A challenge to all gurus: Help me keep my phone!

[Cmass]

In spite of the herculean efforts from the people who have contributed to this thread, I've decided to return my Omnia tomorrow.

Although the futzing around with various idiocyncracies and learning how to mess with registries and whatnot is a pain in the asss, I actually like learning new things - and I think the configurability of the phone is excellent. So, surprisingly that ain't the problem.

The problem is that I replaced my old LG flip phone with the Dare because of the camera and I replaced my Dare with the Omnia primarily for the camera. I take a lot of photos of my son when we go on adventures together (he's 3) and I often don't have my high quality Canon with me so the phone has become an important backup. But after side by side real world testing in environments we actually encounter, I have found the Dare lens is better than the Omnia - and lens is more important than megapixels. The Omnia camera is more adjustable which almost makes up for it (especially the saturation, contrast and sharpness settings!) but I can't get rid of the pink glow, the pictures are often fuzzy and the auto focus does not work well. Its like a cheap car with a huge engine.

I also like using the MP3 player when I'm hiking on the trails above my house and yet be able to recieve calls as needed. While you can put a far superior player on the Omnia, the phone does not seem to handle a blue tooth headset well. It skips badly. Maybe it can be fixed, but I don't have time to spend another 2 weeks trying to figure it out. The Omnia also changes the playing pitch of the music which I find utterly unacceptable. Again, maybe there is a way to fix it, but the Dare doesn't have either of these problems.

The Dare is also one hell of a lot easier to use as an actual phone. A huge advantage with the Dare is it's cheek sensor screen lock feature. I can enter data as needed but it will lock when I hold it to my cheek. Pull it away, and the screen unlocks again. And the Dare doesn't need a stylus - ever. None of the buttons are tiny. Some apps increase user friendliness of the device, but they are not all together so if you go from one to another or go into any setups, your out of luck. There is no reason for this since there is plenty of screen real estate. The Omnia is also very slow to respond so that when I dial, it has to catch up to my entries - especially if there are other programs running.

The fact that the Omnia has a real GPS is a very big plus for me. It could negate the need for me to carry my Megellan. However, who knows if big brother Verizon will actually allow me to use it or what restrictions they may place on it's use if they do. I am also a bit concerned I might destroy the phone if I used it as a GPS unless there were some really good waterproof armor I could put on it. I can throw my Magellan GPS into the ocean and not damage it.

The Omnia is superior in so many ways that I really hate to part with it. It has far superior Internet capabilities and the Dare can't even recieve Email attachments. You can watch movies & not just movie clips, it scrolls far better and the Internet browswer is 10X better. The Dare is also completely locked down and can only take the silly (and few) apps Verizon provides. But, it is stable, it doesn't constantly hang and I have not yet had to do a soft reset much less a hard reset. From my perspective the Omnia just isn't quite refined yet. It seem messy to me - almost like they threw it together as fast as they could without some basic testing. I also have to wonder how long it will be on top of the heap: Companies are now in a rush to come up with the ultimate "iphone killer". I expect this category of phone to advance rapidly and thus the Omnia to be obsolete faster than it's contemporaries in another year or two. It feels like it is close...but just not quite there yet.

Finally, I am unemployed and after our last $ count the other night, the extra 30 bucks/mo actually matters now. I would also have to buy an extended battery for the Omnia in order to continue using it - which means shelling out even more money I don't have. And in order to keep the Omnia I would have to sell my Dare on Ebay. Since it has a small scratch on one of the buttons, I would likely have to sell it at a discount. I will regain a bit of money if I take the Omnia back and save on the monthly.

Believe it or not, a big issue I have with taking it back is that I feel terribly guilty that I may have wasted your time since you have been incredibly patient and helpful. I do note, however, that this thread covers a lot of bases that I cannot find Googling anywhere else so I am confident it will render help for many others willing to sort through it. (It will at least be entertaining) I also hope it may have been a good mind exercise for some of you and that maybe knowledge of your own phones is even better now.

Thanks again for the wonderful help you have provided.

I guess its off to the Dare forum for me.......

Sincerely,

Chris

[syrguy1969]

Cmass....sorry to see you go from the Omnia forum, but I hope we see you in other forums!! You have to use what works for you, and as much as some of us love the Omnia, it isn't for everyone!!

