which Pocket PC?

[Kho King]

Budget S$500 or less, which pocket PC is best for the buck? Can recommend better model and higher price too...(will try search in the 2nd hand market).

IPAQ and Palm, which one better?

Thanks.

 

[Royce]

Budget S$500 or less, which pocket PC is best for the buck? Can recommend better model and higher price too...(will try search in the 2nd hand market).

IPAQ and Palm, which one better?

Thanks.

I highly recommend HP iPaq 4150 - is slim, has built-in bluetooth and wireless, does everything I need. Check the reviews on it and you'll see it scores very well. I considered Palm before buying, but couldn't find a model that had both bluetooth and wireless built-in.

ps. New version well over your budget however.

 

[Kho King]

does the ipaq 4150 has phone built in? Can I insert sim card and use the ipaq as a handphone or browse the net?

Thanks.

 

[imaginary_number]

does the ipaq 4150 has phone built in? Can I insert sim card and use the ipaq as a handphone or browse the net?

Thanks.

Nope, 4150 isn't a convergent device. If you want to surf the net, you'll need pair it with a GPRS phone (via Bluetooth) or use WiFi.

If you're looking at convergent devices, the O2 XDA II or P900 (which I'm using) are currently the best choices.

 

[Royce]

does the ipaq 4150 has phone built in? Can I insert sim card and use the ipaq as a handphone or browse the net?

Thanks.

No built in phone - PDA with builtin phone more expensive!!
You can browse the net using either wireless, when you are near a hotspot, or using GPRS via your bluetooth enabled phone.

I prefer having PDA and phone separate, why?

• PDA battery likely to go flat faster than hp. If have combined PDA/phone and battery goes flat, then cannot use phone anymore.
• Can choose which items to bring with you when you are mobile - ie. phone & PDA or phone only if don't need the PDA.
• Combined units are quite bulky or have smaller screen. I like the big screen of the PDA and having a small phone.

 

[Kho King]

what's the price of the 4150? Maybe I don't need built in phone, I am more concern on going internet, and my uni (my faculty) has WIFI installed, and I would love to go online using the IPAQ anywhere anytime!

More questions (sorry, I am blur in this thing):
1. If I buy the Ipaq, do I need to buy other accessory to go online?
2. what's the price of the 4150?
3. Can I use it to download/store emails? How big is the memory of the 4150?
4. Is 4150 using CF or SD or etc. to expand the memory?
5. It is a full colour device, right? Is the colour good enough for web browsing?
6. Is it a good device for internet web browsing? eg. Clubsnap site.

Thanks.

 

[imaginary_number]

what's the price of the 4150? Maybe I don't need built in phone, I am more concern on going internet, and my uni (my faculty) has WIFI installed, and I would love to go online using the IPAQ anywhere anytime!

More questions (sorry, I am blur in this thing):
1. If I buy the Ipaq, do I need to buy other accessory to go online?
2. what's the price of the 4150?
3. Can I use it to download/store emails? How big is the memory of the 4150?
4. Is 4150 using CF or SD or etc. to expand the memory?
5. It is a full colour device, right? Is the colour good enough for web browsing?
6. Is it a good device for internet web browsing? eg. Clubsnap site.

Thanks.

1. Yes, u need a GPRS enabled phone which should have bluetooth or IR.
2. Around $600 in the 2nd hand market
3. Yes, 64 Mb, IIRC
4. It has an SD slot
5. 64K colours, good enough for me.
6. At the moment yes, but VGA (640x480) devices will become more common soon - and it's definitely better than the current QVGA (320x240) screens.

 

[Royce]

what's the price of the 4150? Maybe I don't need built in phone, I am more concern on going internet, and my uni (my faculty) has WIFI installed, and I would love to go online using the IPAQ anywhere anytime!

More questions (sorry, I am blur in this thing):
1. If I buy the Ipaq, do I need to buy other accessory to go online?
2. what's the price of the 4150?
3. Can I use it to download/store emails? How big is the memory of the 4150?
4. Is 4150 using CF or SD or etc. to expand the memory?
5. It is a full colour device, right? Is the colour good enough for web browsing?
6. Is it a good device for internet web browsing? eg. Clubsnap site.

Thanks.

