Difference between Ipaq 4150 and 5550?

[tachishoben]

Hey all,
I know there are a few threads on the subject of "I am buying a PPC and want to know which one to buy", but I have gone through a lot of them on this site and none answer or even get close to my question! I want to buy either an IPAQ 4150 or 5550 model PPC and after looking at them, besides 64 mb memory, finger print reader and few more programs installed the 2 seem the same. Am I wrong or are they fairly identical? I will be needing to justify the difference in price if the 5550 has something significantly different than the 4150. Can anyone help on this? I know you all are probably sick to death about giving purchase advice but I would greatly appreciate it. I don't even need all that many people to respond just to let me know if there is a difference that I am missing, otherwise I have already done my homework on it and can make a choice. I just wanted to double check.

Thanks,

John

[Janak Parekh]

The two other big differences is that the 5550 has a bigger screen and support for expansion sleeves (like a CF sleeve). Unless you need CF, my perception is that the 4150 is probably a better deal -- and it's smaller. :) The 5550 has its applications especially in enterprise markets...

--janak

[tachishoben]

Just curious, what other applications do you see in enterprise markets besides finger print reader, term serv., etc.?

Thanks,

John

[arnage2]

the 5555 also can act as a phone, and have pcmcia drives.

[Janak Parekh]

Just curious, what other applications do you see in enterprise markets besides finger print reader, term serv., etc.?
There's a lot. You should take a look at the sleeves available for the iPAQ. Barcode scanners, special wireless units, GPS, etc. Some of these are available for the 4150, but not for the specialized applications I've seen sleeveable iPAQs used for.

--janak

[Trimac20]

The ipaq 5550 has built-in GPS, 128MB of RAM (an extra 64MB) and yes support for CF Sleeves (which is handy for use of CF modems/large storage) but unless you utilise these functions a 4150 is fine. If you're willing to sacrifice speed then the 2210 is a cheap alternative.

[CorysWorld]

The 5550 does NOT have built in GPS

[JustinGTP]

The ipaq 5550 has built-in GPS, 128MB of RAM (an extra 64MB) and yes support for CF Sleeves (which is handy for use of CF modems/large storage) but unless you utilise these functions a 4150 is fine. If you're willing to sacrifice speed then the 2210 is a cheap alternative.

As Cory said, there is no GPS on the 5550. Also, MHz wise, they all have 400MHz.

[tachishoben]

None of the writeups actually say that the 5550 has a cf slot, but some say that it is supported. Does the 4150 have a cf slot or is it just supported like the 5550?

John

[Wiggster]

None of the writeups actually say that the 5550 has a cf slot, but some say that it is supported. Does the 4150 have a cf slot or is it just supported like the 5550?

John

To the best of my knowledge, there is no way to use a CF card with a 415x. I don't believe there are any expansion sleeves for it, and it just has a SD slot on the unit itself.

[Wiggin]

John
Perhaps a quick trip to HP.com would be a good place to start.
Follow this link (http://www.shopping.hp.com/cgi-bin/hpdirect/shopping/scripts/home/store_access.jsp?template_type=storefronts&category=handhelds&aoid=1462), click on the 4155 and 5555 models, and then hit compare... you'd be amazed at what you can find by going to the source!
:way to go:

[tachishoben]

Thanks to all who posted I have enough to go on.

John

[petvas]

I own both devices and I cannot go back to the 5550. The 4150 is much:
* Smaller
* Faster
* More Stable
* has better screen
* Cleartype works a treat
* the cradle accepts and loads a second battery
* switching batteries doesn't cause a soft-reset
* the db_notify database issue is taken care of
* screen sensitivity is much better

The only advantage I can think for the 5550 is the bigger screen (but of lower quality, there is a certain reflection) the bigger RAM and the expandability...

I am going to sell my 5550 asap. The 4150 is the perfect PDA!

[tachishoben]

Petvas,
Thanks brother, that is good info I had pretty much decided on the 4150 because of all the input and that certainly helps. Excatly what I was lloking for, someone who had been using it.

again thanks,

John

[that_kid]

I agree that the 4155 has better stability than the 5555 but the screen in my 4355 is no where near as good as the screen in my 5555 or 5455. Still the 41/43 series ipaqs are great. I love the built in keyboard on my 4355, i'm using it now to post this reply.