Dopod Releases the 818 Pro (HTC Prophet)

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.dopodasia.com/Dopod/Singapore/En/Products/PDAPhone/818_Pro' target='_blank'>http://www.dopodasia.com/Dopod/Sing...DAPhone/818_Pro</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Dopod International (S) Corp Pte Ltd continues to reinforce its leading position in the PDA phone and smart phone market by announcing its latest product model, the Dopod 818pro with 5 colours for lifestyle consumers choices. Available first in Singapore, the Dopod 818 Pro is the follow-on to the world's most successful PDA phone Dopod 818 and its alike (such as O2 mini in Asia) and being all ODMed by High Tech Computer (HTC), Dopod brings its latest product with unparalleled price performance and the only one in the world to come in 5 different colours – silver, matt black, lavender, pink and blue. It also comes with WiFi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth A2DP, GPRS, Quad band GSM, EDGE and a 2-Megapixel camera with macro photo taking function. The industry prevalent MMC/SDIO slot, expanded memory size also brings extra cost benefits to consumers."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20051208-Dopod818Pro-01.jpg" /><br /><i>Dopod 818 Pro - Silver</i><br /><br />The Dopod 818 Pro (better known as the HTC Prophet) has officially been released. It includes a TI OMAP 850 200MHz CPU, 64MB RAM, 128MB ROM, quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support, Bluetooth 2.0, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, IrDA, an SDIO/SD/MMC slot, a 2.8" QVGA (240 x 320) TFT-LCD, a 2.0-megapixel camera, and Windows Mobile 5.0. It's small, measuring in at 108mm x 58mm x 18.2mm, and weighing in at just 150g. Available in five colours - silver (shown above), black, blue, lavender, and pink (shown below), the Dopod 818 Pro is now available through select distributors and resellers throughout the South-East Asian region at an RRP of $1128 SGD. Undeniably, this device has a lot going for it, though some of you might grimace at the choice of CPU (OMAP fans, don't flame me - I know the CPU still works well - most of the time, anyway). ;) <!><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20051208-Dopod818Pro-02.jpg" /><br /><i>Dopod 818 Pro - Black</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20051208-Dopod818Pro-03.jpg" /><br /><i>Dopod 818 Pro - Blue</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20051208-Dopod818Pro-04.jpg" /><br /><i>Dopod 818 Pro - Lavender</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20051208-Dopod818Pro-05.jpg" /><br /><i>Dopod 818 Pro - Pink</i>

[surur]

Lovely. Since it has A2DP could it have AKU 2 already in place?

Surur

[Jason Lee]

Sounds that way. good news . maybe it won't be that far off for other WM5 users.

[zohaer21]

so the sorry story of yet another device with the slow omap processor continues... maybe we should boycott all such devices so that htc can get their act together...
i mean if you think 200mhz dual processor isnt that bad then youre wrong.. have you used it? cant watch decent quality videos on it, cant run more than 2-3 apps with it coming to a crawling pace..cant use skype..
if youre one of those ppl who cant multitask and think using one app at a time is the way to go then im sorry you still cant use it ...coz to use it you'd have to first turn it on and then use the application you want (thats two tasks!!!)
:)
otherwise its a great device with great specs..
a2dp or whatsever its called will be implemented in the new BT stack by microsoft soon (early 2006)

[surur]

Its pink. Its for my wife (who has a jam currently). She does not multi-task. She does not even know what it is. With pocketplus real close button she will never find out. She just needs a small device to keep her calender and e-mail and wont increase her handbag count.

Ive seen so many Jam's in the hands of just average users I feel its really catching on. This will really help.

Surur

[ricksfiona]

200MHz? Are you kidding me? Did I get stuck in a time warp and it's actually April 1st today?

[Kadegboye]

Hi guys,
The reviews that I have read about TI OMAP 850 200 MHz CPU have not indicated that it performs less than X Scale 416 MHz CPU. If it crashes when you run more than two applications or when you play a decent movie, it is then inferior to the X Scale CPU. Then HTC would need to put its house in order. Can somebody please write a TRUE comparison review of OMAP 850 200 MHz CPU and X Scale 416 MHz CPU! Left to me alone, from Science and Mathematics, there is no way a 200 MHz CPU will perform equally as a 416 MHz CPU under similar conditions.
Kay.

[msafi]

htc doesn't claim that 200 omap can perform as well as the 400 xscale. the reasoning behind the omap has to do with the battery life.

my htc wizard with its 200 omap is awefully slow. i can't even play low graphics games while listening to music...can you believe that?...the processor chokes.

to its credit though, the htc wizard gives amazingly long battery life. i only have to charge it for a few minutes every two days, and remember, it's a pocket pc!

if i were to choose between battery life and performance though, i'd choose performance anyday. however, enterprise users have different priorities, and those types of users are what those new htc devices are aimed for. pocketpc makers don't care about us geeks and multimedia hungry users. there is too much money to be made with enterprises.

