I bought a palmOne Treo 650 after reviewing the RIM BlackBerry 7230 and the H-P iPAQ h6315 integrated communication devices. This doesn’t make me a PalmOS zealot. In fact, I’d love to have a Pocket PC that I could recommend as strongly as I recommend the Treo 650.
I was hoping that the H-P iPAQ hw6515 was going to be that Pocket PC, but after reading Jorgen Sundgot’s review of the iPAQ hw6515 on infoSync World, I’m not sure this will be it.
From looking at the photos on infoSync World, it looks like H-P integrated a keyboard similar to the snap-on keyboard for the h6315. I didn’t like these keys as much as the keys on the Treo 650, because the iPAQ keys are smaller, spaced further apart, and don’t appear to be backlit.
The 64k color screen has a resolution of 16-bit color screen is competitive with that of the Treo on a colors-displayed basis. The resolution is 240-by-240, which means that the screen only displays 56 percent of the information that the Treo’s 320-by-320 does.
The hw6515 is also more expandable, with both an SDIO-compatible SD Card expansion slot and a miniSD expansion slot. This means you can have a memory card and a WiFi card in the iPAQ, if you can handle the battery drain. The iPAQ also has built-in GPS with TomTom navigation software (I’d really be interested in that). The Treo answers only with a single SDIO/SD/MMC card slot.
The iPAQ hw6515 scores points on the Treo in the memory department (44-Megabytes versus 23 for the Treo) and has a slight advantage in the weight department (it’s almost half an ounce or 13 grams lighter). It’s a draw in data networking: both support EDGE and Bluetooth. They have the exact same processor, an Intel PXA270 running at 312 mHz.
So where does the iPAQ 6515 come up short? According to infoSync World:
- “…the thumbboard is a bit of a disappointment…. What’s the downside then, you ask? Somewhere along the way from pressing a button, something is pouring syrup in the machinery. In the vast majority of cases, a quick double-press will not be recognized, and despite tactile and audible feedback indicating a key has been pressed there’s a modest chance it will not show up; absolutely marring for heavy thumbboard users.”
- “…the exchangeable, rechargeable 1,200 mAh Lithium Ion battery will not allow for any extended use of an accessory such as a Wi-Fi card as it already struggles to provide sufficient battery life as is….” {The Treo has a removable, rechargeable 1,800 mAh Lithium Ion battery.}
- “…most functionality beyond simple PIM and messaging feels sluggish, and particularly so if one attempts to multitask when the GPS receiver is active.” {I wouldn’t have thought that the GPS feature would impact the overall performance in that fashion.}
This is a review of a pre-production, European unit, so the performance of the final product may be better. I’m going to stay on the lookout for other reviews and I’ll point them out if they differ from this one.