Don't Panic!

The HTC Advantage will work with AT&T and t-mobile but not with Verizon or Sprint. AT&T and t-mobile use GSM and SIM cards in their phones. You can take an AT&T or t-mobile sim card and just plug it into the Advantage and get service. Verizon and Sprint use the CDMA standard and the information is programmed into the phones. Unfortunately when I checked the AT&T coverage map for the Aurora, Colorado area I didn't see any 3G coverage so you won't be getting hi speed internet over this phone regardless of which carrier you pick.

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Bobby
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Don't Panic!

The HTC Advantage is pocketable after all. I just had to lose a little weight. :)

What would make this a really pocketable device for the average user would be for some company to come out with a case for the Advantage without the keyboard. I put in a suggestion with Vaja cases that they make a case for the Advantage without the keyboard in the ivolution style. You can too. Just click here and sign up for notification when they do bring out a case. You can include a suggestion about the style case you'd like to see.

Here's a link to some pictures of an iPhone in a Vaja ivolution case. Pretty snazzy huh? I'd love to see the core of the Advantage in something like that.

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Bobby
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miterb

[QUOTE=JimmiePPC;1059158285]

Originally Posted by miterb

You said that you bought extended warranty, and got the Advantage cheaper. By how much?

About $30 for the phone and $40 on the warranty. Can't rightly remember details. Sorry for delay in reply - off on vacation.

Brad

miterb

Originally Posted by Don't Panic!

The HTC Advantage is pocketable after all. I just had to lose a little weight. :) What would make this a really pocketable device for the average user would be for some company to come out with a case for the Advantage without the keyboard. I put in a suggestion with Vaja cases that they make a case for the Advantage without the keyboard in the ivolution style. You can too. Just click here and sign up for notification when they do bring out a case. You can include a suggestion about the style case you'd like to see. Here's a link to some pictures of an iPhone in a Vaja ivolution case. Pretty snazzy huh? I'd love to see the core of the Advantage in something like that.

I too am on the lookout for the perfect case for the Advantage. I fear it is not to be. I am beginning to wonder if there will be enough sales of the 7501 in the USA to get the USA casemakers to put one together for us.

Thus far I have tried the $19.95 one with the belt clip found on EBay and really do not trust the clip as it will not really have protection from coming off the clip. I MUST have a belt attachment.

SenaCases.com will NOT be making a case for the 7501. I have corresponded with them.

E&B Cases do not have one available. I did not contact them.

There is another inexpensive 'Pouch' case for the 7501 now on EBAY. See HTC Advantage 7501 7500 PDA Smartphone Leather Case Bag - (eBay item 140167934666 end time Nov-11-07 15:59:26 PST).
I am thinking of getting it for the belt attachment loop and the price - $19.95 also. Right now I generally carry the 7501 in an older leather hip pack I have but it just adds an additional belt around your waist.

I bit the bullet and ordered the Pouch. I'll let you know how it works out.

Brad Miter

Don't Panic!

The HTC HOME Plugin that works on other HTC Phones with the WM6 OS doesn't work on the Advantage. That's pretty strange. I think it has something to do with the resolution of the screen. Most of the other HTC WMPhones are QVGA.

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Bobby
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mitkw

I am curious, since the device has a VGA screen, have you forced it to run in true VGA? If so what were the results?

miterb

Originally Posted by miterb

There is another inexpensive 'Pouch' case for the 7501 now on EBAY. See HTC Advantage 7501 7500 PDA Smartphone Leather Case Bag - (eBay item 140167934666 end time Nov-11-07 15:59:26 PST). I am thinking of getting it for the belt attachment loop and the price - $19.95 also. Right now I generally carry the 7501 in an older leather hip pack I have but it just adds an additional belt around your waist. I bit the bullet and ordered the Pouch. I'll let you know how it works out. Brad Miter

I have received the pouch and with some work it will hold the X7501 while in its HTC leather case if I take the keyboard and put it in a sleeve in the main pouch. If should easily fit in the pouch without the HTC case still on it. The loop attaches to my belt OK and seems secure enough but it is positioned in the center of the pouch and the top leans away from my belt when the PDA is in it. Still, it is a bit better than using another hip pack to carry it which necessitates a 2nd belt around your waist.

The workmanship and leather are very good. I think that with use the leather will stretch some making insertion and removal of the PDA much easier.

Anyway, for $24.95 inc. shipping, you can't go far wrong.

Brad

Don't Panic!

Originally Posted by mitkw

I am curious, since the device has a VGA screen, have you forced it to run in true VGA? If so what were the results?

