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Hi,
I need some help before I buy an XDA IIs.
I need to know the following things:
1. What is the keyboard like to type on?
2. What are the biggest and most annoying glitches?
3. Does it support a 2GB SD card?
Many Thanks,
Richard
the keyboard is naff, i used it the first day and not used it since. The letters are to small and you have to press quite hard on the letters
i have no major issues with the blue angle. please note that this is my first pda so i don’t have anything to compare it with
thnx for your reply.
I also want to know about when you receive an sms.
Does the screen come on? and is the screen 'pressable' so it clicks around the menus in your pocket? or is there some way to stop this :?:
Cheers
Rich
The BA is a nice toy if you have the cash.
On the down side is the hardware, the Keyboard is crap IMHO. It gets loose and falls down by itself.
The Sound quality is bad, Tinny, scratchy, you can up the radio do a lot of other things but it still crap.
Battery life is poor if you are on wifi for a long time.
The os has its own issues.
So the short of it all is that I love the bugger, it has past many an hour of frustration, I have turned it into a brik, dented it and now even the stylist wont stay in it place.
Would i go back to a phone just as it works? no way to many things to find out and learn about.
So is it the choice for you, that q I cant answer but if you do get a HTC device this is the site to be on.
I'm testing the waters a bit to see what the HTC enthusiast community thinks of the Blue Angel and Harrier in comparison to HTC's current product line.
While the Wizard and TyTN are fine products, they clearly are not the Blue Angel's design. The display has been downsized to 2.8 inches, and the Omni's handheld use is significantly diminished.
So, please vote in the poll. We'll try to let decision makers at HTC know if you want the Blue Angel brought into the 3G era.
I think there should be a 3G Blue Angel but they should still be progress in the development of more devices similar to the Tytn as the Tytn is proving one of the most popular devices I have seen and I feel is opening up mobile computing to people who thought about getting a connected PPC but didn't like the bulk of the units which had the features to make them useful.
Personally I stick with my BA because of how large the screen is and IMO the only phone that is worth switching too is the TyTn.
I also like how much thinner it is than any of the current HTC phones with a keyboard.
Meh... just my $.02
for Me its the screen, could do without the keyboard as i never use it.
I was using a Blue Angel (Harrier) on the Verizon EVDO network. It is a terrific device. I can watch videos real time. The larger screen is also awesome and much easier on tired eyes.
I finally put my Blue Angel aside and have been using primarliy a Wizard.
Even with all the Tweaks and overclocking, the Wizard is relatively slow. However, the Wizard has been much more reliable and is a much better phone.
I'm just about ready to order a TyTN because it seems the bugs are getting worked out. I'd rather have a Blue Angle sized unit with all the new Windows Mobile Features.
It looks like all the future HTC phones are small screened. The HTC Herald looks like a verizon/sprint EVDO (possibly Rev.A) phone. Looks great but still no Blue Angel.
I'd like to have a TyTN type phone for everyday, and then an "Arch Angel" phone with a large screen to travel with. It should have a fast processor, accept Standard SD cards.
I think you almost need two devices depending what you are doing. A 3G Blue angel with the same screen or possibly a VGA one for some tasks and a Tytn for most of the time. I have a Tytn on order but I will still use my IIs a lot because of the screen.
I love my BA. I had executive, then, IIi(alpine)..now back to my BA
Its a complete device(for those who dont want GPS)
Ditto. Screen (so many new devices have such small screens). Keyboard. Large RAM memory (yes I know WM5, but persistant storage read/write is slower). Still the best device.
Although, there's always something missing (GPS/FM Radio/a huge internal memory/Some devices even have TV!/direct USB access without an adater/EDGE/3G/etc.).
Love the BA form factor
I've gone thorough half a dozen phones in the past couple months trying to find an ideal unit for me. Seems everyone these days want the cute little phones that you could swallow if you got it too close to your mouth. Whats the point ? If its just for making and receiving calls fine, but if it's meant provide visual display and input (emails and surfing) than why wouldn't you want it big bright and loud ? Within reason of course..but some of these newer phones with all the great features are too small to make them easy to use. In my case it has to be Quad band as I need the 850 for CellularOne in my area.
