@GregAustin
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UPDATE – I NOW HAVE THE PALM PRE – My wife has my HTC Touch Pro and LOVES it. Look for my review with comparison between the HTC Touch Pro and Palm Pre soon.
Over the past two years I have thoroughly enjoyed using my Palm Treo 700wx and I love having Windows Mobile as my mobile operating system. I was content with what I had until recently when the Apple iPhone 3G and other new technological advances in mobile devices had been announced. I have been doing a lot of reading about features included with these new devices and it’s enough to make anyone dizzy from information overload. Almost every blog post I read ends with a disclaimer which states that a newer, better, and more powerful device with even more functionality is on the horizon.
Unless I wanted to wait endlessly for the latest and greatest device on the horizon, I had to make a decision to buy a phone based on features that were actually available, and not based on future promises. I decided to purchase the HTC Touch Pro based on the following criteria; screen, monthly charges, keyboard, operating system, email support, usability, and form factor. While the iPhone has a slight edge in some of these areas, the HTC Touch Pro is far superior for my taste than any device currently on the market.
When it comes to screen size and usability, the Apple iPhone has multi-touch capacitive touch screen which changes voltage with finger touch, but is not compatible with the standard stylus which most smartphones utilize. The HTC Touch Pro has a resistive touch screen which means it has a pressure sensitive screen and includes a stylus, and the buttons under the screen are capacitive. The Apple iPhone has 480×320 screen resolution, and the HTC Touch Pro runs at 640×480.
Picture messaging was an important factor in my decision to upgrade from the Palm Treo 700wx to the HTC Touch Pro. While researching existing technology, I discovered that the Apple iPhone does not currently support the picture text messaging protocol which is also known as the Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). In all fairness, Apple announced recently that they are going to be providing this in a future, and free upgrade. Although Apple plans to provide the MMS protocol, the camera on the iPhone is only a 2 megapixel while the HTC Touch PRO has a 3.2 megapixel camera which also takes stunning video as well.
Monthly charges are an important decision when deciding on a new cell phone service provider. Internet usage, text messaging and voice plans are typically provided in bundle pricing options. I am a heavy internet user and I constantly send and receive text messages so, those were key factors in my decision process. The Apple iPhone would cost me an average of $135 per month while I can have the same unlimited data and voice plan through Sprint for $99 per month.
Having a physical, five row, QWERTY keyboard was an important factor for me because I tend to write long blog posts and emails in my down time. I also have large fingers which makes a touch keyboard a little more difficult to use effectively. The HTC Touch PRO provides the best of both worlds with a touch keyboard and a physical QWERTY oriented keyboard.
Operating System should be heavily considered when choosing a mobile phone for business or heavy internet and email usage. The Apple iPhone uses the Apple iPhone OS X operating system, and the HTC Touch Pro uses the Windows Mobile Operating System. I have a Dell Laptop running Ubuntu and Windows Vista and I have no plans to buy the new MacBook Pro anytime soon. Having a phone which plays well with my existing technology was an important factor in my decision to choose the new HTC Touch Pro with the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system.
E-Mail Support is also an important decision when considering a new cellular phone. The company I work for uses a Microsoft Exchange server which connects instantly to my new HTC Touch Pro without the need for a second party application or additional service charges. The Apple iPhone supports the Microsoft Exchange email protocol but, users must subscribe to Apple’s MobileME service which has an additional fee associated with its usage.
In closing, I will say that both the HTC Touch Pro and the Apple iPhone are very sexy devices; each with their own appeal and market. The fact that I can watch live streaming television, YouTube videos and video on-demand, listen to thousands of radio stations, text message, send and receive photos and video instantly, and email, surf the internet, and make telephone calls from a device that can fit in the palm of my hand is pretty amazing. I hope in two years, when I am ready to upgrade again, that there are even more choices. This was a fun buying experience.
