Possibly buying Sprint Mogul

[Baffles]

Hey guys, I'm planning on buying a Sprint Mogul as my first PPC Phone. I doubt the Sprint store will beat Amazon's deal, so I'll probably order from them and just wait for it to be in stock.

This being my first PPC/smart Phone (upgrading from a Nextel i836 actually), I am mainly looking for any advice on it. Anything on making the phone usable (Today screen mods, software, etc), tethering, etc.

One thing I'd really like to see on here is IM and SSH support. Does pocketputty work well?

So, does anyone have some must have modifications, software, advice, etc?

[storino03]

Search the thread. All the answers are embedded.

--James

[dcd]

i moved from an i830 (briefly to a motoQ that sucked) to the mogul...

pretty hard to answer what you need to make the phone more usable...im going to assume you mean "as a phone" and say that youre going to want paul hammons' big button dialer, and the audiopara.csv tweak for speaker volumes. while nextel is iden and mogul is cdma so this is going to greatly vary based on your location, its worth mentioning that im in a spotty signal area (for any provider), and the mogul is day and night difference in being usable here on the weak signal. i had to go outside to use nextel, and often had to to use the motoQ as well. mogul works in here.

pocketputty works. theres alot of different options for IM software, a google search will probably return all the choices out there..

[Baffles]

Probably a dumb question, but does pocketputty support landscape mode with the qwerty?

I've checked the signal coverage maps, and basically my whole area is EVDO Rev. A supported, with Rev.0 on the fringes, then out further is just 1x. Several sprint users around here have no complaints with coverage, and nextel coverage was great (I'd assume that Sprint would add their equipment at Nextel tower sites if more coverage was needed).

And as far as usability, I mean like SPD Mobile shell or whatever. I used a friends motoq, and it was okay. I liked the looks of the SPD shell/now screen. Just basically looking for what others of you have on your phones.

Most of the IM clients I'm finding (such as Agile, etc) seem to be pay apps. Anyone have any good sites listing free Windows Mobile software?

[bubbatex]

freewarepocketpc.net

But, as someone said above, I would suggest you look through a lot of the hacks and customization threads for more info and search - I did for 2 months before I bought one and I hit the gate running with all of the mods I wanted to do. At the end of the day, it is going to be up to YOU as to how you want the device set up.

[J_Bone]

I hope this isn't a hijack but...

I upgraded from an i880 nextel to the Mogul and my signal strength at home went down a considerable amount. Is there anything on the horizon with Sprint coverage? Will the Rev A upgrade boost phone signals at all? My nextel had great reception and I have heard various gossip that the changeover to sprint may increase sprint pcs coverage. Any info on that?

FWIW, I LOVE my mogul, even with the drop in signal strength for me at home.

Thanks a bunch.

[dcd]

j_bone are you in evdo coverage?

since im in 1x i cannot say for sure, but i beleive when you are in evdo coverage, the signal strength reported in "bars" is your evdo coverage, not your cdma coverage. does it work for making calls?

[J_Bone]

I am in EVDO coverage (zip code 28023).

When the bars read one or two I am fine but there are times when I either lose a call or the person on the other end says I am breaking up. If I try to do anything on data I have to walk to a spot and cross my fingers.

For me the problem shows up more as we have decided to no longer have a land line in our house and use our cell phones only. The verizon coverage at my house is off the charts but so is Sprint's SERO deal. I don't have enough problems with reception so far to justify increasing my monthly bills from ~$50 to ~$110.

Still keeping my fingers crossed for improvements though.

[Baffles]

Alright, I've been going through the forums and bookmarking stuff I'm interested in.

One thing I've seen a bunch of is battery life issues. Some people were saying theirs was good, some horrible, some saying it was rom related, others saying different settings or apps caused it. Some said theirs got better over time (battery takes a few cycles to get peak capacity). Some even said it was coverage related. So what's the deal with it?

Also, I'm thinking about hitting up one of the local Sprint/Nextel stores. Is it likely that we will be able to negotiate a good price on a Mogul with them (or at least invoice credits or something)? I'd rather just grab it locally, but I really don't want to front $400 and only get $100 back (would Kelloggs rebate mix with the $100 off deal?) so I'm hoping they will negotiate, especially considering I'll be with my family, and if the price is right, we will sign a 3 line 2 year contract right there. Any advice on this?

[capptan]

Kelloggs rebate works with any phone over 300 dollars so you shoul be fine with it stacking with the mail in 100 rebate and if you are looking at getting some kind of deal towards a phone or price of a mogul come in 2-3 days when the month is about to end and ask for a manager hehe we are usually trying to hit that good bonus he may work a deal out for 3 lines