Samsung's WiMAX-equipped Mondi MID reviewed, warts 'n all
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Jul 23rd 2009 12:59PM
posted Jul 23rd 2009 12:59PM
Are you a high roller sitting pretty in Las Vegas right now, wondering what MID to pick up to take advantage of that fantabulous new CLEAR WiMax service all the kids are talking about? No? Well, read on anyways -- you'll probably want to hear this. Apparently the kids at PC World have had the opportunity to put that Samsung Mondi (you know, the one we were caught on video with way back in April) through its paces. The verdict? Pretty "meh," it seems: the OS, WinMo 6.1, performs pretty much as you'd expect: all sorts of sluggish. And it appears that Sammy won't be upgrading to 6.5 when that becomes available, on account of all the work they put into getting the user experience just right on this guy (and it does look pretty good, truth be told). The home screen may support widgets, but according to the reviewer the selection is rather skint: IM, email, time / date / weather, Internet / Phone, appointments -- and that's pretty much it. Sure, Opera Mobile (with Flash Lite support) did its job admirably, but for $400 unsubsidized (or $300 subsidized) you can probably do better.
[Via SlashGear]
[Via SlashGear]
Hmm
Why the hell to these companies keep ham-stringing their products with Winmo?
win mobile....no thanks.
$400 is way too expensive.
I ordered a 4.3" (800x480) Linux/WinCE SmartQ 5 MID for $150 ( http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.26366~r.76585803 ). That's the sweet spot imo for a portable indernet device. If I need WiMAX or whatever, I could always add it using USB or Bluetooth.
I own a phone and computer already, i bought a laptop a few months ago.
I dont know how Engadget came up with such a negative spin on that article when the author of the PC World Article says;
"Overall, in my first impressions, the good outweigh the bad: I can live with the keyboard and the UI is only sluggish occasionally."
You have to wonder if Joseph read the article....or just glanced through it.
This can't mess with my N810 even if it has WIMAX. Unfortunately no upgrade for WinMo 6.5 but its a good device overall.
How would you get this subsidized?
Price for the Mondi -- which is available *now* directly from Samsung -- is $450 unlocked. The device will be available Aug. 1 from Clear stores in Clearwire markets, as well as some Best Buy outlets. There will also be a $350 price with a 2-year Clear contract. See our post for more deets:
http://www.sidecutreports.com/2009/07/21/samsung-mondi-available-now-449-unlocked/
Q: Is this thing usable without WiMAX (4G)? Does it utilize 3G when WiMax is unavailable, or is WiFi the only other wireless option?
I see the TX is still listed for $329.88
Windows Mobile 6.1 is not sluggish at all, the default settings assigning ram maybe quite low but this can be changed via the registry.
But actualy expecting someone on engadget to know what there talking about is too much to expect I guess.