HP iPAQ H1910: her among strangers, a stranger among his own

We already told you about the top-end of the camp iPAQ handheld series H54xx, but certainly more interesting inexpensive model from HP - the first budget iPAQ H1910. This handheld combines a good name leader in Pocket PC-PDA and inherent quality and price of a new wave of low cost machines. Novelty is also interesting that before HP did not release low-cost models, content with the tip of the iceberg. Prior to our editorial CPC has not yet arrived, but Western observers have already prepared several materials, and forums are full of reviews of the first owners. Based on data collected, specifically the various user ratings and construct our review. We promise to immediately on arrival news to share with you impressions. We hope that this correspondence dating from the iPAQ H1910 help both you and us to understand whether it is worth waiting for this machine.
HP iPAQ H1910: her among strangers, a stranger among his own

At first glance,

The first thing that catches your eye, it's dimensions of the device and its weight. Both figures are very small for this class as a whole and for the series iPAQ in particular. Thus, the dimensions are H1910 115x71.5x13.0 mm and its weight is 131 g. To the way, the size and weight of the previous leader of compactness in the ranks of the Pocket PC, Toshiba e310, are, respectively, 125x80x12, 4 mm and 140 g. It can be seen , HP in this regard so far out of competition, and even a brand new ViewSonic v35 behind on this indicator from the H1910. So that the novelty of Law takes first place on the podium for the compactness and came close to the smallest Palm. It is clear that in view of reducing the size of the compatibility with the old jackets you can forget.
HP iPAQ H1910: her among strangers, a stranger among his own
H1910 - in the middle ...
In this unit you see in the picture below, is not included cradle. Latest developers decided to replace the USB-cable. But there are cimpatichnye headphones.
HP iPAQ H1910: her among strangers, a stranger among his own
Headphones are included in the package, apparently because that HP wanted to deliver customers a headache when searching for this necessary accessory. The fact that a standard connector to 3.5 mm in this model is replaced by a phone the size of 2.5 mm, so pick conditioning "ears" would not be easy.
HP iPAQ H1910: her among strangers, a stranger among his own
Another unpleasant aspect as the structural feature is the lack of scroll wheel. This is a very tangible impact on the ergonomics H1910. The battery is removable and the novelty has very small dimensions, and therefore nothing prevents buy himself a couple of extra copies and take them on the road. We think that is the case with this model it is not so much to the whim of the traveler as a necessity, since the battery capacity of H1910 is only 900 mAh. Although it's quite possible that this will not affect battery operation. After processing, the new product is not the fastest, so let's see what the budget firstborn HP "in action".

iPAQ new, old fillings

Probably the most stand out part of the hardware filling the new PDA can be considered a processor. And indeed, something did not recall that anyone else of the manufacturers decided to use Intel XScale 200 MHz in their products.All cars manufactured today do not fall below 300 MHz, and therefore on the speed to H1910 in overseas forums there are big claims. But the whole truth about the inferiority or lack thereof, as a low-power "stones", we seem to be able to learn only when handhelds will arrive to us. As for memory, then the total of its volume (in the technical data RAM is 64 MB) available to the user only 46.75 MB. This meager wealth can be repeatedly multiply by the expansion slot for memory card standard SD / MMC. The latter, as is the case with Dell Axim X5, does not support SDIO (Secured Digital Input / Output). But if the novelty of the Dell to connect peripheral cards can use the CF slot, the H1910 is deprived of this opportunity. At the same time there is a hope that HP has yet to release a software patch that will correct such a significant disadvantage. So, for example, came in due time Handspring, equipping SDIO support your Pocket PC, Treo 90, which was originally not having this opportunity. But these are just guesses - HP yet promised nothing. Display this model on the glorious tradition established in the camp iPAQ, has a very high quality. It is built on trancflektivnoy technology, and therefore superbly looked in poorly lit rooms and is worthy of feeling in the sun.
HP iPAQ H1910: her among strangers, a stranger among his own
Speaker at the H1910 is under way navigation joystick, but despite its small size, fully perform all functions assigned to it. The speaker sound can be played through headphones, which, as mentioned above, the manufacturing company is carefully placed in a box with the device. Of course, to the expensive high-quality copies of past fall short, but also Chinese handicrafts, which vendors are so fond of to equip their devices, complete "ears" obviously "doing." In view of all this, and very small size of the unit from it should go a good player, of course, provided if you buy his memory. The only thing that confused in this high-tech player, so it's a little battery life. Thus, the result of using the device compact, low-capacity batteries are approximately 4 hours of work, which will agree, by today's standards quite a bit. Well, if the PDA to run DivX, the batteries and did just enough for 2-3 hours. Well, the compact calls for the victims ...

