SPV1000, XDA EXEC, P990 comparison

[rookie1010]

Hello

I was wondering if you guys can tell me which one to go for

SPV1000, XDA EXEC, P990 ?

 

[bearxor]

I don't know much about Symbian devices, so I will defer any talk of the Sony P990 to someone else.

The XDA Exec is the HTC Universal and the SPV 1000 is the HTC Himalaya. If you do searches on them under those names, you may get more results.

Now, the Himalaya is a bit older. They do have an upgrade for it to WM2005 I believe though, so it wouldn't be too bad, but older.

The HTC Universal is where it's at. It's the newest, latest and greatest. I don't know the prices you're looking at, but I'd venture to say that the Universal is probably twice as much as the Himalaya. If you can afford it, go for it.

You may also want to look to see if your carrier has the HTC Blue Angel. It looks kind of like the Himalaya, but slides up to reveal a QWERTY keyboard. One thing I don't like about the Universal and Wizard is that the keyboards are in landscape mode, making it quite difficult to use one handed. I like the BA (I have the Harrier which is the CDMA version of the BA without WiFi) because it is quite easy to be used one handed. For some reason, the BA got an upgrade to WM5 and the Harrier did not. If you tell me what carrier you are looking at I can tell you if they have a BA you may be able to get a hold of.

Like I said, if you research the devices under the HTC names, you will probably get more results.

Also, check out www.pdaphonehome.com, and they have both a Windows Mobile section and Symbian section. You can read about various peoples experience with the phones and what they like/don't like what the problems are, etc.

This is the HTC Himalaya forum:
http://pdaphonehome.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=126

This is the Blue Angel forum:
http://pdaphonehome.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=167

They do not have a Universal or P990 section, since there's not a lot of carriers that have them yet, although you may find some information floating here and there.

XDA Developers is also the single biggest resource for HTC-made devices. Check out their forum listings here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/index.php

Hope that helps you make your choice.

 

[rookie1010]

thanks for the reply

thanks for demystifying the XDA EXEC & SPV 1000. i guess the imates are also HTC products?
so HTC does the hardware and microsoft the software, is this microsoft's way of getting into the handheld market

Does HTC have plans to do wimax terminals?

so the HTC himalaya does not have a qwert keyboard, i guess all input is done using the stylus?

in the UK we have got 5 main carriers
Orange, O2, Vodafone, T-mobile, 3

ornage is offering the SPV-1000
while O2 is offering the XDA EXEC

any idea why Orange is not offering the XDA EXEC?
are the HTC phones, tri-band, 900/1800/1900?

are you an HTC platform developer?

 

[bearxor]

Originally posted by: rookie1010
thanks for the reply

thanks for demystifying the XDA EXEC & SPV 1000. i guess the imates are also HTC products?
so HTC does the hardware and microsoft the software, is this microsoft's way of getting into the handheld market

AAMOF, I believe iMate devices are made by HTC. HTC is an OEM designer. They make a LOT of PDA's for a LOT of different companies. It's not really Microsoft's way of getting into the handheld market, except for the fact that they make the OS. Microsoft really doesn't have a stake in anything other than market share of OS's versus Palm and Symbian.

Does HTC have plans to do wimax terminals?

I don't know.

so the HTC himalaya does not have a qwert keyboard, i guess all input is done using the stylus?

Yes, it would have serveral ways of inputing, through a virtual keyboard or on screen wrinting recognition like Palm OS. It would be very similar to the first PDA Phone I had which was a Toshiba 2032. That was pain. After I swapped it for a Hitachi G1000, I swore to never buy a device that did not have a hardware keyboard. If you want to know the true definition of pain and suffering, buy the Himalaya and use it for a year and a half and then swap it for something with a hardware keyboard.

in the UK we have got 5 main carriers
Orange, O2, Vodafone, T-mobile, 3

ornage is offering the SPV-1000
while O2 is offering the XDA EXEC

any idea why Orange is not offering the XDA EXEC?
are the HTC phones, tri-band, 900/1800/1900?

The Universal is fairly new, and as is normal in the buisness, some carriers have periods of exclusivity over others. This may be one of those cases. As far as being tri-band, I would go out on a limb and say that the Universal probably is, since it is meant to be used on existing networks and next generation networks. These are changeable by the carriers though, so check with the carrier for the last word.

are you an HTC platform developer?

No, just someone who has been using PocketPC Phones for going on about 3 years now. I've just picked up a lot. pdaphonehome.com was very helpful when I was just starting out.

 

[rookie1010]

thanks for the reply and providing all the information.
i think i will go for XDA EXEC, it looks kool

 

[bearxor]

It does, I would just urge you to take another look at the Blue Angel, which is probably sold in your area as the XDA III. It would be much easier to use as a actual phone.

It all depends on your usage. I use less than 50 voice minutes a month. If you are a heavy talker, you should really do a lot more research and in-store holding to determine if a PPC phone is right for you. You may be better off with a Windows SmartPhone or a Treo... Just don't jump the gun without doing some serious research and thinking about what you're going to do with it. If I had done the research, I never would have bought my original Toshiba 2032SP to begin with.

 

[rookie1010]

thanks for the reply

i think t-mobile have a blue angel

i m not a heavy talker, and i plan to use it to check my emails every now and then.

just checking, but are the xda exec & SPV M5000 both branded HTC universals

i checked out my friend's XDA EXEC(O2's HTC Universal) and it seemed to be neat, except while he was showing it to me it crashed, at least i think it did. and it is just under a month old. is that to be expected?

we could not turn it off using the on off button, and i told him to remove the battery and then start it, is this a problem with windows mobile devices?