Mixed 5450 Reviews [Archive] - Thoughts Media Forums

Janak Parekh

01-02-2003, 05:12 PM

While the HP iPaq 5450 has been getting generally positive reviews, a couple of people have had trouble with the units. dma1965 made a <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6581&highlight=">post on the forums</a> about his experiences: he's been suffering rather poor battery life. Jason <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=55193">mentioned</a> on Tuesday that HP may be holding up further shipments to correct an issue here, so maybe this is something that'll get solved shortly. The Gadgeteer has a very <a href="http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/hp-ipaq-5455-review.html">thorough review</a>. Both Judie and Julie had trouble with the unit, and they describe it in detail. Anyone else have further feedback?

Kati Compton

01-02-2003, 05:44 PM

I was surprised by the Gadgeteer reaction. They were upset that they couldn't return it. Normally "bad" reviews just talk about the cons of the item, but there's no wishing for a return.

Perhaps they do return items that get a bad review, and since it isn't a problem, they don't mention it. Either that, or it's the high price of this one that's the issue. It's an expensive mistake given all the current problems. Hopefully HP will resolve them. :(

Janak Parekh

01-02-2003, 05:46 PM

I think they bought from that place because they could get it right away, and were planning on "keeping" the units, so it wouldn't have mattered. That the Gadgeteers would want to return the units seems to imply there are QC problems with at least a batch of the 5450's.

--janak

igreen

01-02-2003, 06:22 PM

Odd article...yep they had problems.....mine hasn't had any of those issues. Frankly....a dominant theme in their review seemed to be, "I paid $700 for features I didn't need and now I'm going to complain about it". So on the one hand I empathize with the quality issues they had on the other, too bad if you paid a premium for features you didn't need.

Daniel

01-02-2003, 06:24 PM

st63z

01-02-2003, 06:24 PM

Haven't read the full Gadgeteer review but I saw the blurb about ebook reading annoyances. I've had a resurging crave for ebooks lately and am having the same troubles w/ my Dell Axim (which is going back).

Paging up/down via the D-pad or the side rocker nub tends to act up every so often. Either doesn't register the first press, or more often it would go on overdrive and page up/down by 2+ pages at a time! I'm having to keep the page counter bar visible on the bottom and constantly keep my eye on it when changing pages. Even more annoying, when this happens as I'm reading mid-sentence it breaks the cohesive flow of the reading experience.

I've only used MS Reader this time so I can't be sure if this is solely a hardware problem or what (I seem to recall I've had similar troubles a long time ago w/ my oldest iPAQs using MS Reader?)...

I've already changed the Up/Down Control to the longest delay before first repeat and the slowest repeat rate, but it doesn't help, I'm still getting these multi-page scrolling from just one button press.

devost

01-02-2003, 06:29 PM

I've been using it for two weeks and I am generally happy. I do have the wifi memory error, but I expect that will be addressed with software. I am also upset that my Flyjacket sleeve doesn't work, but maybe they will update their software as well.

Battery life is meeting expectations. Joypad works great for me. I find it to be better than my old 3835. In fact, with Nevo loaded, I can use the current joypad like a real remote as it is rounded and my thumb fits perfectly. I am able to move up and down in the tivo guide on my tv with one hand and use the thumb to press down and select a channel.

Having compact flash isn't that important for me. I'd rather use SD as long as the prices keep coming down. I have zero devices that use CF, so the only reason I had a CF sleeve was for additional memory on the IPAQ. Right now, if I really need the extra memory (outside my 256 SD) I can through my SS on the device.

Biometrics works great for me. Took five minutes to get used to it, then I was up and running. I never passworded my ipaq before, even though it contained sensitive information, but now I've got bio by default.

Wifi, when I don't get the memory error works great. I've only used it at home, so will have to test with other hotspots. I'd love to see ministumbler working on this device, but that will take some time.

