Short, chick flick loving, karaoke queen and beader.
But mainly short...
Short, chick flick loving, karaoke queen and beader.
But mainly short...
Member since:12.11.2005
Reviews:7
Members who trust:3
This is my first foray into the world of the pocket pc and I have to say i'm delighted - but then I'm easily pleased.
It comes with a carrying case, a rather hefty manual, a USB cable, charger, a spare stylus, stereo hands-freeheadphones, and 2 software cds (active sync and gprs usage counter) - oh and a screen protector, though it's slightly smaller than the screen itself so you're left with a gap at the top or bottom of around 2-3mm
At first I was just incredibly happy to have a new toy to play with, the games that usually come on a mobile phone are generally not to my taste but on here you get bubble breaker and solitaire - with the option to download more J2ME games - but i'll get to that in a minute..
The first thing I would suggest to anyone buying this phone - try to get the supplier to throw in a mini sd card, you will need it if you
plan to put music or games onto this phone, or if you're likely to carry large files around on it. If you just want to keep it as a phone with gadget status then don't worry, there's enough memory on there.
It takes a little getting used to and there are many things I'm still not sure about after a month of playing with it.
The basic things like setting a background, changing text sizes, sorting an mp3 as your ringtone and setting up activsync are relatively easy to do, but the wireless network settings are a tad more difficult. For one thing when you turn on the wireless it sorts through all the presets first - i've not yet figured out how to delete those and so it can take a fair amount of time to connect, once you are connected it can be a slow process to retrieve your emails - I'd not use it for that function unless I was really desperate as i'm quite an impatient person, but it's handy to check on weather and read other websites that are accessable with a pocket pc/ smartphone.
I've had no need to use the gprs function because I have a wireless network at home which costs nothing to hook into, that is a definite plus point - free wins out over pricey any day of the week, web and walk may be good value for money to some people, but since this is so slow (at least it seems that way) to pay for the thrill of waiting for pages to load is not my idea of good value.
The battery life has proved more than adequate for my usage - especially in view of the fact that when you get it hooked up to the pc with a usb cable it automatically charges from there. I would suggest dropping the backlight settings though as this helps prolong battery life, also only use the bluetooth feature as and when you need to as this can drain it relatively quickly with sustained use.
The camera.. Well to put it bluntly "PANTS!" The image is very dark and the resolution is not as good as my old nokia 3650 which in itself was not great - though when you upload the images to the pc they improve immeasurably - i'm not enough of a tech geek to understand why this should be but i'm happy to take the chance when I do point and click.
I've had no problems whatsoever with the touchscreen, when I was trying to set it up at first it didn't seem to register the taps - until instead of tapping i'd touch the screen and hold, then once it was set up all it takes is a gentle tap - this can be annoying when using the virtual keyboard though - if you hit the spacebar wrong it hides the keyboard - but that's ok, there's an actual qwerty keyboard that slides out from the left hand side of the device - and it automatically changes the screen to landscape view when it opens.
The Excel and word programs are the same as you'd find on your pc, just a lot more basic - I've actually gotten around to finally cataloguing my book collection on an excel sheet using my phone, mainly because it's a lot easier standing in front of the book case than traipsing back and forth across the room with armloads of books.
wmplayer also works pretty much the same as on the pc, the only problem I find with the phone as an mp3 player is if you use the inbuilt stereo speakers the sound is very harsh and tinny - it improves immeasurably once you use the headphones - the only problem is, you can't keep the phone in the pouch because there is no way of attaching the headphones unless you cut into the elasticated side panel - this means you have to either carry the phone in your hand or stick it in a pocket, I'm a girl - any pockets we get in clothes are not suitable for actually carrying things as heavy as this so it's likely to fall out - not practical at all.
If you are a gadget freak (and I mean that in the best possible way) and like to change things around, tweak and update devices, if you look around on the web there are a hundred and one sites offering suggestions for just that - though rather than searching just on the "mda vario" it would be an idea to also search for the "htc wizard" since that's it's official make and model
Now, downloading games. Since I hate to pay for anything I can possibly get for free one of the first things I did was search for J2ME files and applications - the choice is astounding, i downloaded tetris and sudoku onto my pc and transferred it across to the phones midlet manager to install using activsync - an incredibly easy process, so easy in fact I'm eagerly awaiting my new SD mini card for christmas so I can download other slightly more useful applications.
Now for the downsides:
While the pouch is great for protecting the phone, it can be a bit of a fumbled effort to get the phone out, you cannot leave it charging in the pouch, there is no room for the lead.
In the looks department: I personally love the way it looks and feels, but a couple of my mates think it's too cheap and plasticky to be 'cool'.
When you copy over your contacts it doesn't copy all the information, just the first phone number and the name - make sure you've got all that information somewhere else so you can update it manually.
when you close down a program it doesn't actually shut down, you need to go into the 'running programs' menu to turn them off (though apparantly you can download some tweak apps that will change this)
Conclusion: While there are a couple of niggles such as the contacts thing, the pouch and the wireless pre-sets, all in all I love my phone and think it's probably one of the best things I've bought in a good while - I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a phone that also works as a pocket pc or an mp3 player - not so much if you're after a camera.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
The "contacts" thing has nothing to do with MDM Vario, but with Windows Mobile operating system and actually depends on other things.
The thing with "running programs" is also to do with Windows Mobile operating system and NOT with the Vario.
peteshone 08.03.2007 15:52
Just thinking about upgrading from my MDA to the new MDA Vario II... mine doesn't have the slide out keyboard or a high speed data connection - just GPRS. The new one can act as a wireless modem for a laptop even away from a WiFi hotspot, it's just about fast enough to use for email and simple web browsing if you're not downloading music or large files. The downside is that mine is tiny in comparison, nearly half as thick and shorter and narrower too. The jack socket on mine is at the bottom too so the headphones work when its in its puch. Dilemmas dlimemmas.
Good review though, very helpful!
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Advantages: Excellent grapics and business management capabilities Disadvantages: Large and cumbersome. Missing the basics that come with most new phones.
PCERM1 21.09.2007 (21.09.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of T-Mobile MDA Vario
Advantages: Excellent grapics and business management capabilities Disadvantages: Large and cumbersome. Missing the basics that come with most new phones.
PCERM1 21.09.2007 (21.09.2007)
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Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of T-Mobile MDA Vario
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