HP iPAQ RX3715 Pocket PC

Rating:
Summary: Great product from HP...a bit misunderstood by other users
Review: I bought mine on Dec 31st 2004. This pocket pc is a very useful gadget from HP. The still camera works great for a 1.2 mega pixel but good lighting is needed for optimal results. I've read the other user's reviews on this product and I think they expected too much from the 1.2 mega pixel camera. The built-in camera is meant for online or device viewing and not for quality picture printing.

I haven't got the chance to rip some DVDs yet but when I connected to the my wireless network, I watched movie trailers and I cannot believe the quality of the picture at 300kb stream rate. Connecting to my wireless network was a breeze as well. Today I installed a network printer to my Ipaq rx3715 and it worked great. All that is required to connect a network printer is the printer IP address and its name. No need to install any drivers for HP printers.

The media player has great quality stereo sound with headphones or external speakers. The bass and treble can be adjusted for personal preference...which is a good feature.

The PDA functionality is very good especially the transcribe feature which allows the user to handwrite on the screen and then it turns in type-written letters. This feature saves you the hassle of typing in the letters from a keyboard.

The battery life lasts 6-7 hours on the average use time including surfing the net with wi-fi. The battery charges fast with or without connecting to a USB port.

There are a lot more features I haven't had the chance to try yet, but in a nutshell this pocket pc is a great buy at $499 US.

Rating:
Summary: I'm Loving This Expensive Thing
Review: I bought this a couple of days ago at the store. Trust me, I did my running around trying to decide which PDA to buy. I was not really wanting to spend five hundred dollars on a thingamajig, but after trying it out, I loved it. I went to all of the big stores, and this was the one I kept on coming back to this one. Let me explain why I picked this one.

1. You get a decent amount of memory and it comes with one of those cards with a 100MBS on it...I put 2 albums worth of songs, and guess what--that's fine. I wanted the IPOD before this, and really, I don't need to have a thousand songs. I don't have a thousand songs worth listening to anyway! The sound quality is perfect. You can also buy portable speakers and it'll sound great.
2. It was easy to work with. I fully personalized mine with my photos and changed the theme. It's really like a beautiful tiny computer that's fast and easy to use.
3. If I was going to shell out the dough, I actually enjoy feeling the weight and quality. It looks and feels good in the hand. I did't want something that felt like a cheap calculator, other pda feel this way. BUT some prefer the lightness too. I don't.
4. The camera. Listen, I knew the camera wasn't all that. It's similar to most camera phones. There's no flash! But I like that there is a camera b/c if I'm in class and I don't feel like drawing a diagram, tada, I can take that picture! I'm not going to depend on this camera for my vacation pics. Duh. I have my nice 3MP camera for that. Its just great for those times that you wish you can take a quick snap. Especially living around New York. You see some crazy stuff at times that nobody believes you if you try to explain it. LOL
5. It's a voice recorder...did I say that I was a student??? I wish I had this a long time ago. This a great feature.
6. As for battery life, I've used this for two days w/o charging, the battery is still has ten more hours to go.
7. There's a cradle which connects you to your pc and it's internet connection.

500 dollars sounds like a lot, but you'll end up buying sd cards and cradles, which add up! Plus, this will be able to use longer that those models that are soon to go obsolete.

The only thing that I wish were better:
-I wish there was a better case included--It's an excercise each time to pull it off. But, come on...

Go for it...the other ones, you'll regret a few month from now when you see what features you're missing out on.




Rating:
Summary: Buy a Sharp 6000L instead, better specs, keyboard and screen
Review: If your're going to throw all this money at a handheld, you should seriously consider the Sharp 6000L...With built-in WIFI, USB Host support, SD and CF and an amazing 4 inch screen, all that plus a keyboard built-in (of course it supports any USB keyboard as well.)

All I ever hear about these units is how much they lock up. I gave up on IPAQs a while ago, switched to linux based 6000L and never looked back. In the review they talk about watching a movie on the SD card, well, thro a 5GB Microdrive in the 6000L and watch abpout 12 full length movies.

Do yourself a favor, take a look at the 6000L first before going the IPAQ route...You may find the IPAQ is still more your style and that's cool. But I am betting you'll not only find the 6000L a better PDA...you'll probably stop needing your notebook as well.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent do a bit of everything device
Review: In the past I have used a Palm device and wasn't sure Pocket PC was for me - well, it is. After a few hours of checking out all of the features it's clear that this device can do a lot more than any Palm. Everything is customizable. The on screen keyboard is nice, the handwriting recognition is very good (even with my messy script). The camera is great for outdoor shots. My first day I encountered the lock-up mentioned previously but it's fixed easily - if you close applications through the settings icon. Hasn't locked up since. Memory set up allows you to switch items out of the main system memory which also will prevent lock ups. Great little device that does more than I expected. The universal remote feature is very useful, even if you lost your original remotes long ago. The wireless media capabilities are beyond my needs so can't comment. Highly recommend this device for those wanting a bit of everything. Hard cases (mandatory to protect the screen) are available online.

