Nice phone
Written: Mar 25 '01
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Pros: PDA/phone in a single unit, PalmOS compatibility,
Cons: Dual-OS environment, no apparent way to send SMS messages
The Bottom Line: The integration of the PalmOS environment with a top-notch phone has raised the bar to a new level.
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| ericsink's Full Review: Kyocera QCP-6035 Smartphone |
I've been waiting for a product like this for a long time. The 6035 is not perfect, but I like it a lot.
It's a phone and a Palm PDA in the same case. The first thing I noticed, which was a slight disappointment, is that the phone and Palm environments are distinct. The phone environment looks very similar to the Kyocera 2035, which I previously owned. When you open the flip cover, the environment suddenly becomes PalmOS. Close it, and you're back in the phone.
To be fair, I should point out that these two environments have been integrated to a reasonably nice degree. The PalmOS environment knows a lot about the phone features, but the other OS doesn't seem to know much about the Palm. This isn't a real big problem at all, but I envision future versions of this phone which might run with a single OS.
In terms of physical attributes, the phone is nice. I used to keep the 2035 in the front pocket of my jeans, but this device is just too big to do that. However, given that this thing replaces my phone and my PDA, the size is not objectionable. I daresaw it is smaller than a Palm VII, but I haven't measured it to be sure.
The case is adequate, but I doubt it would survive a drop to the pavement. The buttons don't feel cheap.
The device has a "shuttle" on its left side, which is basically a scroll wheel and click button. I think of it has a 1-dimensional mouse. I definitely don't like it as well as the one on the RIM 957, but it seems to work ok. It is mostly for the phone environment, but it works on the PalmOS side too. I'm right handed, but I'm curious how well this shuttle would work for a lefty.
The unit has four quick-access buttons on the front, on the outside of the flip. These are handy, but I wish one of them was a shortcut to the voice recorder. I was pleased to discover that this thing supports recording of voice memos, but I would really like a shortcut key to take me directly there.
The stylus fits very firmly in its place. I sometimes struggle to remove it for use. Two extra styluses (styli?) came with the phone. I also got a cradle and charger. The charger can be used separately, or it can plug into the cradle, allowing the phone to be charged while it is docked to your computer. I'm going to need to get an extra charger and a car charger.
The instruction manual for this phone is unimpressive. I don't read manuals very much anyway.
The phone comes with no case of any kind. I think I'm going to want one. A device of this cost should have at least some sort of drop protection.
The PalmOS side of the phone is just as impressive as I would have expected. I have a very high opinion of PalmOS in general. The phone has most (if not all) of the usual PalmOS stuff, including calendar, TODO, expense, memo, and contacts. The contacts database is integrated into the phone feature set, replacing the contacts support which would normally have been supplied by the phone's OS.
My phone had Eudora and EudoraWeb preinstalled when I got it. I don't honestly know if this was done by Kyocera (the manufacturer), Verizon (our service provider), or my company's MIS department (the folks who setup the phone for me). Anyway, these are really nice. Eudora is very slick, and I have used it to check my POP3 email with no problems. The EudoraWeb browser is also pretty cool, but I haven't used it much yet. It is a regular web browser, not WAP or HDML. You can access any website you want, but many sites just aren't going to look very good on a monochrome screen this small.
I was a little disappointed to discover that these two apps require the initiation of a data call. In other words, the Internet features of this phone are not "always on". From the viewpoint of the PalmOS applications, this device is merely a PDA with a modem. It just so happens that the modem is running over the cell phone which is also present in the same case. When you launch the mail client or web browser and initiate something, the phone calls your ISP and launches a PPP session.
Contrast this with the Palm VII or the RIM 957, which move data over wireless data networks like BellSouth. I'm not sure which I prefer. The problem with the 6035 approach is that I can't take a phone call while I have a data call -- it ties up the phone. Furthermore, checking my email is a bit heavier of an operation. Mail is not pushed to my device, like the RIM device does.
On the plus side, using the cell phone like a modem yields a lot more bandwidth. Once the call is established, network operations are much faster than the pager networks could allow. Another poster claimed 56K access, which I would dispute. It's more like 14.4 or 19.2, as far as I can tell. But that's faster than a Palm VII, I believe.
Another benefit of this approach is that any PalmOS networking application should work. I'm looking forward to installing a few third party apps on my phone.
The first time I used EudoraWeb, it automatically initiated the data call, and I didn't realize what had happened. After I was done, I closed the flip cover and returned to the phone environment. Upon doing so, I immediately noticed the still-active data call. I terminated the call from the phone environment, and returned to the PalmOS environment (by opening the flip cover) to see what had happened. The PalmOS environment had crashed, requiring a soft reset. Later experiments showed that terminating the connection from within PalmOS caused no problems. Still, if this problem is reproduceable, I would have expected the QA process to catch something like this.
The 2035 had a Text Messaging feature, which included the ability to send and receive very short SMS messages. Verizon provides a gateway which allows these messages to be sent via email or from a web browser. I like this feature a lot, because it means people can push an email to my phone, as long as they keep it really short. I use this feature somewhat like a pager. The 6035 has this too, but I am disappointed that I cannot find a way to send an SMS message, only receive. This would be a handy feature, since it allows the sending of a really short email without initiating a data call.
The PalmOS environment has apps for Call History, Speed Dial, Dialer, Data/Fax, and Voice Dial. All of these were apparently provided by Kyocera, and they provide nice integrated of the phone features into the PalmOS world. The Data/Fax feature looks fun. I can apparently use it to send or receive a fax. The notion of receiving a fax on my cell phone is a bit of a mind bomb for me. I don't see myself using this for anything but fun demos.
There is also a PalmOS applet called Messages. It allows me to review Text Messages I have received as well as retrieve my voicemail. This app is where I would have expected to find a feature which allowed me to send an SMS message, but I don't see it anywhere.
I like the fact that the phone gets its clock time from the CDMA network. The 2035 did this too. When I travel, the phone adjusts itself for the local time zone. Cute.
The screen on this device is smaller than a regular Palm, but it doesn't bother me. The screen has a backlight which works admirably.
I keep having a slight difficulty with the dropdown menu in the upper right corner of many Palm apps. It seems that I have to touch the mouse twice to make the menu dropdown. This may be a minor problem with the digitizer on this phone. I've seen other people complaining of a similar problem, but I'm not sure yet if it is a design flaw of the phone. It's not a fatal one, if it is.
I occasionally get the impression that the CPU in this phone is slower than a regular Palm. I can't confirm that, but I'm pretty sure it's not faster than a regular Palm.
I can't comment much on battery life yet, since I've only had the phone for a few days. So far, I have been pleased. It's a lithium ion battery. I would have expected it to be more run down by now than it is.
The phone supports a "speakerphone" mode. I've never used a cell phone as a speakerphone, and I probably won't do so. It just seems too weird.
I consider myself a fanatic for these types of handheld devices. I've used four different Palms, RIM devices, Windows CE devices, and even the HP 200LX. I'm definitely an early adopter, but my expectations are become more like those of a mass market consumer. Every time I get one of these devices, I find myself wanting more polished usability and features. However, this phone is probably the best handheld I've seen to date.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 499
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Epinions.com ID:
ericsink
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 1 member
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