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Photoreview: MDAc vs. VPAc - the not so identical twins
May 09, 2005 [Pocket PC phone] | By Lutzh Haedrich.

by Lutzh They are like Nikki and Paris Hilton: The same parents but different in some ways. We show you the MDA compact from T-Mobile and the Vodafone VPA compact side by side and tell you why some accessoires of the MDA compact/I-Mate Jam are simply not usable with the VPA compact!

VPA compact from Vodafone and MDA compact from T-Mobile
Nearly half a year after T-Mobiles release of the MDA compact and the I-Mate Jam now Vodafone is selling the other Magician clone, called VPA compact. Unlike the MDA compact and the I-Mate Jam the VPA compact comes its way in a different housing. Small differences indeed but they make it impossible to use some accessoires that you can use with an MDA compact. We are talking about the Brodit car holder and the Proporta Silikon Etui.

Check out the pictures to see the differences and read the conclusion on the bottom of the page! If you have any questions regarding the VPA compact or the other Magicians feel free to post in our forums!



The picture shows both the MDAc and the VPAc from above. Easy to see the differences in the LED on top, the keypad and the more square housing of the VPAc



From this angle you see the straight form of the VPAc compared to the more narrow back of the MDAc. Because of that difference you can't use the VPAc in the Jam/MDAc's Brodit Active Holder!



The Brodit Active Holder is the most useful tool for everyone who wants to use the Magician in his car as Phone or in combination with a Bluetooth GPS receiver - but not with the VPA compact - it simply doesn't fit! Also the little flap on the VPAc's USB/Headset connector makes him unusable in the Brodit Active Holder!



What looks like a good idea - covering the connectors - brings trouble in every day usage...



... tricky when you want to use an active car kit with the VPAc!



If you don't need a car kit - the cover is great compared to the open connectors of the MDAc!



The left side of both devices



From the right. See the little on/off button of the VPAc? The one on the MDAc sticks out a little more. Thats easier to handle on one side - on the other side you always switch the MDAc on or off when you take out the stylus



The VPAc is more square-edged than the MDAc



From the back. The VPAc on the right looks more elegant but also bigger



From the top - the surface feel of the VPAc is: simply bigger



And higher too!









Here comes trouble again: Proportas Silikon Etui for MDAc/Jam doesn't fit!









We hope, Proporta can fix this little issue since we find the Silikon Etui useful





Some information regarding the ROM: Latest phone stack brings enhancements in incall sound quality



A new tab in the Bluetooth settings. Someone may have had trouble to connect and use his hardware, e.g. BT GPS receivers



Now you can handle incoming and outgoing ports directly



But it looks like they forgot to remove the old com port settings tab - now that leads to extra disorientation, because when you enable the BT com ports here it is disturbing the incoming/outgoing com port settings above! Leave them unchecked here and only use the settings tabs in the BT hardware settings!

Conclusion: If you want to switch from MDA compact to VPA compact then do it only if you don't need an active car kit at the moment!


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