New Victim

[Myrddin]

8O

Hey there,
Just ordered my first Pocket PC (I'm scared!) a shiny, highly discounted :D HP iPaq 5450. Good choice? I hope!

I've always been a Palm man myself, never quite the type to bash Pocket PC, but I always looked at it 'strangely' and found myself thinking that if I got to know it, i'd probably love it! :D

Anyways, I'm going to pick up my new PPC soon and just thought i'd say Hi!

Any tips? :D

Wish me luck! 0X

[gcherian]

I am sure you will love it - and plus you will find all the answers and the moral support you need, right here. Anyway where did you pick this up from ? Just curious

[Myrddin]

Hey, I'm in Australia.. I got it at an indepent electronics store.
It's an ex-demo model. But it's never been charged/used. It was locked behind a glass cabinet :)

[davidspalding]

Some tips that are guaranteed not to steer you wrong.

Get some storage memory. For backups essentially, but also for music, ebooks, other files you don't feel need to be synced with the desktop computer. Search for CF cards here (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/external-search?tag=korovamultimedia&keyword=compactflash&mode=pc-hardware), or here (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/external-search?tag=korovamultimedia&keyword=secure%20digital&mode=pc-hardware) for SecureDigital cards. (Links are at Amazon, you can of course check www.pricescan.com for bestest prices, various retailers.)
Get backup software if it isn't included. Use it regularly. Do a board search here for popular choices. (Guys ... Pocket Backup, is that one of the commonly recommended ones?)
Get a Registry editor if you plan to do any Registry tweaks. You can find that and many other neat tools (Today meters, Suspend tool, Task Manager tool) at www.phm.lu.
Use screen protectors. Saves the screen from permanent scratches.
Get Ghisler.com's Total Commander for CE. Free file explorer, one of the best imHo. Or All-locations AllExplorer or Pocket Explorer, also shareware or freeware.
Get Tillanosoft's Notepad app, or install Gigabar 1.90 Beta, and retain Gigapad. PocketWord(pad) is slow and generally overkill for TXT file editing.

[Janak Parekh]

Also, make sure to update the ROM version to the latest once you get it. There's been numerous fixes to the unit's behavior. :)

--janak

[Myrddin]

davidspalding: Thank you very much :)

Janak Parekh: Thank you :) Where would I find this update? :)

[Pony99CA]

Get backup software if it isn't included. Use it regularly. Do a board search here for popular choices. (Guys ... Pocket Backup, is that one of the commonly recommended ones?)
Most iPAQ owners don't have to worry about this. All iPAQs since the 3600 series (except maybe the 1910) have had backup software. Since the 3900 series, they have included a version of Pocket Backup (http://www.spritesoftware.com/upgrades/upgrade_ipaq.html). (You may still want to upgrade to Pocket Backup Plus, though; that link includes a table comparing the two.)

Steve

[Janak Parekh]

A thread on the ROM update, including the link, is here (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13232&highlight=).

--janak

[thomas1973]

If you're not the big registry wiz, you might want to try PocketTweak (http://tillanosoft.com/ce/ptweak.html), which can do several useful tweaks for you. Oh, and it's freeware!

Welcome to the world of Pocket PC's! I'm a former Palm V owner myself - converted last year, and never looked back :mrgreen: .

Thomas.

[Myrddin]

This is fun! :)
I went and got my 5450. It's great!, very fast etc.

Transcriber is gonna take a bit of getting used to, I'm using block recogniser for now because it seems to be what I'm used to.

How long does the standard battery last (runtime between recharge) on this thing?
Thanks!

[Thinkingmandavid]

awesome choice dude and rock on!
i think you will really enjoy it. sounds to me you are already getting some good advice of software to use. for sure get some more memory and by all means back up!!