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"A real business machine, but for the price it comes up short as a personal device." on by ttella
Pros: 3G connectivity is worth it; full set of connectivity options, keyboard and big screen are wonderful; the processor is fast enough for me.
Cons: Headphones use a special USB connection- hard to replace or upgrade. Micro SD is added cost, since I already have purchased a ton of SD memory. I miss the locking switch from my Dell.
Summary: What did I spend $400 on? The big screen, keyboard, and 3G connection. The 8525 is the only device that could replace both my Axim X50 and my cellphone. My main concern was sacrificing the screen size, which I barely miss with the 8525. I also like the phone for its better than average camera, easy navigation, and full connectivity (BT, WiFi, & IR).
I get my business done with the 8525- email & office files mostly. I use PowerPoint to make flash cards to study. But since this phone is with me at all times, I want it to be a personal device too. Music and pictures are great frills, but they serve only to frustrate me if they’re sub-par. I look forward to a device that replaces my camera and mp3 player too.
MUSIC
I don't like the lack of a normal headphone jack. The included (mediocre) headphones connect with a special mini USB connector. I won't mind if I can find an adapter, but in the meantime I can't play music in the car, on my home stereo, or use my high-end headphones (sigh). Maybe I'll get those fancy bluetooth headphones. I am also not thrilled with having to buy microSD memory when I already have tons of regular SD.
CAMERA
The camera is better and more feature-packed than other phones, but if they put in a flash I would be able to use it more. How often is the lighting just right when you need it anyway?
Am I the only person who notices that a dirty lens ruins pictures? It doesn’t seem like it would be too difficult to include a simple lens cover- but no one else is doing it.
CUSTOMIZATION
The 8525 gives you only 4 programmable buttons- not bad except that I can't program two of the buttons I rarely or never use: the Push to Talk and Camera buttons. I will be irritated if, after PTT is enabled in 2007, I get charged every time I bump the PTT button. That button should be a voice recorder- or whatever you use.
USABILITY
Definitely not comfortable to hold to your ear. You can lock the phone through the software- if you're not using it. If there was a switchable lock, I could flip it on during a call in case I want to hold the phone with my shoulder. I'm just big on headsets yet.
If you use IR software to remote control your home appliances, you'll have to hold the 8525 backwards since the IR port is on the bottom.
WiFI
With 3G, I will only use WiFi for internet when I am outside 3G coverage or if I downgrade my data plan to save money. One cool party trick is building playlists and controlling iTunes over my LAN using my PDA with NetRemote.Updated
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In my original post, I pointed out my main concerns. I've learned a few things since then, and now I think the phone is almost perfect.
(1) I found an adapter to allow the use of normal headphones. This should have come with the phone, but what can you do? At $30, the adapter is pricey enough to consider bluetooth headphones- especially since there is no support for a microphone.
Search for:
"Dopod C720W Audio Jack Converter 11 pin to 3.5mm"
or
"HTC TyTN Audio Audio Jack Converter 11 pin to 3.5mm"
(2) I would prefer a hold switch, but with the right settings, you can push the power button during a call to lock the keys without ending the call.
(3) The camera does have an LED flash of sorts. It is almost useless, but better than nothing in very specific situations. I'll give some points for trying.
(4) MicroSD is a lot cheaper than I thought. For about $20, I picked up 512MB. Since I can sync playlists with Media Player, I don't see the point of using more memory. I don't need access to more music than I can listen to in a month.
(5) I was wrong about the camera button; you can change its function. And thanks to a helpful tip from AZ_user, I was able to find freeware to allow the PTT button to be reconfigured. Search for: "Sleuth255 PTTfix"
(6) It turns out that my house is a hole in 3G service. I'm glad to have WiFi now so I can connect at home. This is nice since I don't always want to boot up the PC to "check something real quick".
BOTTOM LINE: Even though the camera is nothing more than convenient, the 8525 leaves little room for improvement. It takes a while to learn (my friends can't even place a call), but there's nothing better for me.
Note: I do have a list of problems that are WM5 related- but software will always be an issue for me. -
"No piece of technology is perfect but this is at least on the road to perfect." on by hpcpdx
Pros: Bluetooth, Windows Mobile, 2.0 mega pixel camera,
Cons: Poorly engineered quick launch buttons and redesigned qwerty keyboard. Windows Mobile still doesn't close applications and programs!
Summary: I have owned many smart phones, I wouldn’t go so far as to say this is the smartest smart phone by any means. It is much faster than the 8125, the upgraded camera is great but who uses their phone to take quality pictures anyways(that’s why we have Sony/Nikon right?)? The new active sync software still has glitches however it is workable.
Somewhat disappointing is the poor button engineering on the top 2 quick launch buttons. The 8125 buttons are flush rather than raised. The phone is rather large for pockets but is much more secure in a pocket than on a belt clip (which doesn’t come packaged with the 8525. You must purchase it separately) while walking or sitting the internet button or message button tends to get pushed as they are raised rather than flush and this can really be frustrating especially if you don’t have the unlimited data plan as you can end up surfing the net due to an inadvertent button depression. It takes just 2 clicks to shut the internet/message down but that 2 clicks can be very annoying when you are trying to make a call in a hurry.
