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Dopod 838 Pro

By Andrew Lim, CNET.co.uk on 20 September 2006

An extremely well-equipped Pocket PC PDA-phone, Dopod has made sure that the 3G-enabled 838 Pro balances features with power so it doesn't leave you hanging when you need to access applications like Skype. Due to its size and weight, however, you'll need a bag if you're going to carry it around.

Editor's rating:8.2 User rating:7.5

• 

  nyamukdopod07 gave 8/10 on 09/08/2007 19:20 Report abuse

  good plus great style n advantage..perfect pda to date

  • Bad: battery talk-time quiet not so long
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  Trevah gave 6/10 on 03/08/2007 14:23 Report abuse

  Upgraded from a phonebooth around the corner from my house. Found it great not having to run down the road to pick up the phone. Considered extending the cord at one stage but considered buying this phone a viable alternative.

  • Good: 1. Can hear the phone ring easily
    2. Lets me spend my hard earned money on something useless.
  • Bad: 1. Doesn't do the dishes or vacuum the house.
    2. Doesn't make any decisions for me.
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  richard. gave 9/10 on 31/07/2007 22:00 Report abuse

  Near perfect phone. I am a perfectionist and this phone rocks. Things to improve its service are:
  1. Scheduled tasks should be added for times to mute phone etc.
  2. Headphone port for listening to mp3.

  • Good: Internet
    qwerty keyboard
    
  • Bad: no radio
    no headset port
    
• 

  dhasha gave 9/10 on 21/07/2007 23:33 Report abuse

  i changed from a sony ericcson pda to 838pro. love it! power supply is absolutely great. multiple choices of inputting text.. as some pda-phones u only have the option to key in using the on-screen keyboard.. which is very very time consuming.~

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  baldy gave 2/10 on 18/07/2007 13:49 Report abuse

  This phone is terrible have had it for three and a half months now and had three differnt phones in the 1st month as they kept dying and have just sent my third one back for repair as it has just died, and yes they have been looked after it has not even a mark on it

  • Good: good when working
  • Bad: unreliable you never know when it is going to die
• 

  mariella gave 3/10 on 17/07/2007 19:46 Report abuse

  I changed my O2 with dopod838pro,thinking that it is far avantage with my previous O2. But damn it was worst than than expected in features e.g. camera..phone..limited software available etc.

  • Good: none compare with other PDA's
  • Bad: cannot use yahoo search application,too expensive.
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  kbardin gave 2/10 on 10/07/2007 11:16 Report abuse

  After trialing these devices for nearly 6 months I can say that the device is one of the worst I have ever seen

  • Good: None that I can think of. Promises a lot with the specifications but delivers very little
  • Bad: 1. The green phone key would not always answer the phone and the user was forced to click the on-screen answer button. The hardware button for that context sensitive button did not work either.
    2. Sometimes when answering a call, the "Connected" message appears and the call timer is active but you cannot hear the person on the other end of the phone.
    3. On occasions the Network Wizard would execute for no reason and wipe the Optus Network settings.
    4. Long delays when searching through the contacts list. Addmittedly some users had 2000+ contacts on the phone. That being said, the iMate SP JAS copes fine with the same number of contacts and virtually no delay when searching.
    5. Intermittent problems where after sliding out the keyboard, the keyboard did not work. This would also occasionally lead to problems when trying to use the on-screen keyboard afterwards.
    6. Phone freezing when a call came in. Soft reset required.
    7. Occasional crossed lines when making calls to voicemail - ie. hearing half of another person's phone call.
    8. Red LED stays lit when trying to charge the phone with a dead flat battery. Phone will not charge at all.
    9. Slow response times when changing screen orientation.
    10. Display almost invisible in direct sunlight.
    11. Users prompted for username and password when trying to connect to Optus access point - busintprv. Workaround involves checking the save password box and saving the settings again.
    12. When clicking the green phone button, it would not always activate the phone function forcing you to go to Start menu on screen and select the phone option.
    13. On occasions it would be near impossible to make a call simply refusing to even attempt a connection.
    14. Random dropouts during phone calls even when standing still with good to excellent signal strength.
    15. Notification window would pop up when phone was locked. As a result the phone could not be unlocked and a soft reset was required to fix the problem.
    
• 

  Frostlance gave 9/10 on 27/06/2007 22:09 Report abuse

  One of the best PDA-Phone on the market until th kaiser comes out. The qwerty keyboard is responsive n tactile. Quite stable compare to my previous Windows mobile phones, good reception

  • Good: Everything on the phone..
  • Bad: Size,weight and customer Service
    Camera no auto Focus... haizz..
    Wifi a bit weak.
• 

  inova gave 6/10 on 19/06/2007 13:38 Report abuse

  Dopod 838 Pro is pretty nice but when I heard lots of complaints about it I try to think it over. But I finally bought it and what makes me sad was that I could get it $50 bucks cheaper at other online store www.tata888.com.
  Damn!!

  • Good: Handwriting recognition was a nice surprise. Although I couldn't master all the different entry methods, like the 'Block Recognizer' the 'Letter Recognizer was enough for me and it was great that there were so many different types of text entry. One to suit everyone I'm sure.
    # Extra Applications - I installed MobiPocket (an ebook reader) which was fantastic and I was able to read my books very clearly from the phone.
    # Skype - Another extra application. It was wonderful having skype on this phone when I would get the WiFi working. It seemed to me that Telstra blocked me from using Skype with their 3G network, as I could never get it to connect. Skype on the JasJam does have a number of problems, and after a phone software upgrade just stopped working altogether. But while it lasted, it was fun.
    # Scroll wheel on the side of the phone was great. I just loved it. Getting through emails, menus and books was fun.
    # MSWord and Excel were quite useful.
    # The email application worked well with IMAP and generally was a good client.
  • Bad: Expensive
    Weak Battery
    Heavy
• 

  dopodnogood gave 2/10 on 13/06/2007 16:19 Report abuse

  Upgraded from a iMate PDA2K, (which overall I was happy with, especially their customer support) to a dopod 838pro... was ment to be the beezknees! in a couple of ways I would agree, but after just one month, during a crutial meeting - Death. phone died. there begun my battle with dopod to fix the phone which their customer support described as 'dead, and will need to be replaced' fair enough, until you fork out your own money, to courier it to their repair center in NSW and wait... and wait... and wait... eventually you will call them and they will first tell you they do not have the phone, then they will tell you that they didnt have your number, then tell you they need a proof of purchase - again because they lost that, and a month later 2 months after forking out $1000.

  • Good: It rings
    Its got a screen
    It does stuff that other phones do.
    looks cool (ish)
    entertains your workmates when user tries to get repairs completed
  • Bad: Useless
    Crashes when you need it most
    Non existent customer support
    Will cost you to repair under warranty, even when its a dopod fault
    Con
    not as good as a $60 disposal phone