Your advice is needed here!

[Looxer]

I am planning to buy a new iPAQ for myself, and after reading some posts I am a little confused which one shall I go for:

iPAQ h5450 OR the iPAQ 3970 !!!!!!!

:? :? :?

Few things to consider:

1- I really need Bluetooth for daily usage
2- I DON’T need WIFI
3- I would like to have a good bright screen
4- Good battery life is a musty since I am always on the go, which one lasts longer?
5- Operating/applications processor speed! Generally which on seems to be faster?
6- Compatibility with iPAQ sleeves
7- Reliability
8- I don’t need finger-print scanner, but it is fun!
9- I want to listen to good quality music from the headset.
10- Playing games

I appreciate your feedback, THANKS :)

[pocketpcdude1024]

Ok, if you don't need Wi-Fi or the fingerprint scanner, go for the 3970. It even has better battery life, but then again, the batter isn't replaceable. Unless you are really into the quality of your audio, the 3970 should be more than adequate! Since both run on the same processor, you shouldn't precieve any difference in processing speed. I see that reliability is a key issue for you; not to worry, the iPAQ 3970 should perform well even under stressful conditions. :wink:

[vincentsiaw]

sure you don't want for the 200 mhz bus speed xscale chip? if you buy now, you might get disapointed, if you can lived with it, the 3970 is a good choice!

[pocketpcdude1024]

sure you don't want for the 200 mhz xscale chip? if you buy now, you might get disapointed, if you can lived with it, the 3970 is a good choice!

"Interesting. A cryptic response." -Data, in Star Trek: First Contact

Seriously though, I have no idea what you just said. The "200MHz XScale chip" is, depending on clock speed or bus speed:
a) in the iPAQ 1910 only
b) currently in production and not yet available.

Either way, neither pertains to the 3970 vs 5450 debate.

If he buys now he might get disappointed? How? Are you referring to the fact that the current XScale chips have a 100MHz bus?

Now this last part is really hard to understand: "If you can lived with it the 3970 is a good choice!" The word "can" is present tense where "lived" is past tense. Are you saying that if I could have lived with the iPAQ 3970 it would be a good choice, or are you saying if you can live with the 3970 it would be a good choice?

[vincentsiaw]

sure you don't want for the 200 mhz xscale chip? if you buy now, you might get disapointed, if you can lived with it, the 3970 is a good choice!

"Interesting. A cryptic response." -Data, in Star Trek: First Contact

Seriously though, I have no idea what you just said. The "200MHz XScale chip" is, depending on clock speed or bus speed:
a) in the iPAQ 1910 only
b) currently in production and not yet available.

Either way, neither pertains to the 3970 vs 5450 debate.

If he buys now he might get disappointed? How? Are you referring to the fact that the current XScale chips have a 100MHz bus?

Now this last part is really hard to understand: "If you can lived with it the 3970 is a good choice!" The word "can" is present tense where "lived" is past tense. Are you saying that if I could have lived with the iPAQ 3970 it would be a good choice, or are you saying if you can live with the 3970 it would be a good choice?

actually i reffering at the bus speed, i already edit my post, but the problem is that u reply my post before i edit it ... so that's the problem!,

[nosmohtac]

I just went through this same decision, and opted for the 3970.
I owned an hp jornada 568 before and wanted a user removable battery, but I never ran my battery all the way down in the jornada and never needed to use my replacement battery anyway.
I was happy that they included a removable battery in the 5450's, but since they didn't include a built in cf card as well, I went with the 3970.
The 3970 has better battery life, and from all of the posts I have read hear and other sites, it seems the screen is a little more clear or crisp on the 3970. The 5450's are using a screen from a different supplier than the 3970's. When it comes to battery life, I have the car charger cord that allows you to remove the cord from the car charger adapter and plug directly to a USB port and charge or sync from USB. Also, if you are a business traveler, spending many hours on train or plane there are many devices out there that provide a way to charge your iPaq using either alkaline or rechargeable batteries.
All in all I think you would be very happy with the 3970 since you don't need the WiFi.

Sidenote..... I have read in other posts hear that it would not be possible to add a cf slot on an iPaq and still be able to use all of the sleeves that are out there. I disagree with this because they were able to integrate both WiFi and bluetooth radios in the 5450 and still make it fit in virtually the same package. I will agree with other posts in that thread that the decision to not include CF built in is financial...The sale of all the CF expansion packs.

[Looxer]

Thank you I am pretty mush aware of the processors used in both devices I just got some information from some friends that the 3970 seems to be more responsive and faster than the new model, and it has less problems. Do you feel the same way?

I am planning to replace my Loox I am fed up with it for so many reasons, including backlight unreliable, short battery life, radio module canceled, slow, etc… :x Maybe I will keep it for testing :(

I intend to buy the next model that is the 56xx the one with the built in GSM/GPRS rumored to be released in the summer of 2003 :? I would presume HP will release it with corrections for all the known issues currently with 5450. Until then I think the 3970 would be a good solution, don’t you think?

[nosmohtac]

I would agree 100%.
I wanted a 56xx model as well but could not wait, after playing with a 3900 model iPAQ. The screen is absolutely incredible. (not that it isn't on the 5450).

[Looxer]

I would like to thank you all for your replies.
:wink:

[bigkingfun]

Just a couple more thoughts in comparing the 3970 & 5450. First, let me say I haven't owned a 3970 but I have briefly played with a friend's 3950.

I couldn't see any difference in the screens side by side, so I don't think any difference between screens would be significant. One thing that I didn't see mention of in the other posts is the d-pad. The d-pad on the 3970 is much better than the 5450. The 5450 d-pad is really not very accurate. This is my only real frustration with my 5450. It would be a lot worse if I played games on it, but even for scrolling in email or ebooks, it's quite frustrating.

Another item that you might want to look into a little further is the bluetooth function. In some reviews I've read of the 5450, there has been mention of a much-improved bluetooth driver. Not having used a 3970, I can't say one way or the other, but I do know that the bluetooth on the 5450 has been very reliable for me. No driver issues or dropped connections since I got it.

Bottom line, if I didn't need the wifi function, I think I would have gone for the 3970.

[Looxer]

Hi bigkingfun

I'm am using bluetooth daily with my T68i, it is the main priority in my ppc. With your 5450, is there an "always on" feature??? where u can stay connected to ur bluetooth mobile phone even if the ipaq screen goes OFF. With loox it is called "wakeup enabled" to save some battery life this way.

[Looxer]

I went shopping today and guess what!

I bought the 5450!!!

:D

Actually before I buy it I asked the sales person to allow me to test it and compare it to the 3970, honestly speaking the 5450 is more tempting and the transflective screens on both devices are the same, I quickly tested the hardware and the applications, I didn’t see anything wrong however I asked the sales representative to change the unit because I noticed there was a dead pixl in the 5450, so he changed it for me. A lot to discover though, I put this baby to sleep right now, it is charging… :wink:

[bigkingfun]

I'm am using bluetooth daily with my T68i, it is the main priority in my ppc. With your 5450, is there an "always on" feature??? where u can stay connected to ur bluetooth mobile phone even if the ipaq screen goes OFF. With loox it is called "wakeup enabled" to save some battery life this way.

I don't think there is, but I may have missed it. I see you've made your decision anyway, congratulations!