I bought an Acer DX900 Smartphone last September without actually trying one out first. That was a big mistake. The phone’s specification is impressive but it’s the dual SIM card capability that I really needed. I had a look at some Samsung Duos models and they were very good, but none of them at that time had WLAN. It wasn’t long before I started to discover how less than half baked the DX900 is, and how dissapointing Acer’s support can be. The Product Manager for this model is non existent.
After more than seven months of use, I am now ready to accept that I was exceptionally stupid to buy this phone without trying it first. I am stuck with it now for at least another year or more. Having to pull the battery out every day to restart the phone after it crashes is becoming very tiresome.
Note to self:
(1) Never knowingly buy anything made by Acer.
(2) Never buy a phone that has a Microsoft Operating System.
4 replies on “Acer DX900 Smartphone”
I had a cupboard clearout at the beginning of November 2012 and found my Acer DX900. I don’t know why I did this, but I popped the battery back in and it booted up fine and the touch screen was working again.
Although I really dislike this phone, it has two features that are compelling enough for me to keep trying with it. The dual SIMs make the poor coverage in Wales tolerable and the bluetooth address book works well with my Garmin handsfree.
I have just seen that Microsoft are ending support for Windows Mobile on 8th January 2013. That’s a joke! Support really ended for the DX900 three years ago, a few months after Acer started shipping it. I suspect that all other Windows based mobile phones are the same. Windows Update is on my phone but it has never worked.
http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/search/default.aspx?sort=PN&alpha=Windows+Mobile+6.1&Filter=FilterNO
I’ve just ordered a Lenovo A660, dual SIM, waterproof Android 4 phone. It has all the functionality that I needed from my DX900 but is actually likely to work.
I forgot to post an update to this piece when my DX900 failed in the spring of 2012. I woke up one morning to find the touch screen’s ability to sense touch had gone completely. With no way of getting past the lock screen, the phone has sat on my desk gathering dust until I can think of some enjoyable way of destroying it.
I have gone back to using the Samsung E2121B but as it has such an awful BlueTooth address book implementation I have found that I rarely take the phone out with me or have it switched on when I’m in the car.
The poor Bluetooth implementation on the Samsung E2121B continuously reminds me how much I miss the Bluetooth integration on the Acer DX900. It occurred to me that the DX900 probably suffers from file system mess like any other Windows device and perhaps reloading the flash memory would make it usable again.
I found the flash memory image for my phone on Acer’s FTP site. I downloaded it and reflashed my phone. This was followed up by applying all of the published patches in the sequence of their release. To my surprise, the reflashing process worked and the phone feels nimbler than what it ever did. I haven’t tried the phone yet as I need to get the IMEI registered on our Vodafone SureSignal device first but my first impressions are positive.
If I have to reload the OS every four to six months or so to keep it running efficiently then I will. For the time being, I’m going back to using the DX900 and the Samsung is back in it’s box.
I have cleared the phone of my personal data and what a chore that was. Microsoft really don’t have a clue when it comes to mobile phones. Almost every normal GSM phone has a simple method of deleting personal data but not this one. I’m planning on sending it back to Acer for a repair. Depending on the outcome, I may give this phone another chance.
Since purchasing a low end Samsung E2121B as a temporary replacement, I appreciate that the DX900’s Bluetooth handsfree services were actually quite good, and I miss not having it. OK, the phone has a plus point at last.