Questions about my new Tilt

[Jeffp25]

I had a Treo 750W in my last job (with an 8525 briefly before that) and bought a Tilt for personal use. It arrived today, and I have a few questions:
1. Once I connect on the phone, the display cuts out so I can't hit keys if I need to (if I reach a number where they say "press 1 for English" for example). How can I turn the keyboard display back on, if needed?
2. I already have a good GPS in my car, but it can't get traffic information. Can I get good, localized, traffic information on the Tilt without paying $10 a month?
3. Any tricks to using the slide out keyboard well? So far, I find that I can't use it as well as I could the thumb pad on the Treo - in fact, I find myself using the virtual keypad on the main screen with the stylus.
4. Anything else I should know, coming from a Treo?

 

[Jeffp25]

One more thing, anyone recommend a good folding Bluetooth keyboard that will work with the Tilt (good for taking notes in meetings)?

 

[Dieter Bohn]

I had a Treo 750W in my last job (with an 8525 briefly before that) and bought a Tilt for personal use. It arrived today, and I have a few questions:
1. Once I connect on the phone, the display cuts out so I can't hit keys if I need to (if I reach a number where they say "press 1 for English" for example). How can I turn the keyboard display back on, if needed?

Sadly, the Tilt seems to use the standard winmo power settings. You'll need to hit the red power button on the side to turn the screen on during a call. I'm going to look for a better hack for this myself.

Stay tuned - I'll be putting a "How to hack the Tilt" article up on the main blog next week

2. I already have a good GPS in my car, but it can't get traffic information. Can I get good, localized, traffic information on the Tilt without paying $10 a month?

yes! Google Maps Mobile, http://google.com/gmm and Windows Live Search, http://wls.live.com both do live traffic (and directions!) with GPS. Google works without setup. With WLS, you need to go into options and set the GPS to com port 4 (unless you've changed that gps setting yourself).

WLS is a superb program. It's my first-install on every device.

3. Any tricks to using the slide out keyboard well? So far, I find that I can't use it as well as I could the thumb pad on the Treo - in fact, I find myself using the virtual keypad on the main screen with the stylus.

You might want to take a look at the TouchPal keyboard if you're a fan of leaving it closed. it's much easier to type with a thumb than a stylus.

http://www.wmexperts.com/articles/software/great_new_soft_keyboard.html

4. Anything else I should know, coming from a Treo?

I guess the main thing is finding ways to use it one-handed. The Touchpal keyboard should help.

One more thing, anyone recommend a good folding Bluetooth keyboard that will work with the Tilt (good for taking notes in meetings)?

Anything should work fine. I personally like this one best:

http://store.wmexperts.com/content/accessories/14-42--171.htm

..but it's not a completely full sized keyboard. This one is:

http://store.wmexperts.com/content/accessories/14-42--1343.htm

...but it pretty much requires that you use it on a table.

Welcome to the Tilt Team!

 

[ScandaLeX]

http://google.com/gmm

..but it's not a completely full sized keyboard. This one is:

http://store.wmexperts.com/content/accessories/14-42--1343.htm

...but it pretty much requires that you use it on a table.

Welcome to the Tilt Team!

This is the one I use; simply because it has its own row of number keys.
Using it on anything other than a flat surface becomes a little challenging; but not overwhelming. I've been using mine for almost a year now.

Initially I had wished that it opened flat and stayed that way without the lift in the center; but after all this time, it doesnt bother me any more.

 

[Jeffp25]

I've used that design of keyboard before - when they first came out in IR form for the original Palm PDAs (I think I used it with a Palm V).

I'll have to try the virtual keypad option you mentioned.

I installed Live Search, only to find out that it's traffic information is way to limited. I need it for the DC and Baltimore areas. First, it has traffic information for all of the DC Beltway EXCEPT the north-west portion, which is the part that matters to me. Second, it doesn't cover Baltimore at all. Meanwhile, I'd found Google Maps Mobile and that appears to give me just what I need for traffic. It doesn't appear to know anything about the GPS - do I need to change a setting?

