Features
Convergent Devices: New iPAQs
Ever
since the original iPAQ dazzled and baffled a roomful of carefully
selected journalists at a Microsoft Pocket PC workshop up in Seattle
a few years ago, the iPAQ has ruled the Pocket PC market. Never
mind that to their everlasting shame, the majority of that august
assembly didn't show the least appreciation for the sheer brilliance
and innovation manifested in that ground breaking product. Instead,
they whined about a lack of expandability, the internal battery
and any number of other inane Chicken-Little nitpicks. Well, they
were wrong and when the iPAQ took off like a rocket they quickly
changed their tune, joining the legions of reviewers singing the
iPAQ praise. After all, they'd known it all along. Uhu. Sure.
Fact is, however, that the iPAQ did change the Pocket PC landscape.
In fact, it is easily the single most important product in Pocket
PC history, and one of the top three products in the PDA Hall
of Fame, the other two being the original Newton and the original
Palm Pilot. You could argue that the iPAQ singlehandedly rescued
Microsoft's moribund Palm-Size PC/Pocket PC project, and you'd
be right. And the original iPAQ was just the beginning. Compaq,
and then HP, continued to innovate at record pace. iPAQs were
faster, better designed, had better displays, broader lineups
and just about everything else. In fact, although everyone else
quickly started copying the iPAQ, the iPAQ had such a headstart
and such a strong position that the Pocket PC game had changed
forever. The iPAQs were almost too good, so much so that the competition,
one by one, simply gave up and dropped out. Casio did (much to
our continuing regret), then ViewSonic, and now it looks like
Toshiba is having second thoughts. You can't count Dell here.
The Axims are not really Pocket PCs. They are simply line items
on the options list when you order your next Dell PC.
That's
not to say that all iPAQs were perfect. Some were, in fact, only
almost perfect. Bottomline, though, is that just like lots of
people still refer to any Palm device as a ãPalm Pilot,ä more
and more people refer to Pocket PCs simply as ãiPAQs.ä It would
have been very easy for HP to simply rest on their laurels, hit
the cruise control button, and milk the iPAQ cash cow for whatever
it's worth. But that's not HP. Much to their credit, the company
kept raising the bar with newer and ever better models. But nothing
could have prepared us for HP's latest announcement.
In
essence, HP replaced its entire iPAQ lineup with a new one. These
machines are not only brand-new and very exciting, they also draw
a much clearer line between home and business devices. From now
on, only the business machines will be called Pocket PCs. The
personal machines will be called Mobile Media Companions. That's
to emphasize their near seamless integration into the rapidly
emerging home media networks that combine the internet, personal
computing, gaming, music, and all sorts of entertainment into
one cohesive system. The Mobile Media Companions will be part
of that system.
But
let's take a look at the new lineup. What we have is this:
1)
Two new ãMobile Media Companions, the rz1700 Series and the rx3000
Series. The 1700 is the entry level device, the 3000 a much more
full-featured offering that even has a rather powerful built-in
digital camera.
2) A new high-end business machine in the hx4700 Series with a
blindingly fast 624MHz processor, a gorgeous 480x640 4-inch display
and÷a first in Pocket PCs÷a touch pad.
3) The hotly anticipated h6315 Pocket PC phone, easily the most
advanced, and most compact, Pocket PC phone to-date.
Wow.
Interestingly,
all of the new iPAQs, with the possible exception of the h6300,
sport entirely new design and styling. In fact, longtime iPAQ
users may hardly recognize them as iPAQs at first sight. After
all these years of a rather unique ãiPAQ look,ä it will be interesting
to see how the public will react to the new designs. Our initial
reaction was one of slight disappointment. The new models simply
do not look as boldly progressive and unique as older iPAQs.
HP
iPAQ rz1700
Mobile Media Companion
The
iPAQ rz1700 is HP's new low-end offering. It has a streamlined
new design that is different, but not that different from the
older low end models. With a footprint of just 4.5 x 2.75 inches
it is very small. It's also just over half an inch thick and weighs
only 4.3 ounces. That's roughly the same as the old ãlittleä iPAQ,
the 1900 Series. Side by side, the 1700 is a more angular, somewhat
heavier-handed design. The 1900's 
curves
and subtle, smooth lines have given way to a heavier and less
elegant look. This is accentuated by the new model's somewhat
pedestrian gray backside compared to the rounded, silvery bottom.
