The Imate JAMin is another amazing phone made by HTC and branded by Imate. The JAMin is also known as the HTC Prophet, O2 XDA NEO, QTEK S200, Orange SPV 600 and Dopod 818 PRO. The JAMin is the newer version of the Imate JAM and adds various important upgrades. The JAMin is quad-band GSM and comes unlocked to be used anywhere in the world. The JAMin has a 200 MHz processor, WiFi, Bluetooth, Windows Mobile 5 PPC edition, SD expansion slot and a lot more.
The JAMin is a very small and compact Pocket PC. The JAMin does not have a slide keyboard or numeric keypad. The casing of the phone feels like metal and not plastic like similar devices. The front panel of the phone has an excellent design. Under the touch screen display is the left and right soft-key, the talk and end button which are raised higher than the other buttons to make it easier to press. Under the talk/end buttons is the windows and ok button. The windows and ok button are very important to navigate Windows phones and were not seen on HTC phones before this. The stylus is located at the top right hand corner of the phone and is very secure. Beside the stylus is the power button which turns the display on/off. On top of the phone is the SD card slot. It is nice to see that this phone has SD expansion and not mini SD or micro SD which cost more and have less capacity. On the bottom side of the phone is the 2.5mm headphone jack, mini USB port and the reset button. On the left hand side of the phone we have the camera button, comm manager and volume control. There are two LED's located on the front speaker. One LED is blue for Bluetooth status and the other is orange for missed calls and other notifications. When the phone is done charging the LED will be green.
The JAMin has all the basic features that Windows Mobile offers. You have basic calendar functions with appointments, calculator, PDF viewer, alarm clock, tasks and a lot more. The JAMin also comes complete with Microsoft Pocket Office which includes Word, Excel and PowerPoint. With Word and Excel you can not only view documents but edit them too. Depending on the ROM version of your JAMin you may or may not have push email available. Most new versions have push email built in and if you need to update you can always download the latest ROM from the distributor. If you have an Imate device you can download the latest ROM at: http://www.clubimate.com
The JAMin has many advanced features like a mega pixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi and more.
The camera is 2.0 mega pixels and does not have a built in flash. The camera captures average pictures and is nothing special. During the day pictures are decent but at night or poor light conditions the pictures turn out awful. Although the camera is 2.0 mega pixels does not necessarily mean that it is good in all conditions, a flash could have helped a lot. The camera also has macro mode which can be selected on the camera lens.
The Bluetooth on the JAMin is 1.2 and of course does not have EDR (Enhanced Data Rate). The JAMin does not offer stereo over Bluetooth capability. At the time of release Bluetooth version 1.2 was the latest technology and was far better than the 1.0 standard. Due to the fact that Bluetooth is hardware not software you can not upgrade it to 2.0.
The WiFi works great on the JAMin and will be discussed more in detail under the internet section of the review.
The JAMin's display is QVGA with 240 x 320 resolution. Compared to other similar devices the JAMin has one of the brightest displays. The display on the JAMin is touch sensitive and is maneuvered by the built in stylus. Using the stylus will eventually scratch you screen so it is good idea to get a screen protector.
The JAMin is great for listening to music. The phone comes with stereo headphones that have a built in microphone for making and receiving calls. The headphone jack is 2.5mm but you can buy a 3.5 mm converter for real cheap on Ebay. The good news is that the Jamin supports SD memory card which is currently the cheapest form of memory for phones. With 4 GB SD cards being relatively cheap, you can enjoy all your favorite music on this phone.
Like all Windows Mobile phone there is endless possibilities for entertainment. The best way to pass time is to watch your favorite movies/videos. With a program called TCPMP for Pocket PC, you can watch any type of video including DIVX and AVI. TCPMP was meant only for beta testing and now the final version has been released called Coreplayer. Another good thing about Windows Mobile is that you can have all sorts of games and software for free by downloading freeware/shareware.
The JAMin has GPRS, EDGE and WiFi for browsing the internet. The GPRS is class 10 and supports data rates of up to 48kbps. With an EDGE connection you can have data rates of up to 236kbps. The JAMin has WiFi built in and offers wireless b not g. The wireless works great but tends to drain the battery a lot more than a GPRS or EDGE connection. Like other HTC phones you can select power options for WiFi. If the setting is on best performance you will have faster internet, better connection signal but ultimately will have less battery life.
