*img525.imageshack.us/img525/7595/feaa2365a7464e89bb89f04vi4.jpg
Hello Guys. I bought HTC P3400i (The Windows Mobile 6.1 Version) yesterday. Correction; it has Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional.
Got it at 10,400 in Siliguri, GL.
The price is much higher(but hell, I dont care).
Partly due to Dollar getting stronger, partly due to my lack of bargaining skills, partly because I didnt now the regular price, partly because Siliguri is remote compared to bigger cities, and also because I bought it yesterday (due to bijayadashami, many shops were closed, only few open). The shopkeeper also said that the 'i' version is expensive.
I wanna ask one thing, is the price of HTC P3400 and HTC P3400i same?
The former has WM 5; whereas the latter has WM 6.1.
Sorry but I won't be able to post pics as I dont have a spare camera/camera-phone right now.
*img.gsmarena.com/vv/pics/htc/htc-p3400_00.jpg
Anyways, the review, here we go...
Standard Package:
1. Handset
2. Headset
3. Charger
4. Data-Cable
5. Carry Pouch
6. Protective Sticker
7. User Manual
8. Quick Start Guide
9. A CD containing ActiveSync 4.5 for XP.
10. A CD containing firmware flashing/backup tools. Correction; it has Sprite Backup Itulity and SpB GPRS Monitor. No firmware flashing/backup software.
11. And of course, styluses; 2 of them.
Looks
The first thing one notices are the looks; and let me tell you I hated this handset when I looked its pictures on the web. But I was surprised that It looks pretty good when you have it in front of your eye in real.
Touchscreen
The Touchscreen is responsive in most cases. But the stylus is not comfortable enough for my tastes. I am currently using an ink-finished-pen with a big tip; this is much better for navigation as well as writing on-screen.
UI
The UI is a bit erratic. It isnt slow at all times but sometimes slows down erratically for unknown reasons, a firmware flash may fix it.Correction; I did not end the background apps when not using them(at default setup, it aint easy and as I said I used WM for first time). Once I learned it; the erratic-ness has gone. Still the overall speed is not anything to talk home about. It is somewhat slow.
RAM usage is high at default setup with no programs running. Very less free RAM left at startup, just 33%. (Is windows sluggish in every patform?)
Also I think WM 6.1 is probably too heavy for the TI OMAP 201 MHz dual core and 64MB of DDR SDRAM. But the UI is user friendly and good. I just hope if it was a bit more finger-friendly.
Sidenote: Yeah I know one can flash it with custom firmware made by the excellent XDA Devs and the device will become much more responsive. But I am using the default ROM and plan to use it till the warranty period. A little-bit of lag here or there wont trouble me much.
The Today screen is awesome and adds a lot of functionality to the phone. (Is it the same is all new WM phones or just HTC? I think its only HTC?)
Camera
Camera is just okay. For viewing pics on phone or posting to blogs. Just for emergency uses . Despite the 2MP sensor, quality is not much better than my age old Nokia 6600's VGA camera.
And its painfully slow. Video capture is handicapped at QCIF resolution.
But then again, PDAs were not exactly meant for such things; for those purposes, we have other phones like ZN5, N82 and Cybershot series. Fair enough.
Music
Music quality through the single speaker on the phone is fair for soft numbers, it just isnt the thing for heavy metal stuff. But loudness, my my, I didnt expect a PDA to be so loud. Not that its very loud, but its much more than what I expected. The Treble is more emphasesed through the external speaker as is the case with many mobiles.
Music quality through the provided headphones coupled with the Audio Booster is good for a PDA, but the mids are over-emphasised as I feel; didnt test it with songs other than Metallica-Nothing Else Matters.
The HTC Audio Manager/Audio Booster application in it provides a 10-band equaliser, which if tuned to one's needs, makes it a full fledged music player. Format support is good with all the regulars covered.
But I seriously hate the propietary jack. A 2.5 mm jack would have been tolerated. I am an earphone-buster and this one would last only 2-3 months. A replacement would therfore be expensive due to the propietary jack. Though, we can buy expensions which plug into the phones jack and provide us with 3.5mm jack. I dunno where I'll find it though.
Productivity
The phone allows creating, viewing and editing Word and Excel files. Viewing Powerpoint files is supported but it is sluggish. I was surprised to see support for Office 2007 File formats. The Adobe PDF reader makes an appearance here as well. But for all practical purposes, it aint that usable becaus of the slow processor.
