HP Press Release on all new models

[makic]

Go to: http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press_kits/2003/ipaq/

[Gremmie]

I didn't know there was a 51xx

[Jacob]

The 5100 confuses me - I don't see what the real reason to buy it over the 2210.

The primary difference is the ability to use expansion packs - I guess it'll probably sell just a little more expensive than the 2210.

[Jason Dunn]

Go to: http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press_kits/2003/ipaq/

You gotta' love it when a company doesn't respect their own NDA dates. :roll:

[theone3]

The 5100 confuses me - I don't see what the real reason to buy it over the 2210.

The primary difference is the ability to use expansion packs - I guess it'll probably sell just a little more expensive than the 2210.
Well.. It does have a bigger screen, and is probably aimed at the business environment more squarely than the home/business mix of the 2200.

[Pony99CA]

The 5100 confuses me - I don't see what the real reason to buy it over the 2210.

The primary difference is the ability to use expansion packs - I guess it'll probably sell just a little more expensive than the 2210.
More than a little. The 2215 is $400 and HP expects the "street price" of the 5150 to be $550. HP's press release (http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press_kits/2003/ipaq/1952_dualslotipaq.pdf) has more information.

Besides taking expansion packs (a big deal to some of us) and having a larger screen, the 5150 also has a 1250 mah battery compared to a 900 mah battery on the 2210.

Steve

[Kati Compton]

Heh. I saw on the installation CD that arrived with the 5550 my husband was using that it was for the 55xx and 51xx series. Glad to see it wasn't a misprint... ;)

[Shadowcat]

At first I thought the 5510 was going to have WiFi. Then when I read this thread it shouldn't be that bad of a deal, since I thought it would have:

1. A bigger screen
2. A bigger battery
3. A fingerprint scanner
4. The ability to use expansion pack
5. A larger file store
6. A vibrating alarm
7. A volume control

After reading the PDF I am wondering what HP is thinking. There is no fingerprint scanner, the ROM is only 32 MB, and even the vibrating alarm is gone too!

Rumour has it that it (I don't think I've seen anything official yet) will sell for US $550, which is $150 more than the H2215. What does the H5510 have that the H2215 doesn't? A slightly bigger screen, a slightly bigger battery, an extra volume control, and the ability to use expansion packs. Oh, and of course the H5510 doesn't have a built-in expansion pack. If it cost $50 to $100 more I might consider it, but even then the benefits just aren't good enough. I was actually considering getting the H5510 over the H2215 for the WiFi, if nothing else, or even the vibrating alarm (I don't know why, but I'd like to have that) but I just don't think I can afford the H5550. HP just had to do something wrong, didn't it? Or am I missing something?

Forgot to mention that the H5500 series is physically bigger and its headphone/microphone jack is located on the bottom.

[Palmguy]

At first I thought the 5510 was going to have WiFi. Then when I read this thread it shouldn't be that bad of a deal, since I thought it would have:

1. A bigger screen
2. A bigger battery
3. A fingerprint scanner
4. The ability to use expansion pack
5. A larger file store
6. A vibrating alarm
7. A volume control

After reading the PDF I am wondering what HP is thinking. There is no fingerprint scanner, the ROM is only 32 MB, and even the vibrating alarm is gone too!

Rumour has it that it (I don't think I've seen anything official yet) will sell for US $550, which is $150 more than the H2215. What does the H5510 have that the H2215 doesn't? A slightly bigger screen, a slightly bigger battery, an extra volume control, and the ability to use expansion packs. Oh, and of course the H5510 doesn't have a built-in expansion pack. If it cost $50 to $100 more I might consider it, but even then the benefits just aren't good enough. I was actually considering getting the H5510 over the H2215 for the WiFi, if nothing else, or even the vibrating alarm (I don't know why, but I'd like to have that) but I just don't think I can afford the H5550. HP just had to do something wrong, didn't it? Or am I missing something?

Forgot to mention that the H5500 series is physically bigger and its headphone/microphone jack is located on the bottom.


5150!!! There is no 5510, at least not yet.

[Pony99CA]

Rumour has it that it (I don't think I've seen anything official yet) will sell for US $550, which is $150 more than the H2215.

Rumor? Didn't you look at the link I posted to HP's official press release (http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press_kits/2003/ipaq/1952_dualslotipaq.pdf)? (OK, there it is again. :-)) The prices for all of the new iPAQs are listed in it.

Oh, and of course the H5510 doesn't have a built-in expansion pack.

OK, you lost me on that one. What exactly is a built-in expansion pack? :?:

HP just had to do something wrong, didn't it? Or am I missing something?

