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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic tool for business, November 18, 2009
This review is from: HTC Imagio XV6975 Windows Phone (Verizon Wireless) (Wireless Phone)
I received this phone just days after Verizon released it, replacing a TouchPro as my personal phone. I also have a Blackberry Tour and was testing an iphone 3GS for our company at the same time. So I had three of the latest technologies in my hands.
The iphone was my first experience with touch-screen only, and I was really hesitant. But after using it for a couple days, I realized that it was actually very quick to learn to type with. I was sending decent sized emails quickly. But dang, the web browsing speeds were so incredibly slow compared to the other phones. The iphone interface was very easy to learn, and one strong point was moving from app to app didn't seem to slow the phone down at all. But I have multiple email accounts (work, and two personal), and to move between accounts takes several taps. Another thing that I did not like was the back cover is a shiny plastic, only way to keep it decent looking is to cover it. I don't like that.
The BB Tour had a learning curve that I was not expecting, it was not nearly as intuitive as either WM6.1 or the iphone, to move from function to function takes several clicks or motions with the trackball, move here, then there, then here, press this, then that, however, once learned, it is an incredibly quick phone. Lots of finger motion, but it is extremely fast to move from app to app. The fastest of the three, but it really feels that you have to work for it. This phone feels well made, a decent keyboard (though I preferred the keyboard on my TouchPro) so typing is decent.
Now, my newest toy, the Imagio, my first interaction with WM6.5. The phone feels really solid in the hand, much more substantial than any of the other phones. Plus the back cover has a textured surface, it is very easy to grab, and will not scratch easily, so no protector needed. The HTC navigation is very similar to my TouchPro, but it is even easier and faster. The screen is stunning, truly. I love the tactile feedback when typing (a very nice compliment to the touchscreen typing, a step up from the iphone in this way), the screen is extremely touch sensitive, slightly more so than the iphone, so it takes a while to learn just exactly how to brush the screen to initiate a scroll rather than selecting something, iphone was better at this. Rotation of the screen seems to take about the same amount of time as the iphone, no winners there, but the multitouch (expand, open, close, etc) of the iphone is nice, something that the Imagio does not do. There is a zoom slider area, but it only works in some apps, so it helps, but no match for the iphone in this way. But the killer piece, to go from email account to email account takes a single touch, I love it. This phone feels much more business oriented in the navigation than the iphone, I feel that it is a superior tool for my usage, and again, I love the screen, stunning. The kickstand feature is cool, but I really have no intention of watching stuff on it, but my 10 year old daughter thinks it is cool. One drawback, as you open lots of apps, the phone does slow down, so I often go in and actually close the apps rather than just switching apps (iphone excelled at this). Oh, and battery life is fantastic, better than the ipone, but not quite up to the BB Tour. First phone that I have had that I didn't have to recharge every single night.
Bottom line, the AT&T rep picked up the iphone, and I turned in my BB Tour, we just call forward to my personal Imagio, and for the first time in seven years, I carry a single phone (personal, it is my home phone too, and for work).
Yes, I am a very happy customer.
ken
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad but underpowered..., June 3, 2010
This review is from: HTC Imagio XV6975 Windows Phone (Verizon Wireless) (Wireless Phone)
I purchased one of these when they first came out, and have used it since. We have a contract with my office so several of us have gotten these and I use it for both work and personal.
Windows Mobile 6.1 so I get my exchange server activesync working just fine, so mail, contacts, calendar, all are there always, instantly updated in either direction.
Phone signal is pretty good compared to previous HTC phones I've had with Verizon. My home is in the suburbs and I was never able to get a signal if I was inside the house unless standing right by a window/wall on the south facing side of my house. With this one, the signal is still poor and sometimes breaks up or disconnects but the fact that I can talk at all from inside my house is an improvement over previous phones, both from HTC or the other smart phones I've used.
The screen is nice, good size, vivid display, easy to read, but the processor really limits the enjoyability. This phone was pushed out in the same quarter the faster android based phones were, and when you look at them side by side, there is no comparison in the responsiveness of the display and the menus. Things just seem to barely be able to chug along.
I've always done mods on my phones, and so of course I hit some of the websites out there to see if there were any ROMS to update anything, but it was too new for anything that extensive, however I did find a homebrewed update to some of the menus and such, that gave me a much better touchflo experience as far as content went, and customizing. You can easily do a web search for several mods like this, don't want to post any links in here... But while it didn't help the speed issue, it DID at least make my menu more what I wanted, additional tabs, more customizable.
