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The HTC/Cingular 2125 Smartphone thread (please read before starting add. threads)

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Posted by: jayiw

Quote:
Originally Posted by brices21
Quick note, maybe it has already been addressed, but I think I read this entire thread and don't remember seeing it.....
Anyway, Infared, what's the deal? The quick start guide shows it being on the top right part of the hump, but I don't see it. Am I missing something???

I was thinking the same thing. When I first got it I was thinking it didn't have IR but then looking at the guide it showed it where you are pointing out. I looked there and all I can see is the 'slit' between the plastic top and bottom of the phone. Maybe it's in there. I meant to try it out last night but I forgot. I am at work now but when I get home I will try it (if I remember to!). I actually use IR with my laptop anyway.

Jay


Posted by: brices21

Quote:
Originally Posted by cinguliano
Has anyone tried the phone out in a sunny day? How easy or hard is to read the screen in bright daylight? How does it compare with the SMT5600?

It's almost impossible to see the screen outside right now, just like the smt5600. This is in a snowy environment with very bright sunlight.


Posted by: CeluGeek

Quote:
Originally Posted by brices21
It's almost impossible to see the screen outside right now, just like the smt5600. This is in a snowy environment with very bright sunlight.

Oh, well... I wish they'd use screens like the 4th gen. Color iPod (aka iPod Photo). That screen is wonderful in bright daylight, just like the screen in a mobile phone should be.


Posted by: duchski

Quote:
Originally Posted by jayiw
I was thinking the same thing. When I first got it I was thinking it didn't have IR but then looking at the guide it showed it where you are pointing out. I looked there and all I can see is the 'slit' between the plastic top and bottom of the phone. Maybe it's in there. I meant to try it out last night but I forgot. I am at work now but when I get home I will try it (if I remember to!). I actually use IR with my laptop anyway.

Jay


The IR is there and it works. The Quic Start guides locates the port on the hump and although I can't see it I saw it work


Posted by: WirelessAndy

Perhaps someone could take a photo of the 2125 with the IR active (not just in standby). With a digital camera, the IR port should be visible for all to see.


Posted by: zachavm

Quote:
Originally Posted by cinguliano
Has anyone tried the phone out in a sunny day? How easy or hard is to read the screen in bright daylight? How does it compare with the SMT5600?


Well, we haven't had many sunny days recently in oklahoma, but I have used it outside. It is not nearly as brilliant as it is indoors, but it is still more than readable. Outside, it is just dimmer. Don't let it stop you from getting the phone.

Zach


Posted by: Omega2008

Yeah its kinda hard to see in direct sunlight, but thats nothing new.


Posted by: wtxn

So does anyone have any pictures taken with the phone?


Posted by: Omega2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by wtxn
So does anyone have any pictures taken with the phone?



http://www.mobilegadgetnews.com/ind...indpost&p=45203


Posted by: jayiw

Quote:
Originally Posted by WirelessAndy
Perhaps someone could take a photo of the 2125 with the IR active (not just in standby). With a digital camera, the IR port should be visible for all to see.

It's just not visible. I really think it's inside the hump and the slit between the two bottom and top pieces of the phone is open enough for the IR to shine through.

If someone knows the links to the 2125 taken apart on the FCC site maybe we can see if indeed that is where it is. Really there is no where else it can be because that is where the guide shows it to be yet it's not visible and it does work there... UNLESS the hump is translucent where the groves are then maybe that's how works? But again, look at the hump from the top down and you'll see a grove at the left and right.

Jay


Posted by: WirelessAndy

Not visible- to the human eye.

What I meant was: Most video/digital cameras have light sensitivity just slightly beyond the visible spectrum. Infrared emitters, like those found on common remote controls, are often visible if you look at it from a video/digital camera's imaging device.

In other words, enable your phone's IR port. While it's connected to your computer via IR, you should be able to see light pulsing where the IR emitters are via the "eyes" of a common video/digital camera.

It might look something like this:


or this:



Posted by: brices21

Quote:
Originally Posted by wtxn
So does anyone have any pictures taken with the phone?

Here are some quick ones I snapped around the office... Super fine, and set to auto...


Posted by: sharksfan

I do not like the included leather case. There is no protection when the phone is out/in use! What are you all using?


Posted by: Omega2008

I love the case it came with. It works great, I don't need a case to surround my phone, I baby my phone and I have never dropped it. It will be sometime before cases will come out for this phone...just like the MPx 220...it took forever.


Posted by: dstrauss

Quote:
Originally Posted by brices21
Yes, the wiring pattern looks different, and there are the words 3G on it. Whether this improves performance or not is yet undetermined, but I ~seem~ to have better reception after switching to the new one. I only used my "old" 64k SIM for about an hour though, so I can't be sure.


The SIM that came with my 2125 doesn't work at all; the 64k card in my SMT 5600 (originally came from my Treo 650) seems to work fine, but doesn't say "3G" - do I need to go get the new card reprogrammed, and more importantly would it make any difference?


Posted by: lopezpm

Yeah, I like the case it came with too. I am very careful with it. As soon as I'm off the phone it goes back in the case. Right now probably all you can get are pouches. I was thinking of getting a screen protector for it, but I love the screen and I would hate to take anything away from it.


Posted by: ryanHfx

Anyone have a comparison of in-store pricing vs online pricing for this phone? Also, to get the $100 discount for unlimited data, do I have to commit to 2 years of unlimited data?


Posted by: rmoniz

For those of you who got the phone for less than $200.00, how did you do it? Did you haggle a little to get that price or did you get it because of your FAN? I have a FAN and was about to migrate but the lady wouldn't budge on the price.

It never hurts to ask for a lower price.

Thanks.

-Rob


Posted by: lopezpm

Quote:
Originally Posted by ryanHfx
Anyone have a comparison of in-store pricing vs online pricing for this phone? Also, to get the $100 discount for unlimited data, do I have to commit to 2 years of unlimited data?

I think just until you get the rebate, on the form it says the data plan must be active at the time they are processing the rebate. 8-10 weeks maybe.


Posted by: dstrauss

I've finally got Clearvue associated with the various file types, but now I need to know "where" the file attachments are stored, so I can delete them after viewing?

Which raises my next question - should we have a "How To..." thread now?


Posted by: 330Cane

Quote:
Originally Posted by dstrauss
The SIM that came with my 2125 doesn't work at all; the 64k card in my SMT 5600 (originally came from my Treo 650) seems to work fine, but doesn't say "3G" - do I need to go get the new card reprogrammed, and more importantly would it make any difference?


Yeah. Same here, but I called and they got it to work. I guess it wasn't regiestered to my phone.


Posted by: CeluGeek

Does the 2125 use the same battery as the SMT5600?


Posted by: Omega2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by dstrauss
I've finally got Clearvue associated with the various file types, but now I need to know "where" the file attachments are stored, so I can delete them after viewing?

Which raises my next question - should we have a "How To..." thread now?

Storage\Application Data\Volitile.

As for a how to thread...I don't think it will happen in the sub forum here but maybe in the Smartphone forum. I know I will be posting a nice how too\info post in my blog on this device. Hopefully that will help some of you guys out.


Posted by: wtxn

Does the 2125 support call recording? If so, does it have annoying beeps and length restrictions (like Motorola?)

Still not in the nearest store... I asked them for the Cingular 2125 and they didn't believe that it was an actual phone.

Then they looked it up and let me know that they didn't have it and didn't know if they'd be getting it.

My thirty day return period ends on the 29th; hopefully the phone will be in stores before then. (This W600 isn't quite the most comfortable phone to talk on, and I wouldn't mind something a bit lighter. The idea of a Windows Mobile device is exciting, and there are a few annoyances on the W600 I could live without.) Is it possible to return the w600 and have the Cingular store order another phone for me without cancelling the line?

I think I'll be going to Best Buy and an ex-AT&T Wireless store; I doubt either will have it, but it's worth checking.

I suppose I could always exchange the W600 for a free/cheap phone and upgrade to the 2125 on another line later.


Posted by: techfury90

Quote:
Originally Posted by WirelessAndy
Not visible- to the human eye.

What I meant was: Most video/digital cameras have light sensitivity just slightly beyond the visible spectrum. Infrared emitters, like those found on common remote controls, are often visible if you look at it from a video/digital camera's imaging device.

In other words, enable your phone's IR port. While it's connected to your computer via IR, you should be able to see light pulsing where the IR emitters are via the "eyes" of a common video/digital camera.

It might look something like this:


or this:

What's strange is that I can see my laptop's IR port blinking just fine with the naked eye... several other kinds of IR ports too.


Posted by: xultar

Anyone migrate from Blue to Orange with the 2125....how long did it take for them to process your order?


Posted by: mnicol819

Question about Windows Media Player...

