Dopod P800W
Dopod's P800W offers a lot of promise for a GPS-enabled Windows smart phone, but a rather sluggish performance drags it down.
| The good | Nice visual design; slim; good quality camera; decent battery life. |
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| The bad | Stylus could take your eye out; slow application performance. |
CNET Editors' Rating
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CNET Editors' rating
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Rating breakdown
Dopod's P800W isn't an unattractive smart phone by any stretch of the imagination, but we still couldn't think of any description to put on it that was better than describing it as the Frankenstein's Monster of smart phones. Not because it has a ghastly green hue, or is covered in stitches and bolts, but simply because there are so many small parts of its design that instantly remind you of other phones with different capabilities. It's essentially a touchpad-driven phone unit with a large 2.8-inch QVGA display screen--par for the course--that sits above a very Blackberry-Pearl-esque trackball. The rear of the P800W houses a 2-megapixel camera and it's possible to use this in conjunction with the P800W's embedded GPS receiver to embed co-ordinates into your photographs.
| Editors' note:
This review is based on tests done by our sister site CNET.com.au. As P800W units in Asia come with the GPS software pre-installed on the device, some parts of this review, including the ratings, have been modified to reflect the difference. For more information on the actual tests conducted on the product, you can also inquire directly at the site where the article was originally published. Note that references made to some of other products in this review may not be available or applicable in Asia.
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Design
The entire phone body is encased in smooth feeling silver-grey plastic--Dopod refers to it as "Iron Grey"--and with a size of only 108 x 58 x 16.8mm, this is a small and sleek smart phone, reminiscent of the more high fashion designs of phone houses such as Nokia or Motorola. Keeping with the Frankenstein motif, the P800W's stylus feels like it's come straight from the mad doctor's surgery; it's the sharpest PDA stylus we've ever used, and a danger to eyeballs everywhere.
Features
The P800W runs on a Texas Instruments OMAP 850 processor with 64MB of RAM and 128MB of ROM. User data can be stored internally or via a microSD card, although irritatingly, the card slot lives underneath the battery, so it's fiddly and difficult to change cards on the fly. The P800W's embedded digital camera has a 2-megapixel sensor and a number of photographic modes in common with most other camera-enabled Windows Mobile devices--or in other words, it can play some pretty camera tricks, but you're still not going to become Lord Lichfield with it.
The GPS chipset within the P800W is the de rigueur SiRFstar III. On the phone side, the P800W is a quadband GSM handset (850/900/1800/1900MHz) with nary a 3G capability in sight. On the wireless data front, it supports Bluetooth v2.0 and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi.
Performance
The P800W comes with a meaty 1,200mAh battery that Dopod rates for up to five hours of talktime and up to 200 hours of standby time. Given that the P800W's usage patterns can vary widely, depending on how much you're using the wireless and GPS functions, we weren't expecting wonderful results from the phone, and were pleased to find Dopod's figures mostly accurate; on a light usage week we'd manage the full seven days in-between recharges, while heavy Wi-Fi and GPS use dropped those figures rather alarmingly.
On the Windows Mobile front, the P800W felt a little sluggish in operation--we got very, very used to looking at the scrolling colour wheel while waiting for applications to load. That's a purely relative factor; if you're new to the smartphone market you probably wouldn't notice it, but compared to snappier smartphone models--with perhaps the exception of the even more sluggish Treo 680--the P800W feels a touch turgid in operation.
We've perhaps become spoilt by all of the recent GPS units we've looked at that have upped the ante as far as GPS triangulation is concerned. We were pretty disappointed therefore in the P800W's synchronization capabilities; despite using the same SiRFstar III chipset as its competitors, we never once managed to clock in with a GPS signal that was useful in under three minutes, and sometimes as long as ten minutes had to pass. This also essentially cripples the GPS-photo capability, as aside from popping out of the car and taking a photo then and there, you've got to have a lot of patience to take GPS co-ordinate embedded pictures.
