There was the time of the diaries, indispensable tool to bring to mind appointments and informations about the people to meet. Today we
are in the era of PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), called also Pocket PC or Palmtop Computer,
because of the reduced dimensions and the higher calculation power.
Using a PDA projects us in a new way to organize our engagements:
We can use the voice to fix a thought to remember; take notes with a pen and create documents with big ease;
we can freehand draw little sketches; listen the music; look films; install programs...
But the actual power of these micro computers is the capacity to exchange data and synchronize them with their older brothers (the fixed computers) and the company and domestic networks:
a function that makes any paper support, a piece of antique trade.
The dialogue takes place with the classical USB interface, the infrareds, the Bluetooth technology for short distances. To communicate longer distances and exceed the barriers of
walls and buildings is used the Wi Fi, a wireless technology to connect the mobile device to
wide computer networks. The following review illustrates one of these models, a PDA
always on-line!
INSTALLATION
The open box, shows the first operations to perform in a clear way:
inserti and charge the Lithium battery, turn on the PDA, install the provided software.
Together with the iPAQ is supplied the AC power supply, the
USB cable, the battery, a fabric case of good quality, the
software CD. The instructions manual is intelligible with clear
graphical references.
The insertion of the battery is simple as for a cellular phone. The solution with removeable battery , allows the replacement in case of breakdown and the upgrade to
a "high capacity" model for whom needs greater autonomy. A
little attention goes in opening and closing the plastic lid,
provided with splines for fixing.
The power supply must be inserted in the suitable housing of the interface connector. This solution allows to connect it to the fixed PC and simultaneously keep in charge the
PDA.
Is strongly suggested to make a complete charge, before using the iPAQ.
Subsequently we will be able to connect the charger anytime; the Lithium battery
does not fear memory effect as on the old Ni-Mh models. The
duration of the battery changes on the basis of the user's habits:
with the Wi-Fi always on and a moderate use of the display,
is possible to complete the working day without recharge needings.
At the first activation, the operating system is loaded. At
the end of this phase, the original desktop personalized by HP
is shown.
The 300MHz CPU Samsung SC32442 (compatible with ARM and Xscale) and the 96 MB of total memory, supply adequate power for a productive use of the PDA. But
let's see the device closely.
GLOBAL VIEW
The PDA iPAQ rx 1950, presents with a sober and elegant design.
Compact dimensions (114 x 71 mm, 14 mm of thickness) and weight of only 125 grams,
make it a comfortable object to put in the breast-pocket or in the 24 hours bag. The
switch button is protected against casual activations by relief guide. The quick
access buttons are easy to reach and have a pleasant feedback. The position of the
pen is optimum, simpleto extract also with very short nails. Microphone and
earphone exit are in top of the case allowing to listen and registering with the device in the breast-pocket
of the jacket.
The SD card memory slot has also a correct position for future expansions. On the side there are the button to activate the vocal recorder and the blind button for
soft reset (to re-boot the system). This last one is pressed with the nib of the
pen.
The infrared port, located nearby the interface connector, allows to operate with the
PDA in front of us, useful when we use an outside keyboard. An excellent example is the Stowaway:
http://www.thinkoutside.com/products/elerbye/stowawayir_product.html
SCREEN, BUTTONS, SIGNAL LEDs
The touch screen is a transreflective TFT type, with resolution of 240x320 pixel (QVGA that is Quarter VGA, a fourth of the classical 640x480) and
LED backlighting. Brightness and colour fidelity are state-of-the-art, with a
good lateral visibility and a perfect uniformity on all the panel. Even in outside the display is well visible thanks to the
transreflective system, that uses the sunlight together with the backlighting. The precision of the
touch screen is excellent, especially after executing the alignment procedure.
NOTES:
- When we use writing recognition or freehand drawing, is a good practice to hold vertical the
pen for maximum precision.
- The selection and the opening of display objects is obtained with a little pen
tap. Keeping the pen pressed, it's shown a contextual menu for icons and objects. After a minimum training the lack of the mouse
is not a problem anymore.
The 5 silver buttons (four frontals and one lateral) shows carved the principal functions, but they are completely programmable. They have two activation modes:
"short pressure" and "long pressure". For instance if we press for a couple of seconds the
calendar button, the screen rotation is obtained. Even when the PDA is off, the pressure
of a button, activates the display on the selected function. The joypad allows
the navigation of the documents and the confirmation of the choice, with the central key.
The two LEDs placede near to the power button, signals the activation of the Wi-Fi (blue
left LED), the recharge of the battery (orange colour right LED) and the diary
alerts (green colour right LED).
SOFTWARE ON BOARD
The operating system is the new Windows Mobile version 5, a step ahead in terms of operating stability and
ease of use. Further informations at the link:
http://www.microsoft.com/italy/windowsmobile/default.mspx
In the following images we can notice the task manager (to manage and stop the programs in execution) and the
button configuration utility, easy to set up.
The more important novelty is the "persistent memory", that is the possibility of managing the Flash ROM
memory, that does not cancel its data even if the battery is completely low. Finally a sure system
to preserve the precious files of our digital assistant. 64 MB
of ROM (35 for the user) and 32 MB of RAM are available, used for
fast operations, the same way it happens in PCs.