I use Windows Media Center and want to transfer the recorded TV or any other video to the 2125. I'm using the media sync in WMP 10 on my PC and it works but ithe video is scaled even if the highest quality conversion is used. It probably only uses about half the screen if not less. If you take a look at the WMP Mobile FAQ page it says the following:

5.8 Can I view QVGA video in full-screen mode on a VGA device?
Some newer devices have larger displays that support VGA resolutions (480 x 640 pixels). If you try to use Windows Media Player 10 Mobile to play a QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) video in full-screen mode on a VGA device, depending upon the device and the codec that was used to encode the content, the video might not be scaled to fill the entire screen. It might only be displayed at 240 x 320 pixels.

Anybody have an idea how to get the thing not to scale??? I hate to see this beautiful screen go to waste.


Posted by: Omega2008

Well the 2125 is QVGA, try encoding your files to 240x320. I would skip the sync thru WMP10 all together and try to encode it into a .avi file.


Posted by: sharksfan

Quote:
Originally Posted by rmoniz
For those of you who got the phone for less than $200.00, how did you do it? Did you haggle a little to get that price or did you get it because of your FAN? I have a FAN and was about to migrate but the lady wouldn't budge on the price.

It never hurts to ask for a lower price.

Thanks.

-Rob


I called NBO... Price was $169 with a two year contract and unlimited data ($19.99 media net). The $100 rebate was instant.


Posted by: tonyxcom

I reecoded some videos I made a long time ago. I used Windows Media Encoder and set the resolution to 320x240 and they play full screen (landscape) on the 2125. The phone can actually handle 30fps no problem either.


Posted by: lopezpm

Quote:
Originally Posted by mnicol819
Question about Windows Media Player...

I use Windows Media Center and want to transfer the recorded TV or any other video to the 2125. I'm using the media sync in WMP 10 on my PC and it works but ithe video is scaled even if the highest quality conversion is used. It probably only uses about half the screen if not less. If you take a look at the WMP Mobile FAQ page it says the following:

5.8 Can I view QVGA video in full-screen mode on a VGA device?
Some newer devices have larger displays that support VGA resolutions (480 x 640 pixels). If you try to use Windows Media Player 10 Mobile to play a QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) video in full-screen mode on a VGA device, depending upon the device and the codec that was used to encode the content, the video might not be scaled to fill the entire screen. It might only be displayed at 240 x 320 pixels.

Anybody have an idea how to get the thing not to scale??? I hate to see this beautiful screen go to waste.

I know this isn't a solution to your problem but I was having the same problem. I started using the tcpmp video player and it works great. It has a ton of options.


Posted by: lopezpm

Quote:
Originally Posted by dstrauss
The SIM that came with my 2125 doesn't work at all; the 64k card in my SMT 5600 (originally came from my Treo 650) seems to work fine, but doesn't say "3G" - do I need to go get the new card reprogrammed, and more importantly would it make any difference?

I had to call in and activate the phones when I got them.


Posted by: DogmeatAl

Quote:
Originally Posted by xultar
Anyone migrate from Blue to Orange with the 2125....how long did it take for them to process your order?


I just did this, though it was a long process because it involved several phones on a family plan.

BTW, I was promises the $100 rebate even though there is no data use on my contract (nor do I plan have any). If they deny the rebate, I'll kick up a fuss, since that was never mentioned by anyone I talked to.


Posted by: duchski

Quote:
Originally Posted by rmoniz
For those of you who got the phone for less than $200.00, how did you do it? Did you haggle a little to get that price or did you get it because of your FAN? I have a FAN and was about to migrate but the lady wouldn't budge on the price.

It never hurts to ask for a lower price.

Thanks.

-Rob


Haggle. As I understand CING is very flexible with pricing but you have to give the rep you are talking to a reason to give you a discount: few, first you have your FAN account and second you are migrating to Orange. If you do not get anywhere hang up and call again. Manager will not help you and most likely "the manager" will be just another rep. It is a cumbersome proces but you can shave some money of your price. Also, mention that somebody else from you company (same FAN discount) got a much lower price and quote the price: $199.99 . This is a fair pice for the device considering the list price of $349 or $399 depending on who you talk to...


Posted by: Slimmy

Well I got mine, popped my 32K sim in and it works fine.

However I can't seem to connect to MediaNet. I've checked all the settings and everything seems right.


Any suggestions?


Posted by: Omega2008

In IE goto Menu, Options, Connection and change to WAP Network and refresh or go to the MEdia Net page again.

If you can go to any web page then make sure there is a G or and E above the signal meter and a E or a G on the icon bar.


Posted by: Slimmy

Weird, I went through the connections, checked the Automatically Detect Settings box, re-tried it, still didn't work, unchecked that box, then re-tried it and it now works.


Posted by: Omega2008

Yeah, for MEdia Net page to work you have to have connection is IE set to WAP Network.


Posted by: rmoniz

Quote:
Originally Posted by sharksfan
I called NBO... Price was $169 with a two year contract and unlimited data ($19.99 media net). The $100 rebate was instant.


You must have a better fan that I do but I'll try. I may have to migrate first and get some free phone, then upgrade later.

Thanks.


Posted by: CydeWeyz

Quote:
Originally Posted by xultar
Anyone migrate from Blue to Orange with the 2125....how long did it take for them to process your order?


Took 90 minutes on the phone, which delayed my order to ship last Friday instead of Thursday, but FedEx attempted delivery on Saturday. The problem? Cingular forgot to put my Apt# on the package, so I had to go to FedEx twice to attempt a pickup. Finally got it Monday.

Setup/Activation was simple coming from the SMT5600. I can't say it will be the same for non-smartphone users.


Posted by: CydeWeyz

Quote:
Originally Posted by rmoniz
You must have a better fan that I do but I'll try. I may have to migrate first and get some free phone, then upgrade later.

Thanks.


I also got the $169 price with only $14.02 tax in California. Gotta love it!

Also worth mentioning that I've never been denied a mail-in rebate even with a FAN discount applied to the phone. That was AT&T though. We'll see how Cingular does it.


Posted by: hitechy

Quote:
Originally Posted by sharksfan
I called NBO... Price was $169 with a two year contract and unlimited data ($19.99 media net). The $100 rebate was instant.


What is NBO?


Posted by: LS1GOAT

Quote:
Originally Posted by wtxn
Does the 2125 support call recording? If so, does it have annoying beeps and length restrictions (like Motorola?)

Still not in the nearest store... I asked them for the Cingular 2125 and they didn't believe that it was an actual phone.

Then they looked it up and let me know that they didn't have it and didn't know if they'd be getting it.

My thirty day return period ends on the 29th; hopefully the phone will be in stores before then. (This W600 isn't quite the most comfortable phone to talk on, and I wouldn't mind something a bit lighter. The idea of a Windows Mobile device is exciting, and there are a few annoyances on the W600 I could live without.) Is it possible to return the w600 and have the Cingular store order another phone for me without cancelling the line?

I think I'll be going to Best Buy and an ex-AT&T Wireless store; I doubt either will have it, but it's worth checking.

I suppose I could always exchange the W600 for a free/cheap phone and upgrade to the 2125 on another line later.


Why don't you just order it on the phone? I did yesterday afternoon and I'll have my phone tomorrow.


Posted by: f4brutale

somebody asked for the link to fcc's htc faraday site... well click HERE

though my phone hit local fedex yesterday, it wasn't delivered until today while i was at work. great end to my work day i must say! i returned to find my snazzy new gadget and i just opened the box.

i'll post review and other observations as i dive into it

cost: $169 w/2yr + $19.99 data

to clarify... this was a b2b deal.


Posted by: bioyuki

So I just called Cingular, the rebate isn't available in my area (Orange County)...299 w/2 year contract :ugh:.


Posted by: Gator5000e

I've looked but can't find an answer to funky start menu goings on in my 2125. First, if I hit the right key or combo of keys (I have not figured out which ones I am hitting yet), the start menu will lose its grid appearance and be in a standard windows drop down menu with each line numbered. Can't for the life of me figure out how I have done that (a couple of times) and how to keep it that way. Any suggestions appreciated.

Second, lately when I hit the home button, the home screen changes color to a very light powder blue (Like a Tar Heel Blue) instead of the rich Gator blue that appears to be the proper color. Anyone know what is causing this and how to fix it?

Thanks, BTW, I have nothing against the Tar Heels.


Posted by: f4brutale

ok... first impressions with little playing around yet...

it's grey not black. very solid feel. battery cover has no release but is opened by pressing and pulling. joystick has nice movement that's short and precise. screen is outstanding. os user interface much simplified like ppc. 64k 3g orange sim instantly recognized. xpress mail personal account instantly configed and syncing. activesync 4.1 instant sync too. no abilty to get to medianet. tried the wap setting thingy with on/off auto detect and no luck. also, is the spwm5 ie browser frames capable? i thought someone said they can access owa (outlook web access)?

long work day today and am burnt. will play with features and load software and do some customizing tomorrow. merry xmas to me... thank you santa (a.k.a. accounts payable)


Posted by: bioyuki

If I have a Premier account and my 39.99 plan is actually 33.99, will I qualify for the 100 dollar rebate?


