New VZW HTC TP2 - Disappointed, Need Help, Multiple Areas

[DLCPhoto]

OK, I've been greatly looking forward to this convergence device. Arrived yesterday, been playing/reading a lot. I have to say I'm pretty disappointed so far. I will say this is my first Windows Mobile device, so I'm hoping there will be things I'm missing, or ways to customize it more to my satisfaction. I'm coming from a Palm TX - very efficient device, which I used with a Razr V3c.

1. Opera - this is almost an exercise in futility. Trying to click on a link, access a field to enter data, is almost impossible, with my finger, stylus, and even when zoomed in. And speaking of zooming in, the zoom bar is flakey at best. Sometimes it works, sometimes if I slide it a few mm to the right of the bar it works, and mostly it doesn't work at all.

Am I expecting too much? Are there better options?

2. Touchscreen itself - I also find this very hit and miss. Even when there are large settings icons present, activating those icons is yet more frustration. Sometimes extreme pressure is required to get a response, other times a simple touch will do. I've done a Calibration, but still no joy. Again, am I expecting too much? My TX touchscreen was much more consistent and responsive.

3. User Interface - I found the TouchFlo3D to get in the way, and figured out where to turn it off. So I have the "Today" screen active, but I am very limited in what items I can put there. Why not links to Email, whatever Program I want, etc.?? What better more customizeable options are there for the UI? Again, with my TX, I had a single page of "Favorite" links. A hard button brought me there, and I had immediate access to more than 2 dozen programs on a single screen, no scrolling required.

4. Contacts - I haven't entered many, but there seems no way to show them by Category. Again on my TX, if I went to my Contact List, I could select a Category by a drop-down list, and show only those Contacts in that particular Category. Is that an option on the TP2? It might be there and I haven't discovered it yet.

5. Also when selecting Ringtones or Wallpaper - there doesn't seem to be a way to have the Ringtones autoplay as I select them to try them out. I have to select it, hit Play, and if I don't like it, have to drop down the list, try another, rinse and repeat. Any other phone I or a family member has ever had will just play the dang ringtone as I scrolled the list. Same with the Wallpaper - there's a list, with no graphics, no way to preview it or see what the heck it is. Just select it, go to the Today screen, and see what it looks like. What the heck??


That's about it for now. There are other matters, but these are the biggies so far, and unless I can figure out ways to get this thing working more consistently and efficiently, as hard as it is for me to believe it, I may have to return it.

Hopefully it's just me and my lack of familiarity with WM and available apps to tweak it.

Any info, advice, links appreciated.

[orlandojumpoff]

try opera mobile 9.7 beta... the stock one is OM 9.5.

i don't like touchflo either because i feel 2.1 is missing key features. the today screen to me is dated. you can try mobile shell 3 as a UI replacement. it's kind of like the hero sense ui in that you can have several homescreens with shortcuts to all your favorite progs. there are other uis like pointui, throttlelauncher and more.

if you prefer to stick with the today screen... try out htc home (not sure if it works with WVGA screen but i don't see why not), weather panel is great, for appointments today agenda works nicely. There are a bunch of plugins you could install, but those are the ones off the top of my head.

Welcome to the winmo world. thse phones kinda suck out of the box, but once you add all the applications and customize it, it's awesome.

I find the tp2 screen to be responsive by the way... maybe you have big fingers?

edit: one more thing, yes.. the zoom bar blows. i hope someone figures out how to tweak it. right now, if you zoom into opera, it'll just zoom into a random spot.. totally useless. Unless i'm using it incorrectly?

[DLCPhoto]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Originally Posted by orlandojumpoff

try opera mobile 9.7 beta... the stock one is OM 9.5.

How would I try this out? I've installed a couple of new programs (Epocrates, Google Maps), and that's straight-forward. But how do I replace an existing program (especially with a Beta) - does one replace the other, do I have both, etc.?

Originally Posted by orlandojumpoff

i don't like touchflo either because i feel 2.1 is missing key features. the today screen to me is dated. you can try mobile shell 3 as a UI replacement. it's kind of like the hero sense ui in that you can have several homescreens with shortcuts to all your favorite progs. there are other uis like pointui, throttlelauncher and more.

Thanks for the suggestions. Guess I'll have to do some digging here...

Originally Posted by orlandojumpoff

I find the tp2 screen to be responsive by the way... maybe you have big fingers?

No I don't. I don't mind using the stylus (TX required it), but that's no better. I wonder if my device has a hardware issue of its own.

What about the Ringtone/Wallpaper issue? Am I missing something, or is that really the way it is?? If so, that is incredibly poorly designed.

[Kamokazi]

I'm going to first preface this by saying that I don't usually recommend Windows Mobile to others. Unless you have a pretty high technical understanding and -enjoy- tweaking (not just capable, but enjoy), I would generally recommend a different mobile OS.

Now, for your questions:

1) As the other poster said, try the 9.7 beta, or something else like Skyfire. You have to download and install them, google around, find their official sites, etc. Just install the new cab and it installs a second one since it is a beta...otherwise it would upgrade.

