Product: HP iPAQ rx3715
URL: http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/essn/prodserv/handheld.html

Design and Build Quality:

 

Ok Let's start, the design of this pda is fairly square, a big change from my old Zire 72, it's also a big design change from the old 1900 series.
It's all made of plastic, good quality one, and feels really solid.
The build quality is really good, the only place that squeaks is the top, where the IR, SD slot and power button are located.

The main problem with the unit is the really small d-pad and buttons, if you don't play games, well it's almost perfect, but it's too cramped playing games that use 3 or more buttons.

 

Specs and Performance

 

This unit doesn't come with the standard PXA270 series processor that you can find in almost any other new pda, instead HP chosed the new Samsung S3C 2440 processor 400MHz., is not a PXA, but it's compatible with almost all programs for ARM/PXA, the only ones that don't work are the CPU Tweaking apps.

As I read somewhere HP decided to go with the Samsung CPU because it provides a really good Performance - Battery Consumption ratio, of that I'm sure, the unit feels really fast, I just compared it with some other PPC's like the Dell Axim X50 midrange with a 520MHz. processor, and really I couldn't see any real difference, maybe a 624MHz. processor would be faster, but this Samsung S3C 2440 handles everything I throw at it, even DivX compressed at 600-700kb/s, and that's really impressive, at least for me!

The unit comes with a total of 192mb, 64 mb of RAM and 128 of ROM, of this 192mb, 152mb are available for the user, at least that's what they say, after hard resetting the device you have 56.66mb of RAM available and 96.66 of iPAQ Storage (ROM) available. From those 56.66 of RAM you need at least 10mb as a Program Memory and I really recommend having at least 20mb, so that leaves you around 36mb available for storing your main apps, those that need to be installed in the Main Memory (Wisbar Advance, SPB Pocket Plus...).

One thing you need to remember with PPC apps, some of the like Pocket Informant can be installed in the ROM or Storage Card, but it installs part of it automatically to the Main Memory, for example I installed PI in the iPAQ File Store, but it automatically installed around 2mb to the Main Memory. Almost all the Input software, Today Plugins and System utilities need to be installed to the Main Memory, this is one of the problems that in theory Microsoft will solve in the new Microsoft Windows Mobile 2005.

BTW for all of you that are making the Palm - PPC transition, PPC apps need way more storage space than Palm, 64mb probably equals to something around 24 mb in a Palm.
The good thing is that you can install apps to the iPAQ File Store, and they run without any problem, although a bit slower that running from RAM. Another thing you need to remember is that this iPAQ File Store survives battery drains and Hard Resets, something that the T5 doesn't do!
Anyway, if you're buying a PPC remember that you'll need a fairly big Storage Card, 512 - 1 gb recommended.

 

Battery

The battery is a standard 1440mah Li-ion Polymer, well, not really standard as the average battery size is 900-1100mah!
Let me tell you something, the battery life of this unit is impressive, playing mp3's from the SD with the screen of it lasted me 12h, and it's a new unit! I got a 7 hours 43 minutes using Spb Benchmark, and that's rather high for a PPC.
Playing DivX videos using BetaPlayer it lasts 5-6 hours with the backlight at 65%.
As I said, IMPRESSIVE, HP really got this right!!!

 

Screen

 

I switched to PPC from a PalmOne Zire72, and let me tell you, this screen is way nicer that the 320x320 I used with the Z72, first of all, this unit has a perfect Brightness range, it's bigger and using ClearType is so easy to read that it makes it one of the best ebook reader you can get. The screen displays colors fairly accurately, it doesn't have the yellow tint that some other iPAQ's have and the sensitivity is almost perfect.

One thing, this unit comes with Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, so that means that it has a on-the-fly Portrait/Landscape capabilities, reading ebooks in Landscape mode is a really amazing good way to read, and trust me I read a lot!

 

 

Connectivity

 

Ok guys, this baby has all you need, BT, Wi-Fi and ConsumerIR. The only thing it doesn't have is Host USB, but well, that's not that important anyway.

The BT range is average, I can connect to my laptop from 5-6 meters without problems, speeds are average for BT (slow) so I only recommend it if you want to use a BT cellphone to go online.

Wi-Fi, that's all we wanted form the T5, well Wi-Fi and Cobalt, the range is really good, considering that it has no external antenna, it has almost the same range as my D-Link 650+ PCMCIA card for the laptop, and that really good. It has good transfer rates, I can stream a 600-700kb/s DivX video from my desktop to the unit without problems! I really like using Wi-Fi for syncs, it's faster than USB and allows me to sync from anywhere in my house.
(NOTE: Surfing the web using Wi-Fi uses a lot of power, I can surf for 4 hours without problems, so it's not that bad, 20-25% per hour)

The ConsumeIR is a bless, I can control my TV, Hi-Fi and DVD player from 6-7 meters without problems, and HP included one of the best Remote Controler softs avaliable, Nevo!