Posted by: BradleyH

Quote:
Originally Posted by bioyuki
If I have a Premier account and my 39.99 plan is actually 33.99, will I qualify for the 100 dollar rebate?


Each time I have done it, the "list" price of the plan has qualified. So, the general public $39.99 plan (Nation 900 w/ Rollover) has worked even though I pay less than that after my company discount.


Posted by: BradleyH

Quote:
Originally Posted by xultar
Anyone migrate from Blue to Orange with the 2125....how long did it take for them to process your order?


My rep placed an order internally last monday. After not hearing an update (and expecting the phone on Wednesday) I called him on Thursday. My order was in "pending/held" status due to some problem with the $100 instant discount. He helped them release the order on Thursday PM and the phone shipped that day. It would have delivered on Saturday, but my office was closed. I received it yesterday (Monday).

I placed a Blue to Orange migration order for another of my users today. It was placed on Premier. I will let you know how long that one takes.


Posted by: Jakaroe808

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gator5000e
I've looked but can't find an answer to funky start menu goings on in my 2125. First, if I hit the right key or combo of keys (I have not figured out which ones I am hitting yet), the start menu will lose its grid appearance and be in a standard windows drop down menu with each line numbered. Can't for the life of me figure out how I have done that (a couple of times) and how to keep it that way. Any suggestions appreciated.

Second, lately when I hit the home button, the home screen changes color to a very light powder blue (Like a Tar Heel Blue) instead of the rich Gator blue that appears to be the proper color. Anyone know what is causing this and how to fix it?
Thanks, BTW, I have nothing against the Tar Heels.


I'm not sure how you are changing your start menu, but I have been having the same problem with the home screen changing to the powder blue. If you go into your home screen setting and change the background image from default to Cingular, it seems to clear that up. It looks like it may be the XML code in the Home Screen Layout, that is causing some issues.
Hope that helps.


Posted by: Omega2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gator5000e
I've looked but can't find an answer to funky start menu goings on in my 2125. First, if I hit the right key or combo of keys (I have not figured out which ones I am hitting yet), the start menu will lose its grid appearance and be in a standard windows drop down menu with each line numbered. Can't for the life of me figure out how I have done that (a couple of times) and how to keep it that way. Any suggestions appreciated.


Did you by chance change the registry key for this? I did and mine won't change but sometimes it does...odd. I changed the key back and never had this problem. I am guessing what you suggesting that you are pressing a key combo that switches it from grid to list. Hopefully the next time it happends your can take note of what you did to achieve that.

As for the Homescreen problem, I would switch to another homescreen layout, powercycle the phone, and then pick the homescreen layout you were originally using. I haven't had this problem, if all fails a hard reset maybe in order.


Posted by: dstrauss

That's the question - how do I delete Get Xpress Mail from the home screen?

In the "For WHat It's Worth Department" my local store rep showed me the email they recieved from corporate saying the 2125 would be in the store on January 5. No mention of the 8125. I've already received mine from National sales, and the clock is ticking to see if I can get an 8125 for comaprison before the 30 days runs out on the 2125.


Posted by: McCarron

Quote:
Originally Posted by bioyuki
If I have a Premier account and my 39.99 plan is actually 33.99, will I qualify for the 100 dollar rebate?


I just noticed that the 2125 on the Premier site now mentions the $100 off in the phone name. So I'm pretty sure Permier is okay now for the discount. It doesn't say it's a rebate, just says $100 off but doesn't discount in the cart.


Posted by: rperalta

Quote:
Originally Posted by dstrauss
That's the question - how do I delete Get Xpress Mail from the home screen?

In the "For WHat It's Worth Department" my local store rep showed me the email they recieved from corporate saying the 2125 would be in the store on January 5. No mention of the 8125. I've already received mine from National sales, and the clock is ticking to see if I can get an 8125 for comaprison before the 30 days runs out on the 2125.


Two options:

1. Copy the .xml called Cingular from the phone to your desktop. Edit it and remove the plugin for Xpress Mail. Save it and copy it back to your phone and say "Yes" to overwite existing file.

2. Switch to the other homescreen called: Cingular Wireless. On this the Get Xpress Mail plugin is removed but it has the Bluetooth status plugin. When you click this plugin, it takes you to the Comm Mgr.

Hope that helps.


Posted by: wtxn

Quote:
Originally Posted by LS1GOAT
Why don't you just order it on the phone? I did yesterday afternoon and I'll have my phone tomorrow.


I already bought another phone in store. I wish to exchange it for the 2125, something I won't be able to do after the 29th.


Posted by: bdc10

Quote:
Originally Posted by f4brutale
also, is the spwm5 ie browser frames capable? i thought someone said they can access owa (outlook web access)?


No, I'm pretty sure it doesn't do frames. And, they were probably talking about OMA, not OWA. Outlook Mobile Access is a text-only, remotely accessible exchange portal that's designed for small screen, low-bandwidth devices like phones. It's kind of boring, actually, but it does work.

What you really want to do is setup remote ActiveSync so that your phone can sync to your exchange server from anywhere. It works really, really well. And you can have Exch 2003 send SMS messages to force the phone to sync, simulating push email.

As I'm sure you already know, the Messaging and Security Feature Pack, will add true push email without the need for SMS. I have yet to get a committment from Cingular that they will release a new ROM image to support that on this phone, although with all the hoopla that will undoubtedly surround the Treo 700 on Verizon they'll almost be forced to.


Posted by: LS1GOAT

Quote:
Originally Posted by wtxn
I already bought another phone in store. I wish to exchange it for the 2125, something I won't be able to do after the 29th.


I bought my 5600 instore too, and I was able to order the 2125 on the phone and return the 5600 to the store.


Posted by: bdc10

Has anyone else noticed that their phone gets into a data-wedged condition?

If I haven't sent any data in a while, the phone still thinks the connection is open (the "E" is still above the bars), but if a program (like ActiveSync or IE) tries to actually send data it just wedges. If I drop the data connection (by pressing "end") things work fine after the connection is re-established.

It smells like somehow the actual data connection has gone away, but WM5 has somehow missed the notification.


Posted by: Omega2008

Yeah I have that problem too, but I don't get the "data wedge" your talking about, it just keeps the E on top the signal meter. I still get my messages via Exchange just fine.


Posted by: wtxn

Quote:
Originally Posted by LS1GOAT
I bought my 5600 instore too, and I was able to order the 2125 on the phone and return the 5600 to the store.


Oh really? I had no idea you could do that.

Do you return the phone when the new one arrives? I'd prefer to get the phone in store if possible. Either way, I'd prefer to look at the phone before I buy it (but I'd also like to try to exchange before time runs


Posted by: Cornflakeguy

Ok, get this:

I called the NBO for Orange, 18003569752, and they told me that the ONLY way to get the $169 price ($269 fan - $100 over the phone ) is if you sign up for the $44.99 Unlimited DATA CONNECT, not Unlimited Media Net, which is $19.99.


They really fought me on this, and I asked for a supervisor, who followed along with me on the website that when you buy this on the web this $44 Data plan is not even offered as an accessory, but the $19.99 Unlimited Media Net is.

Then she says that she got an email about this today, and had to put me on hold to read it since its been "so busy" today.

So she comes back and says that in their training on this phone, they were told that the ONLY way this phone can connect to the 'servers' is if they are on the Data Connect plan, not MediaNet. She said that she, and the trainers that she emailed while on hold, said that "this phone will not work on MediaNet". Straight out.

But they said since the website offers it the way it does, they will do the $169, $39.99 voice, and $19.99 unlimited Media Net.

If it does not work, like they say it won't, I have 30 days after activation to return it.

So...guys....yours works on MediaNet, right?

cfg


Posted by: 330Cane

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cornflakeguy
Ok, get this:

I called the NBO for Orange, 18003569752, and they told me that the ONLY way to get the $169 price ($269 fan - $100 over the phone ) is if you sign up for the $44.99 Unlimited DATA CONNECT, not Unlimited Media Net, which is $19.99.


They really fought me on this, and I asked for a supervisor, who followed along with me on the website that when you buy this on the web this $44 Data plan is not even offered as an accessory, but the $19.99 Unlimited Media Net is.

Then she says that she got an email about this today, and had to put me on hold to read it since its been "so busy" today.

So she comes back and says that in their training on this phone, they were told that the ONLY way this phone can connect to the 'servers' is if they are on the Data Connect plan, not MediaNet. She said that she, and the trainers that she emailed while on hold, said that "this phone will not work on MediaNet". Straight out.

But they said since the website offers it the way it does, they will do the $169, $39.99 voice, and $19.99 unlimited Media Net.

If it does not work, like they say it won't, I have 30 days after activation to return it.

So...guys....yours works on MediaNet, right?

cfg



Sounds like more stupidity. Works no problem on Media Net.


