Smartphone Round Robin: Treo Jennifer on the Tilt

Treo Gal's Initial Tilt Thoughts

This is an official Round Robin contest thread

I've been using the AT&T Tilt for a few days now. I had an HTC TyTN, the predecessor of the Tilt, for a very short time last year. I won the device in a contest but needed money for Christmas shopping, so I sold it soon thereafter. I really didn't have it for long. I remember how cool I thought it looked and I almost wished that I hadn't sold it. But I'm glad I did because I sold it to a friend and she gave it to her husband for Christmas, and he loves it.

I've never been all that crazy about Windows Mobile. I don't know why exactly. I guess it's because I've never spent enough time to actually try and get used to it. The Palm OS is what I started out on and it's so simple. It just seems like I know exactly what I'm doing on a Palm OS device, whereas I sort of struggle trying to get somewhere on a WM device. I can remember back when I had an HP iPaq and I was trying to find some particular file. It seems like it took forever for me to locate what I was looking for because I had to keep clicking on folder after folder and then some kind of subfolder. What the crap?! I was thinking that it shouldn't be that complicated. Maybe I was just making it harder than it was though.

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Start posting and good luck in the contest!:)

I enjoyed reading your article. I was wondering if you have used the IM app yet and how is it compared to Mundu? Does it use SMS or the data connection?

I hate the small power button on the right side of the Tilt too. So what I did was I got a program called Slide to Unlock 2 (S2U2) and went to Start>Settings>System>Key Lock and chose the last option of Do not lock buttons. Now I can press any hard key like the End or OK button and I just have to slide the little bar over and I'm good to go. Check it out here:

Hmm the site seems to be down right now, but it's on xda-developers.com. You can also google it.

Thanks jbonnet03! I have used the IM app and used the AIM one since that's the one I use for work. It worked very well. I haven't tried Mundu yet so I don't know how those two compare. I'll look at it and let you know soon.

Hi gadgetluva! LOL, I'll definitely give S2U2 a go! Thanks for the suggestion! That sounds great! I had also read over at WMExperts in the comments on Dieter's great article on How to Customize Your Tilt, Surur gives some cool tips and tricks and mentions putting some nail polish or thick paint on the power button. I of course won't be trying that since the Tilt isn't mine. So don't worry Dieter!heehee! ;)

A couple of quick questions:

How does the browser do compared to Blazer? I've been seriously considering either the Tilt or the older T-mobile Wing/Cingular 8525 for the WiFi capabilities, to merge the functions of my Lifedrive and Treo.

Also, for texting, can you do it one handed with the screen or some other way, or must you use the sliding keyboard?

Also, for texting, can you do it one handed with the screen or some other way, or must you use the sliding keyboard?

From my experience with a TyTN, forget trying to do anything one-handed!

It's interesting the keyboard now slides the other way. Why? With the previous model, with the keyboard slid out the 5-way D-pad was on the right, which made sense to me as it feels natural to use the 5-way with the right hand.

The mini-USB connector is good in the sense that you can get a lot of universal accessories for it. It's bad in that you can't plug in standard headphones. A mini-USB headset is bundled though, so Kevin or Mike must have stolen them from the box!

One thing that got kinda old really fast was the sliding keyboard-- Like you I had a treo and the exposed keys are good but you don't notice it until its gone... When I moved to a PPC 6700 (the CDMA version of the HTC Wizard) I found that while I liked having the bigger screen real estate and bigger keys, sometimes I just wished I could have a keypad outside for when I need to answer IMs and SMSs with a simple "ok" or "I'm enroute". Then CM Keyboard came to my rescue.

Just get a decent on screen keyboard to type the simple stuff and if you need to write a novel then slide that hardware keyboard out. comes in real handy when you're trying to text your signifigant other in the grocery store about what to get next and you're carrying stuff (happened to me tonight!)

get it here:

http://www.pocketcm.com/

From my experience with a TyTN, forget trying to do anything one-handed!

This is gross exaggeration. I can launch all programs one handed. I can play all my mp3's one handed. I can browse the web one handed (except for entering urls). I can see my contacts one handed, and browse my calender one handed. I can use TomTom one-handed. I can look at my PhatNotes one-handed. I can use the calculator one handed. I can switch on WIFI, bluetooth, profiles etc all one handed.