1. Wifi - No, GPRS - need bluetooth enabled phone.
2. Around $869 from memory.
3. Yes you can, but you wouldn't want to dl massive emails onto it. It has 64mb SDRAM, but not all of this is usable (on mine about 57mb is usable). Pocket Outlook only supports text emails - HTML emails are converted to text. Attachments are supported, but will open in Pocket version (eg. word document would open in Pocket word - not all features are supported in pocket version).
4. It uses SD.
5. 64K colours - it's good enough for web browsing, but not all websites will display on it. ie. those that use flash and other such media may not work. Banking websites (like DBS) also do not work.
6. It works fine for browsing Clubsnap! I also purchase a new browser for it, called ThunderHawk. It lets me access some sites that Pocket IE cannot. Also it is oriented in Landscape, whereas Pocket IE is portrait only. The Second edition of windows mobile 2003 will be out soon and apparently it allows you to select portrait or landscape orientation.

Perhaps you should go and check one out?
Have a look here also.

 

[benny]

If you're looking at convergent devices, the O2 XDA II or P900 (which I'm using) are currently the best choices.

These things suck battery dry in ONE day with average usage right?

Cheers,

 

[Kho King]

thanks very much to Royc and IN. Price of the 4150 is a bit too steep for me though...will wait for the price to drop further. Or, is there any other model that is equivalent but at lower price?

 

[Kho King]

just found out an older model, IPAQ 5450. Is it worth buying? What's the price that is worth to pay for? 2nd hand...

 

[imaginary_number]

These things suck battery dry in ONE day with average usage right?

Cheers,

Well, the P900 can last a few days actually. You're right about the XDA II though...

 

[imaginary_number]

thanks very much to Royc and IN. Price of the 4150 is a bit too steep for me though...will wait for the price to drop further. Or, is there any other model that is equivalent but at lower price?

The iPAQ 2210 is quite a good buy too (I just sold mine a couple of days ago @ $400). It's a dual slot (CF & SD) ppc with Bluetooth. Should you need them, CF WiFi cards are quite affordable @ ~$70 for an entry level one.

It also has a whiter screen as compared to the 4150 which has a yellowish hue.

 

[imaginary_number]

just found out an older model, IPAQ 5450. Is it worth buying? What's the price that is worth to pay for? 2nd hand...

To me, it's a brick which feeds on batteries. Pardon the metaphor, but I wouldn't get it due to its bulkiness and short battery life; there also quite a number of buggy sets around, according to what I know.

But if you wanna get it, $300+ to $400 is the going rate now. Now, did I mention it's a brick? :blah:

 

[Royce]

The iPAQ 2210 is quite a good buy too (I just sold mine a couple of days ago @ $400). It's a dual slot (CF & SD) ppc with Bluetooth. Should you need them, CF WiFi cards are quite affordable @ ~$70 for an entry level one.

It also has a whiter screen as compared to the 4150 which has a yellowish hue.

The yellowish hue thing is very subjective. It depends on the angle you are viewing the display. Anyway, point is it's certainly no reason to not buy this excellent PDA.

 

[henavs]

Kho King, I got a 5 mths old iPAQ 4150 in very good condition for sale...more or less within ur budget...will throw in xtra 3rd party leather case...pm me if ur interested to know more...

To enlighten u a bit regarding the yellowish screen...u'll only notice tat ard 15-30 degree angle...just treat the LCD as any other large LCDs, u wouldn't want to view ur screen at an odd angle, would u?

4150 is so slim & small tat it makes my XDA II look like a brick...But no choice, I just prefer a convergence device...

 

[imaginary_number]

The yellowish hue thing is very subjective. It depends on the angle you are viewing the display. Anyway, point is it's certainly no reason to not buy this excellent PDA.

Yes, I know - I've used to own the 1940. Place it beside a PDA with a white screen and the difference becomes too obvious; it didn't bother me though.

I was pointing it out because some people aren't too comfortable with it and in addition, a PDA with a pure white screen will more often than not be more welcomed than one with a yellowish hue.

Btw, khoking, you can read this old article for more information on the yellow screen issue.

 

[Triton]

I just ordered a Dell Axim X30 with a 624 MHz XScale chip... The fastest PPC money can buy today comes with built-in WiFi and Bluetooth that could be used simultaneously. Price is cheaper than most other brands and the package looks pretty slim. Check it out at www.dell.com.sg .. got a long line of orders to fulfil co recent PC Show the sold 200 over units.