Jeff Horton
Member
- Messages
- 4,272
- Location
- The Heart of Dixie
I had asked about this a while back. I was in need of a new phone. I wanted something that would keep track of my contacts and my appointments. Preferably sync with Outlook. I have had a Palm Treo for a while but was not impressed with it. I am not a heavy phone user. So when I went to use mine it appeared to be dead. I assumed I had let the battery die. Turns out it had died. Every time I tried to do anything it shut down and rebooted. I had important phone calls I had missed too and didn't know about.
So I was forced into buying a phone quickly. I spent that night online researching my options. I finally settled on the Samsung BlackJackII. With the Palm as a second choice (hesitantly I might add). Went to the (now) AT&T store and found my favorite saleslady was there. I have dealt with her for years now and she has always been very upfront and honest with me. Turns out she had the Blackjack and was impressed with it. Showed me a few things about it and said they had not had any real complaints or problems.
Jump forward. I have had the phone for a couple of weeks and I am totally impressed! Even though this thing is using Windows Mobile software it's impressive. I had to redo my contacts since I didn't want 100+ business email addresses on my phone. As I was making changes I was surprised to see the sync program updating the phone seconds after I had made changes. not a big deal but it impressed me.
Next, I shouldn't been surprised but there a lot of people out there witting software for the Blackjack and learning ways around some of the limits of the phone. BTW it runs a version of Windows on it. I performed a hack last night that now allows my phone to play any MP3 as a ring tone. The phone had a size limit on ring tones! Duhh!! Now when my wife calls it plays either Roy Orbisons Devil Doll or Gene Vincents Be Bopp a Lula. I know, but it makes me laugh.
I opted to try Mobile Internet service. Not sure if it is worth the cost but it sure has been handy a couple of times. Since I downgraded to cheaper package I was actually able to add it and my bill is less than it was. So now I have download some neat stuff from Google including Google maps. Very handy in my job since I drive to peoples homes. But how about a free GPS?
I discovered that the BlackJackII has a built in GPS receiver. But you have to pay $30 a month or something like that for it. I have GPS on my Table PC that I use in my truck so I wasn't going to buy that. Then I stumbled upon a web site and found something interesting. The GPS receiver can be made to work with Google Maps with a free piece of software and there is nothing illegal about it.
Seems that the Windows Mobile doesn't have any COM ports available for te software to talk to the GPS antenna. The software creates a COM4 (port) that now allows other software to talk to he GPS attena (at least that is how I understand it). Thats all that Google Maps needs to access the GPS. I installed it and walked outside last night. Changed the view to their satellite maps and I was amazed. I walked down to my barn and a couple of things in the yard and it had me pinpointed to withing probably a couple of feet of the items.
I am totally impressed!!
So I was forced into buying a phone quickly. I spent that night online researching my options. I finally settled on the Samsung BlackJackII. With the Palm as a second choice (hesitantly I might add). Went to the (now) AT&T store and found my favorite saleslady was there. I have dealt with her for years now and she has always been very upfront and honest with me. Turns out she had the Blackjack and was impressed with it. Showed me a few things about it and said they had not had any real complaints or problems.
Jump forward. I have had the phone for a couple of weeks and I am totally impressed! Even though this thing is using Windows Mobile software it's impressive. I had to redo my contacts since I didn't want 100+ business email addresses on my phone. As I was making changes I was surprised to see the sync program updating the phone seconds after I had made changes. not a big deal but it impressed me.
Next, I shouldn't been surprised but there a lot of people out there witting software for the Blackjack and learning ways around some of the limits of the phone. BTW it runs a version of Windows on it. I performed a hack last night that now allows my phone to play any MP3 as a ring tone. The phone had a size limit on ring tones! Duhh!! Now when my wife calls it plays either Roy Orbisons Devil Doll or Gene Vincents Be Bopp a Lula. I know, but it makes me laugh.
I opted to try Mobile Internet service. Not sure if it is worth the cost but it sure has been handy a couple of times. Since I downgraded to cheaper package I was actually able to add it and my bill is less than it was. So now I have download some neat stuff from Google including Google maps. Very handy in my job since I drive to peoples homes. But how about a free GPS?
I discovered that the BlackJackII has a built in GPS receiver. But you have to pay $30 a month or something like that for it. I have GPS on my Table PC that I use in my truck so I wasn't going to buy that. Then I stumbled upon a web site and found something interesting. The GPS receiver can be made to work with Google Maps with a free piece of software and there is nothing illegal about it.
Seems that the Windows Mobile doesn't have any COM ports available for te software to talk to the GPS antenna. The software creates a COM4 (port) that now allows other software to talk to he GPS attena (at least that is how I understand it). Thats all that Google Maps needs to access the GPS. I installed it and walked outside last night. Changed the view to their satellite maps and I was amazed. I walked down to my barn and a couple of things in the yard and it had me pinpointed to withing probably a couple of feet of the items.
I am totally impressed!!