HTC TyTynII v Nokia N95 8gb v ??

ollyk1

I'm weighing up the pros and cons of the above devices and I've been reading some of the specs online etc but I'd also like to get a few opinions from this fourm on this (if anyone has seen any head to head reviews and has a link it would be great). I'm prepared to wait until December to purchase. If anyone owns and operates one of these devices (or the current N95) I'd love to hear your views.

I'm considering buying one of the above smartphones (or some other phone with similar specs). My priorties are as follows

Needs to have:

1. Good phone reception in Ireland/Europe.

2. Ability to browse the net/download email easily in Ireland/Europe.

3. Good GPS reception with data assistance (in relation to finding sats overhead more quickly).

4. Media player video and music (a built in radio is a bonus that I'd appreciate)

5. An ability to review word/excel/powerpoint docs

6. Be able to drive a powerpoint presentation (perhaps using 3rd party apps with compacted/reduced powerpoint) on a projector

7 Assisting in the performance of the above I think a fast processor is a must.

8 Long lasting battery (this is quite a bit down on the list as provided I can get a full "work" day from the device I'm prepared to compromise on this).

The items below this point are desireable and I'm not 100% decided upon :rolleyes:

Simply be able to link into a LCD/high spec tv would be nice. Surely all smartphones can do this? I know the N95 can but can the TyTynII?

I'm torn as to whether the built in thumb keyboard or a bluetooth enabled seperate (foldable) kepboard for the N95 would be more useful. The more I consider it the more I think I'd want a bluetooth keyboard for any serious document editing anyway. Would you agree or is the TyTynII keyboard useful for long periods?

Any views on bluetooth stereo headphones?? Are they as good as plugging in a 3mm jack directly into the device?

I like the idea of a touch screen but is it worth it if it impairs the visability/contrast of the screen?

Decent internal memory or ability to quickly use a good sized memory card is a must but they both seem to have that. Any comments in this regard?

Camera (for still and video) would be nice. Video conferencing is way down my priority list however.


How to buy?:

I'm prepared to buy my smartphone unlocked online but obviously if any of these were going to be offered at a discount bundled with a mobile service provider in Ireland in the near future I'd purchase my smartphone that way (any news of vodafone bringing out the N95 8gb??). Will it be a case of mid 2008 before these options are available in retail shops in Ireland. If so I'm not going to wait so the choice is a little easier.

Also any views on Symbian OS versus Windows mobile 6? Now I know thats asking a lot!! lol

I think a lot of people will be mulling over these options over the next while so it would be nice to see a smartphone debate thread for the uninitiated.

Thanks for reading this far.

GUIGuy

HTC Tytn II might be offered by Vodafone here. I asked and saw a Tytn I (they called it the v1605). Voda UK already sell the Tytn II under the equally imaginative name of v1615. You'd have to call the business sales as highstreet sales probably haven't heard of them.

Flying

TYTN all the way the N95 is far to restrictive even with a 8GB drive

mik_da_man

Go For the TyTN all the way
I have one and it's the business.
Good for Mobile office and outlook.
Having problems connecting to network Via Vodafone for Data though....
AFAIK they will be bringing it out but will be only for corporate customers - not ordinary business ones. I tried but ended up getting it sim free on Expansys.
The Keyboard is good to use, takes a wee while to get used to but I am tapping out decent mails with no hassle now.
The tilt screen is the Business .
I much rather the Mobile 6 OS Vs Symbian.
Loads of apps available and it defo gets my vote over the Nokia.
The camera is not as good as the nokia though, grand for taking snaps but no flash and the video calling works fine.
Not too sure about hooking it to a TV - have not tried.
I have a 2GB mem card in mine and it works well.
The touch screen is well handy and is very accurate and works well.
I don't need to use the stylus for most things.
As I said it has Mobile office, PDA reader, Windows Media player and good GPS
As for doing a Powerpoint show -I'm not too sure - maybe via Bluetooth??..

