Entered CNET Catalog: 10/28/2006
SKU: 64074
Manufacturer: AT&T
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User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1
User Rating: 
8/10
Features Galore!
Pros: WiFi, Bluetooth, touchscreen, comfortable keyboard
Cons: dialing phone when keyboard is hidden, bulky
Review:
I did quite a bit of research before picking this device. I wanted WiFi, a keyboard, a touch screen, the ability to edit Office documents and efficient email use. Well, this device did all of it plus the ability to watch video and play music (and the speakers are actually not as tinny as you might think). It works quite well for almost all of the above.
Keyboard is well laid out, but dialing with it open or closed is sort of a pain. There's no designated number pattern except across the top like on a typewriter, and when it's closed, the screen is your dial pad. The numbers are rather small relative to the size of the screen, not sure why, but maybe that's a function of the software to allow for something else. Voice dialing is the way to go with this device, though, and it works very well, even in loud environments. Syncing with Outlook was quite simple, as was email retrieval using the browser. I didn't set up the auto email retrieval because the memory card I purchased for it burned out quite soon after I bought it, and have yet to get another one.
Now for the cons. The processor is very sloooooooooooow. There have been quite a few times when I thought the phone had locked up when it was really just processing, for up to 3-5 minutes at a time, and when I went back and looked up the applications that were running, it usually numbered above 5 (apps do not close themselves on this device when you exit them, you have to manually close them in your settings, unless you have a 3rd party app that does it for you). This concerns me for people that may use it to watch movies or shows that are stored on the memory card, I predict a lot of skipping, unless everything else on the device is closed, and even then you may still have issues. The flip side of this drawback though, is battery life is tremendously longer than expected (the main reason I chose this device over the comparable Samsung unit), and I've surfed for hours without having to recharge (which is another advantage, having the same charger/usb link for my mp3 player, my work blackberry and this device).
It is heavy, and holding it up to your head to make a call can develop your bicep quite nicely. I was never successfully able to log into a WIFi site anywhere with it yet, but Cingular's network seemed to be ok for most of what I surf for (ignoring images, etc..)
Keyboard is well laid out, but dialing with it open or closed is sort of a pain. There's no designated number pattern except across the top like on a typewriter, and when it's closed, the screen is your dial pad. The numbers are rather small relative to the size of the screen, not sure why, but maybe that's a function of the software to allow for something else. Voice dialing is the way to go with this device, though, and it works very well, even in loud environments. Syncing with Outlook was quite simple, as was email retrieval using the browser. I didn't set up the auto email retrieval because the memory card I purchased for it burned out quite soon after I bought it, and have yet to get another one.
Now for the cons. The processor is very sloooooooooooow. There have been quite a few times when I thought the phone had locked up when it was really just processing, for up to 3-5 minutes at a time, and when I went back and looked up the applications that were running, it usually numbered above 5 (apps do not close themselves on this device when you exit them, you have to manually close them in your settings, unless you have a 3rd party app that does it for you). This concerns me for people that may use it to watch movies or shows that are stored on the memory card, I predict a lot of skipping, unless everything else on the device is closed, and even then you may still have issues. The flip side of this drawback though, is battery life is tremendously longer than expected (the main reason I chose this device over the comparable Samsung unit), and I've surfed for hours without having to recharge (which is another advantage, having the same charger/usb link for my mp3 player, my work blackberry and this device).
It is heavy, and holding it up to your head to make a call can develop your bicep quite nicely. I was never successfully able to log into a WIFi site anywhere with it yet, but Cingular's network seemed to be ok for most of what I surf for (ignoring images, etc..)