I had a Blackberry 7100 which was great for push mail and work stuff but not so hot for display or web stuff. I just bought and then sold a very nice Hermes (Softpoint/Jasjam) device which was probably the best phone I have seen for coverage and features. It flat out worked great. I just could not see me using that needle size stylus on the 2.8 inch screen for very long. The display was nice but just too small enjoy using for me. It might work as a heads up display, but for my main device it need to be bigger. I mean... do you really want to run GPS map apps on this while your driving ? Or shop on eBay while squinting at that little thing. It looked MUCH bigger in the Ads
I've run a Symbian based Nokia e61 (still do) and find it one of my favorites for ease of use without a touch screen. It's not a touch screen but you would never notice with the neat smart key layouts and center joystick control. The display is not huge but the layout works great for web use and the browser is very quick. The problem with this phone is it seems to have a weaker over all RF module and I constantly loose my GPRS lock when going through fades and the only way to get packet (GPRS) back is to power cycle it. Maybe it's just my phone thats bad but the dealer won't exchange it as this point and I really doubt their "repair" shop would even find the problem.
I just bought, powered up and re-boxed an Ipaq 6945/15 device. Worked good signal wise and packet data stuff/Wifi devices were good. The phone just has a overall cheap feel to it. The keyboard is a joke (compared to my e61) and the joystick and side buttons are hard to use. Would it be that much more expensive to put a rubber tip on the joystick ? The 240 x240 display was weak and grainy as well. It has about 15 minutes on it and will listed for sell at a auction site near you soon ! I am waiting for my first BA device I just purchased off the web (O2XDAiis) and hope it's what I'm looking for. The 2003se software will new for me and it will probaly go to some version of WM5 soon after I get it. I'm hoping the screen is bright and pretty and I can actually use the "touch" screen with my finger instead of digging for a matchstick while cruising at 70 miles an hour. I like heft too, it signals quality to me. I searched long and wide for a 3.5 inch display, quad band phone and found Nothing but the older BA at this point. I'd love a new device to come out with WM5, 3.5 to 4 inch display, bright screen and the latest interfaces. I'd buy one RIGHT NOW.
Guy
BA all the way...big screen..nice keyboard..
I thought I would put my .02 cents in on this topic since I had a BA for 2 years and just recently got a Cingular 8525.
I did a pro's and con's list to help me make it very clear which phone I wanted and why. I'll just share the list with you...
Pros FOR the 8525 over the BA:
- Edge speeds are about 5x faster than regular GSM (120-150kbs)
- 3G speeds are about 30x faster (800-850kbs)
- Universal USB charger
- 2mp camera is much higher quality
- Camera application is much more advanced
- Native WM5 OS. No hacking or slowdowns from non-supported upgrades
- Jog Dial (this is a big one... Can't be without it now)
- MUCH improved bluetooth reception for handsfree
- Wifi type g and b (noticeably faster)
- Free push email w/ web2mail (simply amazing, no more disappearing gmail!!!)
- Smaller form factor... nicer fit in my hand than BA
- BT headset can start VoiceCommand. No need to touch the phone anymore.
- No soft reset to make the WiFi work start up
- PTT will be supported in the future and might be nice to have.
- Multiple sounds play without garbling (ie. VoiceCommand announcement and ringtone)
- Sharper more vibrant screen (the clarity and overall quality difference is significant)
- MUCH louder speakerphone and ring volume
- I like the navigation pad a bit better than the BA and it seems much more responsive.
Cons of the 8525 compared to the BA:
- Micro SD format max's out at 2GB (at the moment)
- No standard headphone jack
- Battery drain is higher due to 3g and push email
- The main buttons are a bit cramped around the navigation pad, but you get used to it, just like anything.
On the con side... Micro SD cards (typically) come with a standard SD card enclosure so you can use it with standard flash card readers or even put them into standard SD card devices like phones or the BA even. This is a nice thing in case you want to transfer information from one device to the other. Mini SD seems to be the real loser format out of the three in my opinion.