Steeplechase

Due to the use of the new iPAQ is extremely slow processor much interested to know the true performance of this device. Alas, to verify the speed of a novelty in practice we do not, but some on this subject have already appeared on the web. By tradition, for the tests used benchmark VOBenchmark.That's what a H1910 versus some other handhelds, serving in the same price range:
Test / Model Toshiba e310 (Strong ARM 206MGts) ViewSonic V35 (XScale 300 MHz) Dell Axim X5 (XScale 300 MHz) HP iPAQ H1910 (XScale 200 MHz)
CPU Floating Point 8.02 6.34 9.48 6.32
CPU Integer 15.50 13.30 20.08 13.52
Graphics Bitmap BitBlt 56.86 16.66 56.78 40.94
Graphics Bitmap StretchBlt 0.35 0.50 0.30 0.60
Graphics Filled Ellipse 2.24 0.85 2.07 2.15
Graphics Filled Rectangle 7.76 1.02 6.56 3.78
Graphics Filled Round Rectangle 1.72 0.66 1.39 1.66
Memory Allocation 8.69 6.42 9.34 6.41
Memory Fill 0.39 0.85 0.94 0.60
Memory Move 0.74 0.30 0.38 0.32
Text 3.77 2.20 3.92 3.88
As can be seen from the table, HP iPAQ H1910 does not suffer from an excess of speed, that in general it is not surprising. His results are close to the ViewSonic V35, the slowest PDA Intel XScale 300MHz. In this case, it is worth considering that the machine from HP has a fairly good performance in graphics tests and work with text. On other indicators of a new Dell Axim X5, a direct competitor H1910, ahead of a product from HP. Last hit, Toshiba e310, which has now a similar price and size also leaves no novelty no chance. It is understandable - there are no miracles, and a weak processor makes itself felt, so that the low cost of having to pay again. In addition to theoretical tests, H1910 was tested also on a realistic toy Pocket quake. The result of dismal news - only 5.8 frames per second. This is despite the fact that the average in the benchmark for modern devices is approximately 7 frames per second, and Pocket PC Razor Zayo processor, clocked at 400MHz, provides all the 10 frames per second. In general, many compare the new iPAQ to speed with the 3600-th series. PDA users in this series will understand what is at stake. H1910 sin pauses when playing mp3-nis and dropped frames when watching movies DivX.

Buy?

So, to sum up. iPAQ H1910, primarily attracted by its compact form factor and low weight. In addition, the pluses models include the traditionally very high-quality transflective screen, nice design, removable battery, finally, the headphones that come as a bonus. As to the cons, they are also missing. Here without a doubt be credited a small battery life (save the battery, made possible due to the use of a weak processor), the lack of support for SDIO expansion slot, a small amount of available memory, low speed, no scroll wheel, and a protective case. Yes, and the price could be lower. Summing up, we can say that about the chances of new items on the success so far is rather difficult, because the "pros" H1910 did not compensate for all these cons. The authors, translation:

Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1

Almost every morning, going to work on the radio or on TV, we try not to miss the weather forecast for the day. Alternatively, you can just look out the window, but the cloudless sky - not the best reason to leave home an umbrella. There is another, more reliable way to stay abreast of weather vagaries. Simply install the communicator or smartphone program, which to load with a special website the current forecast and displays it on screen. Programs of this type very much, but the entire array can be divided into two classes. Program of the first class loaded weather forecast from one of the hydrometeorological sites. Programme of the second class are guided by the data of weather stations, linked, usually to large airports. By and large, the predictions of both types are mostly the same, but all the same data from weather stations can be more accurate, unless of course, your town is not located within a hundred or more miles from the nearest airport. This review will include both kinds of programs. One should also note that even in a directory on our site can be found at least 20 utilities of this kind. Therefore, the author of the review decided to take the liberty of pre-selection of the 3 most typical products. All of them one time or another "live" on your device, and each program was compiled private opinion. By tradition, each of the programs described will be assessed by parameters of simplicity and ease of use, overall functionality, speed of development. An important aspect in evaluation is also free. However, as demonstrated by our study, the weather forecast - this is the case when it makes sense to pay a certain amount of comfort. Because we use them every day. However, the choice is yours.

