Need help with choosing an IPAQ

RussWWFC · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 13, 2005 Posts: 8

Hi guys.

Just registered on this forum as I just cant decide what PDA\TomTom bundle to buy from www.totalpda.com

I have narrowed it down to 3

IPAQ3715
IPAQ4700
IPAQ5550

All are Hewlett Packard as far as I can see

I am new to all this PDA lark. Reason I am jumping in is I am pig sick of getting lost and wasting petrol when driving due to the dubious signposting in this country. I need a quick answer - I need to test it this week (Wednesday iff poss) by doing a dummy run as I am going away the week after and have got some pretty tight schedules and cant affored to get lost.

So obvioulsy my mian concern is the Sat Nav side of things.

I'd also like to use it for net surfing and emails (there are limitations obviously) as well as games to keep me entertained.

I'd be possibly using it to show small videos and pictures to friends

I bought this off eBay [link removed by DavidW]

That looks good, I'd like to use it for those sorts of things too.

Thats about it really, just looking for some experienced users to give me some advice. Wanna order it tonight if poss so quick reply would be appreciated.

Appologies if I have upset the status quo in this forum, broken any rules or done anything else to upset someone. I have had the usual "google is your friend" when asking in other places but its been no help to be honest aprt from narrowing it down.

Thanks In Advance

Russ

RussWWFC · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 13, 2005 Posts: 8

Sorry forgot to ask also:

Is it worth £40 for a mount - is it essential or are there better\cheaper options

Will I need an addtional memory card to run tom tom

TIA

Russ

DavidW · Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:34 am Post subject:

Forget the iPAQ h5550; it's an old model that's all but discontinued. If you don't have any expansion packs (which you don't, as a new purchaser), I'd say it's not worth bothering with.

The iPAQ hx4700 is a very nice machine indeed; I'm using one as my main Pocket PC, as is MikeB. The VGA screen is a delight for VGA aware software (which TomTom Navigator 3 is not - but I'd expect the next version of TomTom Navigator to be VGA aware).

However, the hx4700 is not cheap. The rx3715 may do all you want. I think, in time, the iPAQ hx2410 will be a good choice for many, but it's new on the market and is still commanding a premium price (my personal feeling is that the iPAQ hx2110 is a touch underspecified).

You will need a memory card for your maps; a minimum of 128MB is required, 256MB is the smallest I'd recommend. If this isn't included in any bundle you buy, it shouldn't cost much.

A good mount, such as a Brodit mount is well worth the money, in my opinion. Use something cheap that doesn't hold your Pocket PC well, and your £400 system can hit the floor. I use a Brodit mount on a Brodit ProClip in my Zafira.

Any of the iPAQs mentioned should be more than capable of running the wealth of Pocket PC software that is available - though the less said about that eBay auction, the better, as it appears (from the screen shots in the advert) that some of the software supplied is commercial software that you have to register (SoftMaker's PlanMaker and OmegaOne's Battery Pack are just two I recognise). Either the software supplied on the DVD are trial versions, or they're supplied in contravention of the copyright holder's rights. I have no way of telling, but just to be sure I've removed the link from your post.

Pocket PC is quite capable 'out of the box', and most third party software is not expensive. I think, apart from navigation software, I've only got two applications that I paid more than about £15 for. You can get some excellent software for less than US$20 plus VAT from the likes of Handango - and the exchange rates are very favourable at present (so much so that I keep on using the US Handango site rather than handango.co.uk!).

David

RussWWFC · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 13, 2005 Posts: 8

Thanks for that. I was deliberating between those 3 until I went out the checkout and added VAT

In the end I got this one

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5751571198.

Got all I need and comes as one so no hassle with checking which bits work with which

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