The only issue I had was when I installed Dashboard. My device went into constant reboot mode and I had to do a hard reset. Interestingly enough, I had this same exact problem with an earlier version of dashboard on my old IPAQ, so while i would like to use it, I just won't.

dannyoneill

01-02-2003, 06:30 PM

Thats an MS reader issue, i got a 3900 and all is fine but i get to a page, press the button and nothing for a good 20 seconds, so if you press the button a few times when it does respond it goes through all the pages you pressed. Proberlbly an XScale thing.

stonepro

01-02-2003, 06:34 PM

Paging up/down via the D-pad or the side rocker nub tends to act up every so often. Either doesn't register the first press, or more often it would go on overdrive and page up/down by 2+ pages at a time!

I have the same problem on my Toshiba 740 -- but this happens in every application (especially in PIE, when I'm reading the news on one of my AvantGo channels). Ugh!!!

I'm still waiting to get my 5450 -- I want to get it from BestBuy, but they don't have it in the store yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mookie123

01-02-2003, 06:36 PM

The gadgeteer bought TT, NX, and h5450 in space of 2 months. I would say any blemish at all will effect the unit and get dropped in a jiffy. NX got tumbs down, and also h5450. It seems they like TT, after gone Zayo and NR for a few months.

I think their ideal machine would be a Zayo spec and built in BT but h1910 size.

acollet

01-02-2003, 06:40 PM

I got mine about 3 weeks ago from Mobileplanet. I have not seen any real problems with my unit at all. Figerprint works fine, Wi-Fi works fine (except for the required soft-reset now and then), Battery seems fine (although I have not done any scientific tests yet).. I really can not find any reason I would give up hte device for... I must say I hate the new thumb pad. difficult to operate. All in all, the unit is great. I cann't wait to see the update to the ROM

st63z

01-02-2003, 06:42 PM

I'm still waiting to get my 5450 -- I want to get it from BestBuy, but they don't have it in the store yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let us know if you get it. My local BB store employee said that unlike CompUSA, there's a chance the BB stores won't carry it at all and you'll have to order it online from bestbuy.com instead?

Note that BB seems to send out those 10% in-store coupons every couple months or so I think (used the last one recently to buy me a TV).

Anyways I'm wanting to finally buy a PDA at retail w/ the BB/CompUSA extended warranty thing -- I've never done it before (had bought all my PDAs mail order)...

rich_75034

01-02-2003, 06:43 PM

I upgraded from a 3970 to a 5450 about three or four weeks ago, and I have definitely noticed some issues with the battery. For starters, it never seems to charge to 100%. When I take it off of the charger, after having supposedly charged it all night, it is usually at 85%-90%. The battery also seems to run down very quickly, even with BT & WiFi turned off. If I use my 5450 for roughly an hour, I start getting battery alerts.

Other problems I have experienced: :(

A few days ago it completely locked up when I wasn't even using it. After performing a soft reset, it locked up on the boot screen. I eventually had to remove the battery to get the thing to boot again. Surprise, Surprise :evil: all my data was gone. It was as though I had performed a hard reset.

Wifi often fails to start up again after it has been turned off. On several occasions, I have attempted to start up WiFi and it has failed repeatedly. The only way that I was finally able to get it started was by removing the battery (I'm starting to notice a pattern here).

The bottom line (at least in my case) is that the 5450 is a really cool device when it is working properly. Which in my case, has not been the norm.

I will definitely be putting in a call to HP.

Daniel

01-02-2003, 06:44 PM

I'd love to see ministumbler working on this device, but that will take some time.

You might want to check this out then:
http://www.cirond.com/site/products/wifispotter

Daniel

Janak Parekh

01-02-2003, 06:45 PM

Anyone else have comments about the audio? I was all set on getting one right away, but the low volume as DMA1965 stated is a problem for me -- I use my 3870 all the time for MP3's on the subways and streets in the city, and being able to raise the volume is important. I'm wondering if I should wait for a firmware, or similar fix, that will solve this.

Re the Gadgeteers: they're pretty even-handed about Palms and Pocket PC's, so if they want to return a unit they've really had problems with it. Check out their logs below the review list to get some more details on what they were going through.

--janak

daveh

01-02-2003, 07:03 PM

I have not had any problems with my unit other than the wlan memory issue. I have had one hard reset, but I think that was due to some software I installed. I back up regularly, so not much harm was done.