Weather Watcher

Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
The program of the first type. To start, you must have a PDA Net Compact Framework 2.0. Weather Watcher allows you to download the weather forecast for more than 77,000 villages. In addition to the current state of the weather, you can view the forecast for the next twelve hours, and next week. State of cloud is characterized by a specific icon. The parameters are displayed as temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed, maximum visibility and status of the lunar phase. Adding cities to the list is by name or by ZIP code (U.S. only). To download the weather forecast uses data from the site www.weather.com. Since the program has an English interface, adding new cities can cause some confusion. The procedure itself is adding cities to the list is an invalid name into the search box and then update the data. At the bottom of the screen, the program displays all the found rows, then simply right locality selected by the cursor.
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
Weather Watcher: current conditions
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
Weather Watcher: the forecast for 12 hours
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
Weather Watcher: the forecast for the week
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
Weather Watcher: addition of
As to the pluses and minuses of the program include the lack of a plugin to display Today. This solution will satisfy those who are not accustomed to clutter up the main window of the communicator, and, accordingly, would not like users who are accustomed to seeing the weather forecast when you turn on the device. The advantages of the program is a free way to spread, current and detailed hourly forecast, clear icons that characterize the state of cloudiness. Lack of utilities - English interface, no choice of the city from the list and the remoteness of the source providing the information. It is a remote source weather reports may be due to differences in predicted and actual performance. Not very comfortable and the lack of customization options update the forecast on a schedule - it should be done manually. As a result, in the form of Weather Watcher, we obtain a minimum of features and free distribution.
    Strengths:
  • Free way to spread
  • Detailed current hourly forecast
  • Clear icons that characterize the state of cloud
    Disadvantages:
  • English interface
  • Not choose a city from the list
  • Only one source of forecast
  • Lack of scheduled update
    Ratings:
  • Interface: 3
  • Functionality: 4
  • Forecast accuracy: 4
  • Overall score: 4

Spb Weather

Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
Spb Weather - One of the most renowned programs in its class. Software developer is a Russian company Spb Software House, familiar to our readers. The program is designed as a plugin for Today and can not be run as a standalone application. When you activate the plugin displays a detailed forecast for the day of the selected city.
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
This plugin is integrated into other programs of the same developer. It is present in Spb Diary, Spb Pocket Plus and the latest software product - Spb Mobile Shell. The program has many settings that allow you to write on the screen in several ways.Add cities to the list in two ways. The first - direct, via the menu item "Add" with the choice of country and city. The second way - to add a city by name and code.
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
Spb Weather: Select City
Information about weather forecast can be displayed on the screen in four different ways. This could be the weather forecast for 4, 5 or 7 days. In multiline mode displays a list of all cities with a forecast for five days. Icons to display weather conditions depend on the type of the chosen topic. The package includes five types of icons. Taken together, this approach provides ten types of output.
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
Other settings allow you to set the type of data synchronization (available in manual and automatic synchronization update the forecast on a schedule), as well as select units. Additionally conducted traffic statistics for each server. By default the server to update the weather is www.gismeteo.ru, but the user has the ability to specify other servers to download data. To retrieve data from other servers need to file as a *. tpl, which must be placed in a folder Spb Weather / templates on the device. Then a new source must be added via the menu Tools / Weather Sources. Adding a new server forecast is made through a window adding cities in the mode «Custom». You will need the introduction of a city name, specify the server to load the data and the introduction of a city code on the server. The necessary data can be found on the Internet. A list of available servers to download the forecast can be found at the developer at www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/weather/templates.html?ru.
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
Ability to add additional servers allows you to customize getting the weather forecast for one city from different sources. The screenshots below, shows the weather forecast for St. Petersburg, obtained from sites Gismeteo.ru and Weather.com.
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
Spb Weather: Weather.com forecast
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
Spb Weather: Forecast Gismeteo.ru
As you can see, weather forecasts are fairly close, although different in detail. As a result, Spb Weather - this is one of the most professional program to demonstrate the weather forecast, dignity is the highest-designed interface, the subtlety of settings and ease of use. The absence of additional functions can be equally attributed to both deficiencies and the merits of the program. Narrow specialization causes an affordable price of the product, so to get the weather forecast, this program is one of the best.
    Strengths:
  • The presence of the plug on the Today screen
  • Several types of data
  • Selecting skins
  • Customizable update interval
  • Support for multiple servers to update the forecast
  • Integration into other products - in particular, Spb Pocket Plus
    Disadvantages:
  • Complex mechanism of adding servers to download data
    Ratings:
  • Interface: 5
  • Features: 5
  • Forecast accuracy: 5
  • Overall score: 5

