The BenQ P50 is Here... Sort of

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.benq.com.tw/asp/front/BenqMain.asp?MenuHead=81&ShowType=class&ClassName=MediaCovCopy&ClassKind=1&DataID=13239&RootId=0' target='_blank'>http://www.benq.com.tw/asp/front/Be...=13239&RootId=0</a><br /><br /></div><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20050611-BenQP50.jpg" /><br /><br />Everybody's favourite vaporware, the BenQ P50, is actually going to be released! Well, in the Taiwanese market anyway. It's taken so long that the specifications are hardly anything to drool over. It's still got the same old 416MHz Bulverde processor, 64MB ROM, 64MB RAM, and Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, and if anyone's interested in the odd benchmark or two, <a href="http://www.mml.com.tw/newsdetail.php?id=838">Mobile Life Taiwan</a> has put it head-to-head with the E-TEN M500, the Dopod 700 (HTC Blue Angel) and the Dopod 818 (HTC Magician). Back to the release dates, it's claimed that the P50 will surface in the Taiwanese market next week at the RRP of US$700, though it might be selling anywhere between US$500 to US$700. This device was hot stuff a year ago, but I'm not so sure whether that's the case today.<br /><br />Note the press release is in Chinese. A terrible Babel Fish English translation can be found <a href="http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.benq.com.tw%2Fasp%2Ffront%2FBenqMain.asp%3FMenuHead%3D81%26ShowType%3Dclass%26ClassName%3DMediaCovCopy%26ClassKind%3D1%26DataID%3D13239%26RootId%3D0&lp=zt_en">here</a>.

[Dave Conger]

So I loved the P50 when I first saw it and was about to pre-order one way back but the wait is killing me. And I really expected BenQ to say they were going to going WM5, but evidently not. What a shame. I have waited for this device as it has a lot of features I like, but I might as well just wait for WM5 and all the features that come with that.

[Phoenix]

Ahh, the P50.

Boring. :sleeping: Too little, too late. Weak specs and boring/lackluster looks.

Shelf this thing under "V" and bring on the HTC Universal... in black. 8)

[lorettaboy]

This looked great almost a year ago, but now these specs. are showing their age. And $700USD?

[jeasher]

This is another sad tale of what could have been. I actually did pull the trigger on this device (the Expansys fiasco) but got delay after delay. Now of course, this device is basically irrelevant. File this one with the MpX.

[jpjehu]

The Benq may seem boring, but what PPC compares in the basic simplicity of it's design?
The ipaq 6500? Nope - a square screen will obviously cause gaming problems, and the size is excessive - not to mention that it recently received a bad review.
The Audiovox 6601/mda III and other like-designed units? Too big and the thumb-board takes too much effort to open if you're driving or want one-handed operation.
The e-ten m500? No thumb-board - so it will inevitably be yet another completely stylus-dependent device.
The samsung i730? Closer, but again lacking the simplicity of a constant thumb-board in a compact design.
The Treo 600/650 and blackberry have sold millions of units and absolutely dominate the convergent device world - so when are the pocket pc manufacturers and designers going to simply create a like-styled device that millions of users already confirm that they like???!!!??? I can't jump ship to palm os because of all of the things I do like about ppc's, but I still think that the convergent device market is without ANY real ppc competitors.

[Scott R]

I guess I'm in the minority here. I kinda like it. I think the width is similar to a Treo 650, which would actually be a bad thing for me as I find my Treo 650's thumbboard to feel cramped. The big problem with all of these things, though, is the lack of D-Pad integration into the OS (which it sounds like is still lacking in WM5). If they could get the price to a reasonable level (and offer it on Sprint), this could still be a very attractive unit.