I-mate JASJAR Review

I-mate JASJAR Review (Expert)

First impressions out of the box is that the thing isn't as big as I was expecting. About the same size as a normal PDA but a bit thicker. Feels very weighty with the top cover being made from brushed metal. Upon opening the device you can feel the quality of the hinge/rotate mechanism. No way this thing is going to break with extended useage. The first thing that you notice when powering it on is how fantastic the screen is. If you've used an HX4700 or X50v you will know what I'm on about. It's a 640x480 VGA display and looks stunning. No cramming websites in to one column mode with this device. First boot takes about a minute as it moves all it's factory data around. If you have never used a PDA/Phone device or discounted them in the past, you will probably hate it. All the same problems still exist such as the difficulty in quickly dialing a number that isn't in the phone book. General size of the device making you look like a fool holding it to your ear. Problems with carrying such a heavy device around in your pocket. etc. If you have used a device like this before, or you are used to carrying a PDA and phone around with you, this is the device for you. You will love it. From a mobile working perspective, this thing is a god-send. A full keyboard means that writing e-mails or documents is a doddle. The board is big enough to 4-finger type on a surface but small enough to work as a thumb board when the device is held in both hands. Very nice. 3G data functionality is excellent with signal strength being way better than my old Z1010. Browsing the web in a 3G area is fast, and I mean FAST. It's not going to compare with broadband in your house but it's ISDN territory easily. Pages load quickly and the VGA screen means that you aren't scrolling the things around all over the place. A really nice feature is that you can make/recieve a voice call while using the 3G data and it won't drop the data connection. Wifi performance is on a par with most devices of this type. Decent signal reception and OK performance. As a phone it works well. The calls are clean and the speaker loud. The in built speakerphone works well too. Very useable especially if the device is sat on a table...however, due to the lack of an external display a bluetooth headset with a caller ID display is essential. The only 2 I know of with this feature are the SE HBH-660 and the Jabra BT-800. I have both of them and the Jabra is the best by far. If you are looking at getting a JASJAR then factor in the cost for one of these. It's a bit of a pain having to open the device to see who's calling.

posted by rilot@modaco.com

There is no doubt in my mind that the JasJar is for the hard core business professional. For me it fits that niche I have been looking for! The past 2 days using this device it has given me the functionality and power I need in my every day life. Pros: Beautiful VGA display Simultaneous voice and data Keyboard Windows Mobile 5 USB Video Conferencing Swivel Screen Great Software Add-Ons Backlit display on keyboard Cons: Poor case Battery Weight

posted by davesipaq.com

The i-mate JasJar is not a fantastic phone. It's simply too large and heavy to be practical for most people. But for the mobile warrior and those that value bits and bytes more than spoken words, the JasJar offers more functionality than most any other device available today. The large display is very nice, the keyboard works well, and the various wireless systems are easy to configure - and work perfectly. The JasJar might seem a bit slow at responding to commands from time to time, and it is certainly possible that it will give you a hernia, but in spite of my quite negative initial impressions, I rather like the device after having lived with it for a couple of weeks. You might, too, if its capabilities match up well with your needs. I give the JasJar a "Recommended" rating. HTC's other new QWERTY keyboard equipped device, the Wizard (aka i-mate K-Jam), offers much of the same functionality as the JasJar, but in a far smaller and lighter package, and might make a good alternative for those that can't deal with the JasJar's size.

