iPAQ FAQ
OK, time for an upgrade.
My trusty iPAQ 3650 has served me very well over the past years. It was manufactured in August 2000 and came in to my possession not too long thereafter. Over 4 years of use. Good run.
Not only do I want a change, I will soon need one. In the past few days my poor old PDA started exhibiting the dreaded screen flip where the entire screen image is reversed as if shown in a mirror. Originally this was thought to be a birth defect but I guess it comes with old age, too. Squeezing the screen temporarily fixes the flip. This has squeezed a little more life out of my ole paqqy but I envision a day when it doesn't return from backwards world. I need to pick a replacement ASAP so I don't get stuck being PDA-less when this one inevitably dies.
There are a lot of new choices on the market these days: a variety of smart phones, the ever popular Blackberry, palm's flagship Treo and a whole new crop of VGA Pocket PCs. After doing a lot of research and considering my own needs, I decided to stick with the Pocket PC genre. Blackberrys have always intrigued me, mainly because of their cool keypads. I could get a free one from work but I don't want to mingle my personal data (contacts, notes, and calendar) with my work data. Besides, I would like REAL web surfing. Smart phones are cool but I worry about battery life - I don't want the overuse of my 'PDA' to prevent use of the 'cellphone' due to a dead battery. Besides, my Kyocera Slider SE47 is great and don't want to replace it. The Treo 650 seems to have issues and the 600 was never able to do the web surfing that I want on a PDA. Specifically, I'd like to be able to check completed eBay auctions while at a garage sale to see how much a knick-knack is worth (pictures are a must).
So, I am looking at the new VGA Pocket PCs with WiFi and BlueTooth 1.2. Currently, there are four to choose from that are sold in the US and meet my criteria. I would have bought another iPAQ but it seems the HP-Compaq merger has left their Pocket PC customers in the lurch with terrible support. Besides, their current VGA offering has a laptop-like touchpad. YUCK!
I absolutely hate Dell and vowed never to buy another Dell computer for the rest of my life. But the Axim X50v seems to be the best of the bunch so far. If I did get one I would have to scrape off the Dell logo. But I want a thumb keypad, like the HP iPAQ h4355. Preferably one that slides away when not needed, like the Audiovox XV6600 (or PPC-6601 or whatever it is called) smart phone. There was a Snap-on Thumb Keyboard for the Dell Axim X5 but there doesn't seem to be such a thing for the Axim X50v.
If my iPAQ can last until the new square screen VGA Pocket PCs come out then I might find something right up my alley. I'd hate to spend a bunch of cash only to have Pocket PC envy in a few months. Then again, I could always sell my Axim on eBay and then but the latest and greatest Pocket PC. If only it wasn't a Dell and it had a keypad....
UPDATE: I decided to purchase the Axim X50v. So far, so good. Aximsite.com is the best place to find info on this PDA.
As always, let me know if you have any additions, corrections or suggestions. My email address is in the FAQ.
FYI, version 0.6 dated 10/8/01, is still the most recent.
If you are looking for the iPAQ FAQ in HTML format, click here
If you are looking for the iPAQ FAQ in Word 2000 format, click here.
If you are looking for the iPAQ FAQ in PocketWord format, click here.
If you are looking for the iPAQ FAQ in Adobe PDF format, click here
[To download Adobe Acrobat click here.]
If you are looking for the iPAQ FAQ in rich text format, click here.
If you are looking for the iPAQ FAQ in plain text format, click here.
If you are looking for my MicroDrive pics, click here.
