Kyocera Zio M6000 issues

**CruzinOne** · 10-11-2010, 09:16 PM

I have a Motorola Droid running 2.2 and have been using that for quite a while now. I find that the Zio isn't a bad phone at all. Of course it could use an upgrade to 2.x, however, if you tweak it up a little it really improves the performance and battery life.

I found one thing that will really kill your battery fast is allowing apps like Facebook, Twitter, etc to update in the background, like every hour or whatever you set. These activities really eat your battery! It does so on the Droid too.

What I found is to set every app to NOT refresh automatically at all. So if you aren't using it the app won't keep refreshing and checking for messages, status or whatever. Don't do this for your e-mail or text app however, because they seem to work fine by themselves. Then when you go to use an app like Facebook or a News Reader, do a manual refresh and you're back in business.

I also use the task killer app, Advanced Task Cleaner 2.0, by Bright Wallace. (It's free in the Market) The 2.0 version is much better than the Pro version.

Place all the apps like Facebook, Twitter, News Readers, etc into the Auto Kill List. (Long press them to add to the list). Then long press the apps you want to keep running in the background and add them to the Ignore List.

The keyboard is a problem! What I did is purchase Smart Keyboard Pro, from the Market, for about $2.71 US. This made a major difference! I set the Keyboard Skin to iPhone. Not because I like the iPhone, but because the layout is very good for typing. I also went to the Smart Keyboard Pro settings and activated the keyboard to vibrate on key presses. This really helps. I also press the Mike button on the keyboard and use the voice to type feature. It works pretty good. If the wording isn't exactly right, you can always touch it up using the keyboard. This keyboard is also a major help on the Droid.

When Kyocera and Cricket upgrade the Zio to 2.x, there will be a major improvement in everything on the Zio. Since there is a 2.x version already out on Sprint, Cricket should be getting their update out ASAP! At least that's what we all think.

When my Droid contract with Verizon ends, I will definitely switch to Cricket and an Android phone. If the Zio is still available, I'll get that one. Then both my wife and I will be on Cricket and we won't have to pay the heavy price for Verizon.

**avenue** · 10-12-2010, 02:30 PM

I also noticed that the responsiveness of the touchscreen wasn't the best. I tried typing on the keyboard and it was very difficult. Over in the MetroPCS forum, a member said the following:

Originally Posted by MK__ULTRA

Perhaps the screen calibration was not set properly or at whatever level it is out of the box. I have heard of others complaining about this sort of thing with the zio, but when they mess with the calibration it seems to be more responsive.

Could someone please try that out and then test the default keyboard again? I'm curious as to if it will fix the problem or not. I won't be able to get to a Sprint store for a while and I don't really want to change all the settings on their phone anyway.

**zyrtek69** · 10-13-2010, 02:05 PM

how do you go about calibrating the keyboard on the zio? i've looked and could find anything.

**avenue** · 10-13-2010, 02:36 PM

Originally Posted by zyrtek69

how do you go about calibrating the keyboard on the zio? i've looked and could find anything.

http://androidforums.com/htc-hero/24...calibrate.html

**phazei** · 10-13-2010, 02:49 PM

Originally Posted by avenue

http://androidforums.com/htc-hero/24...calibrate.html

Umm, this:

Settings > Local & text > Touch Input > Text Input > Calibration Tool

Doesn't exist on the Zio

**avenue** · 10-13-2010, 04:39 PM

Originally Posted by phazei

Umm, this:

Doesn't exist on the Zio

Oh, I don't know then.

**Spz037** · 10-15-2010, 04:21 PM

the ZIO uses a capacitive touchscreen. Unlike a responsive screen which uses a a filament ontop of the actual screen to register a touch (requiring calibration to be accurate), Capacitive screens use your bodys own electrical charge to register a touch on the screen, so calibration is not necessary.
You can download keyboard apps (like Ultra Keyboard, which I highly suggest) that have a calibrator built into the app, but that will only work with the keyboard.
I don't have any problems with the touchscreen at all.
My last device was a responsive touchscreen, and I found that switching to a capacitive screen had a different feel to it. Once I got use to the way the phone interacts with my fingers, it became much much easier.

