Jornada 728

[marlof]

<a href="http://www.hp-expo.com/uk/eng/products/jornada/jornada728.asp">http://www.hp-expo.com/uk/eng/products/jornada/jornada728.asp</a><br /><br />HP did release a new model in their Handheld PC range today. It appears on the <a href="http://www.microsoftmobilitypress.com/site/home/main200.asp?SiteArea=200g&Company=4">Virtual Microsoft Mobility Press Centre</a> as the HP Commanche.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/jornada_728.jpg" /><br /><br />The updates: "The HP Jornada 728 colour handheld PC is the latest addition to the HP Jornada range and the most powerful HP handheld PC device to date. Featuring a memory upgrade to 64 MB RAM and a new battery giving up to 14 hours of autonomy, the HP Jornada 728 Handheld PC gives mobile professional even greater freedom to access office tools and information while on the road, send and receive e-mail and browse the Web - all while enjoying the convenience of a keyboard device."<br /><br />There seems to be no updates to the software, as this one runs Handheld PC 2000 as well. The 728 should be available in June 2002.

[Andy Sjostrom]

See! I told you!
Happy day, today! :D

[Mike Wagstaff]

As a big 720 fan, when I first saw this news, my eyes lit up. Happy day, indeed!

Looking at it more closely, however, I believe that this news is more frustrating than anything else. The RAM upgrade is nice enough, but seeing as the 720 already has a PC Card slot and a CF slot, hardly vital. Also, whilst there is no doubt that the new 14-hour battery is most definitely a Very Good Thing, it's worth remembering that the battery life on the 720 is around 9 hours (and unlike certain Pocket PC's, it really does last that long) - hardly paltry.

Amongst the things that I feel really could have made an impact are...

1. Built-in bluetooth

One of the best things about HPC's is that (due to their screen dimensions and keyboard) they are perfect for Internet and e-mail access. Built-in bluetooth connectivity would have been a very welcome bonus.

2. OS upgrade

There's no mention of any upgrade to the OS or the built-in apps that I could see. Whilst the current version of CE that it uses is nice enough, there is plenty of room for improvement (the speed of PIE being a major issue). This isn't HP's fault, of course.

3. A type II CF slot

Not particularly major given the presence of a PC Card slot, but it would have been nice to see the CF slot upgraded to type II rather than type I.


Seeing as it's probably quite unlikely that my three wishes will be granted at any point in the near future, two things I would dearly love to see for my 720 (and the 728, of course!) in the meantime would be an updated version of Nyditot's Virtual Display (one that survives the machine being turned off) and a faster Internet browser. I'm not asking for too much, am I...? :)

[entropy1980]

No processor upgrade??! Come on a $1000 device with no bluetooth, no Xscale, only an upgrade in memory and battery? very sad....

[Jason Dunn]

Yeah, this is a little....underwhealming, especially at that price point. $999? A buddy of mine just bought a 1.1 Ghz HP laptop for basically the same price after a rebate.

Regarding the OS, HPC is basically dead as far as Microsoft is concerned from what I can tell. It's Pocket PC or bust.

[Marc Zimmermann]

Regarding the OS, HPC is basically dead as far as Microsoft is concerned from what I can tell. It's Pocket PC or bust.


Well, there are still various OEMs building HPC based devices such as HP, Siemens and Intermec. Hopefully the continued sales will show that the market isn't dead, just smaller.

[Kevin Daly]

On the face of it the orphaning of the HPC form factor seems a bit odd, given that it lends itself more readily to certain tasks than a Pocket PC.
Perhaps it's a sigh that Microsoft really *are* serious about the Tablet PC (I ***do*** hope so), because if they are then there is probably little if any room left in the middle.

[fishd1]

Got to admit, this is a huge YAWN!

More RAM... woo... so what? I install all my apps to my compact flash card so who cares about 64Mb of program memory?

And a new colour... wow... next...

faster processor? no
better screen? no...
typeII cf slot to take microdrive? nope...
abolutely anything that would make people want to buy this device? not a chance.

Now I realise this is a product refresh rather than an upgrade but us 710/720 users are going to be a bit miffed at this... our devices are knocking on two years old and we'd hoped and prayed that HP would do something... but this is ... ... dissapointing.

Only thing I'd be interested in is, if the new batter would fit the 720... and even then... i'm not so bothered... I've NEVER seen a low battery warning in my device yet!

[JamesM]

Historically, this fits exactly into hp's H/PC product pattern. Launch a model, and come out with an improved version in about a year.

320LX --> 360LX
620LX --> 660LX
Jornada 680 --> Jornada 690
Jornada 720 --> (now) Jornada 728

Also, all of their H/PCs are expensive, but most (r)etailers (except MobilePlanet) don't charge list.

- JamesM

[Daniel]

I think that it's a bit of a shame that they didn't innovate more with this release.
I quite like the HPC form-factor, it's a bit better then PPC when it comes to doing "real" work. But all (is there only one at this stage?) of the devices are just, well, lame.
I would like to see HPC continue, I've thought about getting one before, but they were overly expensive and somewhat lame.
I'd like to see the following in a HPC form factor (not in any particular order):
- Touch screen as well!
- Bluetooth
- SD or CFII (or both?)
- Fold over (like new Sony's) instant mini-tablet
- XScale
Pretty much just parity (at least) with the PPC platform.

Daniel

[Jason Dunn]

There's just not enough motivation for HP to really crank up the engineering on these things and create something "earth shattering" like we're seeing with some of the new Pocket PCs. The market is very small.