Pocket PC Thoughts: Excitement City: The BenQ P50

I really like all kinds of PDAs, and usually with the announcement of something new I wonder what that new gadget could do for me. But sometimes it goes beyond that, and I'm simply excited by any new info to be found about a particular device. I've had that with the Philips Magnavox Velo 1 (one of the original Windows CE 1 devices), the HP Jornada 548 (one of the original three Pocket PCs), the HP Jornada 928 (one of the original two Pocket PC Phone Editions), and the HP iPAQ 2215 (one of the smallest CF/SD expansion device up to date). These were devices where from the specs alone I knew that I would buy them. Of those, only the Jornada 928 let me down, since it simply wasn't reliable enough as a phone. Still the idea of a phone edition has always appealed to me, I just found the current selection either too weird looking or too big. This has turned me into a two device person, using a good BT phone (lately the Sony Ericsson T610) and a Pocket PC (the iPAQ 2215).

But when about a year ago I saw the specs of a device built by one of the Pocket PC competitors, I was amazed. If only that thing would run Windows Mobile Software... In the end, when I needed to extend my contract and I could get this product for almost free, I couldn't help but order one to check it out. And although the OS still wouldn't be my OS of choice, I really was amazed by the form factor of this device. Sure, it didn't have a very good screen, but for my usage pattern it was sufficient. Sure, it lacked Bluetooth and WiFi. Sure, the camera was lousy. But the form factor had so much else going for it, like a built-in thumbboard while remaining pocketable in size. For me this form factor was close to ideal. The device I'm talking about? The Handspring/palmOne Treo 600 of course.

But still, after using it for many months, I would trade this the minute it could be replaced by something similar running Windows Mobile Software. And when the BenQ P50 was sighted at the 2004 Cebit many months ago, I knew that day would come. A Treo like device that lost the antenna stub, that has a better screen resolution than the Treo, that has WiFi and Bluetooth, that has a 1.3 MP camera, that runs Windows Mobile Software? Where can I sign up for one? As I wrote before, the problem was that for many months only the shell was seen, and the specs were told, but no reports were known of someone who had seen a working unit. Recently this has changed when a Taiwanese site showed pictures of a working unit. And Smartease.net has published a comparison picture of the P50 next to the iPAQ 2215, and a video of the shell, both taken at CEATEC in Japan. I guess this means we're getting close to the release date, and that I have arrived in Excitement City. BenQ, I'm having my credit card ready, so you can launch at will now. And I will still clean offices for a preview unit.