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The IPAQ 210 is an outstanding handheld laddened with enough features to serve admirably as a laptop replacement. Typical PDA functions - calendar, contacts, notes, voice recordings etc.
Excellence is expensive, but the IPAQ 210 well worth it -- think of it for less than $500 bucks you can stop lugging that laptop.Pros: Outstanding PDA and Microsoft Office Mobile, Gorgeous Screen, Laptop ReplacementCons: Weak Speaker, Bluetooth Bonding for external keyboard can be finicky WiFi and Bluetooth are easy to use and well integrated.
are a snap with Windows Mobile 6.1. If you are serious about using the IPAQ as a laptop replacement, you will need to purchase the Bluetooth keyboard accessory.
HP iPAQ 210 Enterprise HandheldHP hit a homerun. Its brilliant screen displays photographs, Adobe pdf attachments and spreadsheets with ease and is large enough to accommodate your favorite movie.
This little trooper runs for hours on a single charge.
You can't just turn it off it seems, it will pop back on within minutes. Documentation, especially configuration assistance is abysmal. The art of good technical writing simply seems lost on us as a society anymore.3. I could really input almost as fast as I could stroke characters on early Palm. Haven't tried Excel much or the Media Tools yet.Palm vs.
All in all the online experience (browsing, mail, synching) is superior to Palm.Nits and irritants:1. It can be difficult to figure out why something is "grayed" out or why some button isn't working on iPAQ, and drilling down often requires too many levels in book. Text recognition is far inferior to early Palm Graffiti in my estimation. Font scalability is remarkable.Browsing: 4*s. The concept of throttling down background tasks seems less advanced.4. I don't know what they were thinking.7. Blame ActiveSync and the Device here.Apps: Powerpoint I like, does what I'd want it to in this format.
It's truly annoying to be delayed. For input, the old Palm Graffiti with all its proprietary quirks remains the most functional in my estimation. No amount of work seems to get that configured in a likable way. Like a lot of folks I dislike the "up" position on the directional rocker - too small for my fat fingers to use accurately.5. For Web/Browsing and Exchange Integration the iPAQ get's my vote. App interface is a bit vertical, that is seems to stack a little too much. If there's a better way, it isn't obvious and that leads to irritant number 2.2.
Pretty hard to find the slider to adjust it back once you do if you happen to take your stylus off the screen. Otherwise pretty good. Easiest way to avoid delays seems to be to leave the wireless off as might be expected. When connected via USB, I cannot seem to find a way to configure the device to not come on every few minutes (maybe with every change in schedule/mail/contacts, etc). Not all pages reproduce accurately tho.Wireless: 3*s: Somehow it's just more difficult to configure correctly than it should be.Synching: 3*s: Especially bad with the auto turn on/alert features. It has the best "video/screen" resolution I've seen, battery life is pretty good when you aren't running a boatload of wireless connections, and synching with Exchange is improved over my Palm T|X. Don't like all the drill downs, Palm was quite a bit simpler, and for general purpose more usable in my mind.
Half the time my goal is not to have it sync, simply to let it charge, so this is a major annoyance. Oh yeah, really stupid thing - you can adjust the backlight down to 0, that is can't see a thing. iPAQ. For usability, simple schedule/contact management I prefer my Palm T|X, cept it's dead. Word seems to not manage graphical content well at all. and it is almost impossible to survive without saving your password as a result. What's new about that anymore.
None of the input methods on this device are as trustworthy, accurate, or fast, in fact I tend to hunt and peck the keyboard.6. Nice to be able to see a whole page when you need to. One of the main reasons I spent more on this than I would have on a micro-PC is I wanted instant on for schedule purposes and a usable web interface. All in all I'm pleased with the product. On occasion you have to wait on some update in the device to finish, just like on PCs. Hides/Obfuscates functionality meaninglessly.Value/Cost: Give the price of micro PCs, 2*s.Interface/Visuals: 4*s.
On the 10th day it stopped working altogether, having mashed the teeth on the motherboard. The 24-pin connector was always stiff (unlike the nice cradle that came with my 4700) and became more and more difficult to connect during a trip I took to Iraq. HP simply does not stand by their products. My ipaq 214 broke after 10 days of use, and HP refuses to fix it even though it is obviously well within the warrantee period. They plan to charge me half the price of the new item. I was only using this to charge the unit.
It picks up a new connection without fuss and there is an icon to disable it (to save power) right on the Today screen.I haven't tried the Bluetooth yet but I see no reason to suppose it works any less well than the 2200 which was fine. (This could have been because I was afraid of scratching the screen before the screen protector arrived). Hand baggage allowances within Europe are so measly now that a DSLR camera with 2 lenses, a hard drive, a PDA and a silver flute + piccolo is as much as I am allowed leaving no room for a laptop as well. I bought mine refurbished and it's perfect. The 2200 turned on almost instantly. I believe there are free downloads and I will have to get one (you never know when you'll forget about it long enough for it to run down completely). They are right, the speakers are very very quiet. I haven't been able to find out why this is.
