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T-Mobile Sidekick Reviewed
First up, lets talk about the form factor. This unit is much more comparable in size to my Nokia 5560 than a Palm 5 or Clie. About the same length,a little thicker, and maybe half again the width. You'll find it a little thicker than a Palm 5, but also a bit narrower. What really makes the unit stand out is that its screen does this sweet little flip thing to reveal a thumb keyboard that is actually usable.
The interface is usually a little wheel (which can be clicked as a button as well), a 'Back' button, a jump button, and a menu button. When the screen is flipped out, you have a keyboard as well. The interface largely revolves around a sort of spinning menu which quickly rotates to select your application (Calandering, Photos, Phone Calls, etc). It's surprisingly usable, but I did notice a few glitches- for example when trying to mail a picture, I couldn't return and send the picture... I ended up having to actually go to the pictures, and choose mail picture instead of writing an email and attaching it there.
I might as well mention it: the little $30 camera attachment is just a novelty. Its postage stamp sized pictures are amusing, but practically worthless. Thats probably fine with just 16 megs of memory on board anyway- you wouldn't have room to store a nice 1024x768 image anyway... I think it was more proof-of-concept in this model. And the concept works, so with any luck, a year or 2 will give us a HipTop with more memory and higher res.
The screen itself warrants mention. First off, it is a 16 scale of grey, backlit job that really looks quite stunning. Without going to a color screen, this is quite simply the nicest looking screen I've seen on a handheld.
I found the cel phone functionality to be quite usable. Rings have custom tones, and the sound is that multichannel stuff that sounds really silly thats all the rage with the kids these days. You can use an external ear thingee, or use it in the standard carcinogen position. Reception was fine, but may vary for you depending on how good the GSM network is in your area.
The web browser was also surprisingly functional. Typing in URLs on the built in keyboard is quite quick. Far faster than any graffiti handwriting recognition crap. It rendered the pages I looked at without trouble, although big graphics are quite slow, and requires some scrolling. Slashdot in light mode worked fine.
The PDA functionality is good. Contacts are interconnected with the cell phone functionality. You can use the calandering and TODO tools to keep track of schedules.
The unit also supports POP mail servers. This worked without hitch and was quite nifty. IMAP support would be nicer, but I suspect that it would be horribly slow over the phone's internet connection. There also is IM functionality, but no IRC.
There are a few nifty little games you can play as well. The form factor of the device is fairly similiar to a Gameboy Advanced, and when held in that position, makes a reasonable gaming platform.
Danger says that the phone can auto update itself as new features and bug fixes become available, so hopefully new and exciting features will roll out pleasing users with improved user interface.
Battery life is claimed to be 8 hours in use. I never managed to drain it, although I left it on quite a bit. But its still enough to easily make it through a day or 2 depending on your usage.
The thing to remember is that this thing costs just $200. FOr that you get a fully functional PDA, and Cell phone. You get a good keyboard, a web browser, and a remarkably bright screen. It's a little larger than a cell phone, a little smaller than a PDA. All in all, this is a great combination and one thats easy to recommend, especially at this price. If you have GSM network support in your area, this warrants a serious look. If the next generation adds a color screen, IRC, IMAP support, and maybe shrunk things just a little bit, I think this could truly have the integrated cellphone/pda I've been waiting for. Now if it just had 20 gigs of memory, we'd be all set. Course my fingers aren't crossed.
and service provider. It's pretty short and goes something like this: Rogers sucks donkey balls. I hope their 5 billion dollar company sinks like a rock.
Do you want to remove linux?
My handspring treo kicks ass. Best form factor out there, palmOS, color. Choice of tmobile, cingular, or sprintpcs as carrier.
I highly recommend it for anybody looking to consolidate pda and cell phone.
I immediately have to buy some stocks of this company ;-)
Veni, vidi, vici.
might as well mention it: the little $30 camera attachment is just a novelty. Its postage stamp sized pictures are amusing, but practically worthless
From what I read, you can use the camera to take pictures of your friends and families and then associate that picture to caller id. After setting it up, when you receive a call, it will show the person's face.
Albeit, 30 bucks seems a little much for crappy pictures and you probably can just import your own picture.
One thing I really do like about the sidekick is the service plan which is flat rate, unlimited usage. The treo plans are all pay per meg.
Live web cams
Regards, l33t j03
"their excellent little HoTop PDA/Cellphone"...Hmm...."HoTop"? I think I want one of these after all. Do I have to go to a seedy part of town to pick one up?
My solution is currently an iPAQ H3970 talking to a Nokia 6310i via bluetooth. I can leave the phone in my backpack and send and receive e-mail, SMS, surf the web, even connect to IRC on my iPAQ. Pretty sweet.
... and for a chunk less than I paid for my then-topline "Beam Me Up Scotty" model Motorola a couple of years ago. It looks a little awkward for use as a cell phone (I prefer flip-open models) and a little small for a PDA, but I'd definitely be interested when mine finally breaks.
