Torn between BenQ P50 and the Wizard...

Hi all... After some thorough and deep thinking, I have finally decided to buy another Windows Mobile device. HTC Wizard is definitely the device of choice for me, as it has the one thing I need to have, a QWERTY keyboard... Except the processor powering it kind of downer (although my hopes are up again with the recent benchmark). But today, out of nowhere... I got myself a BenQ P50 to be tested! The fabled device that shook the gadget world last year, and off course, a laughing stock of many because it's only available in Taiwan and some part of England if I'm not mistaken...

I work for a gadget magazine, and the arrival of the P50 is a shocking event indeed in my country (it is sold by private importer, not BenQ). It has BT, Wi-Fi, PXA272@416MHz, and QWERTY keyboard WITH backlight! (I remember reading it doesn't have a backlight) And should I mention the price? It's only US$610! US$40 cheaper than the O2 XDA II Mini (the price might hike as demand soar... And I bet it will)

Off course it only has 64 Megs of RAM and ROM so WM 5.0 upgrade is out of the question. But it has QWERTY keyboard and Wi-Fi, with a proven fast and power efficient processor. But currently, XDA II Mini has nothing to offer besides longer lasting battery to boot against the P50 (The P50 has a laughable 1260 mAH)

One thing I like about WM 5.0 is the persistent storage, but other than that, nothing... I dunno... It's very tempting to buy the P50, as the Wizard might be available early next year here in my country... I am ready as I can be to let go my Treo 650.

Okay... Your point is very much valid except for performance (the joystick doesn't offer good tactile feedback, and the QWERTY keyboard is not as practical as the Blue Angel). As of speaking, I am running spb benchmark program on the P50, XDA IIi result will follow... I will update my post after the benchmark. But anyway, does anybody have a benchmark result for the Magician?

As promised, direct comparison between the P50 and XDA IIi (Alpine) using spb benchmark... From the left most column... BenQ P50 (optimized mode), BenQ P50 (battery save mode), and Alpine (Turbo mode). The modes I stated is located on the battery tab on the settings menu. Well, it's a good news benchmark wise... Especially on the graphics, despite the processor of both device push 320x240 pixel, the small screen probably helps. Dunno, it seems consistent that devices with smaller screens perform better on spb's graphic index bench.

And yes... The unit I tested is horrible... If I closed the mic when using speakerphone, there's a weird feedback sound. The sound from the speakerphone is minimum (I use the speakerphone to speak normally, because the internal speaker is so weak) but when I used the speakerphone the mic often brushed my cheek... And there's that electric feedback sound problem. Not to mention the very dark camera... It's very awful... The picture taken with my Treo (VGA) is whole lot better in quality :x

But after all, I am reviewing an engineering sample, so probably that's where the problem is... I'll be asking for a non sample product next monday.

Battery... Well, it's not that bad, comparable to the Alpine's 1300 mAh actually.

But all in all... This device (feature wise) can bring down the Magician to its knee (discounting the problems it have). But compared to the Wizard...It's like you guys tell it is... A no contest... But I will monitor closely the processor power of the Wizard.