Database Develop

3 days expirience with WM5

For does who are intressted in my WM5 experience
I have spent my weekend upgrading my XDA IIs to WM5. With all the comments in this forum and Wicki I was able to do this in a painless and strait forward way. But after 3 days of daily usage I came to the the conclusion that WM5 on my XDA IIs is not ready now for real business use. There are too many bugs which are very disturbing if you are depending on this tool. So I have downgraded to 1.40 and restored my datas with Sprite Backup.
Anyway WM5 looks very good to me and I will be back and install it again when the time is right.
Thank you very much for all the support placed in this forum by you guys!

I've installed it about 2-3 days ago so far, and I'm loving it, I've had a few minor issues but I've managed to work around them. The installation for Windows 2005 was very simple and to the point which I liked, it didn't give me any wonder off questions like "How do I do this part?" it was all done through a nice application. I'm sticking to Windows Mobile 2005. ;-)

FACT: WM5 is maybe ready for freaks, programmers and "wannabe cool guys". But for real business it's definitely NOT ready.
I work in a very hard business and need that thing very often, and it was much better with the WM2003SE, trust me. WM2003SE is a bit faster with my PH20B1 device, but it has definitely less bugs than WM5.
But it's just fair to say, that our WM5 version is just a beta version and for nothing (money). I already have it on my device, I'm not sure to downgrade. May when I have some time. :wink:

WM5 is a love hate friendship.
What gets me the most about this is the fact that if you buy a PC with 2000 on it you can LEGALY upgrade to XP or Server 2003.
If you buy the same machine in a GERMAN version you can LEGALY change the language to what ever you want.
We have paid good wonga for a device which was shipped with a licence for the CE. Here we are stuck as we can't change the language nor version without creative means (lets not get into that).
As a communaty I would say that XDA is a great source of information and has found many ways to fix issues that are both Carrier and OS based. Many of us have spent hours fumbelling in the dark to inprove our very expensive toys and passed on this info via the forum and wiki.
We all know that BIG Brother is watching us. We all know the so called gods of Richmond have flexed thier mussels on this site.
What I just fail to understand is the simple fact that in the long run we all want to better our devices and inprove the issues of perfromance and stabilaty. Whether this is from the side of us users or the manufactures.
So Microsoft make our day and leak a newer Build of the WM5 for the BA and I promise you that we will again documnet the issues, problems, incompatabilaties, faults and general messups.
Would a controlled beta testing by a bunch of Geeks that give a damm and use the device daily not be better than some lab rats that just see if the icons are color matched?
Will I go back to 2003, think I will have to and it pisses me off big time. Would I stay with wm5, well if I could charge my device and then answer a incoming call with out haveing to reset the bugger it would help.

Well - no additional comments. I agree with you :wink:

Agree
I agree with all of your views. As Saisoku-R i am also using my XDA very heavely every day. I do not have the time to play around bugs. But anyway I think WM5 will be a great OS and I may try to upgarde in some more weeks again. Thanks to the great work of all you guys out there!
Thanks!

I agree with the argument in this thread. I use the XDA for non-business purposes, and am enjoying WM5 and its improved verstality no end. I specially love the contextual soft buttons below, the enhanced office and the improved quality of sound. But I do realize that for serious business users, it would be smarter to stick to 2003SE for the moment, and hope a more stable version of WM5 is released.

I have had the version2 with all appropriate patches installed since it was released. I am fortunate to say the I can hear/answer all incoming calls and all SMS features. I don't care much for MMS and taking pictures on low quality imaging product so I have not tested it to a great extent. The only gripe I have with WM5 is that it is slow. Much slower than I can handle compared to WM2003. Even the overclock patch by Mamaich has it's limitations.
Mamaich and Buzz has done a great service to us and I personally would like to thank them for giving me first hand experience in using WM5. Unfortunately, WM5 on a BA is still in it's infancy and I await the day when they tame it. For now, I am on my way back to 2003 and will weight my options when a mature WM5 or a Linux Stable is available.