[Paragon]

[color=red]so the sorry story of yet another device with the slow omap processor continues... maybe we should boycott all such devices so that htc can get their act together...
i mean if you think 200mhz dual processor isnt that bad then youre wrong.. have you used it? cant watch decent quality videos on it, cant run more than 2-3 apps with it coming to a crawling pace.

Crud, here we go again.......Given this theory a locomotive is by far the better performer when compared to a Ferrari since the train has several thousand horsepower while the Ferrari has but a few hundred. :roll:

I guess I have the miracle Wizard then because I have 10-15 apps running at any time....and get this.....it_plays_video_very_well. :)

Dave

[Paragon]

my htc wizard with its 200 omap is awefully slow. i can't even play low graphics games while listening to music...can you believe that?...the processor chokes.



Mine too. Try something other than WMP and you will find it works very well.

[pocketpcadmirer]

200MHz? Are you kidding me? Did I get stuck in a time warp and it's actually April 1st today?

Yes you are right. I played with one K-JAM today and relised how slow the devise got after 2-3 apps in the background. This devise was fresh as I tried it in the store. Also, HTC WTH are you thinking ?? We want powerful PDA-phone. Mini had OK battery life with 416 MHZ processor. You should have instead upgraded your models to 512 MHZ.

But the ANTI-THESIS happended :cry: :cry: . You downgraded it to 200 MHZ :!:

Sunny

[Darius Wey]

Lovely. Since it has A2DP could it have AKU 2 already in place?

If it's using the Microsoft stack, then yes, AKU2 should be on there. Now it's just up to the OEMs to roll it out for all the other Windows Mobile 5.0 devices in the market.

[Kai920]

Hi guys,
The reviews that I have read about TI OMAP 850 200 MHz CPU have not indicated that it performs less than X Scale 416 MHz CPU. If it crashes when you run more than two applications or when you play a decent movie, it is then inferior to the X Scale CPU. Then HTC would need to put its house in order. Can somebody please write a TRUE comparison review of OMAP 850 200 MHz CPU and X Scale 416 MHz CPU! Left to me alone, from Science and Mathematics, there is no way a 200 MHz CPU will perform equally as a 416 MHz CPU under similar conditions.
Kay.

Agreed completely! Have scoured the different PPC websites for OMAP 850 200MHz vs. Xscale comparisons. Totally different opinions from everywhere unfortunately!

If it were up to me, I'd snap up both the O2 Atom and the Dopod 818 Pro and do an exhaustive comparsion 8)

[KTamas]

I'm not saying that OMAP is bad, and I'm sure it is good for everyday usage (PIM, Word, Excel, e-book etc.)...But can you play an SNES game in MorphGear with 30 fps (frameskip 1) AND play music with TCPMP in background? (I wonder if someone would actually try this out please...). If yes, my doubts will get a bit down about these 200 MHz OMAP devices.

[msafi]

I'm not saying that OMAP is bad, and I'm sure it is good for everyday usage (PIM, Word, Excel, e-book etc.)...But can you play an SNES game in MorphGear with 30 fps (frameskip 1) AND play music with TCPMP in background? (I wonder if someone would actually try this out please...). If yes, my doubts will get a bit down about these 200 MHz OMAP devices.
i'll try this for you today, when i come back from my final exam.

[Paragon]

I'm not saying that OMAP is bad, and I'm sure it is good for everyday usage (PIM, Word, Excel, e-book etc.)...But can you play an SNES game in MorphGear with 30 fps (frameskip 1) AND play music with TCPMP in background? (I wonder if someone would actually try this out please...). If yes, my doubts will get a bit down about these 200 MHz OMAP devices.

I've not tried this myself, but from posts I've read the Wizard does not run game emulators well at all. I have no idea if this is a WM5.0 issue or they are to processor intense.

I really don't get how you guys see the Wizard as being extremely slow and unable to multi-task. How many have actually tried one...or are you going on things you have read? Are you trying a iMate KJAM with the antivirus software still installed? If so this may be the problem. The antivirus app is a widely reported pig. Not just on the Wizard but on the Jasjar as well.

To double check I just checked and had ten applications running on my Wizard and it is still humming along. It plays video very well. There are issues with WMP on the Wizard AND the Jasjar. On both when I use WMP to play a 300kbps video is stutters occasionally. If I use Pocket PV to run an .avi video it has no problems running at 550kbps. When using WMP to play music and play a processor intense game like Kart 2002 the game stutters. If I use a third party music player it works fine.

These are all first hand observations, not third hand remarks. The Wizard does have its limitations, but is not the dog that some make it out to be.

