Comments on: Round Robin: Windows Mobile Fond Farewell

By: Geo-Treo

Geo-Treo — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 22:29:42 +0000

Fine review that tells me everything I need to know about the Tilt and WinMo: a capable smart phone but clumsy, unfriendly and with hidden costs. It won’t be my choice when I win.

By: Antoine of MMM

Antoine of MMM — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:59:47 +0000

Yeah, the N95 is an interesting one. Without U.S. carrier support tho…

There’s been a lot of interest in the n95 around here in the Round Robin forums. I’m definitely going to do a “bonus round” with the n95 (and will send it off to anybody else that’s interested) – but I can’t really say when I’ll get to it. probably mid december.

N95-3 is US 3G supported, and available now. I’d love to take that off your hands when the Round Robin bonus round is all done

back on topic, kinda:

The Tilt is just too big, too cumbersome, and too disjointed to use effectively. What I mean by dsijointed is that after all these iterations, WM6 still feels like a telephone bolted onto a late 90’s PDA. Also, as a professed former “believer” in the smartphone as a notebook replacement, I have trtuly come to learn that almost NO ONE ever really edits substantial documents on that “itty bitty living space” called Windows Mobile.

This is a conclusion that some people have come to. Its one of thsoe things where the device just kinda reaches too far (for now). Much of it isn’t even in the ability, but the flow of the software. It a lot of things tacked on, and not a lot of consistancy throughout. That comment about there being so many ways to do things; its great in theory, but causes a brain **** in practice (before additonal software comes to simplify that).

By: Stig

Stig — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 09:07:19 +0000

I’ve not used a Tilt, but I had the previous TyTN incarnation. I agree with dstrauss that although the feature set is impressive, the form factor sucks.

Maybe I should try a Blackberry. Do you want to swap your Curve for my Nokia?

By: dstrauss

dstrauss — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 07:49:04 +0000

As a former Tilt (and 8125) owner, I'll attest to it's "ultimate power" but that's not good enough aymore. The Tilt is just too big, too cumbersome, and too disjointed to use effectively. What I mean by dsijointed is that after all these iterations, WM6 still feels like a telephone bolted onto a late 90's PDA. Also, as a professed former "believer" in the smartphone as a notebook replacement, I have trtuly come to learn that almost NO ONE ever really edits substantial documents on that "itty bitty living space" called Windows Mobile. If you have any need for edting docs or spreadsheets, get an ultralight notebook and tether if you have to.

Having spent 3 weeks with the Curve 8310, I have found it to be the best productivity converged device I've ever used. Its communication based focus is readily apparent in all the software, and isn't that what it's really all about? I've had nearly every brand/OS from Samsung i500 to a half-dozen WM devices, to iPhone, to the Curve 8310 (only missing the Nokia/Symbian bus) and I can truthfully say the BB experience has been the best all round fit.

Now, if we could just bolt together iPhone hardware and base OS with BB email and phone control...ah, heaven.

By: Stig

Stig — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 01:47:53 +0000

It’s a shame that Pocket IE is still rubbish on WM6. I’m using a Nokia E61 which has a great browser, and although my head tells me my next phone should be WM (like a Treo 800w maybe?) my heart says stick with a Nokia, or try an iPhone.

By: Bla1ze

Bla1ze — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 21:40:34 +0000

Nice to see an iPhone users take on WinMob thats for sure, I cant agree with you more on th complexity of it and the need for customization rules all in the WinMob world, not a “average” user friendly OS at all, and many hours will be spent on “getting it just right”…sadly as I stated in previous comments on WinMob throughout the SPRR, average users could go the whole time working on WinMob, never being happy with it, and never unleashing it’s full power.

By: Cascade

Cascade — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 18:09:09 +0000

I'm on a 680 - always considering whether or not I should go WM since I have little faith a long term investment in Palm OS is wise.

Seems everyone uses the SPB stuff. Better go check into them a little closer.
Did you use Yahoo! Go? What are the main benefits? Does it sync a Yahoo! calendar?
Is Pocket IE really that bad? I better get over to a store and check it out. Not many nice things said about it. It's got to be better than Blazer, though, right??

Thanks for the response,

-Curt

which platform are you coming from, cascade? update eh, I guess it doesn't really matter. here's my list [list] [*]pick any 3 SPB software house programs. make sure one of them is SPB mobile shell. If you can replace the start menu and/or programs, that would be best. There are many users on the forums that know better than me on this one. [*]a finger-able keyboard so you don't have to pull out a stylus or kick out the keyboard (or enable voice command) to start typing the first few letters of a contact. [*]missing sync for WM by mark/space if you have a mac [*]opera mini or opera mobile, your choice. mini is free, mobile is $40 or so? pocket IE isn't great by any stretch. [*]windows live search is actually pretty good [*]yahoo go! is good if you have a yahoo account [*]google maps is good, though not necessarily as important if you already have WLS [*]documents2go would be a killer app if you need to do office editing. as dieter says, it's better than microsoft's mobile office software. [*]any IM software. I'm a big AIM user, mostly for work. [*]really liked the gcalsync for syncing google calendars. free version only does 1, so I chose work, but it's better than nothing. there's also oggsync though I didn't try that one. [/list]

By: Overthrow

Overthrow — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:32:47 +0000

“The thing about Windows Mobile that I came to appreciate is that it’s ridiculously powerful.” “Tweaker’s paradise.” Yep, that’s basically how I think of WM. Of course, the power and customizability comes at the cost of ease-of-use and overall system speed. Of course there are always tradeoffs, but I can live with the cons for all of the pros. Great writeup, I was actually surprised to see that you weren’t too harsh on WM.

Yes, there comes a point where I need to stop “optimizing” my devices and just start using them. I do wish the iPhone had more features (and we’ll see how iPhone features expand as the SDK becomes available).

Not being harsh on WM is my goal — it’s a powerful OS, and though using it frustrates me, it doesn’t do anyone (including me) any good for me to spew wrath for 1500 words. Which was pretty much my first 2 drafts of the final review.

By: gadgetluva

gadgetluva — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:17:46 +0000

"The thing about Windows Mobile that I came to appreciate is that it's ridiculously powerful." "Tweaker's paradise."

Yep, that's basically how I think of WM. Of course, the power and customizability comes at the cost of ease-of-use and overall system speed. Of course there are always tradeoffs, but I can live with the cons for all of the pros. Great writeup, I was actually surprised to see that you weren't too harsh on WM.

By: Dieter Bohn

Dieter Bohn — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:31:26 +0000

You guys are missing a device like an Nokia N95. I would have love to hear the opinions of WM, Palm, and iPhoner's on that one. I have been really giving that device a good hard look as a replacement for WM.

There's been a lot of interest in the n95 around here in the Round Robin forums. I'm definitely going to do a "bonus round" with the n95 (and will send it off to anybody else that's interested) - but I can't really say when I'll get to it. probably mid december.