HP iPAQ H4150: Bluetooth and Wi-Fi "in one compact bottle&quot

Passed in 2003 was a watershed for the industry of the CCP. Despite the fact that sales growth was negligible, the frequency of updating the model range has broken all records. And if Sony is already a tradition, then the second place, after the Japanese flagship PDA industry, confidently took the HP. Releasing replenishment lines H19xx, H22xx and H55xx, the company opened a new range - H41xx, which was unique to HP. This line is so far only two "firstborn" - H4150 and H4350, the difference between them is the presence of the second one built-in keyboard. Well, "our guest", as you may have guessed, H4150.

Form

At first glance, our hero makes a fantastic impression, as it should be hi-tech "comme il faut." His body - this quintessence of minimalism: the ideal proportions, elegant lines with maximum functionality. H4150 can be described as the most successful combination of advanced communications capabilities, powerful hardware and the compactness of today. Incredibly nice to keep in their hands is a miracle of engineering genius - the embodiment of balance between form and content. However, come down from heaven to earth and a better look closely to our new friend. The PDA looks elegant and somewhat brittle, but the last impression is deceptive, because its body is made of very durable plastic. If you do not take into account the internal contents, the H4150 model looks very similar to the bottom (for HP) price level H1940. Almost the same size - 7.1 x 11.4 x 1.35 cm, although a few (10%) increased weight - 132, The same superb display with 65536 colors, like the majority of the sample iPAQ'ov 2003 year, with operating a diagonal 3.5 inches. However, if you look closely, our novelty can not be called unique clone models of a ruler. To start HP somewhat changed the style and layout of controls. Five-way navigator and keyboard shortcuts applications preobrazilish externally shape the navigator was closer to the square, and the keys on the contrary, rounded and somewhat drawn back. By default, the two left buttons are to call the "Calendar" and "Contacts", and two on the right - to run the "Post" and the manager iTask. If necessary, they can be locked to avoid accidental operation. It is interesting that HP should not be a common fashion on the Click Wheel. Controversial issue, but the company has its eye on it.

Screen

Transflective screen with a diagonal of 88.9 mm takes up most of the front panel. Usual resolution of 240 x 320 pixels, 65 thousand colors. Screen close to the ideal, but you may notice some disadvantages. First, the black border (about 1 mm) on each side several narrows the workspace. Also shown is a yellowish tint, for example, when viewed from above (especially lighting). But it is - a trifle at the normal position is not so conspicuous. The rest of the screen is perfect. The image brighter and sharper, allowed 4-tier adjustable backlight. It is interesting that HP uses an LCD matrix production of Sony. Perhaps today it is one of the best options. Inside the display is very bright and quite correctly displays of color.The screen is also quite good and on the street, at least read the text in sunny conditions is no problem. According to the magazine "Consumer: computers and software, which has developed a special technique for measuring the quality of the original displays, handheld computers, the maximum brightness of the display HP iPAQ h4150 is 109 cd/m2. Minimum level of brightness - 27.4 cd/m2 (25% of the maximum brightness). In total there are 4 levels of brightness (ie, the price of division is 25%). Unfortunately, when read off backlighting is very difficult, but even at its lowest level of contrast above 97% (read at night, in the office and in the subway - a real pleasure). But the day on the street can talk about good readability, only starting with 50% backlight.

Performance features

Above the display is the power button, framed on both sides of LEDs. Put the left LED shows the work-in Bluetooth or Wi-Fi (respectively, blue or green), while the right is used to indicate the process of charging the battery (green or orange), and notifies users of various system events. At the top end is 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack, microphone, SD / MMC slot and a place for the stylus. Memory card slot supports SDIO, which allows you to connect various accessories in this format. Wi-Fi antenna - built-in. Gone are the days when the presence of this module is defined by the presence of the antenna. At the bottom end is customary for iPAQ 22-pin connector that is completely identical to that involved in a series of computers, H2000, H3000 and H5000. So with the H4150 can be used without problems, any accessories, Godyaev for older PDAs (except perhaps that the cradle). Near it there is an infrared port, which is somewhat unusual. It has moved from the left side edge on the bottom, giving place to start the voice button. With regard to the cradle, it has evolved, as its construction and design. No, the traditional futurism remained, but changed some of its colors, and there is an L-shaped portion. It is a slot for charging a spare battery. This is especially true given that the supplied lithium-ion battery has a relatively small capacity, only 1000 mAh, but it is replaced. In principle, the option can become more capacious battery with 1800 mAh, but it will make the device a little thicker and heavier. Standard battery charging for about 5 hours.

Contents

Like the H1940, our hero has 64 MB of RAM (though the user is available only 55 MB) and 32 MB of Flash ROM. Instead of 266 MHz processor from Samsung uses Intel XScale at 400 MHz. The processor, in general, the fastest to date (model PXA255).Includes CCP is not a software utility that can slow this nimble "pebble" and thereby increase battery life of PDAs, which just below. Of the 32 MB FlashROM small part in the amount of 2.8 MB is reserved for the iPAQ File Store, so there is no need to worry about losing critical data. It is curious that uses flash memory is from Intel, and from M-Systems. Perhaps the reason lies in the fact that, according to tests, this memory is 2,5 times faster than Intel-memory used, for example, in H2210. Incidentally, this is the first iPAQ, which is a tool to format available FlashROM memory.

