Audiovox PPC4100 – Windows Mobile Phone Edition 2003 400 MHz – RAM: 64 MB – ROM: 64 MB 3.5″ TFT ( 240 x 320 ) – IrDA – GSM 850/1800/1900 – AT&T
Compatible with AT&T cell phone service, the Audiovox PPC 4100 Pocket PC phone is Audiovox’s first GSM PDA phone. It features a 400 MHz XScale processor for top-flight speed, as well as a speakerphone, infrared capabilities, an SD card slot, MP3 player, and the all the Pocket Microsoft software you’d expect from a PDA, including Pocket Outlook, Internet Explorer, and Windows Media Player. All this is displayed on a very large 240 x 320 pixel, 65k color LCD screen. Calling Features Used simply as a phone, the 4100 features a touch screen and stylus for easy navigation to a variety of handy features, including speakerphone, a dedicated voice mail button, voice mail indicator, volume select/display, and signal strength indicato (more…)
About two months ago I switched cellphone providers from T-Mobile to AT&T wireless. My wife and I had been T-Mobile customers for several years, but we had been talking seriously about moving to a company that could provide a better rate plan. We finally decided on AT&T in part because it offered about 50% more minutes for the same price, but also because it was the only company to carry the Audiovox PPC4100. Overall, I have had a very good experience with the PPC4100 (much better, at least, than my experiences with AT&T wireless), and while I can see how it may fall short for many consumers, I feel that it meets my needs appropriately.
Although I was a very satisfied user of my Samsung S105, I was on the lookout for a phone that offered a little more in the way of contact and agenda management, ideally a smartphone or PDA hybrid. While most smartphones were not as extensible as I wanted, and most hybrids were too bulky for my taste, the PPC4100 appeared to be the best compromise solution on both counts. Another important factor for me was that I specifically wanted a Windows-based phone. I am not partial to the Palm OS, and I felt (perhaps incorrectly) that there were not enough quality applications available for the Symbian OS to make it a real contender.
Briefly, here is how I see the PPC4100 measure up on what I consider the important purchasing points:
Speed – 5 of 5:
This phone comes with a 400 MHz Intel PXA255 Processor, which compares favorably with most mid- to high-end PDAs on the market at the time of purchase. The speed of this phone is evident in daily use, as the interface is snappy and responsive, and the majority of the bundled applications load and perform quickly. The one exception to this is the bundled phone-app, which is frustratingly slow and crash-prone. I recommend investing in some third party software to replace this.
Memory – 4 of 5:
The phone includes 64 MB of built in RAM and 64 MB of flash memory. This is pretty standard for a PDA in its class, and while I would probably not go much lower than this I have no complaints. I do tend to fill up all available space fairly quickly, so I purchased a 256 MB SD card which should tide me over for a short while.
Form Factor – 5 of 5:
This was definitely a major selling point for me. I had long been frustrated with the industry’s inability to produce a PDA phone that was comfortable to hold and carry (at least for sale in the US). The early attempts like T-Mobile’s Pocket PC Phone Edition just seemed too bulky, and I frankly could not understand the appeal of the Blackberry, which struck me as an awkward and feature-poor electronic Roladex. The Treo 600 and the Samsung i500 looked extremely nice, but as I said, I am not fond of the Palm OS. Overall, the PPC4100 manages to be a good sized PDA while almost being light and small enough to carry in a shirt pocket.
Screen and Input – 3.5 of 5:
The 3.5 inch screen of the PPC4100 is clear and comfortable to work with. Color and resolution is of pretty standard quality at 240×320 and 65k colors. Virtually all input is done via the stylus, which resides in a little socket flush against the antenna. Audiovox has wisely dispensed with the keyboard, which is nice for those of us who want the phone features to be emphasized over text messaging and email. It is possible to notate with the stylus using one of several input methods (virtual keyboard, transcriber, block recognizer, and letter recognizer) although none of these is as quick or efficient as a keyboard would probably be. The unit has a jog dial on one side, but because of the shape of the phone and how it rests in my hand I find this exceedingly awkward to use. The small size of the phone is accounted for by the fact that there are no navigation buttons on the bottom front of the unit, as are found in most Pocket PCs. Instead, there are only the two red and green “pick up” and “hang up” phone buttons, allowing the screen to cover the bulk of the front of the device. I personally like this design, although I can see how it may be a turn-off for some people.
