There's a lot of stuff for WM5 coming out soon. The Motorola Q, the HP 6900 series, and a couple of other phones...as much as I like buying stuff, you might want to hold off a month or two for more options.

Steve

I agreee, although I had a conversation with our Microsoft Mobility Rep the other day and she claims that some of the changes are vendor specific and not Microsoft. The more cumbersome way to turn on the data line as one example. Of course she is an MS rep. ;)

Supposedly WM5 manages memory better but the x in the top right corner still doesn't close programs, only minimize. One of the SBP products fixes that problem. That is one of my pet peeves with WM.

As to the speed, the CDMA versions (Verizon, Sprint) are running 416M processors while TMo and Cingular (as well as most if not all the GSM devices)run 200M OMAP processors. I presume this is for better battery life. These devices are all manufactured by HTC.

For those of you who are Outlook/Exchange users, Microsoft is, or will soon, releasing Micorsoft Messaging and Security Pak that provides true push email ala the blackberry. If you are a Lotus Notes user like me then you are still going to need an email client for that functionality. We are using Intellisync.

For coporate vpn and persistent connectivity we are testing both NetMotion and Ecutel. Right now I really like Ecutel Viatores as it allows Iintellisync to wake up my data line if it is not active. This makes it much more like a Blackberry.

Ah the keyboard. Well the MDA, 8125, XV6700, PPC6700 is an improvement over the previous version but nothing beats that Blackberry keyboard.

The next toy I'm waiting to eval is the Motorola Q. I've seen it and am just waiting for our rep to get me an eval device to play with.

And thanks for the tips on the other software.

Actually, they already released the Messaging and security pack. They actually released it last year, but only recently did the big vendors like HTC get it onto their devices. I installed it (the so called AKU2 update) on my MDA a month or so ago and am using Directpush email through an exchange server, and have to say; it really does work. It is even a little faster than my Blackberry.

As for the OS; it is still lightyears behind what it should be. Memory management is a little better, but still very poor, applications have memory leaks, it still crashes/hangs, the PocketPC phone edition of WM5 STILL doesn't support profiles or call filters. For all these features you'll need a third party application, and these features are hardly asking for too much, they were after all in Nokia phones back in 1997...

Is this a coporate network server behind a firewall? If so do you need a VPN client and which one are you using.

Or, is this another advantage the messaging and security pak with Exchange and it is similar to a BES server setup?

The exchange server is hosted by a third party (4smartphone.net) and is directly reachable from the interweb. They offer a full exchange solution with directpush for just $4 a month.

Well, I dumped my SKII and picked up the MDA on Saturday. So far, I love it. The size is more than agreeable with me and it meets all of my needs (i.e. wifi, great IE browsing, camera - for my posting to moblog while I travel, great 3rd party apps, seamless synching with all of my outlook stuff, etc.). Compusa had it in-store for $199 (if you are a new subscriber - which I am not) so I had to pay $299 (their website listed at $400 something which elicited a chuckle from the Compusa sales rep). It's still at that price of this week if you are in the Los Angeles area. The only store which had it in stock was in Culver City, in case anyone is interested.

I ended up going in a slightly different direction. I got an SDA yesterday. So far I am VERY pleased. Our IT guys set it up with Exchange Server sync, SSL and our certificate. It doesnt have the keyboard but it is very small and provides a great way to add appointments while out of the office and send or sort some emails. I have it set to sync every 15 minutes but I will probably increase it to 30 or 60 minutes.

I decided I wanted one device that was small and that could do phone, mail, and PDA functions when I was out and around town so I didnt have to carry a lot. I will get a full function PDA next (like an HP Hx2700 or Axim) for when I need to do more than a few short notes and appointments. Might even get something in between like a Treo 700w or MDA. But thusfar I am mightly pleased with the SDA.

The MDA is "not all that"...
 

I am going to have to retract my unbridled enthusiasm for this device. I've been using it for several months now and although the sync with my corporate outlook is great, and i have no problems downloading my personal mail, I have one huge problem..... the freakin stylus!!! So far, I have lost 4 of them. They "slide into" the body of the phone, but they don't "slide in" very securely and so they "slide out" very easily.

What bonehead decided that you to create a device that is close to unuseable without something that is easily lost? Yes, you can use your figer, but it's not very accurate.

If my company would just install a Blacberry Enterprise Server, I would ditch the MDA... :(

And while I still use my SDA I have subsequently also gotten a Verizon Treo 700w and it is just great. It has push mail active from our Exchange server at work. I also really like the Treo form factor.