It comes down to BenQ PocketPC phone vs Treo650 vs HTC Blue Angel and yes, anything that has M$ stuff on it is part of the Darkside to me.
I have drooled over the Treo line for awhile, I have a Treo90 (antique by todays computer standards [and does not have phone capabilities]). Each generation keeps getting cooler and cooler… but the guys making PocketPC phones are catching up. For me one of the main selling points was the keyboard, after trying it out I now can barely tolerate graffiti (which I still have to do on occasion since the keys on my Treo90 are not backlight so I can’t “type” for sh*t in the dark). But the PocketPC guys are coming out with phones that really seem to trump the Treo600 (and its upcoming sibling the Treo650). I have used both OSs before and can attest that the PalmOS is just plain better suited to PDA/Smarthphone platforms than PocketPCbut while ease of use is big it ain’t everything. Functionality goes along way, plus, some of the applications I use the most (like Agendus is available on both OSs
Disadvantage
- Software availability? (I still think the PalmOS has a ton more software, and lots of freeware stuff)
Advantages of both of these PocketPC smarthphones over the newest (Treo650) are as follows (and if I am wrong please enlighten me):
- WiFi
- 1+megapixel camera (ok that’s only the BenQ phone)
- Play media files natively (w/o having to convert them to some palm format)
- Native predictive text
- Faster/Beefier processor
- More onboard memory
The processor beef, native playback/viewing of media files, and the WiFi are pretty big to me. Having to convert files over to some other format so it will play/view (PalmOS) sounds awfully Sony-esqe to me (though I believe there are technological reasons not the proprietary bullying/egocentrism that Sony suffers from). Softswitching between VoIP and regular calls (or even “hard switching”), along with using my smartphone as a remote from anywhere in the house are two big WiFi uses that I would sorely miss. Playing movies, loading up pictures, editing files etc, those require processor power and I am hurting with my Treo90 but I hear that the Treo650s processor will still be comparatively wimpy. Memory, yeah I could (and probably would) get a one or 2 gig SD card but geeze I would like to be able to keep the apps on the PDA and the docs/backups on the card, no techno-reasoning there, just personal preference.
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