HoTop PDA/Cellphone
It's called the HipTop -- you can't even get the name right of the product you're reviewing?
My main use for "internet anywhere" would be ssh. I am on call 1 week out of 6, and if there's a problem, I need to log into the server(s) affected and fix it.
Plus, with a remote term, you can basically do anything a unix box can do.
Anybody know if it can do ssh?
For $200, I'd definitly pick one up if it can.
First of all Circuit City has a $100 rebate on it atm, but something to note:
After 1 year, the 'unlimited internet' becomes something like $30 for 15MB a month. Good luck breaking your browsing habits after a year.
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
Odd, I just recently saw a story (here?) that claimed that the studies of EMF-caused tumors were invalid. Can you point out any second-generation studies that support EMF-caused tumors?
Uh.. it's the same gadget, but this is actually Rob (CmdrTaco) reviewing it not a link to someone else's review of the unit. That's why it's listed as a "Feature" rather than a normal news article (which typically has a link that is being referenced).
I love the look and user interface.
Beware, though. It acts like a PDA, but it's missing a vital piece of functionality. There's no way to share information with other devices. Sidekick gives you a calendar all right, but you can't sync it with your desktop. Ditto for the ToDo and Address Book.
I'm waiting till it plays nice with other hardware before I plunk down my money.
The unit also supports POP mail servers. This worked without hitch and was quite nifty. IMAP support would be nicer, but I suspect that it would be horribly slow over the phone's internet connection.
What?!?! Are you on crack?
IMAP is the perfect protocol for email over wireless internet connections. If you think it's horribly slow, you've been using Outlook Express's piss-poor implementation too long.
The huge advantage IMAP brings you is you only have to get the headers of the email. If you want to get the message, you can get the message, otherwise you save it for later. Also, your email sits on the ISP instead of in your phone/PDA/whatever with its limited storage space. It's also possible, IIRC, to download message bodies to read but not download attached files until later. Finally, with IMAP you can read your email on your desktop at home, then refer to it later on your (other device).
If I can't use IMAP, I'd rather use Webmail than POP. Blech.
Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
The difference being this is a review of the device. By your friendly Slashdot founder, no less.
...
I believe that the flat rate for unlimited megabytes turns back into a flat rate for 15 megabytes/month then 3.50 dollars for 1 additional megabyte after 1 year.
;-)
Somebody mentioned this in the LAST article about Danger. Not that you bothered to read it.
Hidden somewhere in the EULA I would suspect
-S
We Apprentice Developers and Designers
How come Sprint takes so long for cool phones that support their technology to come out?
I know they do eventually, but it sucks to be the last in line for *drool* phones. All of their new ones, I find pretty useless. Great - I can take a picture with a Sprint phone, but can ONLY send it to another Sprint user with one of the newest phones.
Bleh!
here's that link for the lazy.
repeats are a serious problem here, and would have to be hammered out before a user can be expected to pay a subscription. this could be Slashdot's downfall.
Looks like a nifty device. Gotta love having a keyboard. All it needs now to be the all purpose on-the-go geek tool is an SSH client. Of course if it ran EPOC (the O/S developed and used in Psion PDAs) it would already have that plus an Inform interpreter (for all the adventure games addicts out there) a bunch of games and databases, a macro programming language and all sorts of other good stuff. But it's not based on EPOC *or* on PalmOS so it doesn't. Too bad. When is someone going to come out with a small IP wireless device with a long battery life, a keyboard and an open API? Come on Handspring, you can do it.
It's cute but without features like Sync, it's just a novelty. And I don't really find tiny keyboards any more practical than phone keypads. The kids will love it.
I'm dreaming of the Kyocera Smartphone 7135. Full color screen, Palm OS, expansion slot, 3G, and it's barely larger than my Startac. NICE!
It's Slashdot's evil twin... SlashNOT
Rings have custom tones, and the sound is that multichannel stuff that sounds really silly thats all the rage with the kids these days.
;-)
Umm... does it come with all 5 speakers and the subwoofer?
This is CmdrTaco's review, as opposed to some other fucker's review, which you are referring to.
If you looked closely (which you did not) you would have noticed that CmdrTaco commented on this very subject just two days ago. I quote: "I have a review unit on my desk, and am super impressed. A larger impression piece will be coming out just as soon as I have time to write it."
Unlimited nights/weekends and free long distance if I call from anywhere within a 4 state "Home" area. Yea, their coverage might be spotty (whose isn't?), and I've had a couple of billing issues over the 3 years I've been with em... but this plan speaks for itself.
Compared with the best plans offered by Sprint PCS (250 anytime minutes?!? hahahaahaa), Verizon, AT&T Mobile and Cingular (what is there new thing? oh, your minutes rollover!?! hahahahaa) -- my current run with T-Mobile will last for a few months more.
Anyone else with a plan I should know about?
