HP Jornada 540
I've had a Palm III since 1997. I loved the way it could intelligently synchronize data. I used it everyday and would be lost without it. All my phone numbers, appointments, etc. are on this little baby. I had tried CE devices before and found their lack of good synchronizing to be an Achilles heel.
So there I was, out in the parking lot of a new-car dealer buying a new car. It was hot, my hands were sweating (I never used the included screen cover: way too flimsy) and BOOM I dropped my palm and cracked the display. This is probably the most common repair issue that comes up with these devices. Instead of getting a new Palm, I got a Pocket PC. Whoa. This Pocket PC is so much better I'll never go back.
I'm very interested in taking a look at the Toshiba and NEC when they come out, but I rely on a handheld device so much I couldn't wait. In the office people are always asking "Are you available xxxx day?" and I never know the answer unless I consult my handheld device.
Common Considerations: Pocket PC vs. the Palm as well as the Jornada vs. other Pocket PCs.
Size - The Jornada is about the same size as a color Palm and a little
smaller than other Pocket PCs.
Weight - The Jornada is about the same weight as a color Palm and about the
same weight as other Pocket PCs.
Support - I haven't tried HP's support, but if my HP printer is any
indication: I won't need HP support.
Memory - 32MB. FORGET about 16MB in a Pocket PC: USELESS - DON'T
BOTHER (read Casio). You NEED at least 32MB. This probably equates
roughly with 16MB in the Palm world (Palm applications are WAY smaller than
Pocket PC applications, but data files are roughly the same). Way more
memory than most Palm devices. Pocket PCs use the memory both for running
programs and for storage. The HP manages the memory automatically. I
had one of those portable HP 8088 handheld computers and it did the same.
Display - 12-bit (4096) color. Compared to other Pocket PCs, the
Jornada is lagging behind. Compared to the Palm, the Jornada rocks.
I've played many video files, and the video player needs to quantize
(interpolate) the color.
Processor - 133Mhz Hitachi. Compared to the Intel 206Mhz Strongarm,
this processor is about 2 times slower. This processor relegates this
machine to a PDA versus a PC replacement. At 208x144 pixel video I get 15
fps. This is so far superior to a Palm device as to be beyond
comparison. However, compared to an Ipaq or a Casio with the Strongarm
processor, it is much slower than necessary to provide full-screen 30fps
video. Is it useful? Yes. Is it optimal? No.
Reliability - Good god. Rock solid. 'nough said.
Included Applications - Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, Media
Player, and more all in ROM - this alone saves hundreds of dollars (plus
memory). With a Palm you pay $40 here, $40 there, pretty soon you've spent
as much as you would on Pocket PC and you don't even have color!!!
Other
Why Jornada?
With the Ipaq and Casio's superior display and faster processor, why did I choose the Jornada? Firstly, I use this mainly for work and the HP image of staid boringness appealed to me. Also, I knew I could trust HP, but wasn't sure I could trust Casio (calculators and watches) or Compaq (IBM-clone dullards, get a life). Plus, I was in the habit of putting my Palm III in my shirt pocket or my pants pocket and the Jornada is slightly smaller and has a built in face cover that both the Casio & Ipaq lack. I never use those "wallets" etc. that others are so fond of.
Use
I'm a heavy user of PDAs. I use this everyday and keep all my appointments and contacts in it. One of the handiest things: when you are looking up a contact and using the jog dial to scroll after you've scrolled for a few seconds it starts scrolling not by entry, but by alphabet. As you scroll each letter is displayed in large type. You just stop scrolling when you get to the letter corresponding to the entry and then scroll to the entry. Really handy when you're driving!
I'm running a 128MB CF type 1 memory card. Battery lasts about 6 hours before recharge. HP is using the new polymer Lithium Ion battery that allows them to mold the battery into any shape. A lot has been written about the Jornada's display being worse than Ipaq's or Casio's: it is. There is some bleeding like old color laptops. I don't have any problem using it outdoors, though most of my use is indoors.
In addition to the standard software, I currently have Pocket TV (MPEG player), Pocket Streets (mapping software), backgammon, Othello, chess, Sierra Imaging Expert, Transcriber, checkers, and HPC Notes loaded.
I have the following ebooks: Alice in Wonderland, The Call of the Wild, Captain Blood, The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare), Encarta Pocket Dictionary, Extraordinary Popular Delusion, The Fall of the House of Usher, Kai Lung's Golden Hours, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer-Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, The Prince, Revelation (Bible), Riders of the Purple Sage, The Secret Garden, The Spy vol. 1&2, A Study in Scarlet, The Taming of the Shrew, Treasure Island, and Two Fairy Tales. I just got Dracula and Heart of Darkness from the online library of some University (Virginia? West Virginia? I forgot) I am joyously re-reading Heart of Darkness. The Reader application is actually good. I've always been a vocal opponent of reading a book on a screen, but the Jornada is changing me.... I read more now than ever. I just wish I could get Schrodinger's Cat in ebook format.
I have about a dozen MP3s and 4 video movies.
I synchronize documents from my job daily and run Avantgo which gives me Bloomberg, CNN, Hoover's IPO Update, Maxim Online (oh yeah!), MSN Mobile, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.
Try doing all this with a Palm! Quack. This device functions not only as a much-more-capable-than-Palm work device, but allows me to carry music, books, games, and videos in my pocket. It's actually kind of strange carrying around all this power in your hand: 133Mhz processor, 32MB of main storage and 128MB CF1, 12-bit color display, built-in sound, touch screen with handwriting recognition: it's more powerful than a lot of PCs I've owned!
If you had one of those nifty folding keyboards you could literally ditch your laptop and carry this thing around with you instead. You can even get a VGA output adapter: imagine doing a Powerpoint presentation with sound and everything for a customer on this little thing - talk about coool.
That jog dial on the left of all Pocket PCs really makes a big difference. It is much better for scrolling than the Palm's rocker. You can read books one-handed and search for and select Contacts one-handed: a must if you make phone calls while driving.
Transcriber
My Palm friends are so jealous of this application. I can write on the screen and it translates my writing into type-written text much faster than Palm's Graffiti. The "cool" and "ooh" factor is quite high here.
More to follow.
Last Update: 09/01/2001