Dopod 838 Pro

My apologies for not blogging in a while. Work's been heavy and I've also been spending more time with my wife. Ginger's due anytime now (official date 9 Sep) but Steph's gynae says that its ok if the baby comes out a week or two before or after that date. Well, the "before" part is almost over! Another possiblity is that Ginger may have been conceived in San Francisco instead of New York (and hence, two weeks later) :p

Anyway, this blog is about another baby of mine - the Dopod 838 Pro. I've been a loyal Palm fan for ages... but 3rd party software support has been dwindling and my Treo 650, while a great PDA/Phone, has become very unstable. The spontaneous resets and dropped calls were becomming more frequent, even after two trips to M1 to get the firmware reset.

Comex came last week... and I took the chance to pick up the 838Pro (with Steph's blessing of course!). Disappointed that there were no special offers but I managed to work out a deal that included a 1gb micro SD card, the really cool and useful namecard scanning software, two screen protectors and a silicon case for the retail price of S$1398. Here are my thoughts on my new baby one week later (which I had emailed to SK recently):-

The 838 pro is surprisingly stable. Not sure where all the net reports of instablity are coming from but I've never had it hang in the week or so that I've been using it. This is on top of installing one GUI shell (Pocketbreeze) and replacing the WM5 task/calendar with something more robust from a 3rd party (Pocket Informant). Speed is also good (faster than my Treo) and more stable (no more spontaneous resets)!

Sound is much more clear and crisp, but lacks bass (hey, its a phone!), than the Treo. It supports AD2P bluetooth stereo tho I've not tried it out yet. Regular Bluetooth connections are much faster and less buggy than my Treo. More importantly, call volume and quality is probably one of the best I've ever heard. Possibly as good as the Nokia 8250 of days gone by. :)

Having said that, I still think the Palm interface is more evolved. Simple tasks like calling up a number and dialling it is one-hand friendly for the Treo. You can also sms with one hand for the Treo. This is something u can't do for WM5 devices without downloading a 3rd party software (Tengo). This, imo, is an OS issue - akin to the Win vs Mac debate. Windows is always crude and raw. Needs 3rd party support and time to become a polished protect (lets hope Vista changes all of that but I'm not optimistic. Vista is also going to be far too expensive to be worth the upgrade from XP). But that's the beauty of it. The 3rd party refinements add individuality.

One negative comment though - The sliding keyboard mechanism and stylus holder has gotten noticeably looser now. Its still far from slipping out but to me, a change in the tactile feel of the keyboard sliding mechanism and stylus holder should not happen at all. Understandably this is a wear and tear issue... but one week? (this is an issue that is reported elsewhere on the net too so its not just me.) Also, the Y key on the keyboard is stiffer than the rest. Perhaps I'm too exacting but I see this as a another build quality issue.

Having said all that, the third party software support is great and I am happy with the phone hardware. Wondering why I hadn't moved to WM5 earlier. The 838 pro is more of a platform shift to me (the Treo 700w/wx is not available here) and so far, the Dopod 838pro has been the perfect vehicle to make this platform transition.

(PS - Crappy pic above was taken with a Motorola v3x.)