Because Sprint didn't want to use GSM like all the other kids on the playground, they had to be different and go with CDMA.
Oh, and the ghost of my English lit teacher asked me to point out that it's "Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink."
Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
...Top!
I think we have a new candidate for comical Taco misspelling of the year...
The "HoTop"? Mmmmkay. I don't even want to think about what that means.... Try "HipTop".
This product has been reviewed countless other times, and all were far superior to this bit of crap. Did you write this in 5 minutes?
What about synchronization with the desktop Taco (there is none)? What about importing contacts (one time only, then you're on your own)? What about the proprietary mail service limitation (POP yes, but only through their server/proxy)? What about the three email account limitation? What about anything important? You have written 5 minutes worth of junior high school crap about a sub-par device.
For crying out loud, the review of this device in the recent edition of Fortune was better than this poop.
There are still a bunch of them on eBay.
"...Slashdot in light mode worked fine"
That's it - I'm getting one!
To my knowledge, all internet transactions, including SSL, are proxied, cached, and even rewritten through T-Mobile's servers. Sort of an institutionalized man-in-the-middle attack. Even if SSH were possible, I wouldn't use it under those conditions. But I think you're limited to the protocols they explicitly support.
* And remember, it's spelled N-e-t-s-c-a-p-e, but it's pronounced "Mozilla."
how is the parent a troll? i too wondered the same thing. why is slashdot gay. what happened to ppls emale addresses. i was going to email PhysicsGenuis a pictar of my downsydrome aunt touching her bathroom areas with a handspring visor.
I dont' think repeats are a serious downfall. If you have already read about it.. SKIP IT. I am getting a little tired of _every_ single new wireless device getting covered on the front page however. Is this really burning news that every geek must know. Most of the people who read this site already have 1year contracts they are locked into anyway. If I want to shop for wireless phones I would go to amazon.com. sheez.
If T-Mobile wants their built-in web browser to be useful, they're going to have to provide some way for web developers to test out their pages on the devices. A few emulators for non-computer browsers exist (WebTV springs to mind), but not nearly enough.
T-Mobile (and Handspring, and Palm, and Nokia, and...) need to get cracking. And developers need to start taking CSS-driven design (with separate stylesheets for SCREEN, PDA, PRINTER, TV etc.) seriously.
// I will show you fear in a handful of jellybeans.
I've been with T-Mobile since it was Aerial, and I've had a GSM phone here in the U.S. for two years.
I went from a Nokia 5690 (I think... I can't remember model numbers for shit) to a Samsung N105 in no time flat. It's keen.
Unlimited downloads is only for the first year. After that it becomes 15MB/month and $3.50 each additional MB.
It will Sync with Outlook over the web. All you have to do is login to t-mobile's website and enter your username/pass, it grabs outlooks info and will sync it with your sidekick. shhaawwing.
There are some GSM networks in the US but they are using other frequencies.(T-Mobil is operating one) GSM networks outside of the US are using frequencies at around 900 Mhz and around 1800 Mhz. US GSM networks are using 1900 Mhz.
You need a so called TriBand GSM phone to be able to use it in USA and in Europe. Most european phones are DualBand phones that support only 900 and 1800 Mhz. You also may need to select 1900 Mhz in the setup of your phone.
Jan
Currently, T-Mobile has misfired on this as anything more than a replacement Blackberry. Their website by all accounts doesn't allow the syncing of the calendar and address data, though this will likely be fixed.
Only on plan exists, $39 for unlimited data and 200 anytime voice minutes. I really want to keep my current voice package that I have with T-Mobile since my phone is my business phone, but I really don't want to be adding another device. I want to eliminate them. The Sidekick could be my phone, my pda and a net device, but it's currently only one of those thanks to the single plan. I'd gleefully pay the full $39 to just add the Sidekick to my current plan, but that's not an option yet.
Those of you who can live with the limitations. Enjoy. I'm waiting until T-Mobile gets it together.
because sprint is the worst wireless provider out there (in terms of their business practices - not service to the phones)....
Sprint is actually a very good home longdistance carrier to have - but their erroneous billing practices, and lack of proper contact info - and their non-publishing of *actual* rates on their cell phones make them a very very bad company.
I actually had to threaten legal action - and document in email and write to Michael Finny @ KGO to get them to fix my bill.
Fsck Sprint and all the criminal carriers on the market.
Lets see if T-mobile actually is any different. But I suspect that because they hired that idiot Katherine Zeta Jones - that they are just as dubious in their practices as any other carrier (why? because people like Zeta-Jones dont make people really want to buy a phone - it just shows that the spend excessive amounts of money on a pointless sales person - rather than saving that money. Remember all the dot-coms that spent TONS of money on superbowl advertising? dead. so you should be wary of any company that spends large amounts on advertising while not giving you the real meat of information you need to properly evaluate their offerings. This is why so many carriers get into hot water about fraudulent billing - they rarely put anything in writing for you to hold them to)
This may be OT, but what good is a cool cellular device if you can't use it most places? T-mobile's coverage is pathetic. If you look at their coverage map, you'll see a broken spider web of purple blotches across the US. Their website doesn't make it very clear that their service offers *no* coverage outside these splotches. If I go out of town w/a T-Mobile phone or neato Sidekick, its highly likely that I won't be able to call for help or SSH into my box in an emergency :(
Did they have to build a network from scratch like Sprint, hence having lousy coverage for the next 10 years?
