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Hi all
I am now on the decision of buying a new PDA , I like sony ericsson generally
But about the P1 , is it user friendly without any joistic , I am afraid from using only the side roller and the styles
Also about its Wi fi bugs ?? Is it true?



[ This Message was edited by: masseur on 2007-11-20 16:22 ]
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Posted: 2007-11-20 17:20:49
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I do not find it user friendly.

Some commands are cryptically named and react cryptically (e.g. Install. When you select install, it says install what?). The help files are skimpy. The design of menus is primitive, and navigation is not as easy as with the 5-way dial on the P900. UIQ3 seems to have plenty of bugs too.
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Posted: 2007-11-20 17:40:35
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Well, I would disagree with the person above me. Keep in mind though, user friendly-ness is often subjective.

For me, I think the P1i works fine and I like the simpler design of the UIQ menus for navigation. I've used my friends Windows Mobile 6 Tytn II for a few weeks (he was on vacation) and while I find the interface to be much like windows (you'd think that would make things easier) it isn't well suited for cell phones. Part of the problem is that you operate a cell phone PDA differently then you would a PC. It's not like you have a mouse to use. I ended up using the stylus more than anything else on the Tytn II. On the other hand, for UIQ, for the most part, I find that the 20 shortcuts and the large icon give me an easy time of getting to where I want to go. I usually use the wheel and my thumb for 1 handed usage, and the stylus for precision or games. I hardly even use the stylus for typing like I used to on my P900 because now the keyboard makes it so much faster.

In the example that the previous post brought up, with installations, I don't think it's that big of a deal. I mean to install something you can double click on it (like windows) and it'll just install itself, or you can use the install command and direct it to the correct program you want to install.

In terms of bugginess, I'm sure there are bugs with the system itself, but I haven't encountered many, at least not with the P1i. If you read most reviews, almost everyone says that the P1i is quite stable without the problems that the p990 had.

Anyways, that's just my 2 cents. Hope it helps

[ This Message was edited by: liaoip on 2007-11-20 17:34 ]
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Posted: 2007-11-20 18:30:19
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Think of UIQ3 as a step towards the approach of Mac OSX, simpler interface, and does what it needs to do well enough. And hopefully will get better. Compare that to Windows Mobile, hailing from Windows that everyone's loved to despise and hate. They can come up with the next best thing and I still would never move to Windows, ever...!! Not until they rebuild their OS from the ground up.

That said, I don't know what Anil Gidwani expects from the P1i, or what phone he's used prior to the P1. But I personally love the p1i, it works pretty much as advertised, and except for the small issue in mine where it doesn't play streaming videos, I love the phone. No WLAN issues with the current update. I'd say get the P1i, hold on to it for 2 years, skip the upcoming P5 or PX, wait for sony to completely eradicate current glitches and then get the next best thing on the market.
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Posted: 2007-11-20 21:40:40
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The WLAN is pretty darn stable with the latest firmware, there are still issues with it, but on the whole it works well. You should only find these issues if you really try hard

Streaming media is problematic, mostly because the player is rubbish. There are also issues with firewalls and the streaming media player, primarily because of said rubishness. Solutions to the streaming media are dependent on the actual router being connected to, so you pretty much have to figure it out for yourself.

The missing joystick is often complained about by people that just don't get the UI. There really is no need for one, you can touch the screen and select things directly - no need for a dpad or joystick. I have found that many long lists can be scrolled with the thumb, as can web pages. My advice is to try it to see how you get on with it, the rocker keys on the qwerty are not to everyones taste, nor is the softmenu style of ui.
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Posted: 2007-11-21 00:17:36
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The WLAN is the only real surprise in the P1i package, it works like a breeze.

I used a P900 as my first smartphone, loved it. Had to switch to Nokia 7710 since I 'lost' my P900 (it was stolen!) and loved the 7710 even more! The 7710 was feature packed, and if you compare its features to the P1i, you'll be shocked at how primitive the P1i appears.

But more importantly, the Nokia 7710 worked! Never a memory problem, never a software glitch. A truly production quality phone, like the P900.
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Posted: 2007-11-21 03:35:46
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My first UIQ3 device was the M600i, and I didn't know what to expect. I found it user-friendly. It does have a learning curve, but what doesn't? And it's not a steep one. It's more 'adjusting' to. You have the tilt-keyboard, but you'll be typing within 1-2 weeks like a pro.

User interface is not complicated. As I said in another thread before, I found WM5 hard to get used to. You'll find Symbian has a lot of features. Sometimes I won't agree with where a feature is located. For example, in the calendar, the 'first day of the week' is set to Monday by default. To set it to say, Sunday, you won't find the option in calendar or calendar settings/options. But in Alarm settings. That took some time to find. The only other thing is Music Player is located under Entertainment, not Multimedia. That's all. So as you can see, it's nothing serious.

No joystick. To be honest, you can't get the P1i with the intention of never touching the screen [as hating reviews indicate]. It's designed to be heavily used as a touch screen phone. But you have the side roller. After using this phone for a week, I guarantee you will not be able to go back to a joystick.

You simply press on the message/option that you want to select/open or the contact you want to call, rather than scrolling. Sounds simple but it will save you time-galore, and it's so easy. Everyone that has tried my phone so far, I catch them using their phone and touching their screen, followed by, "damnit!"

So ease, very, just give it a week to adjust to. And you'll have these forums. That's why we're here.
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Posted: 2007-11-21 03:47:24
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I find the P1i very user friendly when compared to my old K750i and my Nokia E61i (S60). Why? Because of the touch screen. Navigating is much easier and more intuitive and you don't have to press buttons nonstop like on S60 phones such as E61i or N95.

I map the task-manager to the internet-key on the right hand side of the phone. This is an important usability enhancer.

The only negative for me, is that you have to accept pressing the lower edge of the screen with your fingers. On the P1i, the UI is designed for that. I don't like the resulting greasy stains .

WiFi works fine for me with the latest firmware.

CD
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Posted: 2007-11-21 08:26:11
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Can hardly call the 7710 a phone though. Wouldn't want to carry something like that around in my pocket all the time. Have had the P800 and P910 and those were already bricks, the 7710 is even bigger.

The P1i provides plenty of features considering the small size. The qwerty-ish keyboard is a big plus too as far as I'm concerned... We know you have lots of problems with your phone but perhaps it's indeed a faulty unit... can happen, although it's a bummer of course after getting a new phone like this.

But many people have hardly any to no problems at all and are completely satisfied (including myself) so perhaps the P1i isn't as bad as you think now is it.

To answer the question, it's pretty user friendly. As all OS it takes some time getting used to. Sometimes icons are not where you might expect them but once you know where to find things it's fine. You can access most things with your fingers and the scroll wheel but every now and then I still need to whip out the stylus.

With the new firmware it's reasonably fast and stable as well.

About accepting by pressing the screen. Sometimes you can also accept by pressing the appropriate first letter on the keyboard. For example when deleting a file it asks you 'Are you sure?' and you get the Yes and No on the bottom of the screen. You can also press either Y or N on the keyboard instead of using the touchscreen.

Calls and stuff can also be accepted with the scrollwheel I believe. So there are some other options...
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Posted: 2007-11-21 09:13:56
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