Posted by: iJITSU

Quote:
Originally Posted by f4brutale
ok... first impressions with little playing around yet...

it's grey not black. very solid feel. battery cover has no release but is opened by pressing and pulling. joystick has nice movement that's short and precise. screen is outstanding. os user interface much simplified like ppc. 64k 3g orange sim instantly recognized. xpress mail personal account instantly configed and syncing. activesync 4.1 instant sync too. no abilty to get to medianet. tried the wap setting thingy with on/off auto detect and no luck. also, is the spwm5 ie browser frames capable? i thought someone said they can access owa (outlook web access)?

long work day today and am burnt. will play with features and load software and do some customizing tomorrow. merry xmas to me... thank you santa (a.k.a. accounts payable)


PIE doesn't support frames. However, Opera does. Go to Opera's site, download the browser for WM Smartphone 2003 (it works on WM 5.0) and then you should be able to access Outlook Web Access just fine. I have no problems.


Posted by: naviwilliams

...my two cents. I friend of mine just got this phone, and I've been playing with it. It's not a bad little phone, and it's much smaller than the photos lead one to believe...

Now to get VPN working on it or that "GetGood" software...


Posted by: undef

Please pardon my lack of knowledge, as this is my first smartphone and my first post to HoFo. I have read all 100+ pages of this thread and would like to contribute my opinions.

I'm new to smartphones. My first GSM phone was the Nokia 8110, which I used in Germany prior to the release of "The Matrix". When I moved to the US, I switched to a GTE Wireless (now Verizon) StarTAC, followed by a terrible AT&T GSM Siemens A56, followed by a slightly better Sony T226, and now the Cingular 2125. On the PDA side I started with Apple Newton 2000 which I used for several years, migrated to a Cassiopeia in 2000, followed by an iPaq in 2002(?), and have not used a PDA since 2003. I have been looking for a convergence device that will allow me to send and receive email (both IMAP4 & Exchange), access some light web content (news + follow links from email), RSS feed reader, and synchronize with Outlook for Task Lists and Calendar. I also wanted excellent phone reception, good user interface, and a decent color screen. Lastly, I wanted to use a bluetooth headset, as I have used a wired headset for about 6 years on each of my different phones and wanted to upgrade to bluetooth.

Having read a few thousand posts here on HoFo, I followed the pack and bought the 2125. I came very close to buying the MPX220, as I miss my old Motorola StarTAC, but when Omega2008 decided to replace his broken 220 w/ a 2125 I chose to purchase the same unit. I'm out of touch w/ new phone technology, so my purchase was based on the first 86 pages of feedback here on this thread, and the first 30 pages of the Windows SmartPhone forum.

Initial Impressions

Screen:
The screen is spectacular. It is bright, clear, and beautiful. I can say nothing but good things about the screen. The default font ("Normal") is somewhat small for reading some web content, but my vision is good and it is not a strain. Packing a 240x320 screen into this phone was a brilliant idea, and I believe it is the single best feature of the phone.

User Interface (hardware):
I am thoroughly impressed with all of the HoFo members who are able to use this little joystick effectively - I am not one of you! I have big hands, and even coming from the T226 the keys and joystick are both small, and incredibly difficult to use. The joystick is not centered in its hole (something discussed earlier on this thread), and movement is difficult if not impossible sometimes. I find that half of my time using the phone has been spent trying to get out of applications I did not intend to launch. This single feature is killing an otherwise very nice phone for me - if I cannot operate the phone with some degree of effeciency, what good is it to have it?

The number keys are also too small, too close together, and difficult to operate. My wife, who has very small fingers, even had difficulty dialing a phone number. I do not understand why the decision was made to taper the body of the phone, thereby reducing the available real estate for properly sized keys - but in my humble opinion, the decision was wrong.

Another issue for me is that I have gotten used to using the volume controls on the side of the T226 as page up / page down, something that does not appear to work on the 2125. This is really a shame, as it makes using PIE much more difficult when scrolling with the terrible little joystick.

User Interface (software):
It's Windows CE, or Mobile, or Mobile for Smartphones.... when all is said and done, it's still Windows. I have not used a WM2003SE device, other than testing colleagues phones out, enough to comment on the differences between WM5 and WM2003SE. The interface is acceptable, albeit I still have th difficulty using the joystick which makes selecting items and using the phone more difficult than it should be. The selection of software preinstalled on the phone is sparse, and the available storage memory built into the phone seems remarkably small. I have 2 months of Exchange emails (couple of hundred), one week of IMAP4 emails (<200), installed ClearVue, installed TCMCP, installed PHM Registry Editor, and I have less than 1.5mb remaining. Is there no way to move emails to a storage card? Microsoft Voice Command would not install even when I had 5.75mb free. I did manage to delete the 1.1MB wav file put on by cingular (their default ringtone). Whoever came up with that idea at Cingular should be drug out into the street....

Wireless Data (GPRS/EDGE):
I have used GPRS on my old T226 for years to access WAP content, so moving to EDGE is an upgrade. Because this phone does much more on the data side than my old phones were capable of, I am not the best one to judge the improvement that EDGE brings. Accessing full websites is both slow and cumbersome, even on EDGE. Without an easy way to scroll, and navigating with the joystick, it takes close to a minute to bring up the home page of HoFo or CNN.com and be at a point where the phone will let you begin scrolling. As much as it is neat having PIE on a phone, I'm starting to think that it is a waste unless you are either a very patient person, or have found a way to softmap page up and page down functions to keys on your phone.

Email works, sort of. It took 6 tries of recreating my IMAP4 account before it finally synced and grabbed all of the headers. Several errors later, it is working as expected. So far I am pleased with Pocket Outlook, although it is such a simple email client I cannot imagine that even Microsoft could screw it up. Attachments download when requested, but so far I have not gotten office attachments to associate with ClearVue, so the attachments are rather useless.

Battery Life:
So far, the battery life has been very impressive. I have used the phone for several hours without charging, and when I do charge it (USB cable) it is only at about 80% remaining. Others can probably speak more to the battery situation, as mine has been close to a charger most of its (short) life.

Reception:
I have not traveled to my normal deadspots, but reception at my home is substantially better than with my T226. This may be due to the phone being better regarding RF, or may have something to do with migrating from an AT&T SIM to a Cingular SIM.

Camera:
Its a phone, not a camera. I took a few photos, which looked blurry and washed out. I have yet to figure out the fascination with cameras in phones, so take this for what its worth. If you want to take a photo of something that you just can't pass up (drunk friend, hit and run accident, news worthy event, etc.) the camera will be OK, if you are trying to take a picture of that special moment (beautiful sunset, beautiful woman/man, group of friends, etc) buy a real camera.

Voice Dialing:
I must be missing something here. My phone allows me to program voice tags. This is a pain in the, well, you know where. Before buying the phone I read through this thread and came to believe that the phone included voice dialing, and I assumed (we all know what that means) that it would be similar to the voice dialing features of a colleagues RAZR. Let me tell you - it is not. It is pretty much a waste - you have to manually program each and every voice dial input, there is no voice command structure builtin, and in my testing in a quiet environment it picked up my voice tag only about 1/3 tries. I actually weighed heavily on this feature when making my final decision, as I wanted voice dialing over bluetooth which the MPX220 does not have. At this point, picking up the phone and using the builtin mic doesn't seem so bad.

Volume:
Volume is acceptable. So far it seems to be louder than my old Siemens, quieter than my T226, and on par with the old StarTAC. You should not miss calls because you cannot hear the ringtone, and you should have no troubles hearing the other side of a call. I would not suggest using only the ringtone in a very noisy environment such as an industrial site or party/club, but in normal business environments it will be sufficient.

"The Hump":
I couldn't care less about the hump. I want the phone for function, not style. If I wanted style, I'd be like everyone else I know and buy, or plan to buy, or want to buy, a RAZR. If "The Hump" is really helping on the 1900 band then it is fine by me. If not, some phone designer should cut the dosage of whatever he or she is taking, as it makes the phone look silly. But, silly or not, its part of the phone and its a tradeoff.

Video:
No, not taking videos - watching them! I did manage to get a very small (1 minute) clip converted using PocketDivx Encoder and played it using TCMCP. The output was smooth and clear with no skips. The file was converted from widescreen dvd and encoded to fit fullscreen at 320x240. PDE actually encoded to 320 x (some value less than 240) due to the content being 16:9. All in all, not too bad - but I pity the person who has to spend much time staring at a 2.2" screen to watch movies or television. It is a neat feature, and I can see having something for those unexpected times where you have nothing to do, but this is not likely to be an everyday thing for me, or for most I would imagine. For those of you who use public transportation this may be a great feature to have.

One Handed Operation:
This phone can be used one handed for basic dialing functions. From my experience, using it one handed for advanced features such as email or web browsing is quite difficult. The individual number keys are so small it is hard to use them for T9 or text input without both hands to peck at the keys. Two handed operation sped things up quite a bit, but sort of defeats some of the purpose of having a smartphone vs. PPC or Palm.