Downgrading
i have been using the WM5 for weeks now and it is not stable, i can't use bluetooth, wireless is bad, does not ring when i am getting a call, it might ring during the last ring and stuff, so i will downgrade and stay till bluetooth and stuff is fixed. Thank you guys for making WM5 possible, it looks nice but thats all it is so far, looks. I would love to upgrade again if u guys get it stable, thank you very much.

I really wonder why there are so many different problems that some have, but other haven't got. The WLAN and BT turning itself off when the unit is suspended is common for all. But the problems you mention are rare, and I have none of them. Maybe it comes down to other, third party applications that are installed, or perhaps a bad upgrade?

no real problems
I have to say that I have had no real problems since installing wm5.
I have had no reason to soft reset and I have been using for about a week. I must say that at times it goes a bit slow but if you run the mamaich overclock again it seem to rectify for a day or so.
everything works BT, MMS, EMAIL, pocket msn, spb weather, spb clock, Agile messenger, Fax. Oh and phone with no sound issues at all.
To me it is far more stable than 2003se ever was.
Cheers gang

I have been using WM5 for about 6 days now, and it is much more stable (if slower) than 2003 was for me.
Some things don't work
1. Spb Diary
2. Spd Today Plus
Windows Media Player doesn't play Windows Media streams (32k) that TCMP can play.
Overall I am happy with WM 5, it would be nice if Microsoft could figure out how to write code that executes faster though.

I'm back on WM5... I had serious problems with WM2003SE, it softresets itself every 5-10 min. That's right, WM5 is much more stable, even the splash image doesn't nerve me, because with WM5 I don't have to softreset 1time every day :lol:
Where can I get the overclock util from mamaich ? Couldn't find it. Are there any cons concering the overclock util ? My BA is just 3 months old, I don't wanna crack it. :wink:
2 things that isn't as good as it was in WM2003SE: WLAN/BT and performance.
Oh, I found another problem: I have the german keyboard fix for the hard keyboard, and when I type emails or whatever, the buttons sometimes "hang". i.e.: I push the "E" button and it types 60 times the "E". When I press backspace, it deletes the whole text till the beginning. :?

MDAIIIUser said:
So Microsoft make our day and leak a newer Build of the WM5 for the BA and I promise you that we will again documnet the issues, problems, incompatabilaties, faults and general messups.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That´s part of HTC and not MS. MS only delivers the PB and some extensions for WM5.
So go and ask your carrier for changes, so they can order something at htc.
In WM2003 a lot of problems may have been fixed a long time before you got it, but it was to expensive to create a new version,test it and deliver it...

I had WM5 for about 2 weeks on the BA. I thought it was very stable, just WAY TO SLOW. Loading a program like Resco Explorer normally takes <1 second on WM2003 but about 5 or 6 on WM2005. Now before you think, "well that isn't that big a deal", remember everything is going slow like this. I just could not take it anymore.
That being said, I believe BUZZ, (maybe mamaich as well?) is looking into making a version without persistent memory, (basically going back to using RAM for storage and program) like the XDA2 builds.
If that was made then the speed would no longer be the issue, (though persistence would be lost )

I cannot agree with you, my PocketPlus 2.5 loads very fast, ALL games I've installed on my device are much faster with WM5 than with WM2003SE. Just if you re-activate the BA it is slower than WM2003.
And I was just sick and tired of doing almost all 2 days a softreset with WM2003SE... I don't have this issue with WM2005.
All in all, it's like MDAIIIuser said, it's a love-hate story.

