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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.
iPAQs have had fingerprint readers for over a year now. 5550 was the first I think?
Ok, without having read the FA, I'll make a prediction about this article:
1) The article reads like a press release from H-P.
2) The submitter is just pushing traffic to his own site in the hopes he can cash in on some advertising revenue.
Am I correct or am I correct?
They are also hosting it on the iPaq...
Mine came with halitosis recognition. It only turns on for people with really bad breath. And THEN it does the fingerprint scan. Talk about security.
Sigs are for Terrorists.
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...
There's much debate about whether fingerprints are the primary keys to human identity. Law enforcement has based over 100 years of work on the premise that no two humans, anywhere, ever, have the same fingerprints. Some people say this is hogwash. Let's leave out, for now, the fact that it's not possible to verify this claim at all: there's no way to test all living people and compare their prints. This is troubling, but a bit of a red herring. More troubling is the way fingerprinting is practiced. There's a case in Philly right now where a federal judge has prohibited the prosecution from testifying that two fingerprints "match" -- and Tom Ridge wants fingerprints added to U.S. passports. From this article:
The answers, respectively, are "no," "no one knows," and "no."
Letter
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
I just read a recent report that said smartphones with pocket PC capabilities, sale numbers rose an average of 120% while smartphones have only gained about 6% growth. IMO pocket PC's wont be around much longer, it just makes more sense to include the features in cellphones, i really dont want to pay $300+ for somthing im most likely going to keep notes and addresses in. And i think its clear which side the public is on. Death to pocket PC's, long live the smartphone!
When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up... reading.-Henny Youngman
and it even has a better screen than the Mac Mini.
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.
One standard which might gain acceptance is the Biometric XML standard.
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(PCMag news article http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0%2C1759%2C31950%2C
--- Users are like bacteria -> Each one causing a thousand tiny crises until the host finally gives up and dies.
You can't easily synchronize a Mead notepad with your central database over a wireless connection in a coffee shop.
You can't do an automatic search-and-replace on a notepad.
You can't write in various computer languages and then have the notepad render or compile the language to its target format(s). Think web design, for example.
You can't passphrase-protect your notepad.
The notepad has zero levels of undo.
The question is not whether a PDA is useful, but whether the uses it has are ones you want when you're away from a regular computer. If not, that doesn't make you a ludite any more than not driving in a metropolitan city does.