[dekoded]

Hi all,

I just picked up my Orbit II yesterday after months of trying to find my next mobile device.

I really wanted something with all the features of my T-Mobile Ameo (HTC Advantage) but in a device which was much more pocket friendly.

I was considering buying a SIM free HTC Touch Cruise, however when I saw the orbit II I actually preferred it over the cruise.

Whilst I like the look of the Orbit II, I was actually slightly disappointed with the feel of the device, the scroll/directional pad feels a little flimsy, however I also have an iphone and the Ameo which both have metal cases and feel really solid. This may turn out to be completely reliable but I'm waiting to see how it holds up after some use.

For a device that is virtually the same size and weight as the iphone I still find it amazing that there is so much crammed inside! this device almost has everything! although some might not be happy without a 'real' keyboard I'm pretty much satisfied with the on screen keyboard as it works pretty well and keeps the weight/bulk of the device down.

A nice surprise was to find a 1gb memory card and co-pilot 7 installed, there is also a car mount and charger included in the box! I've never used co-pilot before, only tomtom navigator, but from my brief tests it seems to be a great satnav program and has lots of options that can be configured. Although the first fix took about 5mins, subsequent fixes have been very quick and the GPS seems quite sensitive.

The Orbit II also seems to run very well, WM6 is nice and responsive and the HTC touch flo interface is nice to look at and easy to use, although is only skin deep and alot of the time it just acts as a middleman between you and WM6.

All other aspects of the device are very similar to using my Ameo, except the smaller screen is taking some getting used to, particuarly when browsing, which seems very quick but inevitably requires more scrolling.

Apparently the Orbit II supports up to 32gb micro sd cards!! although these may be a few months away from being available (as far as I'm aware) it good to know that the is more than enough storage capacity available.

Overall I'm very pleased with it, it does pretty much everything anyone could need and is a nice looking device.

I would score the Orbit II 8.5 out of 10, it only loses half a point each for:

Wobbly scroll wheel which feels a bit flimsy

Only a 3mpx camera

There doesn't seem to be a way of sending images directly from the photo viewer via bluetooth,( the photo viewer is a great way of browsing through your images though)

That score could change if the scroller proves to be unreliable!

[dekoded]

Oh yeah, the phone was also unlocked and so I'm using my T-Mobile web n walk SIM in it.

I did get an unlimited browsing bolt on with my £35 per month contract (the orbit II cost me £49.99) but I seem to get better reception on T-Mobile, also I'm a bit unsure if the o2 deal really is unlimited, I'll have to read the other posts on here!

[meansizzler]

You reall yneed someone who had the first orbit to review this, send me the phone for2 days max and i'll do an in depth technical review, want to see how fast the 3G connection is on it..., you haveput a screen protector on it ?... the Scroll wheel looks the same as the Orbit, it's a must, best navigation system available, can literally fly through the menus with it, shame they took away the HTC-Track,....

[dekoded]

Your reply makes you sound a little ungrateful and that I'm not capable of an in-depth review, still, I hope it proves useful to others! it is only a 'mini' review after all.

I have never put a screen protector on ANY of my mobile devices, maybe I've been lucky, but I've never had any problems with the screens getting damaged an my portable devices.
I make sure I always carry my phones in an empty pocket, free of keys and coins etc.

I find browsing to be quicker on the orbit II than my ameo was, however this is more likely to be due to processor and screen resolution differences than the actual HSDPA performance.

A good example of this is when using a PPC as a modem, when browsing on my Macbook via a Bluetooth internet sharing connection the web pages load much quicker than on my PPC, obviously the CPU and browser are much quicker on my Macbook and so the 'bottleneck' to faster web browsing is probably the performance of the PPC and associated software rather than the 3g connection.