Conclusions:
I know that there are other features you may be interested in, such as Text Messaging, MMS, Bluetooth, and so on - I simply don't have anything to offer there. I am still shopping for a headset, and I do not use SMS or MMS.

What I can say is that it seems like a very nice phone, for those with elvish hands or long pointed fingernails. I am thoroughly shocked by the quality screen, and the reception in my limited tests puts my old phone to shame. The builtin applications function much as expected, and the inclusion of EDGE support improves data transfer speeds benefiting nearly all applications you are likely to run on a Smartphone. That being said, this is simply not the phone for me. I will use it for the next couple of days, but I'm going to order a Motorola MPX220 to replace this. Even with all of the bad things I have read here on HoFo about the Moto, I'd rather take my chances on getting a lemon but have the benefit of the D-Pad, flip phone design, and larger keys than continue with a phone that is nearly unuseable in its current state (by me). Please do not think that I am trying to knock, or otherwise talk down, this phone - it is a great little phone - I just wish it were a great not-quite-that-darned-little phone.





Now, a few questions:

1. Can you use a Mini SD card to store Pocket Outlook email on WM5? Can you do it on WM2003SE?

2. Is there a way to map keys to perform page up / page down functions?

3. How much available storage space does your phone have left? Is there something else I can delete to free up more space?

4. Does voice dialing on the MPX 220 more resemble voice dialing on the RAZR?

5. I have yet to see a comprehensive list of features that WM5 offers that are not / were not present in WM2003SE - can anyone point me to such a list or thread?


Thanks for reading my rant. I hope everyone is having fun with their new phones, and Happy Holidays / Merry Christmas to all of you.


Posted by: dstrauss

On my old SMT 5600, voice tags almost always worked first time (both recording and using). On the 2125, it almost never gets the voice tag recorded, and the few that have been, don't recognize during use. Am I missing something here (besides my mind)?


Posted by: WirelessAndy

Quote:
Originally Posted by undef
Please pardon my lack of knowledge, as this is my first smartphone and my first post to HoFo.


Fantastic observations and well written, undef. Great job for a first post.

Welcome to HowardForums!


Posted by: adamjrae

Quote:
Originally Posted by undef
Now, a few questions:

1. Can you use a Mini SD card to store Pocket Outlook email on WM5? Can you do it on WM2003SE?

2. xxxxxx

3. How much available storage space does your phone have left? Is there something else I can delete to free up more space?


I only have like 6Meg of free space on my phone after I activesync to my corp mail server. This is with no attachments just text yahoomail (6 messages), outlook email(30 emails)-cal-tasks(100 tasks)-contacts (300 contacts). I'm a little upset that I have no room after doing a sync. After I synced I tried to install goodmail and it said I didn't have enough room.

Yes, does anyone know how to move what you active sync to the memory card or to free up the storage space??? Is there a way to move free program space to storage space like the windows mobile pocket pcs?


Posted by: midas

Undef, I know you said the keys are hard to use, but I wanted to point out one thing that it took me a little while to figure out. When you hit the start menu, rather than using the joystick to navigate, you can just choose a corresponding number on the keypad (1-9) that matches the screen position of the icon you want. And of course many of the menu options have numbers that also correspond to keypad numbers. It makes navigation just a little easier.


Posted by: singhnx

wow! Great first post undef.

To answer question #4, yes, the voice dialing on the MPx220 is based off of voice recognition and not voice tags. There is no setup required to use the voice dialing other than to say the name of the person that you want to call.

I like the feature, it works very well (about 9 out of 10 times in my experience) and in all sorts of noisy environments.


Posted by: undef

Quote:
Originally Posted by singhnx
wow! Great first post undef.

To answer question #4, yes, the voice dialing on the MPx220 is based off of voice recognition and not voice tags. There is no setup required to use the voice dialing other than to say the name of the person that you want to call.

I like the feature, it works very well (about 9 out of 10 times in my experience) and in all sorts of noisy environments.


Excellent. That is what I was hoping. Can you also do voice dial by number? Such as "Call 555-5555" and have the phone dial "555-5555"?

Thanks for the kind words (both to you and the others that posted after I did). The phone is very nice, but I'm not sure its for those of us that have big hands and want one handed use of a phone. It is harder to use than my T226, and that thing is even smaller. The lack of space between the number keys is a factor, and the joystick is an ever present annoyance.

Quote:
Originally Posted by midas
Undef, I know you said the keys are hard to use, but I wanted to point out one thing that it took me a little while to figure out. When you hit the start menu, rather than using the joystick to navigate, you can just choose a corresponding number on the keypad (1-9) that matches the screen position of the icon you want. And of course many of the menu options have numbers that also correspond to keypad numbers. It makes navigation just a little easier.


I figured out the keypad navigation last night. The problem is that it does not help when doing things like checking email. I find that about half the time I try to scroll through my email messages I end up opening an email instead of scrolling. If only I could softmap the keypad to directional buttons (2 for up, 8 for down, 4 for left, 6 for right) it would fix my problems! Unfortunately, it seems that in the vast majority of menus/screens the keypad is not used at all - what a waste of potential.

I spoke with Cingular a few minutes ago about trading in this phone for an MPX220. Who knows, with the bad track record of the 220 by my third or forth XBM I might get a better phone - assuming anything new has come out by then.


Posted by: bdc10

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cornflakeguy
Ok, get this:

I called the NBO for Orange, 18003569752, and they told me that the ONLY way to get the $169 price ($269 fan - $100 over the phone ) is if you sign up for the $44.99 Unlimited DATA CONNECT, not Unlimited Media Net, which is $19.99.


They really fought me on this, and I asked for a supervisor, who followed along with me on the website that when you buy this on the web this $44 Data plan is not even offered as an accessory, but the $19.99 Unlimited Media Net is.

Then she says that she got an email about this today, and had to put me on hold to read it since its been "so busy" today.

So she comes back and says that in their training on this phone, they were told that the ONLY way this phone can connect to the 'servers' is if they are on the Data Connect plan, not MediaNet. She said that she, and the trainers that she emailed while on hold, said that "this phone will not work on MediaNet". Straight out.

But they said since the website offers it the way it does, they will do the $169, $39.99 voice, and $19.99 unlimited Media Net.

If it does not work, like they say it won't, I have 30 days after activation to return it.

So...guys....yours works on MediaNet, right?

cfg



I'm guessing they're talking about VPN tunnels. I know I've tried to do IPSEC tunneling with MediaNet and it wouldn't work. I'll bet that with the more expensive Data Connect plan you can get that stuff to work.


Posted by: singhnx

I've had my current phone (MPx220) for about a year now. I never had to send it back for anything. Just got lucky I guess.

As for your question ... yes, you can specify the phone number to dial by speaking the numbers. I've never used that aspect of dialing ... don't tend to remember numbers all that well but I just tested it out and it was able to recognize my spoken numbers as well.

An intersting feature is that if you hold the volume up button down, it will start up the voice recognition program, very easy to do this one handed and without looking at the phone.


Posted by: CeluGeek

Okay, I've had it. The phone is still nowhere to be seen in a store. I'm sick and tired of explaining to these sales and CS reps that the phone is not a Nokia, Motorola or whatever else. It's been such a pain to get this phone, that I decided not to upgrade. When the phone finally comes, if it ever comes, I'll just get it at the no-contract price and keep my right to jump ship if this downhill trend continues.


Posted by: undef

Quote:
Originally Posted by cinguliano
The tradeoff with the voice recognition software in the MPx220 is that it doesn't work via Bluetooth.



True. But as far as I can tell, the 2125 does not have voice recognition software, so the same could be said about it (not working over Bluetooth). If I have to program a voice tag for every contact it is simply not worth it. For that matter, it is a phone first and a PDA second - I can still dial the number, and the ultra-nice screen on the 2125 is there for a reason (read: to show you your contacts).

Voice dialing is a luxury, not a necessity, in the vast majority of cases.


Posted by: PacSpud

Quote:
Originally Posted by undef
True. But as far as I can tell, the 2125 does not have voice recognition software, so the same could be said about it (not working over Bluetooth). If I have to program a voice tag for every contact it is simply not worth it. For that matter, it is a phone first and a PDA second - I can still dial the number, and the ultra-nice screen on the 2125 is there for a reason (read: to show you your contacts).

Voice dialing is a luxury, not a necessity, in the vast majority of cases.



Voice tags will work over bluetooth on the 2125. That was one of my major disappointments with the mpx220. For me the entire point if voice recog/dialing is that it should be hands free. If I have to touch the phone then I can generally dial it too . . .

If voice dialing is really important to anyone they can always pay the extra $5 a month and subscribe to the service based option from Cingular. Not sure quite how it works on the Orange side but blue you dialed #121, which I programmed into a quick-dial key, then just started talking, bluetooth or otherwise.


