Big review of T-Mobile MDA II

November 24, 2003 | Pavel Koza | format - Other (ar.) | viewed - 412x
rating -

(412 votes) | category - -

Big review of T-Mobile MDA II

I don’t quite know why but lately, I have not been able to find much to explicitly criticise about new devices I reviewed. Perhaps I am getting old, but more likely, the technologies used in PDA production have advanced so far, that even the worst device cannot be described in worse terms than as being “OK”. In other words, it requires great effort nowadays to produce a rally bad PDA. And producers deserve our praise for not making that effort in most cases. The T-Mobile MDA II that I am introducing today is so impressive that it deserves many a superlative. I would like to thank people from T-Mobile for helping to make this review possible.

Although I have already said that, let me stress again that the device is not on the market yet. The one I obtained was a pre-production model albeit fully functional. However unlikely it may be, some things may change, so take all the information herein with a tiny grain of salt. All the unknowns will be gone on December 1st when T-Mobile is to officially launch MDA II in Czech republic.

What’s in the box?

I have no idea what is actually going to be in the box. I received the device with a battery, charger with an adapter for direct charging and a USB cradle. I expect that the packaging will also contain a CD-ROM, some standard documentation, a case and a light hands-free set. Let’s take a look at the images that came with the device.

The cradle is simple, humble, with no daring design or luminescent inscriptions. The combination of silver and black will not strike you either. There is a slot for a spare battery in the back, which is invaluable if you have one but useless otherwise. Besides a small orange LED (which indicates charging of the extra battery), there is a pinhole on the front panel hiding a small microphone which makes it possible to make a call without taking the device out of the cradle. The cradle is very stable thanks to four rubber plates on the bottom. The USB cable is not removable.

The AC adapter comes in one piece with a replaceable connector for direct charging of the device. Owners of iPAQs may rejoice at first sight over being able to use iPAQ accessories with MDA II, but unfortunately, although the connectors look identical, they are not compatible.

There was nothing else in the box but for the most important item which I am going to describe now in detail – the MDA II itself.

Design

Although opinion on the design is primarily a matter of taste, I expect mostly positive reactions to MDA II. It comes in an elegant black-silver colour combination, it is relatively small, has an integrated antenna – all this makes it one of the most interesting devices on the market. It has a few millimetres and grams in excess of its competitors, but not more than what is acceptable. Besides, a there are not many competitors with integrated GSM/GPRS, so a direct comparison may be tricky and unfair. The official dimensions are 130 x 70 x 19 millimetres; you will be putting 185 grams in your pocket including the battery. Some may object to the thickness of 19 mm – modern devices are closer to one centimetre – but you will hardly notice due to the cleverly designed shape. All corners are rounded in all directions. Besides the colours, the main difference from the predecessor is an integrated antenna, a rather more practical solution than the sticking stump. MDA II closely resembles the older MDA and does not try to conceal it, as you can see from the photographs.

Now, let’s explore all the sides of the device. The front panel is dominated by a display which is just a little bit narrower than the device. Like in the original MDA, there is a soft button on either side of a circular speaker over the display. Two oval LEDs are located on the very edge. The left one is blue to indicate Bluetooth activity, the right can shine and flash not only green and orange to indicate usual events, such as charging, alarms etc., but also red, which means a missed call. Under the display, there are two buttons with the usual green and red handset sign, respectively (they are not user-configurable), and a small four-directional controller in between, which is surprisingly fine – something that passionate gamers will appreciate. And finally, we must not forget about the microphone pinhole, a very important part of the device that you can make phone calls with.

Unlike in other devices, the back of MDA II is quite interesting, because it reveals not only a big silver battery compartment cover (the SIM card slot is under the battery), but also the lens of an integrated digital camera. I’ll discuss its capabilities later: it is no professional technology but sufficient for basic documentary photos. Don’t look for a flash though, there is none. Owners of the first version of MDA may be surprised to find the SIM card under the battery because you need to remove the cover and the battery in order to replace it. The old MDA had the SIM card slot on the side, under a rubber plug. But the new solution means no big change, because you were not able to replace the SIM card without switching off the device anyway (there was a miniature switch inside the slot which performed a soft reset upon replacing the card). The rubber plug was not very decorative, either. A SIM card slot located under the battery is standard in most mobile phones, everyone is used to it, so why change it. And finally, MDA II has a connector for an external antenna, protected by a rubber plug.

