[General Questions and Answers] vijay555:
The Mio is now my main phone.

Here's my mini review of the Mio.

http://xdaforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=320111#320111

If I ever get my website redesign finished I'll try to post a full review.

However - I've seen a number of phones I suppose, and have to say that for me, the Magician was just the right combination of quiet, functional elegance.

The mio is a bit flashy, silver edges etc, but it grows on you. The screen is unfortunately a tiny bit smaller then the Magician, but it irritates. It's noticeably smaller.

They've got bags of space around the screen, so a bigger screen and dedicated hardware keys would have been perfect. But no, they instead decided to write "Mio" in 9mm high letters. Thanks Mio!

For me, having a full size SD card was important for reusing my SD cards from my cameras etc. Given that mini SD is cheap now, this isn't really an issue, but I wanted a full size SD. This may not be a factor for you.

And yes, no dedicated power key - although, to its credit, the power off function is a full power off, not standby, which again, follow the thread above, is a useful feature IMHO. I use my VJDeviceLock to lock the keys and switch off the phone with one button press, I use a front hardware key, but the camera button can be enabled to do so, so the power button is no loss really, just bad design.

The GPS is great - no I'm biased because I spend my whole day with net access, home or work, so I never need wifi, and frankly, browsing the net on 320x240 was like watching my baby being born. Sometimes, squeezing something that big into an orifice that small is just not comfortable. Give me an epidural.

So yes, no wifi net browsing required for me, so I don't miss it. However, it may be useful for Skype. If I need wifi, I've got an SD wifi card from my magician that works, and fits in my wallet, so I pop it in when needed. So if having no wifi means I get GPS, the GPS is useful, because I'm more likely to carry my 1mm thick wifi card in my wallet then a cigarette packet sized bluetooth GPS. So, the in-built GPS is a bonus.

Right - the device. Is it fast? I'd say, fast enough. It's difficult to compare the Magician and Mio, because of the differences in underlying OS, it's unfair, but IMHO, the Mio does the job. It's not slow. It has built in overclocking (although look out for a new solution, coming soon :wink:). So it's fast enough. Note - running at full clock speed eats the battery quickly. Use automatic overclocking for a nice battery life.

The speed is fast enough. Helps with heavy apps like TomTom and Skype. But you won't be painting go faster stripes on any phone - anything faster then an OMAP will be fast enough.

Camera was surprisingly good. Good enough to catch Pink urinating, but I use a dedicated SLR for my home made porn, so it's the usual quality only. I don't think any camera phone of this generation is going to turn you into George Lucas.

GPS works, works with TomTom fine. It's got a useful quick satellite positioning function, which helps. But frankly GPS is GPS. Works well, and is built in, so good for when I get lost in SoHo :) I'll be trying igo in the next few days. TomTom takes about 4 hours to start up though.

Lack of WM5 keys - the phone has red, green, and 2 hardware keys and the camera key. The camera key can be hacked to be usable (it's normally just for the camera :() I use AE Button Plus to replace the red key with VJOkButt, so I've got an easy way to close apps and hangup calls.

I use AE Button Plus to remap the Volume up/down keys (does ANYONE use them? The speaker is barely loud enough on max!) to apps - remap these to the softkeys and then you've got more then enough buttons left over IMHO. The screen is slightly beveled, which makes touching the onscreen softkeys a pain, so this is a good solution, although I've worked with Martin Fields to have a screen protector made for the Mio, and can't recommend it enough. The out of the box screen is covered with some kind of alien ejaculate that actually reflects more photons then are shone on it. Einstein is looking into this relativistic conundrum.

Use a good screen protector to make it usable in the day.

The Wifi erection: yes, using an SD wifi card will cause you to have an embarrassing bulge in the side of your phone. However, I suggest you grab a mini-sd wifi card, stick that into a standard adaptor, and then you're Freudian issues will be banished. That will fit right inside the phone.

Battery life is adequate, it's got no flash (sigh, VJCandela, you were loved), it can be made to work with bluetooth stereo headphones very well.

So, I recommend the Mio. The ROM is a bit dodgy, but I'm sure they can work on that. I like HTC very much, but for me, the Wizard was a no go, and I've already got a universal; currently used to anchor my ship, just out of frame on the left here:

For a pocket sized form factor, with GPS, it's a good enough phone. It's not perfect, but it's good enough for now. However - the Hermes is a very good alternative. Consider these two against each other, try them both. I'm happy with the Mio right now, but I'll still be thinking of the Hermes while the Mio's asleep :oops:

V