rx1950 performance?

[melante]

Hello all,

after years using a very old device I decided it's high time to move to something more modern and I am very close to buying a rx1950 since it has all the things I was looking for in a very light, manageable and reasonably priced device.
Nonetheless, before actually buying it, I thought about asking some opinions since I am a bit concerned by the Samsung 300Mhz processor.

I will use it mostly for work (Word, PowerPoint, emails etc.) nonetheless I'd also like to play, from time to time, some games in particular those running on emulators such as PocketC64. Anyone had any experience on this and knows how the performance would be? Will this be a too tough task for the 300MHz unit and should I opt for something heavier with at least an Intel 520MHz processor?

Thank you very much for any insight!
All best,
Robert

[Nurhisham Hussein]

The processor is fine - the main problem with the 1950 is its memory. Or to be more precise the lack of it. Check out these threads:

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=44626&highlight=1950

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=44787&highlight=1950

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=43955&highlight=1950

[haesslich]

It'll do Word and the emails just fine - but I don't know if it has enough RAM for emulation - and I don't know those emulators, so I can't offer a learned opinion on them. However... beware the RAM issue. For any gaming, i'd really suggest going with another model - but it'll do videos okay, so long as they're not too big resolution-wise.

You may want to get a model with some more RAM, however. That's a word of caution from someone else who did play with one for three weeks... and returned it right afterwards.

[heov]

I also strongly recommend looking at the Palm TX or spending some more dough and getting an hx2495, or possilbe a dell if you can find a good deal on one.

but ram is the biggest limitation.

[melante]

Thanks for the comments.... I see the ram issue is not to be understimated at all. I'll try to save some more money and get something more powerful.

All best!
Robert

[haesslich]

Thanks for the comments.... I see the ram issue is not to be understimated at all. I'll try to save some more money and get something more powerful.

All best!
Robert

Let me put it this way - when heov posted his thoughts on the 1950 with the general 'blast it to Hades and gone' mode, I was prepared to defend the 1950's honor. After finding my Adobe PDFs were taking forever to open, and seeing the system nearly choke to death on unoptimized websites or PDFs, I ended up returning my 1950 and going with a 2490/95 too. :D

Trust me - the RAM is the key thing holding back the 1950. Even the 1940 had double the RAM this did (64 versus 32), which made it a pretty good machine for the price. Also, do not underestimate the utility of Bluetooth - for small file transfers, it's heads and shoulders above IR, and being able to move photos I take with my phone's camera straight to the 2490 is a nice bonus... on top of the Bluetooth syncing and moving files to/from my PC, of course.

For bigger files, I use FTP programs and the WiFi, however - better transfer rates on that. But for anything under a few megs, Bluetooth's nice and simple. Again, I cannot understate the convenience having Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity allows when trying to transfer data - no wiring is involved, and I can connect to just about anything without the need for extra drivers, which is a big bonus for me. Plus, as long as you've got enough power, the video'll be pretty smooth... as are games. If your power drops below 40%, however, you'll find the video gets pretty choppy as the XScale processor lowers its clockspeed in order to save battery power.

By the way, if you're in Canada, Compusmart's offering a $50 instant rebate on the 2490, which puts it at $499, or about the price of a cheap Dell. If you can afford it, the Dell's got VGA which is nice, although the Dell seems to be plagued with some CF issues on top of a so-so battery life, due in part to the VGA screen. I'm not sure if the CF issues reported are due to the fact that a lot of X51v's have been sold, or if because there's actually something wrong with the way Dell put together the hardware or software, but be warned that there are problems which have been reported... but which I've yet to hear about with the 2490's or 2790's.

[friedshrimp]

I have some questions concerning the RAM sizing for the rx1955. Being new to PDAs (I have my very first one sitting under the Christmas tree (Code Named: "Bubba")), can't an owner (or HP) add more memory (aka RAM) by installing another 32-64 MB chip such as you would with a PC? Granted, it may not be a user option (have to send it in at great cost for upgrade). Or is there a program that can create a memory cache on an SD chip (swap file)? It would seem any of these would clear up a lack of memory problem. One other question, which version of ActiveSync comes default with WM5/rx1955? I have read where you can't ActiveSync wirelessly with the new v4.1 (secrurity concerns) but you can with v3.8? Also if you upgrade to v4.1 there's no going back to v3.8? Since this is a Christmas present from my Mother/Sister combined, there's no talk of taking it back to the store to exchange for a 2490 (HP has them for $ 379 US right now) so I need to know how to do the best I can with this one. Anyway, it's been sitting under the tree for 2 weeks now with a week to go so I don't think any store (I think they got it at Best Buy) would take it back anyway (normally 2 week return policy). Thanks for any input for a PDA newbie.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

RAM upgrades are horrifically expensive - you can almost buy a new PPC for the price of one. Two problems that there's no getting around: you don't get free slots like you would on a PC, and the chips are soldered on. The usual way is to either stack the existing memory by soldering on to the existing one, or discarding the existing memory chip in favour of a bigger one. You can find more info here:

http://www.pocketpctechs.com

As for your AS question, WM5.0 requires AS4.x, so there's no question of using AS3.8 at all.

[heov]

most retailstores have extended return policies, if you're considering that.

I know a swap file prog exists for palms, but I don't think they do or pocket pcs.

[haesslich]

By the way, when I last went to PocketPC Techs, they don't have any 1950 upgrades available... and they do replace the RAM, IIRc. There's also the possibility that your battery life will suffer, especially if the RAM they're using takes up more power than the 1950's original design called for.

The storage isn't a problem - SD cards are cheap. It's the actual executable RAM that you'll have issues with; don't push it too hard, and you won't be too disappointed. But if you read PDFs or run programs which take up a lot of memory... well, expect to be disappointed. Sorry I can't be any more upbeat about it - but I did take mine back, because of the RAM issues.

[friedshrimp]

Thanks guys (gals?) for all the info. Don't know if this would be the right thread for it, but would an hx2495 be a much better machine in terms of having extra RAM and fewer SD Card problems than the rx1955? My biggest concern is that I want to Read Stars & Stripes online which only comes in PDF format and the paper itself is between 6 to 8 megin size, so there is not enough RAM on the rx1955 to do this. One other question, is there another PDF reader (no bells of whistles needed) besides Acrobat??? Again thanks for all the great info! Merry Christmas!!! :)

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Repligo:

http://www.cerience.com/

[haesslich]

I didn't really have any SD card problems with the 1950, but I personally prefer the 2490/95's and 2790/95's increased RAM and storage space. Also, there IS a noticeable difference between that and the Samsung 300MHz processor, especially when waiting for the start menu to load; whether this is due to increased clock speed, or the fact there's more RAM available, I'm not certain.

I've routinely opened up 20-50MB PDF files on the 2490 without issue, myself - I don't see why you'd have a problem with an 8MB one here. One more thing: Repligo converts PDFs to another format, but does a pretty good job doing so. If you don't want to convert the PDFs, stick with Reader for now, since I don't know if you can share those Repligo-converted docs easily.

[friedshrimp]

I've routinely opened up 20-50MB PDF files on the 2490 without issue, myself - I don't see why you'd have a problem with an 8MB one here.


The problem isn't with the hx2495, but with the rx1955. With only 32 Meg RAM (11-13 usable after loading apps) and then Acrobat taking up 8 Meg (does anyone know how much room Repligo takes up in RAM) to run, that would not leave enough room in RAM to open an 8 Meg document. That's why I'm trying to learn enough to see if I should take back the 1955 under the tree to trade in for a 2495. Thanks for all of the help y'all have been providing to an older newbie. :D