Wow! That would be my initial experience after a half day of use. In almost every area, the PPC-6800 is improved over its predecessor. After opening the box, I charged and activated the device with no issues. My next order of business was to get my PIM data synced to it. I exepected this to be a big hassle because I use EasySync Pro and Lotus Notes. To put things in contrast, when I moved from the PPC-6600 to Treo 755P, I spent about 3 hours trying to get this to work. Then when going back to the PPC-6700, I again spent about an hour on this task. I was already running ActiveSync 4.5 and so I just configured ActiveSync and then ran EasySync, and it worked first time. I was worried that the EasySync app wouldn't run on WM6, but it did so without issue.
After getting my contacts in order, I went on to test web browsing. Via EVDO I was getting a solid 700Kbps bandwidth from my basement office in the middle of an electrical storm. Somewhere in there the WiFi system deteced my router and all I had to do was enter my WEP key and that configured itself and worked. So far so good.
Next I wanted to try out the stereo Bluetooth. Off to Verizon to pick up a Jabra BT7010. After about a half hour to charge it, I went into Communications Manager and told it to add a Bluetooth device. It detected my Thinkpad an the 7010. It paired with the 7010 without any problems. I then setup ActiveSync and Media Player 10 to sync my music files to the microSD card and then fired up Media Player on the 6800. To my surprise, I immediately got stereo music through the 7010. I verified that I could control volume, skip, pause, and stop/start from the headset. I also placed a telephone call to the phone while I was listening. It passed the call through and then returned to music when it was complete. I couldn't ask for much more. I also verified that I could use WiFi to browse the net while listening to music via Bluetooth, although my throughput test came up about 25% slower than when no Bluetooth was operating. They both use the same antenna so there must be some loss by sharing.
Finally I installed Agendus which also went without a hitch. That is about as far as I've gotten, but I will update the review over the next couple of weeks as I finish exploring every feature.
To summarize my experience, the 6800 is very polished and things just work. With all my prior Pocket PC Phones, it was always a hassle to get things to work. I'm sure I will be running into problems, but so far so good.
Pros
Size / Weight Improved
Keyboard improved
Brighter screen
Improved styling
Things work
Cons
Flimsy battery cover
The quickest path to obtaining a PPC-6800 is to just order it from the SprintPCS website. It is $549 retail with a $150 rebate for 2 year contract or renewal. It won't be available in the retail stores until early to mid July, which is also the rumored timeframe for Verizon Wireless to release the device.
Overall great review and overall phone looks good.
But I have to add to cons:
Does not use standard Mini USB on phone. Now I have to carry that stupid adapter everywhere (Work, Car and Home) or buy 3.
Card slot on bottom, next to other things you push. I can see cards getting popped out and lost. You can't tape over it either like you could on 6700.
I tried a friends GSM HTC Phone with same stylus on bottom, he hated that. Every HTC phone I've ever seen stylus gets loose. But now it's on the bottom !!
I wanted to reply to your concerns. I received my Mogul yesterday and regular Mini usb cables work fine. All of the chargers and sync cables from my Moto Q work fine with it. The only time you will need the adapter is for the headset or aftermarket headphones. Most people that drop the cash for this phone will use Bluetooth headphones and headsets anyway. I don't think anyone will have a problem with it. To answer the second Con, the memory card is on the bottom but tucked under a little bit of a lip and it has a very stong mechanism holding it in. Much stronger than the 6700. To answer the 3rd Con, I agree with the reviewer they made the hole so it can't wear down over time. Unlike the 6700 stylus slot I think they got this one right and it is much easier to access when you need it. I didn't think it would be but it is.
My cons are, too many buttons on the sides, easy to accidentally hit them. No volume control on the side you actually have to use the touch screen to open the volume picker. They do need an on/off switch like the Treos. The scroll wheel only accesses volume while a program is open or you are on the phone. My last is battery life: it is a little better than the 6700, but with light calling, bluetooth, web and email I had to stick it on the charger in the early afternoon. If you are a power user you will definately either need an extended battery or an extra battery and given the flimsyness of the battery cover I might purchase a larger battery when a Sprint extended cover is available. My last gripe echoes the reviewer in that they didn't rubberize the case of the phone. It feels nice in hand but is still a little slick. This phone might need one of those aftermarket rubberized skin from Seidio. Great Review. I will continue to evaluate mine. Thanks.