The headphone jack isn't really an issue for me so far. Yeah it would be nice to listen to the tunes with whatever headphones I choose, but I'm thinking a dedicated music player would be better anyway since I'm already running my battery into the ground as it is, but that doesn't change that my options are certainly limited. I'm sure someone will come up with an adapter solution soon. I've already seen some, but they are still getting better.
Battery drain is a big one... Other than disabling 3g and turning off direct push... I don't see a way to save battery. I just turn the back light down as low as it can go and use vjlumosiii (handy little app) mapped to a button to get max brightness when I need it.
Overall... I have to say that the 8525 is going to be a device that I will use for the next 2 years or so with MUCH fondness. I loved my BA and after having it all tricked out was still better than many peoples phones.
That's just my opinion on these 2 devices. I like them both... but the 8525 is going to be my work horse no doubt about it.
Mark
Apple Ipod.. The next gen BA ?
http://www.apple.com/iphone/
Looks like my next BA replacement. It's everything a new BA should be if they upgrade it... Now I just need to see one on eBay and someone to provide unlocker for it ..
GapBoyT said:
Personally I stick with my BA because of how large the screen is and IMO the only phone that is worth switching too is the TyTn.
I also like how much thinner it is than any of the current HTC phones with a keyboard.
Meh... just my $.02
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah but it's only 240x320.. maybe if they released a new vga version with a good camera/ wifi g/i/e, native WM5, id be down, the BA just too big!
Gvotuc said:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/
Looks like my next BA replacement. It's everything a new BA should be if they upgrade it... Now I just need to see one on eBay and someone to provide unlocker for it ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
baaaaaad idea man.. why do you think apple is getting sued by cisco.. they don't think things through! Hence the intel macs killing the g5's in benchmarks on OSX, APPLE Should stick to software!! (And ive got cingular!)
Yup, yup.
Still using my 6600 and love it!
The screen size and the full size SD card is what kept me from going to a 6700.
i've got the BA PH20B on 02 (2yrs now) i use it alot with tomtom, i was thinking of the HTC 3300 its got built in GPS, 2.8'' TFT-LCD 240 X 320 with 65,536 colours, but only a 201mhz chip so gotta look into it more. and i found out you can get it with out the navigation software. save a few pennies there.
Hi all,
has anyone ever played with or have any notes on using the LCD screen/touch screen of a Blueangle for his hobby electronic projects?
i have a dead blue angel and would like to see what i can do with the
LCD screen and a microchip pic controller
thanks,
Fadi
i know what exactly the things you need to do with your dead BA..
USE IT AS A DOOR STOPPER.. or.. PAPER WEIGHT!
yea it is already utilized well in my drawer...
why dun u try to fix it, make it work? then do a custom mount, put beside your bed n use it like a wireless winamp controler for ur computer.. or maybe surf net while on bed..
Not a bad idea...
actually i remember one time i did so with an old ipaq (but it was inthe car) control winamp that is running in my car-mp3 player.
Anyhow, the thing is the blueangel sustained a few hits and falls that eventually it stopped working, cost of fixing would be a bit too much so after 2 years in the drawer i took it apart and re-used the sd-card reader on my linksys 54GL and was hoping to use the LCD in my upcoming PIC project but seems that i will have to buy an LCD for that at the end.
Thanks man for the suggestions...
you can try puting it back together again and see if it still starts up. without the SD card unit, i bet it still will powerup.. if it power up, you save whole load of trouble... u use can use simple + - logic from the board to control things using the touch screen.
for example.. remove the vibrator, speaker, led, wat ever.. and replace with some other stuff.. then build a simple ppc wares and install to control individual parts.
sound abit retarded though.. lol!!!
hmm interesting...
Ok thanks i'll see if i can put it back together this weekend.
Thanks hehe
My phone dropped and the metal plate came out and dented pretty bad. Anyone willing to donate the casing of their dead BA?
What about the current followers?