Like the entire new lineup, the 1700 sports a little HP logo,
silver on a black circle in a small badge. On the 1700 it sits
centered right above the display. One traditional iPAQ styling
element that's been added to the 1700 is a smooth black plastic
cap. It's not as prominent as on some of the older high-end models
where it covers the entire topside of the device. Here it incorporates
the IR window, the on-off switch, and the spring-loaded SD card
slot. The same black plastic is used for a newly designed navigation
module below the display. The familiar 4-way navigation disc is
still there and it has the same enter button in its middle. It's
also flanked by the same four familiar application buttons: Calendar,
Contacts, Inbox, and Start. Gone is the ever problematic record
button on the right. We don't miss it. That's pretty much it for
design features on HP's smallest. Unlike the 1900 which had a
replaceable battery pack, the 1700's is built-in and cannot be
replaced. It does, however, have a slightly higher capacity: 1,000
mAH instead of 900. HP says this is good for up to seven hours
of use. Your mileage, as always, will vary.
This
being a loss-leader model, the rz1700 does not come with a cradle
(or a case for that matter). Instead, power is supplied via a
moderately sized power brick (unfortunately the kind that takes
up two slots on a power strip) with prongs on it. Its six foot
cord then plugs into the 1700's USB/docking cable. Not the most
elegant solution, and if you lose the USB cable you're out of
luck as the 1700 does not have a separate power jack. It's either
this cable combo, or an optional cradle. On the plus side, HP
has been standardizing the docking/power connectors, so you can
use several of the older power assemblies if you have some lying
around.
Under
the hood, in the memory department, the pickings are somewhat
slim. Total RAM is just 32MB, of which the user can share 27.26
between storage and programs. An equally slender 10.33MB is available
for iPAQ File Store backup. The 1900 weighed in with 64MB of RAM
(56.7 available) and 13.24MB of File Store. What this means is
that rz1700 users better budget for a good-sized SD memory card.
Fortunately, those now come in sizes up to 1GB, and with this
new little machine meant to be a Mobile Media Companion, we suggest
budgeting for one of the bigger cards.
Before
we get into the software side of things let's take a look at the
display. There are really no bad displays anymore these days (I
wish we could say the same for digital cameras!), and the 1700's
3.5-inch transflective TFT does the job. It doesn't have the annoying
yellow tint of the 1900's display. There is excellent contrast,
and white backgrounds are just that, white. Viewing angles are
acceptable, roughly on par with its predecessor.
In
the engine compartment sits the same Samsung S3C2410 that already
powered the 1900 Series. It's running at just 203 MHz instead
of 266 MHz in the 1900, and the new machine indeed feels a bit
slower.
1700
Series owners can choose from no less than six Today themes, and
under ãItemsä they can now also select ãiPAQ Entertainment.ä This
will start Today with a cool new HP launch screen with four entertainment/multimedia
oriented icons. Being the Junior Mobile Media Companion of the
bunch, the 1700 only offers two such destinations, HP Image Zone
and the Windows Media Player. The other two icons lead to Schedule
and Contacts. The screen utility panel lets you select the standard
portrait plus landscape orientation for both left and right handed
operation. Very cool. You can also vary text size in four increments,
and turn ClearType on or off. Text Size affects certain parts
of the system but you're never quite sure where. Experiment and
find what works for you. A couple of glitches here: rotating the
display from portrait to landscape and then back threw off the
screen alignment and I had to recalibrate the display of my preview
device. And ClearType wasn't a happy match with this display,
resulting in orange ghosting in some of the letters. Text looked
crisper without it.
A
nice touch is the HP Profiles control panel. Just like in a cellphone,
it lets you set sound, lighting, and power settings for five different
scenarios (User, Silent, Normal, Meeting, and Outdoors). Very
handy.
The
main attraction, however, is HP Image Zone, a cool application
that lets you organize and manage pictures. You can zoom in and
out, do slide shows, share pictures and all sorts of neat stuff.
