Just bought HTC P3400i... Attemtping a Review

[IronManForever]

Hello Guys. I bought HTC P3400i (The Windows Mobile 6.1 Version) yesterday. Correction; it has Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional.
Got it at 10,400 in Siliguri, GL.
The price is much higher(but hell, I dont care).
Partly due to Dollar getting stronger, partly due to my lack of bargaining skills, partly because I didnt now the regular price, partly because Siliguri is remote compared to bigger cities, and also because I bought it yesterday (due to bijayadashami, many shops were closed, only few open). The shopkeeper also said that the 'i' version is expensive.

I wanna ask one thing, is the price of HTC P3400 and HTC P3400i same?
The former has WM 5; whereas the latter has WM 6.1.

Sorry but I won't be able to post pics as I dont have a spare camera/camera-phone right now.


Anyways, the review, here we go...

Standard Package:
1. Handset
2. Headset
3. Charger
4. Data-Cable
5. Carry Pouch
6. Protective Sticker
7. User Manual
8. Quick Start Guide
9. A CD containing ActiveSync 4.5 for XP.
10. A CD containing firmware flashing/backup tools. Correction; it has Sprite Backup Itulity and SpB GPRS Monitor. No firmware flashing/backup software.
11. And of course, styluses; 2 of them.

Looks
The first thing one notices are the looks; and let me tell you I hated this handset when I looked its pictures on the web. But I was surprised that It looks pretty good when you have it in front of your eye in real.

Touchscreen
The Touchscreen is responsive in most cases. But the stylus is not comfortable enough for my tastes. I am currently using an ink-finished-pen with a big tip; this is much better for navigation as well as writing on-screen.

UI
The UI is a bit erratic. It isnt slow at all times but sometimes slows down erratically for unknown reasons, a firmware flash may fix it.Correction; I did not end the background apps when not using them(at default setup, it aint easy and as I said I used WM for first time). Once I learned it; the erratic-ness has gone. Still the overall speed is not anything to talk home about. It is somewhat slow.
RAM usage is high at default setup with no programs running. Very less free RAM left at startup, just 33%. (Is windows sluggish in every patform?)
Also I think WM 6.1 is probably too heavy for the TI OMAP 201 MHz dual core and 64MB of DDR SDRAM. But the UI is user friendly and good. I just hope if it was a bit more finger-friendly.

Sidenote: Yeah I know one can flash it with custom firmware made by the excellent XDA Devs and the device will become much more responsive. But I am using the default ROM and plan to use it till the warranty period. A little-bit of lag here or there wont trouble me much.

The Today screen is awesome and adds a lot of functionality to the phone. (Is it the same is all new WM phones or just HTC? I think its only HTC?)

Camera
Camera is just okay. For viewing pics on phone or posting to blogs. Just for emergency uses . Despite the 2MP sensor, quality is not much better than my age old Nokia 6600's VGA camera.

And its painfully slow. Video capture is handicapped at QCIF resolution.
But then again, PDAs were not exactly meant for such things; for those purposes, we have other phones like ZN5, N82 and Cybershot series. Fair enough.

Music
Music quality through the single speaker on the phone is fair for soft numbers, it just isnt the thing for heavy metal stuff. But loudness, my my, I didnt expect a PDA to be so loud. Not that its very loud, but its much more than what I expected. The Treble is more emphasesed through the external speaker as is the case with many mobiles.

Music quality through the provided headphones coupled with the Audio Booster is good for a PDA, but the mids are over-emphasised as I feel; didnt test it with songs other than Metallica-Nothing Else Matters.
The HTC Audio Manager/Audio Booster application in it provides a 10-band equaliser, which if tuned to one's needs, makes it a full fledged music player. Format support is good with all the regulars covered.

But I seriously hate the propietary jack. A 2.5 mm jack would have been tolerated. I am an earphone-buster and this one would last only 2-3 months. A replacement would therfore be expensive due to the propietary jack. Though, we can buy expensions which plug into the phones jack and provide us with 3.5mm jack. I dunno where I'll find it though.

Productivity
The phone allows creating, viewing and editing Word and Excel files. Viewing Powerpoint files is supported but it is sluggish. I was surprised to see support for Office 2007 File formats. The Adobe PDF reader makes an appearance here as well. But for all practical purposes, it aint that usable becaus of the slow processor.

As with any other WM device; PIM functions are well covered. One thing is; if the device is off, it wont turn on at the alarm time automatically. A minor glitch for many but not for me as I keep my mobile off when I am not using it.

Couldnt Check browsing speed, rendering by the default browser as my operator does not have configuration setting for this one and I have still to figure out how to do it manually.

