[Advantage X7500, MDA Ameo General] wu5262:
Hi everyone, i am getting more and more people asking me about HTC Athena so i decide to post a new thread about it with all the information.

From the information i heard and from what people are saying in 3GSM, the HTC Advantage and T-mobile Ameo won't be available until beginning of April at least. And also they have lock it to t-mobile network, and currently there is no unlock method for it.

The only Athena available (unlock to any network) is the DOPOD U1000 in Taiwan, it's the same machine just under a different brand. It's got silver finish like the Ameo, (i heard the finish is much better than Ameo, it's got metal finish) so if you are after the black one, you need to wait for Advantage.

************HTC ADVANTAGE RELEASE DATE IS PUSH BACK DUE TO UN-STABLE ROM, POSSIBLE RELEASE DATE NOW CHANGE TO END OF APRIL OR BEGINNING OF MAY ***********

************T-mobile Ameo is out in UK!!!! But it's lock to T-mobile UK, and is with contract only (starting from £35 per month !!! Yes you won't be able to buy it without contract ! Even in the future......but for people who are t-mobile customer or for people who want to sign up new contract, this is your moment :)!*************************

***********Because T-mobile Ameo is out in UK, which means...........yes !!! Dopod u1000 user will get their english Rom very soon! *********************

Since DOPOD U1000 is already available in Taiwan, and my family is there, so i can do you guys a favor of ordering for you. My parents are the direct reseller of DOPOD, so the price will be a little bit under the Market price, which is £600 /$1150 . It will be cheaper than expansys or Mobile planet, but most importantly, it's available now, so you can get it if you don't want to wait.

So this is how it works, i don't have the machine with me so once i get your payment or deposit, i will order one for you, because they don't ship internationally, once i order, it will shows up at my parent's office next day, and to save time, they can ship out directly to your country on that day, it will take about 4-5 days for it to arrive to US OR UK. So once you pay, you should get it within 1 week.

Now for the payment, i accept all kinds of reasonable suggestion, but please understand one thing, since i am doing the favor for you guys, i won't risk myself and nor i am trying to make a profit on it. So if you don't feel comfortable, don't do it. I have an ebay account, i can put a private listing on then you can buy there, or if you are in London, i can meet up and hand you the machine with cash, or you can transfer money to my bank account, then i ship out the item for you. For UK buyer, i will also accept postal order. If you decide to pay by paypal, you will need to add the extra tax on, which is 3% i think? (need to check on that)

Now this is what you will get, the DOPOD U1000 Silver Athena with CHINESE rom, yes it's chinese ROM, you can surely change it to english rom later. The keyboard layout is exactly the same (unlike german keyboard) but there will be small chinese symbol on it, it's how we use to type chinese. It won't make any difference if you don't use it. Of course the manual will be in chinese, but i think there will be english part on it as well, or you can download from internet. The charger will be in chinese charger (the same as US one i think, but not sure), all you need to do just plug in a converter or buy a new adapter. And don't forget, you can always use to USB to charge your PDA as well.

So after reading all this, if you still want the device, let me know, or PM me, or post question here, i will try my best to help.

I just got a confirm that the postage to US, UK, and similar country will cost £50, i will be able to put the parcel as gift, so you should be able to avoid customs Tax. I might can put the price down if a large amount of people want it, or to ship to the same country.

p.s. The phone is unlock to any network, so no matter where you are, you can use it with no problem.

******Ok, i have received quite a lot of message regarding about shipping cost, they all cost around £50, but for some special country, they might cost more, it's impossible for me to check each postage for you, since i don't know the answer as well. So i will say the postage will be a fix price of £50 to any country, but if it works out to be far more cheaper or expensive, i will let you know :) **************

!!!!!!!!! Although i will try my best to avoid custom Tax for you, if you get charge with custom Tax, i won't be responsible for it ! so please understand this point !!!!!!!!!

****It seems like a few member here are looking at the HTC Advantage selling on Google, it is your own risk to buy it there, but i must inform you they are 99% fake, i have spoke to HTC, and have official confirm that the HTC Advantage won't be out until beginning of April. So don't be foo by the price there and waste the money, don't believe me, look at the list of item that seller is selling, he se selling the Apple iPhone! you make the call *******

p.s. Here is a link with nice Photo of DOPOD U1000, and this is what you will get if you order it from me. http://www.go3c.com.tw/

p.s. I have just received mine, wowowow, the build quality are much nicer than i expect. And also Unlike the Ameo, the DOPOD U1000 is brighter metal finish. I have attach the pic of what you will get if you order soon enough, the DOPOD U1000 + HTC Stereo BT Headset

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Ok, i think there are a few confusion here about the language and english rom update ability. The DOPOD U1000 is in chinese, if you are a heavy PDA user, then it shouldn't be a problem since you already know which icon does what. And the new software you install yourself will all be in english. But if you want all your menu and settings to be in English, you can install the CE-STAR SUITE, like this one : http://www.expansys.com.hk/p.aspx?i=144165 . It basically translate all the User interface into english, so all your setting will be in english. Or the final and most complete way is to do a ROM upgrade to english ROM. Dopod u1000 will 100% have no problem doing the english Rom upgrade, so why don't people do it now? It's because English Rom is not out for Athena yet, or in another word, Athena is not out in english market yet. That's why some member here choose to buy it from me, they will use their machine now, and when English Rom is available, they will upgrade it.

So When is English Rom available? Answer is simple, when Ameo is out in UK (not anywhere else) or when Advantage is out,then you will be able to use their ROM to upgrade to english.

I hope this is clear enough, have been seeing too many confusion in a few thread.....

****Latest Update! English DOPOD is now possible, look here : http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=299176. No need to worry about the chinese interface anymore, all solve d!!! ******

7/4/07 update: faisal has comes up with a cab file which will translate your chinese DOPOD into english, here is the link http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=1212411&posted=1#post1212411 . So for people who is waiting for english solution, this is your time !

I have also attach a today screen of my DOPOD U1000, which running the software i install, see all in english ! :)