That's
about it for HP's new low-end offering. We'd consider it sort
of a mixed blessing. It's inexpensive and competent enough, but
the very meager onboard memory means that you'll have to spring
for a hefty SD memory card. And a case so that the little thing
won't get scratched. And a cradle if you don't want your iPAQ
just lying there with a big old cable attached to it. And headphones
because you can't hear a thing out of the very low volume speaker.
All that adds to the total monetary investment, and you still
won't have Bluetooth, a camera, or WiFi. So as with all loss leaders,
we're dazzled with the low price for a brand name product, but
then you wonder if you're not better off spending a bit more and
get the fully loaded model.
HP
iPAQ rx3000
Mobile Media Companion
With
pretty much anything in life we're constantly faced with identifying
a need and then figuring out how to go about filling that need.
Take transportation. We need a car, and we'd really, really love
to have an S-Class Mercedes but one look at the checkbook says
ãHyundai, stripped.ä From experience we know that if we let the
checkbook make the decision we'll never be really happy, and so
we decide to split the difference and get somewhat with more features
and pizzazz while still being affordable.
In
HP's new lineup, that's where the rx3000 Series comes in. It's
for those who just can't come to terms with a something like the
1700, which is a fine little machine but one remarkably devoid
of anything one thinks a true Mobile Media Companion should include.
The new rx3715, for example, looks like a fully equipped 3-Series
BMW compared to the base 1700 model. Memory? 64MB onboard plus
a massive 96.5MB of file storage that can be used for backups
but also to store whatever else you don't want to put on a card.
Connectivity? That would be internal Bluetooth as well as integrated
802.11b compared to, well, none in the stripper. Battery? Bigger
by almost half compared to the 1700, 1,440 mAH versus 1,000. The
battery is also removable, and you can get an optional 2,880 mAH
monster that plugs right into the back of the rx3715. Camera?
Yes. Now that used to be the ultimate ãWow!ä-inspiring feature
of a PDA, but now that millions of give-away cellphones have one
it's no longer such a big deal. Except that most of those cameras
barely deserve to be called cameras whereas the rx3715's does.
This is a 1.3 megapixel (1280 x 960 pixel), fully integrated affair
that carries the good ãhp photosmart' name, just as HP's lineup
of fine digital cameras. There's a 4X digital zoom and instead
of the dinky little LCD of a dedicated digital camera you get
the comparatively massive 3.5 inch diagonal transflective display
of the 3715. You can even take movies with sound, albeit in a
smallish 176x144 format. And unlike the stripper, the 3715 does
come with a nice cradle, a set of pretty good stereo headphones,
and a (basic) leather slip case.
So
now that we established that the rx3715 has a whole lot more to
offer than the basic model and is much more deserving of HP's
newly coined ã Mobile Media Companion,ä let's take a more critical,
just-the-facts look. The specs of the entire HP lineup were leaked
by a number of scoop websites before the embargo anyway, but only
very few editorial teams actually had the entire lineup sitting
right there in their lab, side by side, for hands-on and comparison,
Yes, we were among those lucky few. So what are the actual hands-on
impressions?
One
thing that's interesting is the current trend away from gleamy
or brushed metal to sort of a graphite or anthracite look. The
rx3715 has that look. Sitting on the table in front of you it
seems to be crafted from a solid block of some precious, space-age
metal. Pick it up and it still feels solid, but it's obvious now
that this is plastic made to look like precious metal. The whole
unit feels remarkably solid. At 4.5 x 2.8 inches its footprint
is roughly the same as the entry level model. It is also just
a tenth of an inch thicker. All the extra goodies had to manifest
themselves somewhere, and that is in the weight. The rx3715 weighs
5.6 ounces, about an ounce and a half more than the featherweight
1700. Getting back to appearance, we again see prodigious use
of that gleaming opaque dark plastic that HP uses to cover IR
ports and such. In the 3715 it does that, on top, but it is also
used in a large insert at the bottom that includes the 5-way navigation
ring and the four application buttons. Those are quite small and
totally integrated into that smooth dark plastic bezel. The sides
of the 3715 also have stylish bands of the dark plastic. Here
it seems used to visually break up the relatively thick and unadorned
sides of the unit (the sole control in either side is the camera
button). The 3175 is almost totally devoid of chrome. Its use
is limited to the very small camera button, a small on/off switch
on top, and a clever tiny little mirror that sits next to the
camera lens and lets you take self portraits. I have one of those
in my Sony Ericsson T616 cellphone.
