (Till now there are not any)
Don´t forget to vote!

sayborg said:
I am now looking for a replacement of the HTC Universal - screen size 3,5 with a nice keayboard with BT, Wifi, A-GPS, FM radio etc...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like the Nokia E90 If you love Windows Mobile and can't live without a touchscreen then this is probably not acceptable.
I have both an E90 and an XDA EXEC and swap my SIM between them depending on what I need to use my phone for, but the SIM tends to stay longer in the E90 as I find it more and more difficult to be without the:
- larger screen,
- better web browser,
- better camera with VGA recording!,
- better battery life: I charge my E90 once or twice every week if I don't use the GPS,
- faster 3G,
- call recording using IVCM: saves me money on not having to pay my operator for this!,
- super-duper sound quality from Nokia HS-39W stereo Bluetooth headset with Sony MDR-EX71 earbuds) and
- more stable OS: the E90 has only crashed twice since I bought it half a year ago and that was before I updated to the latest version.
But with all these things that the E90 does better, it lacks a touchscreen which is a constant pain in the backside, and the Office suite is especially painful to use without a stylus. Try scrolling through a 1000+ line Excel file using only the cursor keys...

Trinity vs Polaris

Hi All,
Right now i'm having Jamin/Prophet.
I want to replace it to Trinity or Polaris (Touch Cruise).
Who is the better one ?
It's almost the same price ~700$
Thanks,
Chen

Why not waiting for HTC Diamond? You will get the latest WM 6.1 plus the new touchflo UI
http://www.htc.com/europe/product.aspx?id=46638

Diamond?
Ammm. what about the price? any good reviews ?

http://www.htc.com/www/product.aspx?id=46286

The price is around 580 euro, listed at Expansys.
Delivery is scheduled to 14th July.
One review is in the video I posted above...

p3600
I have the HTC trinity but i dont like it its big slow and the paint lets go of the body no mini jack fora headset so in my opinion you will be beter of searching for a other phone.
greetzz Dennis from holland
ps the roms that are avalible arent that great had to flash mine abouth 15 times to find a rom that worked for me.

dentell said:
I have the HTC trinity but i dont like it its big slow and the paint lets go of the body no mini jack fora headset so in my opinion you will be beter of searching for a other phone.
greetzz Dennis from holland
ps the roms that are avalible arent that great had to flash mine abouth 15 times to find a rom that worked for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everyone's entitled to an opinion, I guess!

and all new htc devices have extUSB rather then minijack so people always need to get a converter nomatter what htc phone they get or better yet use bluetooth stereo headset

I'm in the same position. I have a Blueangel and a Wizard and I'm thinking about a Trinity or a Polaris to keep the company. Is the Polaris much faster than the Trinity? How do they compare, sizewise?

To get back to the issue.
Polaris has two major minuses compared to Trinity: no video acceleration (as in ImageOn) and bad speaker.
I own a Trinity and my colleague owns a Polaris, so I know both models. I'd go for the Trinity!
So, just to make it clear, the Polaris is much slower than Trinity!

Much slower ? Ahmmm.
So, i got two options :
1. Buy the P3600i version - with the 256mb and 500Mhz cpu
2. Buy the new HTC , but then i need to wait and see if that device will have problems...
Ahmm.. -)

tnyynt said:
So, just to make it clear, the Polaris is much slower than Trinity!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's good enough for me See you soon then, as an owner this time. Thanks

chensagiv said:
Much slower ? Ahmmm.
So, i got two options :
1. Buy the P3600i version - with the 256mb and 500Mhz cpu
2. Buy the new HTC , but then i need to wait and see if that device will have problems...
Ahmm.. -)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remember, you can't flash to the P3600i yet so you will be stuck with stock ROM.
P3600 is the one that can be flashed.

for me.. i will go for diamond, or wait a little longer.. to see if there are any problem ..

tnyynt said:
To get back to the issue.
Polaris has two major minuses compared to Trinity: no video acceleration (as in ImageOn) and bad speaker.
I own a Trinity and my colleague owns a Polaris, so I know both models. I'd go for the Trinity!
So, just to make it clear, the Polaris is much slower than Trinity!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Taking this thread alive...
"The Polaris is much slower than Trinity!" ???
Why? Because one CPU is Qualcom and the other is Samsung? Both are 400Mhz!
Even with double memory capacity?
Please enlight me, tnyynt

Babaloo said:
Taking this thread alive...
"The Polaris is much slower than Trinity!" ???
Why? Because one CPU is Qualcom and the other is Samsung? Both are 400Mhz!
Even with double memory capacity?
Please enlight me, tnyynt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't know why, really!
I just happen to see the difference every day when I compare the two. Trinity is up to sometimes 50% faster.
Not to mention graphics which absolutely lacks on Polaris!