If there are any specific questions about the Orbit II that anyone wants answering then I'll do my best to answer them

[Party Animal]

HI
I have ordered this from O2 on the same deal you have by the sound of things
I am just about at the end of my 18 month T mobile contract and have been generally pleased with my Vario2

This Orbit 2 looks to be the ideal replacement
John
how does the Co pilot software shape up?
I have been using Tom Tom on my Vario and its worked like a charm through out
and having never used Co pilot before how does it stack up against Tom Tom (presuming you have had some experience with Tom Tom)

really looking forward to getting this now
cheers Chris

[dekoded]

Hi Party Animal,

Yes I have used TomTom Navigator 6 before, I used to have it installed on my Ameo.

My first ever sat nav was a standalone Garmin Nuvi, so when I started using TTN6 I did find it less accurate and not as user friendly, although the fact that I was able to have sat nav on my phone and avoid carrying a separate device around.

After a couple of trial runs with Co-Pilot I'm really pleased, the mapping seems good, more recent than my version of TTN6 at least, Co-Pilot actually reminds me of my Nuvi, the UI is similar.

The GPS chipset in the Orbit II is very sensitive, I can even get a fix inside my house! the initial fix did take quite a while, but since then it seems to get a fix very quickly.

The Orbit II even comes with a car windscreen mount, and the screen is very easy to see when driving, considering that Co Pilot, the 1GB micro sd card with the UK map data on (which only uses 390mb!) come free with the Phone is really good value.

Anyone who needs:

A smartphone

Plenty of inclusive mins/texts

A SatNav

Mobile web access

Home Broadband

Then I think the o2 contract is great value, the home broadband is £7.50 a month for o2 pay monthly customers, so for an initial cost of £50 and approx £42.50 a month you could have all these!

For a more in depth review of Co Pilot 7 look here:

http://www.4winmobile.com/forums/4wm...-7-review.html

[meansizzler]

Nobody does a more technical review than me..

I see it has a USB 2.0 connection, a first, how long does ittake to copy a file via activesync?, try a 4MB MP3 file and let me know..

Also what is that max bitrate for WMV video supported when encoded 320*240?, for Omap 850 at around 200kb/s you get frame drop, for Intel 400MHZ around 300kb/s, would like to know...

[dekoded]

UPDATE:

I've taken some photos (of the phone):

http://www.box.net/shared/l0ubh65c0c

[meansizzler]

Originally Posted by Johnnie

UPDATE:

I've taken some photos:

http://www.box.net/shared/l0ubh65c0c

I was expecting photo's using the phone's camera, that is one ugly phone, like I said send it to me and i'll do a proper review, i'm sure with you can cope with your Iphone for two days...,

[dekoded]

There is a review here:

http://www.4winmobile.com/forums/4wm...-2-review.html

I disagree with you about the looks of the orbit, I thought the Touch cruise looked good, but I actually prefer the o2 design as it's more pocket friendly with smoother corners.

If you think the phone is ugly then I don't imagine you are considering getting one, so I'm surprised you seem so interested in the technical specs.

Obviously the visual appeal of a phone is very subjective and I admit the orbit II isn't the prettiest device in the world, I would prefer the face to be less reflective, the screen could be a bit larger and VGA resolution, but considering the features crammed into this phone I think they've done a great job in designing such a (relatively) small and light device.

[sea surfer]

Brilliant mini review Johnnie, thanks for taking the time & effort "helping us all" choosing our next phone very much appreciated

[Dubster]

I think it looks pretty good but of course up against the iphone it dont look as slick, but still it aint bad and certainly better looker than its brother touch cruise.

[JD123]

Hi guys. I just picked up an Orbit today - looks pretty good but can anyone recommend a decent keyboard (bluetooth) with docking slot for it? Have had a browse around but there only seems a couple of what I kind can find, both of which get poor reviews Cheers, David.

[dekoded]

What about one of these?

http://www.expansys.com/a.aspx?i=159608&atype=KEYBDS

[JD123]

Cheers Johnnie!

I've ordered the Dell Stowaway - seemed the best option and at a good price - will update the thread with how I get on with it.

Thanks again.

