Saturday, February 18, 2006
REVIEW: Cingular 8125 (HTC WIZARD) - Part I
I’ve been real busy lately, so it’s been hard to find time to post new entries — one of the many problems with running a blog. I have managed to find some time to make huge progress on my automation server, by adding native support for the Omni Pro II automation controller into my .NET server as well as refined it a bit. I had requests from people that wanted to buy my software, but, I’m still not to that point, this project is a hobby and I wrote it because everything out there is so unnecessarily complicated and heavy, not because I wanted to sell it. Who knows, I may decided to release it one day.
Ok, so onto the phone, I’ve been looking for a new phone for over two years, my Sony T610 was being held hostage until someone came out with a phone that had Wi-Fi, BlueTooth and was running Windows Mobile 5.0. The Pocket PC version of my automation interface is in Flash and ties into a CE.NET application on the device so I wanted the latest and greatest when it comes to platforms. That’s what I got, the Cingular 8125! This first review will be short, since I haven’t had much time to play with the phone yet… but initial reaction is that I love it! It will be a tough transition going from a “real” phone to a computer. The biggest challenge I am having so far is that there is no dial pad. It’s virtual on the Cingular 8125, so touch dialing is pretty much out. I’ve been playing with voice dial and that seems to be working fine, as is Microsoft Voice Command 1.5, but it’s still pretty weird. I want the ability to touch dial and touch screens don’t offer that feature. But again, overall, I’m loving it. I’m going to spend a few more days with it before I try to install my software on it. More to come…
Oh, one more thing, the reports are true, the Cingular 8125 (HTC Wizard), does seem a bit under powered… I’ll let you know if it irritates me.
SPONSORED ADVERTISEMENTS
COMMENTS
I’ll be interested to see how you like it. I’m considering a Cingular 8125 or Verizon XV6700. Let me know what download speeds look like via Edge and via Wi-Fi.
I haven’t played with Flash on Windows Mobile devices yet. What version of the player is available? Does it ship with the device or require a separate install?
I just got the 8125 shipped to me last night and I love it as well. The one thing I would like to see is a photo speed dial on the Today screen like the Treo 700w has.
What’s you opinion now that you have had 10 days w/it?? I’m strongly considering a purchase of 2 of these.
I’m quite worried about call quality after my experience with an SMT 5600 (it makes calls from the car sound like they have been made from the ocean beach [for whoever is listening to me]). Any opinions about that??
How about communication in poor service areas. How does it compare to your Sony??
All,
I will be posting my PART II thoughts soon…
Danny
Welcome to mavromatic! My goal is to bring to your attention the latest DIY projects, the greatest home automation and home theater products. As well as, the occasional offbeat entry, to spice things up a bit. 