Overall,
the rx3175 feels solid and very well designed and manufactured.
It looks good, albeit not particularly exciting as some past iPAQs.
All the controls are in the right place. The nav disc is a bit
too small for my taste, as are the app buttons. It's an elegant
arrangement, but gamer enthusiasts may not find suited to their
needs. The camera is very nicely integrated into the bottom of
the machine. There isn't a lens cap or any other protection for
it, but it probably doesn't need one. Likewise, there is no lid
to protect the display, so you'll have to use the included slipcase
or get a better third party case.
But
let's move on to the software. This is where the rx3175 shines.
Unlike the lesser 1715, all four of the ãiPAQ Entertainmentä icons
connect to media-related apps. One goes to the camera application,
the second to HP Image Zone, the third to HP Mobile Media, and
the fourth to the Nevo universal home remote control. If you figure
out how to use all this, the rx3175 can truly become your mobile
media companion, and more. You'll be able to use it to take pictures,
edit and print them, share and move them in various ways, and
even use it as a universal remote control for just about all of
your entertainment gear. Thanks to the built-in WiFi you can even
stream and view content anywhere within reach of your wireless
network, download and listen to music, and all of that on top
of the usual communications tasks of a modern PDA, like sending
and receiving email and browsing the web.
As
with all current convergence devices, and the iPAQ rx3175 qualifies
for this category in more than one respect, there are some limitations,
although surprisingly few.
Even
though the rx3175's internal camera is officially part of the
HP Photo-Smart family, it is still only a compromise. 1280 x 960
pixels, or 1.3 megapixel, is clearly above the resolution you
get from your average phone camera, but it is also a good notch
below that of even low-end dedicated digital cameras that start
at 2 megapixels these days. However, the camera in this new iPAQ
is not a joke or a technology demonstration. It can take pictures
you can actually use to make prints you won't be embarrassed of.
The pictures aren't as crisp and sharp as what you'd get from
a dedicated camera, but they are much better than I expected.
Even the digital zoom can be useful, though those images will
contain some color aberrations and artifacts. Operation of the
camera is a bit of a mixed blessing. The interface is simple enough
and you can even manipulate white balance (auto and three presets),
color modes (color, black&white, sepia, negative, and cool), resolution
(1280x960, 640x480, 320x240, and 160x120), auto exposure metering
(average or center-weighted), and pick from three levels of JPEG
image compression. There is a self-timer you can set to two or
ten seconds, instant review, and you can determine where images
are to be stored, and what their naming convention should be.
Not bad. Add to that some video settings (MJPEG or H.263 format,
audio on or off, and video size) and you have a remarkably satisfying
image capturing tool right with you in your PDA.
Once
you've taken a picture you can view and edit it in HP Image Zone.
The default screen shows the current picture and also thumbnails
of other pics in the default folder. Even 1280x960 pictures can
be viewed full size on the 240x320 display. There is not the slightest
hesitation when panning around. There is a slide show mode, an
edit mode, you can add voice annotations, and even print wirelessly
or via HP's Instant Share, or send the picture via IR, email,
or Instant Share. Image editing is amazingly powerful. We're not
quite talking Photoshop here, but you'll find a good number of
the tools and even filters that you'd expect in a good desktop
image manipulation package. There is a PC version of Image Zone
that you can load from the CD that comes with the iPAQ box.
A
complementary application is Ilium DockWare which lets you use
the iPAQ as a desk clock, monthly calendar and personal picture
frame. Very cool.