I'm a network consultant and I use my BA entirely for business, which is the biggest reason I was SO happy for the work that Buzz, mamaich, ramram, cdaly1970 and the others on WM5 for the BA. Being as that my email, like my clients, is entirely through Exchange 2003 I really don't use text messaging, MSN and such. My only real problem has been with the BT, which I can live with for a while as I need the other things that do work, like my Pocket PC actually syncing to my Exchange server in the cradle, tasks syncing over the internet, contacts containg photo's, setting importance in outgoing emails, etc. I reset in the morning before I get in the car and maybe once more during the day. Yes it opens emails, Word, etc slower.... but the Outlook email and Contacts are just SO much better!
I've gone back to 2003 twice .... and now I just can't imagine going back. Just my experiences....
Steven

^^ hey, what else could I say... this is exact my situation !!! :wink:

hello all I have been using it since the gurus figure it out, and gone trough all the patches and fixes and stuff, after removing the camera stuff, I never had a problem again, and with the overclock app, it works great, its fast, reliable, get all phone calls use it for business everyday its just great, exept for the album, I cant get that to work, other than that its great! thanks to all the geniouses!

win2003 is good still
Well i have used WM5, it is slow, i thought about using hte overclock tool but i would rather not damage my device and be stuck with dead weight. I was really really upset about the bluetooth issue and not being able to use my ear peice, i bought it for a lot of money and i would prefer to use it, cause it is safer and i cannot really hold the MDAIII between my head and shoulder like a regular phone. WM5 looks really good, no doubt, but so far since i went back to 2003SE, it is fast, i have not missed any call and bluetooth is a hell lot more stable. I have happy we have WM5 but i think i will not go back to it till it is well fixed

Windows Mobile 5 - why do it?

Hi all,
Just got myself an O2 XDA(ii). I have heard people banging on about WM5 and how I should upgrade the OS.
However, one question - why do it?
What will I gain by doing the upgrade?
Will it consume more system resources and therefore have an overhead performance?
What woes will be introduced by upgrading - will it break anything?
Is WM5 really as stable as WM3?
I hope I can get answers to these questions!!
Many thanks!

why use windows when dos works fine?

Windows is a GUI, dos is a CLI.
Both human interfaces are radically different.
The questions I posed are reasonable.

Try this..
borrow a WM5 device from someone for a day and dont use ur WM2003 device.
If u like something in that device, install WM5 on your BA and test it, try it

I thought that this was a technical website for developers - I had hoped for some slightly more in depth answers, like contrasting for example:
consumption of system resources
bugs
reliability
speed
new system features
security
power management
etc...

WM5 VS WM3
Hi,
It is a true question,
- I have just used WM5 a week. So I hope my experience will be useful for you.
Fist, the WM5 store all data on it's ROM so you won't lost you data example: instaled program in device, contacts, SMS, MMS... if it run out of energy, hard reset... But, that causes the speed is slower than official WM2003 Version 1.42.
It still remain some bugs example: sometime freeze when you turn it on, BT and wifi sometime need a softreset to turn on.
The energy consumsion is the same (waiting phone mode). Others depend on backlight, % CPU usage.
Certainly WM5 have much more feature. I really don't known what I should advice you now because I still often reset 1-2 time/day like my laptop. But I don't like thing which is the same forever expecialy softwares.
I hope you can have your answer.
Daeljan said:
I thought that this was a technical website for developers - I had hoped for some slightly more in depth answers, like contrasting for example:
consumption of system resources
bugs
reliability
speed
new system features
security
power management
etc...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thank you very much for that answer!
To be honest, I got the XDA because I need something to keep me organised time-wise, so I'm more interested in stability than eye-candy. I don't want to fall behind the times either, but I may hold out untill WM 5 matures a little more. What you said about hanging when you switch on is off-putting enough - I had heard similar things about WM5 related to connectivity, but I've never had the chance to hear about it first-hand.
If anyone else would like to add something of similar content to this thread, I'd be very happy to read about it.
Cheers.

This is xda-developers so the question of why use WM5 on BA sort of answers itself by the simple fact that M$ has not given it to us in the first place (well this could also not be true as M$ did make a copy but none of the providers gave us a rom so that we all go out and by a new WM5 Device).
So why not? In the long run its more of a matter of taste, some have gone for and stayed with the WM5 on a BA, others have gone back and others have gone and brought a REAL WM5 device.
Its up to you, if you read the threads (of which there are many) you will find reasons to stay away and reasons to install it. Like I say its sort of personal.
Oh yes DOS was and is cool, still to this day I use it.

