Thanks!

http://www.mobilejaw.com/tag/twitter/

I’m becoming a bigger fan of Samsung’s devices each day.

I did switch to the Jack from the Nokia and boy am I thrilled! I spent 3 and a half days configuring the Nokia finally getting it to where I wanted it (sort of) but only after using demo versions of software I’d have to pay for after 30 days! What I was trying to do:

E-mail – set up the following accounts:
Personal (POP)
Gmail (IMAP)
University (IMAP)
Army (IMAP through AKO)
Corporate (Exchange – have to use desktop redirector though)

Web-browsing –
Mostly Google searches and following important links in e-mails

Google Maps –
Living in the DC area, using google maps with the traffic overlay is a life saver!

Text messaging
Good cell phone (I dropped calls like MAD on my iPhone)

Wireless modem

If I had to rank everything in order of importance, it would go:
E-mail
Phone
Google
Texting
Modem
Everything else

The Nokia was/is indeed a great phone. However, its keyboard is horrible compared to the Jack. Additionally, navigating the device proved to be a pain in the butt. Configuring and tweaking the device was even worse! Some mail programs don’t let you change IMAP and SMTP ports. The programs that do, don’t allow viewing of HTML based e-mail (how in the heck can you make it in today’s environment without HTML email??) Only a 3rd party, non-free app (Profimail) offered everything I needed. However, on top of that, there was no way to customize the mail key to make it take me to Profimail!

Of course, what good is the mail program if I mistype nearly every word?!?!

Anyway – I got the WinMo Jack and within 2 hours, I was fully configured. I even had time to make a few tweaks/hacks to the registry to get the phone to tether without charge (until AT&T figures out…) and to reconfigure the softkeys so that the AT&T key takes me to SkyFire and the messaging key takes me directly to my primary inbox.

The speed on the Jack blows my old Treo out of the water and frankly, I’ve had NO problems with the OS at all! I’ve had the device for 3 days now (not a long time by my own admission) but within the first 3 days of owning the iPhone, I had to do a hard power at least 2 times! On this phone, I just pull up task manager occassionally and clean out stuff that I don’t need.

Oh…and the battery lasts at least as long as the iPhone! On my very first day with the device, I had it on nearly 100% of the time and even with only 1/2 a charge (out of the box), I still lasted for over 6 hours before I went to bed and voluntarily put it on the charger. Otherwise, I use the phone all day, every day and have yet to drain the battery fully. Yes, I need to charge it every day; but I had to do so with the iPhone as well. This isn’t a problem for me.

As for cell signal – in areas where I consistently dropped calls with the iPhone, I rarely drop them if ever with the Jack. Granted, the Nokia was a little more powerful still than the Jack, but the Samsung certainly bests the iPhone in signal!

Add to that the fact that I can store, retrieve and send files of any type; have access to the file system and registry, and have a hardware keyboard that I can use more safely while driving (hey, let’s face it – we SHOULDN’T, but we do), I’d say the Jack is an all out winner!

Now, if only they made the Jack feel as awesome in the hand as the Nokia but kept their far superior keyboard, I’d be in hog heaven. Until then, I’ll just hold on to the Jack and hope they’ll let me upgrade to WinMo 7 when it hits the streets in 6 months or so!

Cheers and thanks again Mike!

J.

I use the keyboard to type on all the time, and I’ve really enjoyed using it. In fact, I’ve typed paragraphs for posts on it with very few typos. I was concerned that the keys would be too close together, but they are raised enough that it doesn’t seem to be a problem.

If you can, try stopping by AT&T and ask them for a working device so you can test the feel of the keyboard.

Let me know if there’s any thing else I can help you out with.

So far, after only having had the Nokia for 3 days, I’m VERY disappointed. The other phone I was and still am considering is the Samsung Jack. Having used the WinMo platform before (5.0) and liked it (moreso than the iPhone OS), I’m thinking this is a no brainer. However, everyone seems to LOVE the Nokia in comparison to the Jack. For the life of me, I can’t understand why. Does the Jack really suck in comparison to the Nokia?

The Symbian OS is clunky and hard to navigate. I have to have 3 different e-mail clients just to check my 4 e-mail accounts. When an e-mail comes in, I get one vibrate for notification and that’s it – no other indication whatsoever (blinking light, homescreen reminder, nothing) that there’s an e-mail or text message waiting. I can’t switch to WiFi even though there’s a WAP right next to me…and that keyboard! I can’t type a dang thing on it without fat fingering 4 other keys at the same time – and I have VERY small fingers (a guy who wears a size 7 ring!)

I’m glad to see you seem to put a positive light on the phone in most applications (battery notwithstanding…but I’m coming from an iPhone – I’m used to charging every night). In your opinion, would you say that the bloatware is kept to a minimum? Is the phone crippled with AT&T software limitations? Is the keyboard usable?

I’d definitely appreciate your insight!

I loved my Treo, but it was getting old and overused and the iPhone 3G had just come out so I switched. I’m almost wishing I could just slip the SIM from my iPhone back into my Palm!

Thoughts???

Thanks!
J