I have had my 6700 for about a month now, and overall I really like it. For data, it is fantastic. I have it working with our Exchange server pretty well. Email, contacts, and tasks all work great.

As a phone, well, it sucks. Poor reception, missed calls with no notification, calls going straight to VM, poor call quality, etc. The only thing it does as a phone well is reside in the same device as my data. My wife has a phone on same account, and we have none of those problems, so I don't think it is a matter of the provider/area.

So, how many of you carry this thing for data, and a cell phone for voice? Other than the obvious (having to carry two devices, no integration with contacts/data, etc), what am I missing?

My employer pays for the data service, and I pay for voice, so there would be no financial penalty for splitting it up. I don't want to do so without proper due diligence, so let me have it.

It seems like it would be against everything that a converged device stand for.

I don't have poor reception or poor call quality. I use Sprint. Maybe Sprint is just better than Alltel. I also rarely have calls straight to voicemail. Again, Alltel?

I would probably try to get my carrier to address these problems before caving in and carry two devices.

I think the 6700 as a phone works just fine..good reception and no drop/missed calls but I am also using Sprint. It may not be the phone but your location and provider.

No trouble using it as a phone here, I would just go purchase a fancy PDA instead of the 6700 if the phone didn't work.. Call quality and resception seem good to me.. It is a bit of brick to hold to your ear, but not as big as some PDA phones. I use my BT head set most of the time.

As for call notifications, you might want to try PhoneAlarm..

Your phone has not been programmed correctly. You need to ##DATA#, click view (edit when you have your MSL), click User Name and change to Advanced, and I betchya your "Home SID/NID #1" is set to "0 / 0".

You need to go into the store or call customer care, get your MSL, and get your SID for your home market. For where I live, mine is programmed "4418/65535" where 65535 is the network code for Sprint (which I'm assuming you have).

Hope this helps!!

Oh, and btw, yes, I carry another phone: a Nextel i560.

I used to... I had an Audiovox SMT5600 on Cingular and the PPC6700 on Sprint (for work).

Now I carry just one device - the 8125. It's amazing what a less buggy ROM revision will bring (plus a working speaker/speakerphone). I also put on the leaked AKU2 ROM and push mail works very well...

Still, I miss the EVDO speed (my PPC6700 went to another office mate).

For a while I was carrying the Sprint 6700 and a VZW Razor. Not because the 6700 wasn't any good, it actually worked very well as a phone. But because the Razor is so damned cool loooking Plus, its handfree features are tremendous. But in the end I got tired of two devices. Now I am using the 6700 solely again, at least until I get bored and go back to the two device thing again.

Thats like pulling a chevette around with your corvette, sometimes you feel like a nut...some times you dont

i would never carry anything else but my 6700...not only is it a connection to the outside world but its also a connection to my inside world everything i ever needed is right at my fingertips...besides how many phones do you know of can play a 90min porno flik and call your wife at the same time?

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Personally, I feel the 6700 has one of the best cellular radios out of all my previous phones. This being my first PDA phone, I had a Sanyo SCP-5500 and 5150 before, and although I always advocated Sanyo as having the best signal strength, I've found even more success with the 6700. In this case, I feel you get what you pay for.

In regard to the actual question, no, I do not carry around both a phone and the 6700. I feel the 6700 performs most masterfully for all my data and cellular tasks.

Though I am new posting - I've been lurking for quite awhile.

I wanted to reply to this. Carrying the 6700 AND a phone seems silly to me. I have no issues with my 6700 as far as phone use is concerned. Granted - the speakerphone volume may not compare to the E815 I had (though few phones can compare to motorolas as far as speakerphone quality) - but the other features function equally well (signal strength, volume, etc...).

I guess to answer the original thread question - no I do not carry 2 devices - although if I did choose to carry a standard phone, I would spend the money on a regular PDA and get something that is likely far more versatile than the 6700 (although I have to say - the 6700 as a PDA has nearly everything my h5555 had).

I carry just the 6700. It seems outright silly to pay the money for this device to NOT use it as a phone. As suggested earlier, it would make more sense to invest in a PDA/Pocket PC that has a smaller form factor if it is only being used as a data device.

With that being said, I have no problems with reception. I will also add that the signal bar usually does NOT accurately reflect the signal strength, even with the polling hack listed in the FAQ.

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Shi Kai Wei: XV6700/SCH-i730/XV6600/SCH-i600

I use this as everything I need for comm including phone. Only complaint is the way this looks on my belt

That's like taking your wife and your mistress on the same date. Pick one or the other. Kind of seems like a pain to carry both. Yeah the phone isn't perfect but if you learn the tricks of the trade, you can get around that and live with it for what it does. Plus on of these days we'll get an update that should fix some of the issues (and introduce others). Then again I'm not a real estate agent or sales person that lives by the phone. I'm a Netowrk Eng. that lives by the data portion.

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I carry just one device now -- the xv6700 (Verizon). I've not had any problems with dropped calls, calls going directly to voice mail, poor call quality or poor reception. In fact, the reception for me is better than my Moto T720.

For me, convergence was the only reason I switched from two devices: ipaq 4155 and Moto T720. If I was going to carry two devices anyway, I would not have switched.

Hope your experience improves.

I also have no problems with the units phone features. I have great reception.. In places that I never had before with T-mobile. I can carry on conversation inside bombshelters for buildings no problem. I honestly cannot remember dropping a call since I got my PPC6700. I was worried about switching to Sprint but I have been 100% happy with their service. Their customer service blows a bit but that is true about all of them. Try Qwest's customer service.

One thing I dont like is the straight to voicemail thing or the delay before your phone actually rings. The slot cycle hack has definately made a difference but not made it perfect. I have mine set to 0 and it still does not ring until the second ring the majority of the time.

All in all this device has allowed me to carry a PDA wherever I go. I cannot carry a bunch of things with me nor large devices but I must have my phone. The PPC6700 is beautiful thing.. it has made my life more organized and more fun at the same time!

Phone reception/Provider, never miss calls, darn.

I know nothing about PDAs. They will sync with an Exchange server over the air?

Wi-Fi is certainly an option for syncing Pocket PC's and MS Exchange Servers. That assumes you have Wi-Fi reception, however.

I carry the 6700 and a Treo 600. The 6700 is my main number and the Treo is my secondary number i use every once in a while. I have no problems with reception or anything as most probably don't.

It always surprises me how people can get such different results. I could understand if it we were comparing the same BT headset with 2 different people b/c people will/can get drastically different results due to other radio interference i.e. cordless phones, wi-fi, etc. But if the service is available in your area, you buy a device, everyone loves it, but you hate, then I'd have to say your unit is defective to some extent.

Just wanted to throw in my .02 cents I'm running alltel as a provider on my 6700 also(actually work for them) and I've had really good reception nearly great. It's not quite what say a Motorola 262 with antenna up would give but right around the same phone with the antenna down. This is also in the UP of Michigan which to me is really impressive(for those who don't know thats the little sliver of michigan that looks like it should be part of Canada.


Luke