XV6800/Titan still the phone or has its time come? What Should I Do?

[azrael201]

yes i've been shamelessly starting new threads and this will probably be the end all be all thread. Hopefully this will give me as well as others, who are interested in the Titan, more updated opinions with respect to current offerings.

so for the past month i've been painstakingly wasting precious studying time looking for a cellphone to replace a Krazor that drains its own battery till it is hot and a MotoQ that runs out of batteries after 5 min talk time. Yes i've lost all faith in Motorola save the sweetass Timeport.

The criteria in my search were: (1) full QWERTY keyboard (2) PDA

I was originally set on the Palm Centro (my family is a Palm Treo family) but due to some issues at the store I wasn't eligible for the upgrade anymore. I was disappointed at first but I am glad I didn't because last I checked, my thumbs were not of a 12 year old.

Enter the XV6800 (because on eBay the Touch Pro was frighteningly more expensive). All looked at some of the ROMs people were loading on the phone and I was seriously impressed. So began my hunt for the XV6800 on eBay. To make a long story short (you could read my other thread), I finally got one for a bit more than I bargained for ($237 fresh refurbished). Now that I have been playing with it I wanted to leave my impressions and seek the advice of Titan users on this forum. Whether to continue with this device or purchase a temporary phone until August (when I would be eligible to switch carriers).

Impressions:
I like the touch screen and I like the keyboard and everything seems very solid. I like how sensitive the buttons are. The touch screen is not really sensitive for fingers, but I'm guessing it's because it's for a stylus (yet the ported TouchFlo). My favorite feature is definitely the WiFi and then the aGPS. I really don't have much for comparison coming from the MotoQ and playing with my brother's Treo. It's definitely a different type of phone. I can say that I think the keyboard is a bit too big and I find typing is slower than on a Q/Treo/Blackberry. Battery life I think is not a real big issue but I can see it being a problem under heavier use. Windows Mobile 6.1 is interesting, but maybe a little cumbersome to navigate at times (Kitchen?).

Conclusion:
It's difficult to keep this phone since I paid too much and it doesn't have a warranty that I can call or walk into a store with. I am so jealous of everyone here that can just walk into the store and invoke their TEP because right now I have no safety net if anything happens to this phone (other than contacting the seller and asking him to follow up on his Asurion claim). I am thinking I could return it to the seller and just pick up a Treo 700p off eBay (I know I will never learn) and use that until my contract expires and hopefully then, there will be more [affordable] options, including better supported G1 and Palm Pre. I should mention that I am a medical student and all I really need is epocrates.


P.S. Yes there was a similar thread at PDAPhoneHome

[azrael201]

in addition the current issues with the device include:
(1) "." button is a little stuck
(2) Rainbow/Oil slick on the middle of screen only visible under fluorescent light

[scrosler]

Originally Posted by azrael201

yes i've been shamelessly starting new threads and this will probably be the end all be all thread. Hopefully this will give me as well as others, who are interested in the Titan, more updated opinions with respect to current offerings.

so for the past month i've been painstakingly wasting precious studying time looking for a cellphone to replace a Krazor that drains its own battery till it is hot and a MotoQ that runs out of batteries after 5 min talk time. Yes i've lost all faith in Motorola save the sweetass Timeport.

The criteria in my search were: (1) full QWERTY keyboard (2) PDA

I was originally set on the Palm Centro (my family is a Palm Treo family) but due to some issues at the store I wasn't eligible for the upgrade anymore. I was disappointed at first but I am glad I didn't because last I checked, my thumbs were not of a 12 year old.

Enter the XV6800 (because on eBay the Touch Pro was frighteningly more expensive). All looked at some of the ROMs people were loading on the phone and I was seriously impressed. So began my hunt for the XV6800 on eBay. To make a long story short (you could read my other thread), I finally got one for a bit more than I bargained for ($237 fresh refurbished). Now that I have been playing with it I wanted to leave my impressions and seek the advice of Titan users on this forum. Whether to continue with this device or purchase a temporary phone until August (when I would be eligible to switch carriers).