I previously used a 3800 with an ambicom BT cf card and a Linksys 802.11b card and had to reboot when swapping cards. It was standard operating procedure, as well as tangling with connecetion manager. I don't really have to mess with connection manager too much now. So net, I guess I'm plus one.

In regards to the volume. Nothing scientific, but I also listen to music on the "T" and I don't really notice much of a difference between the 5400 and the 3800. Sound quality is fine.

Kati Compton

01-02-2003, 07:05 PM

You don't spend $700 for a review hoping that you can return it afterwards! I hope that's not what they were thinking. Although it is interesting from a consumers position to know how difficult the return process might be.

No - they were both expecting to love it and replace their "primary" PDAs with it. But there was a lot of flakiness (in their units anyway) that they couldn't put up with.

The Big Jay

01-02-2003, 07:12 PM

About the Biometric stuff...

I think biometrics would be good if it worked x% of the time (x > 90), but I have trouble believing x would be greater than that, unless you threw in a lot more processing power.

However, this is only because I researched face recognition early last year (2002) and found it to be quite lacking.

Ed Hansberry

01-02-2003, 07:13 PM

Not sure I get some of the complaints in the gadgeteer review. They complained about the price, no need for bluetooth or wifi.

Ok, isn't that like buying a Porsche 911 and then complaining about the price, lack of a back seat and it is difficult to drive in the woods?

Janak Parekh

01-02-2003, 07:15 PM

Kati Compton

01-02-2003, 07:24 PM

Not sure I get some of the complaints in the gadgeteer review. They complained about the price, no need for bluetooth or wifi.
Actually, I thought their complaints centered around the fact that they had a lot of trouble with the WiFi, biometric scanner, and battery.

Right - and I thought that the price complaints were only in light of the troubles they were having. IE, "If I'm going to spend $700 on a PDA, it really shouldn't be this flaky".

ExtremeSIMS

01-02-2003, 07:35 PM

Right - and I thought that the price complaints were only in light of the troubles they were having. IE, "If I'm going to spend $700 on a PDA, it really shouldn't be this flaky".

To play devil's advocate, I read a lot of complaints about the e740 online, but I love mine.

Now back to real mode - the Gadgeteers are pretty even-handed. They mention what is totally subjective or not. I'd be peeved (not to mention my wife being peeved) if I bought a US$700 device that was so flaky. Like any gadget freak, having the device around, even if it not your primary, is part of the fun. The desire to return it speaks volumes.

Id wager, though, that HP releases a ROM patch to help fix these issues.

Jimmy Dodd

01-02-2003, 07:45 PM

TMAN

01-02-2003, 08:06 PM

I wanted to love the 5450. With the success I had with the 3970, I thought I was going to get the 3970 with added features.

I wish I could returen my device but I purchased from ecost.com.

Problems I have had:
Device would not charge (Required battery removal and reinsertion to get it to charge).
A couple of random hard resets (I was using the device in a meeting and it froze requiring a soft reset. The device would not get past the boot screen. Welcome to HARD RESET CITY in a meeting.)
WiFi and BT memory error.
WiFi would not turn on (Required battery removal to get it to work).
D-Pad response.

Subjective issus I have:
Volume is too low as compared to my 3970.
Screen does not have the rich colors of the 3970.
Battery life is abismal when compared to the 3970 (w/o BT or WiFi).

My main PDA is now my 3970 that has had the 128 MB memory upgrade from Pocket PC Techs.

kaiden.1

01-02-2003, 08:07 PM

Well Don't Spend $ for something you will nt use. Goodness buy a laptop instead. At least get a Dell either way! :D

NLS

01-02-2003, 08:07 PM

I think you give too much attention to the gadgeteers... ok I read their review... and?

I have read bad reviews for my e740 and yet I loved mine (reviewers seemed to not like it generally and never REALLY CLEARLY meantioned it was the most full featured PocketPC of the time... and maybe still).

Same with my E-200 that I still believe is one of the best and also most full featured PocketPC of its time. I had a hard time finding a more modern alternative (which was the e740... I got better shape, casing quality, some wifi attempt, x-scale, lost PCMCIA sleeve, lost great screen). Also E-200 was really misjudged in most reviews. And people gave better reviews for the silly 36xx series...