Rating:
Summary: Fix the camera, then its a winner
Review: Just what I needed and yes it does lock up fairly often. But my real gripe is that this camera is almost useless. The light level is non-existent, and even well lit images are VERY dark. No combination of setting seems to overcome it (for the first week, I kept looking at the front lens wondering if a protective film was there). I do not have another unit to compare with, but this is bad. The WiFi works fine, and as a media player (the market niche for this unit) I have no complaints. Screen brightness is sufficient, and battery life is enough for a very long day. But oh that camera.

Rating:
Summary: Goes with me everywhere.
Review: Seriously, I use my iPAQ to keep track of everything from my work schedule to my grocery lists.

The camera isn't tops, but what do you want from a 1.3MP cam with no optical zoom? If you're relying on this as your primary camera you really just don't get it. The cam is fine for quick shots and I've taken some photos that have turned out quite well.

I highly suggest downloading Theme Generator from Microsoft's website as the themes that come with it are, as with most stock desktop wallpapers, pretty boring. Or you can download some from www.pocketthemes.com - they have a wide variety.

The universal remote feature is pretty cool. I have both the living room and my office programmed in. It doesn't cover every make and model though. I haven't been able to access the DVD player in my office with it. But it is fun randomly turning off my unsuspecting friend's TV or stereo.

I highly recommend picking up a SD memory card, especially if you want to use the iPAQ as a music/video player. The full screen feature on WMP is nice and makes viewing videos a nicer experience. The speaker(s?) isn't terribly loud, but you don't have to strain to hear it unless you're in a noisy environment. The headphones sound much better.

The Today screen is customizable. I keep the date/time, my upcoming calendar events and tasks list on mine.

The web browser doesn't handle text wrapping well on some pages and having to scroll back and forth to read on pages where it doesn't reformat is annoying, but it is a 3.5" screen after all. It works fine for short web-surfing sessions.

Having Bluetooth is nice as well. Up until now, the built in Bluetooth in my Apple Powerbook was going unused. It won't work with iSync like Palm OS devices will but I can still sync my Address Book contacts and copy small files back and forth.

The cradle now has a permanent home in front of my LCD monitor on my desk so I can drop it in whenever I get home and update the synced files on my PC.

Rating:
Summary: Nice item, excelent screen but locks up more than the 4150
Review: This is a nice device and I would of given the 5 star but for the form factor and the fact that it locks up quite frequently I gave the 4 star, the camera is quite good, in fact it is much better than I expected considering that this is a pda, speed is also good. I replaced my 4150 for this one and for what I can tell you is that this device has many more functions, more memory and better backlight than the 4150, however the 4150 is more stable, lets wait if the HP guys release a rom update to fix the glitches that cause this.
P.S. The Remote control is awesome!!!! overall Its a good pda but still not excelent.

Rating:
Summary: too expensive overall
Review: This is a smart device if you have the money for it.

the good:
'intelligent' remote - setting it up is a breeze.
user friendly
stylish and compact, you can keep in your pocket all day.

the bad:
baaddd camera, you won't want 2 record happy memory with this.
stream video is kinda of silly since the screen is small.
stream music is cool but only supports wmv!

bought from amazon, referred by http://www.whosave.com. Hope my review helps you.

Rating:
Summary: iPAQ H3715.. Nice little machine
Review: This is an attractive little machine, wireless internet and email works without a hitch, and with real player mobile installed i could stream radio over the internet. The screen is clear and responds well to the stylus.
I found the handwriting recognition to be rather poor, though my handwriting is unclear to people too. Sound comes over well on external speakers, with a 1 gig memory card it becomes a mini jukebox, and again works rather well.
As a personal user (i.e. this is my toy) its fun, it runs games well, and has usefully reminded me of my appointments e.t.c.. Bit pricey really, but in my opinion well worth the money.

Rating:
Summary: A nice package with the extras included
Review: This was my PocketPC after being a Palm user for 3 generations. I think the reason most people have problems with lockup is that they don't actually "close" the application. Like a mini-PC, it can multitask, and having 4 or more apps open at a time can cause the device to freeze. However, once you figure out how to actually close and unload apps from memory (which, admittedly, isn't intuitive) my lockup programs are no more. I keep, at most, 3 apps in memory that I'm currently using.

What is nice is that a lot of the extras are included, that is, you're not buying "extra" things which should be included. You get a real cradle for syncing and charging. Windows Media Player plays mp3s (with playlists) and video out-of-the-box. Some other manufacturers will say their device does video, but you get trial software that is limited to 15 seconds and must buy other software to convert to a proprietary format. You get a real internet browser, POP and IMAP mail access, programmable remote control (that works!), and other full feature software.

Yes, the camera is poor (despite being a megapixel). A bit better than your average camera phone. Pictures in bright sunlight turn out acceptable. Video clips, however, are actually decent (maybe I have a lower expectation of quality?).

I have sloppy writing as well, but have had no problems once I configure the software as such. Once you tell it which ways you commonly write your letters, it does fine. It is a time-consuming process but is worth the effect. You can even tell it which way your writing slants (I'm left-handed, so I had low expectations). Now I can write in my half-print-half-cursive writing with high accuracy.

Overall, it's a decent device and has lots of cool features that any tech-geek would like.