Impressions:
I like the touch screen and I like the keyboard and everything seems very solid. I like how sensitive the buttons are. The touch screen is not really sensitive for fingers, but I'm guessing it's because it's for a stylus (yet the ported TouchFlo). My favorite feature is definitely the WiFi and then the aGPS. I really don't have much for comparison coming from the MotoQ and playing with my brother's Treo. It's definitely a different type of phone. I can say that I think the keyboard is a bit too big and I find typing is slower than on a Q/Treo/Blackberry. Battery life I think is not a real big issue but I can see it being a problem under heavier use. Windows Mobile 6.1 is interesting, but maybe a little cumbersome to navigate at times (Kitchen?).

Conclusion:
It's difficult to keep this phone since I paid too much and it doesn't have a warranty that I can call or walk into a store with. I am so jealous of everyone here that can just walk into the store and invoke their TEP because right now I have no safety net if anything happens to this phone (other than contacting the seller and asking him to follow up on his Asurion claim). I am thinking I could return it to the seller and just pick up a Treo 700p off eBay (I know I will never learn) and use that until my contract expires and hopefully then, there will be more [affordable] options, including better supported G1 and Palm Pre. I should mention that I am a medical student and all I really need is epocrates.


P.S. Yes there was a similar thread at PDAPhoneHome

Sell it and get TouchPro.

[MrObvious]

Touch Pro/Diamond.

[azrael201]

is it really worth it? I don't think I can drop $350 for a phone and that's with a new contract. That was the reason why i went with 6800.

[mbartels]

I'm not sold (at all) on the Touch Pro. I'd love the extra ram and better camera, but my boss just bought one and I had to set it up for him. During that process I really missed the buttons. I don't think I can give them up.

[jmorton10]

Originally Posted by mbartels

I'm not sold (at all) on the Touch Pro. I'd love the extra ram and better camera

I went from a highly tweaked & modified Titan to a Sprint TP that I ported over to verizon service. I am not sure you would think the TP had a "better camera" if you had tried it out for any length of time.

The camera sounds wonderful from the description, but the auto-focus shutter lag is so long it makes the camera almost totally useless in most situations you would probably want to use it in (& you can't turn off the AF). Try telling an 8 year old kid to hold still & smile for a solid 30 seconds while the POS is struggling to focus, they simply can't do it.

If five people including you had lined up with their digital cameras to take the same posed shot, the other four will haved walked away & gone on to other things & you will still be standing there like an idiot saying "don't move honey, it will only take another second"

The only time I find the camera will really take a decent snapshot (& it's useless for anything other than your basic snapshot) is if your outside in blazing direct sun, then it's not half bad..........

~John

[jmorton10]

Originally Posted by mbartels

I really missed the buttons. I don't think I can give them up.

I am getting used to the lack of buttons (& I use AEbutton + which helps a little), but I still badly miss the scroll wheel......

~John

[weedahoe]

I would get the TP on VZW IF you can get it cheap. I WOULD NOT get the TP going from the 6800 with having to sign another 2yr AND pay X amount of dollars for it simply because there is no HUGE upgrade other than a new face and some more RAM. And for those of you that say the RAM is enough in itself to make the upgrade (for VZW users only) that would be the most expensive RAM you would have paid for in many years.

So for me, I have stayed with my 6800 even though I wanted the TP. Now if I file a claim through Asurion and they upgrade me, thats another issue. I dont mind paying $50 for an upgrade and not having to renew my contract.

[Imaginos]

There is that route - I carry my 6800 even though I have a Touch Pro. If something happens to my Mogul, I can get that replaced with whatever down the road. I hit my 2-year upgrade eligibility in April and with the new phones coming soon, I am in no hurry to move to anything else just yet.
I love my Mogul - it's tougher, has more buttons (which I use regularly) and lasts longer doing the daily things I enjoy using it for. I browse forums, tether via wifi, I have EAS active constantly. GPS is used pretty often with Googlemaps or Live Search (there's a new version out BTW if you weren't aware) too. I, for one, am really happy with this phone.