Asus has clearly decided that if it can't distinguish its phones from others in the market by way of software or styling, it'll do so by forging them out of solid granite.
We thought the P750 was a well bolted together bit of kit. However, it feels like a badly assembled Airfix model next to the M930, a device that you could …
A very nice hardware design, rendered completely pointless - and, I'd guess, customerless - by being built around boring old WM Standard.
Fit it with WM Professional and a bigger internal screen (with or without touch) and you'd have a very capable smartphone complete with full Office suite. If they couldn't achieve that at this price/form factor, I don't know why they bothered.
Impressive that el Reg manage to get through 4 pages of review without noticing that it look like a knock-off of the Nokia E90 - just with a smaller, lower res. internal screen (400x240x65k colours vs 800x352x16m colours).
Fair point - one wonders why you'd spend the extra on this, over, say an HTC S730, which has Office Mobile. Mind you, I thought Office Mobile was standard on WM6 devices, Standard AND Pro.
Only the version supplied w/WM Standard; the version w/WM Pro lets you create new docs (indeed, I've used it for that on my Touch Dual). You can get around it in Standard, though, by copying blank docs to the device, modifying them and then saving under different names.
I would think the only people who'd want this are those who want an E90 on the cheap! It looks like they've taken the basic form factor, and then removed all the good points from it.
Smaller screen and lower res as already mentioned aside, having the phone only able to open to an angle is going to be annoying for anyone wanting to use when it is in their hands rather than on a desk, and seems like they've gone back to the old communicator style! One of the best things with the E90 is being able to use it at an angle on a desk, but also to open it completely when in your hands which makes it so much easier to see the screening while typing.
This is a phone without a market. At the top end people will pay the extra for the quality of an actual E90, and at the low end, there are better, cheaper and more functional smart phones already out there which do the same things better.
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Asus M930 Windows Mobile smartphone
Asus has clearly decided that if it can't distinguish its phones from others in the market by way of software or styling, it'll do so by forging them out of solid granite. We thought the P750 was a well bolted together bit of kit. However, it feels like a badly assembled Airfix model next to the M930, a device that you could …
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Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 12:01 GMT
Tim Cook
Shame #
A very nice hardware design, rendered completely pointless - and, I'd guess, customerless - by being built around boring old WM Standard.
Fit it with WM Professional and a bigger internal screen (with or without touch) and you'd have a very capable smartphone complete with full Office suite. If they couldn't achieve that at this price/form factor, I don't know why they bothered.
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 12:01 GMT
/\/\j17
Oh look, another Nokia E90 clone #
Impressive that el Reg manage to get through 4 pages of review without noticing that it look like a knock-off of the Nokia E90 - just with a smaller, lower res. internal screen (400x240x65k colours vs 800x352x16m colours).
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 12:02 GMT
AlTheITBloke
Its a Nokia #
Is it just me or does this phone remind anyone else of the Nokia E90? (Especially the keyboard area)
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 12:23 GMT
AlTheITBloke
Hmmmm.... #
Is it just me or does this phone look suspiciously like the Nokia E90?
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 12:23 GMT
Nick Palmer
@Tim Cook #
Fair point - one wonders why you'd spend the extra on this, over, say an HTC S730, which has Office Mobile. Mind you, I thought Office Mobile was standard on WM6 devices, Standard AND Pro.
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 13:17 GMT
Anonymous Coward
Toshiba Portege G910 is a better bet #
Has a much better internal display and the keyboard is just as good
http://blog.whatlaptop.co.uk/page/whatlaptop?entry=reviewed_magellan_maestro_4245
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 13:17 GMT
AlTheITBloke
Office Mobile #
Office Mobile now for some reason only allows you to open and modify existing documents, which seems strangley odd?!?
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 13:17 GMT
Steve Foster
Internal Screen #
Pity it's not VGA or even WVGA, instead of wasting all that space around it.
Is OpenOffice for WM available yet? :p
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 21:03 GMT
Paul
Such a shame... #
They spoiled it by putting Windows on.
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 22:49 GMT
Nick Palmer
@AlTheITBloke #
Only the version supplied w/WM Standard; the version w/WM Pro lets you create new docs (indeed, I've used it for that on my Touch Dual). You can get around it in Standard, though, by copying blank docs to the device, modifying them and then saving under different names.
Posted Monday 25th August 2008 09:23 GMT
Keith Langmead
E90 competitor that doesn't compete #
I would think the only people who'd want this are those who want an E90 on the cheap! It looks like they've taken the basic form factor, and then removed all the good points from it.
Smaller screen and lower res as already mentioned aside, having the phone only able to open to an angle is going to be annoying for anyone wanting to use when it is in their hands rather than on a desk, and seems like they've gone back to the old communicator style! One of the best things with the E90 is being able to use it at an angle on a desk, but also to open it completely when in your hands which makes it so much easier to see the screening while typing.
This is a phone without a market. At the top end people will pay the extra for the quality of an actual E90, and at the low end, there are better, cheaper and more functional smart phones already out there which do the same things better.
This topic is closed for new posts.