You are 100% correct. It's a pity you were knocked down to -1 for speaking the truth. Taco, that opening paragraph sucks ass. You need to go back and learn how to use the comma.
Slashdot product reviews lack pictures of the actual item. Consider adding them!
It would be a nice addition, at least.
The Kyocera 6035 is PalmOS-based (i.e. you can run PalmOS apps on it, not just whatever Danger has preinstalled for you. This includes Liberty, AvantGo, any of the hundreds of PQAs out there).
The 6035 has been out for well over a year. In fact, it's being phased out in favor of the next-generation 7135, due out in 1-2 months. In the meantime, you can get 6035s *FREE* with a Sprint service activation from OfficeMax. (While I don't like Sprint, at least they're better than T-Mobile - The US GSM footprint is horrendous.)
The 6035's phone/PDA integration is excellent. (Unlike its predecessor the pdQ, which apparently sucked.)
So why the excitement over a device that costs more and does less than the 6035?
No, I don't work for Kyocera or Verizon. Yes, I have a 6035 and LOVE it. Check out http://www.smartphonesource.com/ for more info.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
I'm surprised at a few obvious holes that haven't come up in reviews:
* The Sidekick -- by design -- offers no way to sync your PDA data unless you continue to pay $500/year for their service. The moment you stop paying, your PDA becomes worthless. No wonder it's only $200.
* The Sidekick offers no way to take your hundreds of contacts *out* of their proprietary web service. Kiss all your data goodbye when the next Sony Clie comes out.
* I knew a few people with prototypes. They kept breaking anytime you dropped them, perhaps 'cause nobody at Danger knows diddly about designing cell phones. Hopefully the real things are more reliable.
As for me, I'll stick with an open product.
Whomever marked me as a troll is a loser. You obviously have nothing better to do in your life than defend someone's forgetfullness.
You're the troll if there ever was one. You and the Natalie Portman weirdos.
Verizon and AT&T. Both have excellent coverage.
Sprint's coverage is pretty skimpy, but even they are far ahead of T-Mobile (formerly Voicestream)
Good luck when you leave the highway.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
Timmah! and Michael got it and fucked to poor thing to death with Katz's 16" barbed, black jelly dong. Took it several hours to bleed out.
I admit that I didn't look so closely as to notice something in the middle of thousands of posts. wow. i must suck. maybe i just don't have that much time on my hands.
I bought one of these gadgets the day they came out. I'm here to tell you that it is truly a marvel. After your phone is activated, it displays a setup screen that allows you to create a tmobile username and acount. This has several wonderful advantages. You get an easy to remember email address (username@tmail.com) instead of using the phone number for mail (777-777-7777@tmmobile.com). tmobile.com has a webpage that they call the "desktop interface". this page gives you access to your email, address book, calendar, to do list, notes, and camera applications. This makes it very easy to make a large number of changes on your device (while using a full size keyboard).
I purchased the device thinking that i'd use it mostly for web browsing. I couldn't have been more wrong. The browser is well designed and the interface is easy to use. However, the always on AIM application has proven to be more useful. So far I've spent 90% of my time on the device using AIM, the email client, and the text messaging(not AIM) client. That other 10% was spent using the web browser for looking up words while I was studying a little physics.
having the ability to have dictionary.com, google.com, and always on AIM in my pocket is definitely worth $200 ($39 a month).
I only have two complaints. Tmobile is only offering the device with one service plan. This plan is great for data, but 200 anytime minutes just isn't enough talk time. I decided to pay the extra $5 a month for 500 tmobile to tmobile minutes. My second complaint is the lack of a calculator. I can't believe they didn't put a calculator on this thing. get rid of one of the stupid games and add something useful. hopefully they'll add this later.
Verizon is CDMA, along with Sprint.
MCI used to have wireless service, but they appear to have disappeared. They were CDMA too.
AT&T and Cingular are TDMA although they're beginning a GSM rollout. (But it's "not there yet")
Voicestream (now T-Mobile) is the only current full-blown GSM provider in the US.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
That link takes you to a goatse re-direct. MOD DOWN!
Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, and Cingular all offer dual-mode phones that will roam off their native digital network, even into AMPS (analog) territory. 'New Yawkers' might never leave the big city, but those of us that like to travel have no use for T-Mobile.
Nice try... the .cx domain gives it away, dipwad.
