MTekk Weighs on in the HP Enthusiast Decision

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.mtekk.com.au/browse/page980.html' target='_blank'>http://www.mtekk.com.au/browse/page980.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"I'm going to take my own swipe at HP here though, for daring to think that they have a right to editorial control over enthusiast sites. I know that it's not compulsory to agree to their terms; after all, they don't exactly NEED enthusiast reviews... it's pretty cheap advertising though, and in many ways much more effective than mainstream media reviews or even traditional advertising. In fact, one could probably argue that Pocket PC and Smartphone would be far less likely to do well without the enthusiast sites.. they'd still sell, just nowhere near as well as when you can go to your favourite site and read about real people like yourself using the product you have in mind."</i><br /><br /><br />Matt from MTekk weighs in with his opinion on HP's latest move regarding the enthusiast sites. Nothing terribly new, but it's nice to see another enthusiast site taking a stand on this issue. HP sure isn't making any friends with their new approach. :?

[danielalvers]

I can't speak for anyone else but I personally came to PPC Thoughts for pre-release information and rumors about upcoming devices. Getting a full review after the fact is of less importance to me.

I had basically given up on PPC Thoughts almost twelve months ago due to the number of NDAs that had been signed with the likes of MS and HP.

It's no fun to be a part of a community which holds back the best information for a select few.

Now it is really interesting to see that the various site owners, including PPC Thoughts, actually do have limits to which the vendors can push them.

Welcome back guys!

[Jonathan1]

OK. Can we look at it from the other side of the coin? How many sites have actually agreed to these rules? I ask because it seems like there is a majority here that is bucking against these stipulations. If enough bad press comes from this Maybe just maybe the wet behind the ears execs who put these rules, I can’t see seasoned execs who know what works implementing this, in place will think twice and reverse this critically stupid decision.

[Chris Leckness]

I do not know what sites, other than daveipaq.com, that signed the agreement. Before refused, asked several times to show me a site that is in the new program and abiding by the rules and they only stated that they could not tell me what sites were involved, but assured me that several were and adhering to the guidelines.

That's ok, no reviews, no buzz.... Like I said in the other thread, HP owes us (the webmasters) nothing, but they do owe it to their customers to allow those that they know and trust to give an opinion/review on a product. :deal: SIGN IT!

[AhuhX]

1) Release a really tepid new line of PDA's.
2) Alienate your existing users by not providing upgrades.
3) Alienate your enthusiast sites by making them sign-up for unreasonable terms.

Does this seem like a successful business model so far?

Yeesh. Who is the idiot running HP's handheld division these days?

Even Sony arn't this abrasive and recalcitrant towards their users and fans! 8O

[atsouch]

Fortunately, hp Hellas does not demand from us to sign any kind of NDA in order to have preview devices for review purposes.

This happens because, unfortunately, they keep ignoring our existence and believe that they don't need any help from people outside their company. We have to borrow devices from users or buy our own ones in order to write a decent review.

If their name wasn't so strong, I don't know how they could sell their iPAQs. Most people buy them just because they have a DeskJet printer and they recognize the brand...

[DavesiPAQ]

Chris 7 other sites are running with the program and not just us. We have full control of our reviews in which HP has no say whatsoever. Since we dont post rumors (which we never did or support) it was as easy decision for us to make for our community. Sites that worked hard for posting rumors had a hard decision to make.

I do not know what sites, other than daveipaq.com, that signed the agreement. Before refused, asked several times to show me a site that is in the new program and abiding by the rules and they only stated that they could not tell me what sites were involved, but assured me that several were and adhering to the guidelines.

That's ok, no reviews, no buzz.... Like I said in the other thread, HP owes us (the webmasters) nothing, but they do owe it to their customers to allow those that they know and trust to give an opinion/review on a product. :deal: SIGN IT!

[Jason Dunn]

OK. Can we look at it from the other side of the coin? How many sites have actually agreed to these rules?

DavesiPAQ
Pocket PC Tools
Pocket PC Passion (I think - not 100% sure on this)

[webagogue]

OK. Can we look at it from the other side of the coin? How many sites have actually agreed to these rules?

DavesiPAQ
Pocket PC Tools
Pocket PC Passion (I think - not 100% sure on this)

PocketPC Passion?!? Is Dale still alive? I've been getting this error message for the past month or so at his URL:

"Our apologies for the unscheduled maintenance that has temporarily taken www.pocketpcpassion.com offline.
Due to a monitored drive failure in the RAID system, we have taken the opportunity to not only to replace
the affected drive, which normally does not affect website availability, we have also opted to update the
operating system to Windows Server 2003 for improved security. A long awaited upgrade.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and appreciate you bearing with us as we strive to improve the quality
& security of our Remote Hosting service. Your site should not be affected for long as we swap operating
system images and configure.

Please check back later today when the system should be back online. Thank you."

Even tried hitting my F5 key, clearing cache, etc.

Dale used to have a great site.. then he went on hiatus for a while and updates started crawling in at about one per week. PPCT is where it be.

[NYC567user]

Of my own personal preference, I choose to express my displeasure with HP with my wallet. I was hoping to buy the 6300 series when it came out this early september, but I would rather wait for a less facist corporation that will be more open to it's fan base to release a product.

I've begun my bocott of HP products across the board. I think HP forgets who makes their products popular, the techies who push their products onto corporations for business use.

Besides, they are not creating great products as of recent anyway :-)

[iPAQ_ace]

DavesiPAQ
Pocket PC Tools
Pocket PC Passion (I think - not 100% sure on this)

What about Pocket Now and PDA Buyers Guide? They both had reviews posted upon the release of the new iPAQ's (not that this necessarily means they signed up for this program either).

...and I've also posted my own take on this here (http://www.ipaqabilities.com/iaforums/viewtopic.php?t=274) on my site.

[palmsolo]

PDA Buyer's Guide went out like Chris and bought their own 1715 to review. They could easily have been part of the program because they primarily review products and don't post rumors like most all of the other sites do.

PocketNow may be part of the program as well and posted an excellent detailed review of the 6300 model.

I used to be a die hard HP supporter and most all of my devices were Jornadas or iPAQs, but this treatment has soured my enthusiasm. My MDA II and Dell Axim X30H serve me well now and I am sticking with them so HP has just lost out on at least a $1,000 of mine.

[iPAQ_ace]

PDA Buyer's Guide went out like Chris and bought their own 1715 to review. They could easily have been part of the program because they primarily review products and don't post rumors like most all of the other sites do.

Glad to hear that.

PocketNow may be part of the program as well and posted an excellent detailed review of the 6300 model.

Yes they did post an excellent and thorough review of the H6300 series.

[Chris Leckness]

PDA Buyer's Guide went out like Chris and bought their own 1715 to review.

Wonder if they got rid of theirs as fast as I did mine, I did not want to get stuck with that one....

[Jonathon Watkins]

Besides, they are not creating great products as of recent anyway :-)

....which the the main reason not to get a current HP device (perhaps excepting the 4705 (if you can afford it)). Welcome NYC567user. 8)