HP iPaq hx2750

May 15, 2005 12:49

4.5/5
I've had my ipaq for a little over a week now, and am simply amazed. Yes, I admit this is my first real PDA (and what a PDA at that), but after reading countless reviews and forums before I made the purchase, I can safely say that I'm highly satisfied.

The 2750 sports the fastest processor in the PDA market, hands down. Along with 256mb of memory (128mb RAM, 128 ROM), this combination makes for the fastest PDA out there (even against models with the same processor). I have had no unecessary lag times with running applications (at least not anything non-Windows related). Any problems I've had have been windows related, and even at that they're few and far between. The wireless 802.11b is a fantastic feature. Connectivity is NOT compromised and the networking runs smoothly. The security on the devise is astounding (AES and many other industrial encryption techniques). The fingerprint bootup beats the hell out of a password, and is top notch.

The screen on the 2750 may not be VGA, but I find it quite sufficient. VGA is all fun and games, as it doesn't contribute to the functionality of the PDA. It drains the battery faster and uses up more memory. Don't get me wrong, it's extremely visually appealing, but the QVGA on this model does a damn good job.

So far this model has worked extremely well, but like every PDA, has experienced a blip every once in a while that requires a soft reset.

- jcazes

October 2, 2005 07:44
Excellent
2.0/5
I've had the 2755 (it's the 2750 but that extra '5' denotes it as consumer rather than corporate-designated) for over a month.

I had originally looked at other products, spending over a week reading up on features, 'official' reviews, and user reviews (the latter I find the most valuable and especially when many users report the same problems)... but iPaq offered the most features. For some slanderous comments made by their previous CEO, I was more than reluctant to remain a HP customer. But I did. No other brand came close in terms of functionality and solid feel. And having a solid feel is important... and as much as I want to engage in name-dropping, I shall not.

The first 2755 I got kept doing spontaneous crashes and hard resets so I got an exchange right away. No big deal, these things can happen (though not often).

But, let's get to the gritty nitty:

Pluses:
* CPU: 623MHz CPU is great for those special little games I've played. That and the entire PDA usually does not run sluggishly...
* Security. This is nice as, should it fall into the wrong hands, security can be set up to remain in effect after a HARD reset. The device becomes worthless if security is configured as such. This is very nice.
* BIOS: Mine came with the June 10, 2005 release. This was nice as updating the BIOS on PDAs can be a chore.
* While the screen is smaller than that of the 3900 series, it otherwise maintains the usual quality. (though by now I thought PocketPC would have caught up with Palm resolution and crispness, but that's reserved for the overpriced 4700 model, I guess.)
* RAM: 128MB of usable RAM is a delight. The spacious iPaq store doesn't come amiss either.
* SD and CF slots, that can be used at the same time I've read, allow for a wealth of expansion (and this 2755 also has wifi and bluetooth integrated if you need those, so both slots are open for your use). And as these were designed so they wouldn't affect the unit's size, I'm more than impressed here.
* Battery: Nice size and they sell a larger size as well, though for my needs the 1600mah one that comes with it is quite sufficient.

Here's where I'm knocking off the points:

* Battery: The larger size battery requires its own special door and as such relegates all of those nice metal/padded cases to becoming overpriced paperweights. *grr*. Surely HP could have spent a little more money on the design (or would that lead to a $700 product for the rest of us)?
* Security. Actually, it's solid with its fingerprint reader. The real problem is, when you enable security, you're going to get lots of needless "Error -100... Do a soft reset." error messages. I have to soft-reset at least once a day because of this.
* Sluggishness: If I do not do a reset after getting the -100 error, I can readily see memory leaks and there is a big performance problem. This is bad.
* Power: When plugged into the cradle, the thing turns on of its own accord - and when you power it off, it's going to turn itself on again after a few minutes. As such I've changed the backlight configuration to turn off even when connected as I don't want it prematurely burnt out thanks to another HP mistake.
* More on power, a new problem has recently surfaced: When I am holding the device and am done with it, I press the power button. It will power off, but 2 milliseconds later it will power back up directly to the Today screen (bypassing that juicy security). After re-pressing Power about 10 times, it will finally behave and power off.

Now for a related side-note: Corporations often use offshoring, saying Americans have no right to a job and that American workers are uneducated. They even say this is done to lower costs (yet have you seen any prices for computer-related items drop lately? Nope, they keep going up). The previous HP exec was scathing in some remarks. And judging by the faults of the 2755, it's safe to say that the offshored workers aren't much brighter. (anyone knows offshoring is done for executive profiteering alone. And the American worker has seen this, hence the big drop-off in attendance and even registration for IT-related education.)

But I digress. While the 2755 is a lower cost than the 3900 series, it's lower by only a factor of $100 (street price), as the 3900 series sold for $600. And most of that is due to the last 2.5 years where RAM and other component prices have dropped; so the price drop is solely peripheral.

In short, the 2755 is a POTENTIALLY great product that has a solid feel, but there are some serious bugs in its selling-point features, and other issues that should have been addressed from the start. My 3900 was far more reliable (until it died back in August...) Particularly with all the posturing and excuses the company has made regarding offshoring and other related issues.