I DO LIKE H5450 WHATEVER the two ladies say. Sorry. In fact 5450 is the first iPAQ I like. I prefer having my own opinion about things.

Also, I too got the feeling that they didn't like the fact they paid 700 for something they didn't really need (and it clearly shows when they like WHAT? TUNGSTEN!!!)... I think there is some bias there.

Then again, I paid 590 euro for my 5450 and sold my E-200 (+ sleeve + 64Mb MMC + headphones) for 900 euro and my e740 (+ VGA + extended battery) for 850... Eat your heart out Judie :twisted:

Cybercop

01-02-2003, 08:19 PM

I just got hte 5450 a week ago and I wish I had my 3975 back :cry:

I never belive the people who review these devices and I don't like movie critics as they have there own idea's of what is good and bad.

I do have a few issues with the battery life but all these units suck the life out of the battery quickly because oof the screen's.

I tried the bio scanner and well, it only took 50 times to get it right. :evil:

The WiFi works great and the BT works great with my Sony T68i phone perfectly.

The SOUND is the big thing that pisses me off. My sound is so low even when the vcolume is at the max it is a wisper comapired to the past iPAQ's. I spoke to HP on the phone for an hour and they contacted Houston Texas as I waited and no one reported any problems yet, which I find hard to believe. Now I am STUCK with a nice looking unit with hardly any sound coming out of it. I could even hear my alarm go off for my meeting and I was sitting right next to it. I hope they can fix this problem with a patch. I want my 3975 back!! :(

Taqi

01-02-2003, 08:22 PM

Any fix for this problem

Got my 5450, and I love it from Expansys (thnanks to all those out there).

Strange if I had read this forum I would not have bought it!

Battery
Charge 100%
Life: great

Keyboard
Just incase anyone is wondering the Targus keyboard for 3970 works fine.

Janak Parekh

01-02-2003, 08:31 PM

I think you give too much attention to the gadgeteers... ok I read their review... and?
I'm not saying you have to agree with them :) Just presenting different views... this is the first time in a long time they've been upset with a unit. They've been big fans of all the iPaqs up to this point. I've also heard consistent reports of trouble with the battery, WLAN, and audio. I'm glad to hear you're not having these problems. :D

--janak

alanjrobertson

01-02-2003, 08:36 PM

Kati Compton

01-02-2003, 08:37 PM

Whoa. Just because they like the Tungsten doesn't make them biased. In fact, both of them carry both a Palm and PPC at all times. "If they like any Palm then they're biased against PPC" is not a good argument.

stonepro

01-02-2003, 08:55 PM

I am currently mulling over returning my e740 because of its flakiness. At the top of the wish list was the HP 54xx. Now I'm not so sure...I may wind up just trying a different e740 and see if the kinks have been worked out or not.

I just got thru this same decision -- dump my e740 for the 5450. I'm gonna do it!

My e740 just got back from repair #2 (they said the screen broke). They charged me the first time, but repair #2 was free.

Personally? If keeping this PPC (740) in my front pocket (dockers) causes the unit to break, then it aint much of a PPC. My iPAQ 36XX lasted two years in my BACK pocket before getting the dreaded screen flip.

I'm thinking that the 5450 issues will be fixed by ROM and battery recall -- key words are: WILL BE FIXED.

Note: $700 for a device that needs a ROM update and recall to work properly = bad business = rip-off = shame on you, HP = I can't believe I am going to pay for it anyway!!! = am I nuts? = why am I writing this stupid post anyway? = stop, just hit the damn Submit button...

iPaq3630 --> e740 --> H5450 (I hope)

revolution.cx

01-02-2003, 09:09 PM

I helped a friend with a new 5450 yesterdays and here are a couple quick comments.

- dpad is flaky. seems to vary from one app to the next.
- had to do a soft reset to get the sd card recognized
- cradle is well, horrible, all sloppy and spring loaded and just doesn't slide in right. Maybe I'm missing something.
- it's big.
- fast though.

