Hello; short time lurker, first time poster!

My family has just given up on sprint and went to Verizon. The big reason is because, they would mail the bill after they where due, and then try to charge us late fees. Any way….

For now, I have the Samsung a630. It is just a phone. I have seen the 6600 and fell in love. What I’m needing is some advice. here is what I’m wanting

only have to carry 1 device
a durable device
play MP3s
play occasional videos
play time wasting games
make phone calls (duh)
use for diagnostics for home WiFi (I do a lot of freelance computer work)
send IMs over AIM, Yahoo, and/or MSN while in my dorm room
server admin at LAN parties (unreal tournament web admin)

Things I don't care so much about:

EVDO internet, or for that matter, any internet outside my dorm room
text messaging
blazing speed

So, have I selected the right device? I figured the 6600 with a SDIO WiFi card should do the trick; however, I would love some further input. Am I on the right track, or is there another device that would do all this?

Thanks in advance

P.S. could you also suggest a good, inexpensive SDIO WiFi card?

I'll take a stab at this:


only have to carry 1 device
Absolutely.

a durable device
Depends what you mean by durable, get the insurance on it and it really doesn't matter, does it...

play MP3s
Will do this no problem.

play occasional videos
Will do this as well no problem, provided you have a decent size SD memory card to store the movies on. 1 Gig minimum IMHO.

play time wasting games
Only thing better would be a PSP or something...

make phone calls (duh)
It's a phone so of course it does this...

use for diagnostics for home WiFi (I do a lot of freelance computer work)
I do a lot of freelance work too, but I'll caution you, the wifi card I use is the socket, which I've had reasonably good luck with, however I must qualify that by saying there have been several occasions where it WILL NOT see an access point that my laptop sees with no problems. YMMV of course...

send IMs over AIM, Yahoo, and/or MSN while in my dorm room
I have AIM and it works fine, MSN is built in and yahoo messenger can be accessed several ways.

server admin at LAN parties (unreal tournament web admin)
If it works with the web browsers available for PPC's, it will do this no problem

Things I don't care so much about:

EVDO internet, or for that matter, any internet outside my dorm room
Verizon's devices HAVE EVDO already, it's just a matter of whether the signal is available.

text messaging
Does this anyway.

blazing speed
EVDO is blazing, 1xrtt is ok too...



I think the 6600 is probably your best bet given your provider and what you are looking for in a device.

Tom

/w verizon you will pay about twice as much w/ what you want to do I think. I just compared my plan w/ verizon yesterday and it was over twice as much...

as for sprint billing, I would send them the amount my bill should be automaticly through my checking account. if it was ever over the amount it was a new fee or something stupid and was easy to spot then.
Paycheck is direct deposit... bills are direct debits... don't even have to think about it...

__________________
iPhone 3G (sorry Sprint, I have been to the mountain top!) <-- Sprint Mogul PPC 6800 (not enough memory) <-- PPC 6700 (loaner from sprint) <-- PPC 6600 (no EVDO) <-- G1000 (no SMS) Cardo Scala-500 BT
I'm rockin Verizon Fios baby! 20Mbs is dumb fast! http://www.speedtest.net/result/295783856.png

as far as the EVDO, i most likely won't pay to use that, that is why i put it under thing i don't care about.

And as far as blazing speeds, i was refuring to inside the pda (prosesor, card access, ect.)

durability, i don't want a device that will fall apart in my hand, and will take a good deal of use

My cousin bought a PSP, and all he uses it for is MP3s and videos (which he makes me encode )
psp: $250 + $75 (256 mb Memory stick) + one RMA already
PDA: $300 + $15 (512mb SD card bought on "black friday")

Thanks for your advice, i think i will go ahead and get it.

I agree that a pda is more useful than the PSP, was just saying that it can play games just fine, especially with emu's but any handheld gaming device is probably going to be better for games. As far as durability goes, it's fine but you can't exactly expect to be hard on it as the front is 90% screen and a touchscreen at that. I think it will suit your purposes. I think it's either a data plan or none, it sounds like you are thinking none which while cheaper makes the device a LOT less useful, the wireless data is 1/2 the beauty of having one of these!
Good luck either way!
Tom

I know, i said use, not ABuse

It hard to justify paying 50 a month for internet access when I get it for free here at college, and any place I plan to use the internet, there is an access point well within range.

You might want to consider the I730 also. You give up a larger screen (but they are the same resolution). But you get internal wifi, which might be nicer than using a card if you arent gonna get a data plan. Also its smaller so its closer to a regular cell phone in terms of size. Not to mention consumer IR and Voice Command over BT.

Just depends on what your needs are. Just thought you might want to know about other options.

I like the idea of a big screen, and I dont realy feel like doubling the price for 1 extra feture (that id use)

Thanks for your input.

Wow, I had no idea the I730 is twice the price of the xv6600! (I'm with Sprint, so I never looked at price)

Yeah, probably not worth the extra $.

Some more questions;

whats the batterie life like, can i charge it, listen to MP3s on the way to class, take a few notes on it, ect. and expect it to live till i get back in the afternoon?

Dose it read fat32 partitions? for cards larger than 2 gig?

Any recomendations on SDIO wifi cards?
Any recomendations on emulators?

For Emu, try morphgear. It does all the clsssic consoles and does GBA. Also, google "playstation emulator pocket pc" for a PSX emu. But romz are large for the PSX, so you may want to stay away.

In terms of battery, well I guess it depends on the length of class, whether you're accessing the internet, etc.

Get yourself a car charger. The battery will last for ABOUT 3 hours of CONTINUOUS use... meaning 3 hours on the phone, with the screen off. So expect more usage if all radios are turned off. This is an approximation, though, YMMV.

Truth is, to really enjoy this device, consider investing in an extended batter either through Li-ion, or cheaper (possibly inferior) alternatives on ebay.