Kivela

Pocket PC’s - Smartphones - Gps phones still suck.

After using my Mio a701 for over 6 months the overall feeling is the sentence mentioned above.
Today it really crossed the line.

The specs look great, even the battery isn’t a reason for complaining but what about the following:

1) When someone calls you and you pick up, you will have to deal with the 1-4sec bug. This means the first few seconds of the call they cannot hear you speak. (even the r65 firmware)
This results in 3 possible resolutions:
* Break the f*cking phone
* Repeat your name twice (+/- 2 sec) but looks kinda weird for people standing next to you
* Be patient and count till 3 and start speaking

2) The phone will crash at least once a week, and yes also with the newest firmware and a clean re-install. And I am aware of the fact that it is a Windows Mobile 5 but still this kind of bugs tend to annoy me.
Possible resolutions:
* Break/Throw the f*cking phone
* Reboot and try to remember that all Mobile 5 devices tend to do this

3) Sometimes the phone will freeze when someone calls you, resulting in the following behaviour. You see the phone come alive (screen becomes active), you hear your ringtone, you try to unlock the phone and answer the call…. and nothing, you try again, … still nothing… OK Reboot now, guess what : you can’t see who called you because apparently this becomes recorded in a sequence after the freeze up?
Possible resolutions:
* Break it
* Throw it
* Reboot it

4) Sometimes the a701’s phone functions have crashed but the phone isn’t frozen. So it looks like nobody called you in +6 hours but in fact the phone part is dead. This can easily be tested by trying to make a call yourself. If this results in an error message you can be damn sure that someone is pissed at you ! Result: messages will look delivered by the person who did send them, and you won’t have a clue. If someone called you however they tend to be stored however.

Although this device gets straight A’s on the googled reviews I do want to mention that from the 4 people I know with this device 3 are experiencing this behaviour and the other one, well, … just doesn’t have any friends Just kidding ofcourse but he seems to be doing fine, but then again he also thinks that Vista is the biggest innovation since sliced bread.

So I will sell it or use it as a gps-only and buy another -really cheap- phone (Nokia / SE) so that when I feel the need to break it (phone), I will only lose 100 euro instead of +500

At the moment I am still thinking about throwing the damned Mio against the wall while taping it and publish it later on YouTube next to the Wii movies.

Is really nobody else facing these trouble and thinking:
No way I will cope with this bullshit, back to the oldschool phone and f*ck it, I’ll wait for a year or 3 until they get it figured out ? - Or the iPhone becomes affordable

I mean really:
- Sending messages with a stylus whilst driving your car, you need to be a pro if you don’t want to spill your cola …
- Trying to call someone with only your fingers (And I mean without a stylus with the former sentence), only for the really patient once, or with only 3 friends / relatives
- Leaving Bluetooth on and try to call someone a few hours later - thats a nono - battery will die on you whilst calling.
- Using the excel / word on these things: get real !

The iPhone looks promising but I will pass on this one, will wait for a few years to see what happens on this geeky market.

The top 10 reasons why smart phones suck
couldn’t be listed better than on the following site

CrunchGear

Quick overview

10. Proprietary Connectors and Software
Mio has mini-usb so Ok, software for mac is
none existing
9. Quick Access to Important Functions
Indeed a nono, try to sms someone that just called you and you’ll see what I mean
8. No OS X Support
7. The Kitchen Sink Ploy
Yes it has GPS / media player / phone / excel / …. but is it slim, easy to use and stylish - NO
6. Battery Life
Lol
5. The UI is a Vast Wasteland
The original startup screen of the Mio contains more buttons one should ever want to press
4. Software, Software Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink
There is no list of good free software for a pocket pc - downloading and testing is always up to you!
3. Dude, You Disabled My Bluetooth
Yes the Mio sometimes does that, or disable the phone functions, or …
2. Remember: It’s Still a Phone…
Echos, bad signal, … all had it …
1. Windows Mobile 5.0
Sigh.

Stefan.

Filed under: Multimedia, Tech on February 27th, 2007