My only hardware fault on this is a repeating problem where it just turns itself off and will not power back on, period. The system seems to think the battery is dead. I have to pop off the back cover, remove the battery, reinsert the battery, and here's the kicker, power it on initially with the charger connected. Then it finally boots up, and shows the battery well charged again. Every time this has happened I've never been below about 60 or 70 percent battery. It doesn't even happen when I get as low as 8 to 10 percent battery remaining, only when I have a nearly full charge. Frustrating, but at least simple to overcome as long as I have a power cable handy...
The size is pretty good, a little larger than I'd like but still fits in the side pocket on the leg of my jeans even if it is very snug.
The fact that it has a stylus is another strength, as those seem to be going the way of the dodo... Most of the phones out there now don't have them anymore, and for me it is something I really like having for precision...
Buttons work well, and while there's a slight feel of a "click" or tactile feedback that it actually engaged, it's not much of a feel. But I've never had to press any button more than once to get it to do what I wanted (other than hitting "END" repeatedly trying to get it to hang up a call quicker or return me to the main menu quicker).
Another nice feature for people who use wired earpieces is that it has the little 1/8" stereo jack to plug into it without any adapters like so many other phones make you use. So if you're not into bluetooth but want the earpiece, this is a necessity and saves another cable from having to be used.
Charger plug is a slightly different shape than "normal" usb charging plugs (only one side is beveled) but normal USB charging cables work on it, although this one won't work in other things.
Bluetooth works great, I've used it in three cars so far, and never had a problem pairing it with anything.
I don't use any of the Vcast stuff, so can't comment on that.
Camera works alright, but it's a phone, i have a digital camera for things like that so for me it's mostly been seeing how it works by accident ;)
The power issue is probably the biggest downfall of it, but I only know another couple people who had similar experiences with it, most of the units have not displayed that issue, so doesn't seem to be an "entire line" problem. I didn't drop the stars at all for that, but simply for being a slightly overstuffed phone that should've been using a faster processor rather than being squeezed into the tail end of this processor's life cycle.
I'm planning on replacing it soon with an android based unit probably, or maybe the droid incredible, but that's more because I want more speed and new features, not because of any glaring failure in this hardware.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great phone - picked over Droid, Blackberry, Palm Pre & Pixi, January 24, 2010
This review is from: HTC Imagio XV6975 Windows Phone (Verizon Wireless) (Wireless Phone)
PLEASE READ MY VERIZON VS SPRINT REVIEW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!
After finding some standout features we decided on the Imagio.
First with Windows based phones we can view our security cameras at home on our
phone, for the first time with Verizon. (wi-life online) It is also the
only phone with actual live Mobile TV like Fox News which is an extra $15 a month,
but I am very happy to watch the news as it is happening. I really liked the Google maps on the Droid, but I was able to download and install that easily enough ([...]). The Droid (Motorola) has more features with Navigation, but I find the navigation to be unreliable so I started looking at the Imagio again.
When we started looking at all of the phones, I did not see many reviews on the Imagio. One said there was hissing during calls, but in fact the calls are great, clear, and reliable for the most part. (We tried iPhones which were the worst reliability in our area as well as driving from LAX to Disneyland, especially at Disneyland - just awful!) The Imagio as a phone is not the most ergonomic feel in your hand, but the speakerphone is great and there's always bluetooth.
The email is not supercool. It was confusing to set up because they have it in two places. I actually had to call Verizon for help. Now that it is set up, it is still not the most user friendly. I read in a review to try downloading and using SPB Mobile shell to replace the existing interface, so I plan to try that but haven't done so yet.
The Imagio touch screen is sensitive as the other reviewer says. I was very hesitant about having only the touch screen but it works fine overall. The setup for synching to my computer went on and on but eventually I figured it out.
As far as battery life goes, Verizon sells an extended battery and cover. I bought that and it doesn't add too much weight or size to the phone. The battery adds the extra time you need to make it not so bad on battery life. Removing the micro-sd is not that user friendly because you have to take the battery cover off and take the stylus out before replacing the cover or you will lock the stylus in and will have to take the cover off again to get to it.
Having less to do with the Imagio:
If you are buying your first smart phone I would just recommend that you find 3 really cool features about the phone that make you excited and want to put up with the phone's shortcomings. They all had some. This is where I found my peace with picking and feeling happy about a phone. We looked at Blackberry's which are probably the best for emailing and had cool radio station apps. We looked at the Droids which are really cool and have great potential. The Motorola was fun to scan the map, look for restaurants in the area. The screen is really nice on that phone. After comparing it to the Imagio however, the Imagio was just as cool.
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