A friend of mine just got one of these.. awesome device!! The only thing keeping me from getting one to replace my regular cell is the service plan (that's right, just one!) that Voicesteam has. $40 a month for 200 anytime minutes and 1000 weekend (NOT night) minutes. If they offered a plan with more minutes for a bit more, I'd jump at it!
Slashdot needs every penny it can scam from advertisers and it's readers
you are correct!
FYI. The one in Northern VA (Landmark) had one left at lunch time.
Taco already knows ho to 'use' the colon!
I travel all the time and my phone works fine everywhere I go.
The camera may be $30 seperately, but mine came with it, (got it at CompUSA, $100 rebate) and T-Mobile also says the camera is included. YMMV.
how much is slashdot getting paid to promote this device?
A lot of people think the Kyo 6035 has an even better form factor - You can't dial on the Treo or use it as a phone without lifting the flip, wherease the 6035's keypad is externally accessible and there is no need to open up the phone to use the phone features. PalmOS based just like the Treos, and since it has a greyscale screen it has excellent battery life. (Many of the people on the Smartphone Source boards only put their phone on the charger once a week or so... *8 hours* of battery life for this Danger piece of crap? You have to be kidding me.)
:(
As to the data charges one of the people who replied to the parent commented on: I use Verizon's Mobile Office service, which gives me free "dialup" internet access. The only thing I pay for are my minutes, which are billed the same as voice.
For those who have a 6035 with Verizon: Ditch Mobile Web, just set up a connection with #777 as the number and qnc/qnc as the user/password. (Note: This also works if you're using a Verizon phone with a serial cable as a modem for another PDA or laptop.)
If you absolutely need a color screen, get a Treo (and deal with Sprint's bad coverage) or wait for the Kyocera 7135, due out either this month or next. The 7135 has:
16M RAM
PalmOS 4.1
SD memory slot
Built-in MP3 capability (Including MP3 ringers)
2.5G Sprint Vision/Verizon Express Network capable
Reflective color LCD screen
Unfortunately it's a StarTac-style flip phone.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
Cingular is GSM as well. They share capacity with voicestream. Well...at least here in NYC they're GSM....
T-Mobile can't even cover all of New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the nation. If they can't cover all of NJ, I feel sorry for anyone dumb enough to subscribe to their service in the Midwest.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
I almost ordered a T-Mobile PocketPC a couple weeks ago until I figured out what bandwidth costs. They want $20/month for 10MB transfer. Ouch. The voice capability probably sucks 64KB/sec so if you look at it a certain way,
10,485,760B (10MB) = 65536B (64KB)*seconds
Seconds = 160!
So I can get 300 or so minutes per month @ $20/month but $20 only buys me 1 minute 40 seconds of data transfer. Damn they're trying to stick it to the early adopters!
but the NYTimes (free reg., etc. etc.) has an article comparing the Sidekick with the competition...
~RdeJ
I'm not sold on the Sidekick. It seems that for the price, having POP mail, greyscale browsing, IM, basic PDA functionality and a phone is nothing to get too excited about.
It lacks a lot of the functionality you can get with the T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone. And while the sidekick costs costs just $200, I found a company that's selling the Pocket PC for just $299 after rebate. ($250 off the T-Mobile advertised price).
With the risk of running afoul of the anti-M$ sentiment here, my pocket PC runs Windows CE which can sync, run Excel, Word, Outlook, IE, and thousands of other apps.--a ton more functionality than a Palm OS based PDA, let alone the Sidekick (which as mentioned a dozen times can't even sync with any other devices, let alone run 3rd party apps.).
I can't understand why anyone would pick the Sidekick over the Pocket PC, especially at that price.
...and no, I don't work for T-Mobile or On The Go Solutions.
I'm a friend of a friend of the working class.
Now I have to wait for 3 painfully slow days before I get it in the mail. :-(
I've heard nothing but good things about these units. My two biggest questions for the sales person were this:
1) Does it use a standard 2.5 mm jack that most other cellphones use for the headset?
2) Does it come with (or can I buy) a desktop charger?
She didn't know the answer to number 1 and the answer to number two is "not yet". It comes with a travel-type power supply. But, there was not a nice desktop stand unit available yet.
I can't WAIT to check this thing out! The price is right and the features are great! Why hasn't anyone else been able to come up with one of these before?
One thing that should be noted -- The $39.95/mo. unlimited data rate is only good for one year! After that it becomes $39.95/mo. for 15 MB of transfer and $3.50 / Mb after that.
bye-bye karma theirpuppet!
The answer is simple really. I don't use Microsoft products. Period. I have no need to synch with Outlook -- I don't use it. I hate IE, Word and Excel! So, what is your point?
Well then go with a linux based PDA/Phone that has the same functionality!
Oh wait...
The stock is having trouble reaching zero, however:
VA Software (LNUX)
The top execs are inexperienced in business.
