More scuttlebutt on the Jornada this summer

[Jason Dunn]

My "source" fed me a little more information on this wee beastie - I have to say, I'm pretty darn excited!<br /><br />• Xscale Processor (safe bet it's 400 mhz)<br />• 128mb RAM and maybe a model with more<br />• SD Slot<br />• CF Slot<br />• Bluetooth<br />• Coming this summer

[robind]

Sweet! I hope this dream comes true!

[AhuhX]

Cool, but is it going to be as big as the current Jornada?

I can't see PPC's ever going mainstream until they drop both size/price.

Price for the high-end units doesn't really matter as long as they're making enough money of us tech addicts to keep going, but everyone wants a smaller unit regardless.

The last Jornada got battery life under control, let's hope size follows next! :D

[Kevin Daly]

Um, *I* don't want a smaller unit, so so much for "everyone".
As far as I'm concerned the current size is about as small as it can be and still be useful.

I'd only see an advantage in shrinking the device if it were to be detached from the display (which I am not necessarily advocating).

I also think further size reductions would constitute cruel and unusual punishment for developers trying to come up with a usable UI for their applications with very little screen real estate to work with.

[AhuhX]

Um, *I* don't want a smaller unit, so so much for "everyone".


LOL, yes you do, you're just not thinking in 3 dimensions thats all.

Smaller unit can also mean a thinner device, which is what I meant. I certainly don't want to go to devices as short as an M515 etc because I too prefer the larger screen realestate of the PPC units compared to the square screened Palm devices.

I would *personally* like to see the HP a little shorter as well though, as it's just a tiny bit too long in its' current form.

[ctitanic]

My question is: is a good idea to buy an iPaq or a HP at this moment?
Just think about. The latest pdas from these brands has been marked with a series of errors:

- iPaq: Backlight issue, slowness, problems in the SD bay.
- HP: Dust, missing the paint from the body.

Are all these error a result of the join of these to companies and unhappy workers and enginners?

Add to this that the future of these to manufactures is uncertain, up today nobody knows what pda we will see coming from these brands, an iHP? a HPaq? What they will keep from both brands? May be all the accesories from currents HPs and iPaqs wont work with the new hibrid.

From this point of view is almost the same to buy one of the new LOOX than to buy one of the coming iPaqs or Hps before we have the first product from these two company already joined for real.

Many questions? Few answers. :?: 8O

[Timothy Rapson]

These are what PPC would have to do to get my business. I might add more hardware features, like a built-in camera, blue tooth, or higher resolution.

But, just to add more memory and faster processor won't get me interested. You remember how Casio won Windows CE round one? Compaq creamed the competition in round 2. Round 3 seems to be divided between HP and Compaq. This Summer round 4 begins. I think Toshiba has the model to beat with the new E310. I prefer 64 meg and don't understand why any manufacturer would go with less to save less than $5 per unit (my own opinion of what it cost them), but 32 meg is fine when PPC does such a good job at handling expansion memory.

I guess 400 MZ is great for those who play games and watch videos while working on documents....no, wait you can't do that anyway....so *what will people who don't do games even DO with 400MZ?" Maybe scale web pages twice as fast?


In any case, 2002 is going to go down in the history of handhelds as an explosion of models year. The most significant since the original Palm.

[vetteguy]

So what will this thing be retailing for? $700? $800? I mean, I just spent $650 for my 568 last October, and while I'd love a model that sports all of those features, I don't think I could justify spending that kind of money for a handheld. That's a laptop, not a PPC. $650 was high, but manageable. If it gets any higher than $700 I think they might have problems drumming up sales, especially when you can get a Maestro right now for less than $300.

[butch]

I just hope it have a Type 2 CF and I will finally change my E-115.

[mar2k]

So what will this thing be retailing for? $700? $800? ... If it gets any higher than $700 I think they might have problems drumming up sales,

I have to agree, I'm sure a few die-hards will buy one, but I built my current desktop PC for around $900 last year. I'd just have a tough time paying $700-800 for a "companion" unit. If I have that kind of money in my pocket I'm starting to think laptop... the unsubstantiated rumors price the high end unit at $699, which doesn't sound too far off given that the 568 was $649 when it was introduced.

[Paragon]

My "source" fed me a little more information on this wee beastie - I have to say, I'm pretty darn excited!

• Xscale Processor (safe bet it's 400 mhz)
• 128mb RAM and maybe a model with more
• SD Slot
• CF Slot
• Bluetooth
• Coming this summer


Jason, that is pretty much the same things we have heard at pPCp, with exception to the Bluetooth. So the information seems to be consistant. That is a good sign.

