[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] Joe Pinball:
My PDA history:

1) Fujitsu Pocket LOOX

(I ran TomTom 2 in 2003 with a CF-based GPS receiver, people used to ask "wtf is THAT???" )

2) O2 XDA IIi

In the course of improving this device and upgrading it's OS to WM2003SE, I found these wonderful forums many years back! The IIi worked like a charm for 2+ years until it began to randomly hard reset itself, so I went out & got a nice 2nd hand...

3)TyTN II

I loved the whole slide keyboard & tilting screen, it really worked well the way I use my phone, although the keyboard was a touch too small for my liking. I didnt like the loss of good GPS when upgrading to WinMo 6.1 but put up with it as other parts of the OS seemed faster to me, still that slow screen meant no decent video/youtube playback, so I dreamed and dreamed, and saved and saved, and then ebayed, and today I received in the post a brand-new-in-box, Vodafone branded, but unlocked:

4) Touch Pro 2 \o/ (thank you ebay!)

As a long-time forum lurker and occasional poster, I have read all of the FAQs and gone thru the list of software that people reccomend for this device.

I am looking for people's suggestions as to useful things for this device: I am already biting my lip TRYING REAL HARD not to unbox the phone (it still has the HTC screen protector on) until the full body protector kit arrives, so I can keep this device in mint condition: I intend to use this as my primary phone for the forseeable future.

So far I have ordered for it:

1 x replacement battery (generic, cheapo from ebay version, as the 2 I ordered for my TyTN II function exactly like the stock one, have overcharge/overcurrent protection and work just fine)

1 x car windscreen mount (I use satnav a LOT and also BT handsfree phone at same time, so a screen mount is essential)

1 x HTC OEM 12-24v car charger (I need 24v as sometimes I end up driving large vans or campervans as part of my job and some of them run 24 volt systems - I think this is what could have fried my trusty old XDA IIi)

Question: is there any other hardware owners would reccomend me to get? such as the HTC splitter/charger dongle? any good but cheap small BT speakers? etc

I intend to stay with the 'stock' ROM for the intial 'getting to know my phone' period. and gather that official WM 6.5 ROMS may be available soon from either HTC or Vodafone UK.

Question: if the stock ROMS offer a reasonable blend of performance and stability, is it worth flashing HardSPL and changing ROMS/Radios?

Final Question/more of a thought:

I see on ebay a replacement touch screen digitiser can be had for a mere £12.99 for this device. looking at the image, it seems the zoombar is merely another part of the digitiser interface rather than a seperate sensitive 'strip'

I also would like to see the zoombar used in more than just the 3 basic apps it gets used in at present. Is it therefore likely that any hacking of said zoombar functions for our various needs/wants would be accomplished with editing/altering of the library/.dll that deals with the touchscreen, or am I just reading too much into the one pic? (for the curious ebayer, it's item no 390082629387)

Joe

P.S. I am going to derive HUGE satisfaction in 2 weeks time when I walk into my local Vodafone shop. I am on Vodafone PAYG, it works well for me and I find the charges reasonable. This is the basic convo with the Voda salesman in shop:

"Can I get this on PAYG? where I just pay for the handset?"

"Oh no, this is just a business phone, they wont release it on PAYG." (turns out it CAN be had for around £540 from Vodafone)

"Cheapest we could do it at is.... £40... well maybe £35 a month for a 24 month contract" (works out at £840 for the phone eeek!)

I intend to go in and purchase my £10 PAYG talktime voucher and waft the phone it's intended for, and see if he notices I have the much-vaunted 'business handset I cant possibly get on PAYG' on PAYG Vodafone hehe :D