[JASJAR, XDA Exec, MDA Pro ROM Development] TheTen:
Hi there.

I know there's probably nothing irritates you guys more than a n00b asking for assistance in doing something techie, but have pity...

I'm not a total tech divvy, I have no problem with pooters, but I've never had the reason to dissect code, or get up with the workings of the PDA or mobile phone, so I'm really clueless, here.

I have some general wonderments...

as well as requests for advice and assistance.

I have an O2 XDA Exec which I love, and haven't got the money to upgrade at present, and so, would like to milk as much performance out of it as possible.

I work in a business where contacts, bookings and diary dates are essential, as is communication via SMS and telephone (and one day, if it becomes cheap enough, push email would be nice). This device is running 24/7, keeping me informed, running my business, and its wonderful, such a problem when it 'goes down.' It has been running nearly flawlessly for almost 18 months, and much as I'd love to upgrade to a TyTn 2 when my contract expires, I also want to leave options open for a 3G and application-friendly iPhone, or indeed something better from HTC.

I have a few niggles to address.

First, the alarms, of which there are many required, are completely fubar unless I have AlarmToday installed. Fair enough. I understand that this is a 'Windows Mobile' issue, and I can live with using a small app to fix the problem. Are there any better solutions. I also have two 'tweaks' type apps installed, which claim to fix the issues that cause non-sounding alarms on WM PDA phones.

Second, I need a good one-glance Today screen, professional looking, and a comprehensive listing of diary dates and (possibly) text messages etc. But all the ones I seem to use appear to slow my XDA to a crawl.

Third, I need to use a good PIM, and chose Pocket Informant 2007, which is a great app, but now I'm struggling because my XDA seems to be grinding to a halt.

I noticed that when the battery hits about 57% it starts to crap out, freeze up, stop running apps etc. I replaced the battery with a brand new one, and it still does it. Also, the system is sometimes so slow, or the phone rings and the side buttons (pickup and hang up) don't do a damn thing...

A friend recommended that many bugs and issues of speed were resolved in WM6, so, of course, I'm looking for a good WM6 build to replace my standard (latest) ROM and OS from O2 on the XDA exec... essentially I only need the base featureset that came as standard, as long as my apps will still work. I have standard memory in the exec and 512 meg SD card.

Can someone please be bold and recommend the virtues of two or three WM6 builds for utmost reliability and functionality bearing in mind what I've said about the use and needs of the phone, and perhaps lead me to the right place, and the right procedures. I'm thinking that if a PDA phone is anything like a pooter, it might need a backup to hard disk, then a good clear out and a reinstall to try to break the backlog of clogging or something, and any tips on doing this/better apps/faster today screens would be really, really appreciated... I need input on this, because the last thing I can afford to do is brick the XDA or kick its usefulness into touch for significant periods.

I appreciate someone's help!

Many thanks,

Steve