Current King of PDA's
Written: Jun 28 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Just about everything you could want in a PDA
Cons: Plastic flip screen would have been nice
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| timothyt's Full Review: Compaq iPAQ H3650 Pocket PC |
I have owned a Pilot, a Pro, and a Palm III. The time came for me to make the jump to a better screen (read as: Color) and I was ready to buy the Palm color handheld (around $450) when I found out there was a new Windows CE on the block called PocketPC.
I had originally bought an HP545, but reluctantly took it back because I really couldn't see the screen outside very well, and the iPaq was supposedly just around the corner. I've had the iPaq now for 3 days now and have used it almost non-stop. Some of this article is copied from the original HP545 review because it still applies to the iPaq (the parts about the OS itself):
Until now, I have always HATED Windows CE. Here's why:
1. The interface has always been way too complicated
2. I don't own stock in Duracel or Energizer, and the CE devices went through batteries like they were popcorn
3. Grafitti, love or hate the learning curve, was better than what I had used on the CE devices (Jot), hands down.
4. The price of CE devices has always been unreasonable compared to a similar unit on the Palm side of things.
The iPaq H3650 comes with Windows CE 3.0. The best thing I can do to describe it is that it is similar to the jump from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95. I'm not kidding when I say that I have not TOUCHED my Palm since I switched to the PocketPC.
First let me explain how they've redeemed themselves on the points I gave explaining why I hated CE devices:
1. The interface has been completely redesigned and, at least for me, is better than the Palm interface. The little up down scroll arrows on the Palm - which I hated - are now scroll bars, for example. Eliminating the Start button was a Godsend.
2. The battery on the iPaq is a new type of battery called "Polymer Lithium" - it's essentially a plastic lithium-ion battery, which delivers very long life with no memory effect, AND it weighs very little (the whole device weighs 6oz - feels just a little lighter than my Palm III but I haven't checked the Palm III specs to verify that. The battery is spec'ed at 12 hours of continuous use, and it recharges when the device is in the synch cradle if the AC adapter is plugged into the cradle (the AC adapter can also be plugged directly into the iPaq). I've haven't even gotten a low battery warning. I've heard that if you leave the backlight on it significantly reduces the battery charge time, but I leave it on the automatic setting (read about that in the "screen" section) and have had NO problems with battery life. Note that the battery is not end-user servicable, which means if it ever does need to be replaced you'll need to have a Compaq service rep do it for you; they offer a 24hour turnaround for the first year though so I'm not worried about it. Compaq has excellent warranty service.
3. THE HANDWRITING RECOGNITION IS AMAZING! You wouldn't know it to try one in the store, because for some (ridiculous) reason, the devices don't come with MS Transcriber installed - it comes on the CD. It works like this: Without losing your clicking ability (Transcriber lets individual clicks go through to the program) any time your cursor is in a text field, you can just write anywhere on the screen, in print or cursive, mixed case, numbers and alpha, and it recognizes the input. It's not perfect, but it's more accurate than graffiti was for me, especially with symbol recognition (what is a pound sign under grafitti? A backwards N? Give me a break! Here it's just a pound sign!). Transcriber uses neural network programming - which means it thinks to itself "there's a 92% probability that this is a lower case 'R' based on the situation" - This type of program is MUCH better at pattern recognition that simple template programming. This was the deal maker for me personally, it's just amazing.
4. $450 for a 256 color Palm with 8Meg RAM. $499 for a 4,096 color iPaq with 32Meg RAM. iPaq memory expands to at LEAST another 384Meg RAM with the CF-2 Microdrive (you'll spend $40 for the CF sleeve, but they give you a $39 CF-Sleeve rebate in the box) and new Compact flash cards keep coming out; I've heard rumors of a 1 Gigabyte CF-2 Microdrive but haven't seen it yet...
5. The screen uses Sony's reflective Active Matrix TFT technology. The bad news is that Sony's hardware limitted the graphics to 4,096 colors at a time, but the good news is that the screen reflects the light that shines on it back out as the backlight. So, when you're outside, in direct sunlight, you essentially have the sun as your backlight (not quite, it doesn't look like a mirror) - this is nothing short of a milestone in color devices, which have traditionally had black screens or at least VERY dim screens in bright light. On top of this already great feature, Compaq added a light sensor which adjusts the backlight, brightness and contrast based on the amount of light hitting the display (completely turning off the backlight whenever it can, which saves on battery life). One thing worth noting is that the iPaq is "side-lit" instead of "back-lit" because of this new type of screen. I have no problem with it personally but some people have complained that they think the display looks a little "milky" or washed out in low-light situations. As I said, I have no problems with it.
