Phone with WIFI, GPS suggestions

Seems like the most common choices are the X500, the P3600, or the P3300. I would love to get the P3600 but it's hard to tell if they have GPS on them or not. Some of the online vendors say yes and the others don't mention it. (Got a link to one with Nav?) The P3300 fits my price range but the 200Mhz processor is a draw back.

The X500 seems to have some issues but, from what I've read here the Pharos 600 w/WM5 (which is the exact same phone as the X500) seems to be more stable and come with all the software and accessories you need. It's $600 but you get maps, GPS software, car kit, and a 2 GB micro SD card. I'm leaning towards that because I also hear Pharos is pretty responsive as far as support and they're saying that they'll provide a WM6 upgrade when the bugs are worked out.

Otherwise, I'd go with the HTC brand because of their reputation and build quality. The P3300 is beautifully crafted but it's a shame it's only 200Mhz. Some say this doesn't really matter though.

Tough decision!
 
I have P3300 with Tomtom 6 and all north american maps and i've never been more happier. It's a tad slow with 200mhz, but honestly, the only time u see the lag is if u have tomtom, with WM player, with some other random aplications running and your trying to make a phone call. There is a solution, overlocking it, but at the cost of draining your battery faster. Either way, thats your call. I dont knw the GPS on P3600, but I believe the X500 uses the same SiRF star chip as P3300, however I bought my phone 2 months ago, which is when X500 was still plagued with bugs, looked up on eten forums. Hence I opted for P3300. And I'm quite happy with my choice.
PS, my hands are small,hence X500 looked massive, while P3300 looks REALLY compact.
 
How about the Nokia E90. Lacks touchscreen but has every other feature you could want. Overall, a very interesting phone. It's not out yet but it's already appearing on ebay.
 
I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for me because I'm closely looking at these two phones (actually the Pharos 600 & the HTC 3300). The Pharos/ETEN is winning out so far pound for pound for me as far as specs and accessories included. However I'm concerned with size and build quality.



Did yours come with the N American maps or did you have to buy them separately? This is a deciding factor.



Strange, because the dimension specs for the two show that the P3300 is larger than the ETEN X500. I actually like them to be a little larger because have big fingers. Anyway, how does the track ball and roller wheel work for you? Does it allow one handed operation?
 
Why would these particular phones be recommended over say the Blackberry 8800 or even the Palms?

I'm as lost as they come and I'm in the market for exactly what was requested but these weren't even remotely in my mind.

Help a confused soul.
 
I got mine thru NetworkingRus and they sold it to me with all north american maps on 1gb micro sd.
The performance of the sirf star chip is phenomenal. I own an Acura RDX with navi, and the sensitiivity is almost the same as my car's navigation. Plus TomTom is voice guided as well. I live in Toronto and I drove to montreal with this phone and it was extremely accurate and it recalculates routes if you miss a turn almost immediately because of its ultra sensitive chip. The dimensions, well HTC is not as long as X500/Pharos 600 which to me was a big plus point.
Personally, I'm biased towards it because its small, very compact and very powerful.
WM6 will be on both the devices in the next month or so as well. So that shouldnt be a deciding factor. I would recommend holding both in ur hands if possible. Plus, Maybe its just me, but X500's blocky design didnt appeal me. But that could be just me. I compared X500 to P3300 as well because i'd narrowed my search to those two.

Hopefully, I've answered your questions, feel free to ask me more if you have any.


PS: Blackberry 8800 is descent, dont know the sensitivity on its chip, neither do I know if its voice guided, but looking at directions on a 2.8inch screen is much more appealing then 8800's screen which is not portrait.
 
And the trackwheel and RollR ball work intuitively as well, once you get used to them, one handed operation is a piece of cake.
 
Hey,
I ended up buying an ETEN X500. I'm in the process of setting it up, but I will let you know how it goes. My buddy has a P3300. Its a great device and his only complaint is the slow processor. GPS worx awesome on it. P3600 was a little out of my price range so I didnt look at it. Thanks for the advice so far. I will update later.
 
Cool. I'm getting the Pharos 600 (US version of the X500) for my anniversary next month. Can't wait! I did all the research and it was the winner hands down! The P3300 is a nice device but a 400Mhz processor vs it's 200Mhz proc....no contest. Also, the Pharos unit comes with US and Canada maps, GPS software, car mount/charger, and a 2 GB micro SD card all for less than $600! The maps alone are worth over $100. No one is offering a deal like this. The 600 is the best overall value out there for this segment. I found P3600 for about $50 more but you have to give it ROM updates, the GPS chip's performance is unknown (some say it's not as good), hard to tell if vendors are selling the ones with the GPS or not, you don't get any GPS software, ect. Just seemed like too many variables. If GPS was not a deal breaker, I'd get it because of the nice construction, but too iffy to determine if GPS was going to be good or not. So Pharos it is.

I guess the issues with the ETEN versions have been corrected by now with the new ROM updates. If not, you could always return it and get the Pharos version with car kit and software. Here's a link to one of the vendors:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16858179020&ATT=58-179-020&CMP=OTC-17exta6
 
Hey Everyone,

So had my Eten X500 for a few days now...and all I can say is I love this thing. It is exactly everything I was looking for except its needs support for a larger capacity SD card. Once I opened it, I installed WM6 right away. Only bug I found so far is when I mess around with with any screen settings, my screen brightness goes back to its default state (ie. In the middle). But i dont play around with screen settings much anyways. I have not experienced any of the bugs other ppl were talking about (ie. losing outlook info, wifi is slow, no sound in TomTom...etc). I've read threads where ppl were saying the GPS would randomly stop working...hopefully those were just from batches. I'll have to wait a few months to see...knock on wood...LOL.