Dude
why don't you just flash to WM5 try it out

Dude
why don't you just flash to WM5 try it out, and if you don't like it go back 2k3, makes the most sense. You seem like a smart chap i'm sure you can figure it out, no harm to the device, and you'll get all your answers bra
My two cents if you like command line and stability learn linux, bash away!

Daeljan said:
I thought that this was a technical website for developers - I had hoped for some slightly more in depth answers, like contrasting for example:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Daeljan,
Welcome to the community! I'm sorry if some of the guys answered like that, but you have to understand that this question pops in from newbies every couple days "Why shall I do it?", "What's the difference", etc... So some of us just get tired of answering!
I am sure however, that you'll find many extremely interesting, highly technical threads.
So, to answer your question: WM2K+3 vs WM5
- I believe that part of doing it was actually to try to see it could be done, I mean the operators left us with an exceptional device (the BlueAngel) without upgrade, so many of us felt "betrayed" and wanted to get the latest, and greatest despite the lack of official support for a release.
- The LATEST version of WM5 (Helmi v3.2) is much more stable that the early versions, I'm currently running it and never think about downgrading back to WM2K3. Amongst the things I find interesting:
- The OS is almost as fast as WM2K3, in fact I run all most of the new versions of software flawlessly.
- WM5 has flat memory and no sharing between the "Storage" and "Execution" spaces (Which is something you will immediately notice on your old OS), so you get more running memory for your applications.
- Because of the above, WM5 has "resilient" storage, i.e. a reset will not erase your data, that alone is a great advantage.
- Some apps that do not run anymore on WM2K3 are now accessible for our community.
- Some applications are natively available on WM5 (Like Mobile PowerPoint) for example, and are not there on WM2K3.
- Better synchronization with your desktop device (You can, for example see your contact pictures directly synchronized, whereas with WM2K3, you can't).
On the other hand, we have a few issues (That are getting fixed with every new release), like:
- Slightly higher power consumption.
- A very, very ugly bluetooth protocol stack... People are doing an amazing job there, and the problem is almost over.
- Other minor issues that you'll discover while browsing the links.
Hope this helps,
Cheers,
W.

1) click search, type an abbrevieted version of your first post in it.
2) be swamped with a massive amount of posts ABOUT THE SAME THING.
3) repeat in future.
(sorry if im being a bit harsh but i myself have awnserwed this question many times before, just search in future!)

Thank you all for your answers, and sorry for making you repeat yourselves.
I suppose that this is an obvious topic for discussion that many people naturally want to know about.
So why not post a summary of it all somewhere where people can find it without having to mine the forums? I searched the FAQ for WM5, Upgrade, Windows Mobile 5, in various combinations and nothing came up.
The bluetooth problems are a little scary though if the XDA is to be used as a GPS, connected to the antenna via bluetooth.
Anyhow, thanks again.

Hic
You can try, it is easy to downgrade, not compelex as in the instruction.
1. Change to bootloader mode, connect USB run Ship file,
2. After the instaltion procces finished, softreset your BA.
3. The first start maybe get mistake, cause ExtraRom could be changed, softreset again, your BA will run in a pure state, unhide ExtraROM-softreset, copy all files in the ExtraROM of Ship file (extract from Ship file) to the ExtraROM, you can also change ExtraRom as you want.
4. Hardreset---everything is OK.

Wzaatar
Very nice post you did there old chap, thanks. You almost got me to try it all over again.

I use the ROM in my signature and I find it great apart from the odd problem but that could be from the 50+ apps I have on it.

