[neoTouch S200 General] epdm2be:
Took the plunge

OK fella's

After my bluetooth headset wouldn't function on my omnia anymore I sped up my decisions. I finally took the plunge and went for the Acer F1. It's about the same price as a Nokia C6 and (from the intel gathered here 2way call-recording works on the F1).

My first impressions so far.

It looks nice. I haven't removed the stickers (yet) as I might return it if it doesn't work as wanted. The screen is very nice (for an TFT) and responds very well. Much better than the Omnia 1 (which is famous for its awfull screen). The device is notably snappy even with a screen resolution 4x times as high as on the Omnia. Other good things. It uses mini-usb to charge (though not every mini-usb cable can be used as I have discovered) and a separate audio-jack (unlike the omnia). So you can both charge and use the headphones, great. The FM radio seems to work without headphones plugged it?! The first time that I have seen this. The Acer dialer has NATIVE call recording. This is also the first I've seen on WM especially in such a userfriendly and logical way... right on the call-screen :-)

Then there's the bad things.

The sound although good in quality, is very quiet compared to my Omnia. I admit that I tweaked that Omnia with some inbuild program. If ppl want to fiddle with that little program, I've included it as attachment. I strongly doubt it'll be of any use but it does seem to start-up. The camera is notoriously bad as everyone in here as already mentioned (compared to the omnia). Speakerphone is too low to be of any use. This unfortunately defies the use of that one program that I require (audio notes) to record calls since you can't properly hear them afterwards. Although the headphone-jack is on the right place (on mid-top) it's also too quiet to be of any use :-(.

Other things that I discovered when installing and using some software. I've installed SPB Mobile Shell (tried both 3.5.4 and 3.5.5) but whenever exit the camera-software, SPB MS returns in "change layout" mode (with the last widget, used before opening the cam-software, ready for removal or changing). I tried with both the cam-software in rom (3.003c) and Xakep TURBO camera to no avail. Very annoying. At one point I couldn't remove "Getting started" from today screen (WM Standard). But eventually I did manage to remove it (though I still have no idea what I prior did to make it happen. Again I tought this was due to SPB Mobile shell but since I could eventually remove it (while MS was running) it must have been something else. As of now, (after fooling around with Coreplayer, SPB Mobile shell, Vito's audio notes touch, a few games and utilities) whenver I use WM Standard today screen and try to open a picture (which gets neatly displayed on the pictures bar) it gives an error (file-associations seem to be ****ed up along the way). Again a minor hassle (like the "getting started" that wouldn't go away) but a hassle nonetheless :-(

Apart from the lousy camera (which i expected) and the low audio volume (which I didn't expect) this devices fares quite well. It definitly needs some kind of invisible shield (or other protection) for exterior protection as the shiny cover easily gets dirty. I haven't yet decided whether I'll keep it. If the audio was better then I could have used it as a small PMP but because of the low volume (even with headphones)... The speed and great screen considering its price are its main strenghts.

Included is the Omnia's Soundtester-program that Omnians use to tweak their handsets audio volume (by quite a bit I might say). I compared my omnia (before sending in for repair) to the Acer and the Omnia is not only much louder. The inbuild speaker produced better quality as well while playing this loud. I boosted volume with Coreplayer on mediafiles but it never matches the Omnia without distoring the sound. headphone output on the omnia is allmost on par as on my ancient iPod 60GB (this thing kills your ears definitly!) while the acer is no-more than whispering compared to both. Oddly enough call-quality wasn't so bad at all. Call-volume was reasonable (even in populated environments).

Thanks for the ppl who helped me out with regards to incall recording (the prime reason for sticking with WM) and to Steff (with info on his Torch program).

regards,

EPDM2BE