Posted by: f4brutale

day 1 work commute w/2125 indicates reception improvements very noticable over 5600. i am learning to appreciate the hump. i'm needing to associate ms files to clearvue since that little bug-a-boo seems part of the deal. also, i can't get to media-net or xpress mail web portal yet. will work on that later on since i'm at the office at the moment.

so far... based on my needs... no regrets and think it may be a keeper.

any help on the media-net/xpress-mail-web issue is welcome. i tried several variations of connection options with no luck


Posted by: naviwilliams

Quote:
Originally Posted by cinguliano
Okay, I've had it. The phone is still nowhere to be seen in a store. I'm sick and tired of explaining to these sales and CS reps that the phone is not a Nokia, Motorola or whatever else. It's been such a pain to get this phone, that I decided not to upgrade. When the phone finally comes, if it ever comes, I'll just get it at the no-contract price and keep my right to jump ship if this downhill trend continues.



...am I missing something? Call customer service and order it. I have a friend (downstairs in my building) she ordered it Monday, got it yesterday!)


Posted by: abendx

voice dialing works rather well with the fonix software.... if i could only figure out how to map the voice tag key (hold down volume down key), i'd be happy.... of course, ms says that voice command will be ported at some point


Posted by: CeluGeek

Quote:
Originally Posted by tw1511
...am I missing something? Call customer service and order it. I have a friend (downstairs in my building) she ordered it Monday, got it yesterday!)

They don't take orders from Puerto Rico. I tried it again today and wasted 44 minutes, most of them on hold while being bounced from one department to another.


Posted by: naviwilliams

Quote:
Originally Posted by cinguliano
They don't take orders from Puerto Rico. I tried it again today and wasted 44 minutes, most of them on hold while being bounced from one department to another.


...oh, sorry to hear that!


Posted by: xultar

My 2125 is officially lost some where in the Cingular Universe. I ordered it but I can't get status on the web or when I call. DEAR GAWD!!!


Posted by: drbradfo

PROBLEM: Does anyone know which registry controls the start menu and how it's displayed? I somehow foobarred the start menu. From the homescreen, if I hit the start softkey, the screen doesn't change but the top of the screen read 'start' and if I hit the select, it launches messenging (which is the first thing in the start screen). if I hit start again it changes to 'more'... if I repeatedly hit 'more', I can cycle through all the programs, but I'm flying blind, because nothing is displayed. If I hit the 'start' softkey and then the 'more' softkey like 22 times (trial and error), then select, I get the regedit... so I'm good to go if I knew what to fix in the registry.

HELP PLEASE!


Posted by: jl234

Quote:
Originally Posted by xultar
My 2125 is officially lost some where in the Cingular Universe. I ordered it but I can't get status on the web or when I call. DEAR GAWD!!!


Welcome to the club. I ordered mine on Monday and was told I would get an email with all the order information. It never came. I had to talk to 5-6 people to finally find my order number. So, now I have an order number, but that's it. There isn't an update on the web and when I call Cingular they don't know why it hasn't moved along.


Posted by: brices21

Quote:
Originally Posted by bdc10
I'm guessing they're talking about VPN tunnels. I know I've tried to do IPSEC tunneling with MediaNet and it wouldn't work. I'll bet that with the more expensive Data Connect plan you can get that stuff to work.

I am able to connect to my corporate SSL VPN via my laptop when tethering. It's slow, but it works...


Posted by: brices21

Quote:
Originally Posted by xultar
My 2125 is officially lost some where in the Cingular Universe. I ordered it but I can't get status on the web or when I call. DEAR GAWD!!!

I had to order mine twice... The 1st time I ordered it never went through. Then I kept calling asking for tracking, and they could never even see the order had been placed. After many a phone call, alot of complaining, and 3 extra days I finally got the order placed and a $50 credit on my bill.

They even thought I might end up getting 2 devices, but I only got the one that gave me a tracking number the day after I ordered it. If it has been 2 days and they can't see your order, I would reorder it and ask for compensation. If their ordering system is that hosed, they should have to "pay for it"...


Posted by: jl234

Quote:
Originally Posted by brices21
I had to order mine twice... The 1st time I ordered it never went through. Then I kept calling asking for tracking, and they could never even see the order had been placed. After many a phone call, alot of complaining, and 3 extra days I finally got the order placed and a $50 credit on my bill.

They even thought I might end up getting 2 devices, but I only got the one that gave me a tracking number the day after I ordered it. If it has been 2 days and they can't see your order, I would reorder it and ask for compensation. If their ordering system is that hosed, they should have to "pay for it"...


I just re-ordered mine too. They admitted my order was lost. The rep also said that they are not handling the christmas volume well at all.


Posted by: f4brutale

ok... so, after clearing ie cache and cookies... i can now access xpressmailpe-web but media net says "your internet connection is not configured properly. please verify your settings in Data Connections"

help the blind!

a post on cingular's forum said someone took phone to a cingular store where a rep did a 'reset on the system'??? wtf does that mean i asked... we'll see.

could it mean a simple hard-reset?

we'll, i guess i'll be on phone with cingular help desk after work today


Posted by: bioyuki

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cornflakeguy
Ok, get this:

I called the NBO for Orange, 18003569752, and they told me that the ONLY way to get the $169 price ($269 fan - $100 over the phone ) is if you sign up for the $44.99 Unlimited DATA CONNECT, not Unlimited Media Net, which is $19.99.


They really fought me on this, and I asked for a supervisor, who followed along with me on the website that when you buy this on the web this $44 Data plan is not even offered as an accessory, but the $19.99 Unlimited Media Net is.

Then she says that she got an email about this today, and had to put me on hold to read it since its been "so busy" today.

So she comes back and says that in their training on this phone, they were told that the ONLY way this phone can connect to the 'servers' is if they are on the Data Connect plan, not MediaNet. She said that she, and the trainers that she emailed while on hold, said that "this phone will not work on MediaNet". Straight out.

But they said since the website offers it the way it does, they will do the $169, $39.99 voice, and $19.99 unlimited Media Net.

If it does not work, like they say it won't, I have 30 days after activation to return it.

So...guys....yours works on MediaNet, right?

cfg


Called NBO today as well and got the exact same story, Medianet is a 'Feature' and not a data plan, therefore it doesn't qualify for the rebate. With NBO requiring a 2 year contract and the 1 year contract price being the same as the no contract price of $679 I think I'm gonna skip out on this phone.


Posted by: LS1GOAT

Quote:
Originally Posted by bioyuki
Called NBO today as well and got the exact same story, Medianet is a 'Feature' and not a data plan, therefore it doesn't qualify for the rebate. With NBO requiring a 2 year contract and the 1 year contract price being the same as the no contract price of $679 I think I'm gonna skip out on this phone.


Yes it does... The promotional flyer said the rebate was with unlimited medianet.


Posted by: abendx

Quote:
Originally Posted by f4brutale
ok... so, after clearing ie cache and cookies... i can now access xpressmailpe-web but media net says "your internet connection is not configured properly. please verify your settings in Data Connections"

help the blind!

a post on cingular's forum said someone took phone to a cingular store where a rep did a 'reset on the system'??? wtf does that mean i asked... we'll see.

could it mean a simple hard-reset?

we'll, i guess i'll be on phone with cingular help desk after work today


yes... i noticed they offically support the 2125 now and have a new wm5 (2125) versin of the phone client. i had been using the 2003sp version (SMT5600) but didn't get my calendar.... looks like it has been fixed in this release

reset of the system.... could that be going into START >> ACCESSORIES >> CLEAR STORAGE ?? (this function will take you to a virgin state)

can't help you with your data settings.


Posted by: JMBrown

I just placed an order for a 2125! I'm pretty excited. However, the lady who took my order (who seemed quite confused more often than not) did not give me any kind of confirmation number, nor did she take my e-mail address, but she did put me on hold for about 20 minutes after I placed the order to confirm that it went through. Should I be concerned with the fact I was not given a order number or anything to confirm my order?


Posted by: xultar

Quote:
Originally Posted by JMBrown
I just placed an order for a 2125! I'm pretty excited. However, the lady who took my order (who seemed quite confused more often than not) did not give me any kind of confirmation number, nor did she take my e-mail address, but she did put me on hold for about 20 minutes after I placed the order to confirm that it went through. Should I be concerned with the fact I was not given a order number or anything to confirm my order?



Answer: YES!!!!!! Call'em and Bug'em you gotta get your email on that thing so you can get your confirmation and your tracking information. Call'em back. Sooner rather than later. I'll tell you about my ordering delima later. After sitting in receiving since Friday it's finally...processing!


Posted by: xultar

Quote:
Originally Posted by bioyuki
Called NBO today as well and got the exact same story, Medianet is a 'Feature' and not a data plan, therefore it doesn't qualify for the rebate. With NBO requiring a 2 year contract and the 1 year contract price being the same as the no contract price of $679 I think I'm gonna skip out on this phone.


I know what they are trying to say...the PDA plan way @ the bottom of the data plan page. But, those options did not come up with me when I ordered my 2125.