We also heard there would be two models a 300mhz and a 400mhz. Cost $599.00 & $699.00

Dave

[Will T Smith]

My question is: is a good idea to buy an iPaq or a HP at this moment?
Just think about. The latest pdas from these brands has been marked with a series of errors:

- iPaq: Backlight issue, slowness, problems in the SD bay.
- HP: Dust, missing the paint from the body.



It was the dust and it was a manufacturing error. Not a design error.

HP's execution has been stellar. The iPaq has had one problem after another.

Go HP.

--------------------------------

Regarding the newly rumored unit ...

Awesome. Just keep the max price point the same and offer the current units for less. Just remember all that a bundled Bluetooth/SD battery w/ integrated 64MB could account for all the EXTRA features beyond X-Scale. In such a case, I still would NOT be dissapointed as it demonstrates the flexibility of the modular data/battery concept.

Go HP. Go Walter Hewett, screw Fiorina!!!!!

[vetteguy]

My question is: is a good idea to buy an iPaq or a HP at this moment?
Just think about. The latest pdas from these brands has been marked with a series of errors:

- iPaq: Backlight issue, slowness, problems in the SD bay.
- HP: Dust, missing the paint from the body.



It was the dust and it was a manufacturing error. Not a design error.

HP's execution has been stellar. The iPaq has had one problem after another.

Go HP.

--------------------------------

Regarding the newly rumored unit ...

Awesome. Just keep the max price point the same and offer the current units for less. Just remember all that a bundled Bluetooth/SD battery w/ integrated 64MB could account for all the EXTRA features beyond X-Scale. In such a case, I still would NOT be dissapointed as it demonstrates the flexibility of the modular data/battery concept.

Go HP. Go Walter Hewett, screw Fiorina!!!!!


I would say that the dust issue is a design error. If it strictly a manufacturing one, then why does dust enter the screen AFTER someone has purchased the unit and been using it? If it were only a manufacturing problem, dust would only get in while in production.

[ctitanic]

It was the dust and it was a manufacturing error. Not a design error.

HP's execution has been stellar. The iPaq has had one problem after another.

Go HP.


The paint issue is also a manufacturing error I guess :wink:

But this is not the problem. What I'm worry is about the future. Righ now we are in a transition time where all the units made during this time can be discountinued after a few months (that's the period of time needed to materialize the join between these two companies). The next generations of pda coming from HP-Ipaq wont be using the expansions packs from HP or the sleeves from iPaqs so and the new generation of expansions packs wont work in the current HPs or iPaqs (including these HP on XScale). So what's the point of buying a pda that won't have any future.

[Perry Reed]

Dammit! I just last night finally got my Jornada 568 (had to buy my wife one, too)...

[mike6024]

I guess 400 MZ is great for those who play games and watch videos while working on documents....no, wait you can't do that anyway....so *what will people who don't do games even DO with 400MZ?" Maybe scale web pages twice as fast?


Ok, you *really* don't think this right? Were you saying "what am I ever going to do with a 1 GHz processor" when you had your 500MHz on your desktop? There's always going to be new games that need more processing power (for more graphics and eventually network integration), as well as countless other programs. And with my 3835 it still slows to a hault while doing certain things. And I can't watch mpegs or wmvs above a certain bitrate or else it gets very unwatchable. Who would ever need 400 MHz? I do! Right now!

[Paragon]

Dammit! I just last night finally got my Jornada 568 (had to buy my wife one, too)...



:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Somebody had to do it. It might as well be me

Dave

[JornadaJ]

I assure you that the dust issue is not in the manufacturing process.

How do I know? Well, just traded in my fourth one, (major kudos to hp for the one-for-one trade policy), after dust entered the screen.

What was interesting was one particular particle of dust was not dust. You see, I'm a smoker, and I had a freshly-opened pack of smokes in my pockt with my 568. Yes, a tiny peice of tobacco was also under the screen. So, I don't buy the manufacturing clean-room error. Unless they are sprinkling tobacco leaves in the clean room...

Anyways, I am quite interested in this new model. Hope it is more reinforced that the 568. I like the idea of keeping the CF card, it works great for my needs. I also like the idea of much more memory.

[Jason Dunn]

I guess 400 MZ is great for those who play games and watch videos while working on documents....no, wait you can't do that anyway....so *what will people who don't do games even DO with 400MZ?" Maybe scale web pages twice as fast?


