Ipaq 4700 or 2750?

[reachingpub]

I've never owned an PDA before so bear with me ;)

After reading a fair few reviews, I've settled on either the Ipaq 2750 or the 4700. The price difference is not a worry to me and I don't even want this to come in to my decision.

So far in the 2750 favour I can see:
- 128RAM
- Doesn't have that ****ty touchpad (5-way navigation button instead)
- Lighter (5.8oz compared to 6.6oz)

For the 4700
- Larger display (4in compared to 3.5in on the 2750)
- Higher max resolution (480 x 640 as opposed to 240 x 320)

I don't consider the fingerprint reader of the 2750 really a feature so much as a gimmick. I can do without one.

The 2750 also looks "shorter" than the 4700, however the 4700 is thinner. I can't really decide from the pictures which one of these is "smaller overall".

I'd mainly be using it for uni & work
- Timetable & appointments
- Directory of friends & clients (**is it possible to sync any of these with a bluetooth phone?)
- Notes, etc. Could possibly even draw up a few quick quotes on Excel.
- Internet & e-mail (not a lot, just every now and again when I need to quickly find something, we have city wide wifi internet in Adelaide, South Australia, currently for free)
- Playing music (but this is not so much a priority as something I'd like -- I figure it saves me buying an ipod).

I'd probably buy the HP bluetooth foldup keyboard and stereo headphones aswell.

Any thoughts?

[reachingpub]

I forgot to mention, portability is also another factor. The 2750 is said to be much sturdier than the 4700 which would possibly come in handy in an environment such as Uni.

-pat

[Menneisyys]

I'd mainly be using it for uni & work
- Timetable & appointments
- Directory of friends & clients (**is it possible to sync any of these with a bluetooth phone?)
- Notes, etc. Could possibly even draw up a few quick quotes on Excel.
- Internet & e-mail (not a lot, just every now and again when I need to quickly find something, we have city wide wifi internet in Adelaide, South Australia, currently for free)
- Playing music (but this is not so much a priority as something I'd like -- I figure it saves me buying an ipod).


If you don't want to do much Internet (browsing) / reading on your PPC (tasks that DO require VGA), I'd go for the 2750, if I were offered the chance to choose from ONLY these two machines.

BTW, for example, the Dell Axim x50v (or, for that matter, all the other VGA machines) lacks the touchpad, and is definitely smaller (although, not much lighter) than the hx4700. Furthermore, the two other VGA devices, the Asus A730w and the Pocket Loox 720, only weigh at 6.0 oz - only 0.2 oz more than the 2750. Why don't you consider a non-iPAQ VGA machine?

[Menneisyys]

BTW, a third poll option should be added: "Get/consider a non-iPAQ (VGA) device" - I had to choose "Neither, wait a few months something WAY better is coming out!" instead. (Which I woulnd't do/recommend because we have to wait at least 7-10 months for the next wave of way better / VGA devices.)

[reachingpub]

my main reason is that I can buy HP products wholesale and end up saving a lot of money. But if there is another solution that is *that* much better, then I would consider it.

[reachingpub]

If you don't want to do much Internet (browsing) / reading on your PPC (tasks that DO require VGA)

Reading requires VGA? Is it otherwise hard to read? How would I fare writing the odd uni note, etc. on a 2750? (or any PDA for that matter - is this out of the question?)

[Menneisyys]

If you don't want to do much Internet (browsing) / reading on your PPC (tasks that DO require VGA)

Reading requires VGA? Is it otherwise hard to read? How would I fare writing the odd uni note, etc. on a 2750? (or any PDA for that matter - is this out of the question?)

Not particularly hard, but tiring and, depending on the reader (is it PIE-based, which is, unfortunately, the case with most CHM readers, for example - see e.g. http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36399 for more info), sometimes impossible because of the horizontal scroll. On a VGA machine, all scrolling problems are gone in native VGA mode.

[reachingpub]

Thanks for your input Menneisyys. The limitations of the 2750's screen are definetly pushing me in favour of the 4700.

[reachingpub]

I'm a bit worried about the 4700's 64mb RAM. Does anyone own one of these and can confirm whether this is/isn't an issue? Unfortunately I'm here in AUS so it's not really feasable to have Pocket PC Tech upgrade it...

[Menneisyys]

I'm a bit worried about the 4700's 64mb RAM. Does anyone own one of these and can confirm whether this is/isn't an issue? Unfortunately I'm here in AUS so it's not really feasable to have Pocket PC Tech upgrade it...

You can do a lot of things with 64M RAM. Sure, 128M would be much better, but I think a 64M machine with VGA is still orders of magnitude better than a 128M machine with QVGA only.

Fortunately, most apps run flawlessly from external memory cards and shared DLL's and fonts can mostly be removed / reallocated to storage cards too.

Some examples/tricks of how main memory can be freed up from shared DLL's:

http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=113915
http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=110957
http://menneisyys.freeweb.hu/portrait/
http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=35581

and fonts can be moved to storage cards:

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=34790

[Darius Wey]

my main reason is that I can buy HP products wholesale and end up saving a lot of money. But if there is another solution that is *that* much better, then I would consider it.

If you wanted to take advantage of the Axim X50v as Menneisyys suggested, Dell Australia just had a 20% off sale on their Axims. I'm not sure if it's still available, but you will probably want to keep your eyes peeled on any future offers.

Otherwise, my two cents on the hx4700 vs hx2750? Go with the hx4700. You won't regret the VGA screen and the memory limitations can easily be overcome with memory cards. :mrgreen:

[reachingpub]

unfortunately that ended on Friday. Otherwise I would have settled for the x50v right away. I'm probably going to put the order in on monday (for whatever I decide) so I've got the rest of the weekend to think it all through.

Just about the only thing stopping me from buying the 4700 is its size. If I'm going to be carrying this thing around uni, etc, I want something small enough that I can just put it in my pocket instead of having to leave it in a bag/on table, etc. Wouldn't want it to get stolen.

A 2750 with a VGA screen would be perfect! Damnit!

-pat

[reachingpub]

Poll is getting absurd. Moving to new thread:

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=319978#319978