Printing
used to be something most PDA users could only dream of. Yet now
it's here. Once you've taken a photographic masterpiece you can
send it to a suitable printer in three ways: via Bluetooth, via
IR, or via your network. Here things can get a bit tricky, especially
since setting up printer connections isn't quite as (comparatively)
smooth as it is on Windows XP. Suffice it to say that it can be
done from a iPAQ 3715. Alternately, you can print pictures via
HP Instant Share where you tag an image and the next time you
connect to a PC that has Instant Share on it, the picture will
be printed automatically. HP's Instant Share, of course, is a
rather comprehensive system that also lets you route images to
email locations or even a place where they make prints for you.
iPAQ
Mobile Media lets you browse and play music or view images or
video from anywhere within your home system. There are three modes:
media copy to transfer files, media stream to stream digital media,
and media control to play and control digital media on a PC. In
order to make this work you need to install the Nevo Media Server
on a PC. The server has a wizard that allows you to ãpublishä
music and image files. You can then listen to music, view images
or video either on the PC via the NevoMedia Player or on the iPAQ
via the HP Mobile Media application. Problem is that for all this
to work, you need to connect to your network. On a Pocket PC you
do that via Settings>Connections. Unfortunately, this remains
far and away the weakest and most illogical part of the platform.
Under Connections, the sole choice is ãAdd a new modem connection.ä
Modem??? So then you go to ãAdvanced.ä There you can decide if
programs that automatically connect to the Internet should use
My ISP or My Work Network. Well, I thought we're talking home
network. Anyway, tap on either and you'll be asked to enter a
number for the modem to dial. A second choice is for programs
that should automatically connect to a private network. Should
they use My ISP or My Work Network? Once again, what's your number
for the modem to dial. Auugh!!! Back in Settings>Connections you
can then select and configure Network cards. The iPAQ found my
two network and easily connected to one. Well, will this connect
to Work or The Internet? Auugh, again. All of this makes no sense
at all, but at least it let me send email and browse the web.
However, the iPAQ did not find the NevoMedia Server running on
my notebook. All icons remained grayed out. I followed all the
help and directions, nada. This is not HP's fault, and not the
iPAQs, but it remains a big black mark with Microsoft. I am certain
I just overlooked something, but if I can't get this to work after
a couple of hours of trying, how can a non-technical user at home
be expected to use a friendly Mobile Media Companion?
Getting
back to the device itself. It is nice. I like it. The Samsung
S3SC2440 processor provides for spritely performance. There is
enough memory. Browsing the web works better than it ever did
in older iPAQs (or other Pocket PCs). In landscape mode, even
a low-res 320 x 240 pixel display is bearable for browsing. Unlike
the 1710, the 3715 did not lose its screen alignment when toggling
between modes. Interestingly, though the 3715 display generally
behaves the same as the one in the 1710, it has a slightly more
yellow tint. It also suffers from the same orange ghosting as
the 1710 display. Personally, I would have liked to see a better
display in this higher end model.
Sounds
through the speaker is considerably louder than the nearly inaudible
level of the rz1710. Stereo sound through the supplied headphones
is sensational.
All
in all, the iPAQ rx3715 is a fine machine with superb connectivity
(idiotic Microsoft setup system notwithstanding) and very interesting,
entertaining software, albeit perhaps a bit on the pricey side.
You can, of course, get the basic rx3115 for less, but that one
is very short on internal memory and doesn't have the camera.
HP
iPAQ hx4700
Pocket PC
While
the 1700 and 3000 Series iPAQs both have their individual merits,
take even a brief look at the new hx4700 Pocket PC and you immediately
know that this is the one everybody will be lusting after. If
the 1700 Series is the loss leader that gets people into the showroom
and the nicely equipped 3000 Series the one that most people will
leave with, the 4700 Series is the sleek, luxurious high end model
everyone wants but can't afford. Except that in this case, it
is affordable. The hx4700 costs just $150 more than the rx3715
and not twice or three times as much (as those luxury cars and
exotics in showrooms do). For that money you get a machine that
is simply in a different class, a machine that sets new standards
in every respect.
For
starters, the hx4700 has a huge display that's far and away the
best I've ever seen on any PDA. It measures 4-inches diagonal
and sports a full 480 x 640 resolution. That translates into a
sot pitch of around 0.13 mm and almost 200 dots per inch. Most
modern notebooks have less than 100 dots per inch, and even that
is considered high compared to the old 72 dots per inch standard
once set by the original Macintosh. Now combine that incredible
resolution with Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC, Second Edition's
ability to higher resolutions and you have simply the best and
sharpest display ever. It is so good that after using it for even
a few minutes, the text on your notebook will look crude and ugly.