As with any other WM device; PIM functions are well covered. One thing is; if the device is off, it wont turn on at the alarm time automatically. A minor glitch for many but not for me as I keep my mobile off when I am not using it.
Couldnt Check browsing speed, rendering by the default browser as my operator does not have configuration setting for this one and I have still to figure out how to do it manually.
Games
Bundled games are Solitare and Bubble Breaker. Bubble breaker is a nice one but I seldom win in it. My 11 yr old sister instantly liked it.
Good old solitaire is a good game but in this one the cards dont look nice.
One can of course install more games as it supports JAVA as well as the WM apps.
Conclusion
Well well, I definitely am in love with this device. Perhaps because its my first experience with Wimdows Mobile. I have used Symbian 7.1, Symbian 9.0 previously in my smartphones. There are differences but I have adapted to them in a short duration of 1 day.
If you are thinking about buying this one, don't hesitate. Its from HTC which AFAIK is one of the best WM dvice manufacturer. Its affordable and mainstream. I have talked alot about things that it misses but theres alot that packed up in it.
It has a slow processor and 64 MB RAM which is low for such a heavy OS(of course, it has such a low price to compensate; what more can you expect?), but you can flash it with custom ROM and you wont feel any slowdown.
The HTC Touch lacks alot at the price point at which it sell compared to this one. The only thing HTC Touch has over this is WiFi, a bit remodelled UI and a Gfx Chip to support the new UI. But WiFi is not yet important for most as WiFi Hotpots are lacking. And the GFX processor wont add up to anything as it is used by the Touch's UI which is not present in P3400i.
So.... close your eyes and buy this phone. And then help me find good apps for this one...
Regards,
IronMan.
PS:
This is my first attempt to write a review. I ask apologies for any mistake committed by me in the review or any wrong information.
Also, photos could have been posted. But I dont have a spare camera or camera phone with me right now; maybe later I'll post some pics.
If you want cheaper WindowsMobile eperience; go for i-Mate JAQ. Availability maybe as issue as it is old. Has the same processor. Also it has touchscreen+QWERTY at a price point of around 6500 IRs. It lacks a camera though but has all necessary mainstram communication options and WM5 which can be updated to WM6.1 with custom ROM.
Hello Guys. I bought HTC P3400i (The Windows Mobile 6.1 Version) yesterday. Correction; it has Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional.
Got it at 10,400 in Siliguri, GL.
The price is much higher(but hell, I dont care).
Partly due to Dollar getting stronger, partly due to my lack of bargaining skills, partly because I didnt now the regular price, partly because Siliguri is remote compared to bigger cities, and also because I bought it yesterday (due to bijayadashami, many shops were closed, only few open). The shopkeeper also said that the 'i' version is expensive.
I wanna ask one thing, is the price of HTC P3400 and HTC P3400i same?
The former has WM 5; whereas the latter has WM 6.1.
Sorry but I won't be able to post pics as I dont have a spare camera/camera-phone right now.
*img.gsmarena.com/vv/pics/htc/htc-p3400_00.jpg
Anyways, the review, here we go...
Standard Package:
1. Handset
2. Headset
3. Charger
4. Data-Cable
5. Carry Pouch
6. Protective Sticker
7. User Manual
8. Quick Start Guide
9. A CD containing ActiveSync 4.5 for XP.
10. A CD containing firmware flashing/backup tools. Correction; it has Sprite Backup Itulity and SpB GPRS Monitor. No firmware flashing/backup software.
11. And of course, styluses; 2 of them.
Looks
The first thing one notices are the looks; and let me tell you I hated this handset when I looked its pictures on the web. But I was surprised that It looks pretty good when you have it in front of your eye in real.
Touchscreen
The Touchscreen is responsive in most cases. But the stylus is not comfortable enough for my tastes. I am currently using an ink-finished-pen with a big tip; this is much better for navigation as well as writing on-screen.
UI
The UI is a bit erratic. It isnt slow at all times but sometimes slows down erratically for unknown reasons, a firmware flash may fix it.Correction; I did not end the background apps when not using them(at default setup, it aint easy and as I said I used WM for first time). Once I learned it; the erratic-ness has gone. Still the overall speed is not anything to talk home about. It is somewhat slow.
RAM usage is high at default setup with no programs running. Very less free RAM left at startup, just 33%. (Is windows sluggish in every patform?)
Also I think WM 6.1 is probably too heavy for the TI OMAP 201 MHz dual core and 64MB of DDR SDRAM. But the UI is user friendly and good. I just hope if it was a bit more finger-friendly.
