GirlsGoneMobile Photo Review The rx4540 Mobile Media Companion

[Nurhisham Hussein]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.girlsgonemobile.net/?p=745' target='_blank'>http://www.girlsgonemobile.net/?p=745</a><br /><br /></div><i>"In my opinion, this sort of device would be attractive for someone looking for a stylish PDA that doesn’t have a phone built-in, rather than someone looking for a portable media player - especially at this price point of AU$499, which puts it on the same footing as the 80GB iPod. While the included 1GB iPAQ File Store is impressive for a Pocket PC, it doesn’t compare favourably to other portable media players in this price range."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/hisham-20061106-rx4540_8.JPG" /><br /><br />Most reviews of the new HP lineup have focused on big brother - the rx5900 Travel Companion. Courtesy of girlsgonemobile.net we now have a good look at the Mobile Media Companion, the rx4500. While this is mainly a photo review (an in-depth review is forthcoming) first impressions are good, with some nice touches like the SD slot, and the bundled screen cover. As noted the storage isn't terribly big for a dedicated media player, but it does have all the productivity enhancements of Windows Mobile. Thoughts anyone?

[mv]

Small screen, big an ugly... i can´t imagine someone getting this instead of an iPOD.

[azhiker]

Funny to read the title of "Girls Gone Mobile" on the picture while the device is being held by a man's hand! :?

[IpaqMan2]

So who is this device marketed towards? Geeks &amp; gadget lovers? Young adults and other people seeking to do mobile Multimedia? Moms and pops or pda junkies?

Whatever poitential this device may have will be overlooked because of it's high price. In a world where iPods has set the standard for portable multimedia this device brings too little to the table to warrant it's cost.

This device will fail mainly because of:
Price, too little storage space when comparing other multi media devices in the same price range, and it's a standalone PDA.

[isajoo]

i got $20 on this thing to become distinct in a few months, the gps one may take the hits and make it a year. u can just buy any pda like dell or hp others and just add a 4gb card. wouldn't that be cheaper and smarter.

[whydidnt]

Yes, HP continues to miss the mark with their devices. IF they had released the GPS model with 30-40 GB of internal storage they would potentially had a device that could compete favorably in the GPS/Portable media player market. With a bonus of being able to run all the good WM Games.

However, just like every other manufacturer they once again have left out the hard drive. It's a shame because they could have really marketed this as a nice all in-one for those who don't want their phone tied up for media/GPS usage. I'm really starting to wonder if MS forbids the manufacturers from selling a WM device with a hard drive as SURELY someone would have gone after the PMP market by now, wouldn't they? I know HTC had announced the MUSE, but that was killed before release for no obvious reason.

Compare the HX4540 to the upcoming Zune, more expensive, same basic 320 x 240 screen, 1/30th the storage space. HP, huh? you market this as a portable media player, but I can't fit my media on it. Guess I'll get a Zune or Ipod. Why HP is going to fail again with this one. Like I said above if HP wants a product that gets peoples attention they need to take the idea of the 5900 and add 30-40GB or more of storage. They could then market GPS and PMP features with the added bonus of the WM operating system for the extras like internet access and games.

[bnycastro]

Is it me or does this device lack a d-pad [if it has one where is it? lot's of free space on the front there]? Call me old fashioned but I believe that every PPC should have one.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

IF they had released the GPS model with 30-40 GB of internal storage they would potentially had a device that could compete favorably in the GPS/Portable media player market. With a bonus of being able to run all the good WM Games.


I think the main problem with that approach is size and cost - most of the manufacturing cost an iPod is actually tied to storage, whereas in a WM device you have to add on the cost of the OS and radios. A notebook drive is almost as big as the entire PDA, so you're really only restricted to 1.8"/1" drives - which cost a bomb.

Second issue is speed, as Lifedrive users have found out. While you can get similar throughput times between flash memory and small hard drives, hard drive access times are noticeably (and painfully) slower. This doesn't matter as much with music players, as you're really only needing a small cache - but its a biggie with a more general OS like WM accesses memory and storage a lot. You can solve this by trying the flash versions (there are 1.8" flash based hard drives - 1" is obviously CF format), but then the cost goes into the stratosphere (you can buy a couple of WM devices for the cost of a 16GB 1.8" SSD).

Third, you get heat and vibration issues - the latter is not so bad with the latest mini-drives, but heat would be a big issue in a PDA form factor. The Lifedrive was a big as it was because they had to put in ventilation space for the HDD - one of the biggest drawbacks for the OQO was the heat it generated from an x86 CPU, 5" screen and its HDD.

I'm not knocking your point here, but I think we have a ways to go before we'll see decent storage space at affordable prices for Windows Mobile. With prices on flash dropping so fast (and SSDs making an intro in the laptop market), I think we'll see this in not too many years - just not with the current generation of devices.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Is it me or does this device lack a d-pad

Nope, doesn't have one.

[isajoo]

although your statement is correct about harddrives, it still does not make sense as to why hp is marketing this as a media device. its just a over priced ppc with a different hardware layout. although an ipod is not even close to being a pda/ppc, it is infact a great media device and does exactly what u want it to. so maybe they could have atleast asked a few people"what would u buy, a ppc or an ipod, for mp3 playback and video" all "none"geeks will say ipod.

i'm getting dejavu.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

although your statement is correct about harddrives, it still does not make sense as to why hp is marketing this as a media device.

No argument from me there - I'd rather go for big brother rx5900. It does have the requisite storage, if you're willing to delete the maps.

[whydidnt]

I understand that putting a hard drive in these units may create some issues, however, the big issue with the Life Drive was Palms failure to include real RAM for program execution. That certainly wouldn't have to be the case with a WM device. As far as cost is concerned, I can get a Zune with a hard drive, Wireless Radio and MS OS for a LOT less than the iPaq we are discussing.

I don't think that there really is a technical reason why it can't be done, and the devices HP are marketing here are really consumer devices and would have been good devices to try this on.

[bnycastro]

Or hp could've used flash memory for storage like on the other 1Gb spec'd device. Like the iPod Nano maybe...

[Nurhisham Hussein]

As far as cost is concerned, I can get a Zune with a hard drive, Wireless Radio and MS OS for a LOT less than the iPaq we are discussing.

That's very true, but I don't believe the Zune OS would be anywhere near as flexible as WM.


I don't think that there really is a technical reason why it can't be done...

There isn't really - apart from cost. I hang out at handtop/UMPC websites quite a bit, and I've always been fascinated at the attempts at miniaturisation. But technically feasible isn't the same as commercially viable, as UMPC vendors are finding out.

[blusparkles]

[quote="azhiker"]Funny to read the title of "Girls Gone Mobile" on the picture while the device is being held by a man's hand! :?[/quote

A man's hand? Nope, that's my hand. 8O

[Jason Lee]

Funny to read the title of "Girls Gone Mobile" on the picture while the device is being held by a man's hand! :?

A man's hand? Nope, that's my hand. 8O

Yeah, remember this is a really small device.. Plus look at the thumb nail.. Guys don't have nails that nice... (most anyway :lol:)

[ctmagnus]

Yeah, remember this is a really small device.. Plus look at the thumb nail.. Guys don't have nails that nice... (most anyway :lol:)

The word manicure should be changed to reflect this. How many men that currently have manicures done would go for a womanicure? ;)