Design
The i-Mate JASJAM is essentially the i-mate rebranded version of the Dopod 838 Pro with a few different localisation quirks. As HTC, the OEM manufacturer of the JASJAM/838 Pro no longer manufactures phones for i-mate, it's probably the last locally available HTC phone you'll see that isn't under the Dopod banner.
The other phone that the JASJAM resembles is the i-mate K-JAM; while each phone has a slightly different keyboard layout, they've got the same sliding side-mounted keyboard arrangement, and identical front button layouts. As with the K-JAM, the JASJAM is a pretty bulky little phone unit, measuring in at 112.5 by 58 by 22mm and with a carrying weight of 176 grams. Given that smartphones are normally pitched at the business user, it'll slip into a jacket pocket with only the slightest bulge, but the same can't be said of a pair of tight stubbies or an A-line skirt pocket.
Features
The JASJAM runs off a 400MHz Samsung processor, with 128MB of onboard ROM and 64MB of RAM; this can be supplemented with microSD cards which slot in the bottom left hand corner of the phone. It's a Windows Mobile 5.0 smartphone, so it's natively got access to Word, Excel, Internet Explorer and the ability to act in a Blackberry-like fashion from an Exchange server. It was commented on in the Dopod review, and we'll restate it here; while the ability to plug a 2-megapixel camera into the JASJAM is all well and good, it's probably not a feature that's going to endear it to your IT purchasing department if you're looking at it from an enterprise buying position.
The JASJAM's 2.8-inch 320x320 pixel display has good clarity and in a similar fashion to the K-JAM, flips into landscape mode when the keyboard is slid out. The stylus sits next to the bottom-mounted USB port, and is an extending model that's just small enough to roll away and hide under a notebook, as we discovered during testing. Thankfully we found our stylus, eventually -- navigating touchscreen menus with your digits is a pain, even with the help of the JASJAM's side-mounted scroll wheel.
On the connectivity front, the JASJAM offers Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/a), Bluetooth, quad-band GSM, 3G (UMTS), EDGE and HSDPA. It's that last factor that's important to the JASJAM's offering locally, as it's a Telstra exclusive within Australia on the HSDPA-enabled Next G network. Infrared is also offered as a connectivity option -- does anyone really care any more about infrared? Answers on the back of a postcards to somewhere else, please.
Performance
The JASJAM's 1300mAh battery is rated by i-mate as being good for 4-5 hours of talk time and up to 200 hours standby time; we found it necessary to recharge the unit on average just over every two days with fairly heavy usage, including the battery-draining Wi-Fi option. For a smartphone, this places the JASJAM in average territory, but given that they're units that are designed to synchronise with other data sources on a frequent basis, the lack of a real long-term battery probably isn't too much of a problem.
We also tested the JASJAM's ability to work on the Next G network with mixed results. If you're just looking for a quick data portal through to your e-mail and for Web access, then there's not too much wrong with how the JASJAM uses Next G, presuming you can stomach the rather painful excess data charges that Telstra's very fond of. Where the JASJAM will lose appeal on a personal, as opposed to enterprise level is that it's not capable (at the time of writing) of plugging into the value added services of the Next G platform -- most notably the mobile Foxtel offering. Tastes vary, but from what we've seen of mobile Foxtel, and given the add-on price it entails, we'd say you're not missing that much.
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randall
27/07/2008, 07:45 PM
rating
3/10
It is unfortunate to find so many entries slaging the JasJam. We have experienced the same problems as described here, and worse the complete indifeerence of the Telstra staff from whom we bought the thing from in the first place. All they can do is suggest we buy another phone!!!
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TrevorPee
18/07/2008, 12:38 PM
rating
4/10
I have extended warranty, but my white screen is my fault somehow. Repair cost $800+ - what a joke.
Pros: good for 12 months
Cons: white screen
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bundybear1981
12/07/2008, 05:15 PM
rating
9/10
Overall good device plenty of features, full QWERTY keyboard and fairly solid device (dropped many times) Had for 18 mths now with very few issues Has WM6 update for free No immediate desire to change phones
This phone is not for everyone but for me has many features I use (only wish it had more internal memory n built in GPS) and has so far served me well
Pros: Lots of features
Highly customizable
Excellent contact info storage
Cons: Small internal memory
No inbuilt GPS
Stylus has tendancy to fall out off phone and be lost
Not overly great NextG reception (not rural handset, great in regional areas thou)
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PedOffImateUser
06/07/2008, 07:39 PM
rating
1/10
Poorest excuse for a phone I have used to date.
Pros: Too numerous to mention.
Cons: None that I can think of
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Maverick
01/07/2008, 03:42 PM
rating
8/10
Very happy with the Imate JASJAM model. Have been using it for over 6 months now
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mkerr
27/06/2008, 05:07 PM
rating
8/10
I love it. Seems these sorts of phones get negative reviews because they're being used by people more suited to apple's products. if you aren't capable of a little fiddling, getting used to playing with settings, and customising the phone to suit your tastes, i'd say you're better off saving yourself the headache and getting something shiny / pretty to spoon feed you. on the other hand, if you've managed to master fire, the wheel, and manage to flush a toilet all by your self, then grab one.
Pros: ridiculously customisable. i'm a non-fanboy fan of WM6. once you get to gribs with the interface, settings, and 3rd party software, there's not much you can't do with this thing. examples:
* i'm a student, and have more than 40 reference texts / proggies on this, from medical dictionaries and calculators to full blown references such as harrisons principles of internal medicine and UpToDate. this in itself is a deal breaker for me
* i can sync everything to outlook, damn easy to get organised
* i can play SNES, game boy etc games via emulators, WAAAAY better than any crappy generic phone games
* all hard buttons are remapped to software i use often, easy for me to navigate quickly
* via an inexpensive bluetooth GPS i use this baby with Tomtom software.
* other than the above, i've never had any problems with the device, once you're used to the size it's really not that bad.
all in all, for the functions this provides, it's easily the best piece of hardware / gadgetry i've EVER bought. i'm sure other PDA phones are just as good, if not better, but keep in mind that a lot of the negative reviews on here are from people that are obviously not suited to a PDA phone.
Cons: chunky, but i'm used to the size now. fits easily in my pocket - so doesn't really matter anyway.
aging, many faster / sleeker options out now.
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Maverick
15/05/2008, 02:46 PM
rating
8/10
Very Happy with the handset. Works with no issues at all.
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mike01
07/05/2008, 02:03 PM
rating
2/10
This phone is s*#t. The phone locks up - only after some random mucking around did I work out how to unlock it - I need to hit the Green button then the OK button to unfreeze - what the f#$%?
Also, every time I want to use the phone I have to kill of an Internet Explorer session that starts off by itself - presumably because the IE button is too sensitive
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f61oe1
01/05/2008, 10:45 AM
rating
3/10
this device is junk - if you want client complaints because you don't answer your phone because it doesn't ring then get one
Pros: heavy enough to hold the front door open in a cyclone
Cons: put it in your fish tank and forget about it
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g
30/04/2008, 07:26 PM
rating
2/10
what a piece of junk
Pros: none
Cons: the con started the moment i bought it
and the lkast con should be Telstra exec going to jail for pushing this piece of crap on the public
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