Toshiba TG01 / K01, Touch Pro 2? Samsung Omnia Pro? Acer Tempo M900
I still can't find a suitable BA-substitution.
portrait orientated keyboard? docking station with battery charging option? Big 3:4 screen to make easier office working?
Not to mention the sd-card-slot ...
But, if make compromises, all mentioned devices have no really improvements (like a much faster processor) or they seems to be not reliable enough (Toshiba).
What do you think? Which device would you make to throw away your BA?
never throw your BA
TouchPro i would get!
never throw your BA
TouchPro i would get!
although none of the newer devices looks similar to the blueangel, they all have their respective advantages in their fields. it starts with the display resolution, all newer devices are better in that field, though not all the displays are necessarily bigger. i don't know, the portrait keyboard is not really something i need in a device, maybe it is because some keys of mine haven't worked since the day i bought it, but even if they did, i don't like the ba's keyboard, i really appreciate the universal's one, i can type almost as fast as on my pc there.
but i gotta admit, in one point, the ba really kicks ass:
the docking station, no lame usb cable, but a proper stand, you can charge the device and a second battery, and let's not forget, the headset port on top (though it is not 3.5mm *aaargh*) you can charge and have handsfree calls at the same time.
that's one reason, why htc will go back to the 3.5mm headset port, they said, you can simply connect the device to any speaker system, fm transmitters... and still charge at the same time. people were sick of carrying an adaptor from mini-usb or extusb to 3.5mm in their pockets, just in case they wanted to play loud music or use good headphones.
i do not fully agree on the sd card slot, while they are certainly the cheapest memory cards (3x 2gb for 10eur unbeatable), the 2gb limit is not exactly future ready. the most important thing is, that the card is interchangable without taking out the battery and stuff like that (yes, i am talking about you, NOKIA, damn you!1).
but talking about memory i would really say, the BA itself has an expiration date. how long do you think, fast proper roms will fit 32mb, external apps are growing bigger every day, 60mb is also not the killer, and installing to an sd card is also not really an option because it's slow and since there is no sdhc support, how far are you gonna get, i don't want to install my apps on every card i have.
don't get me wrong, i love the ba, and i don't think your post was to say, it would last forever.
i agree with you, there is no real successor to the ba featuring all its features, but really thinking about it, you must agree, you would give up some minor features for all the new stuff.
and i personally love gadgets, nonsense additons to devices, that i could perfectly live without, but i want them. there would be: accelerometer, proximity sensor, light sensor, noise sensor, multi-touch...
when it was up to me, the devices would also get a barcode- and fingerprint sensor, voice recognition and x-ray
just my 2 cents
hope some of this was interesting to my fellow BA enthusiasts and supporters of this community.
have a nice weekend everybody
Chef_Tony
It's clear to me that sometimes I must change my device. In my case (I still use the BA with WM2003, have 4GB SD installed and another BA to replace faulty device parts) the main problem is the slow Internet connection.
I'd like to have a device where I can check some information in the Internet in seconds, not in minutes.
Finally the question for me is to find the right moment, when HTC's devices are fast enough, Toshiba's work properly a.s.o. Will there be better BA successors in future? HTCs with 1 GHz? Toshibas with inside pens?
When this future will start?
I think my question is close enough to this thread, so I ask it here:
I'm also looking for an alternative to my MDA III (Blue Angel).
In general, I'm quite fond of the device. What I like about my MDA III and want to have in a future device are these things:
+ Windows Mobile hackability
+ sufficient RAM
+ realtively fast CPU
+ fingerfriendlyness (MDA III is because of its screen size)
+ reasonable battery life (I have a clunky extended battery)
But I want another device, because I see some drawbacks in the Blue Angel and want to have this:
+ less clunkyness (even without the extended battery the BA is huge)
+ landscape keyboard
+ built-in GPS
+ 3G ability
+ even more battery life (I always want more of that)
I got me an e-ten Glofiish M800, which has almost everything on paper. But the RAM (64MB) is much too small for a VGA device and the build quality is really bad. I can't even make decent phonecalls because the speaker is truly awful.
