Could this replace my Audiovox SMT5600? The i-mate JAM is nearly the perfect mobile device for me.
Today I was given the opportunity to use an i-mate JAM PocketPC Phone Edition device to see how it compared to an Audiovox SMT5600.
Wow! All of the features of PocketPC in a form factor not that much larger than the Audiovox -- I'm nearly sold since I love the more fully featured PocketPC over the SmartPhone (Triple-Tap is handy, but tedious if you actually want to write more than two words). I can't stand carrying two devices and to date haven't been happy with the form factors of the Pocket PC Phone Edition (read: too large and bulky). That's all changed.
The pictures of the i-mate JAM don't really do it justice from the size perspective.
Audiovox SMT5600 = 108 mm x 46 mm x 18 mm and just over 100 grams
i-mate JAM = 108 mm x 58 mm x 18.1 mm and less than 200 grams
So, for all intents and purposes, the i-mate JAM is 12 mm wider than the Audiovox. It does weigh more than the Audiovox, but the Audiovox is super-duper light and the i-mate is not even double the weight of the Audiovox. I'll try it for another week, but I think I'm already hooked.
Did I mention it has a 1.3 megapixel phone on board? Finally a resolution that begins to make me interested in mobblogging. Suh-weet.
Did I mention it uses SD cards for storage? My Toshiba M200 Tablet PC has an SD slot onboard and now I'm downloading about 5 CDs worth of music - Casting Crowns, Dave Weckl Band, Parlaiment Funkadelic and James Taylor -- all in WMA Pro VBR goodness. Double Suh-weet.
This just might be the next ScoblePhone (I'm willing to wager it will be once he tries one :-). Step away from the iPod Shuffle, Robert. :-)
And Matt, forget yet another device in your stable -- get one of these and a large (1GB or bigger) SD card and you've got one device that does it all -- come by tomorrow and check it out.
Of course, there is a small amount of bad news: apparently it's only available only in Europe at the moment. Why aren't we seeing these cool form factors here first...?