One more thing, I changed the start up option to show the owner information, thinking that it would only show after a power cycle. Now that I've found that it shows every time the unit recovers from standby, it is irritating (adding a extra steps) but I can't find the option for this again to set it back to starting at the Today page! Where is the option for this setting?

 

[Jeffp25]

OK, I have Google maps working with the GPS. I'm near a window at work, and Google maps pinpointed my location within ten feet - pretty good considering that it couldn't get many satellites. So, I'm very happy with that aspect of the phone. I had been looking into replacing my existing dash-mounted GPS (a Mio 310) just to get one with traffic information, but now that's not needed. I can happily keep my existing Mio for general use and just check the local traffic on my Tilt when I need to (typically, just before heading off for/from work, so that I can decide on my route). A replacement GPS with traffic data would have cost around $300, plus $5 to $10 a month for the traffic updates, so that makes my Tilt "free" and cuts my $80 months AT&T bill down a little.

It will be interesting to see how the battery lasts today - I've left the Bluetooth on and I'll be playing with the GPS every now and then, plus phone reception in my work area is poor (just 1 or 2 bars, or less) which eats up power too. I unplugged the phone from the charger (actually the USB charger for my wife's Garmin GPS) just before leaving home at 7 this morning, and I'll check the battery level when I get home around 7 tonight, after a 60 minute trip with Google Maps and the GPS on.

 

[Dieter Bohn]

OK, I have Google maps working with the GPS. I'm near a window at work, and Google maps pinpointed my location within ten feet - pretty good considering that it couldn't get many satellites. So, I'm very happy with that aspect of the phone. I had been looking into replacing my existing dash-mounted GPS (a Mio 310) just to get one with traffic information, but now that's not needed. I can happily keep my existing Mio for general use and just check the local traffic on my Tilt when I need to (typically, just before heading off for/from work, so that I can decide on my route). A replacement GPS with traffic data would have cost around $300, plus $5 to $10 a month for the traffic updates, so that makes my Tilt "free" and cuts my $80 months AT&T bill down a little.

It will be interesting to see how the battery lasts today - I've left the Bluetooth on and I'll be playing with the GPS every now and then, plus phone reception in my work area is poor (just 1 or 2 bars, or less) which eats up power too. I unplugged the phone from the charger (actually the USB charger for my wife's Garmin GPS) just before leaving home at 7 this morning, and I'll check the battery level when I get home around 7 tonight, after a 60 minute trip with Google Maps and the GPS on.

You know, you might consider TomTom - especially if you're willing to pay a monthly fee for traffic info. Their Plus services include traffic info. I should really pony up the cash for that and do a review.

I'm actually very pleased with how well the Tilt picks up satellites - seems to get pretty good GPS reception.

...and I'm also watching battery life like a hawk. 1350 mAh just seems awfully tiny for a device with so many different radios in it.

 

[Jeffp25]

The Tom Tom software would be worth considering if I wanted to use the Tilt for navigation, but I have a dedicated devices for that (the Mio 310 in my car, and a Garmin Nuvi 360 in my wife's car). The issue was general traffic information. When I leave work in the evening, I can choose one route that is all highways and can take 30 minutes without traffic, or another that is all side roads and takes 45 to 60 minutes. But, if there's a lot of traffic, the highway route goes to 45-90 minutes. The fork in the route is about five minutes from my work. I try and remember to check Traffic.com before I leave work, but don't always get the chance, or get get delayed between leaving my desk and starting the drive. With the Google Maps service on my Tilt, I can look at the map any time between getting in my car and the fork in the route (there are a few stop lights between, where I could check if needed) - a big advantage. I'm not sure that the live traffic service in Tom Tom would be any better - if I relied on that telling me of traffic as I got close to the typical backups, I'd be way past the fork in my routes and take longer than if I'd taken the side roads from the begining.

