I first became addicted to Pocket PC’s with my HP IPAQ 4150 which was a birthday present from my husband. I quickly found I could not live without it.
Then when I came to renew my mobile
phone contract I thought “wouldn’t it be great to have a
Pocket PC and Phone in one”. A techie friend had showed my his Smartphone but after using a windows based Pocket PC I knew it wasn’t for me – I was clearly spoilt, I needed a user friendly interface and
top notch performance. Then my husband introduced to me to
i-mate.
I browsed the i-mate website, saw the JAM, and knew I had to have it.
So what is it…
The i-mate JAM is the smallest Windows Pocket PC available.
It includes an internal GSM/GPRS Tri-band (900/1800/1900GSM) antenna for voice and data calls - perfect for picking up emails or surfing the web whilst on the move.
It also features Bluetooth, Windows Pocket PC Second Edition, 64MB RAM, an SDIO/MMC slot, a 64k colour transflective LCD and a built-in 1.3 Mega-Pixel camera. Use for playing MP3s, making voice calls, collecting emails, taking pictures and videos and much more.
At £399.95 (incl VAT and delivery) it is excellent value for money when you consider how much camera phones and Pocket PC’s cost on there own.
What’s in the box….
My JAM arrived in a cute compact box, inside was the device itself, an extra stylus, A/C adapter, USB to mini-USB cable, 2.5 mm stereo headphones, CD with ActiveSync and Outlook, Quick Start Guide, full User Manual, and warranty documentation.
Also included is a neat belt slip case – which is quite nice, made of
leather, fabric and elastic. Although hanging a phone off my belt isn’t really ‘my thing’ it is keeping it well protected until I find something better.
The looks…
It is amazing! It is very, very small, a similar size to an
i-POD or a packet of cigarettes, and feels rock solid. It fits comfortable in the palm of your hand and feels just like holding a normal phone. It looks gorgeous too, in brushed aluminum with nice curved edges.
The buttons…
There are four basic buttons arranged around the square navigational pad that acts like a joystick. There are the red and green
phone buttons (which light up when switched on), a Contacts button, and a Calendar button. The square navigational pad works well, and in the center you will find an Action or ‘select/enter’ button. These buttons are handy and
easy to use, but for the most part you use the
touch screen with your stylus, as a way of working.
The display…
It is 2.8 inches and has a 240x320 QVGA resolution. The colours are very vibrant and the fonts look really crisp. Seeing is believing with this device.
Another nice feature is that you can switch the screen from portrait to landscape, this versatility comes in really handy for some applications.
Indicator lights….
These are situated above the display and flash/glow yellow, green, blue or red depending on what is going on with your device.
The bits on the side..
On the right is the stylus which has an unusual black end that matches the rounded curves of the device.
At first you struggle to find it, but soon get used to it. Next to the stylus is the power button, which is small, which is great as it means you never switch it on accidentally. On the bottom of the right side is the IR port so you can beam info to and from your JAM.
On the left side is the camera button, volume slider, and the record button – so you can record sounds, just like a dictophone.
On the top and bottom…
On the bottom you will find the microphone,
mini-USB connector,
2.5 mm headset jack and the reset button.
On the top simply is the (SD) Secure Digital slot and two small lanyard openings.
On the back…
On the back is the 1.3-megapixel camera and a small mirror for self-portraits. Here you will also find the battery cover in a slightly different silver, and keeps the 1200 mAh battery in place.
The spec…
The JAM's specs include 57.4 MB usable RAM, 7.6 MB usable ROM, 416MHz PXA272 Intel XScale processor, integrated Bluetooth, and 240x320 QVGA display. The small amount of RAM (compared to my iPAQ 4150) is something that I was concerned with but it hasn’t been a problem yet.
Features…
The Bluetooth on the JAM is really easy to work with, I have paired with lots of different mobiles and PDA’s, and connected to a Bluetooth headset with ease. It also works great with a wireless GPS receiver, so by getting a good piece of GPS kits like TomTom navigator – it offers you sat. nav. capabilities (the only draw back here is that the screen is small so you have to have the JAM near to you to see the maps).
The phone software…
The JAM is what is called a ‘Phone Edition’ device and includes the standard Windows Mobile application and utility suite, which is great. It also has the added bonus of Smart Dial, which filters your contact list as you start tapping a number or name on the input panel.
But that’s not all, the JAM also includes a unique soft input panel keyboard called Phone Pad that allows you to quickly switch between T9, numbers, or letters. This is great input method which I find really useful.
The other software…
The JAM quickly becomes an indispensable device. I listen to tunes on my
SD card using the
windows media player all the time, the battery power is adequate and the sound quality is phenomenal – as good as a lot of
MP3 players out there – naming no names.
I often play games too - Astraware Bejwelled and PDAmill Flux Challenge work really well and keep me occupied when I'm bored.
For the serious stuff I use Excel and Word loads for my work.
Also it is great for keeping myself organized at home.
(I had previously mastered the art of transcribing on my iPAQ 4150, and use it all the time – for the PDA virgins amongst you this is a great tool, you write on the screen and the writing is converted into text, this works for all applications. Alternatively you can use the touch keypad – or for times when you will want to write lots (like composing ciao reviews) you can buy keyboards that you
plug in – genius!).
To keep in touch I use Messaging – sending SMS, MMS.
It is so easy to message with the JAM as you can scribe or type on the keyboard, so much easier then txting on a phone.
To keep
up to date with news and stuff I use
Internet Explorer connected via my GPRS which works really well, quick and easy which is how I like it.
And that’s not to mention to Outlook contacts and calendar facility which means you never miss an appointment, never forget birthdays and always have address and number’s handy. You will soon become to most organized person on the planet!
And to top it all off it is very quick, all applications zip along, faster than my PC at home.
The battery…
It is of decent capacity (1200 mAh) for such a small device, and I found it lasts about 2-3 days depending on what you are doing. It charges quickly as well.
Ease of use…
It is easy-peasy to use, even if you have never used anything like this before. You can have it up and running in 15 minutes. You SIM goes in just like a
mobile phone – and even if you get stuck ,the help button or the manual can get you back on track. If you have any more in-depth queries I have found a good support forum on: www.expansys.com. The guys on here got my GPRS up and running and helped me set my favorite song as my ring tone.
And now the buts…
The two main drawbacks of the JAM are that, firstly it does not have integrated WiFi like my old iPAQ 4150. But apparently you can add WLAN by using a WiFi
SDIO card. An ‘adapter type thing’ which fits into your SD slot so you can use WiFi when the mood takes you – I will probably consider getting this when there are more hot spots around my area, or if I go wireless at home. Secondly the RAM isn’t great, although I have heard that a 128 upgrade is possible.
So my verdict…
You must get one, it as simple as that.
For more info go to: www.clubimate.com
I bough mine from www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk, this is the best price I could find and the company has excellent customer service.
And one last thing…
Some users have experienced slight problems with the camera and problems with MMS. Club i-mate (see above) keep you update on all upgrades and patches which can easily be installed should needs be. This is a new piece of kit so I guess being a
PDA/Phone pioneer you should expect a few teething problems.
The amazing i-mate JAM 