[Kieron]

As an ex-orbit user I'm not overly impressed with the new version. Much prefer the iPhone, however thanks very much for your review on it. Nice of you to take the time and trouble to do it.

[Moosh]

Hi Johnnie

Thanks for the mini-review.

I was looking at the Orbit II on Friday. You've whetted my appetite even more...

Cheers
Moosh

[Party Animal]

Another Cheers Johnnie

I picked up the Orbit 2 on friday night and have had 'major' woes getting the supplied Co Pilot software to work (gave it up) and installed Tom Tom
which worked straight away
minus all the head scratching and surfing etc try to get Co pilot to work

other than that really like the phone - and the touch flo is pretty cool

meansizzler
you seem to have a rather large 'ego' with your comments like this
like I said send it to me and i'll do a proper review

dont think you will 'endear' your self to many forum members with that attitude

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by meansizzler

Nobody does a more technical review than me..

I read your in depth technical review of the film Gladiator that you posted yesterday. Real quality stuff

Originally Posted by meansizzler

Some middle aged hairy guy waving his sword about and ranting, don't see what was so good about it, Ipreffered the original conan over this..., this film was just poop...

[dekoded]

Thanks to everyone who appreciated my mini review!

Party Animal- sorry to hear that you had problems, my co pilot just seemed to install all by itself, took me a minute to find my serial number and to register it, but apart from that it was fine.

The more I use Co-Pilot the more I like it, I actually think it's better than TomTom Navigator 6, there seems to be loads of settings that can be tweaked and after looking at the ALK homepage I discovered lots of features that I didn't know it had.

One of the things I first found annoying was the keypad layout was alphabetical and it was taking me ages to type addresses etc, then I found that the keypad layout can be changed to qwerty

I've also just been playing around with the RSS feature on the Orbit II, it's actually really good, having to download podcasts onto a computer and then transferring them to portable devices could be a thing of the past.

With faster connections and large storage capacity of these newer devices it's much easier to browse and download media directly to the phone and cuts out all the messing around with converting and transferring.

My only problems seem to be with video playback of video podcasts, I know this is an issue with video drivers, but it's a real shame as it makes video playback very jumpy.

Does anyone know if using a different video player would help? maybe TCPMP? I will have to have a play around!

Johnnie,

One issue I can't seem to find in any review concerns using the Orbit 2 as a 3G modem for a laptop, and the O2 guys don't seem to know anything.

Can you connect the phone to a laptop via blue tooth, and then browse the net on the laptop? Can the same be done if you connect the phone to the pc using the data cable?

Also, do you know what the 02 unlimited bolt on really means? I've read in various places that it's no so 'unlimited'.

[dekoded]

Originally Posted by antoniom187

Johnnie,

One issue I can't seem to find in any review concerns using the Orbit 2 as a 3G modem for a laptop, and the O2 guys don't seem to know anything.

Can you connect the phone to a laptop via blue tooth, and then browse the net on the laptop? Can the same be done if you connect the phone to the pc using the data cable?

Also, do you know what the 02 unlimited bolt on really means? I've read in various places that it's no so 'unlimited'.

Although I haven't tried it yet, I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to use the Orbit II as a modem, it has internet sharing as part of WM6, the only problem could be the possible data charges, I use my T-Mobile web n walk sim in mine as I know they don't mind if you use your sim as a modem but I'm not sure about o2.

I'll try the internet sharing anyway and let you know.

As long as you don't use more than your data allowance I don't know why it would be a problem, although I think some networks limit what can be accessed when using a mobile data sim, T-mobile doesn't, although they require the user to confirm they are over 18 before full access is allowed (a one off process)

[dekoded]

Just tried it, all I had to do was set it up as a bluetooth device on my Macbook and then start internet sharing on my orbit, doddle!

[meansizzler]

Originally Posted by Ian J

I read your in depth technical review of the film Gladiator that you posted yesterday. Real quality stuff

Ahhh, mr supermod, I have heard about your negative attitude towards some of the posters on the forum, was wondering when you would lash out at me, as for so called gladiator review, it was more of an opinion than a review, but if you consider a two lines a review then more fool you than me..., one question though are you really that hairy in real life?, with regards to your display pic....

