My first impressions of the HTC (at&t) Tilt

[Jay2TheRescue]

I just picked it up yesterday afternoon. I haven't had much time to play with it yet, but here are my first impressions.

The data is really fast, and I noticed it comes with an application to use the phone as a wireless modem preinstalled. I'll give this a try later, but it would be nice to get my teathering back. The camera is really nice, takes nice clear pictures. Maybe I'll try tower hunting with it later and see if the pics are good enough to upload. (And see if I can upload the tower to the gallery right on site!) The biggest peeve that I have found is that there are PTT icons and applications all over the menus of this thing, yet ATT does not support PTT on this device. I wonder why they did not remove this stuff on their version. ( I see a hacking opportunity!)

I like that it uses a mini USB for data and charging so I can use the same car charger as my Motorola phones and my BT headsets. Sounds great for travel as I will only have to take one data cable and charger to operate my phone, camera, and BT headsets. The last time I traveled I had a charger for the iPAQ, data cable for the iPAQ, Mini USB car and AC charges for my spare phone and my BT headsets, and a mini USB data cable for my camera. Actually I think I could bring a mini usb data cable and my 12v USB charging port and I'd be able to plug in any of my devices and charge them in the car, or plug them into the computer to charge saving me from carrying a lot of chargers and cables.

Voice quality and signal strength seem to be on par with my Motorola phones which is nice. I may not need to keep my A845 in the car for low signal areas. This is a big change from my old iPAQ, which only worked well in urban areas.

The Tilt/slide mechanism seems very sturdy and well made. It has a nice feel to it, and not like the slide on my old LG CU320 which felt like it could break at a moment's notice.

I'll report more when I have more time next week.

-Jay

[Yankees368]

Cool, sounds like a beefed up version of my mogul!

[nKrypteD1]

Originally Posted by Yankees368 Cool, sounds like a beefed up version of my mogul!

Actually it's a beefy version of the TyTN, completely different line from the mogul.

[walkguru]

Wirelessly posted (Walkguru's: Opera/8.01 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/3.1.8295/1716; en; U; ssr))

sounds nice. does anyone use ptt?

[budney]

Enjoy your new toy Jay, Thanks for the initial review.

[Jay2TheRescue]

The Tilt has a nice camera. I took a picture and uploaded it to the site earlier today right from the device. Very convenient. Here's a link if any of you are interested in taking a look.

http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/th...tml#post477065 (Iridium)

I also picked up a 4gb Micro SD card today so I could install my TomTom 6 software. It took a little fidgeting with it to get TomTom to install because the software kept saying it wasn't registered to that device, and it wasn't. I am no longer using the iPAQ as a GPS, so I'm changing my registered device.

With the 4GB memory card I was able to install the BIG map (The entire North American continent) so I no longer have to switch maps in the middle of a long roadtrip. The GPS locks onto the satellite signal very fast and I was quite impressed. Its a lot nicer on the Tilt as it isn't running on the bare minimum requirements so no lost tracking hiccups or soft resets as of yet.

-Jay

[Jay2TheRescue]

Ok, this is really cool. I installed a program called WMWifiRouter and now my Tilt is a portable WiFi accesspoint! I am posting using this WiFi connection right now. Here's the result from the speed test I did 5 minutes ago:

Last Result:
Download Speed: 726 kbps (90.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 323 kbps (40.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Some of the speed tests I did last night were over 1,000 kbps download!

-Jay

[Jay2TheRescue]

Opera 4 mini kicks butt on this!

[AJE]

Wirelessly posted (Mogul: Opera/9.50 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/4.0.9751/204; U; en))

I got to set up a Tilt a couple of weeks ago for a customer. It seems like a pretty nice device. I didn't get to play with it much though. I do like the "close program" feature in the top right corner. Has anyone used the "Touch" yet? I am going to try and get by the Sprint store this week to try it out.

[budney]

Originally Posted by AJE Wirelessly posted (Mogul: Opera/9.50 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/4.0.9751/204; U; en)) I got to set up a Tilt a couple of weeks ago for a customer. It seems like a pretty nice device. I didn't get to play with it much though. I do like the "close program" feature in the top right corner. Has anyone used the "Touch" yet? I am going to try and get by the Sprint store this week to try it out.

I have! I had Sprint exchange it out for my Mogul. I will do a brief review of it soon, need to play with it a little more.

[AJE]

Originally Posted by budney I have! I had Sprint exchange it out for my Mogul. I will do a brief review of it soon, need to play with it a little more.

How did you get them to exchange it out? Did you have issues with the Mogul?

