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_ Verizon Wireless _ xv6600 opinions
Posted by: jsmith
price on these phones on ebay are wafting down. cheap extended batteries abound as well. anybody care to comment? my i600 is starting to feel creaky - although still more solid than my VOQ. sticking with Verizon for the time being...
Posted by: smeg36
I've never owned one as my main phone, but I have played around with different variations, as well as set one up for a relative. The VZW version has EVDO, which is extremely nice. You'll wonder how you ever lived without it once you get it. The keyboard is nice to have, but not very good in terms of thumb boards. It's kind of hard to use. It's big, which is good and bad. It's great to have it big when using it as a PDA because you get a nice large screen. It's kind of annoying to have it big as a phone because it's sort of uncomfortable to hold against your head.
Posted by: jsmith
yeah, the evdo is attractive. i did use an sx56 for a while but is that the same form factor? it thought it was a little smaller. i wish samsung would come out with a cdma version of their new "Q" killer that's currently a GSM phone...
Posted by: smeg36
It's a similar form to the SX56. I think it's slightly larger, but not much. The added features make it worth the slightly larger size though.
Posted by: jsmith
that's big, it seems the $99 "Q" is still a good deal all things considered. although i'd love to get a 700w it's a little to pricey for me. i might go and get a Q if i have a really bad day with the I600. i'm also waiting for some kind of break with the new black "Q" coming out. there were some rumors of $50 Q price right around now....
Posted by: abatis
If you click on the Amazon Q advertisement in the lower left on our website the actual price after rebate is $74.99. That is not bad and not to far from $50. I saw somewhere that the black Q was coming out in the next few weeks.
Posted by: jsmith
these application locks i am running into on the smartphone are starting to push me into PPC land. getting more and more attractive (even more than the smartphone Q). i liked being able to open files right on the phone with my old sx56 
Posted by: runningtiger
I don't understand your problem. Is, or isn't, your phone "application unlocked" (as opposed to SIM unlocked)? Are you referring to your HP iPAQ h6500 that's listed in your profile or the i600 mentioned in your first post or the xv6600 the subject of this thread? I don't know anything about PPCs, but am just starting to get interested in them. Are you saying that all PPC come "application unlocked" from the wireless carrier (and/or manufacturer)?
What's the problem with opening files? Are you talking about from within a file manager?
I ask these questions 'cuz I have a smartphone and it is application unlocked so I don't run into what I would call "application locks". But, I wonder if we're talking about the same thing? Are you referring to the little message you get when you first install a program that asks if you're sure you want to trust it? After you accept it, you never see it again for that program - it just runs. So, I'm a little lost. Sorry.
Also, again, on my smartphone, I can open files on my phone by accessing them via the file manager as long as they're associated with a program. I have a feeling this probably isn't what you're talking about.
Posted by: jsmith
What's the problem with opening files? Are you talking about from within a file manager?
I ask these questions 'cuz I have a smartphone and it is application unlocked so I don't run into what I would call "application locks". But, I wonder if we're talking about the same thing? Are you referring to the little message you get when you first install a program that asks if you're sure you want to trust it? After you accept it, you never see it again for that program - it just runs. So, I'm a little lost. Sorry.
Also, again, on my smartphone, I can open files on my phone by accessing them via the file manager as long as they're associated with a program. I have a feeling this probably isn't what you're talking about.
oops, sorry. i am using a samsung i600 now as my primary. i don't know if i ever set up my profile properly.
my first venture into windows mobile land was with an sx56 (which was a PPC). i could open most any attachment or file natively, word, excel and pdf's were high on my list.
i then tried an mx200 smartphone rather briefly then had a VOQ for the longest time. the voq had document viewers pre-installed, which was nice. when i switched to the samsung i discovered that there are no file viewers (i suppose you could purchase the viewers that the VOQ had) and then i discovered that most smartphones are application locked in the registry. certain types of software will return "can not install because it is not signed with a digital certificate". in fact i never get the message that asks if you want to trust the software.
sorry if this sounded confusing, i myself was blissfully unaware of this issue until i discovered that the samsung is locked down hard - can't do any registry edits whatsoever.
