HP iPAQ 111 Classic Handheld (FA979AA#ABA) (110 Series) by HP
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Digital camera reviews of HP iPAQ 111 Classic Handheld (FA979AA#ABA) (110 Series)
Digital camera Review: First time PDA user
Summary: 3 Stars
I'd like to think I'm quite computer savvy but I had always avoided a PDA because I am not busy enough to need a hand held on the go. My school recommended the Palm TX but I rather buy newer technologies. I knew how palm and windows mobile OS's were very different and they both have their high and lows. Since the Palm is at least a few years old, I went for the HP IPAQ 111 like the previous reviewer did because there was a $60 off from HP's website. I figure this is probably the cheapest usable PDA I could get that was decently loaded on processor speed and ram/rom. I definitely needed wifi and bluetooth on it so it was a good purchase.
Now on to the function of this thing:
When I had nothing installed, it was idling at 50% free ram. Once I put in some background apps such as wisbar advance and pocketplus, the ram went down to 40% available. Before these two apps were installed, the thing was decently fast. Loading programs was not instantaneous but how could I compare this to my core 2 duo 2gb ram thinkpad. After installing these background programs though, it became sort of sluggish. Loading programs or switching between programs lagged quite significantly, and we're talking about few whole seconds here. Maybe it's just me being used to a beefy computer where I do tons of multitasking, this PDA does not really perform the way I want it to.
I guess I'm a media person and would like to watch videos on this PDA(i do have an ipod but not the touch). I really hated this screen for watching videos. I felt like my eyes were going to go blind from the glare/glow effect of this screen. Imagine looking at a laptop or LCD screen at the wrong angle seeing a very bright field... that's how it was when I loaded youtube. It was like that at all angles for me. It bothered my eyes. Not great for media/pictures/videos. But for those who only needs this unit for scheduling, emailing, quick wikipedia look ups... then it's fine.
Of course for my first time PDA, I ran into a big problem. Suddenly, out of no where and with no provocation, my PDA's screen had a particular problem: at certain shades of white, the display would be purple instead. What do I mean by this? Example: there's a waterfall photo in \my pictures\ and when I display it, I can see 3 weird circular rings of purple on the water itself. When I magnify it, the purple would magnify with it. Second example: Plain old desktop(today's screen) The background picture seen above that was provided by HP. You see the word HP on the lower right corner of the PDA screen? Well mine had 2 purple lines flaking the circular HP where the white is bright.
Next step: I called HP support on a saturday night and talked with a tech. I could tell she is not a native english speaker but hey, we're all immigrants to this country one way or another. She was very good. She did not make me jump through the hoops that normal CSRs would. I simply explained my problem, told her i did a SOFT-reset and a HARD-reset(tricky btw.. if anyone wants to know it's 1)hold down START, OK, and voice recorder button at once 2) at the same time as holding those previous buttons, take the stylus and press reset on the side. Hold the reset button for 3 seconds. 3) Let go for reset button first, then let go of the 3 buttons. You should now see the IPAQ HP start up screen with the words "Clean booting..." The problem did not go away.
After the tech figured there's nothing I could do on my end since it's not a software issue, she gave me the option of returning it or exchanging for a new unit. I took the latter choice because I need something to run epocrates on the go.
By the way, I owned this unit for 1 day before the purple lines appeared.
Pros: Fast processor
256mb total memory. 64mb of this is actual ram(ram part should go in cons)
Windows mobile 6
Wifi/bluetooth is strong
Battery life was good. Definitely can go a whole day unless you use wifi and bluetooth often.
Active brightness sensing thing. It basically adjust the internal brightness depending on if you're in a room or out in the sun. You don't need to adjust the brightness control yourself.
HP support was good
Cons: Laggy when it comes to having a few programs running simultaneously
Screen had a glare or a glow that made my eyes strain
Rubber back is easily smudged with sweaty/oily hands!
Speaker is on the back, feels like sound is projecting away from me but if you put it at an angle on a wooden surface, you get better sounds obviously due to acoustics.
Volume Control - I'd like to have dedicated buttons for this.
Overall Impression: Neutral hence the 3 stars. It's not great but it's not bad. I would rather get the IPHONE but none of the softwares I need are available on it.
Update 12/13/07: I have been using my new replacement unit without any trouble now. It's very fast loading softwares. Just make sure you are not multi-tasking on it with more than 4 programs or the ram is going to run out. But again the downside is the glowing of the screen. Otherwise, I'm happy with running epocrates on it.
Digital camera Review: Fits my needs perfectly!
Summary: 5 Stars
The iPAQ I had before this one was purchased in 2001 and showing its age something awful. After suffering the pain of swapping over to a new device, I am up and running and very happy. I use my Pocket PC for everything, including reading ebooks on both Microsoft Reader and eReader. I'm impressed by most of the new features of Windows Mobile (except the lack of backup through ActiveSync, what's up with THAT?) and using it in all the ways I'm accustomed to. Battery life is decent, the screen is easy to read and use for input with the stylus. I like being able to charge through the USB connection and data transfer by USB seems fast enough for my needs as well. I'm completely happy with my new device and really glad HP offers the "Classic" version.Digital camera Review: Former Dell Axim User
Summary: 3 Stars
Good product...BUT battery life is an issue. Used a Dell Axim for the past 5 years. Unfortunatley, Dell no longer sells a pocket pc. My only beef is that if a task is planned and it appears on the pocket pc, you better dismiss it as it will drain the battery if you do not. Called HP for support and the only solution they could offer was to stop all functions at the end of the day. (My Dell would go into a hibernation state if I did not dismiss the task. The HP does no do this.....Digital camera Review: Functioned well while it lasted
Summary: 2 Stars
I purchased the HP iPAQ111 to replace earlier model iPAQ. The first lasted 3 years and I had to upgrade as it couldn't handle the memory required for applications I now require.
The HP iPAQ111 was easy to set up and programs ran fine - only for 6 months. While sitting quietly on plane, listening to music, all stopped and I could not restart even with hard reboot. I checked with online hot line and they told me I need new BIOS chip/repair for $100 or so. So, while n=1, I am not happy with the product durability.
Digital camera Review: Gadget for luddites but that's good.....
Summary: 4 Stars
Don't need a cell phone. I became very used to carrying a large amount of information with me with Palm E2. Palm screen died after 14 months and I didn't like 90 day warranty, proprietary connector and no user changeable/replaceable anything.
Took a chance on this and believe me, PDA's are, unfortunately, a dying breed.
Bought an 8GB SDHC card, stores a lot of info, user replaceable battery, common connections, (USB), decent battery life. Wasn't happy about using Outlook but I'll live with it. I don't use the bluetooth or wi-fi.
All in all I'm happy with the unit. This does what I need it to do. After a month have had no problems or resets.
I would recommend it.