posted by mobileBurn.com

First of all, the performance. It is not that the device does not have a more powerful processor or more memory - there is actually little difference between a 520-MHz and 624-MHz processor. However, he overall performance is rather disappointing. I am not speaking about stability, which is excellent - I did not encounter an application crash or spontaneous system reset. Nevertheless, the operating system feels sluggish; performance of applications is not very impressive, either. To make it clear, the overall relative slowness is not an issue but a feature resulting from the fact that all information is stored in the slow FlashROM memory, and not in the fast operating memory. A cache memory helps speed up processes but its effect is rather limited due to security of data. However, this new philosophy of working with the memory has nothing to do with the fact that the device has problems playing videos optimised for the VGA resolution. The result of a benchmark test of TCPMP (formerly known as BetaPlayer) is quite bad: with 89.94 percent, the device lags behind competitors significantly. Even if you do not give much significance to benchmark tests, you must accept the fact that playback of a movie with the resolution of 640x480 pixels and a bit rate of 1500 kbps is far from seamless. The same applies to games. It would be unfair to judge by classic games optimised for QVGA displays. Yet games designed for VGA do not play very well either. Most of them have not yet been optimised for WM5 and some would not run at all. This is not the device's fault yet it is disappointing from the user's point of view. Common office applications (Word, Excel PowerPoint) work fine. This pis a very good device but far from perfection. There are too many issues and unnecessary economising. Another question is who are the target customers. Given the price, which will be high or very high, it is not masses of common users. On the contrary, it looks aimed at mobile professionals and users who like showing off and can afford an exclusive device. I believe that the appearance of the Universal may cause much agitation at a top management meting of a technically oriented company:) Anyhow, likely buyers are only those who require an all-in-one solution at the expense of size and weight. A fundamental question is whether a combination of a VGA Pocket PC, BT foldable keyboard and a mobile phone with EDGE would render the same services in better quality.

posted by pdagold.com

The JASJAR is a device that is out to get your heart (not to mention your wallet Wink ). If you can afford it and are in the market for a good dependable device then consider your search ended Wink The device has set a new standard for convergent devices and my only hope is that it is improved on in the coming years. It is a head turner in every way you can think of and it certainly deserves to be. Pros 1) WM 5.0 (persistent storage) 2) Form factor (can be used in notebook and PDA form) 3) Good build quality 4) Full keyboard (with backlight) 5) Mini-USB 6) Voice dial 7) A usable camera, finally 8) 3.5mm Headset jack 9) Stereo speakers 10) 3G video/data 11) Well connected (3G, WiFi, BT, USB, IR) 12) Negligible bugs out of the box Cons 1) Poor quality bundled case 2) Recessed buttons (preferential opinion) 3) Not Quad-band 4) No EDGE

posted by pocketpcdubai.com

I-mate JASJAR Review (User)

theres no reason for anyone to hate this phone ... only that its a bit big ... the bigger the better the other ppl see it and i dont have anything to say about thecamera its a pda after all ... i dont have money to buy it otherwise ...

posted by gka3000

Hi Sourab,I m facing exactly the same problem..n its very irritating...after paying 42k i m highly disappointed with the phone...I took it from Croma,Malad(W),Mumbai. Approached them for the same problem for which they directed me to Kaizer Telecom in Crwaford Market, Mumbai, the sole distributor of imate phones in Mumbai. I gave them the phone on 8th August n they have still not been able to recitfy the problem...Facing a lot of problem...U are facing the same problem n hence wanted to know what have u done for ur phone...have u taken any action????QUOTE(sourabhmalik @ May 17 2007, 09:14 PM)I purchased my JasJar phone in Dec 2006, within 4 months of usage the battery has started failing.A fully charged phone restarts in 10minutes of usage. The battery back is exactly 10minutes. I pay 42000 (INR) to get an IMATE JASJARWithin 4months Battery backup failsI loose business since I am unable to take callsI gave it for battery replacement and get it back without a new batteryNow I have to take out time travel 40km again to and fro to get this thing checked.Finally I pay 42000/- (INR) to go through all this.

posted by amitbhalerao

i dont like it at all, not my type of mobile phone. 1.3mp bit old now as well.

posted by technokid1974

I purchased my JasJar phone in Dec 2006, within 4 months of usage the battery has started failing.A fully charged phone restarts in 10minutes of usage. The battery back is exactly 10minutes. I pay 42000 (INR) to get an IMATE JASJARWithin 4months Battery backup failsI loose business since I am unable to take callsI gave it for battery replacement and get it back without a new batteryNow I have to take out time travel 40km again to and fro to get this thing checked.Finally I pay 42000/- (INR) to go through all this.

posted by sourabhmalik

I made a review of the I-Mate JasJar that you will find HERE

posted by dafab

QUOTE(drive2droad @ Sep 4 2005, 07:12 PM)extremely bulky & big ! thats it ! same here....Also...the cover it has not that nice to me...

posted by ArthurWill

extremely bulky & big ! thats it !

posted by drive2droad

This topic discusses I-mate JASJAR. Please post your review and opinion regarding I-mate JASJAR here.

posted by expert_21

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