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HP iPAQ 1945 Pocket PC

HP iPAQ 1945 Pocket PC

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: iPAq 1945 - the best pocket pc i ever had, and ever known.
Review: This device is fast, light, unexpensive, and have a beatiful screen. It s imposible not to love it... It s faster than most other pocket pc s, even than 400 mhz ones, and there is no lighter or smaller color pda on the market... there is no decent pda of any kind lighter and tinier than this one. And it also has bluetooth, wich combined with a BT cellphonem,is a great thing.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Two days of nothing but frustrations
Review: Had my first experience with Pocket PC/Mobile Windows and it was a total letdown experience. Returned the 1910 after 48 hours. Just couldn't get the thing to work right. First I had to install Outlook to sync -- talking of monopoly! Then the synch wouldn't work. The "wizard" goes "boo boo boo boo boo" as it searches for the USB, even though the USB is right there, it can't find it, so after I went through the trouble to install Outlook, I wasn't able to synch at all. I fumbled like this for an hour to no avail. ... Forget it. Back it goes.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: ActiveSync Problems
Review: I like my iPAQ 1910 very much and am considering the upgrade to the more powerful model. A major drawback for me is that ActiveSync will allow connections to only 2 (two!!) computers. I use my iPAQ with a PC at work, a PC at home, a laptop, and a PC at a 2nd home. It's a hassle each time that I change computers. With Palm, you just have their desktop on any computer and there are no problems. I can't imagine why Microsoft wanted to limit use to two computers. This limitation is something that you should consider before switching from a Palm to an iPAQ.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Best looking PDA but its runs Windoze :(
Review: All the features you want in a small package at an affordable price. It has BT, infrared, SDIO expansion slot, replaceable battery and all the usual feature set you can expect from a Pocket PC.

The PDA is very sexy, has good screen and its slim. Low weight and average battery life for a PPC. But wait its not just looks that matter!

The Windoze OS is a bad idea for handhelds, why do think MSFT keeps changing the OS name every time they release new bloatware? Comparing raw MHz/MB or advertized feature set is not a good idea with PDA's. (8MB on Palm OS does more than 64MB on bloated Windoze.) All the cool features look great for first few weeks and then the PPC gadget might stay in your drawer!

Easy of use, reliability, battery life and intuitive software (like a Nokia) are more important than voice recording, mp3 playback and video. Check out the "Zen of Palm" if you aren't convinced that Palm OS is much better.

If you desperately want a "PC in your Pocket" buy this iPaq, its much better than other PPC clones out there. If this was running Palm OS it would be the best selling PDA in market!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: More drawbacks than advantages
Review: The iPaq 1945, with "Mobile Windows 2003," is an updated version of the landmark 1910 model. The 1910 model was significant in the history of Pocket PCs because it was small and stylish, a first in the PPC world. Unfortunately, the cool factor of the 1910 wore off pretty quickly; I initially loved my 1910 and gave it 5 stars. After two weeks I started getting frequent crashes, and the unit was very slippery and quite uncomfortable to hold, and HP didn't even both to include a case!
The 1945 introduced some new additions, but has one big huge drawback: it uses a Korean-made Sumsung CPU, which implements the ARM architecture at a low speed and also a low cost (to HP, that is). The CPU is reported to generate more heat than Intel offerings, and personally I don't trust a company that makes DVD players that don't last more than 6 months. Anyway, the 1945 is not even that cheap. A faster and better built Zire 71 with more features is cheaper, and since Palm can do videos and music these days, the incentive to get such a half-baked product like the 1945 is pretty small.

Also, even though 64MB of RAM is included, you can still only access about 46MB of it. In my 1910 experience this is actually adequate, unless you want to install Microsoft Reader, Pocket Streets, Money, and other software. PPC software titles tend to be huge (think "bloatware"), so I think going forward if you are buying a PPC, be sure to get at least 64MB of *useable* RAM. Check out Toshiba's e750/e755 offering, which as 96MB of RAM, 32 of which is non-versatile, meaning the content stays on even when the battery completely dies. (The e75x also has wi-fi.)