Posted by: runningtiger
OK, I just went and looked at all the phones that I was wondering which one you're talking about and since the other two are PPCs you must be referring to the "Samsung i600 CDMA Microsoft Smartphone"? I hope someone who knows more about this phone will pipe in here.
Posted by: jsmith
yep i600 smartphone!
Posted by: runningtiger
Interesting. Help me learn something, are you saying all PPCs come application unlocked?
Well, drag that your phone is locked down so tight that you can't get it app unlocked. I don't know this myself. I'm just taking your word for it. But, I did have Picsel (or was it Pixcel?...anywhoo) installed by default on my MPx220 and liked that very much. My current phone doesn't have any viewers and I haven't purchased any. I know there is a suite of viewers available for purchase (if you could install it on a app locked phone is another question since it seems to be hit and miss on yours). Look into the http://www.westtek.com/smartphone/ document viewers if you're interested. This (for a price) would allow you to open the files you want and they have 15 day trials so you could see if it works before laying out the $$.
Back to your original peeve with Smartphones (meaning application locks and ability/inability to open documents right on the phone). These problems are device specific and not category specific. Meaning your phone has issues, but not all Smartphones have this same issue. For instance, I just said my phone (i-mate SP5m) can't open the documents you listed whereas the T-Mobile version of my phone (the SDA) can 'cuz T-Mo bundled a doc reader to go along with their phone (the ClearVue suite as a matter of fact).
So, we're all victims 
of our choices...meaning service provider and phone manufacturer.
Posted by: smeg36
Yep, the i600 was locked down hardcore. They made it so you can't even edit the registry, so you can't undo the lock. Most newer Smartphones don't have that lock in place, or at least aren't so bad. The Q has some slight application lock, but it is easily removed with a simple registry hack.
Posted by: jsmith
i think it can be unlocked using the same technique the nextel i930 cowboys use but it's too hard and i found only one guy who had done it to a korean version of the i600. it's too hard/too much trouble for a phone nearing obsolescence!
as for smartphone vs ppc - i think what i'm beginning to realize is that i would really prefer a ppc. i think the treo 700w is top of the heap but still really pricey at this point. that's why the xv6600 keeps bubbling up..
Posted by: smeg36
Don't forget to check out the Samsung i730 for VZW as well. It's a great device with a powerhouse of features.
Posted by: runningtiger
Posted by: jsmith
there's multiple levels of application locking. they are all based in the registry and there are now multi-tiered locks on smartphones (some types of apps disallowed). the samsung i600 would not even allow registry edits as smeg36 said (i tried). i don't know what type of locking the xv6600 has but i doubt it's the same level of lockdown. the registry edits are pretty easy to do and those are well documented and that i can deal with.
Posted by: smeg36
I'm not sure what that person's issue was, but Pocket PCs don't have application locks on them. You should be able to install any PPC software (providing it's OS and screen resolution compatible) on any PPC.
Posted by: runningtiger
Posted by: jsmith
VZW has no less than four current PPC offerings - Samsung i730, i830 (cdma+gsm), XV6700 and Treo 700W! that's gotta be a tough choice. i like the xv6700 but haven't had any first hand experience with any of these!
Posted by: smeg36
I've personally used all but the i830 (which is essentially an i730 without wifi and with international GSM roaming), and they all have their strong suits and faults. Of the 3 the one I'd recommend the least to someone who just wants to pick up a device and go is the 700w. It takes a lot of work to get it going perfectly because of the limited 32MB RAM. It's a toss-up between the xv6700 and the i730. I never did get to use my i730 with WM5 though, it came after I sold the device. I think with WM5 the i730 would win out though. The features are great, the screen is much better than the xv6700, and I personally like the vertical thumb board to the horizontal one because it can be used for dialing without touching the screen.
Posted by: jsmith
i wonder when the http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/smartphones/samsung-sghi760-smartphone-has-brains-beauty-206778.php will come out. i'm always "trailing edge" so i hope this pushes pricing down for the older phones
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