HP iPAQ RX3100
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I decided to bite the bullet and buy an all-in-one device. After lots of research, I decided to go with the HP iPAQ RX3100. It looks like a great addition to my computer family. It has many perks and features that make it stand out against everything else in that price range. Read on to see if it's a truly great device, or perhaps if it's one of those devices that needed a few more rounds in the software department to support the hardware.
Recently I did an article about that all-in-one handheld device we have always heard about. During my research, I became interested in what these Pocket PCs were about. They looked like a great companion to the PCs I have.
What you get
For such a little device, this thing comes in a big box. I'm glad they are replanting the rain forest, because I think I am responsible for at least one tree with all this paper here.
Here are the power cord and Sync cord. It's a bit tricky to get this all wired up. You have your typical USB sync cable. One end is the USB; it goes into the computer. The other end goes into the bottom of the PDA. There is a little split right before it gets to the PDA connector. That's where the power cord comes in. If you want to charge your unit while you sync it, you can. All you need to do is plug the power cord into the USB cord.
If you only want to charge your PDA, the plug simply won't fit into the PDA. Fortunately, there is a little adapter for that. Simply put it in, and plug in your PDA. It works well for travel because it won't take up as much room as a docking station would.
Normal use is more of a hassle. We now have two wires to worry about and they typically get in the way. It's creative cable management and at least we don't have to plug two cords into the PDA; that would create more entanglement.
The last two accessories are a case for the PDA and a set of headphones. The headphones are the typical generic ones that you get with all music devices. I have a whole box full of them by now.
It's time for a look at the actual PDA. Let's start with the screen. It's 3.5 inches across, with a resolution of 240x320. This is the bare minimum for current PDAs. We have VGA+ screens now that are much more attractive, especially for Internet viewing.
The memory inside this PDA is a little skimpy. We have 56 MB of usable memory, 4 MB of which is considered iPAQ File Store. This isn't a lot. Heck, after I installed a few programs, it quickly filled up, so I had to pull back on them. Forget about putting any decent amount of music on this.
The processor in this PDA is the Samsung S3C 2440 processor, running at a mere 300 MHz. This isn't nearly the fastest CPU. They are up to and exceeding 600 MHz now, so why does this device boast only 300 MHz?
Next: More of What You Get >>
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