Go for it...
Daeljan said:
Thank you very much for that answer!
To be honest, I got the XDA because I need something to keep me organised time-wise, so I'm more interested in stability than eye-candy. I don't want to fall behind the times either, but I may hold out untill WM 5 matures a little more. What you said about hanging when you switch on is off-putting enough - I had heard similar things about WM5 related to connectivity, but I've never had the chance to hear about it first-hand.
If anyone else would like to add something of similar content to this thread, I'd be very happy to read about it.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, I'll try to give you a different slant on things....
WM5 utilises persistent storage (as stated above) which means that, should you find yourself in the unfortunate position that your BA has run out of juice you'll retain all your data (even the RAMDisk contents contrary to some other peoples posts). This is not the case in WM2003SE. If you let the battery run down in WM2003SE it's adios amigo! And start all over again.
WM2003SE while quite stable, is not perfect, especially once you have several apps installed and use it aggressively. WM5, while technically only in beta for this device (as they are mostly hacked/patched/ported ROM's) can prove to be a very stable platform. I have used nearly every version of WM5 on this forum to try and find the 'right' one... and I use my BA constantly, for business purposes and satnav guidance.
Comparing the 2 OS's is like comparing Windows XP and Vista... XP is a proven system, Vista is not, so direct comparison would be unfair to either... as for performance, with the tweaks now found in the newer WM5 ROM's I find my BA responds as well, if not better, than with WM2003SE, battery consumption is a little higher but that can be resloved with any of the CPU throttling apps available...
I wholeheartedly recommend the AKU 2.6 version of Helmi's ROM. I went away on business recently with WM2003SE installed and while away flashed this version of the ROM. My reason for being back with WM2003SE prior to this was the sluggishness of my BA after a while of running WM5. During my absence the Page Pool fix reared its head and all seemed to be good in the world. While AKU3.2 is the newest version of WM5 it has inherent compatability issues with much of the software available for WM5, even Microsoft's own such as Voice Command (an app I actually make use of!). The AKU2.6 ROM doesn't have these issues, and with the paging fix does not become sluggish at all.
9 weeks on and my system has only frozen once, and that was with a 'hacked' piece of software so I don't blame the system... I have not had to reflash once, and I honestly don't remember having to soft reset... I have yet to find a WM5 compatible app which doesn't work with it, and I use it day in, day out.
In short, I jumped on the WM5 bandwagon some time agao and was very disillsusioned at one point, so much so that I returned to WM2003SE... However I missed the smoother GUI, the much better handling of popups and alerts, the tighter integration with Outlook, the better operation of ActiveSync and so forth, so I came back to the fold, and I will not be downgrading again...
If you use Push Email anything after AKU2 (or is it 2.3?) is a Godsend, and believe me, the overall feel of the OS is much smoother, it feels like a 'pocket pc', rather than a really gucci phone!!
I use my BA to play media, read newsfeeds, browse the web, check/send email, and all the other stuff my mates do on their laptops, and if you have the right settings for your provider there should be no issues with connectivity... I have A2DP set up as well so I have a stereo BT headset for music/video etc... I run TomTom, Garmin Que, OziExplorer...
Oh! And I use it as a PDA/Organiser, my life is on that brick, and believe me, it gets hammered!!
I also have an XDA Exec now and to be honest I prefer the BA... although I do love my IQ (but Smartphone is a whole different kettle of fish)!!
I hope this gratuitous plug of WM5 helps sway your decision

I personally like WM5. The issue for me, and the reason I bought the SX66 in the first place, was screen size and muscle. Alot of the affordable WM5 devices out have small screens compared to what I am used to in a PDA. I cannot afford and Jasjar (wish I could) so I looked for something with a decent screen size and processing power.
The SX66 was the only choice for me, EXACTLY because I could flash it too WM5 Haven't looked back since. I run my games (Morphgear - SNES), work with my files without having to squint too much, play my music and get phone calls. Coolest thing in the world.
I have compared it side by side with the 8125 and the windows Treo, it kept up easy enough. Out did them in some area's, lost in one (no camera)... but in the end its just as functional as the new ones.
Flash it and see!

