UTStarcom PPC-6700 / XV-6700 / HTC Apache
Average Ratings
The Best
I've had the XV6700 phone for two months, took some getting used to but I have it with me 24 x 7 and I can't do without it.
Pros:
Great size
Good battery life.
Great keyboard.
Looks great.
Wifi connects easily.
Cons:
Works best when you buy add-on software.
Screens tough to see out in the sunlight.
Speaker phone could be more robust.
Bluetooth is tempermental.
Overall:
This is a great phone, the add-on software bring it into a league of it's own. It's the King, a must buy if you use a PDA and also use a phone.
Crappy out of the Box/Awesome after hacks
The phone is decent out of the box. It really does not perform the way it needs to until you do some registry hack and prevent the verizon customizations from installing. If you get the phone, surf over to hofo for the 6700 threads.
After hacks:
Pros:
keyboard is big enough to use
endless amounts of 3rd party programs
surfing the net is fast with evdo
It does everything
Not too big if your using a belt clip
Cons:
Slow at times
DSOD lockups when using memory card
No Push email
Signal can get low at times
IMHO this phone is much better then the treo 650 which i had previously. It is definately a recommended upgrade.
ok phone, poor quality, F>>K up company warranty services
i got the phone directly through sprint and used it for about a month maybe. first of all i was able to use it to connect to my friends computer for activesync and after i went home, i couldn't nor can i do sync with any other computer, it kept giving a error code like 0x8 something, i can't remember. but that was about 2 weeks of using it, and within those 2 weeks, i've had to reset the phone because of it freezing on me. next when i'm in the car or at home and the phone is just sitting there in standby automatically or if i shut it down to standby, about every 5 to 10 mins it will just light up for no reason. i dropped about 3 calls on my 2nd day of using it, and the speakerphone sucks!!! it is so low that you can bearly hear it when you are driving in the car cuz i don't always remember to bring my handsfree set. but
if you are thinking about getting this phone, or have it, you better hope nothing goes wrong with it cuz their warranty is the worst i've ever went through and i'm not done with them yet.
after one month of using it, for some reason the phone stopped charging, my battery was charging when i put it in the desktop charger, but anything plug in the mini usb charger part had no effect, i went to sprint and they said i had to pay $55 even if i only had it for a month, and that my other choice is send it to utstarcom, i accidently sent in my 512mb mini sd card (paid $100 at that time) with it and i called them right away letting them know, "oh, I sure whatever you sent in with your phone will come back with it" said the rep. ok thanks. i sent the phone on feb 1 2006, and i just recieve it today, May 1 2006. and what i got was a nonrepaired phone with no card and stylus. explain: main board bent, unrepairable,
i called back,"the case of the phone is flexible but not the board"
but if thats the case then my lcd should be cracked.
if you want to know more email me at lungsifu@gmail.com. due to the limitation of this review.
thanks
Almost perfect,but.....
After agonizing about which phone to get and how to get it, I settled on the XV 6700. I thought it was perfect. It had everything I wanted in a phone and a lot more. However when it came to using the phone, it's not quite there.
PROS:
-Size is good and form works. I have a plastic holder that is easy to use and protects the phone.
-Key board is large enough for my fingers.
-Internet is readily available and quick.
-Phone quality and tone is good and with added on "Voice command" it works well.
CONS:
-Active Sync 4.0 was a joke and even with 4.1 sync-ing can be a chore. If you are trying to sync with more than one computer, forget it. No one seems able to get that done.
-The phone locks up and needs to be reset frequently. It is easy to do, but a real pain.
-Microsoft mobile 5.0 is in need of some tweaks! (and I'm sure they are in the works.)
I love this phone and rate it highly. I just wish that the irritating little problems could be solved. Every time I think I've got to turn it in, I take another look at it and decide I really love it. Given time and software updates I think this will be the holy grail!
not worth it sent it back!
Bought the phone for the pda features. pretty standard there, but not a good mobile phone.
Pros: lots of features. Good wireless connectivity.
Cons: Locked up on me several times. Back-light would not come on no matter what button I pushed though I could tell the screen was changing when I used the stylus.
Can hardly see the screen in the daylight.
Features get in the way. Ringed with buttons tied to applications, you cannot pick up the phone without turning on an unwanted application or two. Especially hard to get it out of the case without activating something you did not intend.
When you receive a call the phone unlocks all the buttons and after hanging up you inadvertently make phone calls, open applications and run your battery down and cell phone minutes up.
Lack of key pad means it takes two hands to dial a number. Voice dial and an extra $$ blue-tooth hands-free can help that some times but then there is the unlock problem.
It is very slow, hit a button and wait... for a response. Installed a 2 gig mini SD and no improvement. Tried the Internet once and received a message that I downloaded a malicious script and that I should remove it. No help to remove it though.
The ppc 6700 runs programs randomly, shut the car door while talking and my phone flashes as if I pushed the talk button, putting my call on hold and giving me a dial tone. Microsoft's wma would not sync with it for music, you can not remove preloaded programs or do alot of things that would be good.
Battery life is poor, I use the phone in a way that I am billed about 1500 minutes a month and after 8 hours, a typical day, I was getting a "battery dangerously low" screen.
Poor finishing and delicate construction, keep it on the desk not on your hip.
I would rather have a good phone and a PDA than an all in one with bugs.
Meets all of my expectations
Pros's
1) Worked great out of the box.
2) The synchronization with Outlook was effortless, despite the fact that I was synchronizing to a tablet that is synced to a server. I was expecting to have major issues and problems with my company IS dept. But it worked great first time.
3) I've used the MP3 player way more than expected downloading pod-casts and listening on my way to work.
4) Was able to take a short impromptu video of my son playing basketball. A memory we will treasure, and it was unplanned.
5) Speaker volume for playing music and speaker phone have been more than loud enough for my use. I often play pod-casts over the speaker while doing chores around the house like a portable radio.
6) Voice notes while driving makes my 2 hour commute much more productive.
CONS
1) Purchased a 1 gig memory card immediately, it was definitely needed.
2) Cannot "ink" notes into the Pocket Word application. you can use the transcriber, but not leave things in "ink" within word. To do this you have to use the "notes" which is somewhat limiting.
3) It does take some time to get very proficient. I've had lots of experience with PDAs and to learn the tips and tricks of this thing takes a while. (But it is worth it)
4) Cannot adjust the ink in notes, like on older PDAs. (color, line width, etc).
Notes:
1) I did purchase some add on utility software. Spb pocket plus and MS Voice Command. I found both to be worthwhile.
Horrible
This has many features that consumers want, but it is not reliable. So far over 60% of these phones sold through our store have been defective - usually within the first few weeks of the time of purchase. I would recommend looking at a different PDA-type phone.
Good PDA, Okay Phone
I had the 6700 now for about 4 months and am on the second phone, the first one being replaced due to too many problems. The PDA is fabulous and syncs with Outlook well and is easy to search and make calls from. Access to Outlook notes is most valuable too! The phone with a wired ear-piece is great. Good battery life for one day this way. Use a bluetooth, good luck. Both of my phones lost the bluetooth connection daily, and often while in use. Real pain in the butt and very frustrating. Using bluetooth and moderate phone use will kill the battery real fast, maybe around 2 or 3 in the pm. Dialing the phone with the touchscreen is very finicky too and not as easy as it should be. Phone does require almost daily reboots (both of mine) to keep it working. Can't talk and send/receive e-mails at the same time, which I think Blackberries do. Looking to move to the 7130 BB now.
Pro: Excellent PDA and syncs with Outlook well. Easy to setup POP e-mail collection. Making notes in Calendar view is easy with slide-out keyboard, but does require two hands and makes for tough time while driving. Contacts are easy to navigate, edit and place calls from. Phone works well with wired ear-piece.
Con: Weak battery life especially in conjunction with bluetooth use. Very poor bluetooth reliability (with Plantronics Voyager - on the second one of these too just in case it was the problem and it WASN'T) as the phone keeps dropping the connection and needs to be reset to reconnect. Poor touch buttons for dialing calls. Checking/sending e-mails prevents placing/receiving phone calls. Speaker phone is a joke as it's too quiet. Best used with a headset.
Best PDA, but still weak
Pros:
* fits in jeans pocket
* good battery life when using phone or browser
* easy to understand
* Active-Synch works better than previous versions
* full qwerty keyboard
* landscape mode
* lots of storage room if you buy mini-SD card
* reasonable storage room even without card
Cons:
* Windows Mobile 5 crashes when you tap too fast
* Windows Mobile 5 is unbearably slow when too many programs are running
* speakerphone is not loud enough in a noisy environment
* alarms are so soft they didn't wake me up
* alarms do not repeat
* alarms & notifications cannot be "snoozed"
* screen is too dim to be visible in sunlight
* grabbing the phone by its sides, especially to pull it out of the charger, there is not a good place to touch it so you don't either accidentally lauch the browser, the camera or the email button
* games run the battery down very fast
* when synching contacts, the "followup flag" and "reminder time" fields do not synch
* no way to get voicemail notifications without SMS (and i hate using & getting charged for SMS)
I REALLY wanted to like this phone
PROS:
=Nice form factor; the wide keyboard design makes it nice when you type 2000+ text messages a month.
=Camera is fantastic for a 1.3 mp and the panorama option is cool too.
=Finally get a ppc with mms capabilities.
=Soft keys, an obvious necessity.
=WI-FI is a snap to setup. I was surfing at cable speeds on my wlan at home.
CONS:
=SLOW, SLOW, SLOW.I realize it's because all the info is being stored in ROM instead of RAM, so you won't lose it if the phone goes dead, but it is insanely slow. When i opened the slide out keyboard I could count a three second delay before the screen went to landscape mode.
=Keyboard is usually hard to see and the numbers on then keypad are impossible to see in the dark, not hard to see, impossible.
=Reception blows. I realize it's a pda phone and they have never been great, but this was sub-par to my 6600 and i730 both.
Overall, I really, really wanted to like this phone, but in the end I couldn't justify spending the money, and more importantly, a two year contract, on a phone that has that many issues. Took it back after fifteen days.
