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

yes

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

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

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

u'd have to prepare that in advance beatlesalbum

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

lol. well, look out for ABNORMALITIES lah anyway lol

cant post a review cuz i dun have one lol. its still around, i shifted it to pda specific section. our new subforum for PDAs. check it out

none, warranty is the main. its the same model

thats right

if hard-reset then all the programs will be gone including mapking/garmin, hence u wont know if GPS working or not

asking in the wrong place. and check the garage sale who offering credit card service.

depends if its operator locked

u ought to check with the person u're buying from there. but unless its a package with a line it shudnt be

i'm not sure if thats possible. is it? google windows mobile and cctv your model, see if it can be done. and see what is needed to be done. oh and its off topic lol

AFAIK cant be done, because hard reseting a pda clears everything