Posted by: bdc10

Saw this in the developer docs and thought I'd pass it along. I'm excited about the notion that this thing could get updated over the air. I'm just hoping it happens, since the data-wedge bug has made SMS triggered push email useless. My short term solution has been to just poll on a 10 minute schedule, which is near real-time enough for me. The polls are amazingly quick, actually.

Quote:
Mobile Device Services (MDS) is a content and application management and distribution system hosted by Microsoft.

MDS provides the following services:

-- Stores binaries in database
-- Determines required files based on version number
-- Packages and stores requested files for distribution
-- Notifies device of availability of requested files
-- Transfers requested files to devices OTA, asynchronously, in the background (works with client side Download Agent to transfer files to the device with minimal user involvement).
-- Downloads and installs ROM packages (the Download Agent and Image Update, both integrated components of Windows Mobile Version 5.0, work together to provide over-the-air firmware update capability).

You can use the MDS backend services to provide remote content download, device configuration, and firmware update services through your customized front-end web portal.



Posted by: jhruth

And it won't sync with Outlook Express 2003 - anyone have any ideas? It recognizes the phone but then I get that error....

HELP !!


Posted by: mikeymitch

OK... not to sound like a complete idiot, but I'm willing to risk it... How the hell do you remove the battery cover on the 2125? I've had mine for a few days, and have a miniSD card on order... and I'm going to need to take it off... I've pushed and pried, can't get it... Anyone know the trick?

Thanks!


Posted by: lopezpm

Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeymitch
OK... not to sound like a complete idiot, but I'm willing to risk it... How the hell do you remove the battery cover on the 2125? I've had mine for a few days, and have a miniSD card on order... and I'm going to need to take it off... I've pushed and pried, can't get it... Anyone know the trick?

Thanks!

It's tough, I thought I was going to break mine the first time. Push down on it and slide it off.


Posted by: xultar

OK there were some goodlink bolton data plans offered when I purchased my 2125 from my premier site.

The reason I didn't pick it is because my company isn't using the goodlink stuff or have a server installed.

Did you guys see the good link data plans after you selected your voice plan?
I did notice on the bottom of the voice plan pages they had data plans but it specifically said that the plans were for PC cards.


Posted by: MCShrike

Way back I asked about BT headsets and the 2125 specifically around the BT800. I think I may be the first (or only one ) with this combo so....

I just got 2125 today and the sound quality is good with BT800 headset on both ends. Also, caller ID comes up on the headset. Unfortunately, unlike my Moto V551 which actually sent the contact name to the headset, the 2125 sends the number. Also voice tags work with the keys locked.


Posted by: f4brutale

this data plan versus medianet confusion is poopie...

my b2b 2-yr deal started with me being required to sign up for the $40+ monthly data plan and i got the $169 phone price. after reading some hofo posts that others have gone with the $20 medianet "feature" and got the $169 price, i called back and changed plan to medianet and still got the $169 phone price.

ff to today... i have the phone and can web-surf including xpress-mail-pe website BUT NOT MEDIANET... am onhold with cingular help desk now... more to come...

off the phone with cingular help and here's the outcome... first let me say that i thought that the steps they put me through were one of my many attempts to set data connection to allow medianet. maybe not.

first... power cycle... second access ie > menu > options > connections > de-select auto > select wap network... magic now i get medianet, xpressmail_pe, unlimited internet and data-transfer for $19.99


Posted by: BradleyH

Quote:
Originally Posted by xultar
OK there were some goodlink bolton data plans offered when I purchased my 2125 from my premier site.

The reason I didn't pick it is because my company isn't using the goodlink stuff or have a server installed.

Did you guys see the good link data plans after you selected your voice plan?
I did notice on the bottom of the voice plan pages they had data plans but it specifically said that the plans were for PC cards.


I did see the GoodLink data plans when I placed an order for one of my users yesterday. FWIW, my phone was ordered with the $45 data plan, and when I received it (bill to airtime) I was STILL charged $269 (rather than the $169 I was promised). I am waiting to see what I am charged for the phone I ordered on Premier yesterday.


Posted by: tonyxcom

Quote:
Originally Posted by bdc10
I'm just hoping it happens, since the data-wedge bug has made SMS triggered push email useless. My short term solution has been to just poll on a 10 minute schedule, which is near real-time enough for me. The polls are amazingly quick, actually.


AUTD works fine on my phone, over and over all day long with the phone in my pocket the whole time.


Posted by: xultar

Quote:
Originally Posted by BradleyH
I did see the GoodLink data plans when I placed an order for one of my users yesterday. FWIW, my phone was ordered with the $45 data plan, and when I received it (bill to airtime) I was STILL charged $269 (rather than the $169 I was promised). I am waiting to see what I am charged for the phone I ordered on Premier yesterday.


You are going to go back and rectify the issue with the cost on the first phone correct. I have a feeling there will be a lot of calls on this and they will have to offer bill credits for the $100.


Posted by: Cornflakeguy

Yeah with the 'confusion' during my call, they kept telling me that Data Connect is meant for PDA's like the 2125, BB, and Treo, and MediaNet is meant for 'phones'.

So I kept asking her, "Ok, what is the difference? What can I get with Data Connect that I can't with MediaNet?" And she could not answer, only that it was meant for PDA's.

I hope she was wrong all the way around, because just think what kind of a Communist society it would be if you had to pay $44 instead of $20 for the exact same thing just because you had a more expensive phone.

cfg


Posted by: iJITSU

Quote:
Originally Posted by drbradfo
PROBLEM: Does anyone know which registry controls the start menu and how it's displayed? I somehow foobarred the start menu. From the homescreen, if I hit the start softkey, the screen doesn't change but the top of the screen read 'start' and if I hit the select, it launches messenging (which is the first thing in the start screen). if I hit start again it changes to 'more'... if I repeatedly hit 'more', I can cycle through all the programs, but I'm flying blind, because nothing is displayed. If I hit the 'start' softkey and then the 'more' softkey like 22 times (trial and error), then select, I get the regedit... so I'm good to go if I knew what to fix in the registry.

HELP PLEASE!


I did something similar. I wanted to remove the Cingular logo background in the start/icon menu so I used a reg editor and deleted the value. Turns out you can't just delete it or when you try to access the start menu it won't come up. Not sure if you did the same thing, but I experienced the exact same scenario that you are describing. Either hard reset and start over or if you can get into the reg editor go to HKLM/software/microsoft/shell/rai and select the background image (can't remember the name but something like BKbitmap) and enter a path to whatever image you want to use. That image has to be store in /windows/. I put several images in /windows/ including just a white blank image so that I could have a plain white start menue background if I wished. Good luck.


Posted by: iJITSU

Off topic: for those of you with 2125's that installed ClearVue suite on your miniSD only to find that the icons did not show up and you had to manually copy a shortcut etc to get it to work properly- ClearVue Suite has been updated on Westek's site. Just downloaded the newest version and it works like a charm. Thanks to Gacajun for giving the heads up.


Posted by: tonyxcom

If you want to change the start menu background, just replace Cingular.bmp in /windows with any 240x320 BMP file you want, then reboot the phone.

You can also change the bootup and shutdown images by replacing images in /windows too. You will also find another 1mb cingular ring tone there too that you can delete if you dont use.

Easiest thing to do is just copy all the images you see in /windows to your computer then look at them, edit them etc, and then put them back and reboot.

If you are changing home screen backgrounds I have found that some of them aren't completely 240x320. More like 240x295 and then bottom aligned in the XML file. So depending on what them you are using and what background you try to use, it will not look right, either the top gets cut off, or there isn't enough to fill the top.

If you want to change the layout (grid vs list) or even the order of some of the icons then goto

HKEY-CU/Software/Microsoft/Shell/StartMenu/GridView
1 for GridView
0 for List

HKEY-CU/Software/Microsoft/Shell/StartMenu/Order
And then re-order the shortcuts you see how you want.

Note: when changing the order, I found that after a reboot they would be in a really wierd order. So to fix it, change the menu to list, then reboot, then change it back to grid and reboot and it should be in the correct order.


Posted by: BradleyH

Quote:
Originally Posted by xultar
You are going to go back and rectify the issue with the cost on the first phone correct. I have a feeling there will be a lot of calls on this and they will have to offer bill credits for the $100.


Absolutely. I even have a release flyer from my Account Manager that shows the $169 price for my FAN. I just don't want to have to call and ask for 7 separate bill credits (I am going to order 5 more 2125s for my users tomorrow). Then, I need to call and change my data plan from the $45 to the $20.

A funny note: My new 64K SIM card failed in my phone yesterday afternoon. I originally thought it was the phone, so I called customer service and was sent to "warranty replacement". I had the fun conversation with the rep, during which he told me that since they do not have the 2125 in their system yet, he would send me a SMT5600 replacement. I politely declined his offer.


Posted by: CeluGeek

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cornflakeguy
Yeah with the 'confusion' during my call, they kept telling me that Data Connect is meant for PDA's like the 2125, BB, and Treo, and MediaNet is meant for 'phones'.

