I just read about a new smartphone, AudioVox SMT5600, that weighs 3.6 oz, compared to the Kyocera’s 6.6 oz, is about a quarter of an inch taller than the closed Kyocera, a half-inch narrower, and about a half-inch thinner. It uses Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition software, has expansion memory card capability, and supposedly syncs well with OUTLOOK, both at the desktop and reportedly over the internet. It has a post-rebate cost of $200 when you sign up for two year plan on the Cingular network. It's a candy-bar form, rather than clam-shell; I don't care about that, as long as it takes a licking and keeps on ticking.
Potential drawbacks: Lose access to all the nifty PALM apps. I assume data entry is restricted to Press “2” once for “A”, twice for “B”, etc. It's tri-band (850/1800/1900) GSM/GPRS radio - what does that mean? No analog?
According to the review. "The Audiovox SMT5600 smartphone ships with the PocketPC editions of Internet Explorer and Microsoft Outlook, as well as the latest mobile edition of Windows Media Player to enable the seamless transfer of media from any PC running Windows XP."
One of the things that seems attractive to me is that this thing is only slightly taller than the closed 7135, narrower, thinner and weighs about half as much. If I can get the e-books, sync my calendar and contacts, and IF it performs reliably, that seems pretty interesting to me. Especially at the price.
P.S. I noticed that the link in my original post doesn't take me to the review, but if I cut and paste it into the address bar I get the review. Ahhh, the strange and mystical workings of the internet and Mr. Gates . . .
P.S. I noticed that the link in my original post doesn't take me to the review, but if I cut and paste it into the address bar I get the review. Ahhh, the strange and mystical workings of the internet and Mr. Gates . . .
That's because there is a period at the end of the URL. edit your post to remove the period in the URL and it will work!
mg
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There's very little that seems attractive to what I believe to be the typical 7135 user here. We're the folks who are determined to use a flippy Palm phone, aren't we?
For the most part, yes. Although on some levels I would be just as happy with a flip that operated on Windows and synced with my contacts and public calendar through Chapura. I would hate to leave the Palm platform, but it seems to be the way of the future.
Personally, my main desires are that a phone do everything the 7135 does / is supposed to do; do it fast (i.e. reasonably cloes to state-of-the-art speed); do it reliably; have a sufficiently tactile keypad to facilitate one-handed (no eyes) use; be reasonably easy to enter and retrieve data; and be as small as possible. Also, I'm always on the lookout for a new toy.
Although I loved the 6035, and haven't yet found anything better than the 7135, Kyocera is not giving any indications that they plan any updates / improvements. My 7135 has been dropped enough that the sound is a little scratchy - so if I think about a replacement, I want to consider all the options.
The Audiovox interests me because it seems to have the potential for meeting most of the requirements above and is cheaper than most smartphones. If those things work, I don't care if folds in half or walks on one leg.
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