Phone Quality – 3 of 5:
On those occasions when I have good signal strength, the sound quality of this phone is generally acceptable. It is slightly more tinny than my old Samsung, though I cannot say definitively whether this is a characteristic of my hardware or AT&T service. The phone comes with a handsfree device as well as a pair of stereo earbuds for listening to music. Both are nice looking, but do not fit comfortably in my ear and have a tendency to fall out. Consequently I tend to speak with the phone itself held up to my ear. The documentation claims this is against the intended use of the product, but I have had no problems in this regard. The phone claims to have a speakerphone feature, but in my experience this is next to useless as the speaker is generally too low volume and buzzes annoyingly. This phone is definitely not suited for use on the road, as the keypad is actually a software application that displays the keys on the screen. There is no bundled voice command application that I have found, so frequent drivers may need to invest in third party software for this purpose.
Data Connectivity – 2 of 5:
At the time that I purchased this phone, there was really no PDA phone hybrid that came with integrated WiFi or bluetooth. Of course the iPaq 6315 was released a month after I switched, so prospective buyers should really consider that alternative if they spend a lot of time on the internet. As it stands, the PPC4100 uses a standard GPRS connection for messaging and surfing. I have found this to be painfully slow, especially for the high prices AT&T charges for data usage ($50/month for unlimited, fully twice that T-Mobile charges). I will probably invest in the SanDisk 256MB SD/WiFi combo card or drop GPRS from my rate plan altogether. SMS messages are sent via the bundled email application, which I think is a nice feature. Desktop connectivity is through a USB cradle, which is nice looking but extremely awkward to use. I have to be extremely careful when placing the phone into the cradle because it has to sit just so in order to stay connected.
Expandability – 3 of 5:
The phone comes with a single SD slot for all your expansion needs. So far this has not been a problem for me, and I believe it is a standard configuration for most Pocket PC devices. As I said, SanDisk has a SD/WiFi dual purpose card that I will probably need to use for networking while maintaining access to my data, so unless I need bluetooth this should not be a limiting factor.
Battery Life – 2 of 5:
This is definitely a weak point of this phone. AT&T website advertises up to 100 hours standby time and 3 hours talk time, but in my experience actual times will vary greatly depending on how frequently I use the PDA features. Typically, I find that the majority of the battery has been depleted by the end of the day after only moderate talk time. Generally this is not an issue for me as I plug the phone in every night out of habit, but I have taken the phone on weekend trips in which I was very close to losing power after virtually no use of the phone at all.
In sum, the PPC4100 is for the most part a well-designed device that has succeeded in meeting the bulk of my day to day requirements. However, there remain sufficient issues that if I were faced with the same decision again I would probably favor the iPaq 6315 or the Samsung i600. Better battery life and an additional expansion slot would be at the top of my nice-to-have list, but the fact remains that even if these features were implemented I would probably opt not to use this or any other phone that implies contracting with AT&T. Perhaps my opinion will change after the Cingular merger, but for the time being I feel that T-Mobile has given me a far better consumer experience.
I am returning my phone without even using it for this reason: the manual advises against using it like a conventional phone.
In their 300 page User’s Guide (p.27) it says, “unlike conventional cell phones, the PPC4100 is not designed to be held against the ear when the phone function is used. Holding the unit against your ear during phone use is contrary to the design of this product and is not recommended.”
