I am after a PDA/Mobile Phone, i would like one that has a slide out keyboard if possible, i was going to go for the xda mini s but i have read that the wifi loses connection alot so that has put me off.

I don't really want to pay more than £200-£250, what are the best version of windows mobile? is windows mobile 2003 and windows mobile 6 better than windows mobile 5?

Also which are the best ones in terms of ease of use and for staying connected?

I've got the XDA Exec with WM5

the wifi will disconnect if it's not used by default, this is to to save battery power, it's possible to disable this setting though so it doesn't disconnect, the XDA Mini S should have the same software capability

can't comment on WM6

you should find more info on the Mini S at http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=248

Thanks for the reply, i like the look of the mini-s but after reading some reviews i am not sure about it as some people say the quality of the audio when calling people is terrible.

The XDA Trion has a slide out keyboard like the Mini S but costs around £250-£300 and has windows mobile 6 on it.

I know the Mini S can be purchased for around £150 but i am not sure at all which one to go for, i want to try and find out a lot more info as i don't want to end up buying the wrong one.

wander into the O2 shop in town and ask for a demo, you don't actually have to buy it from them afterwards and you should have a better idea

I use a HP iPAQ and would be lost without it. It is windows based, serves as my calendar, email, and mobile file store as well as a phone and also comes with free Tom Tom software so I gave my old Sat Nav away and now have one bit of kit for everything. If you would like a price send me a PM and I'll send you some options.

I have the mini-S and never have any problems (tell a lie, if you slide the keyboard out slightly the screen gets corrupted and needs turning on/off again but that's a rarity) - if the audio is rubbish you can easily reflash it with a different ROM which should sort it out. I suppose that's down to whether or not you want to invalidate the guarantee though. The audio on mine has been peachy so far.

http://wiki.xda-developers.com is well worth a look if you're into that sort of thing.

Hope this helps,

I ditched my mini s as it was such a pain making calls and so very bulky. Was very useful when stuck in airports etc, watched movies, played games listened to music and had satnav as well. Had win mobile 5 on it and it was the first release of the handset and was very flakey, constantly crashing, casing was falling apart within 4 months, stylus used to fall out all the time, TomTom would just stop. In general nice gadget but I went back to a proper phone for making calls :) and I guess they are much better quality now (mine was new 2 years ago). Definetely worth flashing the rom as soon as you get it (assuming a new one is available)

I use the Mini-s and dont find any problems with it, i recentley re-flashed it with WM6, which is more or less identical to WM5.

They are really good but if you just want a phone for calls i would go with something different, cos as people say it gets annoying making calls. But its great for internet and movies/games.

The XDA Trion seems a very good PDA/Mobile Phone http://www.ciao.co.uk/O2_XDA_Trion__Review_5623524.

Well i'm looking for something to make calls with but to also chat on and browse the net etc.

The Trion has the advantage where you do not have to use the touch screen or stylus as it has a decent slide out keyboard.

I don't know about other users of this type of keyboard but I found it a real pain even for texting. The layout of the mini s was the same as a standard pc keyboard but it functioned differentlly and it was sometimes difficult to see if you had caps/numlock on. Its also very easy to suffer from fat finger syndrome :)

I use a HTC Tyan flashed to win 6 on T mobile web n walk with a 1.8 meg Iinternet connection... never had a problem with it

So how do you flash them with a different rom? is there any danger of messing the PDA up by doing this? however if it sorts out problems then it's ok.

See the link I posted above - http://wiki.xda-developers.com/

Once that loads, click the picture of your phone and you'll be taken to a page with instructions on how to reflash, and links to the files you'll need. Basically it boils down to downloading an archive (zip or rar usually), extracting this, connecting your phone to your PC with its USB cable and clicking on the reflash app that's in the archive. Go and have a cup of tea and when you come back it'll be done.

Yes, there is a small chance you could lose a phone and gain a paperweight, but it is small. Just read the instructions and make sure you've got your phone's version numbers straight and you should be fine, though it is all done at your own risk and as I said it can invalidate the guarantee (though if you need to return your phone for any reason just reflash it with the official ROM for your phone company, those are available too). In general a reflash does solve problems.

Hope that helps,