bobby9621

I hope the following information helps people out, and gives them guidance to make the choice of what they choose to do. This is my experiences and will not be the same for everyone obviously.

After experimenting with WM5 I find I am going back to 2003SE. The system in its past state was solid and free of bugs. I do not regret trying out WM5 as I learned a lot. However I will stick to what is solid, and wait upon the upgrades from Dell to have a complete reliable system.

Problems:
1.Power up – Over 50% of the time during power up the system will lock up. After doing numerous soft-resets, I do not wish to do anymore. Dell must fix this for me to go back.
2.Dell GPS System does not work, and I do not use this program often, I was planning on using it for some upcoming business trips.
3.Some are experiencing problems with Active Sync, I have not but found it worth mentioning.

I am effective 04Nov05 rolling back to 2003SE and doing a restore courtesy of our most trusted back up program Sprite. The rollback file can be located in the support section of the Dell website.


Windows Mobile 5 Review (02Nov05)
Installation
Over all ease of installation was not difficult. I made sure to read through all directions as indicated with the software. This made life more reasonable. I did a full sync to ensure everything would run smooth. I then backed up everything through Sprite, Outlook, and then a manual drag of miscellanous files I wanted to save. I removed my Dell GPS system as instructed from my PC and Device. From there on I made sure I followed the directions step by step. Process took about 45 minutues.
Performance
Performance is an issue alot of people are concerned with, yet there is not a huge decrease in performance. Yes there is lag when you "boot" up, but it takes only about 10 seconds. Multitasking has become a little lagged, but being patient with all your programs installed is key. There will be some updates. Movie, Sound, and gaming quality for some reason is enhanced. I was greatly impressed by a little better quality. Battery life with programs installed is lasting on the 1100 battery over 3 hours from 2 hours 15 minutes on average.
Overall Feel
Over all the feel is mostly the same except for the bottom task bar. I do not notice a huge difference. Security issues are annoying, but in the long run worth it. The program is indeed large for the OS, however I am sure Microsoft could have slimmed it a little further. Plenty of memory is left over for direct device memory installation.
Programs
Most programs transferred with ease. A few did have to be updated so they ran more smoothly. Games are all on my SD card now and run faster, with better graphics, my assumption is that windows is taking better advantage of the X50v. I am glad I did not wait for other's reviews, I learned alot, and I am glad I installed. I only hope Sprite comes out with their Back Up Utility soon!
Problems
Not all programs work, and this was expected. Some updates are going to slow, but this is also expected. Bluetooth items such as the Dell GPS and the Dell Keyboard are unoperable due to security certificates and passkeys.
Updates
(02Nov05)Some people are encountering power up issues. This has happened to me once, be patient, do not hard reset. Soft reset will fix this in most cases. If that does not work, unplug your device and remove storage cards, then soft reset. Hopefully the first ROM update will fix this issue.
(02Nov05)Dell Keyboard had to be updated with R107814.EXE from the Dell Driver area. Once installed, the device was only recognized if the Secure Box is NOT checked! It now works and is WM5 functional!
(03Nov05)Though most issues are fixed, the Power up problem, and GPS problem is of a great concern. I will go back to 2003SE Edition tomorrow until power up and gps is fixed.