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by AJE Wirelessly posted (Mogul: Opera/9.50 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/4.0.9751/204; U; en)) I got to set up a Tilt a couple of weeks ago for a customer. It seems like a pretty nice device. I didn't get to play with it much though. I do like the "close program" feature in the top right corner. Has anyone used the "Touch" yet? I am going to try and get by the Sprint store this week to try it out.

I set mine so tapping the X minimizes the program, and holding the X closes it.

-Jay

[Jay2TheRescue]

Update:

I've had a sporatic problem where I'd make a call, but the speaker didn't turn on. This is easily fixed with a soft reset, but its a pain to do a soft reset when you really want to make a call right now. I am trying an application that schedules a soft reset daily and see if that works out. My store has offered to switch it out for me, but since I've already moved my TomTom software to the Tilt, switching to another device this soon will create problems with my TomTom software registration. I am trying a reset every day at 4:00 am. Hopefully it won't wake me up when it resets. I think a soft reset isn't a bad idea, even if I wasn't having this problem just to clear out the RAM on a daily basis.



-Jay

[budney]

Originally Posted by AJE How did you get them to exchange it out? Did you have issues with the Mogul?

Emailed Ecare and told them the problems I have been having since I did the 2.16 ROM update, and even after switching back to the 2.09 ROM. They approved the swap very quickly with no hassles. I guess it pays to have 5 lines on a regular pfamily plan, $200 bill, and pay your bill on time for three years.

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue Update: I've had a sporatic problem where I'd make a call, but the speaker didn't turn on. This is easily fixed with a soft reset, but its a pain to do a soft reset when you really want to make a call right now. I am trying an application that schedules a soft reset daily and see if that works out. My store has offered to switch it out for me, but since I've already moved my TomTom software to the Tilt, switching to another device this soon will create problems with my TomTom software registration. I am trying a reset every day at 4:00 am. Hopefully it won't wake me up when it resets. I think a soft reset isn't a bad idea, even if I wasn't having this problem just to clear out the RAM on a daily basis.

Have you tried uninstalling any of your software to see if it is causing the problem?I know you don't run that much softwware, but I would be surprised if TomTom was the cause. May be hard reset may help to. With as much memory as the Tilt has you shouldn't have to soft reset every day/

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by budney Emailed Ecare and told them the problems I have been having since I did the 2.16 ROM update, and even after switching back to the 2.09 ROM. They approved the swap very quickly with no hassles. I guess it pays to have 5 lines on a regular pfamily plan, $200 bill, and pay your bill on time for three years. Have you tried uninstalling any of your software to see if it is causing the problem?I know you don't run that much softwware, but I would be surprised if TomTom was the cause. May be hard reset may help to. With as much memory as the Tilt has you shouldn't have to soft reset every day/

Well, The first time it happened was after I had the phone for about 4 or 5 days and I had not installed any software on it at that point. I picked the phone up on a Monday where I was working 14 hour days all week, and did not get a chance to install anything until Sunday. As far as my installed applications TomTom is the biggest I use. I uninstalled the BandSwitch application as I found a way to put a 3G on/off button on the Communication Manager screen. The reset application does not run in the background, it just leaves the soft reset as a task to be performed daily at 4:00 am. The only other programs I use daily are Opera Mini 4, Internet Explorer, and Windows Mobile LIVE search.

You're right in that I really am not maxing the device out, but today was the first full day working on the auto soft reset and I had no problems (Fingers crossed, and knocking on my seafoam green Formica desk). The first time I had the problem I did a hard reset and it came back 3 or 4 days later.

-Jay

[Jay2TheRescue]

After much looking I found a car mount for the Tilt that has a charging port built in. I got it from ProClip Mounting System _-_Choose Your Country. I was able to order a custom fit mount that will snap onto the dash of my truck with no drilling of holes. Wasn't cheap though. After I bought the mount and cradle it was about $100, but I did not want one of those crappy universal PDA mounts. It will tilt & swivel and will hold the phone in horizontal or vertical orientation with the keyboard open or closed, and will automatically charge the phone when slid in.

This is the charging base I selected:

ProClip Mounting System _-_Choose Your Country

I could have gotten cheaper ones, but I felt that this was the solution I would be happiest with, (And I just got a bonus check from work!)

-Jay

[Jay2TheRescue]

Well, my ProClip arrived and it broke seconds after attempting to install it. I emailed them about the problem and this was their response:

Hi Jay:

This is highly unusual for this mount. We have yet to hear of this happening for this particular mount and have sold thousands of these over the years. We would have to assume that there was a manufacturer defect with that one part.

We will be happy to replace this mount for you. I will send out another email that will explain our return process.

Best Regards,



ProClip USA Customer Service

Toll free: +1 800-296-3212

Fax: +1 608-838-8949

Email: customerservice@proclipusa.com

Web: ProClip Mounting System _-_Choose Your Country



I'll see if the next one breaks too. If so I think I'll just ask them for the windshield mount instead of the custom clip for the dash.

