Which IPAQ should I get?

[nippyjun]

I'm debating between the 38xx series versus the 37xx series. If anyone here has really comared the two series, let me know which one you went with and why. The price difference for me is about $200 more for the 38xx.

Thanks.

 

[sparks]

At this point, if you can wait a little longer to get your PocketPC, I recommend you wait. Newer, more powerful PPCs are on the horizon that utilize the new Intel XScale processor. At the very least, if your really want a current gen iPaq, it will be cheaper when the new PPCs are released.

 

[fr]

The 3800 has a few hardware improvements and a higher capacity built-in battery. Some of the hardware changes include a better stylus, speaker placement, improved buttons, and combined data/power serial port.

 

[Joony]

The 3800 series have a built in MMC/SD Slot on the top, it also has 16bit color, it fixed the problem from the 37xx/36xx series where if more then 1 button was press simotaniously, it would not be recognized (bad for games), the 3800 also has a bigger battery capacity and a fixed stylus silo so the stylus will not get jammed. Another minor thing is that the speaker is moved to the top so that when you put you finger on the joypad, it dosen't distort the sound on the 3800 unlike the 37/36xx where the speaker waas on the d-pad. And majorly, the dust issue was supposedly fix where dust would leak into the pack of the backlight and glowing specks of dust would appear when you use the ipaq. This mainly happened in the 36/37xx series and a few cases in the 38xx. I hope that helps

Think about a HP Jornada 568/567, those look pretty good.

 

[meister]

what is this 'xscale' you speak about??

I didn't want to wait too long.

Mark

 

[stonecold3169]

x-scale will be replacing the strongARM processor in the next line of IPAQS(As well as the Palms, if we're lucky). I'm not sure what speeds they'll go, but they are supposed to be much, much more efficent then the ARM

 

[kgraeme]

First: Jornada.

Second: X-Scale is the rev of the StrongARM. It is the same processor but faster and with lower power consumption. Think AthlonXP to the regular Athlon.

BTW, I had a funny experience with my Jornada at the airport the other day. I was sitting reading an eBook and a woman sits down next to me and says, "Reading a book?". Yup. After a brief chat she mentions that she just got an Ipaq but that she has lots of problems with losing memory when the battery runs out and that it runs out quickly. I had been sitting in airports and flying all day listening to music, reading my eBook, playing Solitaire, etc. and I still had battery left over when I got home. Her only comment was, "maybe I got the wrong one." I never mentioned to her that I can hot-swap my battery if I needed to.

If you can't wait, at least keep an eye out at the Dell site for a 20% discount. I got my 567 for about $450. That's $200 off the retail version.

 

[meister]

thanks,

right now I'm debating between the 3870 and the jornada. I tried out a jornada today at compuseless and it 'felt' great in my hands. the only ipaq they had on display was the 3830? no sight of 3870...soooo... we will see.

Mark

 

[stonecold3169]

The two big advantages the Jornada has over the Ipaq is the battery life and the integrated compaqt flash slot. I really prefer the screen on the Ipaq over the Jornada, and the Ipaq is just so much sexier, if that sorta thing is important to you... it was for me, being a college student and all.

You really can't lose either way though. I got mine to be a laptop substitute, and for my purposes it works. Many people wll appreciate the extra battery life of the Jornada.