Anyway, tonight (in about 90 minutes) will be the first test! (I just checked my route with Google maps on the Tilt, and it already shows a big problem in a key section of my highway route - I double-checked on Traffic.com and that doesn't show the problem!)

 

[Jeffp25]

I used Google Maps and the GPS for my ride home tonight and it accurately showed that the highway route was clear, so I got home in 30 minutes. The GPS sensor worked very well, getting 7 satellites while the phone was sitting in the cup holder between the front seats of my Passat. My one complaint on the Google Maps implementation is that the map display doesn't scroll to keep my location in the center, but keeps it fixed in the last location. But it is OK for my intended use.

By the time I arrived home, the phone indicated that the battery was down to 10% - so that is 12 hours of use, with the Bluetooth on the whole time, multiple access to the Web, and about 90 minutes of GPS use. I'll have to duplicate the testing tomorrow without the GPS use, and see how much difference that makes.

 

[Dieter Bohn]

I used Google Maps and the GPS for my ride home tonight and it accurately showed that the highway route was clear, so I got home in 30 minutes. The GPS sensor worked very well, getting 7 satellites while the phone was sitting in the cup holder between the front seats of my Passat. My one complaint on the Google Maps implementation is that the map display doesn't scroll to keep my location in the center, but keeps it fixed in the last location. But it is OK for my intended use.

IIRC, If you interact with the map at all you have to re-check "track location" in order for it to recenter on GPS - then it should scroll again. Not ideal.

I still think you would like wls better.

By the time I arrived home, the phone indicated that the battery was down to 10% - so that is 12 hours of use, with the Bluetooth on the whole time, multiple access to the Web, and about 90 minutes of GPS use. I'll have to duplicate the testing tomorrow without the GPS use, and see how much difference that makes.

That's about my experience. I ran down last night after 2 days - about an hour each day of heavy web use, email checks every 30 minutes, maybe 20 minutes of gps. Bluetooth and WiFi on the whole time. All in all, much better than I feared.

 

[Jeffp25]

IIRC, If you interact with the map at all you have to re-check "track location" in order for it to recenter on GPS - then it should scroll again. Not ideal.

I still think you would like wls better.

What is wis? Is this the free software from Microsoft? If so, that's no good as it doesn't have traffic information for the areas I care about (I-270 and the I-270 side of I-495 (both north of DC), I-70, and I-695 (around Baltimore). As the main thing I want is traffic, that makes the Microsoft software worthless for my needs.

There's really one key area of my primary route that tends to have traffic. If I set the Google Maps view to that, and check it both before I leave work and glance down at it just before I hit the fork in my two routes, it should be just what I need.

By the way, I figured out the answer to my other question - how to change the start-up back to Today instead of showing owner information. The option is on Options page of the Owner Information application - not exactly where I'd expect it to be.

 

[Dieter Bohn]

What is wis? Is this the free software from Microsoft? If so, that's no good as it doesn't have traffic information for the areas I care about (I-270 and the I-270 side of I-495 (both north of DC), I-70, and I-695 (around Baltimore). As the main thing I want is traffic, that makes the Microsoft software worthless for my needs.

There's really one key area of my primary route that tends to have traffic. If I set the Google Maps view to that, and check it both before I leave work and glance down at it just before I hit the fork in my two routes, it should be just what I need.

By the way, I figured out the answer to my other question - how to change the start-up back to Today instead of showing owner information. The option is on Options page of the Owner Information application - not exactly where I'd expect it to be.

sorry. WLS == Windows Live Search. wls.live.com . And I'm surprised to see that you're right, traffic information on wls seems to stop cold somewhere in northern DC. That's a serious bummer.

Still, it's great for directions and movie times. (..yeesh, I'm starting to sound like I get a commission for this program.)

