So today I bought an O2 XDA Mini S

[scotth_uk]

Was getting tired of my Sony Ericsson 3G phone, and couldn't be bothered to wait for the upgrade.....

Wandered into the O2 shop in Islington yesterday to ask about the XDA mini S, and the guy cut me an awesome deal:

£69.99 down, £10 per month for 12 months. (These devices normally go for £399-449 around the online stores, so this is an awesome price.)

Seems great so far, still tinkering with it.

Wireless works well, although I don't seem to be able to get it to connect at work - Cisco LEAP secured wireless.

 

[Sp!ke]

looks good.

I need to try one of these running windows mobile five to see if I can get active sync working properly with our exchange servers.

They may present a serious threat to Blackberry's.

 

[sym]

Keep us posted Scott - struggling to find a decent all in one device at the moment - all the ones I have tried recently seem to have flaws in some way ! (ipaq 6365, Nokia 9500 etc).

S.

 

[Jukie]

Absolutely, Scott, progress reports will be gratefully received. :bannana:

I'm thinking at having a look at the XDA Atom, too.

 

[scotth_uk]

OK, so here's some updates for you....

The machine is running the first and only firmware that O2 have made available. I have searched around the web, but there doesn't seem to be much available in the way of big fixes or improvements. Not that I've found a need - was just curious.

Turns out that there are some subtle differences in the units, depending on which one you buy. It's available under various names - TMobile MDA Vario, O2 XDA Mini S, Orange SPV M3000, HTC Wizard, iMate K-Jam, etc. Plenty of folk have tried swapping the ROMs over from one to the other, but it always breaks more than it fixes.

The O2 packaging is something to behold. Couldn't possibly describe it without attaching a video, so I won't bother.... It's just the best box I have ever received a gadget in.

The unit is a good/reasonable size, but it's not easily pocketable. This is partly because of the thickness and partly because I daren't put that beatiful screen in my pocket without protection. The provided case is very good, if you like belt clips, but still applies a light amount of pressure to the screen. I'd recommend a PPCTechs Writeshield for the screen as minimum protection.

A USB cable is provided for synching, which also charges the phone. Worth noting that you should be using ActiveSync 4.1, not the 4.0 that the phone is provided with which is full of bugs. Wireless LAN synching has been removed from ActiveSync 4.X due to security issues. People are hoping that it will be reintroduced in the future. I've synched it over bluetooth and USB so far with no issues.

When you first boot the device, you are given three configuration options:
Corporate - very basic, with only one O2 customisation. Extra programs not installed.
Basic - Customised for O2, but not to any annoying degree. Can remove a few startup programs to make run faster.
Enhanced - Full O2 customisation. Chews a lot of memory. Best if you are on O2, and don't want to run memory hungry apps.

I've gone with Corporate to see how that goes.

More to come.

 

[scotth_uk]

I need to try one of these running windows mobile five to see if I can get active sync working properly with our exchange servers.

Hi Spike,

It appears that a major feature of WM5/ActiveSync 4.1 is the ability to sync directly with an Exchange box by WLAN. Might be worth testing.

I may tinker with the exchange servers at work, but not sure what it will do with my million meg mailbox attached to the archiving system.......

Scott

 

[scotth_uk]

http://www.xda-developers.com seems to have some great forums on this device:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewforum.php?f=35

 

[sym]

Got one too Scott - similar deal from an o2 shop, although couldn't quite get the £10 month line rental - what tariff is that on ?

S.

 

[scotth_uk]

Hi Sym,

Hope you like the device - I'm enjoying it more everyday. Apparently there's a new ROM version in the next few weeks to improve a few things, although I can't see the need myself.

The £10 tariff is called Data 5 or something - will check.

Scott

 

[sym]

Yeah, also very pleased with it so far - haven't managed to crash it / drop it / break it yet !

Ahh - that data tariff has no voice calls included - I needed a contract with voice calls inc. for use in another phone so paid £16 for O2 25 - got my vodafone SIM in the XDA (which incidentally is unlocked out of the box) for work use - all seems great.

S.

 

[scotth_uk]

Definitely handy that they are all unlocked out of the box, although the unlocking software is free, thankfully.....

Hope it's keeping you entertained.

There are some tips and tricks around for WM5 which I found handy - do search around. (I noticed that Activesync was opening by itself a lot - found a tip to turn that off, which saves memory and makes the unit feel faster.)

 

[A-AvantGarde]

I got one of these in early Dec, fantastic piece of kit.

As stated above the O2 packaging is absolutley amazing, I'd agree it's just the best box I have ever received a gadget in. Even my wife was impressed!

Best thing is I got mine completely free after upgrading my XDA IIs. I actually rang to get a fault fixed on the XDA IIs when the very helpfull staff said I was elegible for a free upgrade. Also got 50% extra minutes by agreeing to an 18 month contract. No worries for me as I've been on 02 for over 12 years anyway.

The only gripe I had was that TomTom wouldn't work with Windows Mobile 5 but that now appears to have been resolved with the latest patches (Tom Tom 5.21)

I've been using both the XDA IIs & the Mini S with our corporate Exchange 2003 system without any issues - it's a great alternative to Blackberry and far more impressive as a device.

 

[scotth_uk]

Glad you like it. It's growin on me every day, and the size is seeming less of an issue.

 

[A-AvantGarde]

Yep I love the size of it too, seeing as I was using the XDA IIs as my main phone for pretty much 90% of the time this Mini S is a superb alternative. The battery life isn't bad either, again much better than the old IIs.

Also like the auto rotate on the screen when you slide the keyboard out, the phone interface in WM5 is also vastly improved. If anyone's thinking about getting an o2 XDA mini S I would say DO IT!!!!

 

[sym]

Found a niggle this morning .. it wobbles when you put it on a flat surface and try to press the buttons ... ah well, if that's the worst I can find it must be a good device

S.

 

[scotth_uk]

Sym,

Just tried that. I too am totally outraged at this design deficiency.

I suggest public lynching of the head of O2 and HTC at once. You get the horses, I'll get the rope - see you round the back in ten.

Scott

 

[sym]

£49 on the o2 website now - with any tariff - not bad at all ! They will be giving them away soon. Just tried phoning o2 customer services to get some money back as I bought mine less than a week ago from an o2 shop and paid £30 more .. rather than refund me, they advised me to return it cancel the contract under the 14 day cooling off period and buy a new one online ! What a strange company !

S.

 

[sym]

Just about to buy a 2Gb Mini SD from here ... anybody know of any better deals ?

S.

 

[fuzzer]

£49 on the o2 website now - with any tariff - not bad at all ! They will be giving them away soon. Just tried phoning o2 customer services to get some money back as I bought mine less than a week ago from an o2 shop and paid £30 more .. rather than refund me, they advised me to return it cancel the contract under the 14 day cooling off period and buy a new one online ! What a strange company !

S.

Not really , sounds totally like BT