The rep was correct, except for one thing: the 2125 is not a PDA.


Posted by: Razor1973

Quote:
Originally Posted by cinguliano
The rep was correct, except for one thing: the 2125 is not a PDA.


Whether the O/S is Symbian, Palm, Windows for Smartphone, Windows Mobile, Linux... Cingular reps will usually refer to these handsets as PDA phones. Go figure.


Posted by: Neruda

Quote:
Originally Posted by bioyuki
Called NBO today as well and got the exact same story, Medianet is a 'Feature' and not a data plan, therefore it doesn't qualify for the rebate. With NBO requiring a 2 year contract and the 1 year contract price being the same as the no contract price of $679 I think I'm gonna skip out on this phone.


Quote:
Originally Posted by LS1GOAT
Yes it does... The promotional flyer said the rebate was with unlimited medianet.


I have been waiting for this phone for almost as long as this thread has been up. I've had cold feet and have been tracking a cheaper alternative (no contract) on ebay and held back from committing to a new contract.

I had understood that the $19.99 Unlimited MediaNet was enough to qualify for the rebate, but this has been thrown into doubt? I had settled on the 2125 mostly because it was the most powerful, feature-rich phone you could get without having to go to a Blueberry PDA-level data plan.

I just rechecked the rebate coupon for the 2125, which is on the Cingular website. It says:

"**Requires activation on an Unlimited Data
Feature/Rate Plan plus a Cingular Voice Plan with
a monthly access rate of $39.99 or higher."

Even if they are saying that Unlimited MediaNet is not a "Rate plan"-- it's a "feature"-- that shouldn't matter. As I read this coupon, either an "unlimited Data Feature" OR an "Unlimited Data Plan" would satisfy the requirement and qualify for the rebate.

I have bben using unlimited MediaNet on my Motorola v551 and it's just a "toy," a "gimmick" on that tiny screen. It is only because I am interested in the implications of convergence technology that I have even bothered with it. The email programs and web browsers are cute, but scarcely functional. There is no way that I am geting $20 worth of utility from it and, on the other side of the equation, there is no way that I have used up anywhere near $20 worth of bandwidth from them.

With the 2125 Smartphone, with its greater capabilities, I might start drawing something approaching $20 worth of value. There is no way there is a large market of consumers willing to pay $44.99 a month for Smartphone internet access. At $20 a month, yes, they will have a lot of takers. And as more applications and services are introduced, more people will become dependent on the technology.

Also, remember that it has been the phone companies, in large part, that have insisted the law be changed to prevent municipalities from creating city-wide, free or cheap wireless. If the bastards are going to prevent us from having access to cheap and plentiful wireless access to data services, they had damn well better give us moderately-priced cell phone data services.

Or so sez I.

I hope Cingular's sales people and CS folks are simply confused and the insistence on a full $44.99 data plan does not become the minimum plan for satisfying the rebate conditions. This had better be settled soon. The 30-day period for returning the phone will run out long before anyone gets their first rebate Visa card.

Please keep us posted!

Thanks, Pablo


Posted by: CA

If Cingular can't get this phone/PDA(data cost)thing worked out mark my words "it's churn city". Just think Sprint has the "same"(although theirs is now 3G now)data plan for $15.00 PDA or not!

One could cry "GSM" if they want, but how many customers especially in Sprint 3G markets will not be Having it!


Posted by: bdc10

Quote:
Originally Posted by tonyxcom
AUTD works fine on my phone, over and over all day long with the phone in my pocket the whole time.


If you keep data going over the EDGE connection, everything works fine. So if you're getting a lot of email or other updates, then I'm surprised that it keeps working. But if goes dormant for 15 or 20 minutes, you may see it get wedged after that.


Posted by: duchski

Quote:
Originally Posted by Razor1973
Whether the O/S is Symbian, Palm, Windows for Smartphone, Windows Mobile, Linux... Cingular reps will usually refer to these handsets as PDA phones. Go figure.


CING's reps are clueless. The information provided to them is ambigous and scarce and they tend to reinvent company's policy on the fly.
If you are getting one of these reps, hang up and call again.
2125 is a phone, media net is unlimited GPRS RATE PLAN. Just keep trying until you get someone who is resonable.


Posted by: deberha2

I was just informed by my local store yesterday that I will be receiving my 2 phone order on the 26th, and that "was a good thing because the phone goes on sale? the 26th for a lower price, which after rebate will be $199." Which was the price I got before, so I'm not sure how that works, but I thought I might mention it will be "on sale".

Someone mentioned cases and I had previously done some searching, and found a few that might fit this phone (as well as other accessories) Most of them are for the 2125 clones - sp5, c600, 5600 etc. Don't know for sure if any of them will fit or not:

http://www.blueunplugged.com/Produc...e_SPV_C600.aspx
http://www.executivepda.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.427/.f
http://www.pielframa.com/menu_qtek_8310.htm
http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/cat/Orange-SPV-C600.htm


Posted by: mikeymitch

Quote:
Originally Posted by lopezpm
It's tough, I thought I was going to break mine the first time. Push down on it and slide it off.


Alright, I got it, thanks... I guess I was worried about breaking it as well...


Posted by: xultar

Looks like Xultar won't be getting her 2125 for xmas


Posted by: Cornflakeguy

Looks like I won't be getting it for Christmas either.

I ordered it 10am on 12-21-05.
I just called at 9:50am 12-22-05, still no tracking number. They says it hasn't shipped yet.

I had high hopes since I live in Dallas and everyone here says that it ships from Ft Worth (right next to Dallas).

Ah well....

cfg


Posted by: xultar

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cornflakeguy
Looks like I won't be getting it for Christmas either.

I ordered it 10am on 12-21-05.
I just called at 9:50am 12-22-05, still no tracking number. They says it hasn't shipped yet.

I had high hopes since I live in Dallas and everyone here says that it ships from Ft Worth (right next to Dallas).

Ah well....

cfg


I ordered mine on the 16th.
No tracking number. Still processing.


Posted by: tonyxcom

Quote:
Originally Posted by bdc10
If you keep data going over the EDGE connection, everything works fine. So if you're getting a lot of email or other updates, then I'm surprised that it keeps working. But if goes dormant for 15 or 20 minutes, you may see it get wedged after that.


Well, I haven't set my mx record to point to my exchange server yet so I have the pop3 connector pulling mail from our ISP every 15 minutes. I have heard my mail alert go off, but didn't have any hands to check it, then an hour or so later hear it go off again. So I don't think I am seeing the wedge problem as you describe it.


Posted by: JMBrown

I ordered mine last night with Priority shipping (supposedly 2-3 days; As we are within 3 days of Christmas, we'll see how accurate this). Im hoping my phone will be in before Christmas, though I highly doubt it. Has anyone ordered their 2125 from Cingular telesales with priority shipping recently? If so, how long did your phone take to arrive? I would love to have this phone before Christmas.


Posted by: TroyG

First of all - thanks for everyone providing such awesome info. It's most appreciated!!!

I thought I'd give some thoughts from my perspective - which is I'm a very heavy texter. I usually send/receive about 1000 text messages a month, with a pretty even 50/50 split between sending and receiving.

First of all, the 2125 is a great phone. Everything everyone has said is true. The reception is amazing - I barely had a signal at my desk w/ my old T610 (yes, known for a bad signal, and it could be a lack of 850 issue as well), and now I have 4 bars (I know, I know... bars are really meaningless comparing one phone to another). The interface is great, it's snappy, good data, blah, blah, blah... As a heavy texter, though, who's used to using Nokia for 4 years (um, Series 40?) and some Sony Ericsson (with a T610), there's quite the learning curve...

Hardware
1. The phone is VERY top heavy. I prefer to text with one hand, and often text without looking at the phone. In my case, I have avg sized hards, but it's hard to have a secure grip on the phone and one-handed text at the same time. A good 2/3 of the weight of the phone isn't in my grip. (You may find this odd, but it's actually more comfortable to hold the phone upside-down and type with one hand - I wonder if I can learn inverted T9...)

2. The keys are really close together, and they don't have a huge amount of resistance. This has caused me to often hit two keys at once. I suspect this is sorta a training issue for my hands. I'd personally rather have some smaller keys with bigger gaps between them. It sounds odd, but try a T610 - you'll be amazed at how accurate you can hit the keys.

Software
A few things here are driving me crazy - I'm hoping a 3rd party can come out with something to fix some of these as they are only software...

1. If you're used to a Nokia, you know how you can cycle through the T9 options using in the * key. And if you text enough, you know that "good" is "4663", and "home" is "4663*". In the case of WM5, you have to use the joystick to click down, which takes relatively, a lot of time.

2. For the life of me, I don't get this one. When you add a "my word" to the dictionary, that word bubbles to the top of the list. For example, I live in Minnesota. I added "MN" to the dictionary. Now - amazingly, that word appears as the default choice before "on" and "no".

3.