2) I haven't had any issues with my touchscreen...pretty standard like the ones I have used for the last 8 years (Palm m505 was my first PDA)

3) The default today screen is extremely dated, like much of the OS. SPB MobileShell, phoneAlarm, BatteryPlus, are among some of the things to try.

4) HTC Contacts: Menu->Filter, Default WinMo: Menu-> Filter Also a nice contact app is iContact....duplicates iPhone one. But I personally like the new HTC version.

5) That's just the behavior of it. When the first built WinMo, they were thinking computer, not phone. It behaves much like the desktop Windows sound selector.

If these are your issues so far, then you will have many more to come. Like I said before, if you *enjoy* tweaking, then stick with it and once you figure out how you like it you will be good. But if not, I might suggest you consider something like a Blackberry device or wait until January or so when Verizon is rumored to get the Palm Pre or other WebOS device.

[deadwrong03]

Originally Posted by orlandojumpoff

try opera mobile 9.7 beta... the stock one is OM 9.5.

whats the difference between the 2?

[DLCPhoto]

Originally Posted by Kamokazi

I'm going to first preface this by saying that I don't usually recommend Windows Mobile to others. Unless you have a pretty high technical understanding and -enjoy- tweaking (not just capable, but enjoy), I would generally recommend a different mobile OS.

Now, for your questions:

1) As the other poster said, try the 9.7 beta, or something else like Skyfire. You have to download and install them, google around, find their official sites, etc. Just install the new cab and it installs a second one since it is a beta...otherwise it would upgrade.

2) I haven't had any issues with my touchscreen...pretty standard like the ones I have used for the last 8 years (Palm m505 was my first PDA)

3) The default today screen is extremely dated, like much of the OS. SPB MobileShell, phoneAlarm, BatteryPlus, are among some of the things to try.

4) HTC Contacts: Menu->Filter, Default WinMo: Menu-> Filter Also a nice contact app is iContact....duplicates iPhone one. But I personally like the new HTC version.

5) That's just the behavior of it. When the first built WinMo, they were thinking computer, not phone. It behaves much like the desktop Windows sound selector.

If these are your issues so far, then you will have many more to come. Like I said before, if you *enjoy* tweaking, then stick with it and once you figure out how you like it you will be good. But if not, I might suggest you consider something like a Blackberry device or wait until January or so when Verizon is rumored to get the Palm Pre or other WebOS device.

Thanks for the reply, and I hear you. I'm pretty 'geeky' in general, and am confident that I can master Windows Mobile. But I have to admit I'm in part a bit chagrined at how poor it is out of the box.

I at least temporarily re-enabled TouchFLO 3D, and have found where I can access Ringtones and Wallpaper and see/hear them in 'real time' as it should be, so at least that problem is at least partially solved.

I guess I'll give Opera 9.7 beta a try, along with SPB Mobile Shell, HTC Contact, etc.

I just discovered that at least out of the box, there is no way to have it Vibrate and Ring - it's one or the other. Pretty lame. I guess yet another 3rd party solution will be necessary to work around this limitation?

I was waiting to see what Palm would bring forward, but I have to admit I was less than impressed with at least the hardware features of the Palm Pre. The BB Storm 2 was also on my list, although the lack of a physical keyboard reduced its appeal to me.

Well, I guess I've got 30 days or so to see if I can configure the TP2 to be at least as efficient in operation as my trusty Palm TX! It's amazing how efficient that OS is.

Vibrate and ring?

Mine vibrates and rings as there is an option to do so.

If you are having touch related issues, get a replacement. Mine worked just fine out of the box and still does. Maybe it is a flaw in the one you were sent???

Good luck...

[PPCGeek01]

Originally Posted by DLCPhoto

I just discovered that at least out of the box, there is no way to have it Vibrate and Ring - it's one or the other. Pretty lame. I guess yet another 3rd party solution will be necessary to work around this limitation?

Under Sound in the Settings tab, for Ring Types you should have the following options:

- Ring
- Ring Once
- Increasing Ring
- Vibrate Only
- Vibrate then Ring
- Vibrate and Ring

[wesscoggin]

for vibrate and ring go to settings>personal>sounds and notifications>notifications
from the first drop down menu make sure you are on "phone: incoming call" it should be the first one on the list, then from the "ring type" drop down select "vibrate and ring".

edit: ppcgeek01 beat me to the punch

[DLCPhoto]

Originally Posted by mutation9

Vibrate and ring?

Mine vibrates and rings as there is an option to do so.

Curious...When I go to the "Sound" settings, there are the following options, which can only be chosen individually:

Normal
Vibrate
Silent
Automatic (set to vibrate during appointments)

Ah!! I found it. The option you refer to is under the "Ring Type" section, where it does give you further Vibrate and Ring options.

Originally Posted by mutation9

If you are having touch related issues, get a replacement. Mine worked just fine out of the box and still does. Maybe it is a flaw in the one you were sent???

Good luck...

That's what I'm wondering about. I'll give it a few days to get a better "feel" for it, but sometimes it just won't respond to touch...

ETA: Thanks guys - you were all so quick that you both answered while I was composing my reply to the first! Not too shabby...