The JAMin has the standard 128 MB ROM and 64 MB RAM. The JAMin supports standard SD card which is great. SD cards are relatively the cheapest form of memory for phones and PDA's and now come up to 4 GB in size.
Imate is known for adding many programs to their Pocket PC's which not only make your phone slower but will have less free memory. Here's a trick for not installing all the extra programs. After doing a hard reset on your device follow the procedures of aligning your screen, setting time zone, setting a password. After this is complete the phone will say the following ?Customization will begin in 3 seconds?? At this point quickly press the stylus into the soft reset button located on the bottom of the phone. Your phone will reset and all the extra programs will not be installed. With the extra programs not installed you will have 44.18 MB free and only 3.28 MB in use as opposed to 37.15 MB free and 10.31 MB in use. You can still install the programs which you like afterwards which are stored in the phone's extended ROM.
The JAMin has Bluetooth, infrared and mini USB for connectivity. The Bluetooth version is 1.2 and does not offer new features like A2DP and EDR. The JAMin also has an infrared port built in. The infrared is becoming obsolete and is not included in newer devices. With infrared you can use your phone as a remote for your television by downloading a program. There are many different programs available, some cost money and some are free. The phone also has built in mini USB port for charging and syncing with your computer. With a freeware program called WM5torage, you can make you memory card a mass storage drive when plugged in via USB. This way you do not have to use Microsoft Activesync to copy files which is very slow.
The JAMin is constructed very well. The phone does not feel like plastic like older HTC phones and feels like metal. Although the material is different, the phone still tends to get scratched. Overall the phone is very durable but the display is very sensitive. It is a good idea to keep the phone in a carrying case which will protect it a lot better.
The JAMin is an excellent phone but the slow processor may be an issue for some. The processor is Texas Instruments OMAP850 processor which is clocked at only 200 MHz. For people who demand more processing power this phone may not be for you. For people who do not need a keyboard and still want the same Windows functionality in a small package this phone is for you.
Overall the JAMin is an excellent phone because it is small in size and very light weight (150 grams). This phone is the same as others branded by o2, Qtek Dopod etc. but the Imate branding tends to be overpriced. If you?re looking to buy this phone try to look for the different variations which may be cheaper in price but exactly the same phone. You can also load the Imate ROM on other variations!!
Construction
The JAMin is constructed very well. The phone does not feel like plastic like older HTC phones and feels like metal. Although the material is different, the phone still tends to get scratched. Overall the phone is very durable but the display is very sensitive. It is a good idea to keep the phone in a carrying case which will protect it a lot better.
Conclusion
The JAMin is an excellent phone but the slow processor may be an issue for some. The processor is Texas Instruments OMAP850 processor which is clocked at only 200 MHz. For people who demand more processing power this phone may not be for you. For people who do not need a keyboard and still want the same Windows functionality in a small package this phone is for you.
Overall the JAMin is an excellent phone because it is small in size and very light weight (150 grams). This phone is the same as others branded by o2, Qtek Dopod etc. but the Imate branding tends to be overpriced. If you?re looking to buy this phone try to look for the different variations which may be cheaper in price but exactly the same phone. You can also load the Imate ROM on other variations!!
Construction
The JAMin is constructed very well. The phone does not feel like plastic like older HTC phones and feels like metal. Although the material is different, the phone still tends to get scratched. Overall the phone is very durable but the display is very sensitive. It is a good idea to keep the phone in a carrying case which will protect it a lot better.
Conclusion
The JAMin is an excellent phone but the slow processor may be an issue for some. The processor is Texas Instruments OMAP850 processor which is clocked at only 200 MHz. For people who demand more processing power this phone may not be for you. For people who do not need a keyboard and still want the same Windows functionality in a small package this phone is for you.
Overall the JAMin is an excellent phone because it is small in size and very light weight (150 grams). This phone is the same as others branded by o2, Qtek Dopod etc. but the Imate branding tends to be overpriced. If you?re looking to buy this phone try to look for the different variations which may be cheaper in price but exactly the same phone. You can also load the Imate ROM on other variations!!
