I am not sure what to tell you about the install problem.

Please email me at N4BGW@aol.com since i am not able to check these boards all the time, or im me using the AIM or Yahoo IM button on my post. Thanks…

Originally posted by Judie
[B]Ivan,

The fact that you are in Europe explains alot, regarding your advanced GSM/GPRS/BT etc status.

I live in San Angelo, TX – population >100K. We are landlocked with no interstates, basically surrounded by desert on one side and rolling hills on the other. The only carriers we have are Cellular One and Sprint PCS. Cellular One isn’t really a contender – they offer some digital services, but they are predominantyly analog – which is actually pretty good for the rural customers as they have a massive tower framework in place.

Sprint PCS is the “digital alternative,” but if you take a look at the phones they offer – you will see that there are no BT models, and that they use CDMA instead of GSM/GPRS.

Of course, people that live in larger US cities do have access to these services through other carriers such as T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, etc., but where I live…”it ain’t happenin’,” and we are happy to at least have what we have got.

Hopefully, one day, the US will have the same unified wireless infrastructure that Europe enjoys…but until then, we will have different carriers on different type networks, offering different phones, offering differnent…

Judie :0/ [/B]

Well Judie, you say you have NO interstates, well Sprint PCS doesn’t supply service to areas without Interstates. That is what I was told by Sprint. I live in miami, so Interstates are a way of life, but in rural areas in Louisiana…no interstate=no service.

Brandon

thanks,

Originally posted by photoedit
I’d never buy a phone edition model because I can use this phone to edit mileage spreadsheets AND play mp3s. How cool is that?

I’m glad to hear you’re working out well with your Thera, but just a small point of clarification: Phone Edition isn’t the same thing as a Smartphone. Phone Edition devices are similar to the Thera (touch screen, full Pocket PC functionality), but they’re running MS’s standardized Pocket PC Phone Edition software, with a standardized dialer/contacts/etc. interface. Plus, they generally have better battery life. I’ve listened to MP3s and worked with Excel sheets many times over the years.

Smartphones, on the other hand, do not have touchscreens and are generally limited in functionality.

–janak

Thought you should know that I was using a Bluetooth phone from T-Mobile in San Angelo before I relocated to North Dakota. Although T-Mobile didn’t have an office there, they had data coverage there as well as in Midland, Odessa, Abilene, Lubbock and the larger cities.

Ironically, I now find myself in a place where T-Mobile does not have coverage and have purchased a Thera. It’s a good alternative. I don’t even spring for broadband and spend most of my time on-line with it when my minutes are free.

Still, once in a while, I’ll use it to FTP photos, look up an address or check the weather forecast or my email.

I agree that it’s a klunky phone, but it’s a great PDA and I’d rather worry about keeping one battery-sucking device fed than two less-demanding gadgets charged.

You can find very inexpensive AA battery packs on Ebay for the Thera. Just search “Maestro”. It’s a compatible model by Toshiba, and, no, I’m not selling them.

I’d never buy a phone edition model because I can use this phone to edit mileage spreadsheets AND play mp3s. How cool is that?

Great review. Any thoughts on how the 2032 comapres to the Treo 300 as a PDA/Cellphone combo?

Also, have you been keeping an eye on the Samsung developments? I know these are all in the Palm camp, but I found the Samsung i300 to be much more phone like (smaller and lighter) than 2032, and the soon to be released i500 clamshell (same size as the Samsung 8500 and Sanyo 8100 series), may be heaven sent. Both are dual band/trimode – so you can analog roam (a necessity out here in West Texas), but better still they are both “phone-centric”

Obviously screen quality & size won’t match the 2032, but I think having serious PIM software in a real cell phone body will be a big attraction to many users.

Judie :0)

1. Note that the Toshiba 2032SP is not a Pocket PC Phone Edition, but rather a Pocket PC with proprietary phone software bolted on top. As such, it’s lousy for phone features, as you note. “Real” Pocket PC Phones, like the T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition and the upcoming Samsung i700 for Verizon/Sprint, have much better battery life and are much more comfortable to use as a phone. I have a Pocket PC Phone Edition and it has easily supplanted my need for two devices, although I’d still like Bluetooth. The 2032 is also outdated technology, based on the 570.

2. Ivan/Judie, CDMA is a digital air standard, similar to the TDMA standard used for GSM. CDMA happens to be more spectrally efficient and can support higher data-rates, so everyone in the world (including both current GSM and IS-95 CDMA operators) are moving to next-generation CDMA-based implementations, long-term. Unfortunately, they’re not all moving to the same implementation — Sprint/Verizon, here, are moving to cdma2000 by Qualcomm (of which 1xRTT is the first step), as opposed to GSM’s wCDMA/UMTS specification. Check out this long post of mine on Pocket PC Thoughts which explains the situation in a bit more detail.

2a. BTW, PCS isn’t a technology. It merely specifies the 1900MHz frequency band. Sprint PCS currently uses 1xRTT cdma2000 as its underlying communications technology.

3. As for Bluetooth, it has nothing to do with the digital standard per se, but rather the way carriers operate in the US. Verizon and Sprint, in particular, are loath to release Bluetooth phones because they are afraid it’ll mess with their cost models. The phone market isn’t as open here due to things like aggressive carrier-locking, so we don’t get the open competition that happens in many European countries. Currently, the only way to get a high-speed Bluetooth phone in the US is to go GSM, for which a number of BT phones are available, as you note. This may be changing, as SE is rumored to be releasing a BT phone for Sprint (the T608). We can only hope.

–janak

Originally posted by denivan
Final question (sorry, but I’m curious ) Are all those technologies interoperable : can someone with an analog phone call someone with digital cdma or gsm ? And what about text messaging ? Is that used much in the US and does it work accross different operators ?

Ok, to the best of my knowledge, here is how it works…

There are different types of coverage: Digital and Analog. Analog covers more of the US and definitely more of the rural areas, Digital is in more urban areas, but in some rural ones as well.

There are phones that can only handle digital networks (Single band – like the Sanyo that I use). The simply don’t get a signal when you are in a non-digital area. Then there are phones that get both Analog and Digital (Dual band, like my husband’s Sanyo) These work in the digital areas, but will probably be “roaming” when you enter an analog area – but at least you have the option of making calls. The downside is that when in analog mode, battery life is greatly reduced, and you can’t access any of the digital features of the phone – just straight up voice calls. That means in analog you can’t get text messages, access your e-mail, etc.

You can call any number with any wireless phone – be it digital, analog, or land line – and a call will be placed.

Depending on your phone calling plan, you can call any phone, anywhere in the country without it being a long distance call.

Any questions?

Judie :0)

Final question (sorry, but I’m curious ) Are all those technologies interoperable : can someone with an analog phone call someone with digital cdma or gsm ? And what about text messaging ? Is that used much in the US and does it work accross different operators ?

Thanks in advance for answering my many questions, it’s kinda fun to see the differences between US and Europe on the technological front.

Ivan

The fact that you are in Europe explains alot, regarding your advanced GSM/GPRS/BT etc status.

I live in San Angelo, TX – population >100K. We are landlocked with no interstates, basically surrounded by desert on one side and rolling hills on the other. The only carriers we have are Cellular One and Sprint PCS. Cellular One isn’t really a contender – they offer some digital services, but they are predominantyly analog – which is actually pretty good for the rural customers as they have a massive tower framework in place.

Sprint PCS is the “digital alternative,” but if you take a look at the phones they offer – you will see that there are no BT models, and that they use CDMA instead of GSM/GPRS.

Of course, people that live in larger US cities do have access to these services through other carriers such as T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, etc., but where I live…”it ain’t happenin’,” and we are happy to at least have what we have got.

Hopefully, one day, the US will have the same unified wireless infrastructure that Europe enjoys…but until then, we will have different carriers on different type networks, offering different phones, offering differnent…

Judie :0/

In europe we can only use GSM (which imo is pretty handy, using the SIM card and all) , the high speed data equivalent for GSM is GPRS and works pretty well for me, it’s not blistering fast, but it’s about the same speed as a normal 33.6 or 56 K modem.

Pretty weird though that your phone operators don’t have any phones with Bluetooth built in, I thought almost all new phones had it. Over a year ago, the only phone with BT was my SonyEricsson T68i (which I’m still happily using), but nowadays almost all new phones (except budget phones) seem to have Bluetooth. Does PCS use propietary phones or something ? I don’t quite understand why any phone manufacturer would make a phone these days withouth Bluetooth in it. Maybe all you people should start mailing PCS about how us europeans are passing you by on the technology front :p

Kind regards,
Ivan

I agree that a BT enabled phone and PDA might be the way to go for some – but where I live, there are no BT enabled phones available by any of the major carriers – so I don’t even have that option.

A PDA/phone like this is actually the best solution for me when I want a wireless PDA that can connect virtually anywhere (and make occasional voice calls).

You can, of course, use the wired earbud headset with this PDA when you want it to be in phone mode. Using the headset would make voice calls much more convenient from the PDA.

Unfortunately, I have never been big on headsets…that’s the main reason I would keep a separate phone. The cool thing is tht Sprint PCS allows you to add a phone to your current plan for $20/month, so this is a viable option.

Judie :0)

You say that you don’t like the way it handles voice calls (speaker mode etc) and that you would still like to carry a normal small PCS phone. So wouldn’t it be better to carry around a bluetooth enabled PocketPC and a bluetooth phone ? This way you have wireless capabilities on your PocketPC (email, browsing, msn) and still have a small phone for voice calls…seems like a better trade off to me.

What are your thoughts on this ?

Kind regards,
Ivan

http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/toshiba-2032sp-ppc-review.html

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