Heeeeeeeeere's Johnny!

[Scott R]

I just got my new iPaq h4155 today. I may be hangin' around and participatin' in threads here more often than before.

Be afraid. 8O :twisted: 8O

Scott

[JustinGTP]

Well

Ill take it this way, and apart from your "be afraid" I dont think its working :lol:

"The More The Merrier!"

Welcome to an elongated stay, and be sure to try the brain food!

-Justin.

[Thinkingmandavid]

Cool with the Ipaq, but the smileys, mmm, dont fit to good there.

[Janak Parekh]

Be afraid. 8O :twisted: 8O
I still want to get you and Ed sitting down together into a room for an hour and see what comes out of it. Unfortunately, all the 'Buzz history is gone. :cry:

--janak

[JustinGTP]

'Buzz? Please elaborate.... :D

-Justin.

[Janak Parekh]

'Buzz? Please elaborate.... :D
PDABuzz.com. I can't really elaborate anymore, as the site has just been rebuilt. Suffice it to say that was the old hangout for many of us until the site was taken over by new management, and the grounds for legendary debates between Ed and Scott.

--janak

[JustinGTP]

Oh, cool, thanks for the brief history lesson! :D

-Justin.

[Scott R]

I commented about all of this in a Brighthand thread related to the deal some of us got, but here are the highlights. There are several criticisms here, but note that I haven't had much chance to use it and really put it through it's paces yet. Plus, most of the criticisms are fairly minor (I like to nitpick) and I knew, by and large, what I was getting into and my desire to finally update to a newer PPC hasn't changed as a result of these things. So here goes...

First, the "deal." MSN Shopping highlighted MPSuperstore as offering a 20% coupon off of their PDAs (and several other things - perhaps everything). Their price on the h4155 was already pretty good (about $410) and so out the door, delivered it was about $342. After ordering, several of us discovered that MPSuperstore had a shady track-record, but AFAIK all of us who ordered ended up getting brand new devices at the prices initially quoted. There's a lot more to say about this company, so if interested let me know, because I still wouldn't necessarily recommend them.

Now for the observations:

1) It almost feels too small. I wouldn't mind something a tad lighter/smaller than my old iPaq 3630, but this almost seems too small. Part of the small device is a small stylus, which I don't like.
2) My understanding is that the speaker is inside the D-Pad. That's similar to my iPaq 3630, though I don't see any speaker holes on the h4155. Not a great design IMO, since your finger will muffle it, but let's face it...they were trying to squeeze a lot into a small space.
3) Along those lines, the other compromise they made was to put the IR port on the bottom. That's just plain weird. I suspect this is the real reason they didn't bother to license/bundle the Nevo remote control software, since it won't really work well as a remote control because of this.
4) Included slipcase is awful. It adds considerable bulk and the PDA fits too tightly in it. I suspect this is their way of trying to get more money out of us by getting us to buy premium HP-branded cases. But what I really want is a simple clear pastic flip cover that covers the screen and leaves the buttons exposed (so that I can quickly check my schedule, for instance). Next best thing would be a simple leather flip cover. I'd rather not add any thickness to the back. No one seems to offer such a thing, though. :(
5) The battery door is extremely thin and cheap feeling, and it's difficult to get on and off, but I don't plan on taking it off much (if ever), so it's not a biggie.
6) I've read that people prefer the D-Pad on the h4155 to the h2215's because the latter was hyper-sensitive. Strictly from a physical "feel" perspective, I much prefer the h2215's.
7) I'm concerned that the 3.5" screen could feel cramped coming from my 3630, especially for writing Graffiti strokes (and thus decrease the accuracy), but it's too early to tell.
8) I initially didn't like the feel of the screen. It felt like there was some resistance in using my stylus, almost like the screen had a coating of latex on it. This morning it feels hard and slick, though. So, I'm thinking that the protective screen cover that was on it out of-the-box left some residue on the screen which the tight-fitting case "cleaned off."
9) My screen has the yellow problem. Sigh. Fine when viewed straight on, but it quickly turns yellow at even the slightest tilt. I've heard this problem can vary from device to device, but as I bought this mail order I'm not going to pursue anything with MPSuperstore. Anyone know if HP's warranty would cover my unhappiness and allow me to swap it for another one from them?
10) Other than the D-Pad, the front-mounted buttons seem to be sized and shaped well. Better than both the h2215's too-tiny ones, and the h1900-series weird-shaped ones. All the buttons, D-Pad, side microphone recorder button, and back battery slider have a real cheapo chromey plastic look and feel to them, which is a bit surprising for a $400+ (normally) device.
11) I like the fact that they used a flat paint job (or, as it really feels to me - simply a lack of a paint job) on the back to improve grip, but I think I'd prefer the h2215's side rubber grips (assuming they didn't fall off) for an even better grip.
12) The width and height of the device is remarkebly similar to my Treo 300. It's a tad longer, and if I added HP's new thumbboard attachment, it would be a bit longer still (and cover up the app buttons and D-Pad). Still, this gives me hope that using it with the thumbboard may be about as good (or bad) as with my Treo 300.
13) Hooking it up to my Wi-Fi network was a real pain and reminded me why I so strongly dislike MS' flavor of "usability." This is old news to everyone else I guess, but it made no sense to me that I should have to choose "Work" as my connection type and figuring out where (and how) to enter in the name of my home network (my limited bit of "security") was more difficult than it should have been. Eventually I got lucky.

So those are my observations after having used it very little so far. I have it with me now and plan to play with it throughout the day and will, no doubt, have many more observations later.

Scott

[JustinGTP]

I have a slight feeling that you posted that in the wrong thread! Am I right?

-Justin :D

[Scott R]

I have a slight feeling that you posted that in the wrong thread! Am I right?No, this is the right thread. This thread is about me getting my new iPaq. I will agree, though, that I should probably start a new thread with a more meaningful title if I'm actually hoping to get people to respond with suggestions about issues I may be facing.

Scott

[Thinkingmandavid]

I started a thread about the buzz back up.
I to was a part of when wes was around. if you want to know some of my thoughts, check them out. I still want to get you and Ed sitting down together into a room for an hour and see what comes out of it. Unfortunately, all the 'Buzz history is gone.