Among the characteristic functions of the new system, the possibility of rotating the visualization from
vertical to horizontal, very comfortable for tables and presentations.
HP has personalized the operating ambient with big effectiveness. The desktop iPAQ Entertainment, allows an easy access to the principal functions of relaxation and multimedia.
The user can modify the desktop appearance to show numerous elements grouped on the
same screen and accessible with the pen.
Thanks to the programs Word Mobile and Excel Mobile, is possible to create and show Microsoft Office's documents.
Is also available PowerPoint Mobile visualizer.
The software to organize the pictures is simple but effective. It has numerous functions:
execute a presentation on-the-fly, cut and correct the exposure of pictures, send
an e-mail with enclosed photography, ecc.
The navigation with Internet Explorer Mobile is fast even with rich graphics pages. The browser
has some functions to make readable also the Web sites not optimized for mobile devices. The possibility of rotating the screen further improves the vision of the Web.
On the forehead of the message management is provided an excellent e-mail client, simple to set up, with support for Exchange 2003 servers.
Who wanted to examine in detail the topic can go to the link:
http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/evaluation/bettertogether/bt_mobile.mspx
To be noticed the support to MSN, in the version Pocket: Messenger and Hotmail are fully supported for an easy access to the Community of Microsoft.
SOFTWARE TO INSTALL
The supplied CD, contains some useful programs and information about the product.
Insert it in the PC and follow the instructions.
ActiveSync 4.0 is fundamental to manage the device to the best and install
additional software. With Outlook (provided in version 2002) is possible to synchronize e-mail, contacts and appointments between fixed computer
and the iPAQ.
READ THE BOOKS ON PDA
The PDA is a perfect object to read documents, but can show also real electronic books.
The e-books are very diffuse over Internet and they are available in numerous formats. The format proposed by Microsoft is interesting for the function
provided and the copyright protection. To show electronic books in Microsoft Reader
format (.lit extension) is necessary to install the Reader on the PDA. It can be
downloaded from this link, where are also supplied the instructions:
http://www.microsoft.com/reader/it/downloads/ppc.asp
Once installed the Reader, put the e-books in the memory of the Pocket PC and they
can read in a rich of functions environment. Is possible to highlight the text, create a bookmark
and even draw with the pen on the electronic pages of the book!
At the following link can be found free books for Microsoft Reader:
http://www.microsoft.com/reader/downloads/dictionaries.asp
ON THE NET WITHOUT WIRES!
Wireless networks (WLAN, Wireless Local Area Network) called briefly Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity)
allows to connect mobile devices to the Internet, the e-mail, the data present a computer network. This characteristic is fundamental to use the numerous
net services, without the limit of a cable or a fixed position.
The Wi-Fi of iPAQ rx 1950 is of the kind 802.11b, with internal antenna and
encryption system (to avoid not authorized accesses to the net.) The connection speed
reach 11 MB/s theoretical, a lightning compared with UMTS or EDGE systems.
To access the net, you just need to press the relative button and follow the simple indications of iPAQ Wireless
application. Realizing a connection is made simple by the program personalized by HP. After setting up the
encryption password (net key) it begins the wireless network access search and established the connection.
Is possible to manage multiple configurations of network access,
among which the VPN (Virtual Private Network,) used to connect to the company net by any
Hot Spot (the Hot Spots, called also Access Points, gives the access to
the Internet for Wi-Fi devices).
The stability of the connection has always revealed perfect, even in presence of interferences or numerous
Wi-Fi apparatuses in the same area.
FREEHAND WRITING AND NOTES
Text documents can be written with the classical on screen keyboard or with the writing recognition. This
input method, makes more natural the approach to the PDA and works with good results thanks to the automatic suggestions to complete the words.
The
Notes has a further modality, the possibility of doing splashes and designs: the maximum of the expression freedom! The graphic files of the notes are memorized in vectorial format (produced by mathematical formulae) with .pwi
extension (Ink Writer/Notes taker.) They can be read with Microsoft Word and
resized without quality loss.
Vocal Notes are registered in the .wav format (audio wave) of Windows, with PCM
monophonic audio (8 bit, 11 KHz.) The sensitivity of the microphone is remarkable, adjustable on 8 levels, with a good isolation from the ambient noise.
REPRODUCTION OF VIDEOS
The new Media Player version 10, can reproduce video standard WMV (Windows
Media Video) with great fidelity and audio MP3. The possibility of organizing the multimedia
libraries and the management of the copyright make this player a modern solution.
Who wants to look films in DivX or MPEG1, will have to install a specific software, as the excellent TCMP, available free of charge to the address:
http://tcpmp.corecodec.org/
In the illustrations we can see the difference among the different visualization modes. The possibility of rotating the screen guarantees a perfect vision
of 16:9 videos.
CONCLUSIONS
A Pocket PC with excellent characteristics, light and reliable. The new OS Windows Mobile 5 increases the stability and the multimedia vocation of this device, with interesting functions personalized by the builder.
We feels the lack of the Bluetooth connectivity, point of convergence with the cellular telephony, present on other models (as iPAQ hx2495) of superior
level. Probably a strategic choice to place iPAQ rx1950 to the center of the
Wi-Fi world, a world where the experience and the quality of HP means mobility always on-line.
The review was published on the portal Tom' Hardware s Guides Italy to the following link:
