Siemens SX66 / MDA III / PDA2K (HTC Blue Angel)
Average Ratings
PDA First, Phone Second
Great blend of PDA and phone.
Great at holding a call even with zero-1 bar of strength. Great battery life for a PDA/Phone after 2-3 empty to full charges.
Bluetooth kinda sucks but works, most likely the BT headset (Mot HS820).
Lots of buttons and programable,
Speakerphone not loud enough, Screen is beautiful, not too bad holding it to ear, programs run fast, GPRS is kinda slow but managable. I am spoiled with Broadband internet at home so yes GPRS is like dial up.
Too bad they didn't have EDGE.
Keyboard is nice to use but not used all the time.
Almost dropped it a few times until I put some sticky tape on the sides and back. The kind you buy at Compusa, and not actual sticky tape =)
If it had EDGE, Bluetooth was a bit better (could of been the headset) then I would of gave it 5 stars.
All in all very nice PDA/Phone. If your looking for a neat toy and not going to utilize all the features of this unit then get a Smartphone instead.
I found the phone to work very well with this SX66.
Also no camera with the SX66 but I am actually glad since I wouldnt be able to take it to certain companies or museums.
love it
I anxiously awaited availability from Cingular, as the screen and battery on my Sony NX70v were on their last legs. I'm real happy with it, but have problems keeping my Moto HS820 headset linked with bluetooth. I too noticed that they used version 1.0.0 of broadcom's bluetooth software. I am leary of any version 1 stuff. I hope I can resolve my linking problems, I already tried replacing the headset to no avail.
This is the best phone out!
If you go and compare this phone with that new nokia 9500 you will see that this phone is a lot better. Although that phone cost about three hundred dollars more this phone blows that phone out of the water this is one of if not the best phone out!!!! If you are looking for a phone that is good for a lot of things than this is the phone for you.
Way more PDA than phone
I just bought this phone and have used it for a few weeks now. First of all, the screen is great and vibrant, the Pocket PC OS is very usefull and practical, and the syncs with other Microsoft software is very convenient. The wireless internet over 802.11 works fairly well. While I did not do any kind of signal comparison test between this and my laptop or anything, it got fine signal from anywhere in my house and it was SO convenient to have full internet in a ton of places. So this phone gets a full 2.5 on its functionality as a PDA (assuming PDA/Phone are worth 2.5 each).
With all these good things said, this is a pretty horrible actual phone. First of all, my old SE T226 gets better signal. Ive had Cingular reps tell me the T226 is the worst phone Sony Ericsson ever made, so Im less than impressed. The txt messaging is a real chore with this phone, the menus are counter intuitive and the center joystick button does NOT send messages, only saves them as drafts. This basically forces you to change your grip on the phone every time you want to send a message. The volume on the phone is very low, including on the packaged headset. I drive a civic with little noise deadening and an aftermarket exhaust and I was unable to carry on conversations on the highway. The volume on a bluetooth headset, however, was acceptable. Unfortunately, the bluetooth connection seems fairly substandard. Using a Jabra headset the sound was garbled on my end and sounded very poor to whomever I was talking to when the phone was in my pocket. When I put the phone right next to my head, it would sound great. My father's Treo, using the exact same headset, would get much better reception at even longer distances. Also, there is no speaker phone and no camera. For this reason, I give the phone portion of this device a very low .5/2.5 score.
I say the Treo is a better phone in every conceivable way, but the SX66 just barely edges out its PDA functionality.
Don't even think about the Treo!! Get this one!
As per my post in the Treo 650 forum, it was a terrible experience. This phone, however, does fulfill it's promises. Minus the massive desk charger, and being larger than anything on the market, it is an excellent buy. The menus are easy to use, and the screen is more than adequate. Even better....what do you know....no crashes like it's competitor ... the treo...which I have decided that treo stands for the number of times an hour it is down due to freezing or crashes. I would suggest to anyone in the market for a PDA/PHONE to purchase the siemens. I really like the sliding keyboard, but we'll see if the moving parts last.
The one downfall that I can see at this point is that it doesn't have EDGE, but runs quite sufficiently on the GPRS or GSM networks.
SX66 help with bluetooth
My first PDA device. I love it. WiFi is great. I also have unlimited PDA package with Cingular, that's great too. Plus I live on Ebay and rely on my sales results this has been fantastic too. I have yet to get any Motorola BT to work. Any suggestions?
Siemens has pointed the finger at MS/mobile software
expensive repair
I dropped my phone and had to send in to HTC for an out-of-warranty repair. Although it was not a "hard drop", the screen went partially blank and the remainder was striped. The repair ended up costing $167.00 of which i had to pay out-of-pocket. That was a hard pill to swallow considering the phone was only 3 months old. I have heard other reviewers saying that they had a drop as well and the screen went blank. Again, the phone did not even hit really hard and it was in its carrying case. I was shocked that the screen broke after such an easy fall. Has anyone else had this experience and did the repairs cost as much? If the phone is that sensitive, i may have to trade in for another model that i can count on being a little more rugged.
Could have been the best
Great PDA, not quite a phone. After having this unit for 14 days, thank you Verizon, I was very happy to give it back. As a PDA it is great but even here we do not have a well design case that will not cause function keys on the front of the unit to be engaged. The unit called my office and left a six minute message on my voice mail of me walking and speaking with people. And if you lock the keys it still will cause the screen to light and drain the battery. It does not take much for the keys to engage as no good case has been designed for this model.
As far as a phone well it was very difficult to hear and ring tones were low and the vibrate feature...well could not feel it most of the time.
The bottom line for me is, if you want a good phone get a phone and if you need a PDA get a PDA and this unit has potential as the PDA.
I like it...
I have had the SX66 for about one month so I think that I am qualified to write a review. I tried the Treo and the SX66.
PROS:
--Screen
--Memory
--Windows OS
--WI-FI
--Blue Tooth
--Speaker Phone
--Number of Programs Available
--Key Board
CONS:
--Speaker phone can be too soft
--For the price, should have been pre-loaded with voice activation.
Although the SX66 is large, since I intentionally purchased a Phone/PDA device, I don't consider it a Con.
this phone rocks!
i don't even have this phone yet, but i wanted to let you all know how great it is. it's so great. i can't say enough good things about it. it's really neat looking, and the slide out keyboard is pretty spiff if i do say so myself. besides looking nice, it's just really cool, and anyone thinking about getting a pda/phone should by this one and no other phone, cause this one is simply the best, hands down. i'm particularly fond of the silver on the front and the black on the back...that's just really neat-o.
i can't really say anything about the sound quality or functionality, cause like i said before i don't even own this phone, but i'm willing to bet the sound and functionality are both neat-o. therefore you should buy it. oh yeah i almost forgot....this phone is super-great! and it's a pda too in case you didn't know. that stands for personal digital assistant, and THAT is what makes this phone the best. cause if you didn't know, PDAs can do just about anything....i think this model has a laser beam on it that allows you to weld metal like a pro...that's what i heard anyway. plus i think it also burns cds and dvds. that's a definite plus. so just go ahead and throw your computer away, this is the computer replacement for the 21st century.