The keyboard on the 8125 is engineered to allow for larger fingers to use, as well as the numbers were very well placed across the top of the keyboard now they are bunched together in the middle of keyboard.
For some reason windows mobile does not actually truly exit any programs or applications. You can click on the “x” in the top right corner however if you then go to your memory settings you can view all running programs. This can really cause your device to bog down or in some cases crash. I have found somewhat of a fix, SPB Pocket Plus is a third party software that allows you to train your device to truly exit programs. This software also allows you to clean up your today screen and use icons to navigate rather than the start menu.
Over all the phone is really a great piece of technology. If you are business user than you will get your bang for the buck with just a few inconveniences that can be overcome. -
"Nice design, cool features but too many bugs!!" on by k9xyz
Pros: Nice size, cool features,fast when it works
Cons: Way too many bugs locks up, too many resets
Summary: I was really anticipating this phone it sounded fantastic. The 8525 has tons of cool features, nice size looks good, but it doesn't matter how cool a phone looks if it locks up all the time and requies miltiple hard resets and even more soft resets. Sold mine on ebay after one week. My treo 650 may not have as many features but it runs all my programs and never locks up. I may try another 8525 after the bugs are worked out but for now it is not worth the price tag. I live in a 3G area and the 8525 was fast during the short times it worked
Updated
Almost forgot, good thing the 8525 has the track wheel because the stylus is the cheesiest piece of junk ever, no wonder they give you two of them, it's terrible, small and a hassle to take out.
Also the unit I had had something on the camera lens. I tried everything to get it off but it was on the inside very visible on 2x and 4x right in the middle of any picture taken, at least the 8525 I had was not worth the high price tag.Updated
As I said in my first comments regarding the 8525 I sold the one I had on ebay. I was contacted yesterday by the guy that bought it saying it was locked up and would not boot up even with a hard reset. Sounds like I was right, at least that particular one is a bad one. I am still interested in this phone but if I buy another I will not buy off ebay, I will instead get one from a cingular store. BTW my treo 650 I just bought is awesome, there are several cool programs on palmgear.com that really make the 650 shine, and it hasn't locked up or froze or crashed or anything since I got it....Updated
The first one I tried had many bugs and a few problems. I now have another one and it works perfectly. I suppose it makes a difference when and where you get one. I have had no resets except when required after installing a third party program. All the programs I have installed work 100%. I have added a 1 gig micro sd card and could not be more pleased. I am very happy I tried another one as I really looked forward to this device coming out and was disappointed with the first one. I live in a 3G area and it works great. Tons of cool programs and applications on pocketgear.com and handandgo. Found a cool charger/sync dock on ebay that works great as well.
All is good with this one, I highly recommend this phone now. -
"Crap of all trades, Master of none." on by RHord
Pros: multimedia functionality, qwerty keyboard
Cons: system hangs, unresponsive at times, difficult to use as a phone, doesn't do anything particularly well
Summary: I did extensive research on phones before i decided to go with the 8525. I read the reviews on here and thought it sounded pretty solid. I was originally in the market for a blackberry, but wanted multimedia functionality AND a qwerty keyboard. I have videos i like to watch and a bunch of mp3's to listen to.
So i purchased the 8525. Let me first talk about the multimedia aspect.
Multimedia:
Yes it can play mp3s and videos - NO it does not do either very well. I have a 4 Mb video that when it plays, it freezes after 5 seconds. I thought it might have been the video format, but i have another video that is 5 Mb and a different format - same issue. I don't know if it is a function of the low memory on the phone or what. But if you buy this phone with the idea that you'll get a fat memory card and watch movies... forget it. I can't even watch a 1-minute long video.
Now on to mp3s: this phone does NOT support playlists. I had a SLVR before that had playlists - great for taking to the gym, running, what have you. This phone - no playlists. and it won't even play songs in order.... only one song at a time. If you want a different song, you have to go in and manually select it.
Second issue - when you select a song, sometimes it won't play. You can keep clicking the song, and the system hangs. I have had this happen numerous times, even with no other programs running. I'll have to exit out of Windows Media Player, and then go to control panel, manually quit the program, then go back to file explorer and select the song again to get it to work. This is a pain.
Functionality:
The phone itself is a pain to use. unlike other phones, this has no direct keypad. To access the phone, you need to pull the stylus out and go to "start", and drag down to "phone". You can try using your fingernails, but unless you are a very small person, you'll need the stylus to access the phone functionality. The numbers are on the touchscreen, and are very small as well. I tried to use my fingers but you'll invariably fat-finger it, again, unless you use the stylus. Sure, the slide-out qwerty keyboard has numbers on it - but they are secondary and require you to type a "shift" key before pressing EACH number. so, as a phone itself, this phone is very poor.
