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K-Jam/HTC Wizard - Rants and raves

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It's been a week since I got my K-Jam. This is my first Windows Mobile 2005 device. Most of my thoughts are positive so far. Here's little notes on pros and cons of the device.

Pros:
* Battery life is amazing
* I can get 150-200KBps speeds on GPRS EDGE data.
* Wifi has a decent range
* Gotta love the keyboard. I used many different devices in my past devices with/out keyboard. Most of the Pocket PC devices with a built-in or add on keyboard (like Ipaqs) felt like the keys were crammed into the place. With clever use of landscape mode, keys have enough space and good tactile feedback.
* Finally a non-volatile memory, ie. you won't lose data if you lose power. It took so many years for device manufacturers and Microsoft to figure out this, where competition like Palm, Nokia, Sony has been using it for ages.
* Soft buttons are very functional. This new feature of WM5 allows two hardware buttons to be assigned as soft buttons on the bottom of the screen. You can either use the hardware buttons or touch screen. They change according to the application, today screen shows contacts and calendar, file explorer shows up and menu, etc.
* Even though it is thicker than original Jam/HTC Magician, it feels better in your hand and pretty much the same weight.
* Sound is very clear during phone calls.
* GSM signal levels are good. The unit is one of the few devices that gets two bars in my home

Cons:
* The antivirus software that comes installed as a part of device customization by default makes the device really slow at times. This can be easily remedied by editing the Extended ROM and removing the cab, then hard reset.
* CPU speed feels slow at times. The device takes its time to respond, I guess after using 600+ Mhz devices, it will take a while getting used to slower speeds.
* Not all Windows Mobile 2003 or SE software works, heck even some are supposed to be Windows Mobile 2005 compatible (as announced by their developer), but they don't work. Word of the wise, be careful what you install. For example Pocket Plus, with its safe boot mode enable locked the device, requiring hard reset.
* No built-in backup utility. I guess the "smart" people at HTC/Microsoft decided since the unit now uses a non-volatile memory, there is no need for a backup utility. I could have restored my data after a lockup like above, but no chance. And the current software available for WM2003 does not work properly on WM5, developers like Sprite Software are working on a solution.
* I don't know why on earth MS continues without a proper close button for apps.

In short, I'd recommend the device to anyone. It's a bit more data centric then phone centric, of course, but as a mobile worker, I use the data connectivity most of the time.

Posted 10/13/2005 3:00:00 AM @ 15:44:00 | Smartphones/Pocket PC

Great review,

I'm about to get one myself, but unfortunately its a T-Mobile Vario from The Netherlands and I'll need to unlock it and reflash to get a World Wide English ROM up and running. Do you know of any programs that will backup the ROM or a URL that explains how to?

Posted by Marston (email) on 11/26/2005 3:00:00 AM

You got couple options:

1. The ROM upgrade utility has a backup option.
2. You can put the device into the ROM update mode and connect via a USB terminal software, and backup rom to mini-SD card.

Check out www.xda-developers.com website for more info.

Posted by Sems on 11/26/2005 3:00:00 AM

I am thinking of purchasing this unit. I am hearing that telus may have disabled the wifi.

Is this correct?

Posted by Dave (email) on 12/4/2005 3:00:00 AM