 

[Jeffp25]

Before I got the Tilt, I seriously considered replacing my Mio GPS with one of the Garmin units that gets traffic and other information from Microsoft. It would probably have pulled from the same data as WLS, and been just as useless!

So, not only did I save money getting the Tilt, but I saved the disapointment of finding the new GPS didn't do what I needed.

Hopefully Microsoft will expand their data sources soon.

 

[Jeffp25]

Today, I used the phone about the same amount for about the same amount of time, with the Bluetooth enabled the whole time but without the GPS usage and after 12 hours the battery was at 50%, which goes to show how much power is needed for the GPS function. This was expected - my Mio, which only has to work as a GPS (no phone and no Bluetooth) only gets two hours on the internal battery. On the other hand, this isn't a big deal as most of the time you'd have the phone plugged into a charger when using the GPS.

I advanced one more step this evening - I enabled the WiFi and connected it to the Internet with my Linksys router. It worked easily, so I have one more thing to play with.

 

[surur]

If you use this software, you can remove that irritating "Fast Sleep on Phone calls" which blanks the screen in about 10 seconds when you are on the phone.

http://www.jongma.org/KaiserTweak/

Surur

 

[taylorh]

The screen backlight shutting off during a call is super annoying.
I found that by rotating the jog wheel on the side up or down (volume up or down) will turn the light back on as well.

Unfortunately the volume control does not seem to control the blue tooth headset volume like it should (Treo 750 did) and I have to use the volume UP button on the headset (I hate doing that.)

I'm going to turn off fast sleep, I think that should do it. I don't think I have to turn it off completely.

 

[webedc]

If you use this software, you can remove that irritating "Fast Sleep on Phone calls" which blanks the screen in about 10 seconds when you are on the phone.

http://www.jongma.org/KaiserTweak/

Surur

Good find! :thumbsup:

 

[Jeffp25]

Update

I'm now using the phone in a more normal mode, charging it in my car during the 50 minute ride in, using it all day, charging it on my ride home (with Google Maps up to show the traffic on the route home). I have the Bluetooth on during my drives, and use the WiFi for about 30 minutes. I spend about 30 minutes on the phone a day, and I turn off the phone side of the unit when I go to bed and turn it back on in the morning. With all this, the battery doesn't get below about 60%, even though I only charge it during my drive.

I'm still happy with the phone. I used it to take notes in a meeting today (no Bluetooth keyboard yet) and then e-mailed the Mobile Word file to my work account at the end of the meeting. The meeting report was at my desk by the time I got there, allowing me to finalize it on Word there and then send it out within a few minutes of the meeting - almost as good as a laptop, but without all the weight (and cost) issues.

I haven't downloaded the hack the prevents the fast sleep option, but I'm having second thoughts about that. I remember reading that this is on purpose, so that the user doesn't hit keys with their ear/face while talking.

 

[Rusty J]

Today, I used the phone about the same amount for about the same amount of time, with the Bluetooth enabled the whole time but without the GPS usage and after 12 hours the battery was at 50%, which goes to show how much power is needed for the GPS function. This was expected - my Mio, which only has to work as a GPS (no phone and no Bluetooth) only gets two hours on the internal battery. On the other hand, this isn't a big deal as most of the time you'd have the phone plugged into a charger when using the GPS.

Google Maps (and, I'm sure, Windows Live Search) continually download new maps while you're moving.
Using a navigation program with onboard maps (such as TomTom's) would probably drop power consumption quite a bit. Especially by comparison to using the satellite view version of Google Maps at a large scale...

 

[Jeffp25]

For my use, that's not an issue. Before I leave work, I set the Google Maps page to show the view that includes the major road that concerns me - I don't have to track my position or scroll the map, but just be able to keep an eye on the status of this road up to the point where I have to commit to a route that takes or avoids it. This works really well for me, and the only thing that has to reload is the traffic information.

One more thing: while I'm using the phone in the car this way, I typically have it plugged in and charging after my day at work, so battery consumption isn't an issue.