I'm including my reply from another forum which also applies to this forum as well...
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Originally Posted by sepinho
Care to share some of your travails to turn the A81 into that great piece of hardware? What apps do you deem worthwhile or even mandatory? Any hard- or software hacks that are required to make the most of it? I've been reading this thread ever since it first cropped up and now have an A81-E in the mail. I'm totally stoked and can't wait to play around with it.
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Actually, your A81-E should be a better device than mine. You should be able to get it flying with much more ease than I have.
My basic A81 does NOT have the three hardware buttons to fully utilize Android. That said, I never was able to get Android operating like it should. Perhaps a future release of Android 2.1 firmware will allow me to get the most out of it... in the same way I have with the Wince OS. For the week that I ran Android on it, I was quite impressed with the smoothness which it did certain operations. This verified that with a less buggy firmware release, the A81 can really do justice to the software!
But, for those interested in Wince (which is many of us who have used pocket computers over the years), my efforts have brought forth a very good product. I have tested several hundred apps and have chosen about 150 to stay on the storage card all the time. Here's a couple tips off the top of my head (since I don't have the A81 here at the moment)... By adding the Iris browser, internet experience is much faster and better (it is now my default browser). A Japanese software tweak is called "Mem" and it allows you to permanently increase the memory % to where apps run better and won't crash near as often. IT-task stays permanently in my taskbar, allowing full taskmanager functions. I have several system utilities which allow easy navigation of device and allow operator 'interference' regarding system. The GAPI emulator allows playing many older games, video, and music apps which wouldn't open otherwise. The interface 'iphone today' makes Wince appear much more like a newer OS (specifically iphone) for those not wanting an older system look and feel. Be sure and close unused apps to get more speed and performance.
Also, be sure and spend time to organize folders and file names. From the taskbar, I can access and launch any app and internet 'favorites' instantly and intuitively. I have separated both games and utilities into separate sub-folders for those which I use all the time and those which rarely get accessed. This really makes things easier with almost 100 games, and yet I normally only play around with about 10 to 15 of them.
These tips are only a few off my head, there are many, many more which have helped tweak this thing to a better level of user experience.