Customer Reviews

Pharos PTL600 Unlocked Phone with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM Tuner, and Digital Camera--International Version with No Warranty

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I read all the reviews of the Pharos 600 and bought it anyway. I'm glad I didn't listen to the people who disliked it. The Ostia navigation software, contrary to a review I read elsewhere, is easy and intuitive to operate. I programmed in a house address and followed the prompts while driving, and it got me there perfectly. I was early for my meeting, so I kept driving, and Ostia kept calculating new routes to get me back there!

The phone sounds crisp and clear, and it's easy to use. The only thing I'm reserving judgment on is the camera, since I haven't fully tested it yet. The images I've taken so far don't impress me, but as I said I haven't mastered all its settings.

It connects to the nearest WiFi for internet access, and even displays the week's weather forecast on the home screen. I downloaded Google Maps, and when using the GPS it can show the satellite image with traffic report overlays.

My goal was to have one compact device to carry around, especially on trips, that had a phone, camera, internet, basic computing (MS Word), and GPS all in one, so my briefcase wouldn't be cluttered with crap and all the power cords and adapters necessary. The Pharos 600 does it.

Very disappointing. I had hoped for a full-featured Windows smartphone plus a substitute for an in-dash car GPS. I got neither.
First, the good parts. Nice feel, small form factor. Crisp screen. The windshield mount worked well, and the belt clip is nice. Deserves at least a star for that.
However, the small form factor kills ease of use, as the 1.25" X 2.75" screen is far smaller than an in-dash car GPS. Many important features require tapping tiny icons or pull-down menus - not linked to buttons - and you have to pull the Pharos out of its carrier to get at the stylus.
It is difficult to add waypoints to force it to take a certain route on the way. The manual barely covers this. I guess I'm spoiled by google maps, the Ostia zoom-in/out requires 5-6 diagonal strokes to get to city level and street names don't show. While moving the map with finger or stylus I often accidentally zoomed in to some part of the city I couldn't recognize and had to start over. It appears the designers thought of this and put in a Power User feature to display the entire route, but that menu item was always grayed out for me. Only alternative is to check the route in turn-by-turn text form.
And check it you must. In Houston we have these feeder roads that run alongside the interstate. The GPS often thinks you're on the feeder when you're on the interstate and vice-versa, and gives bogus instructions accordingly. More than once I was told to exit - travelled along the feeder road through a light - and then back on the same interstate! If you didn't spot this before departure, it's too late when you're driving to try to zoom out and see where your GPS is sending you.
The area I live in also has some new roads and exits since 2003 which aren't on the map - a minor annoyance when you know more than the map, which squeaks and squawks in protest until you come into an area its familiar with again. POIs out of date and incomplete, and Live Update takes too long to load to be useful here. Also, if you forget to turn off the GPS after arrival you might not have enough battery to make it through the day.
As a PDA the Pharos 600 is unstable and memory-starved. I think that comes from it being an ETEN 500 repackaged by Pharos with GPS stuck on, and they tried to squeeze all the maps into memory. Getting MS Active Sync to work was an agonizing troubleshoot - I'm not sure that is all Pharos' fault, though their technical assistance was zero help - unreachable after 5.30pm and don't return calls. The website is for marketing with one screen of FAQs masquerading as support. True, I do have 6500 contacts but I never had a problem with the Palm, which synced in minutes, not overnight.
I've never really played with any of the other features like email or internet, if it can't do rock-solid contacts it's worthless to me. In fact, right now it's locked up again and even a hard reset isn't bringing it around. If I can get Tech Support to pick up the phone I'm reluctantly returning this - what a potentially nice device.
My advice: skip the Pharos. Spend slightly more for an in-dash GPS for the car, and a Palm for contacts. And spend more time with the kids, rather than listening to hold music.

I have been their customer for a while ( I should say almost 5 years). But since then their customer service has become hopeless. Recently I purchased this phone and found out some features that are standard to Windows Mobile is missing. I have sent them several e-mails for support and yet no response. Not even a single automated mail stating that they received it and assigned a case or doing something about it. They have just gone down hill.
Regarding the product, it's fairly ok with many features. But the processor is slow. I have to reboot it atleast once a day. If you have the phone , wife and gps on , most time it hangs. Some phone features that are standard to Windows Mobile will be missing because these guys reprogrammed the ROM I guess. For e.g auto answer and setting # of rings etc. Not worth the price.

First of all the Pharos 600 is manufactured with a major flaw that when it does break the motherboard will be useless. The power plug/usb connector in the phone is made with a gap, space, void area that allows preassure on the soldered connection to the motherboard inside. At any time, the slightest preassure will break the soldered connection with forseen leverage on the usb connector. This is not the case with every other phone on the market. Other manufacturers do not have this planned designed defect.
Then you have to deal with the company that will acknowlege the defect, unconcerned of the effect on the customer. You will have to pay for basicly another phone or walk away with your broken one.
If less stars than one was available it would have been my pick ... for customer service at Pharos headquarters.

The GPS hardware port is lock! new arrived with "acquire a GPS signal" forever, after email support get new version of Ostia problem solve, once hard reset problem happen again, update the ROM from pharo, the problem/bug happen on 2007 still there[...]

when this problem happen even use the other software like tomtom, garmin, googlemap... not any software can get the gps signal, looks like software can detect the GPS but "acquire a GPS signal" forever.
plus the Ostia GPS software can not find the right RD route. if the hardware and software both have big BUG, it is a junk, do not buy PHAROS gps.

On the plus side, it's a very handy replacement for a PDA and a phone. The nav software works reasonably well in the northeast even with some quirks in the programming as noted by other posters. Windows Office documents transfer quite well to desktop, and full screen (touch) keyboard is easy to use even for someone with big fingers. Camera works quite well - for a phone camera (I won't be replacing my dSLR with it any time soon!). Unit is compact and manageable and screen is *very* easy to read, even in full daylight. Battery life quite good, except if you try and use GPS, phone, etc., simultaneously.

On the negative side, the biggest problem is that the phone is not very loud. I find it very hard to hear in a car with window open, unlike my Motorola phone (have not tried bluetooth headset). I also was not expecting the lack of tactile feedback from on-screen 'keys' to be so awkward. (Entering phone numbers, for example, is not possible without looking at the phone. People considering an iPhone should keep this in mind...). Finally, nav software routed me some very strange ways on occasion, insisting I take a road parallel to the one I was on.

The PTL 600 is the biggest mistake that I have ever made in consumer electronic purchases! While the GPS locks very fast, I find the Ostia maps to be outdated and lacking in detail. If I would have taken every turn that this unit suggested, I probably wouldn't be here to write a review. Even though the maps are poor, they still take up most of the memory on this device. Unless you like to carry around extra microSD cards in your pocket, be prepared to be disappointed. Also, I've had a lot of problems trying to charge the phone with the flimsy USB/charge cable included (the AC power adapter works fine). Finally, the customer service is the worst that I've ever seen. I sent my phone to them on an RMA for problems with the display in March (after hours of hold music and unreturned email), and I still haven't received it back. If you are comparing devices in this price range, you might want to take a look at the HP iPAQ Travel Companion (rx5910/5915)- I'm going to. If your still interested in Pharos, watch for cheap used handhelds. Mine is still under warranty, and I hope to sell it soon (if I ever get it back!)