Daeljan said:
Thank you very much for that answer!
hi Daeljan,
Just reiterating what people has said before
To be honest, I got the XDA because I need something to keep me organised time-wise, so I'm more interested in stability than eye-candy.
-- if this is what you need, then you definitely need to upgrade to latest WM5 (Helmi, Xplode - both are great). The sole idea of "persistent storage" itself is a must to upgrade. I am using IIs (Helmi's rom) and I actually found my BA is more stable than when I used 2003SE. I had this hard reset issue when I pressed the green button to receive phone call. It annoyed the hell out of me. It happened to me about 3 times... Now this problem is gone. Just imagine yourself is out of town for a business trip and suddenly our "stable 2003SE" hard reset by itself and the back up file is at home in your pc... what a bum huh? it happened to me.
I don't want to fall behind the times either, but I may hold out untill WM 5 matures a little more. What you said about hanging when you switch on is off-putting enough - I had heard similar things about WM5 related to connectivity, but I've never had the chance to hear about it first-hand.
-- This is a subjective comment from me, I think the current version of WM5 out here are good enuf. I dont think it will "mature" too much cause people WILL be busy playing with WM6. As far as I know, more and more developers make new softwares for WM5/6 and less make them for 2003.
Yes, WM5 still has some issues now, but I have not found 1 piece of software that is perfect. even 2003SE had issues. However, these are acceptable issues (for me anyway).
Just a happy user of WM5 and I would never go back to 2003SE (unless I want to sell my beloved BA, then i might have to flash it back to factory rom ).
If you want to wait, dont wait for WM5... wait for a more stable WM6.
Like other happy users, I still have hopes the geniuses from xda-dev would find a way to make WM6 work on BA... whatever solution that is...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

WM5 allows me to install apps to my storage cards - very useful! There is also the "device lock" feature which has saved me $$$ in phone bills from calls I didnt make.

Worth getting Kaiser ?

Hi
I'm upgrading my PDA from BlueAngel to something newer.
I'm choosing between Eten M800 and HTC Kaiser.
Kaiser seems to be preferred choice right now, but I'm scared by the "video performance" issue.
There seems to be a lot of discussion on the web about "missing driver" and so on.
Can anybody tell me if it's true ?
Especially with current WM6.1 ROMS... are there problems with display performance ?
I've searched XDA forum and found some info about fixing laggy PIE scrolling etc.
But I wanted to know from someone who used an Intel PXA or Samsung SC device and can compare it to Kaiser.
Cheers

depends what your usage is for the device.this is a business related phone so really people shouldn't be complaining about the issue if they got it outside of business purposes since it does well for everything except video related performance such as playback,gaming and enhanced plugins for the today screen such as manila with slow frames per second.

The driver issue is a bit overexaggerated on here. I can play movies and games perfectly. Would the drivers be a nice to have? Definitely. A must? Not really (for me at least).

same goes for me,i knew what i was getting before i got my tilt in december and this driver issue has been going prior before and i still use my device on a frequent basis daily as its "intended" to be

best phone i ever had! go get it

i agree, my herme's keyboard starting having keys popping out and i was available to upgrade anyways and basically its the same thing except it has more memory and the sliding mechanism can tilt

Is the Tytn II the right phone for me?

Hey,
just found this very interesting board and read through many of the articles here so that i may finally be able to pose my questions.
I'm currently using a old brick, a Nokia 6310. Since this thing is slowly falling apart I thought about moving to a new device. Normally I would take the cheapest thing availabe, because I don't really do lots of phone calls a month. But I miss my old Palm 1050 and instead of buying two seperate devices I thought of buying a smartphone.
The Kaiser seems to combine everything I want. Its quite uptodate, GPS UMTS and all this stuff included plus the hardware QWERTZ (and I think I want this thing, those touchpad-versions are just not fast enough). In addition it seems to be quite easy to modify this thing to fit your own special purpose (adding all these new ROMs, progs etc. pp.). The only problem is this damn video driver thing you read about everywhere.
So, my question is: How much of a problem is the driver situation? How bad is it, considering that I want to use the phone from web surfing over office use to multimedia and games (those Duke 3D videos are really cool, you know ), will it really bother me or is the phone still very useful (not as fast as it could be, but fast enough)?
If no, where are the alternatives? The Hermes seems to be faster, but it lacks GPS. Even if the Touch Pro is coming soon, it may cost far more than the current Kaiser. Same with the Xperia. Is there any other device which is as well equiped as the Kaiser and also good to customize?
Thanks for your help and maybe some recommendations

I think that the Kaiser should be able to suit your needs.
As a business phone it should very easily be able to handle almost anything you throw at it. And as a multimedia phone it lacks, to some in gaming performance, 2D/3D rendering and such, but as for viewing videos and surfing the web, these can be quite easily solved through tweaking and using the right apps. A combination of coremedia and a good ROM should have video working just fine.
i have had my tilt for almost 6 months now and have fully customized it to suit my needs. Everything works exactly the way I need it to. Take time to customize your kaiser and it will be able to handle just about everything you throw at it.

