Slashdot Mirror
HP's New iPAQ hx2755 Reviewed
Brandon Miniman submitted a story that discusses the whole iPAQ line of handhelds and specifically looks at the newly released iPAQ hx2755 Pocket
PC. This one is unique in that it has a biometric fingerprint reader.
I've been trying to buy a PDA for a year and cannot find a PDA that has the features I need, every PDA has pros and cons, however the cons in almost every PDA make it a questionable buy. If you want to use the HP iPaq and have a phone plan you can only use TMobile which has horrible reception in my area, Cingular and Verizon offer their own versions but the PDAs they provide are very subpar and expensive to boot. Just with there was a great PDA avaialable with cellular provider of your choice, but that would be good for consumer and bad for the cellular companies...
And I still use a $0.89 Mead Composition book (UPC #043100090236) for my daily to-do and I keep it tucked inside a small calendar to track my "appointments". Why? Because it's just easier for me to grab a pencil and scratch an entry down. I was never able to get the entry down quickly with a PDA (despite using Rosetta, Graphiti, Jot and Transcriber). It's just not fast enough for me. As a plus I also get to use some of my nice fountain pens, they are a joy to write with. The calendar folds out to the size of a comp book when open (9.75"x15") and gives me an easy view of my month or my week. Flipping forward and back is a cinch and takes no time at all. I always hated hunting for appointments and tasks on a PDA because I could only efficiently see one day at a time no matter what the platform (though the Newton did it best, but was the largest unit).
If I drop it on the way to a meeting it doesn't break, and I don't have to worry about batteries running down at the worst possible moment. Plus the comp books are literally $0.89 and the Calendar was about $11.99 and is refillable.
Sure, I can't play super break out or solitare or freecell, but I don't care. At work I'm there to work and when I'm someplace waiting I'm usually reading a paper or adding notes and "todo's" in my book. Or I just put the damn thing down and enjoy the environment I'm in. I don't miss the games.
I've converted...back to paper for good I think. I'm not planning on rushing out and upgrading with the next generation of PDAs (unless Apple does another one). I'll save that money and buy another Pelican or Parker or Delta fountain pen instead.
on mobile devices. These devices can get tussled about a decent amount, what happens if the device breaks? Do you have to pay for an expensive repair just to get access to your files?
Monstar L
When will these things become a bit lower in price?
It's either clean out my wallet... or get a dinky cheap PDA.
At least with cell phones the price may be super inflated... but at least they get subsidized with a plan.
Perhaps it's time for 802.11b hotspot providers to subsidize PDA's? Get a plan for 2 years, and get a cheaper PDA?
Most likely would get geeky PDA's in more consumer hands... more customers.
Do you see the basic fallacy in these remarks? The part that makes the phone smart is the PDA capabilities, and whatever report you cited specifically mentioned PocketPCs, so there is no death for PocketPC as a platform.
Also, how much longer before the thumbprint reader is included on smartphones to enable access to them (although I'm sure it's already been done ...)? Also, I have a Skype client on my non-phone PocketPC device, which has built-in wifi. Where do you place that?