Some newbie questions about the HP iPAQ 4155...

[HP4155]

Hi!

I'm new to pocket pcs and in need of some info. I'm about to buy a HP 4155 with a 128 meg card for $80 from a friend and have a few questions about that model...

Is it a great media machine? Will it play DVD rips, episodes, music videos, trailers, mp3s, etc... smoothly, in high quality, and without problems? This is the main reason I want to get it.

Will it play emulated games well? How do you play them if the 4155 has less buttons than the original system did?

Is it easy to use the 4155 for writing? I'm a prolific fanfic and essay writer.

Is there any way to play .rm/.rmj files on it? Real Player video files.

Is is worth $80? It only has the cradle/charger included.

Thanks. Any help would be appreciated.

[dean_shan]

Yes it is worth the $80. it will play .mp3, .wma, .mwv files natively. You will need to download RealPlayer to use .rm files. You will also need to download pocket mvp to watch divx files. I have found that gameboy, gamegear and NES emulators run fine, SNES on the other hand plays really slow and glitchy.

[Brad Adrian]

If you like to do a lot of writing, be sure to grab the free Transcriber handwriting recognition software from Microsoft:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/downloads/transcriber.mspx

I use a heftier version for my handwriting recognition, called Calligrapher. It's just like Transcriber, but includes things like macros and shortcuts. You can get it here:
http://www.phatware.com/calligrapher/index.html

I also have a folding keyboard for when I need to do a lot of writing. Right now, you can get a GREAT one that folds up very nicely for only $39.99 (They're usually over $100).

What you're buying is a great little device. I've got a lot of the current models to choose from, and I use my 4100 as my primary, everyday Pocket PC.

Good luck. If you've got any more questions, feel free to ask here.

[HP4155]

Thanks for the info! :)

I'm switching over from a Sony Clie after getting frustrated with the lack of media, thousands of tetris clones, and junky software. I don't understand why even the worst palm OS software is so expensive when the equivalents wouldn't go for 2 cents on a desktop. PPC software tends to be much higher quality and more professional from what I've seen. I'm also a fairly advanced user and don't like the overly basic and ugly OS on palms. I far prefer the windows-esque Mobile 2003.

One more thing... Does the 4155 play media well? I know it supports it and plays it, but does it do it like a decent desktop does? My Sony supported clips, but played them horribly. I have a large collection of real player and mpeg anime music videos from 5-30 megs each. Will those all run smooth, in good quality, and without problems?

[Andy Whiteford]

If you like to do a lot of writing, be sure to grab the free Transcriber handwriting recognition software from Microsoft:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/downloads/transcriber.mspx


No need, transcriber is in the ROM for h4150 devices.


As for playing media, this device will play properly encoded video very well indeed and music really isn't an issue at all.