No camera would be complete without a shutter release button. MDA II designers placed the button with a camera icon on the left side. The button is user-configurable, something to be appreciated by those who are not particularly fond of digital photography in this class. Besides this button, the left side hosts a volume control (an up/down slider) and a sound record button. There is absolutely nothing on the right side.

When we look at the top, we will discover some other interesting elements. In the middle, there is an SD/MMC slot with a dummy card. It fully supports the SDIO standard, so that you can use not only memory cards but also I/O cards, such as Wi-Fi and GPS. This is one of the reasons why the slot is located on the top, unlike the old MDA which had the slot on the bottom side. That would be a problem because most cards other then memory stick out a little. The main switch is to the left of the slot, an infrared port at the same distance to the right. The stylus shaft is yet further to the right, close to the edge of the device.

The bottom side hosts a data connector. Although it looks similar to that of iPAQs, it is not compatible, as I have mentioned earlier. That means that it will not be possible to use any iPAQ accessories with MDA II. To the left of the connector, there is a soft reset button sunken in the body of the device. On the opposite side, there is a rubber plug protecting a headset jack.

Finally, there is the stylus: slim, made of a light metal with a plastic tip and top. That’s all for the hardware design. I hope the description and the many photographs have helped you make a good idea of the device. Now, let’s move onto the parameters which are also extremely interesting.

Pocket PC	Dimensions (in. / mm)	Weight (oz / g)
Casio Cassiopeia E-200	3.2 x 5.2 x 0.7 82 x 130 x 17.5	6.5 190
Compaq iPAQ H3870	3.3 x 5.3 x 0.6 84 x 133 x 15.9	6.6 190
Compaq iPAQ H3970	3.3 x 5.3 x 0.6 84 x 134 x 15.9	6.5 184
F-S Pocket LOOX 600	3.2 x 5.2 x 0.65 82 x 132 x 17	6.1 175
HP iPAQ h1940	2.75 x 4.46 x 0.5 69.8 x 113.3 x 12.8	4.38 124
HP iPAQ h2210	3.01 x 4.54 x 0.61 76.4 x 115.4 x 15.4	5.09 144
HP iPAQ h4150	2.78 x 4.47 x 0.53 70.6 x 113.6 x 13.5	4.66 132
Toshiba e310	3.1 x 4.9 x 0.4 80 x 125 x 12.4	4.9 140
Toshiba e740	3.1 x 4.9 x 0.6 80 x 125 x 15.2	6.1 179
XDA	2.9 x 5.8(5.1) x 0.7 73 x 147(129) x 18	7.1 201
MDA II	2.75 x 5.12 x 0.71 70 x 130 x 19	6.53 185

Parameters

MDA II has not been officially launched yet (and won’t be for another couple of weeks), so let’s wait with declaring it the most powerful Pocket PC device on the market, because things may change before it actually hits the shelves. The cutting-edge parameters speak for themselves and need no cheap advertising, as you can now see for yourself.

The PDA runs on an Intel PXA263 processor at 400 MHz. The difference between this and the most often used processor these days, the PXA255, is an integrated 32MB FlashROM memory in the former. This reduces the cost (the device needs some ROM, a separate one is more expensive) and saves space on the mainboard. There are some other minor changes, but we can discuss them next time:) Now, the memory: MDA II has more than enough of it with 128 MB standard RAM that needs a constant power supply – a power dropout will cause all data to be lost. The operating system is installed in the 32 MB FlashROM integrated in the processor. However, the device has another 32 MB of a separate FlashROM. About a half of it serves as a safe storage that retains data even if the battery runs completely dry (each manufacturer calls this feature differently, here it is simply "Storage"), the other half is reserved for bonus applications supplied by a service provider or vendor. They will be re-installed automatically after every hard reset (the installation takes up some 10 MB of available RAM). As people from XDA-Developers said (you can take a look at a disassembled MDA on that website), this is to the benefit of the manufacturer, HTC, because the system and bonus part can be managed separately. Service providers or vendors care for their own applications, while HTC will look after updating and patching the basic applications that are standard part of Windows Mobile 2003. To sum up, MDA II has 128 MB of RAM and 32 + 32 MB of FlashROM, the user can use some 16 MB of the FlashROM as a storage for his or her own applications and data. Simply excellent!

