gizmos17's Full Review: Hewlett Packard iPAQ h4150 Pocket PC
After upgrading to a HP 1945 for only 6 months, I really wanted to have WiFi access. I thought it would be great to be able to check my e-mail and visit my favorite sites without booting up my desktop. Also, since I have a wireless LAN set up at home and living in a major city, I know there are many hotspots available.
Before spending $450 on a new PDA, I figured I would try the SD WiFi cards that are available, after all, that was the main reason I upgraded from the 1910 to the 1945, to have SDIO enabled slot…that I never used for anything aside from memory cards! Socket and Sandisk both market a SD Wifi card; I’ve heard Sandisk actually makes it for both companies but have yet to confirm it. The SD LAN card didn’t work for me, I was able to connect to my LAN on a hit or miss basis, once I connected, I was hesitant to turn the PDA off because I knew I may not be able to connect again. In short it was a waste of time and I wouldn’t recommend it my worst enemy. Luckily, I was able to return it to the internet store where I purchased it from.
With so many different PDA’s available these days, I started my quest by making a list of features that are important to me. Here’s what my list looked like
1. Built in Wifi
2. Small size
3. Large screen
4. Mp3 player w/stereo sound
5. Voice recorder
These are the main features I wanted, having a infrared that is compatible with TV’s etc would make it perfect…but I know that doesn’t exist yet (the infrared that comes with most PDA’s is different from the type in your common household remote control, which is why it only works from 2-3 feet away).
With the features I was looking for, I know there there are only a handful of PDA’s that have built in Wifi, HP 4150, Dell Axim X3I, Sony UX40 and Palm. I’ve gotton used to the Windows Mobile operating system over the years and preferred to stay with it. Some of the screens on the Sony and Palm I noticed were smaller than that of the Pocket PC’s. The Dell was less expensive but size wise is larger and the screen resolution wasn’t as good as the HP’s.
I finally receive my PDA, it took only a few days from buy.com. Included in the package are the following: HP 4150, canvas slip case, cradle to sync and charge extra battery, sylus, battery & software. Syncing was easy since I had a HP 1945 before. All I had to do is delete my profile in the active sync software, name my PDA and connect it to the cradle and it is able to move all my Outlook data. The size is approximately 0.5 inch thick and 4.5 inches long. It is preloaded with Windows Mobile 2003 and features a 400-mhz Intel X-scale CPU. Battery life is slightly better than the 1945 I had, it’s rated at 1000mah. The buttons are round and the bottom features a more rounded look. There are 2 LED’s on top to let you know if you’re connected to Wifi or Bluetooth.
Within minutes, it recognized my LAN and I was able to connect easily. I absolutely love this PDA, I can check my pop3 e-mail pretty much anywhere I can find a wireless network. You would be surprised how many there are, but you have to find one that is not secured otherwise you probably won’t be able to access to it.
Software
This comes loaded with Windows Mobile 2003 and comes with Windows Media player, Outlook, Excel, Word, Solitaire, the usual stuff. IT also has a utility to turn on or off the Bluetooth and wifi connections to save battery.
MP3 Player
Being able to take this to the gym with me or for a jog is nice, it recognizes both windows media format and mo3 files as well as. It also has a full sized head phone jack (vs. the smaller types found on the h1910 &h1945) Prices for memory cards have dropped dramatically; I just purchased a 1GB SD card for about $70 after rebate. With this size memory card, I can store hours of music and have room to store a converted full length DVD (approx 200mb video)! Check www.handango.com
I like the feature in the media player that lets you remap the hard buttons, it makes it convenient to access the controls without looking.
Accessories
This PDA is pretty much complete, the only things I added and can recommend are memory cards and a Rhinoskin aluminum case. The case is great because I can throw my PDA into my wife’s purse and not have to worry about the million things that in there scratching up my PDA. It does make it a bigger package but that’s to be expected. It fits the PDA perfectly and is surrounded by rubber and even has a storage space for 1 SD card! This case will protect it from many things leave it to me to find something it won’t protect against! I had the PDA in the case When I was getting out of my car, it fell out of my pocket top first and it scratched both my case and than my PDA. Since it slips in from the top, the impact must have knocked the PDA loose. Oh well, nothings perfect…which is why I’ve since upgraded to the RX3715! But that’s another review!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 430.00 Recommended for: Gadget Lovers - Trendy and Hip
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