The only thing thats difficult to do one-handed is entering text.

Surur

I don't like that there's no earphone jack. I have no way to plug in my earbuds. I looked up the User Manual online and read the PDF file. I read that there's some sort of accessory that comes with the Tilt; a mini USB cable that has an adaptor on it for the earphone jack. I have no idea what that looks like or how that would work. I've just been listening to music via the speaker on the back of the Tilt. I don't understand why they couldn't have just included a built-in earphone jack like just about every other device has. Strange.

I can see how that would be annoying, SPE sells em for $5.95 though :D

Although it's neat having the Cellular Video where you can watch News clips and tv show clips, the video looks and sounds pretty bad. It sounds like you're in a tunnel or underwater and the picture is fuzzy. I don't know if it's because it's being played on Real Player or because I'm not in an area where there is 3G.

It requires 3G area to function to it's full potential, but even then still not the best

I also liked Express Mail which was very easy to set up through AT&T. I'm getting my gmail via Express Mail and I get reminders on the Today Screen all the time letting me know how many unread emails I have. It's nice to be able to check my email any time, and it's very convenient having it right there on the Today Screen.

While I'm glad you had such a great experience with it, allow me just to say as a AT&T Data Support rep, it is the WORST of all options available, I'm positive if you had more time with it, you would have grown frustrated with it's problems, works if you can get it too work, but heaven forbid you start having problems it's alll over then.

This is gross exaggeration. I can launch all programs one handed.

The only thing thats difficult to do one-handed is entering text.

OK, but is it easy doing things one-handed? No.

The 5-way is right at the bottom of the device, and so it's not easy to bend your thumb down to use it.

This is of course greatly helped by the scroll wheel and OK key on the side.

On the today screen, if I press the OK key it pops up the start menu, and from there, using the scroll wheel, I can launch the regular 7 and the last 5 apps used. In pocket IE I can use it to scroll through web pages.

No one doubts that an exposed keyboard is very useful as a navigation tool, but it has a cost associated with it, being that the screen AND keyboard is generally smaller. Maybe the answer is a vertical slider like the HTC Touch Dual.

Either way, bit awkward or not at times, my Kaiser is completely one-handed except for text entry, and thats the way I use it for the most part.

Surur

In your pic it looks about the same size as the 750 - is that right? It seems like it'd be a lot bigger. Might have to go check it out in person ....

Hi red-beard! I've found Internet Explorer and Blazer to be similar. They both do okay as browsers but I like Opera Mini better. Sometimes IE loaded up pages faster than Blazer. Below are a couple of comparison pics I took of IE and Blazer on the Tilt and the Treo 650.

As for texting, I found it pretty hard to text using one hand. My hands are small so it wasn't exactly easy for me to do much of anything one handed.

Hi Cascade! Yep, the 750 and the Tilt are very close in size. Below are the dimensions of the two:

Treo 750 - 4.37" x 2.28" x 0.87" (111 x 58 x 22.1 mm) - weight= 5.4oz
AT&T Tilt- 4.4" x 2.3" x 0.73" (112 x 59 x 19 mm) - weight= 6.0oz

That's very close in size.

Hey Bla1ze! Thanks for putting up that pic of the adaptor. Now I know what it looks like!LOL!

I'm glad to know that the video quality problems are due to my not having 3G. I'd sure hate to think of anyone having to watch such poor quality videos all the time.

Thanks for the heads up about the Express Mail. I'm only using it for now on the Tilt and won't be using it on my Treo 680.

Hey starrwulfe! I did get that Pocket CM Keyboard and I really like it. But like you, I prefer the slid out keyboard when it comes to typing out long emails and documents.

This is gross exaggeration. I can launch all programs one handed. I can play all my mp3's one handed. I can browse the web one handed (except for entering urls). I can see my contacts one handed, and browse my calender one handed. I can use TomTom one-handed. I can look at my PhatNotes one-handed. I can use the calculator one handed. I can switch on WIFI, bluetooth, profiles etc all one handed.

The only thing thats difficult to do one-handed is entering text.

Surur

Some of those tasks are more efficient with the keyboard, such as looking up contacts. You can't do the smart find (type their name) without the keyboard, which requires 2 hands. Personally, I prefer the WM Smartphone OS, in combination with an exposed keypad, whether QWERTY or 10-key.