I think that's most questions answered from the TyTN side - if you have any more let me know and I'll try to answer them

Mik

mkennedy

mik_da_man wrote:

Go For the TyTN all the way
I have one and it's the business.
Good for Mobile office and outlook.
Having problems connecting to network Via Vodafone for Data though....
AFAIK they will be bringing it out but will be only for corporate customers - not ordinary business ones. I tried but ended up getting it sim free on Expansys.
The Keyboard is good to use, takes a wee while to get used to but I am tapping out decent mails with no hassle now.
The tilt screen is the Business .
I much rather the Mobile 6 OS Vs Symbian.
Loads of apps available and it defo gets my vote over the Nokia.
The camera is not as good as the nokia though, grand for taking snaps but no flash and the video calling works fine.
Not too sure about hooking it to a TV - have not tried.
I have a 2GB mem card in mine and it works well.
The touch screen is well handy and is very accurate and works well.
I don't need to use the stylus for most things.
As I said it has Mobile office, PDA reader, Windows Media player and good GPS
As for doing a Powerpoint show -I'm not too sure - maybe via Bluetooth??..

I think that's most questions answered from the TyTN side - if you have any more let me know and I'll try to answer them

Mik

The Tytn II/Kaiser uses micro-sdhc like the N95 so both can accept up to 8gb extra storage (and up to 32gb extra when the cards come out).

@mik_da_man i would recommend mortplayer over Mediaplayer.
Mediaplayer is difficult to use without a stylus- with mortplayer you can use your fingers e.g if driving etc.

And you can't create playlists on the pda with Pocket mediaplayer- you need to first create them on a pc and then sync which is bull$hit. No problem creating playlists on the pda with Mortplayer though.

Another suggestion with all that storage is to put the entire Wikipedia on the storage card to read with the Tomeraider app. I've got it on my device and if you're ever without a connection it's handy to have (admittedly it's not bang up-to-date but still worth a look).

Also the fact that voda are bringing this device out i wonder should that mean the likely arrival of reasonable data charges any time soon like with three.

ollyk1

mik_da_man wrote:

Go For the TyTN all the way
I have one and it's the business.
Good for Mobile office and outlook.
Having problems connecting to network Via Vodafone for Data though....
AFAIK they will be bringing it out but will be only for corporate customers - not ordinary business ones. I tried but ended up getting it sim free on Expansys.
The Keyboard is good to use, takes a wee while to get used to but I am tapping out decent mails with no hassle now.
The tilt screen is the Business .
I much rather the Mobile 6 OS Vs Symbian.
Loads of apps available and it defo gets my vote over the Nokia.
The camera is not as good as the nokia though, grand for taking snaps but no flash and the video calling works fine.
Not too sure about hooking it to a TV - have not tried.
I have a 2GB mem card in mine and it works well.
The touch screen is well handy and is very accurate and works well.
I don't need to use the stylus for most things.
As I said it has Mobile office, PDA reader, Windows Media player and good GPS
As for doing a Powerpoint show -I'm not too sure - maybe via Bluetooth??..

I think that's most questions answered from the TyTN side - if you have any more let me know and I'll try to answer them

Mik

Thanks a lot Mik! Great info there.

I'v been looking at

http://www.softmaker.com/english/ofp_en.htm

For office apps as it seems to allow you do a little more then the windows mobile programs.

I think I'll also purchase a bluetooth keyboard and leave it in my briefcase in case I want to do serious amounts of typing.

The camera not being as good is not a problem imho as I'll bring my digital camera if I want pictures!!

I think at this stage I've probably procrastinated/reviewed enough and whilst it would be nice to get it through a mobile operator here it'll be a long time getting out for the ordinary business customer and I can't wait

I think I'll be able to get 3rd party software to run ppt slides (even if they are run as a series of pictures rather than the full powerpoint experience).

Thanks again for the feedback!

Edit: Well I've made the purchase of the TyTNII unlocked from Expansys and DHL are winging it over as we speak. I'll post up my impressions in a few days when I've had a chance to play with it.

mik_da_man

Glad my info helped!
You shall not be disappointed:D

Mik

mkennedy

ollyk1 wrote: »

Thanks a lot Mik! Great info there.

I'v been looking at

http://www.softmaker.com/english/ofp_en.htm

For office apps as it seems to allow you do a little more then the windows mobile programs.

I think I'll also purchase a bluetooth keyboard and leave it in my briefcase in case I want to do serious amounts of typing.

The camera not being as good is not a problem imho as I'll bring my digital camera if I want pictures!!

I think at this stage I've probably procrastinated/reviewed enough and whilst it would be nice to get it through a mobile operator here it'll be a long time getting out for the ordinary business customer and I can't wait

I think I'll be able to get 3rd party software to run ppt slides (even if they are run as a series of pictures rather than the full powerpoint experience).

