Big Review of HP iPAQ rx1950

Hewlett-Packard has always been one of the main innovators in the Pocket PC field. But contrary to the past, not all innovations or even whole devices are now received as positively as a few years ago. Smaller or bigger objections are more likely nowadays. But when looking at the new Pocket PC with the HP logo on its hood, that is HP iPAQ rx1950, it fortunately seems to me that at least in the introductory level devices HP abandoned all experiments and used what was proven. That is definitely good news.

By using a concept that has previously been tested and which targets new or less demanding users, also means that we can hardly find anything surprising or even shocking in this HP iPaq. But that is more or less a feature so we need to put up with it.

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What is in the Package?

There is no need to waste time describing the coloured box itself. Anyway, it will end up somewhere on the shelf, in the cellar or even in the bin. But first you should probably take out the the contents, which are:

• HP iPAQ rx 1950 device
• 1100 mAh Li-Ion battery
• AC adapter
• USB sync cable
• Simple protective case
• CD-ROM including Outlook 2002 and bonus applications
• Quick start guide
• Warranty card
• Voucher for software at iPAQ Choice
• Available accessory leaflet

Except for the device itself, which we are going to describe later, the box contains only the very basic stuff. The battery is supplied separately, which apart from anything else means it is replaceable. As is common for HP, the AC adapter is one-piece only, without replaceable plugs for different sockets. The cord is long enough, 180 centimetres should be sufficient to the nearest socket for everybody. The communication with a PC is done through a 120 centimetres long USB cable containing also the connector for the AC adapter – there is no separate adapter for direct charging.

iPAQ is a Pocket PC so very few will use at one place only. To prevent damage during transport, there is a protective case included in the box, the same one as supplied with h4150. Technically speaking, it is a nylon banner with soft lining protecting the device from scratching. The banner creates a pocket sewed on both sides with elastic fabric. There is no belt clip. In other words it is a very simple case which, however, fulfils its purpose.

Now we are getting to the end of our short list. You will find only a bare minimum of applications on the supplied CD, it contains more or less the bonuses from Microsoft only. HP has been instead offering a voucher for its iPAQ Choice web shop for a certain time where you can exchange the voucher for a few applications of your own choice. Furthermore, the box contains just some leaflets, a short guide for beginners and warranty information. That is to say the box contains only the necessary stuff you cannot do without. Anything else is an unnecessary luxury which rises the price but nobody prevents you from buying the missing equipment :)

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Design

If, for any reason, you have not realised it yet, I have interesting information for you. iPAQ rx1950 is indistinguishably similar to older and very popular HP iPAQ h4150. Except for a few changes in visual appearance (there is no Pocket PC label, the HP logo is grey instead of blue, the back is black instead of dark grey), the main difference is supposedly only the material used. In the case of rx1950 it is no longer plastic with that luxury finish but rather with finish of a bit less quality. But the finish is still far away from anything you would call cheap. The dimensions of rx1950 are completely the same as of h4150 (70.6 x 113.6 x 13.5 millimetres / 4.47 x 2.78 x 0.5 in ), the weight is slightly lower (125 grams / 4.4 oz) due to the different material and possibly some different components. In any case it is an incredibly elegant device which perfectly fits into your hand, which you can put into any pocket and which will not occupy much space even in a lady's handbag. The workmanship is OK, everything fits and nothing creaks.

In order to describe the device in detail, we will begin by the front side with display and control buttons. Of course the largest part of this side occupies the display. Above there is the power button and a pair of LEDs, one on the each side. The left one flashes blue and indicates WiFi module activity, and the right one flashes green and amber and its purpose is to show charging status and various alarms. Below the display there is one square-shaped four-way pad with a separate action button in the middle. On each side there is a pair of fully programmable application buttons. Each of them can be assigned even two functions (short press/long press). Their functions are Calendar and Contacts on the left side and Email and iPAQ Wireless on the right one. Game players will be pleased that more buttons can be pressed at the same time but certain games had difficulties in distinguishing between a long and a short press. You can also disable buttons so their press will be ignored when the device is off, which is a nice feature. And one more thing I would like to bring to your attention. Windows Mobile 5 provides support for two system buttons by which you can operate the device without the need to use Stylus. This device unfortunately lacks these buttons but you can assign their function to the programmable buttons so you can still enjoy this WM5 feature even with iPAQ rx1950.

