[JASJAR, XDA Exec, MDA Pro General] Ineedtoys:
I've had a Wizard for a while, and thanks to O2's recent bargain offer, I've now got a Universal too. Over the past week I've had a good chance to live with them side by side. I've defended the Wizard in the past against the "it's only 200MHz" soothsayers, saying that with my previous comparison with a Universal, not only was it not slower, it actually felt more responsive.

Well now I lived exclusively with the Universal for a week, to get fully accustomed to its pace and foibles. I've just retrieved my Wizard from the drawer, and boy, I'm amazed at how snappy it really is in comparison!

Every program I open on the Wizard finishes loading before the Universal - Start, Media Player, TCMP, SplashID, Execl, Word. Even keeping apps in memory, and switching between them, is quicker (e.g. Open Messaging, red button back to Today. Open to Messaging (still shown in memory on the task bar) = half a second on Universal, almost instantaneous on Wizard). Both had a soft reset before starting, and have the same number of apps running, and similar PIM database sizes. The Universal is using a Corporate install. The only application that I can find that loads quicker on the Universal (by some margin in fact) is the Camera. Presumably this is because it has been significantly re-written and optimised to cope with the twin cameras and 3g videocalling.

Now I'm not disputing that the keyboard and screen, and the sleek black lines, are gorgeous on O2 Exec. Or that it has 3G, if you use it. Or has minor attractions like standard SD and a 3.5mm jack socket (like they're such a big deal). But I've got to be honest that I'm struggling to find anything else as to why it justifies its price. I appreciate it's more like a mini-laptop, but seriously, apart from providing VGA and the "luxury touch", the Wizard does so many things better!

E.g.

Much smaller

Much lighter

Phone rings first time - and every time

Phone speech path connects immediately on answer

No "Phone acrobatics" to see who's calling

No crashes on incoming SMS

Better Bluetooth range and quality to headset

Excellent one handed usablity

Has 5 more mappable direct access buttons (2x Soft, Messaging, Explorer, Comms Manager)

Doesn't make me look a total d*ck in the street (or even the office canteen) (no more than normal, anyway :lol: )

Better battery life

More available memory

No screen lockups

Faster application loading

Faster application switching

Faster menu responses

I was convinced that once I'd got a Universal with the latest ROM, and removed all the O2 bloat, all those saying the Universal was much faster and quoting benchmark after benchmark would be proved right. But unless you're doing some serious multitasking or gaming, the reverse is true. Even QVGA movies in TCMP aren't that much smoother.

I guess the Universal is the old man's Jaguar of PDAs plodding steadily way. Big, heavy, thirsty, but as comfy as your favourite leather sofa, and built to last. But the cheeky little Wizard is far more street, practical, nippy, and easy to park, even if the flimsy doors go "clink" instead of "clunk" :)

I still haven't decided which goes on eBay though. Trouble is I like both, in their own way (I like big, comfy cars too). It's just a shame the Universal UI lags so much. It does spoil the whole experience when you know what its little upstart of a brother can do.

Now I know there are others out there who have both devices, especially since the O2 deal. Is my experience typical, or am I doing something drastically wrong?