So, is there something the experts can reccomend? What about hte TYTN II, does it have a decent battery?
Regards,
Dirk
pdahunter said:
I'd like to have a device where I can check some information in the Internet in seconds, not in minutes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which browser do you use? For just getting some information Opera Mini (a Java application) is the browser of choice. It reduces the size of images and rearranges the website's content. With GPRS it is already fast, I never had to wait minutes.
Regards,
Dirk
I'm afraid the main problem is the connection speed.
I don't like operas user interface very much (I have V8.65) - no direct click to favorites/bookmarks, many other functions take more clicks than in IE. So IE became my favorite broswer.
Should I upgrade opera?
pdahunter said:
I'm afraid the main problem is the connection speed.
I don't like operas user interface very much (I have V8.65) - no direct click to favorites/bookmarks, many other functions take more clicks than in IE. So IE became my favorite broswer.
Should I upgrade opera?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a misunderstanding, I'm not talking about Opera for Mobiles but Opera Mini, a Java app.
Grüße,
Dirk
It seems I should give Opera Mini a chance ...
I've been using BA for about 4 years now! never disappointed me, its been amazing till now! however the weird look in ppl eyes start to annoy me so i decide to upgrade: so i got Touch PRO, and frankly i didn't feel it add much to my BA (may be a little bit)
bottom line: BA is one of the greatest device, and to replace it i would go for Touch PRO or PRO 2....but never through my BA
Cheers!
moh980 said:
bottom line: BA is one of the greatest device, and to replace it i would go for Touch PRO or PRO 2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I thought so. I'll look for a Touch Pro when I get back the money I spent for the faulty E-ten. To0 bad that the Touch Pro still ist quite expensive.
Dirk
Last week I had a chance to compare BA and Touch Pro 2:
There are pros and contras for the Touch Pro 2.
Considering the contras the most important is the smaller screen (despite the 3.6"):
If I play games in portrait mode all signs and graphics are smaller than on a BA.
If I use the keyboard (E-Mail, Office) I have not enough place for lists and texts (landscape mode instead of portrait mode keyboard).
If I use the touch as navigation system the square of the screen is to small.
(moreover there is not car case yet with integrated power supply)
Hope sometimes HTC will build something like the TG01 with a keyboard.
I own a BA, have done for the last couple of years, currently running xplodes latest 6.5 rom and over all its a good pda... Yes, I class it as a PDA, due to its sheer size, I don't think I can ever comfortably use it as a phone... Yes, the screen is deffinitely bigger than most and that has its advantages, but I do think its getting old now and the way I see it, its probably getting a bit hard to adapt the latest software and roms to its 'aging' hardware...
I've just purchased a 2nd hand HTC TyTn II and to be honest, it really is fantastic, I really am very impressed with it, got it off eBay for £100 and the fact that it has a 3.0mp camera, built in GPS reciever, WiFi (like the BA), a 2.8" Screen and in my opinion, a much much better Qwerty keyboard pulling out the side giving much easier and bigger keys to press! I've currently got a Windows Mobile 6.5 rom on there and the battery life really does make the BA look like it should'nt have Windows Mobile 6.5 on it at all!
But hey, thats just my opinion, i'm not running the BA down at all, as its deffinitely one of my favorite devices and a device I'll keep forever! But I'm just giving my input to this thread and to reflect on what ive said above, for a good six months of the last year, I went back to using my SPV M500 rather than the BA just because it works better as a 'Phone'...
Cheers, Adz.
I am a happy old Dash user. Besides sitting on my screen and cracking it today, I would either be playing Bomberman2 on pNES, or checking my GMail acct and determining what to wear tomorrow with AccuWeather statements. Or, I could just be on opera watching updates of Monday night football.
So, screen cracked, no Dash-age for me tonight. I do have a Treo 680 that I'll pop my SIM in once I get home, and it's decision making time.
To get the New Dash 3G or get a screen replaced in ol' faithful.