I went out and bought a car charger and they gave me a Blackberry 8100 or 8800 car charger (i dont remember which) and I tested it out yesterday night and it worked flawlessly! (I asked the guy to test it with a multimeter and it gave a 5V output and a 0.95 amp output). It charges my PDA with tomtom running. But I have screen setting set to third lowest so that might help.

I would have liked to buy a Pharos but I couldn't find any dealers close enough to where I live that I can just buy from. I didnt want to order it online cuz I wanted it ASAP..LOL..impatient. Anyways I hear the support for the ETEN sux and would have liked to get the Pharos since servicing is in the states and I heard the Pharos support is great.

All in all I'm loving my new toy...and hopefully it will last me a while.
 
If there were someone local to me that had this phone I would buy one too - even if it were a little more. Being able to face the people who sold you the device is sometimes golden. Unfortunatley, all my research is over the net and my purchase will be over the net as well.

Anyway, Congratulations and I know you're loving your new phone. I can't wait til I get mine! Please keep us posted as to how things go with the new phone. Particularly what maps/gps software you go with and where you found the best deal. I may have to purchase a unit without the GPS kit. Also, let us know if you get a card bigger than 2GB to work in it. Wish you the best experience.
 
Thats the only issue so far with my P3300 as well. No support for anything greater than 2gb. I hope the new ROM due this month/next month will add support for SDHC cards as well.
Have fun with your new toys!
 
I just bought a p3300 from the Same vendor you got yours from @ Amazon. I hope that they Will send me one with all the maps as well.

This was a tough decision for me. I really wanted the pharos 600, but your quote above was part of the deciding factor that tipped the scale. I saw a video on youtube that showed how the scroll ball and wheel worked - I was sold! I have big hands and those features would work great for me. Also, the build quality seems very good and no one has Said anything bad about the phone. I can't say that about the ETEN. The Pharos had everything, but it looked like it was going to be difficilt to use with one hand and the nav Software was not as intuitive as TomTom 6.

So basically, intuitiveness and build construction won out. Please post follow-ups - I'll do the same.
 
I've used an older version of Pharos and I didn't like it.

I use the blackjack now, coming from a Dell Axim x51v (624mhz, 3D Graphics, wifi, bt, etc... basically loaded - GPS & GSM)

I don't really see any differences between the 200mhz Blackjack and the 624mhz Dell Axim. I guess running games and such you'd see some noticable differences. But it all comes down to what your running I guess.

The blackjack fit my bill exactly. It lacks WiFi and GPS (your requirements) but it has HSDPA which almost eliminates the need for WiFi in most regards. And I still have my BT GPS SiRF III Reciever from my Dell Axim that I keep in my car (why have it built in and drawing power?).

I know you already bought a p3300, I assume. But I just wanted to comment for any future readers.
 
I've never tested my phones battery power under constant GPS use from full charge, but I only switched on the GPS once I was 1 hour away from my destination, and I saw a 20% drop in my battery during my 1 hour use, whch I could say would've given me a 5 hour use had I used my GPS constantly. It would obviously improve if I'd switched on flight mode, but dint do that. Shawndh your not going to be dissapointed with the HTC. And when you recieve it, you'll admire it's size and compactness, because its only 108mm long. The build is obviously top notch and its TI processor is easily overclockable to 240mhz should you feel the need to run multiple apps at once, this drains the battery a bit faster, but you shouldnt be doing this all the time, chances are you wouldnt find the need to do so.
Also, I've successfully installed and run skype off my P3300 and it worked flawlessly. Took a tad longer then I expected to 'load' up, but after that, crystal clear conversation. Dont knw if you'd ever use it for that, but another use.
All in all, the GPS works amazingly well (Sirf Star III chip is very sensitive). and Since your getting the NA maps as well, you should have no problems using it at all. I live up in Canada and I used this to get from Toronto to Montreal (2 metro cities here). I was quite impressed with the preciseness of TomTom6 + Sirf Star III.
Feel free to ask any more questions.

PS: I've had the fone for a little under 2 months only so far. I'm also exploring all possibilities with my phone.
 
Hey everyone...so had my ETEN X500 for a bit now...and all I can say is I LOOOOOVE it. Its works pretty well so far, especially since i've upgraded to WM6. I've had no problems with the GPS (knock on wood). It's fairly fast and easy to use. I still think it needs a track wheel cuz the controls are not that great and I end up using the pen more. That's pretty much all my problems.
 
I am also interested in these all-in-one device.
What type of car kit is available? Do you use OEM or 3rd party ones?
How well does the screen hold up in direct sunlight? The Garmin Streetpilot's screen is really good in direct sunlight, much better than my Palm.

Does TomTom offer Text To Speech function? Is iGuidance the only one which has this?

TIA.
 
Wow. Surprised you like it. I had an M700 and thought it was alright, but the size, shape and build quality sucked. Actually, the build quality was simply awful. Plasticy POS with an overly sensitive slide switch. Maybe my P4350 spoiled me?
 
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