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| Home >> Handheld & PDA Reviews: HP iPAQ hx2795 Pocket PC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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User Submitted HP iPAQ hx2795 Pocket PC Reviews (cont...)Date: 2006-02-18 Excellent device hx2795 - Overall best HP power user device! Pros Great overall value for your money, especially if you buy online. WiFi, Bluetooth, WM5, FAST processor! Cons Not SVGA, but I'm sure this helps the systems current performance! It's FAST! Might be a little pricey, but it fit my needs perfectly, and I'm willing to pay the higher end for a dependable device. The Bottom Line This device suites me perfectly. I understand that everyone has their own needs, but this has everything I need plus more. It's dependable when used as described. Full Review I have searched and read at least 15 websites for reviews on this product, and was not surprised to see several of these web-sites with the same two people giving it a bad review. It's my experience that many people start using the device and critiquing it only when they experience problems, and don't ever decide to consult the user manual to find specific instructions on how to perform the operation they desire. The hx2795 is replacing an old 3600 series iPaq. I generally use mine for GPS related work and the hx2795 has performed better than expected for me. Right out of the box, my battery had 94% battery life, and I used it off and on for two days after I bought it without needing to charge the battery (although the battery may not condition properly if you follow my example). When not using my GPS, and use it moderately throughout the day, I tend to run at 20% battery life left after 3 to 4 days. Once I plug the charger in, it will have a full charge within 3 to 4 hours! My IBM T42p laptop w/ bluetooth made for an easy and wireless ActiveSync. I synced my Outlook 2003 contacts, email, tasks and calendar without any hitch. I'm not sure why other people in the reviews of this device had problems, but as I stated earlier... read the directions. It's in there and tells you exactly how to do it, as well as tells you what to do if you do run into problems. Very detailed instructions, as well as on ActiveSync's website!!! I have a linksys portable wireless router that I was able to configure the hx2795 against. Configuration was quick and trouble free. Internet seemed to be just as fast as using my home desktop computer. I purchased Pocket CoPilot 6 w/ wireless bluetooth GPS receiver, and once again, worked flawlessely right out of the box. Since I have had the device, I have had to soft reset only 5 times within a month and a half. And 2 of the times was because of incompatible Pocket PC 2002 software I was trying to load. This is very comparable to my Palm Treo 650 that I have had for a year as far as soft resets. I did run out of battery a few days back for the first time. I bought a new RhinoSkin leather case and it didn't fit quite right, and was pressing down on one of the keys, leaving it on over night. But the persistent battery kept all my data safe, and didn't need to re-sync all my data. I turned on the key-lock after that incident. Overall, this is a very good purchase! I would do it again. Date: 2005-12-29 Thoughts on switching from Jornada 568 I received a Ipaq HX2795 for Christmas from my Wife. It was a very nice and unexpected present. I have an older Jornada 568 with Stow-away Keyboard, Ethernet CF card, WLAN CF Card, 56K Modem CF Card, Car DC adapter, USB Cradle, USB stand-alone cable, AC adaptor and Spare Li-Po Battery. I have Outlook 2002 installed on my XP machine as required to Sync Contacts with the 568. It was a shortcoming on the part of HP and Microsoft to require an additional duplication of services to junk up the OS with Outlook, when Outlook Express ships with the XP OS. But,I had the Hard Drive space to install it, and it wasn't a requirement that I make it my default email program and bombard my Contact list with an accumulation of nearly 15 years of email addresses. HP now further compounds this shortcoming by using the latest/greatest Active Sync Microsoft application, that not only requires you install Outlook, but now requires it to be the default email program before the Contacts can be sent to and from the IPAQ 2795. Also, the contact information MUST reside in the Contact folder; not a subfolder off of the Contact tree that would facilitate separation of Business contacts from your Email ones. Looking inside the embedded OS, there is the shortcut "poutlook.exe Contacts" which points to the application "poutlook" with the argument "Contacts". Being embedded, there is no way to edit it to point to a subfolder under Contacts that might hold a group of contacts devoted to your PDA(s). With the abundance of "picklist" structures used by Microsoft, there is no excuse to hardcode such a limitation. I am sure someone at Gates Central is still laughing about this timebomb..... So, Now, I have had to make Outlook my default Email program, import everything from Outlook Express, and still retain Outlook Express for my Newsgroup access program; as Outlook doesn't do Usenet. HP support suggest I search the Web for 3rd party software to give flexibility to the contact list to be synchronized with the Ipaq HX2795. I consider Outlook to be 3rd party in that it doesn't ship with the OS. If it won't do the job properly, why should I take the official HP Customer Service suggestion to go to a 3rd party source to correct their shortcomings in accepting the flawed Microsoft application(s). The Wireless B that is built in is almost as good as the Multimedia Sony Clie J37 that I also have with built-in wireless hardware; but no where as good as the CF WLAN card that I use in the Jornada 568. There are constant error messages that the connection has been lost, while the activity icon shows through-put from the wireless connection. I can't comment on the Bluetooth. I would think it would be a positive addition; if I only had a Bluetooth device in my stable of favored geek devices. However, Bluetooth development seems to be slow at best. Like the Jornada 568, the IPAQ 2795 has to have an external AC adaptor connected to enable "USB Charging". Why mislead customers with the promise of USB charging, when it requires a further tether to a power source? I know that the other devices that operate and charge off of the USB port don't require an additional power source to meet their claims of being USB powered. I can only see this as a carry-over from the Compaq Consumer side of the aqquisition. They muddied the water of the Compaq Deskpro fame with the Presario line of disposable PCs, just as HP seems to be using the IPAQ line to discredit the Jornada name. A real shame for the industry to allow this to happen without being litigated out of existence for misleading the public. So, Now I have a $500.00 handheld that doesn't quite live up to the usefulness of the older one that may bring $75.00 on eBay; only because I have the extra accessory items to go with it (which, by the way, won't work with the IPAQ). It may be possible to use the Ethernet CF card on the IPAQ. I haven't looked for drivers to know either way. I suppose I could be gonzo enough to disable the onboard WLAN resources on the IPAQ and try to use the WLAN CF Card. I just don't think I need to further punish myself by trying to get them to work I would recommend this to a first-time buyer who had an extra PC to devote to it as a Active Sync host. For anyone else, I would advise them to beware, and do their homework before purchasing. When you put $500.00 into a PDA, you don't want to have to invent the wheel for Microsoft, and this combo requires you to do just that. HP seems content to pass the problem resolution off on the 3rd party developers, as they and Microsoft just don't have a clue. Date: 2005-12-05 hx 2795 IPAC I wanted to get the IS organizational support for Outlook on the office LAN and switched to Windows PC from a Palm 515. So far, I have found the finger print reader/password feature cumbersome and have quit using it. I now find I was spoiled by Palm. The IPAC is alot less intuitive to use and has alot less third party software (most troublesome being no "Doc's to Go". Search function is harder. No vibrator in lieu of ringer. Doesn't keep reminding you of appointments (catch the first ring). Do like the bluetooth for wireless internet access; works very well. Am still learning; hope my impressions improve. Right now, wish I had studied features more before switching.
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