IPAQ… A More Complete Review (3 of 3)
Part 3 of 3 of A.Jay's iPaq review. Read Part 1 and Part 2.
One additional thing about the iPAQ that I don’t care for at all is the case, which is a bulky black nylon sleeve. Nothing as nice or as simple as Palm’s “flap” which has long been the butt of many jokes, but I always liked the flap, mostly because I carry the devices in my shirt pocket. If I’m carrying the iPAQ in my shirt pocket, I frequently cannot leave it in the case, and I’m always concerned about scratching it or something. I’ve seen some nice belt cases but have not had the opportunity to try them out.
For the price of the iPAQ, I would like to have seen a cradle as well. The sync cable is this awkward thing that plugs into the USB port on the computer, but if you connect it to the iPAQ and set the device flat on a table or desk, there’s a power connector on the bottom that makes it so it doesn’t set flat, which isn’t very convenient. Out of the box, this is the only way to charge the device, although an adapter is available which connects the power cord directly to a plug that goes into the device so you can charge without the USB cable, but it still won’t lay flat. I’ve found setting the iPAQ on a CD jewel box gives it just about the right height to clear the power connector and still not put any stress on the port where the cable goes into the iPAQ.
I should also comment on ActiveSync. In some ways, ActiveSync is kind of creepy. It always seems to know when you make a change either on the device or on the desktop and will sync itself immediately. It accomplishes this in part by leaving the device on, every time you’ve got the cable connected to the device. I really rather prefer the way that Palm does this, where when you connect your device, via cable or cradle, it will charge, but doesn’t try to sync right away unless you hit the sync button, then the device powers on, syncs, and powers off after the pre-set time. In the back of my mind, I can’t help wondering if this wouldn’t contribute to the premature death of a screen or something like that, and there are probably settings in ActiveSync that I can change to make it behave in more the way I want it to, but I haven’t explored that yet. Partly because the device lacks a sync button and you would have to initiate sync from ActiveSync app anyway.
Well anyway, these are a few of my thoughts on the differences between devices, preserved here for posterity. I don’t claim that any of this is right or wrong, merely an opinion from someone whose opinions are generally pretty insignificant.
One additional thing about the iPAQ that I don’t care for at all is the case, which is a bulky black nylon sleeve. Nothing as nice or as simple as Palm’s “flap” which has long been the butt of many jokes, but I always liked the flap, mostly because I carry the devices in my shirt pocket. If I’m carrying the iPAQ in my shirt pocket, I frequently cannot leave it in the case, and I’m always concerned about scratching it or something. I’ve seen some nice belt cases but have not had the opportunity to try them out.
For the price of the iPAQ, I would like to have seen a cradle as well. The sync cable is this awkward thing that plugs into the USB port on the computer, but if you connect it to the iPAQ and set the device flat on a table or desk, there’s a power connector on the bottom that makes it so it doesn’t set flat, which isn’t very convenient. Out of the box, this is the only way to charge the device, although an adapter is available which connects the power cord directly to a plug that goes into the device so you can charge without the USB cable, but it still won’t lay flat. I’ve found setting the iPAQ on a CD jewel box gives it just about the right height to clear the power connector and still not put any stress on the port where the cable goes into the iPAQ.
I should also comment on ActiveSync. In some ways, ActiveSync is kind of creepy. It always seems to know when you make a change either on the device or on the desktop and will sync itself immediately. It accomplishes this in part by leaving the device on, every time you’ve got the cable connected to the device. I really rather prefer the way that Palm does this, where when you connect your device, via cable or cradle, it will charge, but doesn’t try to sync right away unless you hit the sync button, then the device powers on, syncs, and powers off after the pre-set time. In the back of my mind, I can’t help wondering if this wouldn’t contribute to the premature death of a screen or something like that, and there are probably settings in ActiveSync that I can change to make it behave in more the way I want it to, but I haven’t explored that yet. Partly because the device lacks a sync button and you would have to initiate sync from ActiveSync app anyway.
Well anyway, these are a few of my thoughts on the differences between devices, preserved here for posterity. I don’t claim that any of this is right or wrong, merely an opinion from someone whose opinions are generally pretty insignificant.
posted by Antoine @ 2/02/2006 12:50:00 AM
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