Pocket PC Passion reviews the iPAQ 3900 series Pocket PC

[Jason Dunn]

<a href="http://www.pocketpcpassion.com/iPAQ/3900/3900-1.htm">http://www.pocketpcpassion.com/iPAQ/3900/3900-1.htm</a><br /><br />Finally! Dale Coffing takes the iPAQ 3900 series out for a spin and reveals the goodies under the hood - there's more to this unit than meets the eye, because Compaq has done some significant software reworking (much more so than from the 3600 series to the 3800 series). I think it's extremely cool that you can now adjust the battery warning feature - it pops up far too early now, and on the 3900 you can control how far you want to drive the battery down. Is the 3900 series worth the price? Depends - I'd say that if you're a 3800 owner, it's not. But if you're new to the Pocket PC world, and don't mind spending a few bucks, the 3900 series is a compelling Pocket PC. <a href="http://www.dreampages.com?aff=pocketpcthoughts&page=comiph340xsc.html">You can now order the 3950.</a> (affiliate)<br /><br />"Let's start off with the most eye-catching feature which is the new screen. A 65,536 (64K, 16-bit) color "transflective" active-matrix screens that dramatically improves the brightness of their display. These Sony displays are simply show stoppers. You can't get a feel for how great these displays are until you see it for yourself. My photographic skill sorely lack what it takes to bring out the real quality improvement that was done. No longer is the inefficiency of the side lighting being lost on the diffuser now as can be seen by looking at the existing technology screens when viewed from its sides. The new screen has a brightness level today indoors that is unmatched in screens readable outdoors. The outdoor viewing slipped a little but it is more than adequate. The screen alone is a feature that will set this apart from crowd. I thought I may be disappointed since the screen wasn't the new larger 4" screen that Toshiba uses on the e550g. Well I set this side by side with the e550g and even though the screen is slightly smaller the quality of this new color screen still made me smile in relief. Remember this screen is still larger than all other leading Pocket PC's out there. Of course the concern has always been when you get such a beautifully bright screen what is the penalty one pays for battery life?"

[kaiden.1]

Dale has allways been overly BIASED IPAQ! I have watched his site grow for a long time. I had to laugh at some of his comments, he trys so hard to make the IPAQ look like it is THE PPC to own, personally I disagree. It a good PPC and I am not trying to knock it, but getting news from DALE is not undrenched with IPAQness. IF you ever read his site, be prepared for just that. :wink:

[Pony99CA]

"The new screen has a brightness level today indoors that is unmatched in screens readable outdoors. The outdoor viewing slipped a little but it is more than adequate."

Well, this is disappointing. I don't care much about inside brightness -- the iPAQ is plenty bright indoors. Yes, being brighter indoors allows you to turn the brightness down and save on battery life, but visibility outdoors is more important to me.

I use my iPAQ 3870 as a GPS device (with the Pocket CoPilot 3.0 Jacket Edition), so visibility in the sun is an issue. Also, I recently tried to read the CNet AvantGo channel outdoors while waiting for a parade. It was so difficult that I gave up, even on maximum brightness.

I had hoped that the new transflective screen would be brighter outdoors. Some people may appreciate the battery-saving capability, but I tend to run at full brightness all the time (not such a big deal, as I almost always keep my dual PCMCIA sleeve attached, which has an extra battery).

Steve

[Dave Conger]

Dale has allways been overly BIASED IPAQ!...IF you ever read his site, be prepared for just that....

Dale likes his iPAQ...Jason likes his Jornada. These are just thinks to know when viewing there sites. Every site owner, moderator, and poster has some bias. That is why do don't just go read one review on a product and make a decision...

[Marc Zimmermann]

"Let's start off with the most eye-catching feature which is the new screen. [...]

Actually, I never thought that the current iPAQ displays were considered bad... I don't get all the hoopla about improvements. The iPAQ already had a very pretty display.

[...] The outdoor viewing slipped a little but it is more than adequate.

And here we go for a MAJOR minus. Outdoor visibility was the actual argument for reflective screens and going backwards here is very bad.

The backup app from spritesoftware.com looks great, though.

[Jason Dunn]

Actually, I never thought that the current iPAQ displays were considered bad... I don't get all the hoopla about improvements. The iPAQ already had a very pretty display.

If you had ever compared the iPAQ screen to a Sony screen, you'd know that it wasn't nearly as nice. And if you see the new 3900 series screen compared to the 3800 series, you'll see there's a huge difference. It's not something that can be captured in a photo - you have to see one in person. Just much more clear, less reflection, lit much smoother.

[Jonathan1]

Dale has allways been overly BIASED IPAQ!...IF you ever read his site, be prepared for just that....

Dale likes his iPAQ...Jason likes his Jornada. These are just thinks to know when viewing there sites. Every site owner, moderator, and poster has some bias. That is why do don't just go read one review on a product and make a decision...

Speak for yourself. I bash everyone on pocketpcpassion!!!! (Being a moderator over there.) Compaq, HP, Toshiba, Casio, Palm!!! They don't hold a candle to my Newton Messagepad 2100!! :lol:

It should be interesting to see how well the Loox fares when dale gets it hands on it. Since the Loox and the 3970 have virtually the same specs.

[dcharles18]

It appears that there is still no contrast control :(

[Pony99CA]

It appears that there is still no contrast control :(

The good news is that, on my 3870, I found a way to enable a Contrast settings applet. The bad news is that it didn't seem to work.

If you want to try this on the 39xx, here's the process:

1. In a Registry editor, expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key.
2. Expand the Control Panel key.
3. Select the Contrast key.
4. Rename the Redirect value to Redirectx (or anything else).
5. Soft reset your device.
6. Open Settings.
7. Select the System tab.
8. Click on the Contrast applet.

You'll see a monochrome color bar at the top with a slider below it. Slide the slider to adjust the contrast.

If Contrast doesn't work on the 39xx, here's the process to hide it again:

1. In a Registry editor, expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key.
2. Expand the Control Panel key.
3. Select the Contrast key.
4. Rename the Redirectx (or whatever) value back to Redirect.
5. Soft reset your device.
6. Open Settings.
7. Select the System tab.

The Contrast applet should be gone.

If you look deeper into the Control Panel key, you'll other other hidden applets (AdminPassword, Desktop, Dial, Phone and Updates on mine).

The only one that seemed to work for me was AdminPassword, which enables the Policy applet. This allows you to disable installing programs on the Pocket PC, useful if you share your Pocket PC or are in a corporate setting.

Phone puts a Phone applet in the Personal tab, but it doesn't even open (maybe it's used in Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition; I know there are some SMS settings on my 3870).

Updates puts an Updates applet on the Connections tab, which lists non-existent updates.

Steve