Comments on: The i-mate Ultimate 8502 Unboxed and Discussed

By: Mitchell Oke

Mitchell Oke — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:43:18 +0000

I agree with you Chris, it just feels like more of the same. I can’t see why you would buy this over say a Samsung SGH-i780 which is much better looking and has a 320×320 display. Surely VGA wasn’t too much to ask on a device clearly aimed at the corporate market who might want to read documents as they were originally formatted, or edit them with the keyboard.

I think imate losing HTC was the worst thing they ever did, I mean pretty much everything they released after that wasn’t anything great.

By: Christopher Gavula

Christopher Gavula — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:29:22 +0000

I find myself disappointed by yet another WM device that’s overpriced and underpowered. At this price point I really expect VGA or at least a faster processor. Definitely not any kind of “Ultimate” for me – just more of the same…

By: Judie Lipsett

Judie Lipsett — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:34:40 +0000

“VGA is no excuse for fatness, the Diamond is going to have VGA and it’s only 1cm thick!!”

@Mitchell – I was looking for reasons, trying to be helpful.

“On a side note, you say that typing is great but how is it for one handed use? Is it comfortable to type a message with just one hand because the lowest row of keys seems too close to the edge.”

@Tariq – I’ll post pictures of me holding the 8502 one handed and hitting the lower row in the next portion of the review. It’s not at all difficult to rest the lower edge of the phone in the crook of my pinkie, and then tap away on the bottom edge.

By: ssschmidt

ssschmidt — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:25:47 +0000

Excellent Post!. Truly looking forward to the next installment.

By: Christopher Spera

Christopher Spera — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:39:21 +0000

This is one device that I was REALLY interested to see some press on. I’m glad that GD (and you!) got one to play with. I am also disappointed that there’s no VGA screen on this puppy. However, the only place I would have made use of it was when using the GPS receiver and iNav’s iGuidance (my current GPS app of choice).

I think its also too bad that the screen orientation didn’t default to landscape as opposed to portrait. The MotoQ, BlackJack and BlackJack II really cemented that default screen orientation with the 8502′s form factor; but honestly, its not a deal breaker for me.

The lack of VGA for me, won’t kill me either; but like you, I also thought that all of the Ultimates were going to have VGA screens (one of the reasons why they were called, “Ultimate.”

I’m looking forward to your full review!!

By: Tariq Bamadhaj

Tariq Bamadhaj — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:21:16 +0000

Nice writeup Judie.

Actually I for one am glad that there is no VGA in this model. Don’t get me wrong, I love a VGA device but experience has taught me that you’ve got to sacrifice speed and performance for it. Only the Dell Axim series with it’s dedicated graphics chip was snappy as would be expected. All other VGA devices that I have used in the long run were sloppy after a while even though they were snappy at the beginning.

That being said, with the new line up of chips that were announced earlier this year, that compromise might soon be a thing of the past. But until then, I would be pretty happy with the 8502.

On a side note, you say that typing is great but how is it for one handed use? Is it comfortable to type a message with just one hand because the lowest row of keys seems too close to the edge.

By: TrvlngDrew

TrvlngDrew — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:49:40 +0000

Interesting about the VGA.. Guess we can’t have it all.. But I’m still concerned as can it be the only device we carry? I still wonder if that will ever happen.. Why is it that we have to carry one device that is a phone and we can use whilst driving and then we have something so complicated but can do it all.. Hmmm….

By: kevinnugent

kevinnugent — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:47:37 +0000

“Something that is starting to concern me is that the Ultimates seem to each have really fabulous parts, but to get the perfect device they didn’t put them together in the correct combination – at least for me.”

Ummm… Judie… you have stumbled across the very reason why companies like i-mate exist!! If they gave us what we want, there would be no further use for them.

Oh, and the 8502? Yaaawwwnnn……

Kevin

By: Mitchell Oke

Mitchell Oke — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:57:36 +0000

VGA is no excuse for fatness, the Diamond is going to have VGA and it’s only 1cm thick!!

Tis a disappointment that this model didn’t get VGA. It’s not like it’s looks can redeem it…