Thanks again for the feedback!

Edit: Well I've made the purchase of the TyTNII unlocked from Expansys and DHL are winging it over as we speak. I'll post up my impressions in a few days when I've had a chance to play with it.

Softmaker pretty much gives you full word and excel functionality on your pda-phone. It's much better than the native Word Mobile and Excel Mobile which lack formatting options etc.

Also for powerpoint presentations there's Pocketslides.
This gives full powerpoint functionality on your pda-phone.
That is you can create, edit and view slides (unlike the native Powerpoint app which again is very limited).

ollyk1

mkennedy wrote: »

Softmaker pretty much gives you full word and excel functionality on your pda-phone. It's much better than the native Word Mobile and Excel Mobile which lack formatting options etc.

Also for powerpoint presentations there's Pocketslides.
This gives full powerpoint functionality on your pda-phone.
That is you can create, edit and view slides (unlike the native Powerpoint app which again is very limited).

Have you used it yourself mkennedy? I've read up on both apps and they sound pretty good. If they do what they say then I think they are worth the cash.

Btw less then 24 hours after ordering my TyTnII and a seperate bluetooth keyboard I have my grubby little mits on them both!! Lots of fun for the weekend now!! :p

mkennedy

I have checked out Softmaker alright.
It includes Textmaker (equivalent of word) and Planmaker (the equivalent of Excel).

The main reason i'm not using it at the moment is traditionally i've never used office apps a lot on my pda for some reason. And Softmaker isn't cheap IIRC.

But i'm fairly sure there is nothing better out there.
As i said it's far better than the native office apps and it allows you to create fully formatted word (and excel afaik) documents.

Only thing i'm not too sure about is whether all formatting is retained when transferring to a pc. I'm fairly sure it would be though.

As for pocketslides there isn't else out there that is much better.
Again i've only checked it out as a demo because it's not cheap and i don't do presentations enough to justify getting it.
But i'd imagine for someone who does, it would be useful.

It's probably not as advanced as Textmaker in terms of formatting but you can still create decent slides and transfer them back to a pc if you want.

I'm fairly sure you can try all these as demos anyway before you buy.

Check out pocketgear or handango.

If you have a bluetooth printer you may even be able to print documents straight to printer from your device.
You'll need an extra bit of print software first though.
Either that or do it the old-fashioned way- just sync to a pc and print off.

Actually the lack of easy printing functionality on a pda is one of the main reasons i've never gotten into the pda office apps TBH. It would be great if that was sorted out.

Regarding other apps i would recommend trying out:
Mortplayer: mp3 player
Tomtom: Satnav
Netfront: Online shopping/banking
Flexmail: HTML email but pocket outlook is fine
Spb mobile shell: very easy to use UI
Fizz weather: weather app
TCPMP: movie player plays mpeg, divx, xvid, avi, mp3 etc
Spb gprs monitor
Currency converter
Tomeraider 3: to read stored reference material like Wikipedia, IMDB database etc.
GSPlayer: plays radio streams

I mention them because i'd hate to think a device like the Tytn II wouldn't be used to the fullest.
HTH.

Edit: not suggesting you're going to underuse your device BTW

ollyk1

mkennedy wrote: »

Edit: not suggesting you're going to underuse your device BTW

lol

I'm sure I will initially but you're really helping me get up to speed quickly!!

Thanks for all the info. I'm reading websites like jkontherun etc and picking up as many tips as i can but getting unbiased advice from people who have used the apps is the best imo.

mkennedy

ollyk1 wrote: »

lol

I'm sure I will initially but you're really helping me get up to speed quickly!!

Thanks for all the info. I'm reading websites like jkontherun etc and picking up as many tips as i can but getting unbiased advice from people who have used the apps is the best imo.

OK fair enough.
As i say i've used Softmaker and Pocketslides temporarily as demos in the past. Maybe someone else who uses them on a regular basis might be able to give their input as well.

All the other apps i mentioned i use on a regular basis though.

Re. Office Mobile, In summary:
The Windows Mobile Smartphone (Traditional smartphones)(Standard) version of Office is very rudimentary: I don't know if you can edit docs with it yet even (may have introduced this with WM6).
The Windows Mobile Smartphone (pocketPC-Phones e.g Tytn II etc) (Professional) version of Office is better but still rudimentary (basic formatting only etc).
Softmaker (for PocketPC-phones e.g Tytn II etc) is better again than the above two (closer to the real Office suite).