Now that the Dash 3G has been out for a little while now, what are some of you guys' opinions on it? Worth the money? Wait for a better HTC model? Please help, I'm Dashless and need a something to fill this void?!
---Oh, and much thanks to all the programmers that cooked all this neat stuff up, I envy you guys, in a good way!
=)
For me, the deal breakers with the dash 3g are:
1) No mini USB connector at the bottom of the phone, so can't easily place in a docking station to charge - you need to additionally connect a flimpsy wire to the side of the dash 3g.
2) No d-pad - just a trackball. So no way to be precise and tap the "down" key twice to move the selection precisely two items down - you will often undershoot or overshoot your selection using a trackball. Also impossible to "hold" a direction button down with a trackball as is needed to play games like guitar hero, ect.
If it wasn't for the above two issues, I would have purchased a Dash 3G. Verizon in the states has the HTC "Snap" that doesn't have the above flaws, but verizon is CDMA and not as hackable or has as many roms available for it as the dash does.
They do make a docking station for the 3G. I saw one on eBay. It has a wire that come up from the back and hooks in the side. Can sync and charge like the Dash does. The trackball sensitivity can be adjusted. While it is not nearly as precise as the multi directional button on the Dash, it is useful. I was on the fence for a while and finally said eff it and bought one. Immediately upgraded to Ookba's ROM and was set. Nice to not have to overclock to get it to perform. It just does it. I love the old Dash. Still have it. Probably always will. Great phone. But the new one is badass. And with the ROMS they are cooking it is even cooler. Like I said if those are your reasons for not getting one, you can get used to them. Side usb is ok. A lot tighter fit than the Dash and they make a base charger. And trackball takes about a week to get used to and mess with the settings to get it to your liking. And yes you will overshoot your target a few times. But more memory, faster processor. Keyboard does take some getting used to. It just feels different. Bigger buttons are NOT always easier to hit. And I have huge thumbs. That was the biggest adjustment for me. Now I have to use predictive text to help. No space between the buttons. But T-Mo offers a 14 day buyers remorse deal. If you buy it and hate it you can take it back as long as you don't trash it. 30 days if you buy it without a contract. With a contract you HAVE to have the $24.99/month data plan for 2 years even if you don't use it. I bought mine out right. I use wi-fi almost everywhere I go so....hope that helps anyone thinking about getting a 3G. I love mine but am still nostalgic for my Dash. Had it for almost 4 years.
JohnCody said:
For me, the deal breakers with the dash 3g are:
1) No mini USB connector at the bottom of the phone, so can't easily place in a docking station to charge - you need to additionally connect a flimpsy wire to the side of the dash 3g.
2) No d-pad - just a trackball. So no way to be precise and tap the "down" key twice to move the selection precisely two items down - you will often undershoot or overshoot your selection using a trackball. Also impossible to "hold" a direction button down with a trackball as is needed to play games like guitar hero, ect.
If it wasn't for the above two issues, I would have purchased a Dash 3G. Verizon in the states has the HTC "Snap" that doesn't have the above flaws, but verizon is CDMA and not as hackable or has as many roms available for it as the dash does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding the rom development you can find Ookba's WM6.5 cooked rom for the CDMA version of the Maple (aka HTC Snap) which you can test and see if you can fullfil your expectations http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=563761;)
I don't consider myself to be especially handy, but I did a screen replacement. There were a couple of different video guides on Youtube that walked through the procedure in great detail, and the kits including the screen and tools are widely available on eBay. I guess a great deal depends on your gadget-envy, but it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to fix the Dash anyway-- sell it if nothing else. I think I spent less than $20 on the repair kit.
How do get a new screen cover for the tmobile dash 3g. not the lcd but the cover.
can anyone tell me where to get a front screen for the tmobile dash 3g. The LCD is fine but the front cover has cracked and I can't locate a new front screen cover. Please help meeeeeee!
fknox said:
can anyone tell me where to get a front screen for the tmobile dash 3g. The LCD is fine but the front cover has cracked and I can't locate a new front screen cover. Please help meeeeeee!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong forum my friend, you should look here for your specific request. Good Luck