Baronic's GUIDE TO PURCHASING A PDA


1) Original or "ap"


FIRST there is no such thing as AP for PDAS. AP = approved permit. These overseas PDA are imported, and considered illegal since if u call HTC, SIS is the distributer here

WARRANTY COMPARISON: look at the warranty. If you are careful, u'll see that the warranty for "ap" or overseas set PDAs is "free services". Which means u wont be charged for services, but what about spare parts, lets say 4 months down the road? A defective LCD screen would cost around 300-500 and YOU will be forking that out.

A warranty case for me with SIS Malaysia

1 month plus after using Diamond, i send my device to flash rom. They scratched the paint accidentally (minor). I asked to replace the part. They did it without question. They replace that part, then i realised they forgot to put the speaker in. wtf. So i tell them forget it. i want a NEW Diamond. They gave me. Realised the button was loose and G Accelerometer was defective, i asked for ANOTHER new replacement. They gimme again. Would a small fry "ap" company do this for u?. If the paint scratch they probably blame u.

Lots of ap companies will try to attract u with 15 months "warranty" and freebies, but like i said, be aware of warranty.

THE DANGERS OF BUYING AP SETS




PURCHASING OPERATOR DEVICES

PDAs, with T-Mobile, Virgin, or other mobile branding are imported from overseas, and are deemed ILLEGAL. SIS Malaysia will NOT repair them even if you pay them.

SECOND HAND devices
1) for newbies who arent sure they can get familiar with a windows mobile device, a second device is good, since the resale value little change if u wanna sell a few days after buying. But if u plan to definitely stick, original brand new better because of the warranty.

WHAT TO CHECK (CRITICAL)

1. If its second hand, ask him NOT to hard-reset/factory-reset. Test the GPS if its working. The state must be a question mark or tick, and u must see several circles representing sattelites when looking at the globe of Earth, under GPS setting of the GPS program (Mapking, Garmin)

2. Check test a music file, play full blast, keep an eye out for CRACKLING of the speakers. May be problematic later

3. Check test bluetooth, send a file, or connect to handsfree to see if working

4. Check test mini USB port (or any other port for non HTC devices). Especially charger ports. See if the device charges normally

5. I'd be careful of non full box sets. POSSIBILITY: STOLEN GOODS. Unless got some sorta proof or purchase or u trust this person, be careful

6. Look at device LCD screen under the light at various angles. Check for dead pixels.

7. Check camera lense, test the camera.

8. Check battery, if its original or third party battery

9. Check basic call functions

IF second hand still under warranty

1. If seller claims still under warranty, check for receipt, if dun have, check for the warranty card for a stamp and a date of purchase. if got receipt dun need this however.

2. Open the back battery cover, check the screws all there, and look for the VOID sticker. Without this sticker, any warranty will be useless, cuz means the device has been opened by non SIS people. Of course if warranty is void, then this is no big deal.






Thats all i can think of for now. Any other Critical checks inputs are welcome

This post has been edited by Baronic: Feb 12 2009, 02:42 PM

dead pixels are black spots rite?

yes

roger that. lol

very useful tips! gd job!

hmmm... last time dunno who teach me how to check dead pixels by:

turn on ur phone camera. then put ur finger covering the whole camera.
n of course, ur screen will be pitch black.

but let say u got dead pixels on ur lcd. then u will have white dots or lines on ur screen

thats not dead pixels la. under bad lighting condition pda camera sure got white dots and lines

check wifi, check phone call quality, check phone signal strength. gps usually hard to check without installing gps software because by default the system doesn't come with any gps software.

wifi depends on the server also, phone call quality is network and radio rom, nothing to do with any problem the phone is facing

Better to check those like you buy a handphone. The main function is still to make phone call, if the quality bad, no point to buy.

well, like i said, its radio rom dependent. so it can be changed. but i'll add make sure call functions working

Better way to check,

activate camera and then cover the lens with ur finger until the full screen is black. usually dead pixels is show as red. seen n proved by me.. hehehehe

but seriously, sometimes u cant see the dead pixels by tilting angle.

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Added on November 1, 2008, 4:54 pmand u shud check for the vibration as well.. go change to vibration mode and see if its working. i seen pda without vibration working...

This post has been edited by Seaedge: Nov 1 2008, 04:54 PM

this might go under second hand under warranty, check rom version is original or cooked

just my 2 cents

see... lidat oso can see dead pixels.

but i tot its shown in white??

I think best way to check dead pixel is to create a fullscreen RGB and also B&W pciture and put it in the memory card and then fullscreen display all those colors before purchasing. what do you think?

u'd have to prepare that in advance beatlesalbum

@seaedge, eh, serious? hmmm, but i tot dead pixels means no colour = black??

i dunno same or not , Pda and notebook dead pixel

last time miy notebook on dark wallpaper, the dead pixel was in tiny white dot.

hmm... but according to wiki

A dead pixel is a defective pixel that remains unlit. Dead pixels are usually best seen against a white background.

so many different stories geh...

lol. well, look out for ABNORMALITIES lah anyway lol

What happen to HTC Viva thread ar, Baronic? I realized it went missing after searching for it in PDA section. I thought you were selling VIVA units. care to post a review at the Review&Essentials section. very interested in getting a non-3g pda but waiting for your wise feedback.