Applications:
This phone does have a microsoft mobile suite... but you can only run one program at a time before the phone "freezes" or "hangs". By the way, everytime you close any application (and i mean even the "contacts"), it does NOT quit the program. you have to manually go to the control panel and "quit all" programs under the memory tab everytime you close a program. It's a pain.
Text messaging:
I like the fact that this phone can store a TON of messages - currently i have about 400+ on there, and it doesn't make me erase every 100 messages. BUT.... what aggravates me - when you get a text message, if you slide the keyboard out - sometimes it is unresponsive... the keys don't type. so you are stuck using the stylus and have to use the keyboard on the screen - which is MICRO in size... i mean you have to focus even with the stylus tip to type on that keyboard... which makes me ask - why include the slide-out keyboard if it doesn't always work? This is probably the singular most aggravating factor about this phone to me. i get about 50% success rate of the keyboard working for me. I thought it might be a faulty phone - but the keyboard works half the time. I figured if it was broken, it would never work.
Email:
The reviews of this phone say it has "push" email technology. It doesn't. I have it setup with my hotmail, gmail, and my corporate (which is push and supports blackberries). the phone does not work with push. In order to get your hotmail, gmail, or even work mail, i have manually log in and receive it. And it is slooooow.
3G & speeds:
This phone is touted as being 3G. Cingular advertises how fast the 3G service is. I, however, have found it to be rather slow. When using IE on this phone, even webpages meant for phones take forever to load. It is about as fast as my grandmother's 56k modem connection on AOL. also the phone does not resize pages, so you are forced to look at enormous webpages like you are looking through your front door's peephole. My dad has the HTC Hermes (or Tmobile Dash), made by the same company but offered through Tmobile. It is a 2.5G and gets faster surf speeds then i do. A buddy of mine has a Verizon phone and his is even faster than that.
Responsiveness:
I find the phone hangs a lot when using it for random things... either applications, text messaging, what have you. When you leave the phone "locked" (so inadvertent touching of the screen doesn't wake it up), it is hard to unlock. you have to click the unlock button at the bottom, then also touch the "unlock" key on the screen. However, when you do this, sometimes it doesn't respond. Sometimes i have to do a power cycle to get it to "unlock". Other times, you have to slide the keyboard out and then push it back in just to get this thing to unlock AFTER you've pressed unlock - it hangs.
Receiving Calls:
There is a "talk" and "hangup" button on the bottom of the phone - but these buttons do not always work. When i receive a call, it displays the information on the phone. If i hit "answer" (the green phone icon on the bottom left), it will not always answer. I have to touch the touchscreen of the phone where it says "talk". I don't understand why i can't just hit the green phone button to answer the phone.
Cameraphone:
It says it has a 2 Megapixel camera - but what they don't tell you is that you have to have a tripod to take pictures at that resolution. it has no digital stabilization (like most consumer cameras have). The shudder is very slow (and you can't adjust the shudder speed), so you have to hold the camera VERY still for about 2-3 seconds to take the picture. Very few humans can do that, and if you've had coffee, sugar, or are Michael J. Fox, you aren't going to have success taking pictures with this phone.
Battery Life:
This phone has the most atrocious battery life. I will get about 10 hours out of it, and that is if i am NOT talking on it all day. I have to recharge it every night as soon as i get home from work. A lot of users post on here the quick solution to that is to turn off the 3G speeds or whatever... but why must i turn off features of the phone to get it to have decent battery life? This is not an acceptable thing for me. That is like saying "if your V8 car gets poor gas mileage, pull 4 spark plugs out and run on 4 cylinders." Well that kind of defeats the purpose of getting the V8 doesn't it? So i won't turn off the high-speed internet capability to get better battery life. If you do, yes it does get significantly better life, but forget using the internet or accessing email.
Synching:
I can't get it to sync properly with either of my computers.
Summary:
If you are a mobile office user and need functionality with your phone, i would go with a blackberry. If you want multimedia i would go with a different phone (sidekick maybe? LG enV?) this phone is a jack of all trades, master of none. It can do so much, but does everything so poorly it leaves you wondering if you should have just specialized and given up a feature or two for better performance. Unfortunately for me, i gave this phone too long of a trial that i cannot return it now. I am stuck with it. I miss my SLVR, that had nowhere near the same functionality, but didn't hang, and was an excellent phone. -
"Great If primary usage is PDA; Above average if it is the Cell" on by chetananeja
Pros: Great looks, Friendly Features, Nice built, fast internet, WM5, Touch screen
Cons: Difficult to swtich between Calls and Data work, no keys on front
Summary: I researched smartphones for 3 months before finalizing on this one and I selected it instantly as its earlier Avatar 8125 was just short of what this has. Still new to it, I'm finding it very friendly, with not too much weight and good design. I always wanted one with a touch screen so blackberry style was out though I think that had one good feature which this phone lacks..acting as a phone more than as a PDA. Making calls is a real challenge as you cant take out a stylus everytime you want to dial out and too much of touch on the screen with your hand would end up in a blemished display. Slider is nice but you can't slide it out just to make calls and is slightly uncomfy to do it with one hand. Syncs nice with email providers. Still to work more to know it better.
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