It's important to understand that the Xscale offers more than a doubling of MIPS while using LESS power. So forget about the mhz for a minute - from a power saving element alone, the Xscale is superb. Now add that extra horsepower back in there - yes, web pages will render faster. How can that be a bad thing? :lol: The Pocket Internet Explorer HTML renderer is so very sad - we need more mhz to compensate for how slow it is.

Any way you slice it, more mhz for the same price (or less) is a sweet deal for consumers.

[mghannigan]

Any guess if 56x accessories (pocket keyboard in particular) will be compatible with the new unit?

I was going to buy one, but maybe I will have to wait.

[orinoco]

Hello:

Yes, besides the pocket keyboard, I also have the PC Card expansion pack for the J568. Anyone out there knows whether these accesories will be compatible with the new J's ?

Thanks much,

Fernando

[st63z]

Also, has anyone heard any comments from the various voice recognition developers about the potential of the 400MHz PXA250? Not only faster clock, but SSE-type enhancements as well.

How about neural net AI software for the PPC? I'm looking to have a more symbiotic relationship with mine...

[Jason Dunn]

Also, has anyone heard any comments from the various voice recognition developers about the potential of the 400MHz PXA250? Not only faster clock, but SSE-type enhancements as well.
How about neural net AI software for the PPC? I'm looking to have a more symbiotic relationship with mine...


If it were only a matter of MIPS, we would have had this on our desktop a year ago. :-) It's far more complicated than that...

[st63z]

Wait, are you talking about voice recognition?

Or AI?

[Marc Zimmermann]

Add to this that the future of these to manufactures is uncertain, up today nobody knows what pda we will see coming from these brands, an iHP? a HPaq? What they will keep from both brands?


Does it really matter much which brand actually survives the merger? You buy a device and use it.

Even though the iPAQ enjoys higher commercial success, I wouldn't be suprised to see the Jornada remain. After all, HP has full control over the design and production while Compaq has outsourced this. As a result, Compaq has limited infulence on quality assurance and fixing issues while HP can investigate and fix issues without communicating with a third party.

[Marc Zimmermann]

The paint issue is also a manufacturing error I guess :wink:


I wonder what mechanical stress you're putting your Pocket PC under... I have yet to see a single scratch on my Jornada from early October. The paint job looks good to me so far. Putting the device inside a pocket along with keys would certainly cause the paint to come off. This would happen to an iPAQ, too.

[vetteguy]

I have no scratches either, and I honestly haven't noticed any dust. Of course, I'm using a screen protector so maybe some of the dust/dirt that I think is on the protector is actually underneath, but either way it's not enough that it bothers me.

[ctitanic]

Well the paint issue is something that I have been hearing from different sources. But you can find more information if you here.

Link (http://discussion.brighthand.com/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=217819&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending)

In my opinion. From the current pdas, HP and iPaqs are the one where more posts you can find about them problems. This is the main reason together with the merge of this to companies that makes me think about to buy a different pda the next time (LOOX).

[Paragon]

Well the paint issue is something that I have been hearing from different sources. But you can find more information if you here.

Link (http://discussion.brighthand.com/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=217819&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending)

In my opinion. From the current pdas, HP and iPaqs are the one where more posts you can find about them problems. This is the main reason together with the merge of this to companies that makes me think about to buy a different pda the next time (LOOX).


I'm not so sure your logic holds up. The Ipaq and Jornadas have the highest sales volume so it is only logical that if there were problems you would here more about them than you would any of the others.

I would have to say that you can find problems with all most all of them if you look around.

Myself I wouldn't trade a dusty Jornada for anything that has not yet proven it's worth.

Just my humble opinion.

Dave

[ctitanic]

Just one more note. I'm an iPaq user but I like to be honest. If you compare the HP problems and the iPaq problems (backlight issue, popping noices without fix up to this moment, SD card issue, delays in the release of PPC2002, etc. ) I should say that the HP is the best between those two. The HP problems are things that can be acceptables. This is the point that make me think that we wont see any more iPaqs after the merge of these companies. The only one big Con i find in HP 56x is the no integration of BlueTooth.

[ctitanic]

Myself I wouldn't trade a dusty Jornada for anything that has not yet proven it's worth.
Just my humble opinion.

Dave


I have a very good opinion about Fujitsu's laptops so for association I don't expect anything wrong from LOOX (let put it in this way: worse than what I have seen from iPaq or HP).