Who else prefers the 800W to the 850?

PDAholic · 05/23/2008, 12:24 PM

I know, I know, these are only leaked photos and the actual products may look nothing like the spy shots.

However, presuming that the 850 is similar in size to the Centro, and presuming the 800W is a thinner, antenna-free, skinnier version of the 700 series, I ask, "who else prefers the 800w?"

It seems to me that most folks on this board became angry that the GSM version of this phone looks like a Centro, while the CDMA version does not. I own both the 700wx and the Centro, and I can say that when it comes to day-to-day usage, I prefer the 700wx, hands-down. The Centro looks great in photos and is fun to play with in the mobile phone store. But when I tried to make it my daily driver, the keyboard began to feel very cramped, and the tiny screen became just as difficult to tolerate. Not to mention the fact that it is so small and slippery.

So, I truly hope Palm decides to make a big-boy size phone (800w) and a not-so-big-boy size phone (850) simultaneously, with GSM/CDMA versions of both. I know times are rough with Palm, and making several different units to "please the masses" may not be financially feasible, but diversity is the spice...

Anyone out there agree?

chong67 · 05/23/2008, 12:34 PM

850? I didnt know about this.

Doc31 · 05/23/2008, 12:37 PM

I feel every confident the 850 will not be the size of the centro at least not as narrow. Centro and Treo are geared torward 2 different classes and they know centro KB is not as desirable by the bussiness users

PDAholic · 05/23/2008, 12:43 PM

Chong: check the forums, the 850 is the name given to a prototype whose pics have surfaced over the last couple of days.

Doc: I hope you are correct. Perhaps that rubbery keyboard in the pics of the 850 are all that it and the Centro have in common. In any case I agree with you--the Centro hardware just doesn't seem fit for "power-users" or business folk.

theog · 05/23/2008, 12:46 PM

I think it is much too early to have these discussions. We are not 100% sure if the 800 was a mock or a real product. For that matter, I don't think we are 100% sure if the 850 was a mock or real product.

Personally I could care less... if it is stable and works without any issues, I don't care what it looks like. Personally I thought the 800w (as it is now) looked ok... no biggie.... put the email and calendar thing on the front, whatever.

Heck, they upgraded to win 6.1 and the screen... that is all that matters for me... and if it is stable. Hopefully BT will work, even if I don't use BT that much. I might if they keep passing these "headset laws." Hopefully the battery life will be ok.

My treo is a business tool, so pretty is not what I'm looking for... I want it to be a SOLID device... with no issues. I don't want email to crash while I'm sending a reply to a customer.

I'd like to see how pretty (thin) people think a device is if the battery only lasts six hours. lol

gizmoguy · 05/23/2008, 12:46 PM

I agree that Palm needs to make the screen bigger as in iphone style with slider qwerty keyboard. Come on..even BB has the thunder coming out.

theog · 05/23/2008, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gizmoguy

I agree that Palm needs to make the screen bigger as in iphone style with slider qwerty keyboard. Come on..even BB has the thunder coming out.

Then it will be another htc... or are you thinking of some different type of slide out?

I think people who like slide out devices have already moved to htc anyway. lol

PDAholic · 05/23/2008, 12:59 PM

Theog: My thread has nothing to do with how the device "looks" but rather how it functions. If my size 7 hands had trouble with the Centro, I don't want my WiFi device to have another Centro-size keyboard. Similarly, I don't want my WiFi device to have a tinier screen than the 700wx.

Yeah, I really want built-in WiFi!

Gizmo: I have gone the slider route with a PPC6700. Never again. PIA to slide that keyboard out every time I want to use it, and wait for the screen to switch to landscape. Never again.

theog · 05/23/2008, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PDAholic

Theog: My thread has nothing to do with how the device "looks" but rather how it functions. If my size 7 hands had trouble with the Centro, I don't want my WiFi device to have another Centro-size keyboard. Similarly, I don't want my WiFi device to have a tinier screen than the 700wx.

I doubt if you can separate the looks from function when comparing these two devices... even in your first post, you mix the two throughout your post. Many people are worried/concerned/mad/wondering or whatever about the looks... even an mp3 on this site spent most of the time talking about the looks of the device. That is what is hot. lol

Far as function, I agree, it is the most important. That is what my posts are mainly about... I don't really care what the device looks like (to a certain degree) as long as it works without issue.

