The Venue Pro Suffers Dell's Quality Curse

Now the SIM reader doesn't work

Nov 23 2010, 12:37pm CST | by Robert Evans

The Venue Pro Suffers Dell's Quality Curse

Dell surprised everyone with the Venue Pro. The Streak was boring, but the Venue Pro was one of the most exciting Android smartphones yet. It looked like everything the latest generation of BlackBerries had failed to be, topped off with a 4.1" AMOLED display.

When a WiFi bug was sighted right after the Venue Pro's launch, I didn't see it as cause for concern. Glitches happen. Then some models shipped with "Engineering Sample" batteries. Dell said they were just mislabelled, and that was cool too.

But the Venue Pro was also racked by supply problems and a camera bug inherent to Windows Phone 7.

And now, just as the supply issues have started to smooth out, the Dell replacement Venue Pros with working WiFi refuse to recognize SIM cards. One problem after another has followed the launch of this smartphone. As nice as the VP is, careful buyers should look towards another WP7 option. If you are set on the Pro, make certain your model WORKS before you take it out of the store.

Or you can wait for the Android Venue Pro and hope it rolls out as a functional device. At least one of these issues is from WP7, and not the Pro itself. The SIM glitch, crappy radios and shortages are all on Dell, though.

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Robert Evans
The excitement about new smartphones, tablets and anything mobile drive Robert to unearth the latest rumors and developments in this fast moving space. He adopted 4G as soon as it become available and knows where the mobile market is going.
Robert can be contacted directly at robert@i4u.com.