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#1
10-04-08, 09:58 PM
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i-mate 8502 Review (part one)
Palm247/WindowsMobile247/MoreMobile247
Available from – www.clove.co.uk Price - £318.00 + VAT Pros – Front keyboard, Excellent Touchscreen, Endless buttons, GPS integrated, TV out, Excellent ring volume, loud speakers, quick responding, compact Cons – Not SDHC compatible, so 2gb microsd cards max Recently, I have had a multitude of devices to play with including an HTC Vox, MDA Touch 256mb, a Samsung i600 and some standalone handhelds including the Fujitsu Siemens n560. The n560 became my dedicated sat nav, as it includes within its specifications the respective gps chip. With its large vga screen and TomTom 6 this was a great combination. It was clear that none of the devices did everything for me. Below size comparison between HTC Vox and MDA Touch. I had my eye on the new i-mate devices, the 8502 and 9502 as well as the Samsung i780. The Samsung i780 has been released in Japan, but it became clear from the various forums that the lack of software/games for the new Windows Mobile Pro screen resolution of 320 x 320 was an issue. Also, the optical mouse would makes games difficult to play. Then suddenly, the i-mate 8502 becomes available and in stock from Clove. My eyes lit up and I immediately placed my order. To my complete surprise, my lovely i-mate 8502 arrived a few days later. Thanks Clove for such a great service Before, I start my review below is the specifications of the device. Worth noting is the large capacity battery, which for a 3g device ensures you will get through a whole day and a bit more. Also, the Bluetooth profiles includes printing and the HID profile for keyboards. 8502 Specifications Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 Professional
You must charge the device for 8 hours. It is extremely tempting to turn the phone on, but I just about resisted. I placed my T-Mobile sim card in the slot, and pressed the power on button. I had to wait a few minutes whilst the first boot up ran, but a few extra messages occurred. First, I was asked whether I had a T-Mobile or Virgin sim and whether I wanted the system to pre setup all the T-Mobile settings for the phone. I selected “yes”. All the data, voicemail, sms and mms settings were installed automatically. The next options included registering the device as an enterprise one and whether I wanted to use the i-mate device customization. I-mate allow you to setup an account on their website, and select what software you need it to install on your device along with the settings. So if ever you needed to hard reset the 8502, by entering your i-mate password and user name, your 8502 would be setup with all your software automatically. Wonderful touch. I-mate also offer a 2 year guarantee.
Part two will be published on Monday.  8:41 on 11/4/2008 by Shaun
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#2
11-04-08, 12:06 PM
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Re: i-mate 8502 Review (part one)
Impressive device in many ways, but I'm not so fond of the joystick...
The button arrangement at the top looks a bit strange but makes a lot of sense, I'm sure it will ease navigation when operating the device one-handed. But what kind of material are the buttons made of, rubber or plastic? I think rubber keys would make it a nice keyboard, something like the Motorola Q9h.
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#3
11-04-08, 12:21 PM
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Re: i-mate 8502 Review (part one)
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The buttons are all plastic, but provide good feedback. Each button is like a mountain. It has a ridge running from top to bottom and slopes down on the sides. This makes it easier to use. Obviously the 8502 is narrower than the motorola q9h so I would imagine the keyboard might be easier to use on that device. However, I find the keyboard excellent and bizarelly dont use the scroll wheel or side ok button. Everything I need is on the front. There are a lot more photos of the device in part 2 btw and photos taken with the camera.
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247 Team Member. Current devices. HTC Hero, Blackberry Curve, Ipod Touch and FSC n560
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#4
11-04-08, 12:31 PM
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Re: i-mate 8502 Review (part one)
"You must charge the device for 8 hours. It is extremely tempting to turn the phone on, but I just about resisted." - I can't remember the last time I didn't turn on a device during it's first charge. I have no will power. If it's got a user replaceable battery I don't tend to worry much at all.
I am a bit worried about small keyboards after my problems with the centro, but it does look like a lovely device.
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#5
11-04-08, 12:43 PM
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Re: i-mate 8502 Review (part one)
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Also the 8502 is not curved at the bottom but square, so the keyboard is actually bigger and therefore will be easier to use. I dont mind the smaller keyboards, but agree it is not as easy as a Nokia E61 to use, but it is a lot easier to type than my Samsung i600 or Sony Ericsson M600i. I actually prefer the feel of the 8502 feedback over the Palm 680 keyboard, although the 680 was overall a better keyboard.
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247 Team Member. Current devices. HTC Hero, Blackberry Curve, Ipod Touch and FSC n560
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#6
11-04-08, 05:51 PM
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Re: i-mate 8502 Review (part one)
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Date of Review – 9th April 2008 by Gavin Fabiani-Laymond
I must admit, I was very excited to open the box. The first thing that struck me was the size of the 8502. I was expecting a largish brick, but what I held in my hand was a slightly larger looking version of a Sony Ericsson P1i or M600i. I think it is the curved sides that make it look smaller. See photos. The device looks very slick and professional. As mentioned above, the 8502 comes with a lot of included accessories. Most notably the leather pouch which is of reasonable quality and I was most surprised to see a video out cable. Picture below of box contents.
Software. The 8502 has Windows Mobile 6 installed. At the CTIA conference, Microsoft announced that a number of devices would be upgraded to 6.1, and this included the 8502. To be honest, it functions beautiful as is. It includes all the software noted above in the specifications. I have installed Coreplayer, Egress, Google Maps, Fizzweather, psshutxp, Astraware Boardgames, Astraware Casino, Astraware Suduko, Flux Challenge, Gamebox Asia, Gamebox Solitaire and Text Twist and Slide to Unlock v1.00p all of which work perfectly. Google Maps functions quickly with the included gps chip. Once I realised that you have to turn the gps on in the comm manager, Google Maps took about 15 seconds for its first fix. Twice, I have run out of memory with tons of applications open, but I found the clearvue pdf application to be the largest cause. I did have about 10 others apps running as well. The system is meant to have 128mb of memory, but with all my apps installed after a soft reset, I only have 32mb free. Clearly, the 8502 uses a lot of the memory for system functions, and unlike my MDA Touch which can go for up to 3 days without soft resetting, I would recommend a daily reset with the 8502. Included screen shot of showing i-mate extras and the today screen.