The display does not lag behind in any respect. It is an 88.9-millimetre transflexive TFT display with a standard resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and 16-bit colour depth, i.e. 65 thousand colours and is absolutely flawless. It is very bright (brightness can be adjusted at 11 levels separately for battery operation and charging, a convenient change from MDA I), the contrast is excellent, but, before all, it has no grey or yellow tint – white is really white:) The display is readable well even at an angle. You can switch on the ClearType technology for better readability of screen fonts directly in the Control Panels. There is absolutely nothing to criticise about the touch layer – it is sufficiently sensitive and precise. If there is a negative point concerning the display, it is the black borders that are perhaps too wide – the MDA II would be much sexier with an extra millimetre of visible area on each side.

No doubt, quality of sound features is crucial for a device combining a PDA and a mobile phone. Crucial is also the quality of the built-in loudspeaker. Although you would not expect anyone to listen to opera over the phone, a crackling, hissing loudspeaker proved fatal for many otherwise good mobile phones. The sound quality of the headphones is equally important. The huge memory of MDA II can contain a whole CD converted into MP3, so that you can use the device as a good quality MP3 player. The headset connects with a combined 2.5-milimetre jack for both the headphones and microphone. The inevitable question – what is the sound like? My answer: the sound is excellent, no hiss, but a few BUTS. Firstly, most people will use the supplied standard headset because of the microphone, although it is possible to use better headphones with a connector adapter. I did not have the original headset, so I can only wish it were better than that supplied with MDA I. (I have at least one piece of good news: the headset will feature not only a button to accept a call but also a hang-up button, as well as a volume control). The other “but” concerns the absence of a software equaliser. You cannot adjust anything but the volume, which is insufficient these days. The microphone is extremely sensitive; a utility for automatic volume adjustment comes handy. MDA II’s loudspeaker can serve as handsfree, which is highly convenient for example when you are arranging a meeting over the phone and want to jot down the details.

I’ll deal with the communication features in two separate chapters. In the first one, we will discuss the “traditional” transmissions, the GSM/GPRS features in the other. The “traditional” ways of communication include USB, a standard serial infra port and Bluetooth. MDA II is the first Bluetooth-enabled PDA that does not have proprietary software but uses controls included in the OS. They are pathetic when compared with highly sophisticated solutions provided by Widcomm and the like, but it does work, which counts. The configurability of BT is in the line of "zero configuration" of Wi-Fi – you don’t have many options to adjust anything. For me, the main reason for Bluetooth support in this device is the possibility to use a Bluetooth hands-free set where you need no special configuration, possibly a GPS and a printer. What about connecting with another mobile phone? Yes, it works, too:) There is an interesting option to establish an Active Sync connection over BT (see picture) – it’s fast and reliable. Like in iPAQs, there is a special icon for quick access to Bluetooth on the Today screen. Last but not least, you can see all the important information about the active connection and activated communication channels in a well laid-out “bubble”. There you can switch off all active communications with one tap of the stylus when you board a plane (so-called Flight Mode).

If the quality of the battery is very important in an ordinary PDA, it is at least twice as important in a PDA combined with a mobile phone. MDA II is powered by a 1200-mAh rechargeable hybrid Lithium-Ion-Polymer battery. If you need to replace the main battery, it must not take you longer than 30 minutes during which data in the memory are preserved by a backup Lithium-Ion battery (as you can see in this picture, it is not integrated but most likely an ordinary button battery). I tested the main battery after several charge-discharge cycles with maximum backlight intensity and the GSM module switched on. The total time of just under 5 hours is excellent. If you reduce the backlight intensity and use the MDA reasonably (meaning not as an MP3 player or GameBoy), it will last for up to three days. Of course, it is disputable what “reasonable usage” means – every user will have a different idea. I am sure though that few people will need to recharge MDA II every day. And finally, a somewhat less visible feature – optional charging over the USB cable, which is ideal when you have the cradle at work and use the stand-alone charger at home or on travels. The charging takes much longer but it is worth the convenience.