I'm nothing if not a toy junky, and when Danger sent me at long last, a review unit of their excellent little HoTop PDA/Cellphone, now known as the T-Mobile Sidekick. I jumped at the chance to get into the thing and get my opinions out there.
Jesus...let's try this again...
I'm a self-proclaimed toy junky. So when Danger finally sent me a review unit of their excellent little HoTop PDA/Cellphone (now known as the T-Mobile Sidekick), I jumped at the chance to try it out and get my opinions published.
A little proofreading goes a long way.
There also is IM functionality, but no IRC.
Whose IM client is it compatible with? AOL?
I have a danger hiptop/sidekick. I got it because I wanted a pda with a keyboard. That could do web and email. But the big selling point for me was integrated AIM. Plus unlimited data. So far, the battery ran good for about 20 hours, which is plenty. Plus, you have to factor in new factor, where I'm playing with it everywhere, not just when I need it.
;)
Don't know what it is, but I really don't like the palms. I don't want a touch pad, or handwriting anythng. The keyboard on this thing rocks. Plus the scroll wheel does everything you need it to, and it's relatively quick at doing it.
I haven't gotten into the to do/calendar/PIM stuff yet, but I'm not sure Ill use those excessively. Although the contact manager just makes sense, and makes speed dialing really easy.
I'm giving my own +1 Wicked moderation to this cool little device.
Btw, you can see some of the pics I took with this thing on www.hiptop411.com. I'm MediumDave on there, and yes, that is my dog
Th
yawn. It'll be cool for about a week or so, same with my visor, it's nice for somethings but i'd far rather rely on traning my self to recall dates then something that uses a battery, faling the mind, theirs my trusty wall callander and syncing is as fast as: email soandso@youwsih.such BCC:anyonethatneedstoknow. CC:someothers PGP encrypted.
then call and confirm
you lamers will never learn will you?
And the bluetooth RF keeps your liver nice & warm
There are a few nifty little games you can play as well. The form factor of the device is fairly similiar to a Gameboy Advanced, and when held in that position, makes a reasonable gaming platform.
I'm assuming what was meant that when the sidekick is held as if it were a Gameboy Advance, it has a similar feel and would make a reasonable gaming platform. Is this just a comment on the ergonomics or did you actually play any games for it? Are there any games yet?
You get a good keyboard, a web browser, and a remarkably bright screen.
How well did the web browser handle web sites? Is it XHTML 1.0 compliant? Was it fast?
Isn't this supposed to be a review? Geez, getting information about this thing it's like pulling teeth!
I agree, why didn't you exercise it yourself and change "HoTop" to "HipTop"?
Could you explain that correction to me?
Ive always understood the language in this way:
nor has to be used with a neither,
and or has to be be used with an either.
"Neither this nor that"
"Either this or that"
You can't have a 'nor' without a preceeding 'neither'
Can you point me to something that proves this wrong?
Scott.
Um, because I had no idea what the old name was.
Perhaps you are implying that I shouldn't have relied on Taco's spelling of the old name for a product whose history I know nothing about. In that case...I agree!
Maybe when there's a CDMA version I'll be interested. GSM sucks, at least in North America. Not everyone lives in cities with 1,000,000+ population, you know.
I wish I had known just how bad GSM coverage is before I bought a Handspring Treo 180. It turns out I've had to keep my CDMA StarTAC (after having given away all the accessories... grrr...) to take with me whenever leaving the NYC/Long Island area. A couple of weeks ago, I went down to Ocean City, MD for a golf weekend - no GSM service, but the CDMA phone worked fine. Last weekend, I headed for upstate NY (Warwick) for dinner with the folks - no GSM service, CDMA no problem. I've used my StarTAC in all kinds of places, and only very rarely have I had a problem getting a connection.
Then again, it sure was neat to be able to use the Treo in Europe by swapping the SIM out of the company cell phone... but I don't travel to Europe often enough for that to be a reason for me to keep the Treo.
Now, there's the Treo 300 with Sprint service - but $500? Yeesh...
Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
...beleive me I was the first to drool over the Tmobile's specs, I know it doesnt have a color screen, but isnt Msoft coming out with a slimmed down OS for Kyocera phone with CE built in? Like others have said, if you cannot synch with the desktop, its not really that usable. I think I'll wind up staying with my ipaq 3650 and my Aircard 300 and if I need it, snap on my little thumb keyboard. Only 19.2K on a good day, usually 9600 for data, but its $50 unlimited data per month through AT&T CDPD. That and a cheapie Nokia until an all-in-one device which isn't a Palm OS comes out. Tmobile's Pocket PC/phone looks good, too, but another $500 ipaq?
Relive the BBS Past - One Byte at a Time! www.ssabbs.com
Because Sprint didn't want to use GSM like all the other kids on the playground, they had to be different and go with CDMA
Verizon has one of the biggest networks in the US, and it's CDMA. Damn good service too.
Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
What is laughable about rollover minutes? That is the single best thing about prepaid AT&T service. I only pay $10 most 45 day periods (not even per month, per 45 days) and occasionally have to get a $25 card instead when I happen to run the minutes down. Mind you, I don't use my cell phone that much, by design. Point is that you can get yourself a lower priced plan if you don't use your phone a lot consistently every month. Minutes you don't use can be used when you do need them in some future month, or as in my case, when my v*lksw*g@n breaks down again.
Mind you, I have not investigated the specifics of Cingular's rollover minutes - there may be limitations that aren't present in AT&T's prepaid plan.)
--- What?
Sprint was CDMA back when everything was TDMA. The entire U.S. didn't want to play GSM (can you say IS-41). It's only recently that the big U.S. wireless companies have come round. Cheers to them.
Data Transfer(per month) = Unlimited *
.Net account to do so. hrmmmmm makes the sidekick that much more appealing.
* - After 1st year, unlimited becomes 15MB/month, $3.50/additional MB.
if you go to http://www.t-mobile.com/ and click on the sidekick plans you can get the full explanation. i think it's a bit diff than their other plans right now..... they also throw in the novelty camera attachment (it's really tiny).
Price = $39.99
Whenever minutes(per month) = 200 minutes
Weekend minutes (per month) = 1000
from what i read somewhere they do not count data like phone calls... and AIM can always be on as well as email checker. i have Verizon wireless web now and if i want to use Yahoo! Messenger i have to go into web-mode which ties up the whole phone.... though Verizon just worked out somehting with AIM that *might* allow AIM names to contact you and you to contact them as text messages. kind of an alias portal thing or something. i have not investigated that yet because it seems i have to set up a
KMFM$
Its not as bad as it sounds, from what I hear. This may just be hearsay, but whatever. There's probably truth in it. I think they're measuring the data transfer of it differently, like being connected isn't going to count against you, it'll just measure emails sent, webpages accessed, AIM messages sent. Like all of us know, being connected to a network consists of data transfer, they're only going to count the megs you've actively used.
I justify this by a sales rep said "15 MB a month isn't a big deal, most of the reviewers only used 2.5MB in their testing."
It's _so_ cool. There's a few useful unix tools online, it may not be the full SSH you want, but nonetheless, I needed to ping my home machine's gateway because my server went down, and pinging it from work wasn't working, so I tried pinging it from a web-based ping tool on my sidekick, and it was working... so it turned out to be that backbone issue from earlier today affecting access at my machine at work... This is _so_ cool. ;)
I make these: http://beatseqr.com
It gives you everything the Treo does, but for 1/4 the price! Yes, that's 150$, because VisorPhone is free.
when trying to mail a picture, I couldn't return and send the picture... I ended up having to actually go to the pictures, and choose mail picture instead of writing an email and attaching it there.
All you have to do is hit the menu button while composing a message... There is an "Attach Picture" option right on the menu.
...and WorldCom became nothing.
It pulled an Enron; Arthur Anderson style.
Could you explain that correction to me?
I wasn't correcting the grammar, I was correcting the quotation (hence "my English Lit teacher"). It comes from "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It was first published in 1798, and English usage has changed a bit in the meantime.
Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
I'm getting one today, only because Catherine Zeta-Jones has painstakingly assessed which mobile network has the widest range of coverage with the largest amount of redundant systems in case of outages.
...and she can assumedly stop time.
Shaddap already...
Any options for installing software?
For syncing with an open-source desktop?
IMAP is almost always faster if bandwidth is the main concern. Messages can be left on the server, and only the headers downloaded. If you want to read the full body of the message, it is downloaded on demand.
Same for attachments. It typically does not download an attachment unless you ask for it specifically (say by clicking on an attachment-link displayed next to, or within the message).
One reason $100.00 dollare. The SodeKick has a rebate whci h brings the price doen to $200 dollars. If you have not noticed $2000 dollars is THE price point for ANY tech toy.
Albatross!
How much is it?
Ninepence.
I'll have two please.
Gannet on a stick!
Sadly the mail server packaged with Apple's latest Jaguar release doesn't support it. Do a "TOP N 0" command and you get the whole message. Apparently it's a known issue. It also doesn't escape lines containing only a single period (eg: convert "." to ".."), which is definitely less forgivable. Good thing we're using it where I work!
To each his own -- I swear by clamshell designs. More compact, lower SAR, better conformance to face.
The Samsung SPH-i500 (announced last week for SprintPCS) is smaller in four dimensions (including weight), does AMPS, and has an integrated 16MB Palm 4 PDA. I am going NUTS waiting for it to appear locally so I can finally get a good look at it. I was very disappointed when I finally saw the Treo -- there's no way I could have one of those big flat things on my belt all day long.
One simple rule for its versus it's
The Treo is better, but even that thing is a bit clunky.
I'm sick of seeing phones with PDA's built into them. You end up with this stupid brick you have to talk into.