It goes on to explain the proper way to use their product, “Attach the single ear bud headset or enable the speakerphone during phone use.”
It seems that the authors of the documentation went out of there way to avoid revealing just why.
I don’t know about you but this re-definition of what a “cell phone” is seems like a grand imposition. Not only on the user but quite possibly the public too. Some users may choose to use the speaker phone in restaurants and other public places because their ear buds are tangled at the bottom of their pocket or purs.
I believe that not designing the “cell phone” to be used like a conventional cell phone is a basic flaw-in-concept.
Here is my take on all this:
Did the designers consciously choose to ignore real-world scenarios?
Maybe users have discovered they can indeed use it like a conventional cell phone, but how am I to know that.
The following unanswered questions lead me to return my purchase.
1.) Why did they choose not to design the phone to be used like a conventional cell phone?
* Was it really a flaw in their design, such as forgetting to make a button to disable the input screen when talking on the phone so one’s cheek doesn’t unknowingly erase or edit files? – If that’s all they are protecting us from we all know how to work around that.
2.) What will happen if you try to use it like a conventional cell phone? Why don’t they tell us so we can make the judgment? And why not tell us up-front so we can make an informed decision about whether or not to purchase the phone.
* Is the speaker unable to turn down low enough not to harm your ear?
* Is the antenna going to fry your brain?
* Will the side of your face brushing the touch-sensitive screen cause the phone to hang up on your friend or customer – or cause the phone to delete files on the phone?
* Will you drop the “phone” because it is not the usual phone shape?
* Will your skin oils or make-up rub off on the screen – and is that all the designers are concerned about?
All of the possibilities were suggested in discussion with the wirless provider and with an Audiovox representative. To be fair neither he nor the wireless provider was aware of the advisory until I directed them to the documentation.
Its been a great phone. I’m a professional pilot, crossing the US regularly. Its coverage using ATT&T has been far better then Sprint about equal or better then Verison. Its main flaw is it’s messaging/voice messages. The phone rings once if you miss that one message prompt then the only clue you have a voice message waiting is visual. This means having to occassionally make a consious effort to look at the phone. I’ve missed several important timely messages!
4.0 out of 5 stars
Phone review
I buy this phone few days a go and have a good signal, fast charging and good sound.I have some problems with the backup battery and with the main battery, but only need change…
4.0 out of 5 stars
OK for the price
This is a good phone for someone starting out with PDA Phones. There are not of upgrades or new programs that you can get for it.
1.0 out of 5 stars
this is bad
I can’t order this phone because the service plans or no good and if you call for help all you get is a run around. The plan for $39 is $85 and you can’t change it.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best phone ever made: It has ALL
Have been a regular pocket pc user for last few years. Carrying a pocket pc with a cell phone always made it troublesome for me and thus was looking for a phone which has both the…
4.0 out of 5 stars
Works fine as phone & PDA
Two and a half months of use and I’ve been pretty happy.
Works fine when used as a regular phone (i.e.
4.0 out of 5 stars
PPC4100 OK – AT&T Wireless Berry Berry Bad
WARNING, AT&T Wireless now ships the PPC4100 locked to their network. Audiovox can’t unlock it and says their contract with AT&T Wireless requires them to ship only locked…
1.0 out of 5 stars
Don’t buy Audiovox
You might want to think twice about buying an Audiovox phone. I’ve had one for 2 1/2 months now. Well, I’ve actually had it only 2 months.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great PDA, great phone!
I’ve been using this puppy for a couple weeks. It simply is much better than what I expected. It’s smaller than any other pocket pc phone in the market, yet same or larger screen…
5.0 out of 5 stars
The PPC4100 CELL PHONE!
I think it is really cool,rad,etc! I must have one as soon as possible…
1.0 out of 5 stars
Nice PDA, Poor Wireless Device
As the review title says, PPC4100 is a nice and compact PDA with quite an attractive look, but its a very poor wireless device, to say the least.