A device's ability is not measured in mhz, just like a car's abilities is not measured in horsepower. My 1969 Chevy Nova had a 350ci, 400 horse motor. Today my Chevy Montana has about half the horsepower but out performs the Nova in every way except the Nova went from 0 to 140 like Jack the Bear. The Montana has A/C, big comfortable seats, can carry several hundred board feet of lumber, or 7 people. It goes like hell on the highway. It has a good stereo system. It even handles better than the Nova.....it's not just the horsepower. Its not just the mhz. It is how something is tuned to use the power it has available to its advantage in order to execute its intended job. ;)

Dave

[ctmagnus]

Its not just the mhz. It is how something is tuned to use the power it has available to its advantage in order to execute its intended job. ;)

Dave

In technical terms, CPU power is defined as (cycles per second (MHz)) * (instructions per cycle). If the Omap, running at 200 (-ish, for the sake of argument) MHz can execute three times as many instructions per cycle than the X-Scale running at 600 (-ish) MHz, then the Omap will be able to run on par with the X-Scale.

The problem is that everybody sees the cycles per second numbers, and hardly anyone ever sees the instructions per cycle numbers. In these situations, the instructions per cycle is the number that matters.

[Kadegboye]

MHz in Physics is defined as the number of oscilations (cycles) per second. This should under normal circumstances translate to how fast the processor (chip) can handle a particular task or number of tasks. It is akin to the speed of a motor vehicle. If a Toyota corolla is running at 30 mph, a greyhound bus running at 30 mph will cover the same distance at the same time under the same condition. The energy consumed by both vehicles are however different (that of greyhound will be much higher than that of a Corolla because of the difference in weight).
Applying this to the CPU processor, TI OMAP 850 200 MHz processor will, under the same condition, perform the same task at a slower speed than X Scale 400 MHz cpu and this is why OMAP tends to conserve energy more than the X Scale processor.
Kay.

[Jason Lee]

The physics model does not apply to this situation all that well.
ctmagnus is correct.
The reason the omap runs slower at times is more because the software you are running on it does not know to take advantage of the ability to use more instructions at once. Software not optimized for the omap will still only execute 1 instruction at a time when it could be doing 3. So it does run slower. The same thing happened when the pentium 3 came out. Even MS office ran slower on a p3 because it was not yet optimized.
Software that is properly written and compiled should run equally well on the omap vs an xscale.

[Paragon]

In technical terms, CPU power is defined as (cycles per second (MHz)) * (instructions per cycle). If the Omap, running at 200 (-ish, for the sake of argument) MHz can execute three times as many instructions per cycle than the X-Scale running at 600 (-ish) MHz, then the Omap will be able to run on par with the X-Scale.

Thanks for the info ctmagnus, and the clarification Jason Lee.

I had never clued into or realized the "instructions per cycle" part of the equation before. I knew that besides being a multi-core processor there had been other things done to optimize its performance. When you become aware of the increased instructions per cycle it make it very clear as to why and how a 200mhz OMAP processor can keep pace with a processor with much higher cycles per second.

Do you by chance have a link to TI that explains this?

Dave

[Jason Lee]

here is some info about it.

http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/wtbu/wtbuproductcontent.tsp?templateId=6123&amp;navigationId=12000&amp;path=templatedata/cm/product/data/omap_850

http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/wtbu/wtbuproductcontent.tsp?templateId=6123&amp;navigationId=12484&amp;path=templatedata/cm/product/data/tcs3500

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OMAP

[Paragon]

Thanks Jason.

[lesterm]

MHz in Physics is defined as the number of oscilations (cycles) per second. This should under normal circumstances translate to how fast the processor (chip) can handle a particular task or number of tasks. It is akin to the speed of a motor vehicle. If a Toyota corolla is running at 30 mph, a greyhound bus running at 30 mph will cover the same distance at the same time under the same condition. The energy consumed by both vehicles are however different (that of greyhound will be much higher than that of a Corolla because of the difference in weight).
Applying this to the CPU processor, TI OMAP 850 200 MHz processor will, under the same condition, perform the same task at a slower speed than X Scale 400 MHz cpu and this is why OMAP tends to conserve energy more than the X Scale processor.
Kay.

Wouldn't it be wise to have a reasonable grasp of various microprocessor architectures before embarking on 'explanations' like this...

Ignorance (I don't mean that offensively) is why gizmos with the biggest numbers sell well.

Like big tyres on motorbikes (never mind handling), digital camera resolutions (never mind the optics), printers resolutions (never mind dot size and accuracy)...etc

[dablindfrog]

thankyou to all of you for clearing the doubts i had in choosing the dopod 818pro
i live in taiwan and have to buy the unit with chinese interface,altough i know i can switch to english,is it better to download a full english version,or is it at all possible?
are there other units with a very similar format that i should take a lokk at?

[ck84]

Is it now possible to watch some movies on it? And if yes, wich codecs? Does it can handle divx/xvid decompression? or only uncompressed mpg?