Fizz Weather

Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
Program Fizz Weather Fizz Software from the company is a lightweight version of the Traveller. The main purpose of the utility - get the weather forecast at 2 and 7 days.
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
In the cities there are more than 58,000 villages. If necessary, the city can be entered manually. To search for cities and add them to the list at the bottom there are softkeys. To found the city to display information about the geographical coordinates, time zone, international country code and city code. The data can be edited, then you want to update the database through the server.
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
To switch between the windows is the button «View». In a separate window is displayed: 1. Weather forecast for seven, two days and the current state
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
Meteorological data include air temperature, humidity, UV active, the state of cloudiness and precipitation probability. In the current state of the weather they are complemented by data on the limits of visibility. At the bottom of the window indicates the position of the city on the map. 2.Map
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
In the map window you can see the weather for the whole region or downloaded form the earth's surface by satellite. In this case shows the state of cloud. 3. Airports
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
Demonstrates the state of cloud for the airport, bound to the city. Theoretically, information can be used to predict the likelihood of relegation, that in practical life maloprimenimo. 4. Weather conditions in mountain resorts
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
There is also a special option to download the weather and snow to mountain resorts. The description includes the number of available lifts, snow depth, etc. This option is valid only for the settlements located in mountainous terrain, and related international resort. 5. Settings
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
Change language interface - Supports English (default), French, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch. You can change the current icon, font color, the initial window. Screen «Today» can be represented as a set of icons. Tab «Home screen» You can customize the program for display on a common screen communicator «Today». The screen downloads set update schedule, and selected reports will be loaded automatically when you update the data. The program allows you to keep statistics data. To summarize. The disadvantages of Fizz Weather is rigid adherence to the server. Can not add to the list of additional airports, Russian interface. At the same time the program runs fast enough and not much load memory device.
    Strengths:
  • Small memory footprint
  • Ability to view the status of cloud cover on satellite images
  • The presence of data on mountain resorts
    Disadvantages:
  • Lack of Russian-language interface
  • Remote server to download the forecast
  • The inability to change the server's projections
  • Lack of settings Airports
    Ratings:
  • Interface: 3
  • Features: 5
  • Forecast accuracy: 4
  • Overall score: 4
Workshop: The weather delivered to your PDA, part 1
To be continued ... The authors, translation:

CeBIT 2003: Garmin iQue 3600

Garmin iQue 3600 - long awaited in the market of PDA based on Palm OS 5 with an integrated GPS-receiver and preloaded navigation software. As a manufacturer of GPS-receivers, Garmin is well proven in the market by releasing a full line of GPS-products of different price levels. With such a vast baggage of technology behind, Garmin has decided to go a little further and create a complete solution for those who are trying to turn a bunch of cheap GPS-receiver + PDA into a fully functional navigation system.
CeBIT 2003: Garmin iQue 3600
The first experience of Garmin in the union of the original proven technologies with new features Palm OS 5, it seems, was a success. Designers and programmers Garmin obviously spent a lot of effort to work through constructive and applications of the new iQue 3600. Judging by the concept model shown at CeBIT 2003, we can say that the device is almost ready for production. From working with the iQue 3600 is a very good impression. Fine screen (320 by 480 pixels) with program area graffiti, side scroll wheel, light weight (160 grams) and quality performance. From the GPS: 12-channel receiver, positioning accuracy to 15 meters, folding built-in antenna. PDAs running on ARM-processor.
CeBIT 2003: Garmin iQue 3600
Despite the proximity to the antenna GPS, designers managed to place the SD slot on the top panel. It also houses the infrared port and a connector for external GPS-antenna. And rightly so - for an external antenna can actually be needed, for example, in the car. And connect it conveniently just above, not on the side or bottom.
CeBIT 2003: Garmin iQue 3600
Of greatest interest is the so-called technology Que - Development Garmin. Que allows you to combine the benefits of Palm OS and GPS-receiver. And it's not only about the trivial inclusion of a number of GPS-applications into the operating system. For example, using standard search Palm OS in the iQue 3600 can search and GPS-points, waypoints (waypoints) and so on.
CeBIT 2003: Garmin iQue 3600
QueTrip - application for calculation and display of data on travel: distance, time, stopped time, average and maximum speeds, etc.
CeBIT 2003: Garmin iQue 3600
QueGPS - utility for working with GPS-premnikom. Can display the found satellites and display service information GPS.
CeBIT 2003: Garmin iQue 3600
Well, finally, a host Map for use with maps MapSource, set to be delivered together with the CCP (North America, the city). Of course, you can not buy the necessary parts of the world in the format of MapSource. Map voice can direct the user along the route, has several modes, including full screen.
CeBIT 2003: Garmin iQue 3600
It is not necessary to use only Que GPS-programs. Integrated GPS-receiver is able to operate in NMEA, which means that most third-party navigation software must operate on the iQue. Site Garmin Developer's toolkit is available to adapt applications for the iQue 3600. Recommended final price in the U.S. is $ 589. According to recent data obtained on the bench Garmin, beginning of sales is scheduled for September 2003. Hopefully, the price of the new Garmin iQue 3600 in Russia will not greatly exceed the price of bundles of Palm + GPS. Also, it is hoped that the device will receive a certificate and clarify the regulations on the use of GPS-receivers in Russia. The authors, translation:

HTC TouchFLO

TouchFLO interface

As we have said, the communicator HTC Touch, a special shell TouchFLO, which should provide a convenient control device without a stylus. In fact, the shell consists of three pages: 1. Multimedia. You can run standard applications, Audio Manager, and the program Photo-Video, which, depending on the selected item, opens the folder with pictures or videos.
HTC TouchFLO
TouchFLO: Multimedia
2. Photo contacts. On this page you can configure 9 contacts to speed dial. If the contact is assigned to an image or picture, it is displayed on the screen.
HTC TouchFLO
TouchFLO: Speed ​​Dial
Also on this page, you can run standard applications: Phone, Call List and Contacts.
HTC TouchFLO
3. Application. On this page are commonly used (according to developers) program. The list of programs is not configurable.
HTC TouchFLO
TouchFLO: Applications
Another possibility is the possibility of the TouchFLO scrolling through pages in Internet Explorer and Word Mobile, as well as scroll through lists, such as contacts, SMS-messages and so on. All this is pretty seasoned Today-plugin, which consists, again, of three pages.
  • Clocks, indicators of missed calls and unread e-mail and SMS / MMS. When you click on the appropriate icon, open standard applications Windows Mobile.
  • HTC TouchFLO
  • Weather forecast for the selected city, with the ability to view forecasts for four days. Unfortunately, no detail of the forecast not only displayed the temperature and precipitation.
  • HTC TouchFLO
    HTC TouchFLO
  • Launcher. You can configure the nine frequently used applications or functions, such as screen rotation, adjustable lighting and so on.
  • HTC TouchFLO

    User experience

    In general, TouchFLO - interesting and nice toy, nothing more. Yes, first impressions of a shell very nice: are leading a finger, everything revolves, is launched. Moreover, no significant "brake" almost no, TouchFLO is very thoughtful only when you run a large number of background applications, it is obvious that the processor has nothing to do with it, affects memory shortage. Convenience TouchFLO - a moot point, enough played enough, a couple of days of work with the Communicator of the shell to forget.By and large it is convenient to use it only for the speed dial, the other features are used quite rarely. The main reason - the inability to customize the program listings. You can certainly use the launcher from the Today-plugin, even though the plugin is also not without drawbacks. It occupies about half of the working area of ​​the screen, while other elements available Today the remaining lower part of the display. If Today-ins do not fit on the remaining half of the page, next to a scroll bar appears. Probably not the best solution. The screenshots below you can see what we mean.
    HTC TouchFLO
    HTC TouchFLO
    Another strange feature TouchFLO - only support the standard, portrait display, it is necessary to rotate the image, like all the charm of the shell becomes inaccessible. Again, small glitch, but the general impression spoils.
    HTC TouchFLO
    Demonstration of TouchFLO (avi, 320 x 240, 7.65 MB)
    Below you can download a video demonstrating the work of the shell TouchFLO.

    Total

    Summarizing, we can assume that the control technology TouchFLO attract primarily users who use the work of mostly standard software Windows Mobile. The new shell quickly, and most importantly did not like the others, "WM to run embedded software. More advanced users TouchFLO, probably quite quickly get tired of all the same realization of the idea, at this stage is not the best. However, let's not forget that this is the first version of this interface, and if you remember, for example, the history of the application Task Manager (X-Button), then we can assume that after a certain time span TouchFLO become really comfortable and sophisticated. Part I: Overview of the communicator HTC Touch. The authors, translation:

    Dellovye PDA: Axim 5 going to "blow up" the Russian market for handhelds

    Camye cheap in PDA history of the Pocket PC from Dell, we have been waiting a long time, since the advent of reliable information about them from unofficial sources. The first rumors started cruising the Internet in the late summer of 2002. They said that Dell Cobiralas release "iPAQ" for $ 250. Indeed. A few months later, in November, the corporation's own after many Anosov showed to the same greedy for sensations IT-press my Axim 5. The presentation was held at the largest exhibition Comdex Fall 2002, where everything is brought to a stand of handhelds (about 400-500 pieces) were immediately snapped up like hot cakes, and turn on the orders lasted for two months. It is known that, and now to buy the U.S. one of the most optimal combination of price-quality "Pocket PC must apply and wait for 1.5 months. Very soon, after two weeks, selling Axim 5 will begin in Russia. Company DellSystems signed a distribution agreement with the concern "White Wind" on the sales of popular handheld machines, on the occasion of which the partners have arranged a press conference yesterday. At this point, we have prepared your own review of "live" Dell Axim 5.
    Dellovye PDA: Axim 5 going to "blow up" the Russian market for handhelds
    People who have brought us Dell Axim 5 ...:)
    To buy any of the two available models in the lineup - that same "mythical" younger (Axim 5 Basic) or more advanced older (Axim 5 Advanced) will be no problems in any Moscow store, "White Winds" and his partner, or your local dealer. Not have to wait. Only here the price for Russia, you know, is not the same, that in America, the market is Axim 5 really a revolution. Suggested retail - $ 299 and $ 385 for junior and senior CCP respectively. Although DellSystems believe that at this price, given the functional typewriters, they will have no equal. And I must say, it is believed not covsem reasonably. Apparently, the machine from Dell will have to compete with brand Otechestvennaya Rover, namely Pocket P3 and P5. True, the assurances of the "White Wind", lower-end models of hardware specifications are not competitors to each other and respect their elders, then after the Dell Axim on the market RoverPC P5 in the company's network will fall in price by $ 40-50. In general, we were on the operating table were two cars, which we shall now dissect, sometimes resorting to comparisons to the Rover P3. Let us proceed ...