Surur, believe it or not Jeff Kirvin convinced me to come over to the other side. I have the ATT tilt. The 3G does work better for the IE vs. blazer. I like the Tilt feature and it has been fairly reliable as of this time. The only thing is the change over to WM vs. Palm, it does take some time to get use to.

The Tilt is great technology, but HTC has done a lot to make their own branded version more usable. You will really miss out if you dont try some of these HTC branded software over at XDA-developers.com.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=332438

The main ones I would recommend would be (46) HTC Home, (5)HTC Audio manager, (49)HTC Album, (42)HTC Large Start Menu,(47) HTC Random Access, and of course the (22)Flash video bundle.

If you are planning to use A2DP, Teksoft's A2DP Toggle freeware is a must, and AEButtonplus is a relatively cheap way of making the most of the plethora of buttons on the Tilt.

I also recommend the HTC Black theme as it fits the colour scheme of all the other HTC software.

Good luck.

Surur

Surur, thanks for the information. Jeff has already installed the HTC Black theme on the device. He also wants to install some other software and a lot of it may be the HTC software. He did install a fingertouch for the contacts, so I have the Iphone experience with the Tilt, nice to use. The only compliant I have is not with the device, I always have had a direct connection with my bank and the checking program Splash Money. It would directly download from the bank to the Treo. Jeff has looked as have I and have not found anything like it. The closest is Pocket Quicken which has to sync with Quicken.

Thanks, pdaluver.

The Tilt is actually THINNER than the 750?? Dang! Wouldn't have expected that at all. Might be doing a little shopping tomorrow....

Hi Cascade! Yep, the 750 and the Tilt are very close in size. Below are the dimensions of the two:

Treo 750 - 4.37" x 2.28" x 0.87" (111 x 58 x 22.1 mm) - weight= 5.4oz
AT&T Tilt- 4.4" x 2.3" x 0.73" (112 x 59 x 19 mm) - weight= 6.0oz

That's very close in size.

Thanks, pdaluver.

The Tilt is actually THINNER than the 750?? Dang! Wouldn't have expected that at all. Might be doing a little shopping tomorrow....

Its thinner, and its thinner than its predecessor, but its more brick shaped than hand-shaped, so I would not actually use that as a major consideration. Its by no means thin.

Surur

Treo 750 - 4.37" x 2.28" x 0.87" (111 x 58 x 22.1 mm) - weight= 5.4oz
AT&T Tilt- 4.4" x 2.3" x 0.73" (112 x 59 x 19 mm) - weight= 6.0oz

Treo 500v - 2.4" x 4.3" x 0.6" (110 x 61.5 x 16.5mm) - weight= 4.3oz (120 grams )

Just to throw a spanner in the Windows Mobile works, I've got hold of a Treo 500v today - and I love it! Small, light, and it syncs with my Exchange server out of box.

All the non-smartphone, non-Treo people in the office like it too.

How's the carousel interface? Does it work, and is it good eye candy, or is it annoying?

Surur

How's the carousel interface? Does it work, and is it good eye candy, or is it annoying?

Yeah Stig, I'm curious about that also. I'd love to get hold of one of those myself.

Was it like this video that surur found?

Treo 500v

How's the carousel interface? Does it work, and is it good eye candy, or is it annoying?

Surur

I quite like it! It's very pretty, with some animation. I was tempted to try to turn it off but I decided I'll stick with it as I'll be supporting my collegues using it.

pdaluver - yes, it's like the video, but in English, not German!

I previously had a Treo 600 before my Nokia E61. I must say the build quality of the 500v is amazing. The body is lightweight plastic, but it has a real quality feel to it. Time will tell how rugged it is.

Any idea when the US might get this?

Any idea when the US might get this?

I believe never. Its more a Vodafone than a Palm phone.

Surur

well that sucks

Looks like a pretty good phone from my side of things

Anyways,

Good article; kinda wish HTC made more CDMA phones (not sure I will be leaving sprint for a GSM company anytime soon)

makes you think, if they can produce a phone thinner than the Palm 750, that has a slide out keyboard.... whats keeping palm from expanding their selection of phones they produce.

