Are things really that bad with the 800w?

DSGamer · #1 (**permalink**) 12-09-2008, 03:18 PM

I went from a Palm Centro to an HTC Touch Pro. The Touch Pro is infinitely customizable and I love the keyboard, but I really miss all the buttons. By that I mean the Centro had a button where I could easily go to my email, a button where I could go to my calendar, a button to quickly switch to my phone. It felt much more like a phone, basically. I'm starting to reconsider (before my 30 days is up) about whether I should go get an 800w instead. It seems to be more one hand friendly. Easier to use as a proper cell phone.

So I have a few questions. Are all the complaints (battery life, speed, etc.) really that bad? Or is that more in comparison to other Treos, Palm Treos?

Does Windows Mobile just get in the way of the system being easy to navigate. i.e. Quickly getting to your recent calls, etc.

Finally, is it actually a worse "phone" than the HTC Touch Pro? Is it the same, roughly? I would consider sacrificing the roomy keyboard for a phone that felt more like a phone.

jimd144 · #2 (**permalink**) 12-09-2008, 03:20 PM

I had a Touch Pro and went back to my 755P for now. I find my battery life is more important than a nice screen. I also prefer my keyboard open all the time. For me, the Centro's keyboard was too small.

DSGamer · #3 (**permalink**) 12-09-2008, 03:33 PM

Yeah, the Centro keyboard was causing me thumb pain. That's why I made the switch. I'd hate to make the switch to the 800w and have it be only a lateral switch because the keyboard isn't much better and the OS is worse.

jimd144 · #4 (**permalink**) 12-09-2008, 03:34 PM

I believe the 755 was the last of the normal Treo keyboards.

DSGamer · #5 (**permalink**) 12-09-2008, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimd144

I believe the 755 was the last of the normal Treo keyboards.

That's too bad. Because I did a couple phone swaps I had to get my phone from Best Buy. So I can't get the 755p (not sexy enough to carry at Best Buy).

JCSands · #6 (**permalink**) 12-09-2008, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DSGamer

Yeah, the Centro keyboard was causing me thumb pain. That's why I made the switch. I'd hate to make the switch to the 800w and have it be only a lateral switch because the keyboard isn't much better and the OS is worse.

The keyboard is much better than the Centro's. I have ham-fingers and I have no trouble with it. I think there is a bit more space between keys and they really pop out for you. It's very one-handed friendly as well. The battery life is pretty bad, so I would suggest getting either a spare battery or two (with charger) or getting a third-party larger battery. Recent calls are simply at a press of the green call button.

kdogokc · #7 (**permalink**) 12-10-2008, 01:35 PM

I've got fat carpenter fingers that are so wide they hurt my wife's hand when we are holding hands...I can jamb on the 800w. The key's are rounded and make pretty defined contact when you are on them.

I'm having a tough time adjusting to WM operating system...I feel like I'm senselessly tapping and scrolling way too much. Even the Contacts app for WM6 requires so much scrolling, it's crazy. It reminds me of our grocery reciept after shopping for our family of 6!

Overall, I like the wifi, gps, I'm finding third party apps that I like.

DSGamer · #8 (**permalink**) 12-10-2008, 03:46 PM

Yeah, maybe in the end, Touch Pro or 800w, the problem is Windows Mobile. In other words it takes twice as many taps and scrolls, etc. to get to meaningful data than it did under Palm. Android can't make its way to Sprint fast enough.

DCCCW · #9 (**permalink**) 12-10-2008, 11:09 PM

I had the Touch Pro for a couple weeks, and I'm now testing out the 800w.

The battery seems better on the 800w. Even when used sparingly during the day, the HTC required a charge at night, regardless.

The TeleNav screen appears sharper on the 800w. TeleNav on the HTC seemed sort of blurry.

The biggest complaint people on any Treo website have is the 800w's sound quality. The speaker phone becomes distorted at any setting above the absolute lowest level. Static also emits from the earpiece and speaker phone.

One major flaw of the HTC was its lack of a menu for call waiting and three-way calling. The exclusion of this menu is simply unforgivable. There are $20.00/free phones that have these menus built in. You can accomplish these functions, but it is a totally archaic task. The 800w has a menu, but it is not as sophisticated as my V3xx, where you can conference a call-waiting caller and also select which caller to drop during a 3-way call.

Why are the repeat missed call, repeat missed SMS, repeat missed email, and repeat missed voice mail check boxes greyed out in the 800w's settings menu? Why do they not want you to be able to check these boxes? Is it a hidden self-destruct command?

You could edit the reg to activate the repeat missed SMS check box, but so far there are no hacks for the others. With the extremely low ring volume and retarded one vibrate per incoming call while ringing, you sure as hell need this repeat missed call feature. Editing the registry for the ringer volume distorts it even more. At the 5 setting, it's like a hooptie with 20" speakers booming down the road. Even the 3 setting was pretty bad. They set it at 2 because it doesn't distort at that setting. But you also can't hear it at that setting.

This is a WM issue, but continuously going to task manager to end programs is getting tiresome. Google Maps and Sprint Nav actually have 'exit' commands, which effectively ends the program. I guess Internet Exploder didn't know about the 'exit' command.

I also think it was lame to have those hard buttons on the bottom of the HTC non-touch. I also used to have the Instinct, and it sucked, but the buttons on the bottom were true 'touch' buttons.

Oh ya, unlike the Touch Pro, you have to load some other stuff on the 800w to run in conjunction with Opera Mini. I tried Skyfire, but I don't think it's ready for prime time. Youtube also doesn't work on the 800w for whatever reason. A media player pops up, and it seems like it will work, but all you get is an error.

Even with the marginal sound quality, I like the 800w better.

jscher2000 · #10 (**permalink**) 12-13-2008, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DSGamer

Yeah, the Centro keyboard was causing me thumb pain. That's why I made the switch. I'd hate to make the switch to the 800w and have it be only a lateral switch because the keyboard isn't much better and the OS is worse.

I used a Touch Pro for about 4 weeks. I had trouble with the lack of separation between the keys. Oh and the backlighting going off quickly, which made typing in the dark a real chore.

The 800w has "hard" keys, unlike the gel-cap keys on the Centro and Treo Pro. Compared with the Centro, the keyboard is wider. The pressure required might be a little higher than the Touch Pro. The Treo seemed easier at the store, but I think the display model was well broken in.

As for the oft-discussed problem with battery life, I think it is a good idea to recharge every evening with any WM phone. For most people, that will get them through the day. If not, your 800w sync cable will connect with a generic USB-AC wall adapter (the kind you would use with an iPod sync cable).

Finally, regarding speed, the Touch Pro might be faster if you turn off TouchFlo 3D and don't rotate the phone around. But if you run the full Touch Pro experience, I think the Treo nets out faster.

The earpieces on both the Touch Pro (after I exchange my defective one) and the 800w are only "okay" compared with high quality consumer phones. I suspect they are cutting costs on this component because they expect more people to use wired or Bluetooth headsets, but that's just a guess.