As for all the help you asked for/got, don't feel bad or guilty, we all enjoy doing what we do, and as you stated...I think your questions/attempts/responces all helped others in here, and that is the true spirit of this community!!!!

Good luck with your next device (new or the Dare again), but as I mentioned, feel free to stop in, ask something, answer something else from your experiences, or just to say hello!!!!

[Cmass]

Originally Posted by syrguy1969

Cmass....sorry to see you go from the Omnia forum, but I hope we see you in other forums!! You have to use what works for you, and as much as some of us love the Omnia, it isn't for everyone!!

As for all the help you asked for/got, don't feel bad or guilty, we all enjoy doing what we do, and as you stated...I think your questions/attempts/responces all helped others in here, and that is the true spirit of this community!!!!

Good luck with your next device (new or the Dare again), but as I mentioned, feel free to stop in, ask something, answer something else from your experiences, or just to say hello!!!!

Thanks!
I'll monitor from time to time.
I will also keep up on the changes they make to this phone - especially to the camera, interface and stability. I'll look at it again in the spring when, perhaps, I'll have a job and some of the issues have been worked out.
Thanks again,
Chris

PS - The Dare forums I've seen ain't nothin' like this one! It is partly because there isn't much you can do to it....so most of the questions are more related to "How do I take a picture?" etc...

[wtherrell]

CMASS. Don't feel guilty about taking up people's time. The rest of us have learned so much from this that I can assure you that their time was not wasted. I can't speak for them of course, but I do appreciate their efforts, what I have learned, and will keep my Omnia for quite some time to come.

[nitrous9200]

I'll certainly say that I've been watching this topic since it was started, and I even though I don't have the phone yet, I'm just interested in learning more about the Omnia and WinMo as well as it's hidden features and (fixable) quirks. This thread will definitely solve a lot of problems for someone searching on this forum. I've really learned a lot that will help me out when I hopefully get the Omnia in May (unless something better comes out, of course). So thanks a lot for starting this thread!

[Windsponge]

Originally Posted by Cmass

In spite of the herculean efforts from the people who have contributed to this thread, I've decided to return my Omnia tomorrow.

Although the futzing around with various idiocyncracies and learning how to mess with registries and whatnot is a pain in the asss, I actually like learning new things - and I think the configurability of the phone is excellent. So, surprisingly that ain't the problem.

The problem is that I replaced my old LG flip phone with the Dare because of the camera and I replaced my Dare with the Omnia primarily for the camera. I take a lot of photos of my son when we go on adventures together (he's 3) and I often don't have my high quality Canon with me so the phone has become an important backup. But after side by side real world testing in environments we actually encounter, I have found the Dare lens is better than the Omnia - and lens is more important than megapixels. The Omnia camera is more adjustable which almost makes up for it (especially the saturation, contrast and sharpness settings!) but I can't get rid of the pink glow, the pictures are often fuzzy and the auto focus does not work well. Its like a cheap car with a huge engine.

I also like using the MP3 player when I'm hiking on the trails above my house and yet be able to recieve calls as needed. While you can put a far superior player on the Omnia, the phone does not seem to handle a blue tooth headset well. It skips badly. Maybe it can be fixed, but I don't have time to spend another 2 weeks trying to figure it out. The Omnia also changes the playing pitch of the music which I find utterly unacceptable. Again, maybe there is a way to fix it, but the Dare doesn't have either of these problems.

The Dare is also one hell of a lot easier to use as an actual phone. A huge advantage with the Dare is it's cheek sensor screen lock feature. I can enter data as needed but it will lock when I hold it to my cheek. Pull it away, and the screen unlocks again. And the Dare doesn't need a stylus - ever. None of the buttons are tiny. Some apps increase user friendliness of the device, but they are not all together so if you go from one to another or go into any setups, your out of luck. There is no reason for this since there is plenty of screen real estate. The Omnia is also very slow to respond so that when I dial, it has to catch up to my entries - especially if there are other programs running.

The fact that the Omnia has a real GPS is a very big plus for me. It could negate the need for me to carry my Megellan. However, who knows if big brother Verizon will actually allow me to use it or what restrictions they may place on it's use if they do. I am also a bit concerned I might destroy the phone if I used it as a GPS unless there were some really good waterproof armor I could put on it. I can throw my Magellan GPS into the ocean and not damage it.