:) To be honest... Having a phone thats not 1-hand friendly is a good thing for me (and alot of people)

keeps people from picking up that cellphone to write an email while driving LOL (it happens)

as long as the call function is 1 handed, I don't think it's an issue.

Tilt speed

How does the tilt measure up to it's predecessor (original tytn/8528) speedwise? they're supposed to be about even, but i can only imagine the addition of a native wm6 os would give it a bit more perk, no?

It's been so long since I used the original TyTN that I honestly can't remember how speedy it was. Sorry! :o

Maybe someone else who has recently used both devices can jump in.

I never used an 8525, but the Tilt was too slow for me. I actually bought it a few days ago, used the heck out of it for a couple days and returned it. I could deal with the menus and layers of WM 6 (coming from Palm OS) okay, but the general sluggishness was a deal breaker.

I did all of the "Tweak Your Tilt" stuff and it just plain drove me nuts. My wife just started using a Treo 750. I put WM 6 on it and it's much snappier than the Tilt using the same OS.

Me, I'm back to Palm OS for now. I'd upgrade to anything, but there's nothing appealing right now! Frustrating. Maybe the Treo 800w if it ever comes to GSM.

Tilt vs Treo

It seems like HTC has done it again, I was a big 8525 supporter despite WM and I have been enjoying me treo 650 since I got it, minus it missing wifi capability. I am glad to see wi-fi is being included on more gsm devices in the states and in cities like new orleans where wifi is free, this only means greater productivity. My question still centers around my gripe with WM - its windows... have you had any crashes or nething like that. I dont mind palm crashes because the OS is back up in seconds, and i can get back to my program just as quickly. somehow i dont get that impression with WM devices. My MPx200, WM5, (RIP, cupholder incident) was fun but slow and buggy. But it was cool looking. I hope WM6 isnt a Vista mobile.

Any thoughts?

Certainly 128 MB RAM has solved any memory related problems that may have existed in the 8525. I feel the tilt feature is also more than a gimmick, its actually useful.

Surur

I switched from the 700p to the HTC Mogul. ( Sprint's version of the Tilt ) I love it.

I find it to be much snappier, I like the bigger keyboard, the mail polling and I really love the customizable today screen. I have the HTC 6 tab and calendar+ running for my today screen.

It is next to impossible to do things one handed. Palm requires a lot less work to do the same things. But I love that I can be talking to some one and looking up directions or information online while I'm talking. I love that programs stay running in the background and I can just switch back to them.

Because the screen is larger but with the same resolution you need a bigger font to read docs and pdfs. More resolution would make the hardware close to perfect.

I really love Windows Live, it works with the Freedom GPS I have. I also have the Sprint TV hack and English AOL IM installed (US version costs $). The camera is an improvement over the Palm one as well.

I'd recommend it unless you're holding out for the Google phone?

Hey qbblackout! Actually, the Tilt has crashed on me a few times. It just locked up and I had no idea why. Once was when I was attempting to play Brain Challenge. Each time it locked up, I used the stylus to press the reset button and the Tilt had to reboot.

How did the reboot compare to your 680 rebooting? Generally, did it seem to take longer before you were able to use the device, or could you tell a difference?

I jut now put my 680's battery back in so I could test this and see. The Palm logo with the "Powered by Access" appeared at 27 seconds. The 680 took a total of 1.03 seconds to reboot to the screen with the time set.

At 38.3seconds, the 3G animation appeared. The Tilt took a total of 114.7 seconds to reboot to the Today screen.

So the 680 was a bit faster at rebooting. I'd thought that I'd remembered the 680 being faster, but I wasn't sure of course of the exact time. I used the stop watch on my iPhone to test this. Hopefully it's accurate. :)

Thanks for the question jbonnot03! I'll use that in my final thoughts since I was planning to mention the Tilt locking up on me.

Update: Hmmm, I did the test again. This time the Tilt took a total of 106.3 seconds to get to the Today screen. The 3G animation came up at 34.3 seconds. Then I did it again and the 3G animation came up at 35.2 seconds and the Today screen came up at 105.3 seconds.

I also redid the 680. The Powered by Access screen appeared at 35.4 seconds, and the time set screen came up at 104.6 seconds.

So the times seem to vary but the 680 was still a little faster.