P910i Some unusual questions..

[MonkE]

Greetings all, (and Commedecargons - I'm seriously hoping you're reading this dude..)

My first post and with it my first thanQ - To all you nice people for all the help you offer us confused and wondering hopefulls..

You really help fill the gap between what the providers want us to hear and think, and reality, which is always a very different thing :) THAN-QQQQQ :)

Right I've had a good look around and about and I think these are mostly all original questions..

1) I send a lot of SMS's and am not sure that the thumb board is up to it.. Is it:

a) - Comfortable? In your opinion obviously..
b) - Possible hypothetically to replace the P910i ThumbB with one from the P910/P900? - You'll probably tell me there's no point as the newer is obviously the upgrade, but I've wondered if the greater key separation of the old version might make it easier to use, in the dark etc..?
c) - Possible to use T9 predictive txt on the touch screen..? - I.e. bring up the numeric keypad on the screen but use it for predictive txt and not just numerics.. - I can SMS ridiculously quickly on a normal phone and don't really want to go over to Graffiti or the QWERTY fold out (big thumbs), or even touch screen QWERTY (I assume it has one..?) as they would all slow me down..

2) FM Radio
- Long shots but had to ask..

a) Has anyone used the SE radio-headphone device (HPR-20 or similar) with the P910i and if so is it possible to pick up and record the received broadcasts on the handset..? I.e. With an FM receiver on the headphone extension, can the phone pick up the output - I'd love to be able to record on the phone and..
b) Is it possible to play a plugged-in headphone radio thru the speaker phone?

3) Landscape vs Portrait

- I've seen adds for BT keyboards with the P910i 'lying down' (landscape mode) - does it actually have landscape mode for things other than gaming? ..For Web browsing, picture viewing, and particularly for txt inputting etc..?

4) Speaker phone

How good's the speaker phone? ..Does it have any noise cancellation/wind reduction software and is the volume sufficient? For you and the person at the other end? ..It seems SE has had some difficulties with audio on the K750i and apparently some others, which it seems to have only partly rectified with new firmware.. Does the P910i have these issues?

And I'm sure I've got a few more questions but this post's grown a bit big and as it's Monday my head's not really functioning.. (Gonna take out my battery and re-boot..)

Many thanks if anyone replies..

SmilE

[commedecargons]

1) I send a lot of SMS's and am not sure that the thumb board is up to it.. Is it:
a) - Comfortable? In your opinion obviously..

1
a) It is very comfortable, it has one of the best tactile feedbacks of any keypad i've come across.



b) - Possible hypothetically to replace the P910i ThumbB with one from the P910/P900? - You'll probably tell me there's no point as the newer is obviously the upgrade, but I've wondered if the greater key separation of the old version might make it easier to use, in the dark etc..?

b) Nope, unfortunately, u cant. I love the P900's keypad (although not as high quality as that of 910) but the further spacing apart (where p910 had virtually none) of the keys enable me to blind dial (not looking at it while dialing) and blind smsing. The connectors were different, so ... sorry, u cant. i mean WE cant. :)


c) - Possible to use T9 predictive txt on the touch screen..? - I.e. bring up the numeric keypad on the screen but use it for predictive txt and not just numerics.. - I can SMS ridiculously quickly on a normal phone and don't really want to go over to Graffiti or the QWERTY fold out (big thumbs), or even touch screen QWERTY (I assume it has one..?) as they would all slow me down..

c) There is a software which groups up part of qwerty keyboard, showing them as a single key. For example (asdf & zxcv as ONE key, and theres a predictive dictionary within for fast texting. But the crazy work of learning another 'T9' is... u know?!? Moreover, i dunno where to source that app from, forgotten but stumbled across onced.



2) FM Radio
a) Has anyone used the SE radio-headphone device (HPR-20 or similar) with the P910i and if so is it possible to pick up and record the received broadcasts on the handset..? I.e. With an FM receiver on the headphone extension, can the phone pick up the output - I'd love to be able to record on the phone and..

2)
a) There were no such softwares as i'm aware of. Good suggestion thou~, hoped someone will come out with something similiar soon :)


b) Is it possible to play a plugged-in headphone radio thru the speaker phone?


b) Sorry, i've never tried that.


3) Landscape vs Portrait- I've seen adds for BT keyboards with the P910i 'lying down' (landscape mode) - does it actually have landscape mode for things other than gaming? ..For Web browsing, picture viewing, and particularly for txt inputting etc..?

3) Lanscape Portrait - Nope, we cant. But there is a skin from HandyDay2004 which shows everything in Lanscape mode, but rather is just a mockup cos when u launch any application from there, those turn back to the usual portrait mode. Sorry, no landscape mode for P910.



4) Speaker phone - How good's the speaker phone? ..Does it have any noise cancellation/wind reduction software and is the volume sufficient? For you and the person at the other end? ..It seems SE has had some difficulties with audio on the K750i and apparently some others, which it seems to have only partly rectified with new firmware.. Does the P910i have these issues?

