Hi all,

Just wanted to find out what everyone thinks of the HTC Star Trek or
otherwise known as Imate Smartflip, Qtek8500 etc smartphone? Reason is
I'm after a clam-shell type phone and recently aren't particularly
impressed with the Q-like smartphones that have been released. Mostly
because of the size issue. One of the other requirements is WiFi, and
not all of them have it - which is disappointing.

I currently own an Imate SP5 and have also owned a Imate K-Jam so I have
an idea of how it will perform. I guess what I'm after are opinions or
thoughts from people who use it on a daily basis on how it handles and
performs. My Imate K-Jam has been retired - mainly because of it's
sluggish performance (this is even after making those speed hacks) and
it's bulkiness. I loved the keyboard and Wifi was pretty good but in
the end - it was just a chore to carry it around and without telephone
pad like keys, it was also a chore to use quickly as a phone.

Enter the Imate SP5 - it is a good smartphone but from a performance
stand point, it seems to be only slightly better than the K-Jam. The
Wifi implementation is also problematic - most times it will work but
sometime it just doesn't. The other problem I've experienced is that
the phone locks up intermittently for no apparent reason and the only
way to get out of it is to reinsert the battery - effective a hard reset.

So with that perspective, would the HTC Star Trek smartphone be better?
I understand that there is no Wifi. I can work around this by using
Bluetooth. Is Bluetooth reliable and performs well on this phone? The
only apps I use that may require Wifi are NewsBreak and PIE, and that's
mainly at home. I can get to the Internet via Bluetooth via Activesync
- so that will work, right? And what about overall performance, what is
it like to have 3-4 apps open - eg. Contacts, Text Messaging, (some
third party app) and say calendar?

I would appreciate any view or opinion from HTC Star Trek owners,
particularly ones that have also either owned or have used the Imate SP5
or Imate K-Jam. I must admit, I have been disappointed with Win Mobile
5 in general - I reckon Windows Mobile 2003 was better in a lot of
ways. I understand that Win Mobile 5 is better in terms of storage (aka
it solves problem of not losing data when not charged) but I reckon
because of this change, performance in all other areas have suffered.
What do you guys think? Oh, and don't get me started on the ActiveSync
- man, 4.x is a piece of crap - I'm downgraded to ActiveSync 3.8.

Anyway, hope to hear from a few posts...


Thanks in anticipation

Chris

I had an SP5 and now have a startrk (and awaiting arrival of a tmobile Dash)

Personally I think the SP5 was the best phone I had. Performance wise it
was very similar to the startrk but with better battery life and wifi. I
had a prophet (PPC) after the SP5 for a while but didn't like the form
factor so changed back to smartphone. Didn't want to buy the same handset
again (SP5) so got the startrk.

All in all I'm very happy with it, love how light it is and yet doesn't feel
flimsy. The lack of wifi wasn't as big a problem as I thought it would be.
Battery life is not that good but I sync with USB whenever I need to charge
it. Another thing that bugs me is the lack of storage space. Its the same
on most smartphones however (64mb) I install all apps on the storage card
and have my temp internet files there too, my big problem is email. I have
a large Outlook a/c and have to keep it tidy because of this (prob not a bad
thing). If you are geting on, the cingular version has 128mb ROM and a
bigger battery (at the expence of a slightly thicker case).

I rarely had my SP5 lock up for no reason and the startrk rarely does it
either, I wonder could some piece of software be causing this for you?

you could do a hard reset to see and gradually add back you apps to see
which one is causing the problem, don't add any for a while and see how it
goes. Note a hard restet will wipe all contents from you phone so backup
backup backup. (nb. taking the battery out is really only a soft reset as
you don't loose anything)

All in all I don't think you'll gain much performance wise from the startrk
over the SP5. The form factor is very nice and a nice change from all the
candy bar phones I had but I would definatly try get the cingular version if
you decide to buy.

hth
gr


"Chris Oh" <chris.oh@datataker.com.au> wrote in message
news:eQtmbVu$GHA.4348@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Hi all,
>
> Just wanted to find out what everyone thinks of the HTC Star Trek or
> otherwise known as Imate Smartflip, Qtek8500 etc smartphone? Reason is
> I'm after a clam-shell type phone and recently aren't particularly
> impressed with the Q-like smartphones that have been released. Mostly
> because of the size issue. One of the other requirements is WiFi, and not
> all of them have it - which is disappointing.
>
> I currently own an Imate SP5 and have also owned a Imate K-Jam so I have
> an idea of how it will perform. I guess what I'm after are opinions or
> thoughts from people who use it on a daily basis on how it handles and
> performs. My Imate K-Jam has been retired - mainly because of it's
> sluggish performance (this is even after making those speed hacks) and
> it's bulkiness. I loved the keyboard and Wifi was pretty good but in the
> end - it was just a chore to carry it around and without telephone pad
> like keys, it was also a chore to use quickly as a phone.
>
> Enter the Imate SP5 - it is a good smartphone but from a performance stand
> point, it seems to be only slightly better than the K-Jam. The Wifi
> implementation is also problematic - most times it will work but sometime
> it just doesn't. The other problem I've experienced is that the phone
> locks up intermittently for no apparent reason and the only way to get out
> of it is to reinsert the battery - effective a hard reset.
>
> So with that perspective, would the HTC Star Trek smartphone be better? I
> understand that there is no Wifi. I can work around this by using
> Bluetooth. Is Bluetooth reliable and performs well on this phone? The
> only apps I use that may require Wifi are NewsBreak and PIE, and that's
> mainly at home. I can get to the Internet via Bluetooth via Activesync -
> so that will work, right? And what about overall performance, what is it
> like to have 3-4 apps open - eg. Contacts, Text Messaging, (some third
> party app) and say calendar?
>
> I would appreciate any view or opinion from HTC Star Trek owners,
> particularly ones that have also either owned or have used the Imate SP5
> or Imate K-Jam. I must admit, I have been disappointed with Win Mobile 5
> in general - I reckon Windows Mobile 2003 was better in a lot of ways. I
> understand that Win Mobile 5 is better in terms of storage (aka it solves
> problem of not losing data when not charged) but I reckon because of this
> change, performance in all other areas have suffered. What do you guys
> think? Oh, and don't get me started on the ActiveSync - man, 4.x is a
> piece of crap - I'm downgraded to ActiveSync 3.8.
> Anyway, hope to hear from a few posts...
>
>
> Thanks in anticipation
>
> Chris

I had an SP5 and now have a startrk (and awaiting arrival of a tmobile Dash)

Personally I think the SP5 was the best phone I had. Performance wise it
was very similar to the startrk but with better battery life and wifi. I
had a prophet (PPC) after the SP5 for a while but didn't like the form
factor so changed back to smartphone. Didn't want to buy the same handset
again (SP5) so got the startrk.

All in all I'm very happy with it, love how light it is and yet doesn't feel
flimsy. The lack of wifi wasn't as big a problem as I thought it would be.
Battery life is not that good but I sync with USB whenever I need to charge
it. Another thing that bugs me is the lack of storage space. Its the same
on most smartphones however (64mb) I install all apps on the storage card
and have my temp internet files there too, my big problem is email. I have
a large Outlook a/c and have to keep it tidy because of this (prob not a bad
thing). If you are geting on, the cingular version has 128mb ROM and a
bigger battery (at the expence of a slightly thicker case).

I rarely had my SP5 lock up for no reason and the startrk rarely does it
either, I wonder could some piece of software be causing this for you?

you could do a hard reset to see and gradually add back you apps to see
which one is causing the problem, don't add any for a while and see how it
goes. Note a hard restet will wipe all contents from you phone so backup
backup backup. (nb. taking the battery out is really only a soft reset as
you don't loose anything)

All in all I don't think you'll gain much performance wise from the startrk
over the SP5. The form factor is very nice and a nice change from all the
candy bar phones I had but I would definatly try get the cingular version if
you decide to buy.

hth
gr


"Chris Oh" <chris.oh@datataker.com.au> wrote in message
news:eQtmbVu$GHA.4348@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Hi all,
>
> Just wanted to find out what everyone thinks of the HTC Star Trek or
> otherwise known as Imate Smartflip, Qtek8500 etc smartphone? Reason is
> I'm after a clam-shell type phone and recently aren't particularly
> impressed with the Q-like smartphones that have been released. Mostly
> because of the size issue. One of the other requirements is WiFi, and not
> all of them have it - which is disappointing.
>
> I currently own an Imate SP5 and have also owned a Imate K-Jam so I have
> an idea of how it will perform. I guess what I'm after are opinions or
> thoughts from people who use it on a daily basis on how it handles and
> performs. My Imate K-Jam has been retired - mainly because of it's
> sluggish performance (this is even after making those speed hacks) and
> it's bulkiness. I loved the keyboard and Wifi was pretty good but in the
> end - it was just a chore to carry it around and without telephone pad
> like keys, it was also a chore to use quickly as a phone.
>
> Enter the Imate SP5 - it is a good smartphone but from a performance stand
> point, it seems to be only slightly better than the K-Jam. The Wifi
> implementation is also problematic - most times it will work but sometime
> it just doesn't. The other problem I've experienced is that the phone
> locks up intermittently for no apparent reason and the only way to get out
> of it is to reinsert the battery - effective a hard reset.
>
> So with that perspective, would the HTC Star Trek smartphone be better? I
> understand that there is no Wifi. I can work around this by using
> Bluetooth. Is Bluetooth reliable and performs well on this phone? The
> only apps I use that may require Wifi are NewsBreak and PIE, and that's
> mainly at home. I can get to the Internet via Bluetooth via Activesync -
> so that will work, right? And what about overall performance, what is it
> like to have 3-4 apps open - eg. Contacts, Text Messaging, (some third
> party app) and say calendar?
>
> I would appreciate any view or opinion from HTC Star Trek owners,
> particularly ones that have also either owned or have used the Imate SP5
> or Imate K-Jam. I must admit, I have been disappointed with Win Mobile 5
> in general - I reckon Windows Mobile 2003 was better in a lot of ways. I
> understand that Win Mobile 5 is better in terms of storage (aka it solves
> problem of not losing data when not charged) but I reckon because of this
> change, performance in all other areas have suffered. What do you guys
> think? Oh, and don't get me started on the ActiveSync - man, 4.x is a
> piece of crap - I'm downgraded to ActiveSync 3.8.
> Anyway, hope to hear from a few posts...
>
>
> Thanks in anticipation
>
> Chris

I have the 3125 since its release and love it. I got a 1 gig storage card so
there is plenty of room for music and other apps! Its slim and the battery
life is fine, especially since I constantly use bluetooth in my Audi and the
MP3 player. Plus the phone has A2DP so I have bluetooth stereo headset that
works great with it also. I can't say enough about the 3125! I am also
waiting for the new Treo 750 to arraive so I have a PPC and Slim Smartphone
for the weekends!

Thanks, Gerry - that was helpful. I guess from a smartphone point of
view, the SP5 and startrk are the only options available. I live in
Australia, and currently (well this year anyway) the newer form factor
smartphones aka Motorola Q, T-Mobile Dash and so on aren't on sale
here. Thus there is only one option when it comes to smartphones. I
suppose these smartphones will eventually hit our shores.

In any case the description of your experience with the startrk has
helped, I think in the end form factor is more important. This is one
of the main reasons why I ditched the K-Jam in the first place.

Anyway, thanks again.

Cheers,
Chris