[simonjames]

Does anyone own one of these? I'd like to know who well they integrate with OSX and iSync. They look excellent though everyone here tends to rave about the Treo.

Here is the company site.

[Crusoe]

I ordered one then cancel just cause there was a 3 week wait and I needed a cell phone ASAP. I did however do a ton of research. The only con I found is that it doesn't support UMTS or EDGE which is nice if you're using you're cell and Mac to browse the web.

The best sync option is through 3rd party developed my PocketMac. Looks to be a sweet package.

http://www.pocketmac.net/

[art_director]

i have the xda 1 / siemens sx56 / t-mo pocket pc phone (all the same thing) and can tell you it's an amazing device. they say the xda 2 is even better.

for syncing i use pocketmac (as stated by crusoe). it works very well for syncing your ppc and your mac.

if you want to learn more about the xda 2 i suggest trying this site:

www.xda-developers.com

it's a group of programmers who play with the xda and xda 2 for kicks. they've developed a free application that can be used to unlock either device from the carrier and to upgrade the rom (os). unfortunately you'll need to borrow a pc to do it but it's mighty slick. i used it to unlock my siemens sx56 from att wireless' pathetic network.

btw, the xda 1 & 2 do NOT integrate with isync. as stated that's what pocketmac is for.

post any more questions you might have in this thread and i'll do what i can to help out.

[velodev]

Originally posted by simonjames:
Does anyone own one of these? I'd like to know who well they integrate with OSX and iSync. They look excellent though everyone here tends to rave about the Treo.

Here is the company site.

I think that is mostly because of the syncing capabilities and the form factor. I have a Treo 600, iPaq 3650, and Toshiba e740. The PocketPC's are a nightmare to sync. MissingSync is a piece of junk and PocketMac was a little better, but bad enough for me to drop the platform.

[art_director]

thought i should clarify the "unlocking" portion,,,

cell phones are locked to the carriers that sell them. they do that so users don't get the device and skip to someone else. personally, i think it's a sham.

the xda 2 is a gsm / gprs phone. if you decided you wanted to switch carriers (ie. attws to t-mo) you would need to get the phone unlocked from the attws network and then get a sim card from t-mo to use it with their service. attws will not unlock their phones � corp policy (thieves). to do so you would need to get the unlock code from them. since they will not give it out the xda-developers created the rom kitchen which essentially replaces the os with a new os (much better, imo) and in doing so it unlocks your device from the carrier. then, regardless where you are, you can use the phone with different carriers via new plans and sim cards or prepaid sim cards. the phone can literally be taken around the world and used in many places. but beware, it can get spendy in a hurry.

[art_director]

Originally posted by velodev:
I think that is mostly because of the syncing capabilities and the form factor. I have a Treo 600, iPaq 3650, and Toshiba e740. The PocketPC's are a nightmare to sync. MissingSync is a piece of junk and PocketMac was a little better, but bad enough for me to drop the platform.

i would have to disagree with this position.

i have no experience with the missing sync but have heard it's awful. and pocketmac has had some bumps but now IT'S GREAT!!! syncs quickly and easily and it's stable. much better than older versions.

as for palm vs. pocket pc...

palms are calculators on steroids. pocket pc's are mini computers. i used palm devices for four years before i bought my first ppc. i would never go back.

[velodev]

Originally posted by art_director:
i would have to disagree with this position.

i have no experience with the missing sync but have heard it's awful. and pocketmac has had some bumps but now IT'S GREAT!!! syncs quickly and easily and it's stable. much better than older versions.

as for palm vs. pocket pc...

palms are calculators on steroids. pocket pc's are mini computers. i used palm devices for four years before i bought my first ppc. i would never go back.

Please don't disagree when you don't have experience in something (namely and specifically MissingSync). How recently has PocketMac actually started becoming stable? Sad thing is... I own a license to both because neither allow a demo. Here's what I found out the hard way (if PocketMac has since worked out its issues - well, that's news to me):

1) not recognizing the docking of a pda
2) dropping connection with the pda (however this might be more of a e740 but when I saw my iPaq 3650 do it - say no more)
3) slow, slow, slow, slow transfers of files to the mount device
There's more but it's been over 5 months and most are not that bad for me to still carry a grudge.

Your comparison of Palm's steroid use vs. mini-computers is a bit misleading. The capabilities of both platforms are near equal. With high resolution screens, neither platform looks much like a calculator. I just don't think you've followed Palm lately. There might be a reason for their latest profits.

