bucho
02-11-2003, 10:59 PM
Ok, so I finally got one (from Costco for $599) and been using for about a week now. Just wanted to share my experience and hope it helps somebody... Background: I used to have 3650 with PCMCIA jacket for WiFi card, no bluetooth. I switched to h5455 + T68i + jabra freespeak.
The Good:
Just look at the specs... nothing more can be said. Few things that really surprised me:
- I was able to setup "total" connectivity very easy. Seting up Wi-Fi was no brainer, and setting up GPRS was a piece of cake with the Bluetooth manager. I added my GPRS connection under "Internet Settings" and switched both, Internet and Work profiles, to use Internet Settings and "bam"... Now when I'm in WiFi range, it uses it, but when I'm out of range, it knows to auto-dial the GPRS connection when needed. I'm always connected without even pressing a button :)... It just surprised me how easy was to set this up.
- Awesome screen. Coming from a 3650 unit, the difference is night and day.
- Battery life is ok - I was expecting worse. It lasts much longer then my old 3650 with WiFi/BT turned off. With WiFi on and BT off it lasts about the same as my old 3650 with the PC Card sleeve and the WiFi card together. BT doesn't use much assuming you're not running active BT connections all the time. All things considered, it's "good" for me since it's an upgrade from the 3650 battery life, but it may be "bad" for folks that use the 38/39XX series.
The Bad:
I hit just about every problem that was already reported. Here is some more info:
- WiFi stuck
This happened only once. Easy way to recognize is to go into the "Status" screen in the iPAQ WLAN app and it will be stuck in "Initializing..". Soft reset doesn't help, you must remove the battery and put it back. Luckily, it's not frequent and you don't lose your data.
- WiFi/Bluetooth insufficient memory
I get this about once every day. Soft reset fixes it. It's annoying, but I can live with it since it's easy to fix. Hope they fix it soon.
- I installed Mazingo with the bundled PocketTV. When I tried starting Pocket TV, the unit completely froze. I had to hard reset and restore. Not sure if it was some weird coincidence, but I'm not installing it again.
- RVGSM is not supported yet. I'm using a trial version mPhone2.6 for now.
The Incredible:
I think this device is a steal for $599. I was convinced it's overpriced until I bought it and used it :-). Of course, this is only if you use WiFi and BT daily... or at least one of them. Otherwise, don't buy it.
IMHO, this device has all the hardware you will need for some time. The software is not there yet, but it will improve soon. Once the XScale optimizations are there and maybe a new OS, this device will just get better and better.... and it's already amazing. You gotta love it! The only hardware that may become outdated relatively soon is the resolution of the screen.
I would highly recommend this PDA to anyone.
The Good:
Just look at the specs... nothing more can be said. Few things that really surprised me:
- I was able to setup "total" connectivity very easy. Seting up Wi-Fi was no brainer, and setting up GPRS was a piece of cake with the Bluetooth manager. I added my GPRS connection under "Internet Settings" and switched both, Internet and Work profiles, to use Internet Settings and "bam"... Now when I'm in WiFi range, it uses it, but when I'm out of range, it knows to auto-dial the GPRS connection when needed. I'm always connected without even pressing a button :)... It just surprised me how easy was to set this up.
- Awesome screen. Coming from a 3650 unit, the difference is night and day.
- Battery life is ok - I was expecting worse. It lasts much longer then my old 3650 with WiFi/BT turned off. With WiFi on and BT off it lasts about the same as my old 3650 with the PC Card sleeve and the WiFi card together. BT doesn't use much assuming you're not running active BT connections all the time. All things considered, it's "good" for me since it's an upgrade from the 3650 battery life, but it may be "bad" for folks that use the 38/39XX series.
The Bad:
I hit just about every problem that was already reported. Here is some more info:
- WiFi stuck
This happened only once. Easy way to recognize is to go into the "Status" screen in the iPAQ WLAN app and it will be stuck in "Initializing..". Soft reset doesn't help, you must remove the battery and put it back. Luckily, it's not frequent and you don't lose your data.
- WiFi/Bluetooth insufficient memory
I get this about once every day. Soft reset fixes it. It's annoying, but I can live with it since it's easy to fix. Hope they fix it soon.
- I installed Mazingo with the bundled PocketTV. When I tried starting Pocket TV, the unit completely froze. I had to hard reset and restore. Not sure if it was some weird coincidence, but I'm not installing it again.
- RVGSM is not supported yet. I'm using a trial version mPhone2.6 for now.
The Incredible:
I think this device is a steal for $599. I was convinced it's overpriced until I bought it and used it :-). Of course, this is only if you use WiFi and BT daily... or at least one of them. Otherwise, don't buy it.
IMHO, this device has all the hardware you will need for some time. The software is not there yet, but it will improve soon. Once the XScale optimizations are there and maybe a new OS, this device will just get better and better.... and it's already amazing. You gotta love it! The only hardware that may become outdated relatively soon is the resolution of the screen.
I would highly recommend this PDA to anyone.