Except perhaps for the battery cover, there is nothing interesting on the back.

Pocket PC	Dimenstions (mm / in)	Weight (g / oz)
FSC Pocket LOOX N520	71 x 116 x 14 4.49 x 2.80 x 0.52 in	160 5.6
HP iPAQ rx1950	70,6 x 113,6 x 13,5 4.47 x 2.78 x 0.5 in	125 4.4

On the top edge there is a common 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack, a small microphone inlet, a SD / MMC slot protected by a fake card and finally a Stylus hole. You may be confused by the missing WiFi antenna – do not worry, it is integrated, which has a very little impact on the sensitivity. The sound recording button (programmable as well but for one function only) and a small software reset switch are to be found on the left side. There is barely anything interesting on the opposite side except for a slider for removing the battery cover. Finally there is the bottom edge, where you will find a common 22 pin connector (compatible with an overwhelming majority of other iPAQs so you can also use various older equipment without any problems) and somehow uncommonly placed IR port.

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Parameters

It is late 2005 nowadays and even though this iPAQ possess certain extra features, we can hardly classify this iPAQ as anything else than low-end, that is among devices for new or less demanding users. The Samsung SC32442 processor running on 300 MHz fits low-end category perfectly. In computing performance it can by no means compare to Intel PXA270 running on 312 MHz, the performance difference is approximately 25% in favour of Intel. You can notice it especially with Skype for which the iPAQ is too slow, unlikely, for example, LOOX N520. But that is to be discussed later. As it is common for iPAQs, we have to forget about processor speed change. The memory amount is also quite modest. 32 MB SDRAM and 64 MB Flash ROM is a threshold you probably cannot go below with a Windows Media 5 based device. Considering the fact that after hard reset the user has only 33 MB Flash ROM for own data and applications, very few will do without a memory card. Only 12 MB of free RAM looks suspicious, too, but fortunately the memory management in WM5 is good enough to deal with that. I launched 16 applications at the same time (more or less everything I could) and the system was still responsive. Later on the response times got worse and some applications refused to launch complaining about the lack of memory but if you use some decent task manager, it should not be a big deal.

There is not much to describe on the display. The iPAQ has a very typical one you can imagine in a Pocket PC. Transflective TFT display, 240 x 320 pixel resolution, 65 thousand colours, LED backlight, touch-sensitive layer. The backlightning must be praised – 11 levels of intensity set separately for battery operation and charging is just enough. The maximum brightness level is almost uncomfortable for the eyes. Moreover, it displays in almost bright white, colours are true as well so, as for me, it can hardly be better (especially with such a cheap device as this one). The visibility in sunshine or diffused light is a bit worse but that is common for all transflective displays. The touch-sensitive layer is perfect all over the display, the only bad mark is for ugly thick black display borders.

The rx1950 does not need to be ashamed of its sound capabilities, too. The common 3.5 headphone jack is great, there is no noticeable noise with the Koss Porta Pro headphones. Even with default settings the sound is nicely dynamic and more than loud at the maximum volume. And if you were unhappy with the sound dynamics, you can add 4 bass and 3 treble levels (that applies only for the headphone output). If sound recording is of higher importance for you, you will not be dissatisfied even in this case. Whether a direct recording or a recording from the distance of approximately 3 metres distance, it cannot be called any worse than perfect (check here [52KB]). The microphone sensitivity can be set at 8 levels, you can of course leave that for the automatics. Finally there is an integrated speaker from which nobody expects any miracles. It plays reasonably well and loud and that is enough.

It is not that great when communication is considered but do not forget it is a cheap device. USB 1.1 is of course fundamental and really fast with ActiveSync 4.1. But there is still no USB Host (oh, be quiet, you back there with that LOOX;), HP simply does not recognise this technology. Data output also includes a serial port (RS232) but you need a special cable to be able to use it. The next one is a IR port with a common speed of 115 Kbps. I also tried to control a TV but it did not work for some reason (but it may likely be because of WM5, the remote control simulation applications do not go well with it...).