Ultimately, while the Frankenstein approach of appropriating design and feature elements from other phones gives the Dopod a lot of appeal in the pure functionality stakes, and its slim form factor does make it a player in the style race, the overall poor performance make the P800W a less than enticing prospect.
Latest comments
Pros: everything I need
Cons: I cant find a external GPS antenal for it
Summary: excellent
the best so far.
Pros: Has everything you need
Cons: Memory card is not accessible from outside
Summary: Great Buy
This phone is the best phone. It has everything you need. The GPS works great, FM radio, WIFI, bluetooth. Need improvement: micro SD should be accessible from outside. That would be very helpful. Everything else is just perfect.
Pros: Good size
Cons: Too slow
Summary: A bit too slow
Not a bad gadget, GPS works well once it's found it's bearings. It won't support a 2GB memory card, keeps freezing up so I switched to a 1GB and seems more stable, internal user memory is way too low, 10MBs to play with. As my report card used to say "could try harder".
Pros: GPS-enabled, Wi-Fi and 2 megapixel camera
Cons: a bit sluggish in some occassion
Summary: A almost all in One
Owning this PDA phone is a dream come true. Especially for a person who need to travel around in the city but does not know how to get to the desired destination. Moving around in the city was made easier with the guidance of GPS (no more missing your ways!) Battery life was also excellent. last up to 3 days even with intense usage of Wi-Fi. The downsides are its sluggish performance when running intensive application and lack of flashlight for its camera to enhance night shoot.
Pros: Navigation Options, Phone Quality, Battery Life, GPS
Cons: USB Headset, Internal Micro SD Memory
Summary: This is a great convergence device
Basically it all works as advertised and is my favourite PDA/Phone to date great. I also have the Dopod 900 with the 520MHz X-scale and the TI OMAP 850 in the P800W doesn't feel any slower except when playing high bitrate video files which can get a bit choppy. So far I've had this unit for 5 days and it's performed above expectations. This phone will not dissapoint it does everything advertised on the box with style. I would like to have seen the Micro SD card accessable from the exterior of the unit rather than tucked away under the SIM card and battery, luckily mine came with a free 1GB card so not too much of a problem. BTW. Don't agree with the editors 7 rating, come on 'the stylus is too sharp'! This is an adult's phone, not for the kids to play with.
Pros: GPS, Battery life, WiFi B/G, 2MP Camera, Bright display
Cons: OMAP Processor a little slow
Summary: Excellent feature packed device
The GPS is excellent! I've got full reception even under quite heavy canopy! Best GPS I've used. The camera is way better than O2 and HP with it's screen display colors bright. Battery life was excellent too! I do feel a little slow in processor but it's really not a problem at all. Have not try overclocking the CPU. In all, this phone is a great device and I highly recommended it.
Pros: GPS speed, good phone connection, battery life
Cons: none
Summary: Excellent
Switch from 838 pro to D810, this P800W was excellent compare to the others. Stable, fast GPS & internet connection. Although OMAP 850 processor, it seems no lag. SLim and compactg size, feel very good on hand. Highly recommended. Go get one yourself. No regret. Service centre experience not as bad as those written on the web.
Pros: Form factor, battery life, speed, looks, GPS
Cons: Only thing missing is the 3G
Summary: A great device if only it also was 3G
I have moved to this device from a Dopod 838 Pro. The 838 Pro is a great device but it is a heavyweight. My biggest concern in moving was moving to the slower OMPAP850 processor. My concerns have however been proved to be unfounded. The P800W is fast, does not have the annoying hangs and keyboard disablement that the 838 Pro suffers and in fact the absence of a keypad is of little impact to an ex 838 Pro user given that the 838 cannot be used with one hand anyway. GPS feature is great, battery life is excellent for a phone/PDA device and you can actually fit this device in the pocket of your jeans. The only thing between this and perfect is 3G, although in reality with the exception of those odd trips to Japan and Korea, the increased 3G speed over 2.5 GPRS does not in itelf warrant carrying a huge brick around. WinMo5 performs well. All up this is a great little device,represents quality assembly and definitely one to be considered.
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