Dopod 838 aka HTC Wizard Review

Some of the latest Pocket PC Phone Edition designs incorporate a sliding QWERTY thumboard. One of them is the Dopod 838 (HTC Wizard). We've seen other renditions of a Pocket PC with a QWERTY thumboard namely the old iPAQ 43xx models, the HTC Blue Angel, and the Motorola MPX which uses a unique twist up/side screen to expose the thumboard.

Ostensibly planned as an improved version of the Xda II mini, the 838's key features include a QWERTY keyboard that slides out from beneath the screen, onboard Wi-Fi connectivity and miniSD expansion slot.

As with most mobile devices, the struggle for real estate space means that some sacrifices have to be made. For example, the manufacturer chose to implement a smaller 2.5mm audio jack, which is incompatible with most standard earphones. The availability of a miniSD slot instead of one that supports standard SD cards also means that all your existing SD memory cards are rendered useless. Not to mention the extendable stylus which can be a pain to use for some.

Fortunately, the slide-out keyboard and well-spaced keys ensure that you need not extract your stylus for most of the common functions. Its 2.8-inch QVGA (240 x 320-pixel) screen serves its purpose though offering nothing spectacular.



Some Specifications

Main processor type TI OMAP 850
RAM 64 MB
ROM 128 MB
Video features Video recording, Video playback
Maximum camera resolution 1.3 megapixels
Camera sensor type CMOS
Networks GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900
Connectivity options Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Infrared
Installed applications Microsoft Windows Mobile 5 (operating system); Pocket Outlook; Windows Media Player; MSN Messenger; Pocket IE; Active Sync; Calculator; Voice Notes; Photo Caller ID; Closed User Group; Comm Manager

As with the new Windows Mobile 5.0 devices, the 838 sports several enhancements including a revamp of the onboard Office applications. For example, instead of Pocket Word and Excel, you now have Word Mobile and Excel Mobile, with added support for embedded images, tables and charts.



For those who access wireless networks, there is a handy connection button on the top left that instantly allows users to control the status of the handheld's Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Volume and ActiveSync operations. A voice dial button on the right activates the voice command application that comes bundled with the gadget.

On normal usage, the Dopod 838 can last for one to two days before its 1,250mAh Lithium-ion cell drains completely. The battery itself is removable, and more can be separately purchased for longer periods of mobililty.



Dopod employed a 195MHz Texas Instrument OMAP 850 processor for its 838 PDA-phone which, in comparison, seems a lot slower than the Xda II mini's 416MHz processor. As Windows Mobile does not support the closing of applications, all the programs opened continue to run in the background when a new application is activated. For this reason, the 838 simply fails to handle multitasking, which results in a considerable lag particularly when running processor-intensive applications such as the Microsoft Reader. In some cases, each letter takes a second or more to appear when typing SMS messages. During tests, soft resets have to be performed periodically to get the handheld back in proper operational speed.



It's simply a lovely device.