A kind person at Porter Novelli contacted me on Tuesday of this week and asked if I would be interested in reviewing the new iPAQ 100 Series Classic Handheld. Would I? You bet! This device is the introductory level device in HP's lineup, but it's shiny and new, so how could I say no? ;-) I'm on a roll with videos lately, so within 10 minutes of the courier dropping it off I started the unboxing video. I think the longest wait was for YouTube to finishing processing it (does anyone have any contacts at YouTube? I need to talk them into giving me priority processing). Without further ado, here's the unboxing video.
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The best part of this video was watching someone else who has switched a major chunk of the i/o from stylus to fingers... even the same moves such as rolling the fingertip to hit the ok button ;-)
Isn't this at least the third iteration of the Ipaq 4100? Obviously a testament to a great design.
Also, I was wondering if I am the only one whose heart skipped a beat when you dropped the device!?! I was listening through headphones, and the loud "bang" on the table truly woke me up.
Looking forward to an unboxing of the 900 series, presuming it will actually be produced.
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Also, I was wondering if I am the only one whose heart skipped a beat when you dropped the device!?!
Heh. Sorry for scaring you - I was a little freaked out myself, but the plastic o the light table I use is quite soft, so there was definitely no damage - and I decided that rather than cutting and re-doing the whole thing, I'd just roll with it and proclaim the device sturdy. ;-)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pdaholic
Looking forward to an unboxing of the 900 series, presuming it will actually be produced.
And, presuming that I'll be getting one. ;-) Here's hoping...
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Interesting that HP would come out with a plain PDA when the gurus are saying that the market for straight PDAs is dying (or dead).
Yeah, the market for a PDA like this is small and shrinking - but devices like this are going to be around for a while for people that want to have a device with a large screen but also a small, separate phone. My wife for instance: she uses an iPAQ 1950, and loves it, but also uses a Motorola KRZR. One device filling both those needs would be difficult to find.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Tolson
Jason... it may be my screen, but the video looks a bit dark to me....
YouTube has this bad habit of making the videos a bit darker - something happens when the video is converted to Flash. I'll see if I can add or reposition lights to compensate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Tolson
Also, I note that HP didn't include a CD with any extras (software/etc.) I wonder if this was just for this PR unit, or a trend by HP?
I'm quite certain the shipping product will include a CD, but I'll ask about that.
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A few more comments after a few hours with the HP 111
Great video. I just got my HP 111 today and there is a CD inside. It also had a token slip case, and a US only power plug.
I like the power button on the side, but since I will be using the device in an Otterbox case I won't be able to turn the device on without opening the case.
This is the first WM6 device and I had to install ActiveSync 4.5. It didn't sync properly at first, but perhaps I needed to reboot the desktop and the PDA, because eventually it worked fine. There was a problem with my calendar being a little strange. I had an appointment on the 17th and it came out on the 16th instead.
The fact that ASync 4.5 doesn't sync pocket access files is very irritating to me.
The device was nice and fast using SprintDB and ArcPad with lots of graphics. SprintDB is a pocket access program that says they will have a way to sync the pocket access databases soon. Thank goodness.
There was a lock button that kept locking the PDA when I didn't want it to, but I soon found a way to get rid of it.
Button 3 will rotate the screen, but it rotates it the wrong way for a right handed person. There is a way to get the screen rotated the right way, but it is a multi step process via Screen.
There is an annoying beep that I can't track down. Maybe an alarm?
Also, don't bother looking for an extra battery. I spent 2 hours talking with HP and there is no source right now. the battery is the same shape as found in the H1945 but with extra contacts.
I have had a 110 from CompUSA for the last two weeks. I have found that I can't set up messaging for some reason on mine. (I have not done a hard reset because I don't want to reload everything so have been using FlexMail successfully.)
For some reason the device loves to turn on for anything. It turns on every time I plug in the mini USB plug even if all I am doing is recharging. It also turns on when the USB plug is removed. I spend a lot of time turning the device off. My 2795 and hacked 4705 does not turn on when being charged. It would be nice if this could be disabled.
For some reason after a soft reset the blue WiFi led is lit and sometimes WiFi is on after the soft reset even if it was off before the reset.
Screen protectors for the 2795 series seem to fit the device which was nice seeing how I had a few around.
I really liked the HP Protect Tools (Credant Technologies) on the 2795 and the 4705 but all that is available on the 110 is the Lock (password) function provided by MicroSoft which was changed sometime in the WM5 cycle. Now if enabled it comes up any time the device is on but unused for your chosen time. This is a pain if you have it connected to your desktop and you just want to look over and see your schedule. Instead you see a password screen. Now you have to enter the password to see your schedule - with this much effort you might hve just as easily checked it in Outlook. The old version and HP Protect version only start the timer after the device is turned off. That method is more suited to my use.
Screen brightness control. I set it for 2 minutes. Sometimes I am slow reading an eamil page and 2 minutes is a comfortable time for me. If I do a soft reset the device for some reason reverts back to 10 seconds. I am not sure why this does not get saved.
ActiveSync schedule fix. Not sure that it is required but I can't seem to get a remote server setting to be saved in ActiveSync. Every time I set one up it never gets saved and Schedule is always grayed out. I still make sure ActiveSync is off before I power off just to be on the safe side.
The new USB sync cable is nice but now what do I do with all my old HP sync cables?
Good things; it is smaller and lighter then the 2795 or the 4705.
But I have gone back to carring my 2795 and using the 4705 when I need the big screen. The 110 could become another one of my mistakes.
iPAQ 100 Series Classic Handheld Unboxing & First Impressions
Linear Mode