4) The speaker phone.... ok let me just say that we will only use the speaker phone in some place private, and of course we're busy, and our hands are busy. So, that makes the scenario to most probably in -- Yes, a car. So, if you're not driving any Malaysian made (yes, they do sell them in UK) cars, which u're travelling at above 80kmh, with the air conditioning around third speed. you'll be happy with the speakerphone of P910, not the loudest, but definitely fine. :) (It worked perfect when i'm driving a Camry or Accord, but i had to hold my hand around one feet from my face when i'm driving a m'sia made car. :)

[MonkE]

Nice one Commedecargons, I thought you'd be the man to ask.

I admit I'm a bit dissappointed about the Portrait Mode and the Radio but I did think I was going to be ;) And I guess the thumbboard's just a matter of getting used to like on any new phone, and txting without looking - yes, me too.. Infinately useful when you're too tired, drunk or distracted to look :rolleyes:

Wouldn't it be nice if someone somewhere in the future made a modular phone, or something a bit more like a PC whereby you could specify the components, interface and functionality?

I guess I'm going to get it then - currently Orange are waiting for me to make/wake up my mind. Choice no2 was K750i but it seems too unstable amongst other things, and I'm personally far too unstable to cope with the kind of frustrations I've been reading about.. Oh, and yes I know that they're not necessarily comparable phones, but when it comes down to the 'what would make me happy' scale, they really are.

Though choice no1a would actually be the Nokia N70 smart phone. Which makes me a mobile tart (have mobile will travel :D )for not sticking with one brand.. But.. I've waited too long already and can't face waiting til September-ish (when CarphoneWarehouse 'should' release it in the UK and Orange some months there-after) and then to possibly find out that they've used another hamster-powered processor or allegedly forgotten to put vibration alert in it :rolleyes: lol.

Though, after all that I've read in the past few months, I'm still a little touch-and-go over a simple but tried-and-tested-and-found-to-be-pretty-amazing Nokia 6230 :rolleyes:

Right, one more coffee and then I'll wake my brain up to ask it for a decision.

CoffeE

[commedecargons]

Well, if you're used to 5-way navi phones. (6230) theres something i wana remind you before adjusting urself to a touch screen device.

1st, every touch screen smartphone requires u to use both hands while (almost doing everything) EVERY EACH OF THEM OUT THERE (O2, PPCs, Treos etc...)

The only reason P-Series sells so well, is the inclusion of a keypad, which allows users to switch between the ease of use of not one but two, form factors. Such as the ease of dialing and SMSing of 5-way navis, and efficiency of manipulating various functions of a smartphone with a touch screen, handwriting recognition interface. Hence, P900/910 is versatile enough to offer both. BUT, this will lead users to expect too much, such as wishing they could set the alarm from flip-close mode; (which eventually opening up the flip and set it with a stylus is faster than anyone could do it with a normal 5-way navi phone) and there is still alot of glitches which SE hadn't integrate into flip close mode. Such as the ability to view 'videos', send pics thru BT and such. All these cant be done within flip closed mode. :) Hence, consider carefully before migrating from a trusty form factor into a new one. I myself reside on P-Series' form factor is because it suits me the most, and is able to do things faster than normal phones, and dial faster, SMS faster than other touch screen PDA-phones. :)

[MonkE]

Finally got my P910i about five weeks ago, after being bounced around by Orange for over a month due to their not having enough stock. W@nkers - I mean, how difficult is it for a company the size of Orange to look at one month's sales/upgrades and then predict the next month's demand? Particularly when we're not talking about a particularly new model.. It's not as though they don't have the purchasing power either..

Anyway, got me new phone, took it on holiday, and was/am over the moon for five weeks. Fantastic piece of kit. Obviously there are many things SE could/should have upgraded from the P900 - VGA camera, portrait mode for things other than photos, processor and a fair few other bits and bobs. But s0d it, it's a great phone. Hugely customisable, very expansive, help and explaination dialog everywhere you want/need it - for those of you who want to use it as more than a phone.. And it is soo much more than a phone. Reccommendation (after being a Motorola and Nokia user for 9 years) - I'd give it an 85% satisfaction rating - far higher than any other phone I've ever held/looked/read about at. Damn I was proud. Until..

Orange gave me a new Sim card to use. From what I can tell it would allow me to send MMS amongst a few other bits and bobs. And as I was first on holiday and didn't want to spend it transferring my many hundred contact deets from Nokia to SE, and then later I was simply afraid that Orange would take this opportunity to kill my new toy, it took me five weeks to allow them to activate the new sim. I did that yesterday and, yep, they killed it. They don't know what happened, I don't know what happened, we did it by the book, and my phone now won't get past the primary Orange startup screen. It can't recognise the Sim, it doesn't register on the network, it just hangs on the lake screen (just after a one second SE start up) with Orange square.

Has anyone had this problem? And is there a manual master reset button/hole somewhere on the phone - Orange couldn't find reference to one on their system and I can't find one in the literature..

HopefullE