MaximumPC 2004 12

Reviews

I

t takes some real huevos for a

company to expand its line of

handhelds while everyone else is

fleeing the market. But that’s exactly

what Hewlett-Packard is doing. Two

new models in particular demon-

strate a high level of adventurous-

ness in the HP labs—one is designed

for mobile media, and the other

sports the first VGA screen to appear

on an HP handheld. Read on to find

out what kind of case HP is making

for the future of the PDA.

— LOGAN DECKER

iPaq rx3715

Mobile Media Companion

Under the rx3715’s bonnet is a

Samsung S3C 2440 400MHz proc

(running Windows Mobile 2003 SE)

with 56.66MB of main memory, plus

an additional 96MB of storage in the

iPaq File Store (a special segment of

flash memory reserved exclusively

for data storage).

You also get Wi-Fi,

Bluetooth, IrDA, USB

connections, and a

bright, beautiful 3.5-

inch display. Sounds

good so far.

But we found

ourselves disap-

pointed with many

of the device’s bells

and whistles. As an

example, take the inte-

grated 1.2 megapixel

camera (1280x960).

Image quality is suit-

able for traffic accident

documentation at best.

All the pictures we took

turned out blurry, and

the video recording

quality (maxing out at

176x144) is atrocious.

Another example: The

Mobile Media app streams

music and video from your

wireless network, but sup-

ports only Windows Media

audio and video. Pathetic.

The Home Control uni-

versal remote function is the most

successful module of the bunch. It

turns the rx3715 into a universal

remote for your (complex) living

room system, so you never have to

strain to find the right “clicker,” as

Pops calls it. Configuration is so easy

that it falls just short of being done

for you, and the remote quickly

“learns” infrared commands from

older electronics not resident in

the software’s database.

The rx3715 is a handsome

little fella—no doubt about it—and

boasts an astounding battery life

of almost 10 hours of nonstop use

with the backlight at 75 percent. But

tragically, perks such as the sub-par

camera and streaming media soft-

ware bloat the price and drag down

this otherwise smart handheld.

iPaq hx4700

Surprisingly light and thin, this

monolithic black slab had us dancing

around it like monkeys. But its two

most distinctive features—trackpad

navigation and a VGA screen—didn’t

keep us away from our daily lunch of

bananas for long.

The specs—and the price—are

worthy of a flagship handheld. The

proc is the PXA270—Intel’s finest—

running at 624MHz, with 62.28MB

of free main memory and another

80MB waiting in the iPaq File

Store. Connection options include

Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and IrDA, and

unlike the rx3715, the hx4700 also

includes a CompactFlash slot.

The touchpad is a dud, and is dif-

ficult to use even after basic training.

Reading an eBook, for example,

requires only a light tap on one side

to “flip the page,” but if you miss the

mark by even a little, you’ll get flung

backwards, or to another chapter

altogether. Playing games? Not

unless you remap the controls to the

four traditional buttons, which are

spread out at the corners of the trap-

ezoidal pad. That doesn’t work for us.

Although the 4-inch VGA is spec-

tacularly bright and crisp in applica-

tions and web browsing, we were

shocked to discover that it doesn’t

fare well playing video. Bright scenes

are ripe and luscious onscreen, but

any video with a preponderance

of black suffers from high glare,

especially in landscape mode. The

battery life clocked in at just over

seven hours of constant use with the

backlight at 75 percent.

It appears that HP is on to some-

thing interesting and possibly even

revolutionary in terms of PDA func-

tionality, but we recommend that

you hold onto your paycheck until

the company gets it right.

iPaq Attack!

Two new handhelds from HP break bold new

ground—but ultimately fall short

In the swimsuit category, the

hx4700 trounces all other

handhelds we’ve seen. But it

takes more than beauty to win

over the editors at Maximum PC.

The Mobile Media

Companion is a great idea

to extend the usefulness

of PDAs. It just needs

more thinking—and

more functionality.

Good looks, fast proc, and VGA screen is fantastic

for applications.

YOGLOO

EYE GOO

Touchpad sucks, and video playback has too

much glare.

$650, http://www.hp.com

MA XIMUMPCVERDICT 6

94 MA XIMUMPC DECEMBER 2004

Generous helping of memory, beautiful screen, and

excellent universal remote.

EYE CANDY

PINK EYE

Disappointing camera, and streaming media

supports only Windows Media.

$500, http://www.hp.com

MA XIMUMPCVERDICT 7

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