Hands on with the ASUS P525
September 10, 2006 by Jayvee Fernandez
Filed under ASUS, Windows Mobile
I’ve been playing with ASUS’ new Windows Mobile 5 device for about a week and I think I’ve finally gotten past the learning curve. It’s been a while since I last used the Windows Mobile platform. Familiarity breeds contempt they say.
The new Windows Mobile 5 platform isn’t much of a killer OS for phones. With the advent of simplified everything, a lot of phone functions that may have been intuitive. The main downers of the phone are twofold – the first is a weak battery life, something that has been the sickness of almost all devices running Windows Mobile. Second is the hardware design of the keypad. Plus points to ASUS for creating a smart phone with a numerical keypad adorning the real estate. This gives consumers the feeling that they are buying a phone, and not a computer.
Sadly though the middle joystick is a bit lost. It goes out of place being positioned right below the number 2 key. People with big AND small hands will accidentally push both buttons the first few days they try to get used to it. I learned that pressing buttons close to the joystick from an angle lessens this impediment.
There are two highlights I am loving: first is the integration of Bluetooth and WiFi 802.11G connectivity on this device. So you have GSM, GPRS and the other two aforementioned connectivity options. Neat! The second highlight is the T9 input which Sony Ericsson users wil have no problem getting used to because button combinations are exactly the same.
I’ve been having problems with the screen alignment on a daily basis. For some reason, locking the phone through a hardware button and putting it in my pocket starts some warp field that misaligns the device’s screen on the right side (a bummer since this is where the Close App button and scroll bars are located).
I’ll be posting some pictures soon.
Just a question… does your word completion work when inputing text?
nope. this is a 3rd party app usually.
Ok, I have done some research. Word Completion is a part of Windows Mobile 5. Under Settings > Input > Word Completion Tab. However it does not work on the P525 as there is a glitch with the firmware. I did some searching and on a forum found someone with a similar problem. See http://tinyurl.com/pfeg9 Post Sat Sep 30, 2006 9:05 am. I have also contacted Asus and am awaiting a response, but as you can see in the post they will issue a firmware upgrade to fix this problem.
I’m debating between the P525 vs the Dopod (HTC) 838 pro. Its basically seems to be a comparison between a) Handy and sufficient unit $$ vs b) 3G, Keyboard but $$$. You have been using the Asus for weeks now – Would you still recommend the Asus?
honestly, id go for the dopod. better battery life
Thank Jayvee! Seems like there might be an alternative, the new O2 Stealth. It follows the smart phone with a numerical keypad design theme. Marriage of P525 and 838 pro. Now it all depends on the thickness of Stealth – will check out in the shop tomorrow.
i have already try to download a program to my asus p525 but twhen finished download my pda doesnt work.only working soft reset button and i couldnt close the pda .what can i do?please help me thanks
Asus have released a fix for the T9/Word Completion problem. The Utility installed well and works. Visit the download area for p525 on the Asus website or download from here
http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/IA/P525/T9UtilityInstall.zip
T9/Word Completion problem:
already installed from http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/IA/P525/T9UtilityInstall.zip as Waleed recommended but didnt work even after soft reset.
Anyone can help here?
DL,
Did you install or upgrade the firmware?
I have had the P525 for almost a week now and I’m loving it! I was going for an Atom Exec but I’m confident I made the right decision. The P525 is much sexier, plus the sound quality beats the O2 hands down. I have discovered too that the T9 predictive text does not work. I’ve downloaded the patch but what do I do with it? How do I install it?
Please can someone tell me how to find MAC adress on P525, i simply cant connect it to my Acces point(Router). Thank you!
Where and how can I get myself a P525?
Thanks!
And how much is it in US dollars, more or less?
hi , i had a problem with my p525, i already install the t9 patch and deactivated the t9 but still i cannot use my keypad for texting (sms), also the contacts when i try searching names and try to punch my “keypad” not the (Keyboard) the default is only numbers is there an option to to make my keypad activate to alpha mode? anybody can help me with my current problems encountered with my p525??? thanks very much… please email me… danncarezo@yahoo.com
Hi there. just today Asus P525 keypad number “5″ problem. no respond after pressed for both sms and number. Anyone have similar prob? or can help? many thanks!
i have probem with my asus P525 keypad number “5″. If any one have the similar problem, please advice. Trying not to make warranty claim as it will take long time. Thanks!
I have same problem of hallelujahboy, because I finished the warranty, Thanks~!
Hi, I too having this no.5 problem from today, apart from this problem my battery indicator is stuck to 92% not goes up nor goes down even if i charge it for 1 hour. Any solution i m travelling in india and i dont know if they have any asus service centre.
Looks like, its a design defect. ConsoleOne, i suggest u open up the pda and see what’s wrong. could be due to water went in and cause the rust between the contacts. mine is under warranty, so can’t open up yet.
If its really caused by rust & water, then just clean it up and it will be okay. My previous nokia HP used to have this problem after water went in. After I remove the rust & water between the contact, it works fine!
Hey guys please help me out, this 92% problem in my Asus p525 is giving me freaks, i never know when to charge or battery is ending. Its stuck to 92% nor goes up nor goes down. HELP
hi! where can i buy asus moile phones?
Please dont buy any of asus stuff? They have worst of all service, i was in gr8 problem called them and mailed them, none of their service centre responded i have packed and kept my asus p525 seperately and shifted to HTC touch phone. they are equalyy gr8
I am not pro Asus, but nothing is perfect in this world. Asus is well known of its reliability (only few of us unlucky one having the problem). As we know, reliable product usually doesn’t need good support (warranty claim) so much. Because of this, before i buy, i am prepared not to have good service & taking the risk with hope that i am not one those “unlucky” one.
However, so far Asus has responded to my complain & they suggest me to send back to the place i bought my P525-which i think that is reasonable solution.
Well Lucky you, thats all i can say, but for me its Chao to Asus, would prefer to world class service providers like HP or Blackberry. Enjoy
I bought myself p525 about a week back. The problem is that i am unable to connect to internet using Bluetooth/Wi-Fi.
Any help on “how-to” configure these interfaces to access internet is welcome.
Thanks
I have a problem with my ASUS P525 I cannot recieve or send any MMS and the server provider is set to (ALJAWAL) which is not even in my country and there is no way to change that, any help?
T9 Utility install didnt work on my mobile as well. Does anyone has any idea on what to do to get this working. Also is there any way I can upgrade my windows to 6.0 version?
I have a problem with my ASUS P525 ever since i bought it. I cannot connect to the internet via WiFi. I bought this in another country while traveling there. Is someone out there who can help ? I brought this to a network provider to configure it out but could not manage to connect to their internet. I hope the ASUS people can suggest something to make it work. The phone is working well, including the SMS facility and the mobile word, but not the not internet connectivity.
Does anyone know how to find MAC address on ASUS P525?
i have asus p525, actually what happend i forgot my password. any idea or any chance to repair it.It is good pda phone in the world. Please give a remedy for this.
Regards
Anil.r
Does anyone know how to activate the alpha mode so that I can send SMS’s using the keypad of my Asus P525?