Can you comment on the IP sharing/DUN capabilities and the resulting charges? I notice that Sprint is piece mealing the "Unlimited Data Plan for Phone as Modem" plan now. Is this like the 6700 where they can't really tell and as long as you have a Vision plan you are covered?
Crusty, the screen is the small 2.8 like on the 6700. That is the big reason I never upgraded either from the 6600, I also do not like the sideways sliding key board.
I've upgraded from the 6700 to the 6800 and so far I'm reasonably happy with the 6800 over the 6700.
Pros
The screen colors and brightness are pretty good.
The speaker is a little better than the 6700
The reception is as good as the 6700 which is better than the Treo's
It runs WM6 so it can display HTML formatted e-mail from an Exchange 2007 server, and you can flag e-mails as well as search your exchange 2007 server for anything throughout your entire mailbox not just what is downloaded to your phone.
The keyboard is easier for me to type on than the smaller Treo keyboard.
The display is larger than the treo display so I can see more calendar events and other information on my today screen and browse the web easier.
The construction seems reasonably good although since it is a little slimmer than the old 6700, the weight difference may give people the impression it isn't as sturdy but I think it is - however the rear battery cover is very flimsy - I imagine HTC will have to sell a lot of replacements to customers.
The larger Lithium Polymer battery helps give you about 20% more life than the previous battery in my opinion. Haven't done an in depth comparison but I'd say that is reasonably accurate.
Comes with 512MB microSD storage in addition to the greater storage capacity build in memory. I think this is a good touch.
Browsing the web is improved as it now supports java natively.
So far no "Dark Screen of Death/DSOD" that was common with the 6700 - required you to remove your storage for the display to turn on (unless you upgraded to AKU 3.5 which wasn't available from Sprint.
CONS
The Bluetooth STILL is bad - blame microsoft -their BT stack isn't as good as widcoms - unfortunately the BT doesn't perform as well as the WM5 AKU3.5(not supplied by Sprint) firmware you could get for the 6700.
The GPS on the phone is A-GPS - assisted GPS - not a full GPS so if you look at the Sprint sales link - it says something like GPS enabled - that means if you pay Sprint a monthly fee you can use their software - you can't use any other ones like google maps or live search or even paid programs like TomTom or iGuidance without buying a BT GPS receiver to communicate with your phone - seems silly not to include a real SirfIII chip when they cost about the same - wouldn't increase the size and wouldn't have us running up our monthly fees with Sprint. Other phones such as the x800 come with a full GPS chip and are slimmer than the 6800.
Voice Command 1.6 has an issue with voice dialing confirmation - so you say call Mary at home and it will say "call Mary at home?" no matter how many times or how loud you say yes, it will timeout and not place the call - you have to turn confirmation off and hope it recognized the name you wanted to call.
It does not come with a car charger - you have to buy that seperately - I still think this is a rip off - not sure how many people use mobile phones don't want a charger for the car?
Still comes with fannypack style case - if I'm going to look like a geek with a big honkin phone -I'd like to at least project a somewhat heterosexual image.
Still comes with Sprint crapware like audibles. I'd really love it if it asked you before installing the junk however until someone posts the iota and other sprint specific items you do want to load, you'll have to manually remove the junk after it installs.
For some reason, while this unit has plenty of hard buttons, you can't reassign them like you can on the 6700 some can be but only about half of them.
The gap in the slider makes the unit feel flimsy as you press on the screen.
The vibration doesn't seem as strong as the 6700's did to me.
Status Quo
If you are using the latest sprint rom 2.2 on your 6700 you'll see a slight improvement in speed, if you are using an unsanctioned but better rom AKU 3.5 from other sources, you'll see a slight drop in performance when opening apps, files etc.
Things to consider -
I prefer a larger screen over the front keypad like the treo or the q or blackjack however some people will want one handed typing and they would be better served by another phone - get the phone that serves you best not what serves others best. I would suggest waiting for WM6 on whatever phone you get if possible as many new WM6 should be out by the end of the year.
I really wish this unit was still a bit slimmer although it is better than the 6700 (which is like saying our 75 floor skyscraper is shorter than the empire state building - that is still a TALL building) - I think it will have to decrease at least 5 more mm before I'd say it was reasonably "slim"
I really think ALL the WM6 phones Sprint offers next year will have to be VGA resolution - I don't see how they intend to compete considering there are about 15 VGA WM6 phones being released this year and the 6800 a brand new phone is still only QVGA 240x320 - one fourth the resolution of those other phones.
