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HP iPaq2400, seems like a step backwards
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Subject Author Date
HP iPaq2400, seems like a step backwards pilotplanes 06-20-2007
Posted by pilotplanes on June 20, 2007, 12:32 pm
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 Just upgraded to the newest HP iPaq hp2495b. My other iPaq, about 5
years old, worked wonderfully, but its 32 Meg of memory was just not
enough anymore. What a surprise when I got the new iPaq in the mail!
It's quite a bit thicker than my old iPaq, by at least 50%. When I
run my programs on Windows Modile v5, things seem to run slower than
on my old iPaq. Early on, I did hard resets because I though the iPaq
was hung. Turned out it just needed about 4 or 5 seconds to respond.
Even worse, sometimes when I try to turn on the iPaq, it really is
hung and it will only turn on via the reset button. The frequently-
used backup program that was standard on the old iPaq is gone and I
had to pay this time to get a new one. All-in-all, I'm not a
satisfied customer of HP anymore. Calling their technical non-support
in India is not really an option for me. Besides venting my
dissatisfaction, I also have a question. Could there be something
wrong with this device? Is there a diagnostics that I can run? Or
should I just acknowledge that this is a turkey and I need to replace
it? Thanks.


Posted by r_z_aret on June 20, 2007, 3:20 pm
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 On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:32:03 -0700, pilotplanes

>Just upgraded to the newest HP iPaq hp2495b. My other iPaq, about 5
>years old, worked wonderfully, but its 32 Meg of memory was just not
>enough anymore. What a surprise when I got the new iPaq in the mail!
>It's quite a bit thicker than my old iPaq, by at least 50%. When I
>run my programs on Windows Modile v5, things seem to run slower than
>on my old iPaq.

Your new iPAQ runs Windows Mobile 5. And that uses persistent memory,
rather than volatile memory, for file storage. The advantage is
reduced power consumption, and files that stay even when the battery
is drained. The disadvantage is slower file access, which definitely
affects application startup time.


> Early on, I did hard resets because I though the iPaq
>was hung. Turned out it just needed about 4 or 5 seconds to respond.
>Even worse, sometimes when I try to turn on the iPaq, it really is
>hung and it will only turn on via the reset button.

This _might_ be a problem specific to your device.


> The frequently-
>used backup program that was standard on the old iPaq is gone and I
>had to pay this time to get a new one.

That backup program was probably part of the operating system from
Microsoft. Microsoft decided not to include a backup program in WM 5.


> All-in-all, I'm not a
>satisfied customer of HP anymore.

At least two of the complaints you listed here are Microsoft's
responsibility, not HPs.


> Calling their technical non-support
>in India is not really an option for me. Besides venting my
>dissatisfaction, I also have a question. Could there be something
>wrong with this device? Is there a diagnostics that I can run? Or
>should I just acknowledge that this is a turkey and I need to replace
>it? Thanks.

Some manufacturers might include a backup program, to make up for the
one not included by Microsoft; maybe someone else can say, but I don't
have the info. But the slow file access is common to all WM 5 devices
from all manufacturers.

-----------------------------------------
To reply to me, remove the underscores (_) from my email address (and please
indicate which newsgroup and message).

Robert E. Zaret, eMVP
PenFact, Inc.
20 Park Plaza, Suite 400
Boston, MA 02116
www.penfact.com

Posted by Todd Allcock on June 20, 2007, 9:41 pm
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At 20 Jun 2007 15:20:59 -0400 r_z_aret@pen_fact.com wrote:
> That backup program was probably part of the operating system from
> Microsoft. Microsoft decided not to include a backup program in WM 5.

Actually the on-device backup programs weren't part of the OS either-
most device manufacturers typically included one as a courtesy, however.
Compaq, for example, licensed Sprite backup and relabled it for the iPaq
line.

MS' "official" backup solution was to backup to PC via Activesync (prior
to WM5 that is...)


Posted by pilotplanes on June 22, 2007, 11:49 am
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> At 20 Jun 2007 15:20:59 -0400 r_z_aret@pen_fact.com wrote:
> Actually the on-device backup programs weren't part of the OS either-
> most device manufacturers typically included one as a courtesy, however.
> Compaq, for example, licensed Sprite backup and relabled it for the iPaq
> line.

Thank you and others who replied.

I think indeed the backup program was Sprite on my original iPaq.
That's the backup program that after a bunch of comparisons, I wound
up buying. It works very well. And to the argument that the iPaq's
lack of performance is Microsoft's fault, respectfully I disagree. New
operating systems do get slower with new releases due to feature
bloat, but hardware manufactures should find a way to compensate --
faster chips, more cache, etc.

So, to summarize then, the new iPaq is: Bigger, Slower, Has Less
Software, Hangs and Crashes more often, and has its tech support in
India. On the positive side, it does have more memory.

Obviously, my fault was not doing enough homework before the purchase,
so now I'm stuck with this turkey. But when I can afford it, I'll be
buying something better.




Posted by timeOday on June 20, 2007, 8:52 pm
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pilotplanes wrote:
> Just upgraded to the newest HP iPaq hp2495b.

You poor soul. My company mandated this model for the security
features, which don't even work (causes long delays and lockups often).
Nothing works. Hangs frequently, bad battery life, flaky wi-fi, too
big, low-res (half-vga) screen, no network synchronization, often
sluggish in response to button presses.

8 years after my first Palm, I am almost convinced to go back to paper.


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