This is the closest to writing or typing on crisp white paper
I have ever seen on a screen. And it's not all thanks to Clear
Type either. Even with Clear Type off, everything is impossibly
crisp and smooth. Turning Clear Type on makes it even better (not
easy on this display). Likewise, if you view images on this display,
they are unbelievably sharp and lifelike even in high magnification.
Comparing this to any other PDA display, even the one on the mighty
Toshiba e800 or one of the recent Sonys, is like comparing regular
TV with High Definition TV.
If
this all sounds like gushing, it is. The display is that good.
In fact, the only thing that keeps this part of the new hx4700
from sheer and total perfection is that the Pocket PC interface
itself hasn't yet been totally optimized for this degree of resolution.
Like in Windows proper, you can change text size, but even at
the smallest size, the text remains relatively large and the icons
and task bars are too big. Finally, if you rotate the display
into landscape mode, there is a noticeably slowdown. Apparently,
the graphics subsystem is, for now, optimized for portrait. Things
look sensational in landscape, but it takes a bit to move all
those pixels.
Since
no one would want for anything to happen to this incredible display,
the hx4700 comes with a plastic flip cover. It is the same smoked
plastic used in the old 5000 Series, but it is smaller and less
intrusive. In fact, the cover is so well integrated into the 4700's
overall design that I found myself tapping what I thought was
the display when, in fact, the smoked plastic lid was still on.
Now
that we have the praise of the 4700's magnificent display out
of the way, what about the rest of the machine? It looks considerably
larger than its lesser brethren but in fact measures just 5.2
x 3 inches and is just 0.59 inches thick, less than the 3000 Series
with which it shares that handsome metallic gray coloring and
a number of design elements. However, although the case looks
like that of the 3000 Series, it actually represents another first.
This iPAQ is made of magnesium allow. It, too, is adorned with
those iPAQ-trademark dark opaque plastic inserts on top, at the
bottom, and along the sides, but the overall structure is as solid
as a rock. This is one PDA that neither twists nor creaks at all.
Zero. And interestingly, every time I look at it it reminds me
of a smaller version of the late, great Newton MessagePad 2100.
I think this is what the Newton would look like today had it lived.
The
hc4700 sports another novelty, and that is the first navigation
touchpad. It looks just like a small version of a notebook touchpad,
uses Synaptics ãNavPointä software, and works just like a notebook
touchpad. Almost, that is. You can switch between navigation mode
where the ãtextä cursor moves from character to character and
line to line, or cursor mode where you actually get a small pointer
cursor that freely moves around. Unfortunately, the concept doesn't
work very well just yet. You can move the cursor somewhere and
then tap to effect a mouseclick or stylus tap, but it's difficult
with the small touchpad. In fact, when you use it you feel like
you're operating a very small notebook with just the touchpad.
As a Tablet PC user I wish I had an active Wacom-style digitizer
or, gasp, a mouse. Also, there are four directional markers on
the touchpad. Even though they are very small they interfere with
navigating. The novel touchpad is flanked by the ubiquitous four
application buttons, this time silkscreened onto black plastic
and also adorned with a microscopic nano-marker so that your fingers
know where it is.
The
4700 is among the first devices to feature Intel's new ãBulverdeä
PXA270 processor. Here's what Intel has to say: ãIntel PXA27x
processors are the first Intel XScale¨ technology-based processors
to include Intel¨ Wireless MMXú technology for high-performance
media acceleration. Intel¨ Quick Capture technology provides one
of the industry's most flexible and powerful camera interfaces
for digital images and video. And while processor performance
scales from 104 MHz up to a commanding 624 MHz, power consumption
is also critical. Wireless Intel SpeedStep¨ technology is a quantum
leap forward in low-power operation. Finally, the Intel PXA27x
processor is designed to make network transactions safer while
helping to manage data security.ä There. And HP chose the fasted
version, the 624MHz chip, for its new flagship. Needless to say,
it flies. Total RAM memory is just 62.28 MB, but there is also
an additional 85.06 MB of iPAQ file store. If that is not enough,
simply use a memory card, and with the 4700 it can be either a
SD/MMC card or a CF Card. This machine has both kinds of slots.