Apologies, to the OP if I offended, the lending of the phone was only as a sarcastic comment.., but my reviews really are in depth, but I usually don't even bother writing them as firstly I have buy the device for reviewing out of my own pocket then sell it at a loss, and secondly when I post the review I usually get no comments, or just a load of spam and others trying to abuse my post with their review as in the case of the Zune...

If the OP does not mind, can he test a wmv file on this device encoded at 320*240 with a bitrate of 500kb/s for video, 128kb/s for audio...

[bobsplace]

Originally Posted by Johnnie

Just tried it, all I had to do was set it up as a bluetooth device on my Macbook and then start internet sharing on my orbit, doddle!

Thanks for the review mate,much appreciated

I've just been offered the upgrade as an existing Orbit 1 user for £20 a month, 600 minutes 500 texts and unlimited browsing.The browsing will be welcomed as when I bought mine it was a fortune!!

I dont like the co-pilot as a nav and prefer Tom Tom, If I fit my existing sd (with tom tom on) card to my new phone will the nav work?

[james2909]

Hey mate, cheers for the insight, I`m at the end of my contract with orange so am considering getting one of these from 02. I noted your comment on using it as a modem with a laptop and just wanted to clarify a few things if thats ok?

1: Can you use the USB connection using it as a modem? any idea on speeds attained? I only get 460kbs from my N95 on 3g orange network.

2: When Using the Modem function can you surf the web as normal (like at home) and are there any limitations?

3: Is this all part of your tariff and inclusive?

Thanks again, I hope you have time to answer my queries.
James

[FKA]

Originally Posted by Johnnie

Thanks to everyone who appreciated my mini review!

My only problems seem to be with video playback of video podcasts, I know this is an issue with video drivers, but it's a real shame as it makes video playback very jumpy.

Does anyone know if using a different video player would help? maybe TCPMP? I will have to have a play around!

Nice review Mate
I just got the touch cruise and i have some tips for you, try the core player 2.0 for video playback, it 95% there, i play div x movies silky smooth at medium detail when using the qtv setting.
Also regarding sendin photos via bluetooth. i got the resco photo viewer which is an amazing photo viewing/slideshow/photo editing app where you can send via bluetooth or numerous other ways!
In fact all the latest resco products are very good, ie the file explorer with built in ftp and regedit and the audio recorder.
hope this helps.

[JD123]

Just wanted to update that I got the Dell Stowaway bluetooth keyboard for the Orbit and it works a treat! Pretty easy to set up, very responsive, under £40 and very useful if like me you'll be using it for some lengthy reports.

Thanks again Johnnie for the nudge in the right direction

[meansizzler]

Originally Posted by JD123

Just wanted to update that I got the Dell Stowaway bluetooth keyboard for the Orbit and it works a treat! Pretty easy to set up, very responsive, under £40 and very useful if like me you'll be using it for some lengthy reports.

Wouldn't the HTC Advantage be more suited to your needs due to the larger screen, bigger res and keyboard...

[dekoded]

Wow, thanks for all the thanks!

JAMES2909 - I use my T-mobile web n walk plus sim in my orbit2,

I've had speeds of over 1.5mb when using my phone as a modem, can't comment on o2 speeds but as long as you have HSDPA signal then it should be pretty good.

Yes you can surf the web as normal (at least you can with t mobile wnw plus) although the images are compressed to save bandwidth, however this actually makes browsing faster and the images can be re-loaded to view them in full res.

Yes all the browsing I've ever done on my wnw contract has been inclusive, I originally purchased it as a usb data modem and then added text/mins to my account so I could use one SIM for all my needs!

JD123 - Thanks for the positive feedback on the keyboard and I'm glad you're enjoying it!

JKR284 - Thanks for that info, I'll have to have a look at that software.