Sidenote: Yeah I know one can flash it with custom firmware made by the excellent XDA Devs and the device will become much more responsive. But I am using the default ROM and plan to use it till the warranty period. A little-bit of lag here or there wont trouble me much.
The Today screen is awesome and adds a lot of functionality to the phone. (Is it the same is all new WM phones or just HTC? I think its only HTC?)
Camera
Camera is just okay. For viewing pics on phone or posting to blogs. Just for emergency uses . Despite the 2MP sensor, quality is not much better than my age old Nokia 6600's VGA camera.
And its painfully slow. Video capture is handicapped at QCIF resolution.
But then again, PDAs were not exactly meant for such things; for those purposes, we have other phones like ZN5, N82 and Cybershot series. Fair enough.
Music
Music quality through the single speaker on the phone is fair for soft numbers, it just isnt the thing for heavy metal stuff. But loudness, my my, I didnt expect a PDA to be so loud. Not that its very loud, but its much more than what I expected. The Treble is more emphasesed through the external speaker as is the case with many mobiles.
Music quality through the provided headphones coupled with the Audio Booster is good for a PDA, but the mids are over-emphasised as I feel; didnt test it with songs other than Metallica-Nothing Else Matters.
The HTC Audio Manager/Audio Booster application in it provides a 10-band equaliser, which if tuned to one's needs, makes it a full fledged music player. Format support is good with all the regulars covered.
But I seriously hate the propietary jack. A 2.5 mm jack would have been tolerated. I am an earphone-buster and this one would last only 2-3 months. A replacement would therfore be expensive due to the propietary jack. Though, we can buy expensions which plug into the phones jack and provide us with 3.5mm jack. I dunno where I'll find it though.
Productivity
The phone allows creating, viewing and editing Word and Excel files. Viewing Powerpoint files is supported but it is sluggish. I was surprised to see support for Office 2007 File formats.
The Adobe PDF reader makes an appearance here as well. But for all practical purposes, it aint that usable becaus of the slow processor.As with any other WM device; PIM functions are well covered. One thing is; if the device is off, it wont turn on at the alarm time automatically. A minor glitch for many but not for me as I keep my mobile off when I am not using it.
Couldnt Check browsing speed, rendering by the default browser as my operator does not have configuration setting for this one and I have still to figure out how to do it manually.
Games
Bundled games are Solitare and Bubble Breaker. Bubble breaker is a nice one but I seldom win in it. My 11 yr old sister instantly liked it.
Good old solitaire is a good game but in this one the cards dont look nice.
One can of course install more games as it supports JAVA as well as the WM apps.
Conclusion
Well well, I definitely am in love with this device. Perhaps because its my first experience with Wimdows Mobile. I have used Symbian 7.1, Symbian 9.0 previously in my smartphones. There are differences but I have adapted to them in a short duration of 1 day.
If you are thinking about buying this one, don't hesitate. Its from HTC which AFAIK is one of the best WM dvice manufacturer. Its affordable and mainstream. I have talked alot about things that it misses but theres alot that packed up in it.
It has a slow processor and 64 MB RAM which is low for such a heavy OS(of course, it has such a low price to compensate; what more can you expect?), but you can flash it with custom ROM and you wont feel any slowdown.
The HTC Touch lacks alot at the price point at which it sell compared to this one. The only thing HTC Touch has over this is WiFi, a bit remodelled UI and a Gfx Chip to support the new UI. But WiFi is not yet important for most as WiFi Hotpots are lacking. And the GFX processor wont add up to anything as it is used by the Touch's UI which is not present in P3400i.
So.... close your eyes and buy this phone. And then help me find good apps for this one...
Regards,
IronMan.
PS:
This is my first attempt to write a review. I ask apologies for any mistake committed by me in the review or any wrong information.
Also, photos could have been posted. But I dont have a spare camera or camera phone with me right now; maybe later I'll post some pics.
If you want cheaper WindowsMobile eperience; go for i-Mate JAQ. Availability maybe as issue as it is old. Has the same processor. Also it has touchscreen+QWERTY at a price point of around 6500 IRs. It lacks a camera though but has all necessary mainstram communication options and WM5 which can be updated to WM6.1 with custom ROM.
.
Especially with XP installed?(If I am right).
) The phone fell into the bucket-full-of-water that I had with me. The phone was on, and went deep to the bottom of the bucket! My heart jumped to my mouth for a split second!