    We meet on clothes ...

    Picking up a Dell Axim X5, once you feel that the handheld is much superior in size and weight of its closest price competitor. Elder Advanced-model a little easier in this regard, since the more advanced machines traditionally fairly heavy and have a total "figure."
    Dellovye PDA: Axim 5 going to "blow up" the Russian market for handhelds
    On subjective feelings, both models are very similar to Pocket PC hi-end class HP iPAQ 39xx. True, dellovskie cars a little thicker. However, their excessive fullness can be justified for one distinguishing feature - they are both equipped with two expansion slots - the most popular Compact Flash Type II and SD / MMC (though without the support of SDIO). The quest for minimalism makes many PDA makers to abandon the format CF, despite the fact that memory and peripheral devices on its base is now much cheaper, and therefore demanded by users. While the majority shifted to a more compact Secure Digital, Dell contrary fashion trend is ready to sacrifice the most beautiful cars, rather than its functionality. To date, no budget PDA with a CF-slot.So in this respect, the youngest out of competition, and the eldest is a bit like themselves.
    Dellovye PDA: Axim 5 going to "blow up" the Russian market for handhelds
    However, with CF-slot with Axim 5 is not all right. The fact is that to get a card from him pretty hard. However, most users do not often pull out the memory of her lair, and therefore a significant drawback is difficult to call. We checked for compatibility with Pocket Card IBM Microdrive 340 MB and MMC (NCP) 64MB. Both Dell quickly and with gusto "swallowed" proposal. So with the expansion of handhelds problems should arise.
    Dellovye PDA: Axim 5 going to "blow up" the Russian market for handhelds
    Hold the PDA in the hand are not too comfortable. Perhaps it's not so much in weight units (nearly 200), but in their size - 128 x 81,5 x 18 mm. This shortcoming is somewhat offset by rubber inserts on the sides of computers that do not allow them to slip out of hands.
    Dellovye PDA: Axim 5 going to "blow up" the Russian market for handhelds
    Rubber flank ...
    The screen on both models transflective resolution of 320x240 pixels, like expensive Pocket PC (iPAQ 5450 like in the picture), that is perfectly readable in the room and not the best works on the street. Diagonal - 3.5''.
    Dellovye PDA: Axim 5 going to "blow up" the Russian market for handhelds
    iPAQ and Dell Axim 5
    If you compare the display Dell Axim X5 c roverovskim (RoverPC P3), then the odds would be clearly in favor of the latter. True, there have to say that RoverPC P3 greater than the maximum brightness, although the practical need for this. Inside is enough low, and with natural light and Dell in general, "friendly".
    Dellovye PDA: Axim 5 going to "blow up" the Russian market for handhelds
    Rover PC P3 and the Dell Axim 5
    Looking at the device, I wanted to listen to them. It is clear that the occupation is a thankless task and it is unlikely practically useful, because most PDA built in speaker will compete unless China's cheap tape recorder, but still ... Fears were justified: Axim 5, "croaks" at maximum volume as a real sympathy Boxing. With regard to the sound outputted by the output for headphones, it is quite acceptable quality. In the course of the experiment revealed that the designers find a good spot for a nest under the "ears": it is located, in contrast to other PDAs on the top end machines. So use the Dell as a mp3-player convenience. Oh, and battery capacity allows, but more on that below.
    Dellovye PDA: Axim 5 going to "blow up" the Russian market for handhelds
    Separately, the stylus would like to mention Dell Axim X5. We found him to be extremely comfortable and stylish. Due to atypical design pen, unlike most machines, excellent grip. Pocket for a PDA stylus on the side, so to remove it will not have to turn the handheld.
    Dellovye PDA: Axim 5 going to "blow up" the Russian market for handhelds
    Set of "feathers" for the Axim 5 ...
    Speaking of accessories. Them for the Dell Axim 5 is produced in abundance. Tried not only to third-party, but the developer. Thus, complete with machine will be supplied branded pouch-bag, which is really hard to call egronomichnym: a prisoner in his "hug" the handheld is unlikely to fit in a standard pocket, and quickly retrieve it and see that something will not work. The standard cover is only good as a coffer for the transport of the CCP. True, there is a Dell and a second, more successful version, but for the money. As explained at the press conference, representatives of companies of various small things for the Axim 5 in Russia you can buy at an amount that is twice the price of the PDA. That is what will deliver the "White Wind" for domestic users:
    Dellovye PDA: Axim 5 going to "blow up" the Russian market for handhelds
    Let's go in order. With respect, the cradle, then it is not in the standard delivery model junior-level price. Instead, he invited USB-cable, but if necessary it is clear you can buy. Especially since it looks very sipatichno. Especially when a perfectly polished steel surface, made in the form of a hemisphere, light up bright blue Dell shaped as letters during podzryadki or synchronization.
    Dellovye PDA: Axim 5 going to "blow up" the Russian market for handhelds
    The battery in both models interchangeable, which is a big plus, because statistics such elements is enough for about 2 years. Another advantage of "source of life" Axim 5 is their capacity - 1440mAch that almost vpoltora times greater than that RoverPC P3 or HP iPAQ H1910. This is not to affect the Runtime, which is considered in two handhelds is about 6-8 hours. At maximum load (video playback at maximum brightness), this figure falls by almost half, which, incidentally, is also quite good. In addition, Dell offers an option to purchase the battery capacity 3400mAch, which, as you might guess, after some simple mathematical calculations, allows the computer to work approximately 20 hours. Perhaps, the figure turns out to be wrong in practice, given the traditional over-the producers of this parameter. But rest assured, even 15 hours - this is a good indicator for the Pocket PC. Also in the cradle has a separate slot for charging additional battery so that the convenience of this procedure problems should arise. Followed by the keyboard. These useful accessories, of course, sold separately.For your PDA Dell offers two versions - a mini keyboard to enter text on the weight of thumb:
    Dellovye PDA: Axim 5 going to "blow up" the Russian market for handhelds
    ... And full-size folding keyboard, which is suitable for use on hard flat surfaces:
    Dellovye PDA: Axim 5 going to "blow up" the Russian market for handhelds
    Under CF-clot PDA Dell offers two communication cards - Bluetooth or Wi-fi:
    Dellovye PDA: Axim 5 going to "blow up" the Russian market for handhelds
    In the near future, Dell promises to deliver to the Russian market GSM / GPRS-module, so that the device can be turned into the phone. While it is only a promise. Know that these accessories still have to go through the Russian certification.

