Got to play with the HP 5450 yesterday. . .

[Macguy59]

I have to say I was underwhelmed. Yeah the unit looks cool and all, but I thought the wi-fi implementation sloppy at best. Transitioning from one network to another was slow and required a reset a couple of times to work properly. The screen was nice, but I like the 1910's better. Glad I didn't rush out to buy this unit :(

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

This is just my personal opinion, but I feel a lot more comfortable investing in a CF WiFi card made by a proven WiFi vendor such as Socket or Orinoco as opposed to a company like HP, who haven't had the practice... and certainly I've heard a lot of mixed reports regarding this unit.

[Macguy59]

If only the 1910 had a SDIO slot instead of just SD :( One of those combo SD cards that combines memory and wi-fi would be sweet with that little beauty.

[Janak Parekh]

Yes, but at the same time the battery on the 1910 would probably be overwhelmed...

Too bad there isn't an all-in-one device the size of the 1910 with 20 hours of battery life. At least, not yet ;)

--janak

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

Yes, but at the same time the battery on the 1910 would probably be overwhelmed...

Too bad there isn't an all-in-one device the size of the 1910 with 20 hours of battery life. At least, not yet ;)

--janak
Maybe it's time for SD to take CF's place and XD to take SD's place. :D

[Macguy59]

Yes, but at the same time the battery on the 1910 would probably be overwhelmed...

Too bad there isn't an all-in-one device the size of the 1910 with 20 hours of battery life. At least, not yet ;)

--janak

That's a tradeoff I would gladly make.

[Macguy59]

Yes, but at the same time the battery on the 1910 would probably be overwhelmed...

Too bad there isn't an all-in-one device the size of the 1910 with 20 hours of battery life. At least, not yet ;)

--janak
Maybe it's time for SD to take CF's place and XD to take SD's place. :D

There is a better chance for SD replacing CF then for XD to replace anything.

[Janak Parekh]

There is a better chance for SD replacing CF then for XD to replace anything.
That, and I really, really hope XD doesn't succeed. It's a successor to the quasi-proprietary SM. SD can do everything XD can, and it's a de facto standard due to its broad adoption. In my opinion, the creators of XD were miffed at the spurning of SM and are trying again...

--janak

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

Too bad there isn't an all-in-one device the size of the 1910 with 20 hours of battery life. At least, not yet ;)
Maybe it's time for SD to take CF's place and XD to take SD's place. :D
There is a better chance for SD replacing CF then for XD to replace anything.
The XD remark wasn't serious. Actually, I think it's only a matter of time before we see a device with 2 SD slots. As SD I/O becomes more prevalent, the use of SD slots will allow for a slimmer X5 type of device where you still can have one dedicated memory slot and one I/O dedicated slot.

[topps]

I have to say I was underwhelmed. Yeah the unit looks cool and all, but I thought the wi-fi implementation sloppy at best.

I have found the WiFi and bluetooth stacks to be less stable that the earlier Compaq offerings. I seem to have to reset more often. Had one instance when using BT & Remote Term Serv into our SQL Server when the device locked up and would not turn off or soft reset. Froze good and proper - had to hard reset - glad I had not installed all my usual stuff at this stage.

[topps]

I have to say I was underwhelmed.

I am very surprised that the Bluetooth networking client has a major usability deficit! I cannnot find a way to make the 5450 log onto the BT LAN Access Point automatically. This is easy to do in WiFi. It is also fairly easy to set up on BT to the GPRS phone or via the CDPD Sierra 300 AirCard. Once you have logged onto the network, if you toggle the power on the iPAQ, it brings up the LAN stuff again within a second (or three on the phone), and with no additional user intervention.

However, when using a BT LAN Access Point, I have to click on three to four steps to connect to the LAN Access Point, every time I power up. What a pain! For geeks like me, I'll kinda put up with it...but my user group of docs toss the device away in frustration the FIRST time it happens to them. For the end-user, networking should be invisible.

I am amazed that Compaq (HP?) have not attended to this wee detail, which has been around since the 3870. HP did upgrade quite a bit of the BT client software on the 5450 so I am even more amazed that this was overlooked.

I have searched quite a few times to see if there is a fix for this. I am pretty sure that it is the HP/Compaq BT client that is at fault but nobody at HP seems to acknowledge that there is a problem. Maybe there is something that I am overlooking but none of the wise people in this area have produced any solutions so far.

I do have the device and the HassNet ViaBlue access point properly bonded/paired. I notice that SocketCom does allow you to make the connection into a default connection, which I presume would by-pass this problem. However, there is no HassNet client so I have to use the built-in HP/Compaq software.

Oh well, one day maybe this'll be fixed.