No not at all. I'm not a follower of True VGA. Microsoft uses pixel doubling to fit their apps to the VGA screen. I actually like that a lot better than trying to get everything working in true VGA mode. That takes more time than I wish to devote to my mobile devices. We've had quite a few discussions about true VGA versus the MS implementation here at Aximsite over the years and across operating systems. I fully expect another round when more manufacturers start implementing VGA screens on their devices and WM6 becomes the default OS on microsft Pocket PC Products. One day someone is going to come up with a true VGA app that just works without extensive tweaking. That's when I'll start using it.

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Bobby
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Don't Panic!

Originally Posted by miterb

[snip]I take the keyboard and put it in a sleeve in the main pouch.[/snip]Brad

Brad, does the keyboard fit in the pocket intended for memory cards? That's kind of what I'm looking for. A pocket for the keyboard on the case for the Advantage. I wish I knew some leather workers. :)

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miterb

>>Brad, does the keyboard fit in the pocket intended for memory cards? <<

There is a section in the main part of the pouch where the keyboard can go. There is a separate outside zipper pocket which can hold cards or whatever.

Brad

bigtsr

I received my Pdair Advantage case today and it works nicely with gear.
Although it doesn't have a cut out to view the standby window when
the keyboard is folded on top that is of little consequence as far as
I am concerned.
It's well made and padded for protection,with 15% off at Cases.com
via Aximsite it's a good value.

Box

My random thoughts are I can't believe I waited this long to get one.

For me, this is the perfect device. Although I do still use my 51v for a lot of things.

A bit of background:
As some of you may already know, I have a rather varied work life. I travel to a lot of different countries, sometimes I'm at sea, sometimes I'm in a shipyard, sometimes in an office, quite frequently driving a forklift and occasionally at home (wherever the hell that is). I have spent time in an uncountable number of hotels in a ridiculous number of places. I'm actually a sculptor, but that doesn't really relate to this post.

In short, I'm responsible for co-ordinating the installation of Artwork on board new Cruise liners.
So I have to keep track of, sometimes as many as 6000 separate items, warehouse them and then load them on the ship and position them. I also photograph every piece in situ and create a reference catalog. I maintain and update the main databases for our 4 different offices and I get the coffee and doughnuts.

My Advantage lets me do all this beautifully.
I can actually sit in my forklift (or bed) and do everything I need to, all on a screen that is big enough to not use the stylus or my reading glasses.

Phone:
Works great as a desk speaker phone.
Pairs easily with BT stereo headset. Supports music pause to answer phone and remote control.
Wired headset also works well.

Email:
What can I say, works with all my accounts and I have no problem monitoring other peoples accounts for them.

Connectivity:
Very strong Wifi, connects automatically every time I'm in range of one of my networks.
3G and UMTS sets itself up and works, very fast.
I have swapped my Finnish sim card and my German sim card several times and each time it finds the correct settings without me having to do anything manually.
I use remote desktop mobile and logmein to access my main office server and my own computers without a hiccup.

GPS:
Tomtom. Satellite fix in a matter of seconds even inside.
Surprisingly accurate considering I'm in Finland.
I set the GPS signal of one space in the carpark at my flat and it recognized that I hadn't reached my destination when I parked 3 spaces away. I then moved to the right space and it told me "You have reached your destination".
Tomtom is very easy to use and thumb friendly.

Sync:
Worked straight away with Vista and Office 2007, no issues, BT, Cable and Docking station.

Docking Station:
Small and easily mobile.
Has VGA, Svideo and the little yellow output (can't remember what it is called) all work perfectly.
I connected all three to my projector without a hitch.
Audio out via 3.5mm jack, straight into my sound system or projector directly.
1 mini USB for power, one mini USB for Sync, no issues.
Best of all, 2 normal USB ports.
Plugged in usb mouse and keyboard, worked instantly. Also tried wireless keyboard dongle, without much hope, works perfectly, even recognizes the scroll wheel and and joystick etc on the keyboard.
Haven't tried external hard drive yet.

I could go on and on about the various features etc that I use, Skype, image editing, databases, photos, but I won't. I just wanted to point out how well it works for me, it really is a mobile office and means I don't need to take my huge laptop everywhere.

To sum up as an example:
I can connect to a TV as a screen, adjust the resolution, plug in my full size mouse and keyboard, access any of my computers, NAS HDDs and servers via the internet and work with all the programs I use on them as if sitting at my desk. Or I can just pick it up, walk into the warehouse and access everything from my, only slightly stretched, pocket.

Sorry this is so long, I tried to keep it short but I could have gone on forever.

P.S. The Ax is still better for some things when you want to be totally mobile. :approve:

kcallahan

Great writeup Box. :approve:

It may have been long, but very informative to real life situations. I'm not ready for one yet as I'm not away from the work PC that much and my AX does everything and more for me. :)

However, when I retire, this will be the type of device I'll want.

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Zaniax

Nice post, Box - makes me interested

stevenator65

Box that was excellent. Nice job.