[art_director]

Originally posted by velodev:
The PocketPC's are a nightmare to sync.

this is what i disagree with. it's simply not true.

yes, pocketmac has recently been revised and offers a much better sync than in the past. if you haven't tried in five months you're in the dark. so, this is news to you.

my calculator statement was not based on looks.

the palm and pocket pc platforms should not be compared. they are very different. and yes, i have stayed up with palm.

palm's profits do not mean the devices are better. if that were the case we'd all be using pc's, eh?

[art_director]

if i were to rate the mobile device platforms i have experience with they would be as follows:

1. pocket pc (ppc 2003 ROCKS!!!)

2. symbian

3. palm (this is a distant 3rd, btw)

the palm is perhaps the best device for the average consumer but if you're into getting more than simple pda functionality out of a mobile device it runs out of steam mighty fast.

[velodev]

Luckily it's just your opinion... it's like a Mac vs. PC debate - it's going to be personal preference. Maybe it's my loss that I didn't want to wait any longer for buggy software to finally come around. Personally, the way I justified leaving PPC was thinking it isn't native to OS X and it is only supported by 3rd party work-arounds.

To be honest, there was a stat from a couple years ago that the majority of PDA users don't even install 3rd party apps on their devices. In addition, they noted that the majority of those users were prone to sync data once, lose it through battery loss, and never pick up the device again.

The profits comment meant people are beginning to recoginize the new offerings - Tungsten, Zire, Treo 600 (huge success) as not even related devices to the M505 days (for example). People have noticed its progression. They have been receiving a lot of praise for the rebirth of Palm devices. The profits do not mean any device is better but it does mean the business is beginning or continuing to do something successfully (in a basic sense). If you were to look at AAPL and MSFT... their stock price doesn't determine who has the better OS. (Hopefully you'll agree on that comparison).

That's the last I'll say. I can't argue opinion.

[art_director]

Originally posted by velodev:
To be honest, there was a stat from a couple years ago that the majority of PDA users don't even install 3rd party apps on their devices. In addition, they noted that the majority of those users were prone to sync data once, lose it through battery loss, and never pick up the device again.

yeah, i saw that. baffles the mind. mobiles devices, regardless of platform, are worthy of their price, imo. i use my ppc (using a hp ipaq h5555) every day. it's a great device that keeps my chaotic life in order. it's also a gas to go war driving with it. ( : � > )

[velodev]

Back to the thread on hand... although I like the form factor I am worried not have an "external" antenna would hamper the signal. Out of the phones I have had with internal antenna - they consistently had the worst signals.

I went from a Sidekick to a Treo 600 and sitting in the same room, same seat... I have 4 bars of signal (Treo) compared to none (Sidekick). My Nokia phones proved this to be true as well.

[art_director]

i can say that my xda1 gets fairly good reception. of course, i upgraded the rom to one offered by xda-developers. prior to that it was crap reception.

from what i've read the xda2 gets good reception but i side with velodev, an external ant makes good sense.

[simonjames]

thanks for the info guys. Still unsure if I should wait for the Treo to go bluetooth or get the XDA II. I am leaning towards the latter as it may take sometime for the new Treo to filter to Australia.

As to Syncing - iSync only works with the supplied Apple apps? I use MS Entourage as my calendar and address book as it works well. I also like how it intergrates with Word and how the the address book works (Eg a friend's birthday entered in the address book comes up as a reminder - can't see Apple's separate address book and iCal doing this)

Does pocketmac work with the Apple s/ware or with MS's entourage or both or neither?

[art_director]

pocketmac works with entourage. i use them together every day. sorry if i confused you.

[simonjames]

the price for the XDA II just dropped $50 here in Australia - still expensive at $1250

A guy who works in the same office has one - says the phone calls are noisy for those he calls. Lots of outside noise crowds the call

[The Wolf]

Can you use PocketMac to sync an XDA using bluetooth with AddressBook and iCal??? I am going crazy trying to find a bluetooth phone!

I need: (1) a flip phone/clamshell; (2) that works with Verizon (even if I have to unlock it); and (3) has Bluetooth.

Why isn't there a phone that does this???

sheesh

[alex_kac]

I use an XDA II daily with my G5. I have never used Pocket Mac's USB connection because its always been flaky (though I hear from inside sources that a new version is coming out in the next couple weeks that fixes a slew of those issues), but always a Bluetooth connection. That's been rock solid.

PocketMac has had its share of major issues, fixes, and regressions in its issues - but thankfully a lot of that is being improved. If you already own PocketMac - contact support and ask for the links to the most recent packages. Not all are publicly available as they aren't full releases yet.

Here is also links to their version history.

http://www.pocketmac.net/products/pmpro3/updates.html