Audio

Especially hochesya note sonic possibilities H4150. Here is our handheld, really, at the height compared with their brethren, of course. Noise, of course, can be seen, but their level is minimal. There is an excellent application (iPAQ Audio) for recording and playback of sound. Can be set separately for each channel volume (3 levels) and use the software equalizer. For a "gourmet" it is possible to adjust bass and treble (4 levels), plus a feature Super Bass. Three modes of sound recording - Voice Recorder (directly via a microphone), the normal and the conference (maximum sensitivity) make it possible to choose the optimal mode of entry. And it really works.

Sociability

Communication capabilities make the H4150 absolute leader in this price niche. In addition to standard USB and IrDA, has integrated Wi-Fi (802.11b) and Bluetooth (v.1.1) modules. This is a huge plus, especially if we take into account the small dimensions of the CCP. Specialized applications allow you to control communication interfaces very easily, can switch between them, enable and disable them very quickly. Wi-Fi set up easily enough, thanks to Zero Configuration Wizard from Windows Mobile 2003. Setting the same Bluetooth requires great effort. But there is a great Bluetooth Manager, a well-known owners' sinezubyh "iPAQ. Using the built-in Wi-Fi and the application HP iPAQ Wireless connection, you can easily connect to a secure network in the office or to a public access point. Built-in sniffer displays all nearby access points, requiring a separate marking WEP-access code. Of course, Wi-Fi can not provide all wireless needs (especially for the majority of Russians), and here comes to the aid of Bluetooth. This module supports wireless synchronization with your desktop computer, e-mail access via "golubozuby" phone, etc. H4150 and different set of functions aimed at corporate users. For example, the presence of F-Secure FileCrypto Data Encryption for network access with enhanced security.

Performance

As for speed, but it's nice to surprise us. In fact, PDA from HP has never Slava "Ping", but apparently nekotrye resemblance to the H1940 in the first few minutes of work with a computer would show bias. Nevertheless, here are the results of testing the device program SPB BenchMark: The table shows that compete with the H4150 can only undisputed leader ASUS MyPal A620BT, and even then its separation from HP is minimal.

Work Offline

It is no secret that the use of wireless capabilities consumes battery power right before our eyes. If you disable the wireless modules, battery life is much more. For example, a fully charged battery lasts for 4 hours 40 minutes WMA playback video in full screen mode at standard (half) brightness. Although the more "soft" conditions H4150 can work about 8-10 hours.

Firmware

A set of software for iPAQ H4150 - very respectable. As expected, the basis is the Windows Mobile 2003 Premium Edition. Of course, there is a complete set of applications, from Microsoft - handheld version of Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, Outlook, Windows Media Player 9.0, Reader, MSN Messenger. There are also proprietary applications from HP: A utility for backup information iPAQ Backup, launcher (or rather, the task manager) iTask Manager and even the image viewer iPAQ Image Zone, which allows working with files JPG, BMP, PNG and arrange a slide show ( Although this program is part of the Windows Mobile 2003). Several applets are also available in the tab Settings. Programm iPAQ Backup, which we have already mentioned, also boasts some interesting features, in particular, the ability to automatically backup when the battery level reaches a certain value, or to store your calendar and address book (you can specify other information) in the iPAQ File Store. Therefore, in case of power failure or battery after a "hard" reset, these data do not disappear.

Accessories

Despite a solid PDA functionality, scalability issue is relevant at all times. The problem of memory is easily solved, a slot for an SD memory card lets you use a memory card of any size (up to 1 GB today). You can also use I / O card (eg, GPS-receiver), because the H4150 supports SDIO. In our opinion, the most interesting accessory is the digital camera HP Photosmart Mobile Camera (weight 31.1 g) with the 1.3 megapixel with 4 x digital zoom and supports an image capture resolution of 1280 x 960 pixels. Another possibility for enlargement - it's Bluetooth-periphery. Here are possible as the traditional solutions such as mobile phones and printers, as well as unique features like the GPS-module that transforms into a powerful handheld navigation system. And finally, the last opportunity - is to use a connector, located on the bottom. The most decent way to use it - is to connect an external keyboard.

Price

Buy HP iPAQ H4150 can be in the shops of "computer in the palm for $ 499.

Output

To summarize, we note that the H4150 is one of the best today among the computers of average price level (although, considering the functionality, rather, it refers to high-end). Super-compact form factor, faster processor, the presence of two integrated wireless modules, flexible expansion set a new benchmark for the Pocket PC. Even such a disadvantage as short battery life is compensated by the ability to simultaneously charge two batteries and an easy process to replace them.Well, a very worthy gift from HP:) The authors, translation:

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