    Hardware

    Senior and junior handheld completely identical in appearance, and even in regard to the hardware they are filling is not too different. The difference this is the clock frequency of CPU and memory and fits into almost $ 100 difference (to be exact difference is $ 86). The eldest is equipped with Intel XScale processor at 400 MHz, 64 MB RAM and 48 MB of ROM-RAM Intel StrataFlash. The junior model is based on the XScale processor 300 MHz and has on board 32, and 32 MB respectively. In the above-mentioned difference includes the cradle, which is devoid of low-end model and the utility of which some of the cast great doubt. Cable because is more transportable and easy to use. Although there is no accounting for tastes.

    Softness

    In the Axim 5 is running Microsoft Pocket PC 2002 with the update EUU3, designed to add something, and something to fix. Detail, but it's nice. By the way, the computers Operating System has a version Premium, that is, the bundle includes a full "set of happiness" from Microsoft: Outlook, Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, MSN Messenger and other pleasures, friends since childhood. In the setting of Dell Axim X5 can slow it down a processor, putting auto performance. In this case, the CCP itself will determine when to increase the frequency of the processor, and when there is sufficient and minimal. As a result, increase battery life Pocket PC. However, the machine will not be able to disperse, although this option may appear later. An interesting softinok, bundled with Dell Axim X5, it is worth noting Switcher Bar, a sort of simple option WisBar'a possible to view the battery charge level, quick switch to the options of brightness, and naturally, switching and closing running applications. Of course, the utility is not as functional as its illustrious counterpart, but is quite efficient and meet the needs of undemanding users. Also by tradition, handhelds are equipped with a disk with software from other vendors. Among them are basically the demo version, but there are exceptions, namely, full versions of Resco Picture Viewer, IA Presenter, the program for viewing files, Power Point. Of course, a set of software is not impressive, but obviously, the economy has not given opportunities to enrich the collection in full. However, for our country, full versions of programs is not so critical, so that the relative lack of it soon.

    Ran?