**Spz037** · 10-15-2010, 04:30 PM

Has anyone seen a 2.1 ROM out there yet from sprint? I'd love to get my hands on a copy.

**avenue** · 10-15-2010, 05:02 PM

Wirelessly posted (sam-r550 UP.Browser/6.2.3.8 (GUI) MMP/2.0)

Originally Posted by Spz037

the ZIO uses a capacitive touchscreen. Unlike a responsive screen which uses a a filament ontop of the actual screen to register a touch (requiring calibration to be accurate), Capacitive screens use your bodys own electrical charge to register a touch on the screen, so calibration is not necessary.
You can download keyboard apps (like Ultra Keyboard, which I highly suggest) that have a calibrator built into the app, but that will only work with the keyboard.
I don't have any problems with the touchscreen at all.
My last device was a responsive touchscreen, and I found that switching to a capacitive screen had a different feel to it. Once I got use to the way the phone interacts with my fingers, it became much much easier.

Interesting! Thanks for posting! I might look at the phone at the sprint store one more time but last time the screen was extremely difficult to use. as of now i am looking at the ascend because it is more responsive and cheaper.

**Spz037** · 10-17-2010, 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by avenue

Wirelessly posted (sam-r550 UP.Browser/6.2.3.8 (GUI) MMP/2.0)

Interesting! Thanks for posting! I might look at the phone at the sprint store one more time but last time the screen was extremely difficult to use. as of now i am looking at the ascend because it is more responsive and cheaper.

Be wary. The ascend has lower system specs than the ZIO, thus the lower price.
Here is a link to the system specs of the ascend. Its labeled as a different phone, but it is the same model:
http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&i...2_huawei_u8230

Heres the ZIO:
http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&i...cera_zio_m6000

**avenue** · 10-17-2010, 02:25 PM

Originally Posted by Spz037

Be wary. The ascend has lower system specs than the ZIO, thus the lower price.
Here is a link to the system specs of the ascend. Its labeled as a different phone, but it is the same model:
http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&i...2_huawei_u8230

Heres the ZIO:
http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&i...cera_zio_m6000

From the one video I watched the performance seemed to be just as good, if not better, than the Zio though. It was lagging or anything.

**Killanat3** · 10-19-2010, 11:53 AM

The lack of lag on the ascend is most likely attributed to the 2.1 not the hardware, once you load it with apps and widgets that put a load on the possessor the differences should become apparent. Has anyone heard anything hard about 2.1 for the ZIO? I'm dieing here..........

The Zio Should be almost like a brand new phone running 2.1 Not to mention my grooveshark stopped working after this last update apparently they are not supporting 1.5 or 1.6 anymore

**avenue** · 10-19-2010, 01:08 PM

Originally Posted by Killanat3

The lack of lag on the ascend is most likely attributed to the 2.1 not the hardware, once you load it with apps and widgets that put a load on the possessor the differences should become apparent. Has anyone heard anything hard about 2.1 for the ZIO? I'm dieing here..........

The Zio Should be almost like a brand new phone running 2.1 Not to mention my grooveshark stopped working after this last update apparently they are not supporting 1.5 or 1.6 anymore

I still had some problems with the Zio even with Android 2.1 on it at the Sprint store.

**Killanat3** · 10-19-2010, 03:47 PM

I still had some problems with the Zio even with Android 2.1 on it at the Sprint store.

I hate to hear that Mostly with the screen though right? I found it takes a lot of getting use to and downloading better keyboard or ultra keyboard help immensely. Still 2.1, I want.

**Killanat3** · 10-20-2010, 06:13 AM

OK so I got to play with the ascend a lil more a the cricket store yesterday and its not a bad lil phone at all I think I'm going to buy it for my girlfriend as its running 2.1 and a its a little bit more stable. I actually really like the way it looks and feels Just wish it was running a lil better hard wear.
Dose any one have any issues with the track ball on the ZIO? I don't necessarily use it a lot, but when I do it feels cheap and I need to roll it 2 or 3 times as much as I need to for my HTC Eris.