Wednesday, September 29, 2004

2215 Pro's

Let me start with a disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the next few posts are my opinion only. My experience with HP and this unit may be atypical, but it’s all I have to work from. Your mileage may vary.

Here are the things I have enjoyed most about the iPAQ 2215:

  • I have used the CF expandability quite a bit. I frequently use memory, wireless, and GPS all through the CF expansion port. With the dropping price of SD memory and trend for new devices to have 802.11 and Bluetooth, this physical expandability is becoming less important.
  • The stylus is better than a lot of PDA’s (like the goofy popsicle stick style from the HP 548).
  • The battery life is pretty good (not like the old Palm III days of weeks of usage on a pair of AAA batteries, but pretty good for a modern, high-powered PDA). Plus, the fact that the battery is removable is a bonus.
  • Bluetooth connectivity through my Nokia phone has been very nice. I have been able to surf the web and get myself out of a pinch in a couple of instances.
  • I like that I have been able to use some of my older accessories from my 3955 (like the travel charger and the travel sync cable).
  • There are lots of third party accessories available for the device.
  • The unit is fairly compact and even wearing it on my belt isn’t too bad…geeky, but not too uncomfortable.
  • The display on this handheld is better than many of its generation. It is bright, clear, and the variable brightness functionality (having more than just 3 brightness settings) has been nice.
  • Processing power has always been totally adequate.

So stay tuned for the list of my gripes about the handheld. I will take a while to make sure that I am fair and don’t let a negative attribute or two overrun my rationality.

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