Reading the various comments it sounds like HP has some quality control issues to address in their factories. My new 1910 has uneven paint on the underside and even an area that was missed. The battery cover doesn't fit so well either.

Great devices let's hope they can fix things in a ROM upgrade.

paris

01-02-2003, 09:10 PM

i am an HP 5450 owner for 2 weeks now and i have been using the device us my primary pc for the past z Weeks since 1 am away on vacation back home
I have been doing extensive use of the device all this time getting online using netfront to surf the web send sms, download things via ftp telnet to my uni to get some info and lots of other extreme things
i have been turning on/off the BT and only once i have seen the warning(not error)
the battery if far better than my 3850

Its a brilliant device as far as i can tell

Janak Parekh

01-02-2003, 09:24 PM

- cradle is well, horrible, all sloppy and spring loaded and just doesn't slide in right. Maybe I'm missing something.
The iPaq cradles take some time to get used to. I can now one-hand it in my sleep, but it took me forever to figure it out. The spring-loading is so that it will accept both naked and sleeved iPaqs.

Great devices let's hope they can fix things in a ROM upgrade.
Absolutely!

--janak

TMAN

01-02-2003, 09:28 PM

I wish I could returen my device but I purchased from ecost.com.

Interesting to read some of the T&Cs on the ecost.com site - they seem pretty stringent! Are they legally enforceable though? Certainly here in the UK you'd be able to return a defective product for your full money back as a statutory right (Sale of Goods Act, strengthened by the 2000 Distance Selling Regulations) - is there not any similar cover under US law? I suppose it hinges on whether you can convince them that the goods are indeed 'defective', which may be difficult with an intermittent problem.

On the upside, you don't pay nearly as much as us for the goods in the first place - $690 (USA) vs. ~$820 (UK) - almost 20% more here!

Cheers

Alan

Well what do you know? I will be getting a full refund. ecost.com needs to have a case number from HP to do a full return otherwise you get charged a 15% restocking fee.

Bye Bye 5450... Maybe when things stabilize I will be back. I will also be buying from a "brick and mortar" store the next time around, at least for a 5450.

Paul P

01-02-2003, 09:41 PM

So far, I love my 5455. I have not experienced any major problems. The battery life is the only complaint I have up to this point. The battery feels about 60-80% of what my 3970 delivered. Some other things in no particular order:

1. The D-pad was stiff and unresponsive during the first days of use. No longer the case.
2. The new bluetooth software is great. They really made it painless this time around. Received no errors when synchronizing, transferring files, or accessing network.
3. Received several Wifi errors during first days of use. Have not received any errors since. One thing, however, I am using Ad hoc mode via laptop (my linksys router is broken). No connection problems otherwise.
4. Performance is fine, but not 3970 fine. The disparity in speed from the 3970 was apparent from the get go.
5. Had to do several resets.
6. No hard-resets.
7. SD card works fine, although I noticed a significant increase in the transfer speed from SD to Main Memory.
8. Sound is not as loud as I would like it to be, but I find it satisfactory.
9. No problems with charging, always charges to 100%.
10.Screen is brilliant.

Paul P

01-02-2003, 09:47 PM

Well what do you know? I will be getting a full refund. ecost.com needs to have a case number from HP to do a full return otherwise you get charged a 15% restocking fee.

Bye Bye 5450... Maybe when things stabilize I will be back. I will also be buying from a "brick and mortar" store the next time around, at least for a 5450.

WOW, ecost allowing a return, that's a first.

bucho

01-02-2003, 09:53 PM

Sorry, but I find this review absolutely pathetic! They spend $700 on a device that has integrated WiFi, BT and bio-reader and they conclude their review with:

Quote:
1. I don't need Bluetooth.
2. I don't care that much about WiFi on my Pocket PC.
3. I really don't need fingerprint scanning security on my PDA

That's, to put it mildly, idiotic! The worst comment was that the pad is not sensitive enough. I have not heard so much whining since...

I don't own one and I do consider buying one, but this review will have absolutely no impact on my decision.

