Quickie review of Verizon Q9c

[sulster]

Okay, here is my brief review of the Q9c on Verizon. I have never written a review before, so please bear with me as I try to anticipate questions and comment on the things that are important to me. Just so you know, I was running an original silver Q.

First, the case of the unit is simply lovely. It appears flatter and wider than the original (especially since I had the 3200 mah battery on the other one) The edges are rounded and it fits nicely in my hand. It has that “sticky” black coating on the back and on the front under the keyboard, and the edges are made out of a quality-feeling plastic/resin. The sides are silver metal. It feels much more sound (less cheap) than the other Q.

The keyboard is quite simply fabulous. The keys are square and flush against each other, more like a real keyboard. They are made of a soft rubbery-plastic and don’t have quite such a hard click. You are able to type faster b/c your fingers aren’t sliding off the slick round surface of the old keys. Seriously, this keyboard is super compared to the old Q and to the other Smartphone’s I’ve played with. My typos have decreased tremendously.

They changed the configuration of the Send/End keys and the soft keys. The send/end keys are now more vertical at the edge of the phone and are much easier to reach and use while holding the phone without looking. It makes a bigger difference than I anticipated in ease of use.

There isn’t a dedicated “camera” key. There’s a dedicated “Media” key that brings up a choice ofWindows Mediat, Camera, Video Camera and Pictures/Videos. I kinda like it, actually.

The Windows 6.0 is certainly a vast improvement over 5.0 in terms of not feeling so dated. The built-in sounds are much more gentle and multi-chorded, rather than the angry blips of before. Of course, I am sure after some point even those will grate on me, but I like them for now—for example, the start-up sound that used to cause me to cringe is now relatively palatable. The icons are also nicer. I guess it is “Vista”-esque, even the “working” symbol on PIE is the turning Vista ring. (This is cool for me b/c I like Vista.)

The Email is updated, and promises HTML email. However, I have yet to see true HTML emails to my Outlook/Exchange account on the phone. Also, you still are forced with the two line listing of emails in the built in program, so I have gone back to FlexMail as you can have a multi-column view of your Inbox. Not sure why they didn’t fix this. All of the “Messaging” is still tied together, which is a PITA for users of Extreme Text. (which is still required b/c there isn’t threaded texting on this phone.)

I don’t know if the Calendar is improved any as I never looked at the old one after the first time (when I ran screaming to buy something else.)

It seems more smoothly integrated. There appear to be more options that link apps together and additional options that they forgot to put on the original Q. (For example, you can now send contacts as vcards.) There are some additional view options for the Start Menu, which I have way too many apps to take advantage of.

Autodimmer seems to work well. I have been using a larger battery for a while now, so I can't remember how long the old one lasted. I charged this over night on Friday and it finally got below 50% Saturday evening, with more than usual weekend use. (yes, Mr. Sulster was sick of my new phone by the end of the weekend...)

The battery door slides on and is secure and flush to the unit. (standard battery). No play or give.

In short, it is pretty much the same Q (which I loved) with some much-needed updates in a tremendously improved shell! J

[rudeboy]

nice review... thanks.

[PacoJr67]

Yes, an excellent review. Thanks much!

[n99hockey]

thanks for the review sulster!!

only 2 real reasons i would get this and seems to either not work right or not at all

1. html email
2. gps

if i can get those confirmed (and i can see one in a store...which i have yet to do) i would get one

[sulster]

Here is today's buy.com email to my Exchange account in Outlook on the Q9c:





Here is is to gmail in FlexMail on the 9c:



Now, I'm not sure if that's a limitation of Pocket Outlook OR of an Exchange server, b/c as I think about it, it looks like the first one on my Desktop...

Okay, when the buy.com emails come directly to my Desktop/Exchange they are stripped to links not photos (like the first pic). I also get that same email to gmail and when I forwarded it from gmail to Exchange, the desktop shows like the second pic. So, either I have a setting on my Exchange/Desktop Outlook that strips pictures OR the server itself does it...

Interesting! [/Little Bear]

[n99hockey]

interesting...so your issue might be an exchange thing not a Q thing....
so that might leave just the gps option open

[sulster]

Originally Posted by n99hockey

so that might leave just the gps option open

OR buy a new car AND a 9c!

It is really really sleek feeling. I couldn't put it down over the weekend.

[n99hockey]

Originally Posted by sulster

OR buy a new car AND a 9c!

It is really really sleek feeling. I couldn't put it down over the weekend.

hahahahaha....yeeeea that dont seem to be an option...

[sulster]

Originally Posted by n99hockey

interesting...so your issue might be an exchange thing not a Q thing....

Evidently, it's an Outlook 2007 thing.

[n99hockey]

Originally Posted by sulster

Evidently, it's an Outlook 2007 thing.

i see i see...i really wish i can see one in a store first