Maybe I can help you out a little. Being a user of both the Hermes and the Kaiser, the Kaiser wins but it's a close race. Both devices are similar in form and function with the Kaiser navigation and function buttons in a slightly better layout. The Kaiser and the Hermes have 400mhz processors but from different suppliers, The Kaiser is a little faster and beats the Hermes in opening and running applications, not by much but it is noticable. The Kaisers built in GPS works fine for me, but then so is the Bluetooth receiver I use with the Hermes.
On the other hand the Hermes was easier to customize initially, one step to Hard SPL and CID unlock the Hermes, plug in the USB, Activesync, and run the RUU, in 10 to 20 min it's done. With the Kaiser, well it's not as easy, as there are a few extra steps and 4 or 5 different Hard SPL's to to choose from. After the Kaiser is Hard SPL'd, upgrading ROMs is a simple task.
ROMs, the Kaiser was built to run the WM6/6.1 ROMs and the Hermes WM5/6. Almost all the WM6.1 ROMs for the Hermes are based on the Kaiser ROMs.
As for customizing, both will run pretty much any WM5-6 programs and/or applications.
For me tho, the Kaiser is the better device, with the built in GPS and slightly faster performance being the deciding factor.
Hope this helps you and good luck with whichever device you choose.

So you think there should be no problem with the right amount of tweaking?
Because in some videos on the tube I even saw it lagging when scrolling up and down a list or a website whereas other vids of Duke or Quake looked absolutely playable and in the range of 30-40fps.
Edit: Thanks to both of you for your opinions. I'm just a bit worried how much this driver thing will affect the overall useability of the Kaiser when processing anything with graphics, from simple site layouts to vids or games. And in addition my head is still working on the whole ROM thing right now, at least I got the differences between SPL, Radio and ROM finally

Okay, just have to push this up again as there came up some new questions (before I can finally order this thing here):
1.) Graphic Drivers
I'm still a bit confused about those. HTC did not implement real drivers for hardware acceleration, that's what I already got. But then there are some roms like the HyperDragon III WM6.1 WWE (which seems to be ported from the Diamond) that has "Direct3D Mobile Display Drivers", there's the "26_Kaiser_Diamond_V8" release with some ATI Drivers and there is the OpenGL project which seems to get into the hot phase right now. So what is the real deal here, where is the difference between those drivers and which impact do they have, compared to an untouched Kaiser.
2.) Roms
Also, just to get it clear: Roms are a user "cooked" combination of a tweaked OS (Windows Mobile with drivers or registry changes) together with a mostly changed interace and a cleaned up program package (removed and/or added), right? But I will still be able to configure the whole unit by myself, maybe not on the driver/OS level but on the program or interface level (for example: enable slide to unlocked if not already included, or disable a touchFlo feature, add or remove other software and so on).
Again, thanks for your help.

