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Cellphone9 : Mobile Phones, 3G, Telco Industry, Cellular Networks, Phone Reviews

Hands on with the ASUS P525

by Jayvee on September 10th, 2006

asus-p525.jpgI’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.

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POSTED IN: ASUS, Windows Mobile

31 opinions for Hands on with the ASUS P525

  • Waleed Gumaa
    Oct 3, 2006 at 6:30 am

    Just a question… does your word completion work when inputing text?

  • Jayvee
    Oct 3, 2006 at 11:40 am

    nope. this is a 3rd party app usually.

  • Waleed Gumaa
    Oct 4, 2006 at 1:46 am

    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.

  • Sam Lam
    Oct 22, 2006 at 11:53 am

    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?

  • Jayvee
    Oct 22, 2006 at 6:41 pm

    honestly, id go for the dopod. better battery life :)

  • Sam Lam
    Oct 23, 2006 at 10:09 am

    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.

  • ozgur
    Nov 9, 2006 at 1:39 pm

    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

  • Waleed
    Nov 16, 2006 at 7:38 am

    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

  • DL
    Jan 29, 2007 at 12:08 am

    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?

  • Waleed
    Jan 30, 2007 at 1:29 am

    DL,

    Did you install or upgrade the firmware?

  • DC
    Feb 6, 2007 at 8:07 am

    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?

  • Ivan
    Jun 3, 2007 at 12:45 pm

    Please can someone tell me how to find MAC adress on P525, i simply cant connect it to my Acces point(Router). Thank you!

  • Ed
    Jun 9, 2007 at 9:54 pm

    Where and how can I get myself a P525?

    Thanks!

  • Ed
    Jun 9, 2007 at 9:57 pm

    And how much is it in US dollars, more or less?

  • nadd
    Aug 7, 2007 at 5:51 am

    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

  • hallelujahboy
    Sep 10, 2007 at 12:53 am

    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!

  • hallelujahboy
    Sep 10, 2007 at 6:54 pm

    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!

  • ConsoleOne
    Sep 19, 2007 at 7:32 am

    I have same problem of hallelujahboy, because I finished the warranty, Thanks~!

  • Sanket Sahi
    Oct 4, 2007 at 3:11 am

    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. :(

  • hallelujahboy
    Oct 4, 2007 at 11:56 pm

    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. :)

  • hallelujahboy
    Oct 4, 2007 at 11:59 pm

    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!

  • Sanket Sahi
    Oct 7, 2007 at 6:58 am

    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

  • rowell
    Oct 9, 2007 at 8:49 pm

    hi! where can i buy asus moile phones?

  • Sanket
    Oct 13, 2007 at 11:22 pm

    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

  • hallelujahboy
    Oct 16, 2007 at 5:24 pm

    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.

  • Sanket
    Oct 16, 2007 at 8:58 pm

    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

  • Suraj
    Oct 20, 2007 at 10:31 pm

    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

  • KoKo
    Dec 25, 2007 at 10:43 am

    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?

  • rahul
    Jan 7, 2008 at 4:33 am

    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?

  • acpjr
    Mar 31, 2008 at 8:28 am

    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.

  • Rahul Bangia
    Jul 9, 2008 at 10:46 pm

    Does anyone know how to find MAC address on ASUS P525?

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