On
the software front, we're faced with an interesting situation.
With the exception of HP Image Zone, it's all business. That's
great except that the 4700 with all its speed and awesome display
practically begs for all the cool multimedia software of the 3000
Series. Movies, streaming video, high res 
imaging,
GPS and mapping, all that would be a natural for this magnificent
device, yet HP primarily targeted the 4700 form business and thus
assigned this race horse for drab, routine business duty. As if
to drive this point home, the 4700 doesn't come with headphones
and its sound is practically non-existent. There is, however,
a nice Headphone Equalizer utility. Methinks HP knows that this
machine will not only see duty in board rooms and on mahogany
desks.
The
business software, however, is first rate. In addition to the
standard Pocket PC applications, the 4700 comes with Web Information
Solution Inc.'s Pocket Informant 5.0. This is a powerful, marvelously
integrated solution that also takes full advantage of the Second
Edition's landscape mode. There are also Westtek's ClearVue PDF
and ClearVue Presentation, a sophisticated Bluetooth Phonemanager,
HP Mobile Printing, and more.
The
hx4700 may not be perfect (the quirky touchscreen implementation
keeps it from it), but it's darn close. This is, by far, the best
Pocket PC ever, and also the most desirable. The display is out
of this world and so is virtually everything else about this incredible
device. We've balked at the high prices of top-of-the-line Pocket
PCs (and Sonys!) before. This one is worth every cent of it, and
more.
÷Kirk Linsky
HP
iPAQ h6300
Pocket PC Phone
The
long-awaited HP iPAQ 6300 is finally here. And while its official
launch coincides with that of the 1700, 3000, and 4700 Series,
that seems merely coincidental as the 6300 is a totally different
animal. Unlike the former that replace existing lines with new,
and in some cases very significantly improved products, the 6300
is a first for HP, the first Pocket PC Phone. True, we saw prototypes
of a Jornada-based Pocket PC phone a couple of years ago, but
that was before HP and Compaq got together and restructured the
iPAQ line. So the h6300 is the first Pocket PC Phone for HP and
the first Pocket PC Phone to carry the prestigious ãiPAQä name.
That's good, and there's a whole lot of other stuff that's good
about the h6300.
Before
I go into discussing the device itself, a paragraph about what
must be a huge frustration to anyone who makes Pocket PC Phones.
Because they are phones, they apparently must be submitted to
the authorities for extended testing. Those authorities have their
own guidelines and actually publish the specs and pics to comply
with one regulation or another. Which means that gossip sites
and other interested parties routinely release information and
pictures months before the embargo and release dates. That's vexing
to us in the print press who observe embargoes, and it must be
even more annoying to the manufacturers. The second implication
of this long governmental process is that Pocket PC Phones often
use relatively dated technology. For example, when the XScale
processors came out and everyone quickly switched from the StrongARM
to the XScale, Pocket PC Phones remained saddled with the older
chip for another year or so. I am not sure how all this relates
to the never-ending stream of new cell- and smartphones that flood
the market. If they have to go through the same governmental process,
they certainly seem to have it down pat as the phones rarely seem
behind the technology curve.
Anyway,
now let's get to the h6300. Conflicting first impressions around
the office: ãMan, this is a very nice new iPAQ. Looks a lot like
the h2200 series that we liked so much. But wait, it's a phone?
Well, then it is one very big phone!ä Yes it is a big phone. Considerably
smaller than the Hitachi and Samsung Pocket PC Phones, but that's
not saying much. But, two years later, it's still almost as large
as the original Pocket PC Phone, the T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone
Edition.
Truth
be told, the comparison is not entirely fair. The supremely elegant
T-Mobile was also quite basic, just a bunch of phone circuitry
added to a standard Pocket PC of the day. The new h6300 is not
only a bit smaller and lighter, it also offers a lot more. For
starters, it has a built-in digital camera. It is a fairly basic
affair that can only take 640x480 pics, but that is still a lot
better than most ãcamerasä built into regular phones. It also
has both 802.11b wireless LAN and Bluetooth, making the h6300
a full 3-way wireless device that will never leave you stranded.