I'm sure somebody will find something wrong in all of the new Pocket PCs. For example, why doesn't the 2210 have a record button? But, yes, I'm sure HP's business planners decided they had to do something stupid to give people something to complain about. :roll:

As for where the 5150 fits in, I think it's supposed to be the step up from the 3900 series for people who don't need WiFi. The only dumb thing I saw was going backwards from 48 MB ROM in the 3970 to 32 MB ROM in the 5150.

Steve

[Shadowcat]

Sorry, that's what happens when I attempt to write something at 4am :oops:. Ok, yes, it's the H5150.

Sorry Pony, I honestly didn't see that post of yours. I must have missed it (I've been really busy lately). Sorry, I meant that although the H5000 series can use expansion packs, they don't have a built-in CF slot like the H2200 series.

Finally, I shouldn't have said "HP just had to do something wrong...". What I meant was they came out with such a great product line this time but I think the messed up on the H5150 because it doesn't offer enough features over the H2215 to justify an additional $150. I think I can see their reasoning behind it though. Since the H5000 series is aimed at businesses, they are probably betting that businesses like the sled idea so they can swap expansion packs (kind of like swapping optical drives between laptops). They probably believe they can charge more and still sell these devices.

[darrylb]

You gotta' love it when a company doesn't respect their own NDA dates. :roll:

Why not? They are entitled to be the bearers of good news. I'd want to announce it before all those I'd told too.... :)

[darrylb]

The 5100 confuses me - I don't see what the real reason to buy it over the 2210.
Well.. It does have a bigger screen, and is probably aimed at the business environment more squarely than the home/business mix of the 2200.

Not to mention that with the 3970 being phased out, there will be some sort of gap that the 5100 will fill. :|

[jt3]

I just wanna know one thing... Did the 555x fix the stupid low-volume-speaker problem of the 545x? Now that they've announced the thing, the NDAs are off, right? Someone with the unit PLEASE tell me!!!

[Pony99CA]

I just wanna know one thing... Did the 555x fix the stupid low-volume-speaker problem of the 545x?
I hope so, but I wouldn't count on it. The speaker in the 5450 is supposedly not as loud as previous models because it's a smaller speaker (necessitated by things like built-in WiFi, the fingerprint scanner and the removable battery, I'd guess).

Steve

[jt3]

Well, I know that that's HP's story, but that's complete crap, because a speaker's size and the volume it can produce are not directly proportional. If that were the case, then we'd all have home entertainment systems with speakers the size of a VW Beetle. My Bose speakers which you can hold in the palm of your hand, can shake you out of the house!

Not only that, but I've worked with electronic circuits for years, and I've seen electronic devices with ALARM CIRCUITS (i.e. loud, screaching, wailing things) that have speakers WAY smaller than the iPAQ speakers.

The whole size thing is just HP using the public's ignorance of electronics as an excuse for their botched job. I mean, it SOUNDS plausible that a smaller speaker would mean reduced volume, right? Bah!!!

[Pony99CA]

Well, I know that that's HP's story, but that's complete crap, because a speaker's size and the volume it can produce are not directly proportional.
They may not be directly proportional, but they could be proportional, all other things being equal.

If that were the case, then we'd all have home entertainment systems with speakers the size of a VW Beetle.

That's complete, um, what did you call it? :-) Not everybody would need sound that loud.

My Bose speakers which you can hold in the palm of your hand, can shake you out of the house!

And would you like your PDA to come in that same shape? By the way, how much does one of those speakers cost?

Not only that, but I've worked with electronic circuits for years, and I've seen electronic devices with ALARM CIRCUITS (i.e. loud, screaching, wailing things) that have speakers WAY smaller than the iPAQ speakers.
Alarm circuits don't need to reproduce too many frequencies. (In fact, they don't need to reproduce any; they just produce a few.)

Do you know what sound is? It's moving air. The more air that you move, the higher the sound pressure. The higher the sound pressure, the louder something sounds. A bigger speaker will be able to move more air.

It doesn't seem like complete crap to me.

Steve

[maximus]

Do you know what sound is? It's moving air. The more air that you move, the higher the sound pressure. The higher the sound pressure, the louder something sounds. A bigger speaker will be able to move more air.

Agreed. But it is not only the size of the speaker that matters, but also the kind of magnet that the speaker is using ... neodymium magnets can move 30% more air than regular iron-shell magnets. Hence they can deliver bigger punch at equal size.

And then the power amplifier itself. Bigger wattage power amplifier can surely drive a speaker faster, hence more air is pumped at a period of time.

