I am one of the systems admins here for my company and I've been charged with hunting down a wireless contact mgmt, email solution. Mainly looking at the new Motorola MPx200 and T-Mobile's Pocket PC units.
1. What PDA and/or mobile phone do I use today?
-We're currently using Ipaq 3650's. No remote service.
2. Are locked into a mobile carrier (i.e. Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS, etc.), or do you prefer a particular carrier? Do you know if one carrier has better coverage in places that you need to be?
-No
3. Where are you based? Do you stay in one place or travel a lot? Do you travel internationally... how much and where? Do you intend to use your pdaPhone there?
-Seattle
4. Do have a preference of Palm, Pocket PC, Symbian, etc.?
5. Are you likely to run it the way it came out of the box, or do you intend to load a whole lot of extra applications and stuff on it? Do you know of anything now that you will need to run?
-Pocket PC
-No extra apps
6. How important is data, and what would you use data for (i.e. web, email, remote terminal, etc.)?
-Extremely important.
-Possibility of Citrix service coming Q1 of next year.
7. Do you do SMS messaging a lot?
-No
8. Do you need a GPS for mapping and navigation?
-No
9. What is your size preference.. very close to the smallest cellphone, or you don’t care.. function over size?
-Primarily function. Users are already used to the size of the Ipaq.
10. How will you carry it... pocket, belt, purse, etc.?
-Brief cases, bags, etc.
11. Do you prefer a particular form factor… flip-phone, candy bar, etc?
-No preference.
12. Do you prefer a QWERTY keyboard, or are you cool with a stylus?
-Either/or.
13. Do you want to play a lot of games? What kinds?
-No
14. Do you want to listen to music? What kind... mp3, streamed, etc.?
-THIS is the whole reason I'm here. I'm not looking for one that plays mp3's necessarily. I need something that can handle a .wav file as an email attachment. Our phone system has the ability to send out our voicemail messages as .wav file attachments in email. Our users would like to get these outside of the office on a remote device. They want it all, don't they? I've been in contact with a rep at T-Mobile, but he's a sales guy and I need technical help.
I need a device that can get email remotely and that accepts .wav attachments.
Originally posted by crc02 I followed the posting rules, didn't i?
Yes, you followed the rules... Our team is made up of volunteer pdaPhone enthusiasts, so we don't always get to respond immediately.
The primary difference between a pdaPhone and a traditional Blackberry is their ease of use as a phone, and the Blackberry push email. Once you get into the Pocket PC platform, the devices are all going to have nearly the same function with regard to many of the things you've mentioned. For playing .wav files, not a problem because Media Player is a standard part of the Pocket PC (and Windows Mobile 2003) platform. The same holds true for email and contact management. I think that for what you want to do, the Pocket PC platform is the right choice, as things like Citrix will be better there.
Another thing to consider is the data speed that you can attain. While GPRS will average around 70Kbps, CDMA will get you closer to 100Kbps on average. For heavy data use, this could be a factor. Unless you are planning to implement an enterprise solution on your servers, you will want to look at what business offerings the carriers can provide, as they vary a lot. For example, Sprint has something called Business Connect which is a system developed by Seven under the covers. There is a personal version, and also an enterprise version. Each carrier has different offerings.
I'd also look hard at the Hitachi G1000. While you didn't say you wanted a keyboard, it is very handy for the kinds of stuff you mentioned, especially email.
I'd check out the G1000 and the Samsung i700... they are both CDMA devices. Then you have the T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition and AT&T SX-56. They are identical rebranded hardware, but the carriers offer different business services. There is a new product coming out to replace them in the coming months that is a pretty good (see the XDA II Forum), which you can currently order from Europe.... expected here around the new year. These are GSM/GPRS devices. There will be a CDMA version of this coming in a similar timeframe.
I really appreciate the response. Sorry if I was sounding impatient, I didn't mean to be.
Your information is great, I will definitely take a look at those devices.
I have a couple new questions now, since your response.
Am I correct in saying that the new Motorola MPx200 can NOT receive Exchange email remotely? Only when docked locally and using ActiveSync software, right? On that note, do you know if there is something coming that CAN do this, from Microsoft? Will Windows Mobile have the ability to send email to a remote device, like the Blackberry does now?
Also...can the Motorola MPx200 handle larger attachments, such as a, close to a meg, .wav file?
Thanks again in advance. This is the most information I've been able to find thus far.
Any ideas out there? Any info?
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