That covers both my point-and-shoot and my DSLR camera so I am very happy. I believe that while in use, the power lasts longer than the 2200, but when in standby, the 2200 would go for the best part of a week without significant discharge. However, I love that. It did have a few spots of something sticky on it but they were easily cleaned off and there are now no signs that it was anything other than brand new.The good:It has USB host capabilities so I can transfer photos directly from SD or CF cards to a powered hard drive without a PC or Laptop. But you can hear it very well if you hold the unit up to your ear and a pair of headphones solves the problem completely. The smaller 2.5" drives are usually powered from the USB port and the iPaq has not got enough power for that.
It means that all the cables come from the same edge. Also, the buttons for contacts and calendar do not turn the unit on as they did on 2200. I don't need a keyboard so I am not prepared to pay almost twice as much for a umPC. There is a tiny speaker on the front and a microphone to bottom left so that when you hold the iPaq up to your left ear it works just like a large cellphone. File transfer is SLOW (about an hour for 1GB) but that is no problem if you can get through the day and download while you have dinner or something. Some people seem to hate the fact that the headphone jack is at the bottom instead of the top.
And you can rotate the screen with a long press of a button.It can run movies (with added software) without significant glitches and the screen does a good job.The wireless just works. If choosing off-brand protectors go for the crystal-clear ones rather than the glare-reducing. In spite of its drawbacks, I love the 211 and really enjoy using it. The reason I value this capability so highly is the ever increasing restrictions on baggage that the airlines are imposing. It has to be on already for the buttons to launch the programs.I read all the reviews of the weakness of the main speaker (at the rear) and decided that for me this wasn't so important. The hard drive must have a separate power supply, as all 3.5" ones do. Apparently it does support the protocol that allows for stereo bluetooth headphones.And Skype (free download) works almost as well as on my laptop (without the webcam of course). However, I have now learned to install all new software to a card or to the iPaq store rather than to the default location so that at least I won't lose the programs if the power goes.Talking of which, the unit does seem to need charging at least every other day.
All in all, this is a pretty good PDA and the only one on the market running Windows Mobile that has USB Host capabilities, dual card slots and a big VGA screen. I think that will get you the smoothest writing experience.HP has not provided the backup software that saved my bacon a couple of times on the 2200. Now I need to invest in a stereo bluetooth pair.Also you do need to press a bit harder on the screen than on the 2200 but you get used to that very quickly. However, my Buffalo 320GB ministation is capable of being powered from the mains (my TomTom mains charger fits and supplies the 5v with the correct polarity). Not a deal breaker but disconcerting. Some say that it is better if you stop all running programs (and maybe pop the CF card out) and so I have found, but it still isn't as carefree as the 2200 was. BUT it has a larger screen with twice the resolution so that it is a joy to look at and it does seem a bit more responsive.
The 211, however, seems to lose 10% of its power just overnight even with bluetooth and wireless turned off. You need a special cable which costs another $50 but it is well worth it for me. And no, I would not want to pack any of that into the checked luggage.It has both SD and CF card slots so you can have your cake and eat it. It also means that you can put it in your pocket top down so you can easily reach the control dial and the headphone wire comes straight out from the exposed edge.The not so good:It takes a second or two to turn on when you press the button. Anyway, I forked out for the official HP screen protectors (you get 3 and they last for ages) and after that, writing on the screen was a joy.
Yes, it does support SDHC.It has full VGA resolution so that your photos actually look good. The iPaq 211 is quite a bit bigger than than the 2200 that I have had for 3 or 4 years now and does seem a bit clumsier to hold. It also means that you can get 64 GB of storage if you invest in 32GB cards in both slots. I found the bare screen rather sticky so that my letters had breaks in them and were therefore mis-recognised.
If you're waiting for the mini PCs to become practical, this is a great pacifier. Every time you put it on or off the charger, connect or disconnect anything, it automatically turns itself on. It has a solid feel to it. I also strongly recommend buying screen protectors because you'll be poking and stroking pretty hard with the diddle stick until the touch screen breaks in after a couple weeks of use.The software and firmware is what's bad about it. Bring up the input window and now you only have one third of the screen left see what you're working on.Bottom line, it's a great tool for doing simple tasks.
It won't replace a laptop when traveling. Programs open quickly and respond well. I ended up buying a Bluetooth headset so I can hear it. There is no setting to defeat this. As soon as you turn it on its ready to go, there is no bootup time. The product itself is not too bad.
Has a great picture but lousy sound. The mobile office software and clear view PDF don't have full screen mode, so a third of the screen is taken up by the window frames.
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