iPAQ 5450 Good.Bad.Ugly

[The Half-Ling]

Here is the deal, i just got my iPAQ 5450 on Saturday it's an awesome device with many cool features, unfortunatly like every iPAQ series, the first line has problems, this is very evident in the iPAQ 5450...

Here is a snippit of email I sent to a Compaq Customer Support Guy I know...
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1) graphics are slow on ALL GAMES * I tried Motocross Stunt Racer, Gangsta Race, AND Fifa 2002... * I will hard reset device and retry, my guess is the new updated graphics pack needed in order to install PocketTT may have a faulty gx.dll, I will get back to you on this, this could be software only * cross fingures *

2) MY D-PAD is set incorrectly, when I press up on the pad it thinks its up-right, subsiquently I have to press up-left to simulate the 'up' action, left to simulate 'up-left' and so on and so forth! *this is probably hardware, which means I must use warrenty and send to HP for fixing

3) My WiFi+Internet Explorer isn't working properly, I try to use internet explorer while connected to a WiFi Network and I get an error saying "internet explorer could not search page" at first I thought this was a WiFi problem, oh no!, but then I realized I could connect to MSN Messenger AND Pocket IRC! This sounds like a PocketIE problem so it's probably software...

Check this link about headphone jack problem, http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5857

And this about all iPAQ 5450 releated problems, (some Auto-Turnoff Problem), http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5875

I have not yet experienced this problem, *knock on wood*, but I will let you know if other stuff starts to happen...

Bottom Line
I am going to have to send into HP most likely for both the D-PAD and HeadPhone Jack problems so they can be fixed, but ANY SUGGESTIONS YOU HAVE WILL HELP ME SO MUCH!
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There is one more issue that isn't really mentioned on that email, the headphone jack volumne immedianty from the iPAQ is terribly low on highest volumne it is not even half of what the 36xx could output...which sucks, also, many PocketPCThoughts users are talking about a mysterious Turn Off think that I havnt experienced yet, * knock on wood * but check the above thread for full details...

so, so far there are 5 known iPAQ 5450 issues for me...btw I checked the graphics issue, hard reset didn't help, crap! i will respond and pass on any advice given to me :S...

Pissed off,
Jake

[Gremmie]

For the WiFi problem, are you being assigned an IP? Can you ping your IP if you are being assigned one?

[DoughboyWebDev]

Not having the wi fi problems. Make sure you are setting the SSID exactly as it is on the Access Point. I am online with twow different systems at home and work.

I do concur with the volume. What the heck happened????? We were getting louder and louder then poof!!!

Other than that I have worked through most of my hangups. It does feeel a bit sluggish closing apps hwoever. Not sure what that is about yet.

[The Half-Ling]

Seems like all of us are having this Volumne problem, sucks, i have a couple HP reps looking into it...if anyone fixes theirs HELP US! lol...my WiFi isn't the problem, it's like a Pocket Internet Explorer thing, it says that it cannot search the page...what do you mean the SSID? how do I find out what that is, mine is just blank constantly :S Has anyone tried games? how is the performance, 3D games especially! hmmm...the D-PAD isn't unaligned on mine, just hard to control...anyone else experiencing that, thanks...Also sometimes when I am running nothing in the background besides active sync, I get a WLAN memory error that wont go away...is it just me!?!?

Jake

[Pony99CA]

2) MY D-PAD is set incorrectly, when I press up on the pad it thinks its up-right, subsiquently I have to press up-left to simulate the 'up' action, left to simulate 'up-left' and so on and so forth! *this is probably hardware, which means I must use warrenty and send to HP for fixing

Does that mean that the directional pad supports diagonals? They call it a "five-way pad", from which I would infer that it doesn't support diagonals.

On another issue, how is the WiFi range? I have an SMC WiFi PCMCIA card, and I wonder how the 5450's built-in antenna (which seems kind of small) compares with CF and PCMCIA WiFi cards.

Steve

[FredMurphy]

The PIE/WiFi problem sounds like it Connection Mangler that's causing it. I found that making sure that "Internet" and "Work" settings are the same and your network card should probably connect to "The Internet". If MSN Messenger is working, your WiFi is obviously OK.

Why is it that even on a desktop, Messenger can always find it's way out to the world outside, even when your network settings screw up everything else. :idea: Whoever wrote Connection Manager needs to speak to the guys responsible for Messenger.

[Janak Parekh]

The PIE/WiFi problem sounds like it Connection Mangler that's causing it. I found that making sure that "Internet" and "Work" settings are the same and your network card should probably connect to "The Internet". If MSN Messenger is working, your WiFi is obviously OK.
I'd agree. For some reason PIE and Inbox use the Connection Mangler, while most of the other apps on the PPC use standard, sane connection logic that all PC's and notebooks use (if there's a card with an IP address with default gateway, use it; if there's a dialup connection, prefer that).

