I finally got one (and more)
Well… I finally purchased a TYTN II from eBay. I was looking into doing the group buy thing (and still might due to the large number of interested users), but eBay turned out to be a quick solution, and I got a deal too ($470 w/shipping)! So yeah, I got myself a genuine HTC TYTN II with a wall charger and a car charger. I have since added a new leather case (ROOTS), an aircraft aluminum case (belt clip broke already), a 2GB micro sd card and a car/windshield mount.
After a bit of work, I managed to get Street Atlas 2009 working with the TYTN II (com 4, 9600 baud), but lost all of my hard work and my ActiveSync connection after upgrading to the HTC-supplied version of Windows Mobile 6.1 pro. I’m totally peeved about this, as I wouldn’t have upgraded if I had known this would happen before hand… Apparently, WM 6.1 will only sync with Vista’s Mobile Device Center (I have XP Pro), which I’m not interested in at this time.
On the bright side, the 6.1 upgrade added Rogers Canada to the list of Internet service providers (3G, EDGE) and I discovered that the free mobile version of Google Maps works perfectly with the TYTN II GPS (install and run the app, go to Menu >> Options >> GPS Settings >> Set Manually >> COM4, 9600). Just make sure that you have a hefty data plan (300MB of monthly bandwidth is currently $30 through Rogers Canada). Of course Google Mobile Maps probably works just fine with WM 6.0 too…
Overall, I’m quite pleased with my TYTN II. This is my first smartphone, and it is already proving to be quite useful. I just wish I could syncronize my calendar and my contacts! Part of me is willing to risk the Vista upgrade to accomplish this (cringe), but part of me is quite resistant to yet another *forced* upgrade from the Microsoft Corporation.
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