Skirr said:
Okay, just have to push this up again as there came up some new questions (before I can finally order this thing here):
1.) Graphic Drivers
I'm still a bit confused about those. HTC did not implement real drivers for hardware acceleration, that's what I already got. But then there are some roms like the HyperDragon III WM6.1 WWE (which seems to be ported from the Diamond) that has "Direct3D Mobile Display Drivers", there's the "26_Kaiser_Diamond_V8" release with some ATI Drivers and there is the OpenGL project which seems to get into the hot phase right now. So what is the real deal here, where is the difference between those drivers and which impact do they have, compared to an untouched Kaiser.
2.) Roms
Also, just to get it clear: Roms are a user "cooked" combination of a tweaked OS (Windows Mobile with drivers or registry changes) together with a mostly changed interace and a cleaned up program package (removed and/or added), right? But I will still be able to configure the whole unit by myself, maybe not on the driver/OS level but on the program or interface level (for example: enable slide to unlocked if not already included, or disable a touchFlo feature, add or remove other software and so on).
Again, thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, the driver issue is a pretty complicated thing, to some it completely cripples the device, and others get annoyed by all the "buzz" created by such a "small" issue. It really varies from user to user how big of a problem the missing drivers are. Normal use of the phone, excluding 3d and some 2d games, is very good. As you may be aware there have been, and still are many focused on creating and implementing drivers, and if you take a look at the htcclassaction.org website you can get a lot more info on the subject, 3D drivers will not do much for the normal wm6 interface or any other uses as they are not 3d applications. take a look at the website i listed and you should have all of the information you need. Keep in mind that this is a very good phone and pda. If you want a phone with a smooth iphone like interface, take a look at other HTC devices or maybe even the new iphone, these are both good alternatives.
As far as the issue with ROMS, there are many different ROMS out there by many different chefs, if you decide to get the Kaiser you should try out anything that you think looks interesting until you find something you like. wanting to customize your phone is easy through ROMS as well, take a look at clean, or lite roms which have the registry changes and small driver implementations from chefs but no "extra" apps. There are a few new drivers floating around, some do make the device a little snappier but are not 3d or even 2d acceleration drivers.
Hope i answered your questions, good luck with what ever you choose!

Thanks, indeed this is a help. So all this ATI stuff coming from the Diamond is not the real deal, maybe a small improvement but nothing more since they are just ported. For sure I already read the site you proposed, but I especially wanted to be sure about those drivers the Diamond roms carry with them. I don't think they are mentioned there, or did I miss something?
Anyway, I think I will just have to try and see for myself if the Kaiser would be "crippled" or "absolutely useful" for me. The new iPhone is cool, but for my needs it will be far to expensive, same with the Touch Pro. And I still want to have the QWERTZ-keyboard, so the other HTC devices are not really satisfying either.

Did it, now the Kaisers on the way, for the cheap price of 350€ unlocked etc. pp. Thanks guys, now I'm going to get everything I need in advance for pimping up my new phone

Tilt + Android - Give me TF2D

I very recently bumped to the TouchFLO 2D interface on my Tilt, and have fallen in love with my phone all over again.
I took the time to attempt Android, and while it is still being developed and buggy and such, the nature of the interface alone is not as intuitive (to me) as HTC has made TouchFLO.
Anyone else tried Android? Anyone else sort of disappointed, at least initially?

I've had a small play with Android running on a friend's Kaiser, and honestly I'm not liking the look of it at all.
That said Google Maps is much nicer in Android.

Oops - Double post

I've been playing with the Android port to Kaiser (see this thread), have played with the emulator that's part of the SDK and played on a Android G1 phone.
I found the interface to be intuitive and have been able to navigate my way around the usual features with ease. It has a few rough edges but in general I'm very impressed.
The guys doing the port to the Kaiser are making tremendous progress, with big improvements coming almost daily. That said there's still a lot of work to do before it's ready to replace Windows Mobile. If the port is completed (and I suspect it will be) then I'm pretty sure I'll make the switch and give up on Windows mobile.
So no, I'm not disappointed with Android. I'm just disappointed I can't run it on my Kaiser properly yet ;-)
Cheers,
Lanroth

I really like android on my Kaiser. It is getting more upon usable release. The only problems I see are with connectivity like cellular service and Wi-Fi, calls only being on speakerphone, the issue where if you open the keyboard-the screen rotates the wrong way, and the touchscreen calibration being off. Android for Kaiser has come a long way from the simple and pretty much unusable test version that couldn't do really anything. Also, all the problems I mentioned above are currently being worked on my our best and brightest developers. Although I will certainly stick with windows mobile as my primary OS, I will definitely use Android more as it becomes more stable. All in all, I'm very happy with it.
Dave