Unlike all other Pocket PCs I have reviewed, MD II has an extra feature – an integrated digital camera. Quite frankly, when I saw MDA for the first time at Invex, I wondered why they implement such a lousy piece of hardware in the otherwise excellent device. The parameters of the camera look good: the resolution for photographs is 480 x 640 pixels maximum, video up to 240 x 320, and at lower resolutions, it offers a digital zoom. However, if you are used to megapixels, optical zoom and other sophisticated features of modern cameras, you will be shocked by the first photos taken with MDA II. In a few days, you will put up with the fact that you will need to take your Canon or Olympus with you for holidays and take the MDA camera as a simple accessory. From this point of view, it does not look so bad. It features the Auto Light Control and Auto White Balance technologies. You can make quite nice photos, given the parameters, provided there are good light conditions. I have made some for you, because one photo can tell more than a paragraph of text. The actual act of taking a photo is easy thanks to the button on the left side which you can operate with one hand.

The application for operating the camera is also good and makes it possible to adjust contrast, focus, gamma correction, and saturation (don’t be mistaken, the image IS visible on the MDA:) There are a large number of other options, you can save images as JPEG and BMP, video as MPEG4, H.263 and Motion-JPEG AVI, you can select where to save the file and limit maximum file size for the video. If you like playing around, you can create a so-called Composition, where you can insert one or more photographs into a picture template. Together with the great IA Album you are getting a really excellent combination of applications that MMS fans (and not only them) will appreciate.

MDA II as a phone

Time now to take a look at the integrated GSM/GPRS module. Technically, it is a tri-band, offering communication at 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz. Although the antenna is integrated in the body, I had absolutely no problems catching signal over the few days of testing. As I have already said, the SIM card is located under the battery inside the device. If you know the first MDA (or any other Phone Edition device), you’ll be familiar with the solution. The red and green buttons for accepting a call and hanging up, respectively, are defined on the system level and cannot be assigned any other function. Making a call is simple – just dial the number and speak. When someone is calling you, the phone can ring, vibrate or play a tune. There is a new feature allowing you to use a midi file as a ringtone, the quality is very good. You can accept or reject an incoming call – the device behaves just like any other phone. If you wish to record a phone call, just press the sound record button and there you go. If you miss a call, an icon will appear in the upper bar for another five minutes or so and a red LED indicator on the right will be flashing for some five minutes, too.

Working with SMS messages has improved, too. The problem with identification of sender was resolved. Now, upon reception of a new message, a “balloon” appears, showing the contents of the message and three most common operations, so that you can delete the message, reply or call the sender immediately. When composing a message, the number of characters is displayed. If you exceed 160 characters, the message will be automatically divided into several smaller ones. Otherwise, SMS messages are treated as any other e-mail – you can copy them, move, reply to, forward – whatever you like.

MMS message fans are sure to have fun, too. The MMS Composer from ArcSoft makes working with multimedia messages a doddle (I tried several times and although I still resist this way of communication, I don’t oppose it so fiercely any longer:). When someone sends you an MMS, the MMS Composer is automatically launched and downloads the message for you to view. When composing an MMS message, you just insert an image into a simple form, add text and a voice message, and tap on Send. It is really as simple as that.

MDA II fully supports the ever more popular SIM Toolkit. I tested the banking application, but mainly Navigator (an application which helps you find the nearest petrol station, car-repair service or ATM) and I was extremely satisfied. The responses were quick and the messages came almost instantly.

Expandability

Should you find the great variety of features of MDA II insufficient, you can simply add more. Although the 128 MB of basic RAM is more than enough, it may be too little for MP3 maniacs – they can use an SD/MMC memory card. The market offers an endless variety of them from different producers, ranging from several megabytes to several gigabytes, so that everyone can choose to match the needs and budget. But that’s not all – the full SDIO support makes it possible to use a Wi-Fi or GPS card and teach MDA II more tricks.