--janak

[Gremmie]

The PIE/WiFi problem sounds like it Connection Mangler that's causing it. I found that making sure that "Internet" and "Work" settings are the same and your network card should probably connect to "The Internet". If MSN Messenger is working, your WiFi is obviously OK.


I would tend to agree, but if the connection properties are wrong, does it come up with a totally different error message saying it is unable to connect? Sounds like PIE is giving an equivilant to a Error 404.

[JonnoB]

If nothing else is fixed in the next PPC OS update other than connection manager, it would still be a major improvement. Let's all hope... it should be out next quarter.

[semsoid]

@Half-Ling,

I got my 5450 today and I am experiencing similar problems. I have to push really hard to have the d-pad working. I tried it even in simple stupid notepad. Same problem. I'll test if diagonal pressing would make any difference.

My connection manager settings are set to Work for everything and PIE works fine, with Wifi, BT or USB.

@pony99ca

The range is a bit disappointing. I have Lucent Wi-Fi AP with two PCMCIA cards and antennas and it was showing only 40% signal in the same room with AP. I'll test it further at home.

I was wondering if my unit was a problematic one, but after seeing this post and another at ppcpassion, I am thinking more of a major issue.

Sems

[umichboy]

Mine seems to work ok if I push hard enough. It's a little harder than I'd like to push, but it works normally I suppose.

[ale_ers]

I have been experienceing page skipping in reader with mine. It works fine most of the time then out of the blue it skips ahead 4 pages when I press the pad to the right.

My 36xx had this problem too and was fixed with an update.

[Gremmie]

I don't think anyone should expect a great signal quality from an internal antenna on a device already streatched for internal power. That being said, as long as you have some sort of signal, the Link Quality (i.e. speed) has been great. So even at 1% signal quality, it shouldn't matter too much. Although, if your house has a couple of corners where you can't get a signal, thats where a lack of WiFi mW really matters.

[rsajdak]

2) MY D-PAD is set incorrectly, when I press up on the pad it thinks its up-right, subsiquently I have to press up-left to simulate the 'up' action, left to simulate 'up-left' and so on and so forth! *this is probably hardware, which means I must use warrenty and send to HP for fixing



I just got my 5450 the other day. I have to agree, the D-PAD is not responsive - you have to really push hard for it to work. This is disappointing because my old 3955 was very smooth and reponsive. How could HP miss this ergonomic objective?

[devost]

Got my 5450...love the device, but a few issues.

1) Flyjacket doesn't work. I was counting on backwards compatability, but that isn't the case with that product yet. Flyjacket is a major reason why I decide to spend $699 on an ipaq device...

2) On soft reset, I have a gray bar that blocks the upper left hand corner of the screen. It goes away if I launch an application, but very annoying.

3)Speed does not seem any faster than my 3835

4) Wireless works to connect to Internet, but no wireless active sync. I didn't install the latest version of activesync from the CD as I have 3.6 and CD said it was 3.5. The device tries to connect, but then fails.

More later....

Matt

[JonnoB]

my 3835
Wireless works to connect to Internet, but no wireless active sync. I didn't install the latest version of activesync from the CD as I have 3.6 and CD said it was 3.5. The device tries to connect, but then fails.


You may need to see if your PocketPC can resolve the PC via its name. If not, you may need to install something like PocketHost

[dhoward]

I'm wondering if you guys with the new 5450's would please post your HP ROM versions, located at the bottom of the boot screen, for comparison?

Would like to see what versions are out there with these problems, and be able to compare them to other locations elsewhere in the US, both in the purchased models and what is on dealer shelves right now.

Might prove to be interesting and worthwhile to all interested parties.

Thanks.

[dhoward]

Thought I would provide some reference info for the post.

Present 5455 units at CompUSA in Dallas are as follows:

Settings->Asset Viewer->Version
Product Revision Level 3.0
ROM Date 11/15/02
ROM Version 1.00.45 ENG

Low Audio:
Compared to 3955 with SD Card WMP audio files and headphones in store.
Same low audio complaint, even with AMP savings disabled in:
Settings->Audio

D-Pad:
Navigation Pad button functioned properly through Program and Settings Menu. No game available for comparison of previously mentioned problems of wrong movement.

Screen:
No complaints of gray bars on Soft Reset.

Wi-Fi:
Could not test range or connectivity in store.

[ShadowKing]

I am really happy with mine, though I have experienced some of the problems mentioned here.

My biggest gripe is the D-Pad. Mine in completely unreliable. I cannot accuately point in any specific direction. When I press down, it sometimes goes down, sometimes doesn't. Sometimes it goes left.

It is very frusterating, to the point that I almost never use it.

Other than that, the screen is great, and I have really enjoyed reading on it. I've built up quite a collection of ebooks, just for my 5450.