XDA Orbit

sk8board

we changed business a/c about 7 months ago, from Vodafone 7100v to the O2 XDA.

Have to say i was surprised with the XDA (mini S). The email/sync'ing features are better than the BBerry exchange server we had

for example, when I deleted a mail on the BBerry, it wouldn't delete it off the server, so when I got back to the office, sometimes after 10 days, my mail box was full of 'old' mails. VERY annoying!

I was also surprised that i got great use out of the full qwerty Keyboard on the XDA. I get the train to work, so its handy for sending mail in-transit, without taking all day about it.

all that said, we have been having some serious issues on the OS side, our good friends at Microsoft. the main problem is that closing the programs on Windows OS doesn't remove them from memory, but rather justs leaves them open, and removes them from the screen, causing the phone to slow down if you don't restart it regularily, or go into the memory settings and 'close all' programs.

The BIGGEST issue with the XDA is the phone interface (dialling contacts, receiving calls etc etc), which is, without a doubt, the worst I have ever ever ever seen (and I work in the mobile telecoms industry!).
It seems to be a windows program, rather than being on the chipset, so it is just WOEFULLY slow, and freezes a lot.
The voice quality is also terrible (people have trouble hearing you), which may be linked to the phone Network reception, which is terrible. I have another O2 phone that I can use in the offfice and at home without issue, perfectly clear. The XDA reception is terrible, and drops off the network, dropping the calls.

I hear we're trialling the Orbit at the minute, mainly because O2 guarantee that the Phone interface issues have been resolved; but I wish the Orbit had a qwerty keyboard (I surprise myself), as I don't think I could use the PDA stick to tap each keystroke. (solving one issue, and creating another?)
Its not like the Mini S or the Orbit are a 'one-hand' phone; you have to stop walking/working to do anything on them anyway, so why not leave the qwerty.

parsi

Strange - the Blackberry Enterprise Server has been able to handle remote deletions for a couple of years (IIRC it took a while longer to come to Domino).

GUIGuy

Can anyone expalin to me why on earth you'd want to use blackberry (which is essentially a front end for exchange) rather than exchange server itself. AFAIK Exchange does everything that blackberry does and more... without the need for an expensive inbetween. Why use it? Fair enough if you don't like Windows Mobile (understandable). But Nokia series 60 can connect to exchange natively without the need for for blackberry so you get best of all worlds.

rrolfe

sk8board wrote:

we changed business a/c about 7 months ago, from Vodafone 7100v to the O2 XDA.

Have to say i was surprised with the XDA (mini S). The email/sync'ing features are better than the BBerry exchange server we had

for example, when I deleted a mail on the BBerry, it wouldn't delete it off the server, so when I got back to the office, sometimes after 10 days, my mail box was full of 'old' mails. VERY annoying!

I was also surprised that i got great use out of the full qwerty Keyboard on the XDA. I get the train to work, so its handy for sending mail in-transit, without taking all day about it.

all that said, we have been having some serious issues on the OS side, our good friends at Microsoft. the main problem is that closing the programs on Windows OS doesn't remove them from memory, but rather justs leaves them open, and removes them from the screen, causing the phone to slow down if you don't restart it regularily, or go into the memory settings and 'close all' programs.

The BIGGEST issue with the XDA is the phone interface (dialling contacts, receiving calls etc etc), which is, without a doubt, the worst I have ever ever ever seen (and I work in the mobile telecoms industry!).
It seems to be a windows program, rather than being on the chipset, so it is just WOEFULLY slow, and freezes a lot.
The voice quality is also terrible (people have trouble hearing you), which may be linked to the phone Network reception, which is terrible. I have another O2 phone that I can use in the offfice and at home without issue, perfectly clear. The XDA reception is terrible, and drops off the network, dropping the calls.

I hear we're trialling the Orbit at the minute, mainly because O2 guarantee that the Phone interface issues have been resolved; but I wish the Orbit had a qwerty keyboard (I surprise myself), as I don't think I could use the PDA stick to tap each keystroke. (solving one issue, and creating another?)
Its not like the Mini S or the Orbit are a 'one-hand' phone; you have to stop walking/working to do anything on them anyway, so why not leave the qwerty.

i have had an XDA orbit for a while now. the issue with not being able to close apps has been solved if you click on the o2 icon in the bottom right. this allows you to switch apps or close. a major pain if you cant do it as app dont close. the UI is seriously lacking a close button for apps which is weird.

also the lack of gps software is lousy ( business accounts now get it) i got destinator working just fine. that being said if you want gps get an sd card. in fact put everything you can on the sd card as orbits start to crawl with 10% or less free memory. you can move mail attachments and any my docs you have. it does respond faster if you do. The OS is also kind of buggy i get screen white outs the odd time, but i push this device to the limit.

the battery time is not bad on them it depends what your doing. also your first couple of charges will go really quickly. gps is suprisily easy on it, but wifi eats the power.

i don't really care about the lack of extra screen guard / case. i think the extra stylus is vital as its the first thing you might lose.

I have never used a blackberry but the email functions are fine to sync with outlook or go get your email directly via pop. might be an idea to do this with wifi if you can as grps is pricey.

as for direct push i have not tried it, i hear there is a free yahoo mail one on the way.

overall despite its pitfalls i really like it. i now have a sat nav, pda, mobile, camera, voice recorder, skype phone all in one case.

Flying

rrolfe wrote:

i have had an XDA orbit for a while now. the issue with not being able to close apps has been solved if you click on the o2 icon in the bottom right. this allows you to switch apps or close. a major pain if you cant do it as app dont close. the UI is seriously lacking a close button for apps which is weird.

also the lack of gps software is lousy ( business accounts now get it) i got destinator working just fine. that being said if you want gps get an sd card. in fact put everything you can on the sd card as orbits start to crawl with 10% or less free memory. you can move mail attachments and any my docs you have. it does respond faster if you do. The OS is also kind of buggy i get screen white outs the odd time, but i push this device to the limit.

the battery time is not bad on them it depends what your doing. also your first couple of charges will go really quickly. gps is suprisily easy on it, but wifi eats the power.

i don't really care about the lack of extra screen guard / case. i think the extra stylus is vital as its the first thing you might lose.

I have never used a blackberry but the email functions are fine to sync with outlook or go get your email directly via pop. might be an idea to do this with wifi if you can as grps is pricey.

as for direct push i have not tried it, i hear there is a free yahoo mail one on the way.

overall despite its pitfalls i really like it. i now have a sat nav, pda, mobile, camera, voice recorder, skype phone all in one case.

I have removed the O2 Rom from all our orbits and used WM6 Cooked ROM's due to the O2 Rom being to buggy.

Goto Xdadevelopers to find out more it is the (Atremis), Beaware your phone has to be CID Unlocked before changing Rom's. It would be best to read the sticky's and the Wiki before you attempt any upgrade.

I find the Wm6 rom better more versatile and not as buggy as the current O2 Offering.

Wm6 will be officially released at some stage with the next few months, since the late June/July date has being pushed foward by HTC due to further stress testing required to have a completely stable WM6 OEM ROM to be released.