Things I'd recommend for any WM6 phone
Acrobat reader for mobile - free
flash player for mobile - free
Micosoft Live Search - free (information searching, GPS/NAV display)
MS Voice Command - let's you dial by name or number anyone in your contacts without having to train for each person's name.
SPB Pocket PLus - let's you customize your today screen - put frequently used app shortcuts, document shortcuts etc on your today screen AND it has a very good battery indicator - better than the native battery indicator.
w/my ppc-6700, I turned off "activsynch," turned on "wireless
modem," then used the sprint 6700 dialer on my laptop to
connect the phone as a modem on my laptop for unlimited
connectivity. With the 6800, I am unable to figure out how
to connect my 6800 to my laptop as a modem? I've tried
the "Internet Sharing" feature but it didn't work and there
is no phone dialer on my laptop or "wireless modem" feature
on the 6800? Anyone have some info on this? Thanks.
I also have the ppc6800 and am having the same problem with voice command 1.6. I spent quite some time with sprint dealing with this. They have no clue how to deal with the problem. call Microsoft was the suggestion. However, when ever you need to submit a trouble report etc, get out your wallet. I am at a loss as to turn to now. Does anyone have any suggestions.
One other issue- the service rep, when I asked her about Rev A, said that it is automatic when you are in a coverage age that has Rev. A. This is the opposite to what I have been reading. I was told that it a download is required. I travel a lot, and will be going to a rev A area next week (Dallas & Vegas) both of which are listed as having Rev A already.
As to the bad BT in the new mogul, I just spoke to tech support at HTC - 866-449-8358 - first they asked me if I tried other devices, resetting the device. Then I asked if there was a patch or anything possible for this - they said it he's gotten a lot of calls about this same issue so they are aware of it.
I'd suggest you call 866-449-8358, not to bug them but to let them know if you are having this issue to try and make sure they get enough notification so that the patch comes out sooner than later.
Hopefully the patch for the BT will come out soon but I would imagine they won't hop on it as a priority unless a few people call them to notify them of the issue.
As to the bad BT in the new mogul, I just spoke to tech support at HTC - 866-449-8358 - first they asked me if I tried other devices, resetting the device. Then I asked if there was a patch or anything possible for this - they said it he's gotten a lot of calls about this same issue so they are aware of it.
I'd suggest you call 866-449-8358, not to bug them but to let them know if you are having this issue to try and make sure they get enough notification so that the patch comes out sooner than later.
Hopefully the patch for the BT will come out soon but I would imagine they won't hop on it as a priority unless a few people call them to notify them of the issue.
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As you suggested, I called HTC yesterday. After a fairly lengthy chat, I got the impression that the support person (Tatiana) was not familiar with the problem. She kept referring to the built-in voice speed dialer. When we were bath on the same track, it came down to the fact that it is 3rd party software (voice command) and they do not support it. I kept emphasizing that WM6 was built in, and that it might be the cause of the problem, since VC worked ok on WM5. She said that she would check around, and if she found something, she would call me. Doesn't seem like we are getting anywhere. She kept saying to call Microsoft, and I don't feel like having to pay Microsoft to tell them about their own problem. I was hoping (and I suggested) that perhaps because of their close work with Microsoft, that they could get the ball rolling. I am keeping a watch on Microsoft's Voice Command web site to see if anything pops up there.
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As you suggested, I called HTC yesterday. After a fairly lengthy chat, I got the impression that the support person (Tatiana) was not familiar with the problem.
Sorry if my post wasn't clear - HTC is clear on the issue of the BT stack causing choppy phone calls - not at your end but at your callers end - they sound fine to you but you side like doodoo to them. I haven't called HTC about the VC issue because HTC doesn't support VC. The BT issue is between HTC and Microsoft and we know unless someone here has one of those unlimited MS support contracts, there is no way to get MS's attention on this so we'll have to make sure every tech rep for HTC gets enough phone calls that they are well aware of the issue and work with MS to get the stack issue resolved.
Okay ... with all the problems with volume on the 6700 ... I can't believe no one has commented on this with the 6800 ... I'm not gonna buy one until I'm sure there is volume like say the treo's, Q, or even the I730 ... anyone care to comment on this ... I'm talking in call volume as well as say playing music via the speaker while soaking in the spa .. hehehehe ... inquiring minds want to know ...
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