Then there were the new features. These all made me want the device but the side-by-side comparison between the Palm and the iPaq ended already. iPaq has a better screen, more colors, more memory and is more expandable. I was already sold, but read on...
1. Electronic books - I for one am NOT addicted to paper books, because they take up too much physical space. The Microsoft Reader that comes with CE 3 is very nice. It displays full color images, the text is crystal clear, and you can even add highlights, drawings and annotations to any electronic book, then you can review your annotations later, jump to them in the book, etc. I wish there were more books available, but I currently have 30 (yes, 30!) books on there - all of these came free on the CD. You can download more online, but this entire market is just starting so there's not a ton out there yet. I was encouraged to find out that the reader format is compatible with the Rocket e-book and similar devices. But even better...
2. Audio books - I can't tell you enough how much I like this feature! I got a car cassette adapter - plugs into the headphone jack on the Jornada and into my car's radio. I can then listen to the audio books while I drive. I currently have Assassins, the Hobbit, and the new John Grisham book, the Brethren. Each hour of audio book takes about 2Meg of RAM. It's highly compressed, and nowhere near CD quality but it's fine. Also, Audible.com, the company who makes the books I bought, has a great offer in the box: Spend $10 on their site and get a $50 coupon for anything you want. I spent $12, got 3 great books and still have $40 left on my coupon. Great promotion!
3. Music - The included Windows Media Player can play MP3 or WMA files. I converted several MP3s into WMA files because they are about 25% of the size and comparable quality. I have about 5 of my favorite full songs on the iPaq right now, and will have more when I get my CF Sleeve (I still have the 48Meg CF card I bought with my HP545). The internal speaker sounds much better and louder than the speakers on the Casio E-115 or HP545, but it's still a little speaker so don't expect too much, however when you plug headphones in, it's as good as a CD player, just like getting a free Rio device that also plays WMA files. I have about 30 minutes of CD quality music with me and will have much more when I get the CF sleeve. I'll go so far as to say it's BETTER than CD quality because it's only the songs I like, not the "filler" songs they stick on CDs with the good ones. The media player is solid, supports shuffle, repeat, everything I need. It would have been nice to be able to shut off the screen like I could with the HP545 though to save the battery. I'm hoping for a utility or something to add this feature...
4. Games - I wouldn't normally bring this up, but you should see the Pac Man they give you for free with the "Fun Pack" you get when you buy a PocketPC. I was totally floored. So was everyone that's seen it. I swear, I think it's the original code from the arcade running in emulation mode. If not, it's the best port I've ever seen on any platform. I didn't buy the iPaq to play games, but I like to munch a few ghosts as much as anyone. I just can't believe how perfect it was and it really makes me wonder what this thing is capable of. Since the iPaq speaker is also a joypad, it makes playing the games a lot more natural. I did disable the pause effect when the "action" button is pressed because on the iPaq, the "action button" is defined as pushing the center of the speaker, which I kept accidentally doing. The ability to customize the input like that was very nice.
I also wanted to note some of the freebies: the sync cradle supports USB ONLY - so if you don't have USB or if you're running NT 4.0, you won't be able to synch unless you have a way to do it with infra-red. There is a serial cradle and a serial synch cable available, but the speed of the USB is worth taking a serious look at. I synched several hundred e-mails and 700 contacts in under a minute (MUCH faster than the USB synch with the HP545 - I have no idea why it's so much faster on the iPaq)- Note: Palm sells USB cradles separately for around $50.
Microsoft is also GIVING away the development kit for Visual C++ and Visual Basic (Palm sells this separately for around $300)
So that's it. I have switched teams. It doesn't matter to me if Microsoft is moving into another market. They have great products, period. 3Com has really been dragging their feet on improving the Palm. It still has, what, a 16MHz processor (or is it 4MHz? I forget). They finally came out with a color device but it's only 256 colors.
The only thing I would have liked to see is a plastic flip cover like the Palm III and the HP545 have. They show one in the video that comes on the included CD, but I haven't been able to figure out how to get it or how much it costs. Compaq Direct Sales has been seriously under-informed on everything about the iPaq, they need to improve that situation.
Clearly the king of the first generation PocketPC's, I'd give it 6 stars if I could... It's no wonder the Palm IIIc's are so easily available. Why would anyone want one when you can have all this for about the same price?
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 499
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Epinions.com ID:
timothyt
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Member: Timothy Tripp
Location: North Richland Hills, TX
Reviews written: 12
Trusted by: 10 members
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