The Omnia is superior in so many ways that I really hate to part with it. It has far superior Internet capabilities and the Dare can't even recieve Email attachments. You can watch movies & not just movie clips, it scrolls far better and the Internet browswer is 10X better. The Dare is also completely locked down and can only take the silly (and few) apps Verizon provides. But, it is stable, it doesn't constantly hang and I have not yet had to do a soft reset much less a hard reset. From my perspective the Omnia just isn't quite refined yet. It seem messy to me - almost like they threw it together as fast as they could without some basic testing. I also have to wonder how long it will be on top of the heap: Companies are now in a rush to come up with the ultimate "iphone killer". I expect this category of phone to advance rapidly and thus the Omnia to be obsolete faster than it's contemporaries in another year or two. It feels like it is close...but just not quite there yet.

Finally, I am unemployed and after our last $ count the other night, the extra 30 bucks/mo actually matters now. I would also have to buy an extended battery for the Omnia in order to continue using it - which means shelling out even more money I don't have. And in order to keep the Omnia I would have to sell my Dare on Ebay. Since it has a small scratch on one of the buttons, I would likely have to sell it at a discount. I will regain a bit of money if I take the Omnia back and save on the monthly.

Believe it or not, a big issue I have with taking it back is that I feel terribly guilty that I may have wasted your time since you have been incredibly patient and helpful. I do note, however, that this thread covers a lot of bases that I cannot find Googling anywhere else so I am confident it will render help for many others willing to sort through it. (It will at least be entertaining) I also hope it may have been a good mind exercise for some of you and that maybe knowledge of your own phones is even better now.

Thanks again for the wonderful help you have provided.

I guess its off to the Dare forum for me.......

Sincerely,

Chris

I hope you find something you like but I cant understand why you didnt just return for one working correctly.The Dare is a nice phone but it is just that it will never do what Omnia can. I love mine and have none of the problems you have had. It is a great bunch of people here who have helped me make my phone even better.I like it much better than I phone I have. Wish you luck on what ever you end up with. Trying to be happy is what life is about.

[dreamer486]

Hey guys I'm kinda new at this but can anyone help me try to hack my omnia with the samsung today 2.

[Adrynalyne]

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showpost.p...01&postcount=1

[superlover911]

OMG!

First of all I gotta say thx! I just spent the last two days reading this thread over the new thirty dollar book I just bought! Completly entertaining, thank you. I just wish I could have jumped on this thread while it was still hot. So sad I was just a couple days late.

I should mention that I am typing this now on my omnia as I am working north of Fort Mc Murry where my one week old omnia is the only internet I have. (on the tiny little keyboard with the pokey thingy) LOL!

As for you my friend cmass, or c bass (kick his *** c bass!) Please dont blame the omnia for your troubles, they did not quickly roll this phone off to try ang be the "iphone killer". This is Windows Mobile baby! The same it has been for the last few years. Not an ready-out-of-box device like the dare (wich i also have)

You really only just touched on what is known as tweaking. Dangerous and compulsulve behavior. Even if you did decide to stick with it, it never really ends. There will always be a new app or another tweak to test out. Just be glad you got out now before the words Helmi, bootloader and kitchen entered your vocabulary! (yes friends i know its early but tfe real fun is just about to start!)

So dont feel bad about turning it in. I did the same thing after my last WM device. But Im back (can already see the look on my wifes face at 4 am, " I will come to bed after just 1 more hard reset hun.")

I dont want to interupt this most entertaing thread i've ever read without leaving some type of knowlage. So for all you looking for expensive apps check out pda4x.com It is my first go to place looking for apps.

Other than the low batt. life and me not being content with any txt input system yet... ok.. AND no headphone jack, I do belive this phont is an iphone killer!

Thanks to you all for the years of support and modding fun.

(I would sign off as "i love you" but thats prett gay. (not that there is anything wrong with that.)

ps. How come when cbass asked for a hack to stop low batt. alert, he got one. When i was new the answer i got was "plug it in!"???!!

edit. I should note the the Telus version of the omnia came with with GPS unlocked. And yes it is real GPS.