Wifi, I don't see a need... I have an unlimited data plan... about the only thing wifi can do for me is cause me to complain of poor battery life. lol

Then again, I guess if I wanted to move files to my device from within my home network, wifi might be great... although, sync would work just as fine. Dunno... guess I'll figure it once I get the device. I found wifi on my palm tx to be just about worthless though... something I thought I wanted, but never did use.

jamespaulritter · 05/23/2008, 01:14 PM

I resized a pic another poster put together using the area of usable or lit screen to scale the pics and this is what I came up with. What trows me off though is the actual area of light-able screen on a centro as compared to the treo 680. I think both will be easy to use. The 850 is wider than the centro.

jamespaulritter · 05/23/2008, 01:32 PM

I used a pic that had a centro and 680 side by side then adjusted the usable screen or lit area of the 850 to compare the size to the 680 which compares it to the centro since the centro and 680 were side by side in the same picture. So this would be the actual scale as long as the 850 lit screen area is the same as a 680. I used the lit screen area since the border around the centro is small than a treo and in the pic of the 850 the border is noticeably smaller than the wide borders used on past treos. This would give a very accurate comparison. I also measured per pixel the aspect ratio to make sure that the original pic of the 850 was not stretched. The 850 is 3/16th inches wider. That's plenty of room. I mean really,,, its almost a quarter inch wider than a centro. So the 850 is .18 inches wider than a centro and .11 inches narrower than a 680.

Ebag333 · 05/23/2008, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamespaulritter

I also measured per pixel the aspect ratio to make sure that the original pic was not stretched.

The image is deceiving. Both the Centro and the 850 have a 2" x 2" screen. In your image the 850's screen is noticably larger (no pixel measuring required).

PDAholic · 05/23/2008, 01:53 PM

Theog: I still say "looks" have nothing to do with what I am concerned about; I want a device that has a usable keyboard and a screen of size that I can almost comfortably surf the web. I agree, stability is paramount. Stability is not just a positive, it is a necessity.

JPR: Thanks for the pics. There is really nothing to compare perspective-wise in any of the spy shots (somebody should throw a coin down next to the devices before they snap a pic!), but I agree that your images *look* like the 850 is wider than the Centro.

surur · 05/23/2008, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ebag333

Both the Centro and the 850 have a 2" x 2" screen.

How do you know this?

Surur

Ebag333 · 05/23/2008, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by surur

How do you know this?

Surur

When hasn't Palm had a 2"x2" screen?

Unless the scale is *HUGELY* off, the screen would have to be some oddball number like 2.134242" x 2.134242" for the 850 (assuming that the perspective in the pictures is correct).

We know that the 800w is running at a 320x320 resolution, and the same screen size as previous devices, so it's fair to assume (especially given Palm's history of 2"x2" screens) that the 850 will be running the same.

Knowing that both devices have the same screen size tells me that the perspective is off in the image, as one device's screen size is significantly larger than the others. I suppose it's possible that Palm has gone with a slightly oversized screen, but I find that highly unlikely as it would greatly increase costs for a very minute gain (and probably go unnoticed by consumers).

surur · 05/23/2008, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ebag333

When hasn't Palm had a 2"x2" screen?

As you can see by this picture the 2.2 inch Centro screen is smaller than the 2.5 inch Treo screen.

Surur

theog · 05/23/2008, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PDAholic

Theog: I still say "looks" have nothing to do with what I am concerned about; I want a device that has a usable keyboard and a screen of size that I can almost comfortably surf the web. I agree, stability is paramount. Stability is not just a positive, it is a necessity.

What are you talking about? Are you even reading my posts?

I'm not talking about "looks" either.

jamespaulritter · 05/23/2008, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ebag333

When hasn't Palm had a 2"x2" screen?

Unless the scale is *HUGELY* off, the screen would have to be some oddball number like 2.134242" x 2.134242" for the 850 (assuming that the perspective in the pictures is correct).

We know that the 800w is running at a 320x320 resolution, and the same screen size as previous devices, so it's fair to assume (especially given Palm's history of 2"x2" screens) that the 850 will be running the same.

Knowing that both devices have the same screen size tells me that the perspective is off in the image, as one device's screen size is significantly larger than the others. I suppose it's possible that Palm has gone with a slightly oversized screen, but I find that highly unlikely as it would greatly increase costs for a very minute gain (and probably go unnoticed by consumers).

This is a centro and 680 side by side in real life. No photo comparison. The 680 measures 2.5 diagonal and the centro measures 2.2 diagonal. My pictures are a very exact comparison.

jamespaulritter · 05/23/2008, 02:23 PM

Dang Suru you beat me to it.......

P.S. how do you get the pic to show in the post? I sometimes link to photo bucket and it still doesnt show in the post.