Games
Bundled games are Solitare and Bubble Breaker. Bubble breaker is a nice one but I seldom win in it. My 11 yr old sister instantly liked it.
Good old solitaire is a good game but in this one the cards dont look nice.
One can of course install more games as it supports JAVA as well as the WM apps.


Conclusion
Well well, I definitely am in love with this device. Perhaps because its my first experience with Wimdows Mobile. I have used Symbian 7.1, Symbian 9.0 previously in my smartphones. There are differences but I have adapted to them in a short duration of 1 day.

If you are thinking about buying this one, don't hesitate. Its from HTC which AFAIK is one of the best WM dvice manufacturer. Its affordable and mainstream. I have talked alot about things that it misses but theres alot that packed up in it.
It has a slow processor and 64 MB RAM which is low for such a heavy OS(of course, it has such a low price to compensate; what more can you expect?), but you can flash it with custom ROM and you wont feel any slowdown.
The HTC Touch lacks alot at the price point at which it sell compared to this one. The only thing HTC Touch has over this is WiFi, a bit remodelled UI and a Gfx Chip to support the new UI. But WiFi is not yet important for most as WiFi Hotpots are lacking. And the GFX processor wont add up to anything as it is used by the Touch's UI which is not present in P3400i.

So.... close your eyes and buy this phone. And then help me find good apps for this one...

Regards,
IronMan.


PS:

This is my first attempt to write a review. I ask apologies for any mistake committed by me in the review or any wrong information.
Also, photos could have been posted. But I dont have a spare camera or camera phone with me right now; maybe later I'll post some pics.

If you want cheaper WindowsMobile eperience; go for i-Mate JAQ. Availability maybe as issue as it is old. Has the same processor. Also it has touchscreen+QWERTY at a price point of around 6500 IRs. It lacks a camera though but has all necessary mainstram communication options and WM5 which can be updated to WM6.1 with custom ROM.

[ashu888ashu888]

although it was ur 1st review (as the title says) but i really loved every bit of it..

and, yes sum pics (already read tat u dont hv a spare cam) wud do alot good to this review..
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Btw, Check out my FIFA 09 review in the review section too.. hope u will comment sumthing on the review.. (ahem.. i mean on the game)
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Cheers n e-peace...

[Edge-of-chaos]

Is Jasjar still available? if so, could you help me with its price!

[IronManForever]

Originally Posted by ashu888ashu888

although it was ur 1st review (as the title says) but i really loved every bit of it..

and, yes sum pics (already read tat u dont hv a spare cam) wud do alot good to this review..

Thanks. Yeah, pictures could have gone a long way. But my dad has taken the camera with him (Sony W110 bought recently) and I am left with the analog camera only.

[iMav]

Nice review, images would help, you could have taken some from HTC's site itself.

[IronManForever]

^^ Good Idea.

[rockthegod]

@IronManForever: If you love to play free games, you can download the SuperArcadePack cab from xda-devs .. It is a compilation of a bunch of addictive free arcade games like PacMan etc etc.... and you can FLASh it with custom roms.... by the way, the TouchFlo2D interface from Opal has been successfully ported to other devices by herg and it runs sleek and uber-smooth on my Tilt !!!! You can give it a try albeit on a custom ROM.

[krates]

well the phone is great for the price range between install coreplayer in it i watch movies on my bhaiya P3400 and install that *** game don't remember but it was a car racing game which i loved to play with P3400..

[x3060]

tcpmp, is a much better alternative to coreplayer. and yes, custom mod makes a lot of diff.

well i love AOE on my phone..

[IronManForever]

Originally Posted by rockthegod

@IronManForever: If you love to play free games, you can download the SuperArcadePack cab from xda-devs .. It is a compilation of a bunch of addictive free arcade games like PacMan etc etc.... and you can FLASh it with custom roms.... by the way, the TouchFlo2D interface from Opal has been successfully ported to other devices by herg and it runs sleek and uber-smooth on my Tilt !!!! You can give it a try albeit on a custom ROM.

Thank you. I do enjoy old-skool arcade games but I thought that this device can run small 3d games; isnt it? I would love to have a 3d car racing game, a RTS game, a RPG game and a FPS/TPS game. Also, Id love some 2d/3d adventure game. (not JAVA ones, there are plenty of them) Any help here?

The specs are;
1. Processor : The very common TI OMAP 850 @ 201 MHz which I will OC to around 240 shortly (a safe limit for this one and surprisingly tremendous increase in performance).
2. RAM : 64 MB DDR SDRAM .. Heres where I'm not happy as there is barely any RAM left (21MB) when the device starts. And thats w/o a single app installed.