Wait for HP to send out a BIOS fix for the aforementioned problems (not requiring the purchase of Windows Mobile 2005 OS 'upgrade' either) and possibly a price drop as well, and it will be worth the money. But, right now, it's overpriced and will be a cause of annoyance.

- dslaw

June 15, 2005 04:22

4.0/5
I have owned PDA's from the first HP 95LX right up to their newest corporate citizen, the 4700.
Although HP and Compaq have joined together many aspects of the strengths of each company are present in this newest Ipaq.

The HP legendary solid build quality is present in this unit, although they have opted to make the unit from non metal components. Any unit that has an LCD screen should not be dropped. Therefore their choice of polycarbonite over aluminum/stainless really doesn't make much of a difference. Regardless this unit feels solid and stable in your hand. The added rubber grips on the sides insure you have a solid grasp of the unit.

The screen is very bright and clear, although HP could have opted for a brighter panel, or perhaps TFT. This makes some difference and obviously helps keep the price lower than its higher end sibling the 4700.

Now to the cool James Bondsy side. Corporate customers will love the biometric fingerprint sensor as well as the encryption and password protection. If you are someone that easily forgets passwords, reminders, and just can't seem to slide their various fingers properly over the scanner, then your data will get wiped out. You initially swipe fingers that you select to activate or train the system. The backup is a password, and then a reminder. Failing that, Mr Phelps, this will self destruct!! Just your data.

The average person may like having this biometric sensor so you don't need to recall passwords, but tech toys come at a premium. Go for the 2400 series instead.

The Bluetooth and Wifi configure flawlessly and the range is superb!! I have picked up access points literally across the street from my office. Very sensitive and it holds the signal very well. Bluetooth bonds well with different cellphones I tested, namely Sony Ericsson and Motorola. The wizard walks you down the yellow brick road to communication heaven.

Naturally all the excellent apps that come with Pocket PC 2003 are present and accounted for to every Pocket PC users delight.

Battery life is very good, and I recommend power users buy the extended life battery.

All in all a superb PDA, with some minor shortcomings which most of us can manage with.

- schlockmaster

May 10, 2005 12:19

4.5/5
This is an excellent Business PDA. The Biometric security feature is incredibly convenient - scanning a fingerprint instead of typing in a password makes logging on very quick. The Credant software encrypts all data on log off which is great if you're carrying anything remotely sensitive or even if you don't want to share your address book with the world if you lose the PDA.

The 624MHZ CPU delivers great performance - apps load immediately. Having both SD and CF expansion slots mean you can use the device to hold huge amounts of data and use it as an MP3 player. The Wireless options (bluetooth and Wi-Fi) are genuinely useful - you can synch your phone with Bluetooth and get email into Outlook or surf with Wi-Fi. Add Tom Tom and and it handles in-car navigation nicely.

The screen is very clear. VGA screens are available with a few other PDAs but do you really need one?

Downsides? It's a bit hefty to put in your shirt pocket and ideally it'd have a phone but then it would cost more. The docking station should be able to charge a spare battery in addition to the PDA.

As a business PDA it is very good indeed.

- EO02

July 12, 2005 10:15
Spectacular
2.5/5
My HP iPaq 4155 was stolen, and it was rock-solid. I upgraded to the hx2750 for the security features. All other features were the same as on the 4155. But this one seems to freeze up way too often. I have to do many hard resets, and often the hard resets fail, requiring more resets. The WORST thing is that it keeps turning itself on for reminders and such, and twice already it has turned itself on and stayed on until the batteries went completely dead, regardless of the "turn off after XX minutes" setting. Now I have to do full backups to feel safe, rather than just syncing it with Outlook. The 4155 was a superior product (minus the fingerprint scanner) but it's no longer available. I will not buy another hx2750. It just isn't worth the money for a product which gives me such low confidence. I really wanted to love this product (especially after sinking so much money into it) but I just can't trust it.

- vegcrow

August 5, 2005 11:31

4.5/5
I have had this PDA for a couple of days now and I do love it. After owning a couple of Palm Pilots, I progressed into the Windows PDAs and I really do like them. I like how fast the Wi-Fi responded to my home wireless network and that I am able to check my yahoo email without having to turn on my PC.

The only thing I don't like is that I have had to do a soft reset the unit a couple of times and it does come on from time-to-time, but I think that was because I did not turn off the WiFi.

- ballison

July 12, 2005 01:10

4.5/5
Coming from a Palm background, making the transition to PPC was difficult. Especially since I'm used to having dozens of programs stored locally on my handheld. With 128 ROM and another 128 RAM, this device is definitely spacious enough to deal with most of the applications I like to use. It's fast, well built hardware-wise, and has sophisticated looks.

The only downfall to this device isn't that it's only at QVGA screen, but more of something that plagues every hardware manufacturer in this arena. Software glitches, the bugs. iPaqs are no stranger to them, and have their fair share. But they also seem to have less than most other manufacturers, and about equal with Dell's Axim x50v. As always, YMMV, so if you can, preview one in a store before you buy. Good luck.

- derekweb72

February 8, 2005 06:57

3.5/5

January 28, 2005 03:57

4.0/5

January 12, 2005 04:49

4.0/5