BTW, setting up a Wi-Fi or BT connection is really easy with the included iPAQ Wireless app included, and when I say really easy I mean really easy even for a newbie!

Digital Camera

 

The included 1.2MP camera takes photos with a max res. of 1024x768 and videos in 2 formats: motion JPEG and H.263.
Photo quality is really good for a PDA, something comparable to the Sony NZ90 camera.

I had no problems whatsoever taking photos with direct sunlight, under low light, well, is a PDA camera. The included soft for taking photos is really good, something that Palm should really learn.

It also includes a PhotoViewer app. that can perform some low level editing.

 

 

Accessories

 

Included in the package it comes, a new Cradle, I think is called Universal cradle and it will be used by all the new iPAQ's, you can remove the part that holds the unit and change it for another one that fits the new iPAQ, a very neat solution, that also means that the connectors are compatible. BTW it also looks good!

Also included is a travel charger, you can use it to charge the unit through the cradle or as a standalone charger, it includes the necessary adaptor.

This unit is nicknamed Mobile Media Companion, so it includes a set of earbuds, well, they are free so don't expect really good quality, they are average, sound is not too bad, but the low quality cable makes it a bit uncomfortable.

 

Software

 

Included in the package there's 2 cd's, one for your PPC and the other for the desktop. This is the soft included: Nevo, PocketTV, IPAQ Audio, IPAQ Backup, IPAQ File Store, IPAQ Image Zone, Bluetooth Manager, IPAQ iTask Manager, Microsoft Pocket Word, Microsoft Pocket Excel, Microsoft Pocket Outlook, Microsoft Pocket Internet Explorer and the most important of all iPAQ Mobile Media, this app lets you stream video and music via Wi-Fi from your desktop to your PPC, very neat, the problem? well you can only stream unprotected WMA and WMV files so I didn't even installed in my computer.
Actually you can do that without any app anyway, as simple as using an app to show you Network as a folder, I used Resco Explorer to do that, reset and then open the video or music player and select My Network, inside the folder you should be able to see the shared HD's and folders of your network, select the file and play, easy and it works really well.

Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition

 

I've used both OS from almost the start, I started with a Cassiopeia E-10 (Windows CE 2.0) and a Palm III, so I have been using PDA for some years now, I used Palm for the last 2 years and making the switch wasn't an easy decision. PalmOne lets us down with the T5 and with Sony out there wasn't much choice for a connected PDA using Palm, I love the TH55, but it's harder and harder to get one.

I used some early versions of the PocketPC OS and I was really disappointed with it, I really thought a lot about going with PPC, but one thing I really need to tell you, WM2003Se is a really good OS, it may be more complicated, a bit more crash prone and slow opening apps (that's not really the case if the apps are in the Main Memory) but it's more configurable, has better expansion capabilities and once you get used to it and grab the necessary apps (Wisbar Advance, JournalBar or SPB PocketPlus) I find it easier to use.

I use my PDA for Contacts/Calendar, reading ebooks and WWW when I don't want to carry the laptop, and WM2003Se really surprised me, it's not only ClearType and Landscape, Palm has this options too, but it's a more flexible OS that I'm starting to like a lot.
The iPAQ only crashed on me twice, once because an app not designed for WM2003Se and the other cause I messed up the registry, it's fairly stable and once you have it set up as you want it rocks!

I was afraid of loosing apps I use a lot, but I found options the same or even better for them, the included PocketWord is c***, I ended using TextMaker, it performs as well as DTG and when you read the files using Word it's almost a perfect conversion. Pocket Informant is a beautiful Calendar/Contact/Task app, and I like it as much as I liked Agendus.

For reading I have even more options than with Palm, Mobipocket, eReader, iSilo, RepliGo, TeamOne Reader etc. I can read this formats without any conversion: MHT, CHM, PDF, ZIP, PDB, PRC, JSP, CGI, PHP, ASP, XEB, XML, SHTML, SHTM, HTML, HTM, H, CPP, C, and TXT, a big bonus for me!

As for WWW I have all I need with Netfront with JV and and WebIS for emails. And this apps perform better than any other Palm app I ever tried.

For music apps I really got to love PocketPlayer it's as good as Pocket Tunes but with a better EQ.
An added bonus is the ability to watch DivX compressed at 600-700kb/s, I can watch them directly from my Desktop (Using Wi-Fi) or dump them into my SD without any kind of conversion!

 

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Pros: Speed, Connectivity, Battery and Camera.
Cons: Price, no 128mb of RAM and no VGA if you need them of course

I really recommend this unit if you don't need VGA but you want a reliable unit with WorldWide Warranty. If you need all this but more memory check the HP iPAQ 2750.

If you're looking for a fast unit, with lot's of connectivity, AMAZING BATTERY LIFE, goodies, camera, you don't mind the price and need an International Warranty this is your unit. If you don't need the camera, can get along with a smaller battery and don’t need this kind of warranty go for a Dell X30 or X50.

 

 

Halo_gps