Documents to Go is another Office Suite that includes Word, Excel and Powerpoint. Haven't tried it myself so somebody else here might be able to tell you about it.
I just mention it to make you aware of it.

However i'm not sure if it only works primarily with traditional Smartphones (Windows Mobile Standard) or if it will work with PocketPC-Phones (Windows Mobile Professional e.g Tytn II etc) as well. You'd need to check that if you consider it.
Tytn II is WM Professional not WM standard.

AFAIK though Documents to Go and Softmaker are the main Office Suites available for Windows Mobile.
Don't think there's much else.

ollyk1

I don't know if this will be useful to anyone else but I thought it might be a good idea to give some impressions of my new smartphone and features/workarounds that I'd like to see and if people have any ideas/suggestions that would be great.

Unfortunately I've been suffering with a recurring cold and pretty busy so I haven't played with the TyTNII as much as I would have like to but so far I'm pretty pleased with the phone.

Purchase impressions

I was very impressed with the service from Expansys (only gripe and its a very small one is that they include a phone cover with their "value" pack of extras when one is already provided in the TyTNII box, plus their version is inferior to the one in the box). Less than 24 hours waiting to receive my device delivered to my office. Excellent efficient service.

I thought the cost was reasonable on Expansys but if you were prepared to buy it in the States you'd get a discount that way I'd say.

Phone impressions.

Very pleased with the size and weight. It definitely has a lust factor imho.

Phone reception is very good. I'm with Meteor and my SE 810i didn't get reception in certain areas of my apartment but the TyTN has no problems.

I plugged in my sim card into the unlocked phone and it configured itself for standard phone operations and internet access with Meteor immediately. I will probably change mobile operator when I got out of contract with Meteor in the next while but by then I'm hoping data offerings have improved :rolleyes: I won't hold my breath.

I synced with outlook with very few problems, and configuring for different email accounts was very easy.

Slide out keyboard works very well and when you get used to its pretty quick. I also like the hand writing recognition but it takes a bit of getting used to and is most useable in the 1 letter at a time mode rather than writing whole words on the screen.

It works well with my wireless router. Internet access is easy. It lets you know about all wifi hotspots and the reception is pretty good from what I've seen so far.

I installed a generic skype mobile version, as Skype doesn't have the latest htc phones specified. It works very well but it doesn't have a video option for some reason (I'd love to try out video calling on skype so I hope someone has a suggestion for this). Perhaps I need to install a different skype mobile version.

The camera is good but a little slow from what I've seen for far. I haven't used it much though. There is a sport function so that might speed it up.



Things I'd like to able to do/change/like to see in future

I'd like to be able to delete items on gmail and have them deleted on my gmail account through the email setup rather than having to set up the seperate gmail program on the phone. Anyone managed this?

Maybe I need to setup gmail using the exchange server option rather than just downloading the mail?

Setting up tom tom with the supplied software is fine and getting your free city download works well apart from the fact that you can't download any area in Ireland!! I've since bought the map of Great Britain and Ireland from Tom Tom but the program isn't linking up with the new map for some reason. I'm reinstalling both tonight to see if I can get it running that way :rolleyes:

Answer: I finally managed to get the maps of GB and I onto the TyTN after I managed to get my head around the tomtom website and get all the codes I needed. GPS is working fine now.

Just in case it needs to be said if you are buying this phone with the intention of using the gps function factor in the map buying price into your calculations.

A small thing but when a contact rings me it doesn't idenitfy their phone number with their name so I'm not sure who's ringing me. Any ideas on how to fix this?

I can't set the phone to both vibrate and ring which is a pain if you are working in and out of a noisy environment.

Solved: Option under settings,phone, ring type select ring and vibrate. Problem solved. I guess I was more out of it then I thought lol!


I downloaded and installed opera mini no problem but I can't find it on my list of programs to use it again for some reason I must be doing something silly but I haven't figured it out yet. :rolleyes:

Answer: Of course it would help if I looked under java apps. ldo!


That's it for now I'll add to this later and try and post up my solutions and tips if and when I figure out how to get the phone setup the absolute way I like it.

Rew

Just to drag this up. Voda Ireland arn't going to do the TyTN II/V1615 and voda Uk are dropping it as well as the other HTC handsets due to lack of support from HTC (or so they say...)