Wherever you are, you can always pick from standard GSM phone
service, GPRS data service, 802.11b high-speed service at home,
in the office, or in one of the myriads of hotspots all over the
place. And if all else fails, you can always give Bluetooth a
try. Talk about flexibility.
And
in this case, ã3-way wirelessä isn't just a buzzword. I remember
my huge frustration with the often glacially slow GPRS data connection
when the original T-Mobile was my primary device. Yes, you could
do email with it (at a very leisurely pace), but browsing the
web was near impossible. With the h6300 you simply pick the fastest
available connection. So in my house I connect to my wireless
home network. On the road I see what's available. When I gassed
up this morning, the h6300 helpfully showed me, without being
asked, all the possible 802.11b connections I could log on to
while filling up. Nice.
I've
sung the praise of the Pocket PC Phone Edition before and I am
now doing so again. Microsoft did a nice job integrating phone
functionality. And since I am a PDA guy first and a phone guy
second, I really appreciate having full and total Pocket PC functionality
instead of the pseudo wannabe stuff that's on most smartphones.
And instead of a dinky tiny phone screen I get a nice, big 3.5-inch
transflective display. That alone makes up for having a well,
large, phone.
On
the technology side, the h6300 retains the respectful distance
from leading edge inherent to all Pocket PC Phones. Instead of
a blistering Bulverde powerplant it has a workable TI OMAP 1510
chip that is fast enough. It does have a SD card slot, though,
to complement the relatively meager 21MB of iPAQ File Storage.
RAM itself is just fine, 64MB, of which 57 are available for programs
and storage. The display is fine, too, and definitely at least
on par with those used in the new 1700 and 3000 series. Let's
not forget that some of the earlier PPC Phones used 12-bit displays.
The h6300 does 64k color. However, since the h6300 does not use
the Second Edition additions, you can't rotate the display into
landscape mode. No big deal.
A
lot of people will like the h6300 simply because it looks and
feels so friendly and familiar. Anyone who's ever used an iPAQ
will immediately know how to use it. There's the central nav disc
flanked by the four application buttons. In this case, two are
used for the phone. A green one starts the phone app or picks
up a call. A red one ends it. There are rubber strips along each
side of the device. On the left they incorporate the recording
switch and a flap that covers the headphone jack. On the right
you'll find the SD slot, volume increase and decrease, and the
camera shutter. All require a firm push so you won't operate them
inadvertently. Like most Pocket PC Phones, the h6300 has an thick
rubber-covered antenna nub that sticks out two thirds of an inch
or so. No big deal.
The
h6300 comes with a nicely crafted dock. It's designed to accommodate
the device even with the extended battery, and there's an extra
charging slot of a second battery, standard or extended. I am
not too crazy about the carry case that comes with the 6300. It's
one of those sideways leather clip-on-your-belts. It's big and
bulky, and doesn't provide any access to the screen or even the
answer buttons. If you get call, you need tow wrestle the phone
out of the case first. Third parties to the rescue.
On
the software side, HP went out of its way to offer as complete
an experience as possible. In addition to the excellent phone
interface you get AIM, Yahoo, and ICQ messaging clients. And since
the 6320 model has the built-in camera, you also get HP's terrific
camera application (which does work in landscape) and HP ImageZone.
This way you can't only manage pictures, but also send them via
email, IR, or even MMS. Compare that to the wimpy imaging functionality
of a picture phone!
Another
big plus of the h6300 is its large removable battery. We're talking
1,800mAH for the standard battery, and a whopping 3,600mAH in
the optional extended life battery.
Finally,
for those who love keyboards, the h6300 can accommodate a snap-on
thumbtype keyboard. It's specially designed for this model and
has two large phone keys, green and red. The keys are round and
stick out enough so you don't have to push down hard as is the
case with some thumb-types. The number keys are part of the QWERTY
keypad, but they are colored a bit darker so they stick out. By
and large a very good solution, although every thumbtype keyboard
requires some getting used to.
Combine
all that with a time-tested overall design that just plain works
and you have a very attractive offering. With a list price of
U$599.99 the h6300 is expensive, but what what you end up paying
will depend on the service plan. Shop around and you may find
an irresistible deal for what is the best and most versatile Pocket
PC Phone on the market today.
÷Kirk Linsky
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