We must not forget about Bluetooth. The main reason for BT support in MDA II is the possibility to use a cordless handsfree, i.e. making a call without actually holding the device. I could not test that, but it should be practically the same solution as that used in Nokia or Ericsson mobile phones. (NOTE: As I found out recently - thanks to Pocket PC Thoughts forums and XDA Developers forums -, it is not possible to use any BT GPS receiver with this device yet. It is probably caused by using a common Microsoft BT stack which doesn't offer such a feature. Sorry for confusion.)

Another expansion option is a so-called "Backpack" (something like expansion jackets used with iPAQs). If I understand well, there is only one Backpack available, combining a CompactFlash slot type I and II with an optional video output for a monitor or TV, which will be useful mainly for presentations. CF cards are more power-intensive, so it was a good idea to integrate an additional battery that can also recharge the main battery if necessary.

Software

As I have said earlier, a huge number of bonus application are loaded in the MDA on top of the standard installation. I have already mentioned some of them, so let me introduce the others now. First of all, the extremely handy GPRS Monitor which will help you control the GPRS costs. This is one of two applications that would deserve a separate review because of their complexity and a vast number of features. Here, a few sentences and screenshots will have to suffice. GPRS Monitor can monitor all data transmissions (not only) over GPRS, show individual values in synoptic charts and reports. A great number of pre-set tariffs of various operators make it possible to display the actual price.

Anther excellent application is IA Album for managing the numerous photos you will take with the integrated digital camera. Like the GPRS Monitor, this application, too, is a top one in its field. It works with different file formats for images, sound and video. It can conveniently associate different file types with other applications (you can simply set a song as a ringtone, associate a friend’s photo with his phone number etc.). The application also offers a simple histogram and displays EXIF info for photos taken by a standard digital camera.

IA Caller ID is a utility for those who want to associate photographs with contacts. It is easy to take pictures of your friends and colleagues with the built-in camera and then associate them with the respective phone numbers. When someone calls you, you will see his or her face instead of the number, for example in a yellow composition with lemons:)

Two ClearVue applications will enable you to view presentations and PDF files. An expansion jacket makes it possible to display presentations on a monitor or data projector.

SIM Manager enables you to work with data on the SIM card. A simple but extremely useful utility.

Wireless Modem is an application that makes it possible to connect a laptop to the internet using your MDA II.

XBackup is quite a handy utility thanks to which you don’t lose your data in case of a total crash of the device. You can choose to backup everything or just the calendar and contacts. Separately, you can backup certain data to the FlashROM.

The last group of software includes various applets for setting up communication protocols, such as GPRS and WAP. If you insert a SIM card from T-Mobile and perform a hard reset, MDA II will automatically set up all T-Mobile’s services, including GPRS, MMS, WAP, etc. This is a great convenience for most ordinary users who find setting up GPRS frustrating and often fail to reach the desired result.

To sum up, the offer of bonus applications is unbeatable. Each of them is a highly useful, added-value tool that the vast majority of MDA II users will find handy. Apparently, someone thought it out quite well, not in the let’s-fill- the-memory style. That’s very nice of them...

Pricing

The pricing issue is rather complicated. MDA II has not been launched in the Czech Republic yet and the official price remains unknown. Promotion materials state somewhat vaguely that "MDA II will costs approximately the same as MDA I when it was introduced". I don’t remember, I must admit:) Rumours have it that an unsubsidised MDA II should cost around 800USD. If you sign up for two years with T-Mobile, you will save some 300USD. The original launch date was supposed to be mid-November, but has been postponed until the beginning of December. It is in T-Mobile’s best interest to introduce MDA II before Christmas, so it’s coming soon, I guess.

[POLL]

Benchmarks

I use Spb Benchmark for a complete performance test. I have reviewed several new Pocket PC devices, so I am going to compare them. If you are interested in the detailed results, the complete .XML file is available for download here: T-Mobile MDA II (2003, 400MHz) [2KB]. If you copy the contents of the file to the form on this page (click on Add device), you can compare the results with other devices.

The benchmark test results came as a surprise for me as I had expected MDA II to outperform the competitors. On the other hand, one does not need to overstate the significance of the tests, because gross computing power is not all that makes a really good PDA.