I'd rather see a PDA with cellphone functionality.
for example..I have a nice ultra tiny Sony Clie that is thinner than most wallets and fits in my front, back pocket and some shirt pockets no problem. I'd like to beable to attack a ear-phone/mic into that and use it as a phone..have a touch screen to dial out on. I'd like that more than having this wide phone thing like the Treo.
I know this is coming soon..there are those new cell-phone chips coming out. I'm sure they'll end up in Palms and Pocket PC's
I'm with Voicestream and always had good coverage (including when travelling), which was not so when I was still with at&t.
Actually, on the at&t pcs network, the phone would claim a good signal, but w.... making an actual call, the it would bl...contin............ so that a con...would b..................... impos..........click...
That, or one of the two parties could only hear the other.
I was a Sprint customer for several years, but their coverage didn't reach my new house* I switched to T-mobile and the Sony/Ericsson T68m, the phone has PDA functionaliy, with POP mail access, color screen, WAP, BlueTooth, IRDA I haven't looked back!
Once the T68i firmware upgrade is ready in the US, IMAP mail will work as well, plus the phone is smallest and lighest I've use. Battery life is good as well I only have to plug it in every couple of days.
*I can now make calls from the front of my house where with sprint I had to walk at least a block away. I live 10 mins from AOL an MCI headquaters, but still can't high speed access please tell Tauzin and Dengel to blow me
Forget about the Treo 300; spend your $500 on the new Kyocera 7135. It kicks Treo's ass.
Kyocera smartphones run Palm OS, not CE nor any other Microsoft piece of crap.
If memory serves this is a Win CE based cell phone.
As with the history of Microsoft products it's great hardware defective software.
The Handspring counterpart is nice hardware but the service plans are from one carrer Sprint that really cuts down on your options.
The visor + cell phone module combination is really nice but given the fact that Handspring is discontinuing that option you may want to pass. On the other hand a Visor delux [$99] + cell phone module [free] is a pritty good deal however forget Internet access unless you get at least the Visor Neo or platnum [$1.19].
(referbished prices)
For now wait. The software defects MIGHT be addressed with time and they may be ignored (as is the history with Microsoft) The Treo may have more service plans eventually but I doupt it.
But the most likely thing to happen is more compeditive devices. I expect many PDA and cell phone makers to enter the market with better units in the months ahead.
Some with WinCE some Palm os some Linux and others with costum made PDA operat
I don't actually exist.
It's simple. Unlimited data service, flat rate. The device price +- a few $100 is irrelevant.
Oh god, please no.
At the risk of some blatent plugging, if you're going to read Slashdot on a PDA or offline web-browser (like AvantGo) then try AvantSlash instead.
Hopefully someone a little less biased than me will post a review in reply to this comment. In fact, any suggestions for improvement would be appreciated.
Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
Check out Gopher King. They offer a cheap, but not-free, service for checking any mail on the web and presenting it in a lite format perfect for PDAs. I have used it on a Palm VIIx and a Kyocera 6035 and it works great with both thru a PDA. Their regular site should work fine thru the HipTop's built-in browser, as it is built to be lite on the images and efficient in the HTML.
And yes, they will do POP, IMAP, AOL, etc.
Is their GSM coverage anywhere close to their former TDMA coverage?
That's what I mean by "not there yet" Their GSM footprint is probably on par with Sprint's coverage, which is NOTHING compared to AT&T's former TDMA coverage area. (And I believe Cingular's was large too, compared to Spring.)
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
Even when I had an old Kyo 2035a (Small compared to the 6035), I couldn't stand to put it in my pockets because I already had too damn much in my pocket.
I have a belt clip - My phone could be twice the size and I wouldn't notice it. I also don't have to pull it out of my pocket to check caller ID.
It's not usually visible because I rarely wear shirts that tuck in, so most shirts I wear cover the phone.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
I see. Maybe Ill read more carefully next time.
Thanks for the reply!
Scott.
Does it have a keyboard? If not, I'm not interested. I gave up graffiti back when I traded in my Visor for a Psion 5mx, and I'd never go back. (Unfortunately, though, the 5mx was just too damn big.) I was concerned at first that the Treo 180's "thumbboard" would be too cumbersome, but in practice I can type at least half as fast as I can on a full-size keyboard -- which is at least five times faster than graffiti, for me anyway.
Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
CompUSA current has the Sidekick on sale for $100 after rebates.
'nuff said
I still want to see the A388 & its pricing. http://commerce.motorola.com/consumer/QWhtml/a388. html
Little info on the Mot website >16gs]
I would want to consider the same plan with this phone instead, but it seems unlikely that it will be offered as T-mobile calls it the "T-Mobile Sidekick plan"
i have the same plan, and agree with you. hard to beat that. i'm on the edge of going with the sidekick cuz my palm Vx is dying (screen) and this looks like the most bang for the buck. color is pretty, but i like usefulness.