Guys;
When I go to Start => Settings => System => Memory
It says :

Total = 43.27.. (outer package/manual and GSMArena tell its 64 MB )
In use = 21.90
Free = 21.37

Why is the total RAM less?

@x3060.. you mean AOE? Age of empires? Is it available for free?

[x3060]

not for free, are you kidding, use google .
try this for alarm

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=422362

go here for everything

http://forum.xda-developers.com/foru...e=2&order=desc

[IronManForever]

^^ Thank you. But its one hell of a thing to search in the xda-devs forum for the right thing. I wonder how you do it.

Could you please tell me something about the RAM. How much RAM is free in your P3400 at startup? Is the total RAM mentioned in the Memory inside settings exactly 64 MB?

Regards,
IronMan.

[x3060]

i currently have
40.44 mb as total mem, thats understandable , as some is reserved for system use. much like on board graphics.
in use :17.62
free:22.81
as i have apps installed.

generally when moded heavily, you will be free getting a storage mem of 35 mb....

hi want to buy htc Vox S710 it worth to bye this phone
also tell me if i install antivirus on it how much ram get used ?
also tell me windows mobile support only 64k is this get negative impact when viewing movie or high resolution photo ?

[sandeepkochhar]

@ironman

That was a smashing review..I think you must post it on www.mouthshut.com which has a wider audience than that of Digit...

[x3060]

@ankitsagwekar...the phone looks good from the reviews

http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php?a...ews&id=952&p=1

http://www.mobiletechreview.com/phones/HTC-S710.htm

i don't have much of an idea about it, see if you can get a hands on from a shop.

and i have not installed any antivirus in my device, i browse safely, so far no probs

[IronManForever]

Originally Posted by x3060

generally when moded heavily, you will be free getting a storage mem of 35 mb....

Thats great. Will try sometime.

Originally Posted by ankitsagwekar

hi want to buy htc Vox S710 it worth to bye this phone

Great phone. I have used it for around 10 mins. Good Speakerphone. QWERTY Keypad. Good enough camera. Small and nice despite inclusion of a full QWERTY keyboard.
Good Smartphone. Though I feel that Windows Mobile experience is better taken from touchscreen. Just my view. Your choice is good.

Originally Posted by ankitsagwekar

also tell me if i install antivirus on it how much ram get used ?

None AFAIK. Why? Because I'm certain that Background Scanning/Shield is out of the scope for a Mobile phone. RAM will only be needed when you oped the AV and scan your phone.
But IMO you wont need an antivirus. There exist Viruses for Symbian as well but I never used any AnitVirus for the long period of 4 years I used Symbian.

Originally Posted by ankitsagwekar

also tell me windows mobile support only 64k is this get negative impact when viewing movie or high resolution photo ?

Well, None for the average Joe. If you look keenly by keeping one 64k screen and one 16million screen side-by-side; you will see the difference. BUT when you arew using the phone, you WONT notice any intriguing lack-of-colour thing. And as the screen of mobiles are small; the difference are even less percievable. But it wont mar your experience in any significant way IF you arent skeptic.

Originally Posted by sandeepkochhar

@ironman

That was a smashing review..I think you must post it on www.mouthshut.com which has a wider audience than that of Digit...

Thanx. Will register there if I get time.

.
..
...

Guys

Am in a problem. I had put a 4-digit PIN number for security on the phone (not the SIM card PIN, please note)(Its just like a security code except for that fact that it has to be a 4-digit number). I had set it to autolock.
But now I have forgotten the PIN. Silly me.

After repeated entries and consequent failures; I have given up. The waiting time between each consecutive entry has become 16 minutes and it doubles for every wrong entry.

What do I do? Its the default phone lock system present in all Windows Mobiles.
Got it under here. Start => Settings => Lock ...

I am really afraid.

[rockthegod]

Originally Posted by IronManForever

Thank you. I do enjoy old-skool arcade games but I thought that this device can run small 3d games; isnt it? I would love to have a 3d car racing game, a RTS game, a RPG game and a FPS/TPS game. Also, Id love some 2d/3d adventure game. (not JAVA ones, there are plenty of them) Any help here?

Actually even today's mobile 3D games are resource intensive and if your phone do have hardware 3D acceleration, then you can run games like Win Mobile Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, NFS etc etc but all those games are not free. You can try out Pocket Quake, Quake 2. The app is free and available on the net but you have to use the Quake map/data PAK files from your desktop version of Quake/Quake 2. Hell even they have a port of Pocket Quake 3, but you definitely need to have a intel 2700 class processor or nVidia Go GPU to run that I suppose. PocketQuake 1 and 2 runs fine and uber-smooth on my Tilt.