[jt3]

...and that's pretty much what I was getting at. All things being equal, if they take a speaker, and make it smaller without changing anything else, it will indeed have a lower volume, but my point was that this can easily be compensated for by making other changes (different magnet, more amplification, etc.) I'm not saying that HP is lying about the smaller speaker producing less volume, I'm saying that they're lying about the fact that there's nothing that can be done about it.

Pony, let me start by saying that your comment on sound is totally false. Sound is not moving air. It's a vibration that CAN be carried by moving air, but it doesn't have to be. Sound travels perfectly well in airless environments using other mediums (liquids or solids). Now... speakers are electronic devices designed to turn electrical energy into vibrations that use air as the medium, but to say that a larger speaker produces more volume isn't true. In your home stereo, the speakers that sound the loudest are usually the tweeters, which are the smallest. It's all a matter of frequency. In the human ear's frequency range, we tend to hear higher frequencies better than lower freqencies (to a point, of course). The bass speakers in our entertainment systems don't produce much VOLUME, even though they're, by far, moving the most air. Even if you channeled all frequencies through your bass speakers, you'd find that the tweeter could still easily overpower them in our ears. Again, a matter of frequency (tweeters are designed to be more efficient than woofers at higher frequencies). The iPAQ speakers do not even attempt to reproduce lower freqencies, which is where size is needed.

As for your comment on alarm circuits... that's true, but my point was that small doesn't equal quiet. The iPAQ speaker isn't exactly isn't exactly state of the art where dynamic range is concerned. You can get speakers just as small, with an equivalent dynamic range, with equivalent power-handling characteristics at Radio Shack, so I'm sure that they'd have no problem introducing a fix into the 555x model if they really wanted to.

Oh, and another thing... You mentioned cost. I will fully admit that a different speaker technology, or retooling the circuits to provide a stronger power amplifier, could result in higher overall costs, but believe me, there's enough pofit margin built into these things to cover the few extra dollars a new speaker may add. I mean, just look at the fact that the 555x is being released with a retail price $50 lower than its predecessor, with double the memory and a new processor. Sure, after awhile production gets cleaner, with less defective units, resulting in a lower cost-per-unit, but that's also all rolled into the introduction price. Again, if they had wanted to, it could have been done.

To bottom line this thing... I'm not trying to argue with you. I'll admit that my initial comments may have have been tainted with a touch of emotional release, but the fact remains that HP could fix the speaker volume problem if they wanted to. The question is... do they care about it, or us, that much?

[Pony99CA]

Do you know what sound is? It's moving air. The more air that you move, the higher the sound pressure. The higher the sound pressure, the louder something sounds. A bigger speaker will be able to move more air.
Agreed. But it is not only the size of the speaker that matters, but also the kind of magnet that the speaker is using ... neodymium magnets can move 30% more air than regular iron-shell magnets. Hence they can deliver bigger punch at equal size.

And then the power amplifier itself. Bigger wattage power amplifier can surely drive a speaker faster, hence more air is pumped at a period of time.
All true, and that's why I said "all other things being equal" in my post. :-)

Steve

[Pony99CA]

Pony, let me start by saying that your comment on sound is totally false. Sound is not moving air. It's a vibration that CAN be carried by moving air, but it doesn't have to be. Sound travels perfectly well in airless environments using other mediums (liquids or solids).
Totally false? You do have a flair for the overstatement. I'm well aware that sound can travel in other media (sometimes better than in air).

I certainly simplified my explanation, but it's not totally false. That would imply that moving air doesn't cause sound. I just didn't feel that too many people were listening to their iPAQs underwater. :lol:

Now can we get back to the discussion of the new iPAQs? :-)

Steve

[maximus]

I certainly simplified my explanation, but it's not totally false. That would imply that moving air doesn't cause sound. I just didn't feel that too many people were listening to their iPAQs underwater.

Now I really think we need a section on "QUOTES" on this site. If Jason decided to make one, I will put the above as one of my favourite quotes. It is a "slamming with style" :D

[Enderet]

Bleh... too bad there is still no news on a 128mb 2200 series.

[spaceman]

This may have been answered already but what is the difference between the ipaq h2210 and h2215?

[jt3]

Physically, none.

In iPAQ world, a model number ending in 0 designates a unit sold through online or catalog sales channels, while a model number ending in 5 designates a unit sold through retail channels.

Hence, a 2210 and 2215 are the same, as are a 5450 and a 5455. SOMETIMES, each channel has its own unique software packages, though, so there may be SOME difference, but usually, that's nothing more than a software title that's available with one, but not the other (Conduits Peacemaker was one such example). In those cases though, you can often contact the software manufacturer (or sometimes, HP), and they'll provide you with the title you're missing.