Another new Vivaz owner (black colour) reporting in.

A noob question : How do u disable the screen timeout, it's annoying when using some app like GMXT the screen goes dim and u have to touch the screen.

OK thanks.

The basemap you get from Garmin Mobile XT (or forummers normally call GMXT) is useless for Malaysia. You have 2 free community maps u can use:

1. Malsingmaps - http://www.malsingmaps.com
2. Malfreemaps - http://www.malfreemaps.com

I couldn't find any easy newbie guide for updating the map into ur Vivaz in either site, so here's the easiest howto I can think of :

1. Download latest Malsingmaps from http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5M03R1X9 --> note, subject to change, refer to Malsingmaps website for latest map
2. Unzip gmapsupp.img
3. Connect ur Vivaz to ur PC, set USB mode to "Mass Storage"
4. Once ur Vivaz appears as a thumbdrive in ur PC, copy gmapsupp.img into "Garmin" folder
5. Disconnect ur Vivaz from ur PC and start GMXT. Once u get GPS signal, u should see GMXT using Malsingmaps

Personally I don't love Garmin Mobile XT that much. Scrolling the map in GMXT normally crashes the app after awhile, too bad Garmin won't further patch/update GMXT. I've tried Sygic Mobile on Iphone and find it a lot better in features, only to be handicapped by an inferior map. Garmin's strength is compatibility with Malsingmaps/Malfreemaps, so I can live with GMXT's shortcoming.

Try this app:

http://symbian-freeware.web.id/symbian/too...kia-5800-or-n97

Could not test now as my work PC doesn't have Bluetooth.

Having used Vivaz for over month, and having owned Ipod Touch for 2 years before the battery kong, here's my thought & wish :

1. UI is definately inferior to Iphone, for example they're places u use single tap, other places u've to double tap.
2. Plain boring S60V5 home screen, Vivaz's custom home screen has some merits eg media player quick access & Flash wallpaper, but not that much. Only after installing SPB Mobile Shell the home screen is truly alive.
3. SPB Mobile Shell has a bug that's major to me : the clock is not updated when the screen is locked, and the screen is dim when locked, so it's hard to see the clock under sunlight. Solution : install Slide Unlock, which functions like Iphone's "Slide to Unlock".
4. Lots of themes for S60V5.
5. Camera & video is very good, almost like a digicam, continuous AF is great. Iphone 4 has better HD video, but that's probably bcoz of artificial sharpening & saturation boost.
6. Battery only lasts a day, I think is normal for most smartphones.
7. Iphone has more apps but it lacks 2 important apps for me : 1. Garmin Mobile XT (Papago M6 only have map up to April 2010) 2. Nokia Sports Tracker (bcoz it can be used with Polar heart rate monitor).
8. Opera Mobile is great, it only lacks Flash support & zooming gesture like Iphone's Safari.
9. I wish there's an auto-rotating QWERTY keyboard for both landscape & portrait orientation. It's a pain to change the keyboard type most of the time. The closest keyboard mod that can do this is DayHand Input, but the setting is in Chinese, howto disable T9 when I type in Bahasa Malaysia?

No use hoping for Symbian^3 update to Vivaz, Sony Ericsson can't even ship Xperia phones with Android 2.1

I've found out how to disable T9 in Dayhand Input. Only install Opera keyboards, leave out IPhone & 5800 keyboard. Now I have auto-rotating keyboard

I've tried GMXT version 5.00.60 and it crashes whenever I browse the map. Normally requires restarting Vivaz.

Now using version 5.00.50 and it still frequently crashes when I browse the map, but at least can close GMXT from task manager and restart.

One question, POI searching far from current position (eg searching "1 Utama" from Seremban) take ages, is it weird? Or is there a better to search POIs? Or is it normal & I have to live with it? It's frustrating to wait a few minutes to search.

I've tried Ovi Map and:

1. It's very stable
2. Renders the map beautifully (for me)
3. Searching is fast & u can search POIs around a city eg "Petronas, Kuala Terengganu", u can even search by category eg "Petrol, Kuala Lumpur". This is a critical feature that GMXT sucks
4. Map is behind Malfreemap, but ahead of Google Map & TomTom
5. Cannot plan ur route, can only show route from ur current position, or is it I don't find in the manual? This is a critical feature to me
6. Any way to put custom POIs? If yes, I can try importing from Malfreemap's POIs

For all your Vivaz needs (apps, tips etc) :

http://sonyericsson-vivaz.blogspot.com/

No way SE will ever update Vivaz to Symbian^3, as they've killed all future plan with Symbian. It even took them months just to bring up Xperia X10 to Android 2.1, when 2.3 is already on the horizon.

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Added on November 18, 2010, 2:45 pmDepends on what u want to do with the phone, and ur budget. I bought Vivaz bcoz it's the cheapest phone that features HD video recording. They're a plenty of Android phones around RM1K price but none can record videos in HD. Samsung Waves are over RM1500 so out of my budget, plus apps are scarce. So Vivaz was the right choice for me. No problem with Symbian's weak UI after I've learned how to get around it. Having SPB Mobile Shell also makes things alot easier.

This post has been edited by taqu: Nov 18 2010, 02:45 PM

Using AGPS I can get signal lock in less than a minute, sometimes only 10 second. It's more prone to signal loss and it's barely accurate for navigation. When I'm stationery it said I'm moving at 3-5kmh

To make Vivaz more responsive (close to capacitive screen), I use my fingertip for pressing & swipe/slide with my nail. Of course this will wear out the screen protector faster.