HTC Mogul (PPC 6800)
Author: Kevin Kurtz Date: 1/7/08 Time: 5:45PM
This PocketPC is a pretty powerful little machine. It's not like one of the new Dell PPCs or anything, they are significantly more powerful. But this one seems to get the job done. It's got a 400mhz QUALCOMM 7500 ARM processor, and 64mb of RAM. Well, kind of 64mb, 16 of those are used for the OS (Windows Mobile 6) since it's a CE operating system (runs in RAM) so you have 48mb for actual application use. The Flash memory size you have to fill is 256mb but again the OS will steal a chunk. It uses about 94mb leaving you 162mb for personal use (don't worry, it comes with a 512mb microSD card and you can use upto a 4gb card in the device). The battery life is okay though. You do need to charge it every night though. I get about 30 hours on standby and 3 hours talk time.
Those are the general specs of this little device, and honestly that's all you need about it. There's nothing really spectacular on the hardware side of this machine. On the software side you have more Windows to look forward too! (Yay... if you don't mind things not working) Windows Mobile was a great invention for PocketPC, back when PPC was just that, a Pocket PC. Now that it has also become a cell phone, things have changed. Windows is way, Way, WAY too unreliable for a cell phone. You need something that will ring when you get a phone call, will allow you to pick up when you get that phone call, and not randomly decide to call people without you asking. This phone does none of these. It sometimes takes a full thirty seconds for the phone to even register it's being called and start to ring, by this time the caller is most likely already shipped to your voicemail. But that's not the worst of it, the user interface for the phone features are so bad that you can call people without realizing it. And I swear that sometimes I didn't even hit a wrong button, it just decides "Hey, let's call your mother and see how she's doing." I love my mom, but I really don't want my cell phone making that kind of decision for me. It also tends to lock up a lot more than a would consider acceptable. And then the hard reboot doesn't even fuction. It's not got a standardized power button so the only real hard reset is to remove the battery (which I hate doing in a phone, I think there should be a way to restart it like there is an ATX motherboard, or almost any electronic device. You just hold the power button for 5 seconds). It is also very ackward to talk on. I just don't like holding it to my head. It doesn't feel right. It's just an uncomfortable situation.
Now, on the other hand, This phone can do almost anything (except be a phone). Being that it runs Windows and has a version of the .Net framwork v2 that you can install, you can run any .Net application on it natively. (For those of you who do not know, the .Net abilities allow code to be stored in an uncompiled form and compiled real time on the platform you are using, so your programs are platform independent. This little Arm processor will compile it in real time and run the app) So it is super easy to develop on. If you know anything about .Net programming on a normal PC then porting a program to a PPC is a synch. I typically use VB.Net for it, but you are just as welcome to use C++ or C# I'm sure. I've had a hand in a small development project or two for this platform and it's not bad. You can also make it run other things, People have made nice stuff like a Gameboy Emulator. That's right. I've been walking around for weeks playing Pokemon Blue on my phone (brings the battery to about 10 hours or less). (there is an ARM port of gnuboy if your interested, google it) There is also a really nice video player (DO NOT USE Windows Media Player, it's slow and just plain ridiculous. Try TCPMP, it's a very memory efficient app) that plays almost any codec. However, the processor is a little underpowered for some, so I would definately recommend reencoding anything that is x264 to Xvid. x264 needs usually an 800mhz processor as it has to be reassembled on the fly (it's much more space and quality efficient, but slower). It is quite difficult to use the web browser though. It's not the fault of anyone inpeticular. It's just that the screen rez is only 320x240 and that means lots of scrolling. But you get used to it.
What else can I really say about it. It's a great little Pocket PC, but a horrible cell phone. I don't recommend getting it. If you want a Pocket PC get one of the faster ones and skip out on this. HTC made a good machine, but it's slow and I blame Microsoft for the bad phone support. Stick with your normal cell phone and buy another machine instead. Trust me, you won't regret it. Not worth the $400 (or even the $300 after rebate). Mine, I think, is headed for Ebay.
