Interesting. Ive always been pretty pleased with the WM family, going even back to the first generation. I have always just used a few apps. In addition to the Mobile Office stuff that comes on it; couple calendar programs, Microsoft reader and an outliner maybe. I even took stuff off my HP38xx that came on it to make it run smoother. That could be why I have a more positive view of it in general than a lot of people I suspect.

Thanks, that worked!

Yes, I ma syncing to my corporate email using ActiveSync, so I cannot add another server.

I should have been more clear. I dislike WM5; WM2003 was pretty decent.

They changed far too many things in WM5 and didn't make it clear to developers that these changes would be happening, because a lot of applications simply do not work in WM5, just last week I downloaded the 27kb file "visicalc.com" onto my XP desktop, and it worked perfectly. If they can do it with the desktop, why not with the handheld. I am also annoyed that they removed WiFi local syncing; I understand that they thought it was a security risk, but at least make it optional...

The OS itself has evolved very little since the first version of the PPC, you still have to add far too many little apps and tweaks to make it fully functional and on the phone editions there are so many missing features that it makes the phone look like a 1996 Nokia. On my MDA I can't even select profiles, the caller picture is 30*20 pixels, I can't setup filtering on calls without a third party app, MMS is very poorly implemented and the Microsoft Bluetooth stack doesn't work well with many brands of Bluetooth carkits. In WM5 Microsoft doesn't even provide a backup application. They claim they don't have to becuase WM5 provides persistent storage, but seem to have overlooked the fact that there are still some applications out there that will render your device unusable requiring a total wipe (like SOTI pocket controller).

It can be made to function decently, but as I said, you need to install and purchase several third party applications, make some registry edits and spend a few hours messing with it.

Coming up on a month with my MDA, and still loving it.

Found a couple of quirky applications that made the device crash and refuse to boot, requiring a full reset and restore (arghhhhh!!). Other than that, awesome.

I'm running the following apps on it:

Newsbreak (RSS reader)
Weatherbug (yes, the smartphone version works just fine on the MDA!!!)
SPB Weather
SPB PocketPlus
Kevtris (very good FREE Tetris clone)
MemMaid (for cleaning things up)
SPB Backup
Resco Radio
Resco Explorer
Resco Keyboard
Opera Browser
Handmark Pocket Express
TCMCP media player
Smartskey
Total Commander
ViewCommander (for connecting to my Web enabled PTZ cameras)

ScottC, thanks for the app list.

I sprang for an i-mate K-JAM and have been using it for about 5 days.

As an Internet device, it kicks butt. Wifi internet on Internet Explorer when available, and EDGE when I'm not near a network. I may give Opera a try, since I've read that it's better than the WM version of IE. By the way, I'm posting with it right now.

As a phone, I've been less than impressed. I got over the lack of a real button dial pad, and I can overcome the uncomfortable shape with a bluetooth headset. But the audio quality leaves something to be desired, and the signal reception SUCKS. To top it off, when the phone loses its signal in fringe areas (or, for example, on the subway), it takes a loooooong time to reacquire the signal. Combined with the fact that when it has no signal and can't send a message, it moves the SMS into Drafts instead of Outbox (though there's probably a registry fix for that) and you have an often frustrating situation. So now I must decide if I want to carry a separate phone or not.

Right now the most frustrating thing has been the phone freezing up 6 times daily. it started happening after I installed Spb Diary and Spb Weather. Since I see Spb Weather in ScottC's list, I suspect it may be due to the Diary app, which is too bad, since I really like it.

Anyone else had any similar problems?

The losing signal issue is a real problem, I agree. I'm on the newest firmware and it still can take up to 5 minutes to aquire a tower when it lost signal.

I've ran into quite a few apps that made the device lock up, and it is entirely possible that it was SPB diary...

Well I completely removed Diary and it was still doing it.

Then I removed Skype, and so far, I've been without problems. <Knock on wood>

This was the version of Skype that came with the latest i-mate ROM, and I'd heard there were problems with it. Hopefully I can find a version that'll work. Or, I may look at overclocking the thing and then reinstalling Skype. The potential for wifi calling when I'm overseas is one of the things that made me get this little sucker.

An MDA Pro was dropped on my desk today (from T-Mobile DE) and I have to say, while I'm still a Treo person at heart, this 640x480 screen is really impressive. Just playing around with Documents and such is a lot nicer...It's not a compact phone by any means, but then again, neither are the Wizard-based phones. Somehow it seems thinner (just by a fraction) but I also think the larger size helps "smooth out" the "bar of soap" feel the Wizards have.

Steve

As much as I loved the Universal, I really couldn't deal with the bulk. Personally I find the Wizard to be just the right size, it can at least be used with one hand. Once the first UMPC hits the shelves I think the combination of that and a Wizard will be great.

Maybe some here can provide some guidance. After going through a lot of testing of a Palm, talking for 90 minutes with the lead Exchange person in our IT department, and doing a lot of thinking Ive really settled on a WM5 device. So Im trying to decide which one. The options appear to be the MDA, Treo 700w and Dell X51v. Are there any Im missing? Any thoughts on the relative merits of those three? Im aware of the network differences as well as the fact that I will need an external modem on the Dell (I have a Nokia 6310i with and EDGE account). Thanks.

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.