-Jay

[Jay2TheRescue]

Well, I was coming up on the 30 day mark and I decided to just exchange the phone for a new one as I still occasionally had the issue with no sound. I figured an in store exchange meant a new phone, a warranty exchange through ATT would most likely mean a refurb. Nobody else I know with this phone has had any similar issue, and my dealer's HTC rep hadn't experienced a similar complaint either. I've been using my new replacement for 2 days now and have had no problems aside from getting my TomTom registration moved from the old phone to the new one. I have not installed the auto soft reset application yet, but I plan to install that as well. I had the phone hacked to enable the 3G on/off button and enabled HSDPA before I left the store.

-Jay

[JFB]

Maybe I'll be getting myself a Tilt soon...it is still up in the air.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by JFB Maybe I'll be getting myself a Tilt soon...it is still up in the air.

Its a great device, but I figured I'd exchange that one for a new one while I could just in case I was not able to resolve that dropped audio problem. With a daily soft reset it almost completely went away, but since nobody else was having the problem I figured it would be best to just exchange it for new while I could. If you do get a Tilt I am sure you will be happy with it.

-Jay

[nKrypteD1]

Originally Posted by JFB Maybe I'll be getting myself a Tilt soon...it is still up in the air.

Like I said in the other thread, if you get one and I win the contest get me one :-p

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by nKrypteD1 Like I said in the other thread, if you get one and I win the contest get me one :-p

I wouldn't mind one to give to my Dad...

-Jay

[Jay2TheRescue]

I'm suprised that ATT left the Field Test application on the phone. It isn't in any menu, but I did see it in the device's memory under My Device/Windows. The name of the application is strangely enough, FieldTest. I put a shortcut to it in my Start Menu.

-Jay

[nKrypteD1]

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue I'm suprised that ATT left the Field Test application on the phone. It isn't in any menu, but I did see it in the device's memory under My Device/Windows. The name of the application is strangely enough, FieldTest. I put a shortcut to it in my Start Menu. -Jay

The app is on all WM phones it's not like it really breaks much of anything, you can launch it from the dialpad, look for the wizard instructions I posted a long time ago about the number to dial, I think it's something like *#*#254#*#*

[Yankees368]

Originally Posted by nKrypteD1 The app is on all WM phones it's not like it really breaks much of anything, you can launch it from the dialpad, look for the wizard instructions I posted a long time ago about the number to dial, I think it's something like *#*#254#*#*

On the Sprint Mogul, its ##DEGUG#

[Jay2TheRescue]

I went to the gym today and tried out my new Motorola S9 BT stereo headphones. They worked quite well, and I wanted to elaborate on how well the Tilt did through all this. For more on the S9 headphones check it out here: http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/mo...s9-stereo.html (Anyone here try the Motorola S9 Stereo BT headphones?)

Now the battery life of the phone was adequate, but I wouldn't try streaming internet radio to the headphones all day long unless I had a charger nearby. I had it playing for about 2 hours and the battery on the Tilt had dropped from about 80% to about 50% while doing this. Now it is the end of the day. I've talked a lot today, streamed internet radio over BT for 2 hours, and I got bored earlier and played Solitaire for about an hour and I am at 23% now. I'm sure there would have been less of an impact had I been playing *.mp3's from the storage card.

Overall for my purposes it worked great. If I was using internet radio more I probably would have needed to plug the phone into a charger sometime durring the day.

-Jay

[budney]

You would notice slightly better battery life just listening to mp3s. But Stereo Bluetooth is where the power is being used the most. With my iTech BT clip mic going out on me I picked up a corded stereo handsfree. I now have 40% of my battery left when I get home on my Touch, that is coming from having 0-10% when using my clip.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by budney You would notice slightly better battery life just listening to mp3s. But Stereo Bluetooth is where the power is being used the most. With my iTech BT clip mic going out on me I picked up a corded stereo handsfree. I now have 40% of my battery left when I get home on my Touch, that is coming from having 0-10% when using my clip.

I just didn't have time to select *.mp3's and upload them to the storage card. Besides I only have about 2 gigs free and I didn't want to fill it all with *.mp3's.

-Jay

[budney]

I have been looking at the 6 gig cards lately, my 2 gig just isn't cutting it for me any more. I have it filled with mp3, but I want more selection to choose from. I may end up just breaking down and getting a mp3 player. Also my wired handsfree broke today, the clip fell apart. Gotta love the cheap eBay accessories.

[Charlyee]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.6) UP.Link/6.3.1.17.0)

Jay , what do you think of the idea of putting a link to Ellen's review on this one? So potential users would easily see both reviews.

Just a thought.