Acer M900

[Uncle Matt]

So...

I've been thinking about a new phone for a while now. I had the thought of "why don't I replace my phone and (already broken) MP3 player, and add in a bit of a PDA and just have one thing to carry around?

Well I think I might. The answer, it seems, is the Acer M900. Clicky linky thing. The only thing I'm not sure about is that it runs Windows. The alternative is something like Android, but it's new and bound to be a little bit buggy, and PalmOS, which I really didn't like. I've played with it before

I've said no to Apple, even though the iPhone is really quite nice. Firstly because the MP3 side of things is itunes based, and therefore crap. iTunes and I fell out a long time ago. And secondly, it seems to be impossible to get one without a contract, which I definitely don't want.

I was thinking about a Blackberry,  but from what I can judge from the instruction book, you have to sign up to their special e-mail service to get e-mails on it. Again, not what I want. I already have e-mail, and since the M900 runs Windows, I should be able to get a decent mail client for it.

The main use for me will be organisation though. At the moment, I have little bits and pieces all over the place, and things get lost, or not written down, or forgotten. My current phone has a very limited function to do this sort of thing, but I need something a bit better.

Unfortunately, the M900 is a fairly new device, so there aren't that many reviews of it, but... It has a huge touchscreen, and a fingerprint scanner for security. The real nifty bit is that the fingerprint scanner can be used as a kind of 4-way joystick for menu navigating and so on. Aside from that, it has a 5 megapixel camera and of course plays anything you like through Windows Media Player.

The existing PAYG SIM I already own does internet and e-mail quite nicely, so if I ever need to, I can e-mail and internet on the move. And contrary to popular belief, it doesn't cost a fortune. A post on Skincell costs less than a text message, and an e-mail costs less than that! Even over here in the US!

It does have Wifi connectivity too, so I can connect it to my wireless network back in the UK (when I get back home) so it's not going to sit eating my credit all the time.

OK, so if I do buy one over here, it'll come with a US charger. But I'm an electronics engineer. I can fix that Finally, I should be able to get organised!

So, my question is, has anyone seen one of these devices, or does anyone own one? If so, what do you think?

[Uncle Matt]

I guess the other question, directed to those folks who have upgraded to a smart phone, is did it actually help you organise things?

[itchychick]

Well, you kind of lost me after the first sentence, Matty, but I can respond to your question with a whole hearted "yes"!

When my phone literally fell apart last year, I was debating the iPhone (flashy, sexy and very cool - plus I do use iTunes, so it would have worked for me... why don't you like iTunes?)

But, I decided to get a Blackberry, and I love it.  I chose that in the end because Tim has one, and we can sync our calendars.  We send each other events invitations and it goes directly into our calendars.  That doesn't apply to you, I know, but it has made our lives much easier to coordinate.  We put everything in there, from music lessons for the kids, to hockey games, to taekwondo classes, to business trips, to social nights out, etc. 

I did get a data plan on my blackberry, so I get all my hotmail email on my blackberry.  There is a way to use the blackberry email system without buying a data package (my girlfriend does that), but I'm not sure how it works.   There is also a camera on the phone, but don't use it unless I'm goofing around, as I have a fancy schmancy Nikon for "real" pictures.

I also use my phone to keep track of the hours I spend teaching, so I can invoice very easily at the end of the month.  The only thing missing is a spreadsheet on the blackberry to do the calculating, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was an app for that too.

So, all in all, it's been a great organizational tool for me.

[Uncle Matt]

Itchy,

Thanks for that

My issue with iTunes, is that it wouldn't let me move files about relatively easily.

What I do is I have a central server where all the physical files (whether they are MP3's or WMA's or whatever) are. This is all backed up so that I don't lose anything.

I then have my media centre in the front room that connects to the server, and plays music through the very decent hifi system I have.

I also need to burn CDs for the car (so that I don't damage the originals) and program my mp3 player (which is broken, but about to be replaced...) This is done on my main desktop machine, which I also use to actually rip the music off a CD to the file server in the first place.

The last version of iTunes would let me copy music from CDs to a computer, but then wouldn't let me move it to the server so that I could play it through the hi-fi, and it certainly wouldn't let me buy music from the iTunes store, and store it on the server, so that I could use it everywhere else.

Things may have changed now, but I can't be doing with the hassle if things haven't changed..

[itchychick]

Ah...

Makes sense.  I just have a few mp3 players (with little speakers) around the house and I just plunk my iPod into them.  I also had a thingy installed into my new (three year old) car which allows me to plug the iPod in, and it also charges it.   Your system must be much nicer though, as far as sound quality.

On a slightly different note, David's laptop crashed recently, and had to be wiped clean.  He lost everything.  Luckily he had backed up all his iPod songs and given the disc to a friend, so he can copy it back.  Oddly, there is no way to load what is on his iPod back onto iTunes.  The girl I spoke to at Apple said that we might find a way of doing it on Google, but there is no "Apple Approved" way of doing it.....  That really galled me.

Good luck with picking your new toy!

[Uncle Matt]

Your system must be much nicer though, as far as sound quality.

It does. 2 years of hard grafting at the pub, saving the wages and buying some decent kit was well worth it. I only changed the speakers because one got dropped when I moved house, and since had a rather annoying rattle. Everything else is as I bought nearly 10 years ago.

Back on topic...

I've done a compare of a few models, and spoke to a few people about it, and decided to get the M900. The best bit was the price, though. I managed to shop around on the internet, and got it for £260 (when converted from $). The best price in £ that I found was £370 + delivery, so I've saved quite a lot. I even got it cheaper than Amazon 

[Uncle Matt]

It only seems appropriate that I send a post from it. Since it's actually a Windows Mobile device, it will probably show as a regular PC.

[Uncle Matt]

So I've done a bit of tinkering, and installed Opera Mobile.

It's loads better than IE mobile, and isn't really a memory hog. Nice and quick too.

I might uninstall IE mobile later