Samsung IP-830W Initial Thoughts

Due to the current project I am staffed on for work, I am unable to have a cellphone with a camera within the building. Being a Sprint customer for the last 7 years or so and not having much desire to switch carriers, this left me with very few options for phones. Recently, Sprint finally came out with a Windows Mobile 5 phone without a camera - the Samsung IP-830W. The IP-830W is a dual CDMA/GSM phone (although the GSM portion is only usable with overseas frequencies). I've had the IP-830W for about two weeks now, so here are my initial thoughts.

The Good:

• Windows Mobile 5.0 - Being a mobile developer, it's great to finally have a Windows Mobile 5.0 phone.


• EV-DO - Major +++ - While stuck late one Monday at work, I was able to nicely stream the Giants on Monday Night Football using Orb.


• No Camera - I have always found cellphone cameras to be completely worthless and think it's a bad idea that Microsoft made them be standard on Smartphones.


• Slide Down Keyboard - I also can't stand keyboards that slide out to the slide, which is the reason I never bought a PPC 6700. I have found myself using the keyboard more than I thought I would.


• Regular and Extended Battery - Included in the box is an extended battery in addition to a standard battery.


• Easy Speed Dial Buttons - One of my major gripes with the PPC 6600/6601 was that if the particular number button was not held down perfectly, the speed dial would not activate. The IP-830W is great on this front.
  

The Bad:

• Not Mini-USB - Just great, another cable to carry around in my bag.


• On/off Button - I'm not liking the slider on/off button, although this is only a slight negative.


• Stick up antenna - It's just annoying to have a phone with an antenna again.

The Ugly:

• Unreliable Push Email - I've had problems with the push email constantly updating. I feel like it synchronizes when it feels like. Using AUTD with my PPC 6600 and 6601, this was never an issue.

Previous Windows Mobile Phones:
Hitachi G1000
Audiovox PPC 6600
Audiovox PPC 6601 (Bought when I needed to ditch the phone with the camera)

Here's a comparison photo of my current and previous Windows Mobile phones.
(From left to right: Hitachi G1000, Audiovox PPC 6601, Samsung IP-830W)