In terms of additions, the 1945 offers Bluetooth -- but nobody I know uses BT so most of you potential buyers would be paying for something you'll never use (kinda like the mic feature on all the PPCs I've owned...) -- and also SDIO compatibility, something sorely missing in the 1910. A few manufacturers including Toshiba, Sandisk, Lexar, etc. are coming out with SD wi-fi cards (finally), so at least the 1945 can potentially use them. BUT... wi-fi is a battery killer, and the 1945 uses a small-capacity battery. My prediction is on a full charge and at level 2 brightness (out of 5), if you have the wi-fi on, the 1945 won't last for more than 30 minutes. Also note that you cannot use a wi-fi card and SD memory expansion at the same time as the 1945 only has one slot. So a few extra bucks, you'd be much, much better off with a Toshiba e75x model, which has both SD and CompactFlash expansion slots (and built-in 802.11b wi-fi).

While the 1945 is still stylish and kind of "cool," you must keep in mind that its slippery metal surface makes it hard to hold or take out of the case. The application buttons are also stiff. I test-drove a 1945 in a local computer store and was totally unimpressed since none of the complaints I had was addressed at all, including the small and awkward stylus.

Even though I still use my 1910 as my primary PDA, I'm looking to replace it completely (maybe with a Palm, after all these years?), both as a result of disatisfaction with the hardware and some frustrations over the software (no "tap-and-write" calendar appointments, all-too-frequent problems with ActiveSync, constant soft resets, etc, etc.). So my finally thought is, get a Palm if you want something simple and reliable, and if you want a PPC, stay away from this underpowered, ergonomically incorrect 1945 and get a Toshiba e755 instead.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Love the unit but super fragile.
Review: When I started using the HP1945 it was the ultimate timesaver for me, especially the Outlook Contacts. I loved the design and the way it worked. After one week of use, the screen cracked just from being in my shirt pocket, and the unit was useless. I was lucky and able to return it as defective to the store I bought it from, and get a refund. I will be searching for a similar, but sturdier PDA.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Good if no problems, terrible customer service
Review: I bought my IPAQ 1945 in Feb of 2004 and after six months of great use the screen started flickering. I sent it in and was told that "You have spilled water on it and it will cost $190 to replace the screen."(a rude way to put it even if true). I knew it was not true but apparently had no recourse. Either pay up or do without. Now after going six month's without a PDA I'm getting ready to buy another and I just can't make myself get another HP.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Never recieved items!
Review: Don't buy from amazon! They will rip you off!. I never recieved my goods that I paid for and they give me the run around! Save yourself a headache! Go to ebay instead!
Amazon is a rip off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good, but never great; the fatally flawed Clinton of PDA's
Review: The HP1945 is a very good idea, with some serious problems. I've just ordered my third one. The first one lasted a month, the screen cracked, and after arm-twisting, HP replaced it. The second one lasted 14 months. This one is out of warranty, so I didn't bother with HP. It appears that the power supply went and fried the circuit board. (At least the blazingly hot spot on the casing and the near-instantaneous power drain of the lithium cell makes me suspect that.)

So why am I ordering a third one. a) I'm an idiot, b) I'm an optimist, or c) The 1945 just happens to do exactly what you need a PDA to do, perfectly, with no extra baggage?

[sigh] I'm afraid it's all three. This liitle machine is compact, versatile, efficient, and does exactly what I need it to do. Then it breaks far to soon, and really ticks me off.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: experience with iPAQ 1945 model
Review: Regarding the iPAQ 1945:

FWIW: I have been using this iPAQ model with Outlook 2002 and Microsoft ActiveSync with a Windows XP Professional machine for quite some time now (1 year? if forget). Sync'ing is not a problem (reported elsewhere), either with the direct cable or using Bluetooth. Considering how big a pain windows can be in general, there is probably something else going on with the reported problem of windows sync'ing and the iPAQ 1945. I have never had a problem with that feature.

For the price, the device has been a pretty good piece of equipment and I have become addicted to the basic capabilities it provides. If I shopped around some more, I am sure there would be more powerful devices available, but this one is a good price and capability combination.


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