Ed Hansberry

01-02-2003, 10:12 PM

Kati Compton

01-02-2003, 11:05 PM

I don't know - I find the minor problem with my D-Pad on my Axim annoying. Having one where you have to press multiple times to get a single button press to register in any direction would make me want to return it too. Especially if I were a heavy eBook reader. If anything, I found this the most compelling thing they mentioned.

seanturner

01-02-2003, 11:15 PM

I'm in the process of writing a performance review of the wireless capabilities of my 5455 and will post that here as soon as it is done. But, so far I have had none of the above issues except for one problem of the iPaq not syncing via wifi or in the cradle with wifi enabled. I spent several hours on the phone with HP and we finally did a hard reset and that fixed the problem. I have the same data restored and same software loaded but I don't have the problem this time. Not sure what caused it...

As for range, it seems to get similar wifi range to the Orinoco PCMCIA card. I'll post some speed tests when I finish testing them.

I've called HP and am waiting for a responce on the battery issue that is causing them to withhold shipments. Hopefully they will tell me what's going on... I'll tell you guys if i hear anything.

Kati Compton

01-02-2003, 11:17 PM

I'm glad that yours seems to be working better than some of the others, then.

seanturner

01-02-2003, 11:18 PM

Yeah, I also bought mine about 2 or 3 weeks ago from an online store in new york...

Kati Compton

01-02-2003, 11:18 PM

Perhaps the issues had been fixed by then?

seanturner

01-02-2003, 11:19 PM

Hopefully I can get ahold of HP and ask...

Janak Parekh

01-02-2003, 11:32 PM

Thank you. I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one that read that. Again, that is like complaining that your Porsche 911 is too small, fast and handles bad in ditches.
I find it much more even. It's more like "Hmm, given the problems I've experienced, I can live without the exclusive features that the 5455 offers." If anything, you'll notice they don't list any of those in the Cons at the bottom of the article. But that's just my opinion ;)

--janak

bucho

01-02-2003, 11:35 PM

I apologize for the rant, but I'm sick and tired of crapy reviews that people put out there. I understand a lot of this stuff can be pretty subjective when it comes to PDAs, but it's pretty obvious when reading some of these that either the reviewer is not qualified to do the proper review or didn't put enough effort in it. I've used PDAs and gadgets over the years and I know for a fact that it's impossible to get a good idea (and write a good review) if you don't use the device for at least a week.. if not longer. A lot of the reviews I read lately are done about 2-3 hours after they received the device and are pretty much useless to me... besides from initial photos maybe.

Just take a look at the post in this thread from Paul P (few up from this). That's an example of all it takes to give quality opinion/review on a new device. It's only 10 bullet-points, but pretty much summarizes all the reviews I've read so far on the 5450 and there are quite a bit out there already.... it uses about 20 sec of my time vs. wasting 5 min to read the crap from Gadgeteer.

Janak Parekh

01-03-2003, 12:08 AM

it uses about 20 sec of my time vs. wasting 5 min to read the crap from Gadgeteer.
You might not like this review, but I don't think you can say their reviews are generally poorly-done. I've read a ton of their reviews, and most of them are very high-quality. They've had the 5455 for a few weeks already.

--janak

scary

01-03-2003, 01:45 AM

I bought the 5450, and generally like it a lot, but I have noticed several things about it. As was mentioned, the action button is squirrly for reading books. I use iSilo all the time and the button doesn't respond in any direction unless pressed really hard, and then it sometimes shoots down 2-3 pages at once when it does respond. Not enough to make me want to throw it against the wall, but enough to be a nitocable problem.

Also, mine apparently has the power/sync contacts offset a little bit because it doesn't like my Compaq extra charge stand at work and doesn't like my 2 car power adapters, either. I had a 3975 before. My wife has it now. It doesn't want to allow the card chargers to plugin, and it doesn't sync while on the Compaq charger unless cocked to one side. It works fine on its own charge/sync stand.

Another thing I noticed is that the display is definitely NOT the exact same one as on the 3975. It does not display photos nearly as well in comparison. It has the attribute of turning the photos with that negative/silvery look when you turn the viewing angle away from straight on. I can tilt it and the 3975 up, down, left or right on both units, side by side and the 5450 goes yucky looking while the 3975 stays perfectly viewable. Even straight on, the 3975 is easier on the eyes. They differ somewhat in outdoors light as well. The 5450 may have the edge there.
I swear I had read somewhere that they were using a different display, which was supposed to do better outdoors than the others. It definitely has a different graphics chip in it. At any rate, I don't even like to use it for photography any more. The same effect is noticable in everyday use, but not as bad as when trying to view photos.

One other thing. DO NOT choose 'fingerprint only' as your security choice. I choose fingerprint/or/PIN. The reason is, several times mine has absolutely ans without apparent reaso, refused to read a fingerprint when turned on. It says 'no image' in the little area where the print shows up. When this happens, you can't get into the unit if you don't have another way in. This only happens occasionally, and at other times simply teads the prints but not cleanly and also won't let me in. Most of the time it is OK.

Don't try to use Nice Start with fingerprinting enabled, either. It has no provision for it and you would be out of luck.

All in all, I love the size and shape and new look of the 'top hat' on it and am pleased with the unit. Buy one if you like it. But be warned, it isn't perfect.

Steve

Brianflys

01-03-2003, 03:57 AM

Thank you all, members of the "Bleeding Edge" of technology.

A month ago the posts were, "I've got to have it ASAP!...Still not shipping!...XXX has them!...Trade my wife for a confirmed ship date!..."

Now, it's, "FedEx just picked it up...I want my 3970 back...It's ok, but has XXX problem(s)...Wish I could return it..."

I'm not poking fun at your plights. You folks sure take the bullets for the rest of us, and I sincerely thank you. Hopefully HP will make you all happy eventually with the 5450.

I'm very happy with my brand new 3970. A mature design with all the capability I need. Works great with BT, and WiFi (via CF card). Outstanding screen and to-die-for battery life.

Best wishes from the second wave of buyers... I'll be looking at a 5450 in about 18-24 months... :)

Daniel

01-03-2003, 05:07 AM

Sparkomatic

01-03-2003, 06:00 AM

Does anyone know where to get or have the gear theme they use in their review? Looks pretty cool.

seanturner

01-03-2003, 06:25 AM

I don't know what they were doing, but mine sync'ed wirelessly without a problem (after the initial problem which was strangely fixed by a hard reset)

Kati Compton

01-03-2003, 06:28 AM

I don't know what they were doing, but mine sync'ed wirelessly without a problem (after the initial problem which was strangely fixed by a hard reset)

For at least one of them, the problems started after a while. It was working, then became intermittent.

seanturner

01-03-2003, 06:30 AM

I wonder what kind of software they are running. The HP tech I spoke to thought it was some piece of 3rd party software causing the problem. But, as best as I can remember I have restored all the software that was on my iPaq before I had the sync issues. I also restored the same data... I wonder if I could get a phone call with one of them...

The Big Jay

01-03-2003, 08:09 AM

Abba Zabba

01-03-2003, 09:10 AM

I totally agree with Ed. In the review all the said repeatedly was I paid $700 :idea: How bout you don't pay that much for something you don't want.

I thought it was amusing to find out that they paid that much for a replacement device with features they don't "need." 8O . Like the bluetooth :lol: Come on :!:

Whats the point in buying the ultimate wirless PDA if you don't have the toys to use it with :?:

I feel sorry for their issues with their devices. Me, I have never had a problem with returning or exchanging a product from Mobile Planet.

I still feel that they were more biased towards the TT as opposed to the new iPAQ. Blah blah blah, my TT does this blah blah blah. WHO CARES :bad-words:

Hopefully like many have said, hp will come out with a software patch that'll fix the problems with some of the batches.

Kati Compton

01-03-2003, 05:59 PM

Anyways, if he really doesn't care about those features he could probably get a Dell model.

"She". Actually, two of them. The review was done by both Judie and Julie. It is true that neither had a need for bluetooth. One didn't particularly *need* WiFi for browsing, but kinda wanted it for syncing. The other DID have WiFi as a priority. One didn't have need of the fingerprint scanner, the other thought the idea was really cool and would have been thrilled if it worked more consistently (especially since on failure of try #7 it does a HARD reset). The conclusion under thinking the price was too high was that they wouldn't have minded the price so much if things like the WiFi, fingerprint scanner, and D-pad had worked correctly.

So the features of this PDA were interesting to one of them. But they try to do 2-person reviews whenever possible to present multiple views, so they both got it. Again, I think the $700 would have been far less an issue if the unit had worked as it should have. I wouldn't complain about spending $25000 on a nice car, but I would if it turned out to be a Yugo. For those that aren't having the problems, that's great. But it's not like the Gadgeteers would make up the problems that they are having, and so they are reporting them (as they should) to their readers.

So, yes. It's expensive. But expensive and flaky on a number of key features shouldn't be acceptable...

NLS

01-03-2003, 06:23 PM

a 5450 is far from being a PDA Yugo... most "problems" or problems, I heard, are easily fixable (remember that 3 months from now)

I own a BMW motorcycle... it DOES have it's glitches. both "software" (things that can be fixed) and "hardware" (design glitches)... I still love it, it's still one of the best for it's class ah... and it's still a BMW (which people would also note and price accordingly if/when I'll resell it)

emjay

01-03-2003, 07:00 PM

Quote:
1. I don't need Bluetooth.
2. I don't care that much about WiFi on my Pocket PC.
3. I really don't need fingerprint scanning security on my PDA

Thank you. I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one that read that. Again, that is like complaining that your Porsche 911 is too small, fast and handles bad in ditches.

I think a point has been missed here. These weren't described as cons, merely as reasons why they didn't have compelling reasons to use this device as their main PDA. Indeed, bluetooth and wifi were listed as in the pros section of the review summary! The problem with the Dpad is a valid complaint if you rely on it for daily use, e.g. e-book reading.

The Gadgeteer website has been around for ages, and for me is one of the best of its kind. The reviews are extensive and based around actual day-to-day experience. They can hardly be described as biased seeing as they both own multiple Palm and Pocket PC devices, and have actually preferred previous ipaq models in general. They were bummed about paying $700 because of the problems with the device, not purely the fact of $700.

The Big Jay

01-03-2003, 07:32 PM

"She". Actually, two of them.

I wasn't talking about Judie and Julie, I was talking about bucho. But to address your points...

So, yes. It's expensive. But expensive and flaky on a number of key features shouldn't be acceptable...

True, but that just means that the reputation of HP in this case goes down...

Kati Compton

01-03-2003, 08:41 PM

I wasn't talking about Judie and Julie, I was talking about bucho. But to address your points...

My mistake - I misread. Sorry.

ejoneise22

02-09-2003, 10:57 AM

I lost Egenio 550g number two last week. Compusa of course was out, but they made me a deal on a 5455 under the extended warranty/"lifetime upgrade" plan. Since I am a heavy PDA user, I have had a chance to put the machine to task. A few notes:

Mine must be a second generation unit, the battery is from Denmark, not Korea, like the early ones. Between the CF sleeve + and the internal battery I have run two days of hard use this weekend, about 5 hrs per day, and am still around 50%. I use the Sprint CF 2031 card, and have used the WIFI about an hour or so.

I have the memory issue at times on WIFI, but a quick jab to the reset fixes it. I never had a problem setting it up, though being a network engineer I am not the one to judge how easy it is, and the range is soild, it covers the entire school where I teach, where my linksys CF died at the corners. The memory issue I can deal until the patch comes since it is obviously a software issue. Ditto for the volume. I have not tried the Bluetooth, but I have a printer on the way.

The rest of this machine is perfect. The last HP I had was a 548, and this one seems to be built just as well. Its fast, solid, and with the integrated cover on the CF sleeve, makes a nice package (hint, the clear folding cover on the CF sleeve is for the 3900. Take it off, then just remove the one that comes on the 5455 jacket and click it in place). A tad heavy, but so am I so no problem. While I have only had it a little over a week, barring any suprises, I don't think longevity will be an issue.

I think if you find one of these "new 5455s" you will have a strong machine for anything you need a PDA for. Its expensive, and yes there are other units can cover some of the same ground for less, but not with the same style. I have been using handhelds since the Tandy Pocket Computer, and the 5455 ranks near the top in any generation.