1 post tagged “pda phone”
Introduction
The XDA Zinc is an all-in-one device from O2 that i got to try on. This is a smart phone running Windows Mobile 5 but i've upgraded mine to Windows Mobile 6 Prof. The main features of the XDA Zinc will impress every technophile out there. You'll get zero degrees of separation using this device, which means you're always connected anywhere through wifi, bluetooth and 3G. This PDA phone supports 2 major input method which distinguishes it from other PDA phones. You can input info using the stylus or it's full featured QWERTY keyboard ideal for composing emails and editing documents. This device has a built-in 2 megapixel camera with flash enough for quick snapshots.
Design / Build quality
O2's design on the Zinc is a bit conservative. You'll not see the usual ergonomic curves but rather a boxy look in gray. I like the brush aluminum embellished keyboard though. The Zinc is about the same size and weight as the Dopod 838 Pro and has the same features except that the Dopod 838 Pro has HSDPA but has a slower processor. Personally, i like the conservative design of the Zinc while other people find it boring. My only gripe about this device is it's not pocketable. It's thicker than two iphone's combined! Not unless you have Mc Donald's pocket, then you'll not have any problem :) Carrying it with the leather case adds to its thickness. Feels like you're carrying a brick where ever you go. I guess that's the trade off for an all-in-one device.
Calling / Messaging
Once you use it's messaging features you'll almost forget your gripe on it's size and weight. This device is built for the mobile warrior. It's like carrying an ultraportable computer. It even supports push email. Which means you can configure it to retrieve you email at a certain time interval. I configured mine to retrieve my mail every 4 hours. I got my Yahoo, Gmail and Company email configured and the best thing is that O2 built an auto configuration feature, so you don't have to enter those tasking mail setting like pop and smtp. You just provide your username and password and you're set to go. Windows Mobile 6 by the way supports HTML in emails so you'll see those Friendster alerts in it's full glory :)
Calling is average based on my experience it's not as good as the Nokia phones. The speaker is above average compared to other PDA phones which you'll not hear ringing if you're in a noisy environment.
Connectivity / Browsing / Multimedia
This is one of the best connected device out there, hence it's tag line "Zero degree of separation". You can connect virtually anywhere to browse or check your emails as long as you have a signal. I was able to use this in Cavite and i have no problems checking my mails and browsing the net. It even supports A2DP and AVRCP, a bluetooth profile that would allow you to stream and control stereo sound on your stereo bluetooth headsets. With 3G, connecting to the net is cheap using Smart that only charges 10 pesos for 30 minutes. Be careful though, if you create a setting for your mail to continuously check every hour, it will try to connect to your 3G signal every hour, which in my experience counts as 10 pesos per connection so you'll be disappointed that you got no more credit before the day ends.
Technophile's verdict
The XDA Zinc is a device that every technophile will love. We'll it's not something that you'll write home about with it's size and design, but with full connectivity options plus a QWERTY keyboard, you'll forget that it's also a phone :) It retails at about 35k pesos on malls today but you'll get half the price at ebay or tipidpc if you know how to search wisely. So good luck and let me know your experience with this device.
