2210 vs upgraded 3970

[acetuk]

I'm looking for a little help here.

I'm looking to upgrade my lovely but starting to look a little old Jornada 568. I have always been a fan of the Ipaq range and since HP took them over I see them as the only way for me to go.

I am a heavy PIM user who also needs to run some large databases. I am also physically on the move a lot so would really like to be able to enter data via a thumb keyboard rather than try to write on the screen. A fold out keyboard will be an advantage but a decent thumb board more so.

Additional storage is vital as I need to carry a lot of extra data around (books, audio files, photos etc).

My travelling also means that I need as much battery life as I can get. Exchangable batteries would be good as would be a backup battery (as on my Jornada) to ensure that I don't lose any data.

I also am looking for built in bluetooth - my mobile phone is bluetooth enabled as is my laptop so that seems to be a sensible way to go.

My budget tops out at about £360 so I am leaning towards two models - either a 2210 or an upgraded 3970 to PPC2003.

Both look to have major advantages against the other yet are very similarly priced -

2210 - two card slots, sleeker looks (from pictures I have seen, I am yet to play with one directly), faster device (a major plus point), better battery usage.

3970 - one card slot, older style which has a lot of peripherals (a major plus point), excellent screen, equal speed to a 5555 when upgraded (according to what I have read somewhere).

I'm really not sure which way to turn. I do like what I have read about the 2210 but I have some questions -

- Does anybody know of any thumb boards in developement?
- Can you buy bigger capacity batteries for it?
- The lack of an integrated screen cover is a worry? Is there any way around that yet?

Thanks for any pointers for leading me in the right direction!!

[Excalliber]

I can answer two of your questions, but I'm not sure if I'm right about the thumb keyboards, so take the answer with a grain of salt. Since neither has an integrated screen cover, and there are third part solutions for both, that's a null point I guess, in addition to the fact that the 2210 has expansion holes, so there will be more solutions for a screen cover than the 3970 (most likely).

Second, no, there are no high-capacity batteries out yet, but I would suggest buying an additional normal battery as a solution. That's at least 9 hours of normal-heavy usage, or about 11 with no backlight, audio. Ask yourself how long would you need to use this away from a power source. And on the rare occasions that you do need more juice than that, just use a cheap (10-15 dollars) battery extender with commonly available standard size batteries and you can get more juice total than you would ever get with one normal and one extended battery. Or bettery yet, you could make one yourself for next to nothing and buy rechargable (standard size) batteries, and skip the whole 50 dollar batteries from HP.

As for the first question (which I'll answer last :mrgreen: ), I beleive they have the same connectors (anyone else know for sure?). If that is the case, there are currently keyboards available for the h221x (all those that work with the 3970) except those that fit the case's curves (such as a thumb keyboard). With something as popular as the h221x, I wouldn't doubt that there is one in development, however.

I have a warning about the "backup" battery in the h221x. It will last for no notable amount of time without the main battery. It is designed to last for 30 minutes max, and only when you are switching the battery (with the unit off, of course). There is a setting to say how long you want the main battery to preserve the memory (ranging from 24 hours to 96 hours, gaining and losing about 1 hour total battery life), however.

[christak]

I beleive they have the same connectors (anyone else know for sure?)

Connectors are indeed the same for the 3970 and 22xx... I have a 2210 and a 3950 (and a 3630 too)...

The 22xx is a sweet device, I highly recommend it. Having said that the 3970 is a great device too, but considerably bulkier when coupled with sleeve and case... I would go with either of these devices instead of the 5xxx series units... (those units still don't have the "bugs" worked out, IMHO)

[nosmohtac]

I love the looks and form factor of the 22xx series, but you said that the 3970 being of the older type with many peripherals was a major plus point. If the size doesn't bother you, I would opt for the upgraded 3970.

It's all a matter of weighing your wants and wishes. I'm only making my statement based on what you wrote. I know there have been several debates in these forums on this, but I do feel that so far the 3970 has been the best PPC for all around stability, and performance.

If I remember correctly, the 2210/15 was much faster in almost all areas except in the video playback. It does have a faster bus, and the CF/TypeII slot built in. The processor is less battery hungry, but the battery is quite a bit smaller than the 3970, but user replaceable.

I can see this being a tough decision, but I have heard that HP is planning on keeping the sleeve type iPAQ around for at least another 3 years. The options are pretty wide for these models.

[acetuk]

Thanks for the answers everyone.

I think that you have all summarised up nicely why I am having a problem deciding!

The 2210 is smaller, faster, newer and seems to be the dream machine. Two card slots are also a huge benefit and I am sold completely other than a few horror stories I have read about (possibly SP1 for PPC2003 is required!?) and that there isn't a thumb board available.

The 3970 always seems to have good things said about it. One card slot (not a major problem as it will only hold ram initially anyway), great screen, hundreds of peripherals / sleeves due to the case shape. The 5555 seems to suggest that this form factor will be around for a while yet so peripheral shortage is highly unlikely. And a great thumb board is already out there.

A difficult decision for me - this purchase is likely to need to last me a couple of years at least as I don't have available money like this very often.

I am so close to buying the 2210 but the thought that no thumb board arriving (I can't see that happening but you never really know) will leave me very upset and not able to do what I really need to.

Decisions... decision.... :)

[nosmohtac]

Let us know what you decide. 8)

I have had the same difficulty everytime I've bought one. I don't think it will be a problem anymore though now that I'm stuck in the world of expansion sleeves