    We have already compared different CPC for high-speed indicators, but to gather it all together somehow failed.Now it's time to set the record straight "and". Comparison of handheld devices for high-speed indicators will be conducted in two compartments - the budget (which include 300MHz th Dell Axim X5) and hi-end'ovoy (where the participants listed Dell Axim X5 with a 400 MHz-m "pebble"). Tests conducted on the tradition of using VOBenchmark 2.12. In bold the best result in each of the subtests. To begin, define the champion in the budget niche:
    Test / Model Toshiba e310 (Strong ARM 206 MHz) Toshiba e330/e335 (XScale 300 MHz) ViewSonic V35 (XScale 300 MHz) Dell Axim X5 (XScale 300 MHz) Normal
    CPU Floating Point 8.02 9.49 6.34 9.50
    CPU Integer 15.50 20.11 13.30 20.08
    Graphics Bitmaps BitBlt 56.86 56.41 16.66 36.69
    Graphics Bitmaps StretchBlt 0.35 0.30 0.50 0.20
    Graphics Filled Ellipse 2.24 2.14 0.85 1.96
    Graphics Filled Rectangle 7.76 6.52 1.02 6.35
    Graphics Filled Round Rectangle 1.72 1.32 0.66 1.33
    Memory Allocation 8.69 9.53 6.42 6.31
    Memory Fill 0.39 0.95 0.85 0.94
    Memory Move 0.74 0.36 0.30 0.38
    Text 3.77 3.88 2.20 3.50
    As can be seen from the table above, Dell Axim X5 Basic can not be called shustryagoy, but at the same time lag from the leader of each test is small. Moreover, the strengths of the dips speed in which whatever subtest is not observed, and therefore handheld in most cases to fully carry out the tasks entrusted to it by the owner. Now let's see what happens in the camp of the more expensive PDAs:
    Test / Model ASUS MayPal A600 (XScale 400MHz) Toshiba e740 (Xscale 400MHz) HP iPAQ 3950 (XScale 400 MHz) Dell Axim X5 (XScale 400MHz) Normal Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket LOOX 600 (XScale 400 MHz)
    CPU Floating Point 12.63 12.62 12.68 12.20 9.50
    CPU Integer 26.97 26.91 26.73 24.14 26.52
    Graphics Bitmaps BitBlt 28.48 78.11 26.02 57.52 52.16
    Graphics Bitmaps StretchBlt 0.85 2.34 0.78 0.34 0.78
    Graphics Filled Ellipse 1.06 2.42 0.50 2.53 2.03
    Graphics Filled Rectangle 1.33 6,47 2.02 6.72 6.12
    Graphics Filled Round Rectangle 1.97 1.08 0.43 1.90 1.48
    Memory Allocation 11.05 11,76 11.66 10.47 10.43
    Memory Fill 0.90 0.90 0.90 0.94 0.88
    Memory Move 0.36 0.38 0.42 0.39 0.38
    Text 3.87 3.31 2.93 3.92 4.60
    It is clearly seen that the highest Dell in nearly all the tests loses its more expensive competitors, but this loss, as in the case of the younger model is very relative. Machine is not far behind. Axim 5 shows the best performance when working with graphics, but the overall speed of the results fall short of the leader - Toshiba e740. However, to make the CPC to work harder you can. For this case, there are program-overclockers, review of which lie in our Library. But this is undocumented features. Originally older machine is very weak in speed for comparison with similar, although the lack of brightens up the lower price. The same can be said about the younger model. Finally an interesting detail.Dell has launched relatively recently to equip its newest handheld PXA255 processor instead of an old PXA250. Thus, the bus frequency increased to 200MHz, which eventually according to preliminary reviews to increase in the overall performance of 25%. How to find out which processor is in buying a typewriter? Very simple! There are two ways: either go to the \ My Documents \ SysInfo and view the file SysInfo.txt, or visit the tab "System Information" in "Start-Settings-System". If there is listed "CPU: Intel (r) PXA250 400Mhz B2", then there is nothing particularly enjoy - you have an old processor with a 100MHz-th bus, but if your stepping "stones" is equal to C1, then you PXA255, and, consequently, the speed of your machine for a quarter more.

    And you do not want to see off ...

    Let's sum up. Thus, the new Pocket PCs from Dell actually combine a low price, even by the standards of the Russian market and greater functionality. How to look Axim 5 on the background of its nearest competitors? Substantial weight and size, of course, not the best news release from the CCP-regime. However, the size compensates for the presence of two expansion slots - the inexpensive Compact Flash Type II, which, in addition to expandable memory, you can use to connect various devices on the cards (cameras, GPS-receivers, Bluetooth-cards) and Advanced Secure Digital (unfortunately, without the support of SDIO ). The latter just serve to add a few megabytes of superfluous to the "strategic reserve" on board the handheld. The rest of the device is not much different from the typical Pocket Pc so-called middle-level price. Axim 5, with all their strengths and weaknesses - a very ambitious machine. By the end of 2003, they intend to win as much as 15-20% of the Russian PDA market, which is projected to retailers, will have to grow twice as much. Including due to "efforts" of these handhelds. (That is, in total this year are going to sell nearly 120,000 PDAs in general, of which 20% want to take Dell'y). Their price for obrzanomu expression of Head of Marketing "White Wind" will be "hence safety fuse, which" explode "sleep the domestic market. Let's see ... PS Thank firm BelSoft for the provided equipment. The authors, translation: