[ledzep100]

Do any of you guys have one of these? T-Mob have offered me an up grade for £220.

It looks like its a rebranded i-mate PDA2K. The same people make the Orange SPV range. I think they also make the O2 XDA range.

Can't find any review of one on the T-Mobile network.

If anybody could tell me how it works with a GPS module it would be a great help.

Cheers in advance

Ledzep

[jimbobaggins]

I have an XDA II which is the predecessor of the XDA IIS and the MDA III (these two are the same model.) The XDA II and XDA IIS are very similar specification and I have a Fortuna GPS Bluetooth receiver working fantastically well.

It took less than five minutes to get it working!

Highly recommended.

[ledzep100]

Cheers Jimbo,

How well does it work as a phone?

[jimbobaggins]

It works really well, though if I had to make any minor points: -

1. The battery lasts one day if being used a lot, but a car kit should mean it is always charged enough. It comes with loads of accessories - battery, desk charger, leather case, headphones etc. It lasts for 4-5 days without phone use.

2. You need to update the bluetooth management via a 3rd party add on, which works great (though the new software update may have sorted it out.)

3. I believe the phone still works with a bluetooth headset even when it is connected to the Bluetooth GPS receiver. The phone definitely still works with the supplied headphones during sat nav.

4. You need a screen protector as when you hold it to your ear it can get covered in sweat, gunk, ****e from your face, depending on how swarthy you are.

This all applies to the XDA II not the IIs and I would hope they have addressed these issues.

To be honest, I looked at upgrading and they are so similar there is no point. Unless someone can prove otherwise, I would consider getting an XDA II as you may save a few quid. There is also and XDA III due out soon, which is a more serious leap in spec. I may upgrade then.

By the way, thw new ROM and software upgrade from the O2 website makes a massive difference to call quality and various other features. It also adds full licensed Blackberry functionality among other features.

In short I couldnt recommend it more - and it is also an excellent MP3 player, Camcorder, Camera, Portable video player, satnav, speed camera detector, diary, email client, web browser, traffic avoider, dictaphone, ebook reader, backup device, word processor, games machine, doorstop - what more can I say.

Go and buy one, I guarantee you will not regret it one bit. Oh and by the way it does even more than that!

[Sorbus]

Hi, I have an MDA III, and I have to say I am very happy with it. It suits me absolutely fine as a phone, although a little one the large size. My only comment would be that the battery drains quite quickly in areas where it is constantly searching for network, but you can get round this by turning off the phone function if you are in an area with no signal for a long area of time, other than this it's a great piece of kit.
Rowan

[ledzep100]

Thanks Jimbo, you've nearly got me buying one.

Sorbus,

I called again today to confirm the price wth T Mobile and they said it's not realeased yet. The lady on the phone said they were supposed to be released by Monday. Is she incorrect or do you have the handset on a different network?

She also said that the price was £169 instead of the £220 that was first quoted, is that what you paid for yours?

[jimbobaggins]

I have had mine for 8-9 months and got a good deal on it - about £150 on contract.

Dunno about current prices though I think they are pretty keen with a contract.

I just looked on the o2 website and the XDA II is £249, XDA IIi (never seen that before) is £249 and XDA II is £79 with any contract I tried!!!!!!!!

That's a massive bargain.

[Uridium]

I've had an XDAIIs for about a month now (same as MDAIII but in Black/Graohite), I reckon it's about the best PDA/Phone you can get.

Does everything Phone/PDA/SatNav/MP3 player/Camera +video/

Put a 1Gb SD card in it and you can get about 15 albums if you use 192k bitrate WMA's

However as the bundled headphones are crap you will probably want to use a decent set (I use Sony MDR-EC71SL's) but because the XDAIIs /MDAIII uses a 2.5mm input with odd pin-outs and all decent headphones are 3.5mm you will need to get one of these adaptors from Expansys http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=118289
(you can't use a standard 2.5mm to 3.5mm adaptor as the pin-outs are odd and it will only play in mono)

Other than that the slide out Keyboard is excellent and the built in Wi-Fi adaptor is a usefull extra as well.

I'm using MS vocie commander software that allows you to control the whole device by voice as well, just say "Play album by BlahBlah" and medial player starts up and does it!

Get hold of a copy of TomTom software and a GPS receiver off Ebay for about £50 and you've got SatNav as well.

Mini O2 website www.my-xda.com gives you a bit of info on the spec etc..

[Uridium]

Oh yeah talking off price I got mine as a FREE upgrade (yes FREE) from O2, not on a huge Tariff either; O2 100 which is £25 a month for 100xnet minutes Plus 500 txt/mms.

they offered me it for £200 but I said I was going to cancel my contract as Orange had offered me a SPV-M2000 (same phone on Orange) for nothing.

O2 just said they would match it no argument!

Phone XDA arrived in Two days!

[SeaneyC]

I'm waiting for the MDA compact - finally a PDA phone that you can fit in your pocket! If size is an issue for you, and you're not a memory hungry user, you could do well to wait a month or two as it should be out on T-Mobile UK by then.

[Uridium]

think this is the same as the I-MAte jam you can buy sim free from Expansys now.

Noticed that another new XDA is out from O2 the XDAIIi, same as older XDAII but with a Megapixel Camera

[ledzep100]

I dont think the compact has Wifi, there's no mention of it on the review.

Seany C,

Do you have any idea about T-Mobile launch dates for this? Theres nothing on the website.

[asimm]

ledzep

XDAi out tomorrow - faster processor, 1.3 megapixel camera and Wi fi. I am upgrading (already an O2 customer) to O2 100 and they are giving it to me for £99.99! Already have an XDA11, this looks tgoo good an offer to miss.

[ledzep100]

Cheers guys, some great advise so far.

I'm having bother with T-Mobile. They're saying that they can't get me one from the helpline so I have to start calling the local T-Mobile shops.

Can someone confirm that the MDA3 (XDA2s) has voice dialing?

[Uridium]

They don't have voice dialling by default but if you install MS Voice Commander software you can control the whole PDA by voice including the Phone application.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobi...d/default.mspx

[ledzep100]

uriduim,

Any chance you could let me know which GPS receiver your using?

ledzep

[Uridium]

I got a Haicom one (203e rings a bell) with all the cables and a car cradle for £65 quid off Ebay. Slightly slower connecting to satellites from cold start than my mates TomTom one but still only about a minute.

Works faultlessly with TomTom 2. Recommend the Checkpoint software as well to pick up the speed cams

[jimbobaggins]

I use a Fortuna GPS Bluetooth - £70 from ebay with mine.

Absolutely awesome.

[ledzep100]

I'm having so much trouble getting this from T-Mobile. They don't seem to have any stock at all. They're saying they may have some from Tuesday.

Jimbo,

Could I make calls through my Bluetooth car kit at the same time as using the sat nav?

[jimbobaggins]

I have made calls using the headphones, but i have lost my bluetooth headset, so I havent been able to check.

I am assured however, by those in the know, that you can.

Ive looked at T-Mobiles website (http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/Dispatcher...phones_details) and it says that the MDA3 phone has Bluetooth(data) but it doesnt say if the phone supports bluetooth audio so that i can use my nokia bluetooth headset with the PDA device.

Does anyone know if this is possible??

Jay

[ledzep100]

Jay,

If your thinking of getting one on T-Mobile I wouldn't bother. They don't have any handsets. I spent about a fortnight trying to get one then the day I decide to get an SDA they brought out the MDA compact. I'm now in the proccess of sending back the SDA to get a MDA Compact.

Have a look at the compact, its a rebranded i-Mate Jam.

ledzep

ledzep

I'm tryin to understand what the differences are between the T-Mobile MDA Compact and MDAIII? I know they look different and the MDAIII has a qwerty keyboard but can you or anyone tell me what the difference in features are? The MDA Compact seems to be £100 cheaper. Which is the older model?

Jay

[ledzep100]

The MDA 3 is the older model.

The MDA Compact has a faster proccessor (416 Mhz instead of 400 Mhz) and a 1.3 Mega Pixel camera (the MDA3 has a vga res camera).

The only down side to the Compact is that it doesn't have WiFi but you can get a WiFi SD card for about £50.

ledzep

Hi all

Looking at MDA Compacts ... quick question....

Got my MDA compact from www.scancom.co.uk - who in fairness at least have them in stock

Theres also an ambicom wifi card...would any one know if this would plug directly into the MDA C and could i simply just go and browse the web ?

rgds

chen

I live in Finland and the prices for the XDA:s offered by O2 look very good. How long does one have to hold on to these contracts and do they offer them to foreigners? Basically, it is a deal with a mobile phone operator, right? Can you use the sim-card of a different operator on your xda? Can you buy your way out of the contract?

Can you buy the XDA III without contract? What would be the price for that and when is itreleased?

Any and all information would be very appreciated.

Sincerely,
Jussi Ahlroth.

[jian]

Originally Posted by ahlroth

I live in Finland and the prices for the XDA:s offered by O2 look very good. How long does one have to hold on to these contracts and do they offer them to foreigners? Basically, it is a deal with a mobile phone operator, right? Can you use the sim-card of a different operator on your xda? Can you buy your way out of the contract?

Can you buy the XDA III without contract? What would be the price for that and when is itreleased?

Any and all information would be very appreciated.

Sincerely,
Jussi Ahlroth.

Minimum term for contract phones is 12 months, and only open to people who are resident in the UK, and who are able to pass a credit check.

Of course, you can buy them offline, but I doubt you'll find any bargains there. Cheapest network is T-Mobile where you can get the handset and one year's line rental for £230. That includes 100 cross network minutes a month.

See this thread for more details:

XDA mini/i-mate Jam

Thank you very much! This is all very useful.

J. Ahlroth

Hi all, Im selling my MDA Compact on Ebay if anyone is interested.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...e=STRK:MESE:IT

Jay

Hi. I'm a noobie to this forum and I have a T-Mobile MDA Compact and I need some techy help.

I have a wireless router through which I can connect to the internet using my IPAQ 5450 (when I'm away from PC). Having purchased the MDA Compact which only has Bluetooth, is it possible for me to connect my IPAQ 5450 via wireless and then use my IPAQ as a proxy server thru which my MDA can access the Internet?

I tried this last night by first activating bluetooth on both my IPAQ and MDA then activating the wifi on my IPAQ. I connected my MDA to the IPAQ via Bluetooth and tried configuring the settings in my MDA to use the IPAQ as a proxy server for the web but it didn't work.

This would save me having to buy a wifi SD card for my MDA which at the moment, Sandisk are doing for about £60 - £70. Does anyone know if I can do this?

Please do let me know if u got any theories as to how this can be achieved.

Many Thanks

Sukhy

PS. If this is the wrong forum for what I need, then I apologise.