On last Sunday, I went to the Singtel shop at Bugis Junction as the last customer of the day, to buy the HTC Dream. I wanted the HTC Touch Pro 2 in May, but without a contract, it will cost a princely sum of $1388. Well, my O2 Atom had to go. it is slow, hard to use without a stylus (I broke at least 6 of them, which is damn pricey) and bulky.
Here is the pros and cons that went through my head before I made the purchase, and my experience of the phone for the last few days. I know this is an unfair fight, but I am going to justify my purchase with some twisted logic anyway.
Our 3 contenters are the O2 Atom, HTC Dream and the upcoming HTC Touch Pro 2.
Price
O2 Atom = $0
HTC Dream = $248 with 3G Flexi contract ($56/mth, 1GB data, 500 SMS and 200mins outgoing)
HTC Touch Pro 2 = $1388 (No contract)
Winner = HTC Dream. I got some money to spend, but not enough for the Touch Pro 2.
OS
O2 Atom = Windows Mobile 5.0
HTC Dream = Android 1.1
HTC Touch Pro 2 = Windows Mobile 6.1
Winner = HTC Dream. It's way faster than Windows Mobile. Somewhat like a iPhone OS which can multi-task programs.
Internet Sharing
O2 Atom = No
HTC Dream = No
HTC Touch Pro 2 = Yes
Winner = HTC Touch Pro 2. Womdows Mobile 6.1 allows internet sharing with a notebook.
Bluetooth
O2 Atom = Yes. Bluetooth 1.0
HTC Dream = No
HTC Touch Pro 2 = Yes. Bluetooth 2.0
Winner = HTC Touch Pro 2. HTC Dream can only do bluetooth headsets and the O2 Atom can only do it at 1.0 speed.
Weight
O2 Atom = Heavy and bulky.
HTC Dream = Heavy.
HTC Touch Pro 2 = No idea.
Winner = HTC Dream.
Battery life
O2 Atom = Sucks
HTC Dream = Sucks
HTC Touch Pro 2 = Likely to suck
Winner = All sucks. It's a tie here.
Free Software
O2 Atom = Harder and harder to get
HTC Dream = Lots of free stuff from android market
HTC Touch Pro 2 = Loads of stuff if you know where to pirate them
Winner = HTC Dream and HTC Touch Pro 2. Software for nothing is always good.
Speed
O2 Atom = Slow
HTC Dream = Fast
HTC Touch Pro 2 = Likely to be laggy.
Winner = HTC Dream. It's surprisely fast.
Screen
O2 Atom = Small
HTC Dream = Large
HTC Touch Pro 2 = Large and hi-res.
Winner = HTC Touch Pro 2. Yummy hi-res screen.
Input method
O2 Atom = Stylus.
HTC Dream = Touch and keyboard.
HTC Touch Pro 2 = Touch and keyboard.
Winner = HTC Touch Pro 2. Better designed keyboard compared to the HTC smallish keyboard.
Design
O2 Atom = Small, roundish and fat. Full of fingerprints all over the place quickly.
HTC Dream = Long, fat and ugly. Very plastic feel.
HTC Touch Pro 2 = Long, fat and stylish.
Winner = HTC Touch Pro 2. Less bad points than the rest.
Speaker and Vibration
O2 Atom = No speaker phone. Can't feel it in my pocket. The speaker is too soft.
HTC Dream = Good speaker phone, speaker loud enough, but weak vibration.
HTC Touch Pro 2 = No idea.
Winner = HTC Dream. I missed many SMS and calls while using the O2 Atom.
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And finally the verdict is that the HTC Dream is cheap and good. But if i strike Toto today, I will still go for the HTC Touch Pro 2.