Originally Posted by IronManForever

Am in a problem. I had put a 4-digit PIN number for security on the phone (not the SIM card PIN, please note)(Its just like a security code except for that fact that it has to be a 4-digit number). I had set it to autolock. But now I have forgotten the PIN. Silly me.

Hard Reset your phone. You will lose all settings and installed apps and your phone will be good as new. or Else FLASH it with a cooked ROM since luck has provided you with this oportunity.... .. Just Kiddin...

How to do a Hard Reset:
See this:
LINK

Hope this helps....

[IronManForever]

Originally Posted by rockthegod

Actually even today's mobile 3D games are resource intensive and if your phone do have hardware 3D acceleration, then you can run games like Win Mobile Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, NFS etc etc but all those games are not free. You can try out Pocket Quake, Quake 2. The app is free and available on the net but you have to use the Quake map/data PAK files from your desktop version of Quake/Quake 2. Hell even they have a port of Pocket Quake 3, but you definitely need to have a intel 2700 class processor or nVidia Go GPU to run that I suppose. PocketQuake 1 and 2 runs fine and uber-smooth on my Tilt.

Yeah. I do understand that my phone is not exactly for games. But I'll try the Quakes for sure.

Originally Posted by rockthegod

Hard Reset your phone. You will lose all settings and installed apps and your phone will be good as new. or Else FLASH it with a cooked ROM since luck has provided you with this oportunity.... .. Just Kiddin...

How to do a Hard Reset:
See this:
LINK

Hope this helps....

Oh my god... I dont know how to thank you. I was so so.. sad.
I bow to thee... (provided the solution works )

It maybe a simple thing but as I am new to this...

TADAAAA

Its working. I didnt have any important e-mails/SMSs in it. And backups for all softwares were in PC. Thanks to rockthegod for that tip.

[x3060]

yeah, hard reset works for any s/w problems like windows in pc, ...i saw some pattern lock app for wm, though dont remember much

[ashu888ashu888]

In the review, IronMan was cursing the WM's slowness and said

RAM usage is high at default setup with no programs running. Very less free RAM left at startup, just 33%. (Is windows sluggish in every patform?)

well, now (coz of the HARD RESET) i think u better thank WM options/make to help u outta this coz they had this option.... atleast copying this concept from our PCs wat NOT bad at all.. wat say Iron !!

[IronManForever]

^^ Hah! Noob.

[x3060]

@ashu888ashu888.....hard reset equals recovery mode in pc, your mob will be restored to factory settings, that's bad if u have files in your mobs mem than storage card.
in windows , you require a cd not needed in mob, thats all

[IronManForever]

^^ And above that almost all smartphones/PDAs have a hard reset mode. I just realised. Nothing only peculiar to WM.

[ashu888ashu888]

^^ ooh i see, well not knowing those info.. thanx also thanx to x3060

[IronManForever]

^^ You are welcome.

BTW.. Guys; What about a dedicated Windows Mobile Thread? Applications for Windows Mobile as well as a collection ofl Java apps that work on it. Like, everyone can contribute some good apps; paid or free.

[ashu888ashu888]

^^
Yup, sucha thread shud be created in the QnA section say like the OFFICIAL WINDOWS MOBILE THREAD...

[rockthegod]

Originally Posted by IronManForever

Its working. I didnt have any important e-mails/SMSs in it. And backups for all softwares were in PC. Thanks to rockthegod for that tip.

You are most welcome !!!

Originally Posted by IronManForever

What about a dedicated Windows Mobile Thread? Applications for Windows Mobile as well as a collection ofl Java apps that work on it. Like, everyone can contribute some good apps; paid or free.

Originally Posted by ashu888ashu888

^^
Yup, sucha thread shud be created in the QnA section say like the OFFICIAL WINDOWS MOBILE THREAD...

I already created a Ultimate Windows Mobile thread for all quite some time back, but it seems that there are a few Win Mobile users on DIGIT forum.... Check the thread out here:
The Ultimate thread for Windows Mobile users !!!

[ashu888ashu888]

^^

yup, already saw it, thanx for that

[IronManForever]

Originally Posted by rockthegod

I already created a Ultimate Windows Mobile thread for all quite some time back, but it seems that there are a few Win Mobile users on DIGIT forum.... Check the thread out here:
The Ultimate thread for Windows Mobile users !!!

Oh. Great. But its a pity that there are so few Windows Mobile users here.

Anyways. Ill try to compile good and must-know stuff for the HTC Gene (P3400i) section from the XDA_Devs Forum and post here...