ntech's Full Review: Hewlett Packard iPAQ h2210 Pocket PC
What's in the box ?
Ordered my h2210 from the HP online store. Had to wait for ages (2 weeks pda-less to be exact, and that felt like ages) for the unit to arrive from Singapore. The parcel finally arrived at my office and I quickly tore the box apart to charge the h2210 to full battery. The parcel was delivered by HP staff themselves and was in very good condition. I am very impressed at the efficiency of their service. The content was also in perfect condition.
In the box, you'll find your usual:
- iPAQ h2210
- Cradle
- Charge adapter
- Supplied case
- Charger converter (to charge the unit without the cradle)
- Software, drivers, lots and lots of paper
- A pathetic sticker that ask you to install ActiveSync
OK, so first impression really counts. And mine was, "Hot dang ... this is small. I can't believe my eyes." Yes, this is small (not as small as the Palm Tungsten T series, but it's the same size as a Palm Zire 71 (have a look at the photos).
The design
The body of the h2210 is actually made from plastic but it feels very solid while using it in your hands. The rubber grips are really nice and they proof to be your PDA's lifesavers. Just this morning I was carrying the h2210 when I accidentally bumped into my drawer. If it weren't for the rubber grips, I would have dropped the unit. The back of the unit tend to collect fingerprints ... no idea why that happens. Let's explore the unit in greater detail:
On the front side of the h2210 is the reasonable 3.5" crisp screen capable of displaying 320x240 (OS limited). The screen is bright and clear. Right in the middle you find the trademark of HP logo. To the right of the logo is the well indented power button which is difficult to accidentally turn on and yet very easy to turn on the unit. To the left of the logo, you will find the bluetooth and power/charge/alarm indicator. The bluetooth light will blink blue when you are using BT. When charging the unit, the other light will flash yellow and stay green when fully charged. It will also blink green for alarm/notification. Below the screen, you will find the touch-sensitive directional pad right in the middle. The pad is very, very, very sensitive indeed. You will also see the other standard buttons which is the Calendar, Contacts, E-mail and iTask button around the directional pad. All the buttons and the directional pad are chrome and by golly gosh, they look fantastic.
Right on top of the h2210, you will find the microphone and the headphones slot (the standard 3.5 mm) to the left side. The stylus silo is on the right of the unit and is not spring-activated as with the Compaq iPAQs. I really don't like those spring-activated styluses from the previous iPAQ designs; if you're lucky, you push and BOOM! the stylus goes flying out from your PDA, or if you're unlucky the stylus gets stuck in your PDA. I do suggest you change the stylus that comes with the h2210, it's a puny little plastic stick. Of course, right in the middle is the grand prize of the h2210 --- dual expansion slot. You get a SDIO and CompactFlash Type I and II support, all in the same sleek h2210 body. The commercial IrDA is also hidden behind the black plastic where the expansion slots are.
On both sides of the unit, you will find the wonderful rubber grips. The thing lacking from this unit (as mentioned in so many other websites that had done a review on the h2210) is the record button. Yes, the record button. Some people like it, some people don't. On the Tungsten T and the Sony CLIE units, I find that I usually end up recording nonsense when you accidentally press the record button while the unit is in your pocket. So YAY! for me, the removal of the button was a great idea. Besides, you could always remap on of the other buttons to be the record button.
At the bottom of the unit, you will find the lone connector. Nothing much interesting worth mentioning here.
To the back of the unit is the large battery cover for your removable battery. The battery used in the h2210 is a 3.7V 900mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery. It has a larger capacity compared to the h19xx series which gives the h2210 a longer battery life (last I test was roughly 8-9 hours of basic PDA use --- more on this later). Finally, there's the speaker for the unit. Not really that fantastic as it crackles when you set the volume to maximum but it holds up pretty good when playing MP3 without headphones.
The cradle has a very futuristic design and it allows you to sync and charge both your iPAQ unit and an additional battery at the same time (if you bought another battery). One thing about the cradle is it's too light and tends to stick to your unit when you try to lift it from the cradle.
What's on the inside?
The h2210 runs on an Intel PXA255 400 MHz with Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC preinstalled. The unit comes with 64 MB RAM (for which only 57 MB is available to the user). The new processor comes with a faster system bus and the enhanced (and upgraded) operating system launches applications faster than ever. Loading up applications on internal memory and on external storage card is fast and lag free. Movies and audio playback are fantastic and even DivX movies are free from jerkiness. This is one killer processor and yet light on the battery life.
Data input
Data can be entered in 5 different methods (the standard PPC entry). You can use one of the following to do data entry on the h2210:
- Block Recognizer (similar to Graffiti for the Palm)
- Keyboard (on-screen keyboard)
- Letter Recognizer (similar to Jot)
- Transcriber (hand writing recognition)
Of course, you are not limited to the above-mentioned entry types. There are many 3rd party software in the market which you can install such as Tengo which allows you to do entry similar to T9 predictive text. But all these are a different story altogether.
The screen
The screen is a TFT colour display with backlight with 320 x 240 dots resolution (65,536 colours). The screen has a diagonal size of 3.5 inches. The resolution is actually a limitation of the operating system and not the screen. It is possible to increase if you wish. The screen has a bluish white tint and is fantastically bright and clear. It's only second best to the h19xx series screen. Someone in the KVPUG forum claims that the iPAQ/HP PDA uses Sony LCD screens in their PDA although I can't really confirm his claims. You might want to check out the following two photos he sent to me:
Sony CLIE NR70V LCD
HP/Compaq iPAQ LCD
Connectivity
The h2210 comes with the usual connectivity option such as the connector, IrDA and of course Bluetooth. Bluetooth is handled with a Bluetooth Manager software that comes with the h2210. The software allows wizard interface to setup communication links between your h2210 and other BT devices. Very easy to setup and extremely easy to use. The thing I like about the BT Manager is it allows you to send raw data to BT devices you have added (do I hear someone hacking in the background?). The new Windows Mobile 2003 comes with upgraded Connections Manager. All the networking options (GPRS, BT, Wifi) are wizard based making it possible for a 5 year old to setup your connections (just be careful if the kid drops your PDA). WiFi now has "Zero Configuration" and you can connect to any WiFi hotspots as easy as Windows XP. I tested the WiFi using a DLink CF card. Works great and is highly recommended. I'll probably do a review on the DLink WiFi CF card later.
Applications
The h2210 comes preinstalled (or you need to install it from the CD) with Clock, Inbox, Notes, Tasks, Memory, Calendar, Contacts, Solitaire, Calculator, Jawbreaker, IPAQ Backup, Pocket Word, Align Screen, Asset Viewer, Pocket Excel, File Explorer, Voice Recorder, IPAQ File Store, Infrared Beaming, IPAQ Image Viewer, IPAQ Task Manager, Microsoft ActiveSync, Microsoft Outlook 2002, Pocket Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player for Pocket PC.
The h2210 comes with Nevo which is a universal remote control software which allow you to control over 300 different brands and devices in the market. You can also go online to get updated brands from their website. This is made possible as the h2210 comes with commercial IrDA which has a longer range. I have tested the effectiveness up to about 25-30 feet.
Overall
Now we know why Palm is loosing market to the Pocket PC. HP has finally got the right formula to produce Pocket PC. Give lots of features and expandability and give it in a small package. Have you noticed that Palm are getting larger while Pocket PC are getting smaller? The h2210 is seriously recommended for mobile warriors. Small and feature packed with a very nice price tag. What are you waiting for?
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 300 Recommended for: Business Executives - Powerful and Professional
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