The last communication module is a WiFi one. Unlikely h4150, there is no Bluetooth. Technically speaking, the WiFi is WLAN 802.11b so the iPAQ should be able to communicate at 11 Mbps. Of course you can hardly reach this speed in reality, but when compared to GPRS, EDGE and 3G networks, the speed is indeed lightning fast. According to the specifications, it is capable of WEP 64/128-bit, 802.1X (EAP-TLS, PEAP) and WPA encryption. I was checking that with my Asus WL-530g AP and I there were no problems (my configuration is WPA-PKS, TKIP). I also tried one of the recent hits, Skype, but that was where I encountered difficulties. The processor is too slow for smooth communication. I could hear my colleague on the other end but it was like he was hidden in a big bottle. But what was worse, every other word was unintelligible or completely missing. What a pity... Otherwise the signal reception is very good, I have experienced no problems in a common prefab-flat (the AP is in one of the rooms).

Thanks to a completely new conception of memory management, the necessity to reserve a part of the battery capacity for so called 72-hour rule has disappeared (when a device based on WM2003 or older system reports 0% battery capacity and switches off automatically, it must protect RAM-stored data for at least next 72 hours). It may not look so but if a device has 64 MB RAM and 1000 mAh battery, you cannot use approximately half of the battery capacity (this iPAQ uses 1100 mAh Li-Ion battery). This rule is no longer needed for Windows Mobile 5 and noticeable in the results.

• Standard test, common usage, max backlight – 5h44m
• Video playback, max backlight – 5h48m
• MP3 playback, LED off – 14h5m
• WiFi on, no workload – 6h20m

To put it other way, these results are quite fair. The conformity of the results for common usage and video playback is interesting but it may be due to the fact that simulated document opening takes so long that the processor is busy for whole 30 seconds, which is almost no change when compared to the constant workload during video playback. The definite drawback is that rx1950 cannot be charged using USB cable, unlikely the majority of other new Pocket PCs.

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Extension Options

We will just skim the extension options. Most often you will be using the SD slot. It can handle memory as well as IO cards. I tried an HP SD camera and after driver installation, everything worked on the first try. The lacking Bluetooth is admittedly unpleasant but there is no sense complaining about that – it is a feature. WiFi works flawlessly and if you have a projector equipped with a WiFi card, you should be able to project instantly. The last way to connect equipment is a data connector on the bottom edge of the device. You will use it mostly for connecting an external hardware keyboard, either a small snap-on one or a big folding one. And that is that, everything is just within the range of standard extension ways of Pocket PCs devices.

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Software

This chapter will be short. The basic part is pre-installed Windows Media 5 Premium system which contains absolutely everything Microsoft prepared for us (except for phone applications). That means Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, PowerPoint Mobile, Internet Explorer Mobile, Windows Media Player 10 Mobile and additional applications. But there are few bonus applications. When I leave out those already mentioned configuration applets, there is just a bit useless plug-in for Today screen, TodayPanel (now a much more useful one), a simple WiFi handling tool called iPAQ Wireless, an utility for device component testing and... that is actually all.

Even the CD does not offer much more, only well known Microsoft applications or freeware easily available elsewhere. But I must not forget to mention a voucher by which you can ‘buy’ a few applications of your choice at iPAQ Choice website so you will not get a completely raw deal. But that is really all, there are no more application in the package.

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Price

HP has never been pandering prices, no sense in emphasizing that. The official price in the USA is 299 USD which is not high and with some coupons it can be even better.

[POLL] [PAGE]

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Personal Impression, Benchmarks & Tests

If I should sum up my experience, it is a great device for a great price. Of course you cannot expect some supercomputer, in some aspects it is a less powerful model even within the range for less demanding users. But in overall view, iPAQ rx1950 is a balanced device. As for performance, the main drawback is too little power for VoIP (like Skype). When a device is equipped with WiFi instead of Bluetooth, I would expect better support for voice communication over IP network. Unfortunately, this iPAQ is simply slow for very popular Skype. This can represent a big problem for a part of the potential buyers.

Regarding the power, rx1950 is also not suitable for passionate gamers. First, a part of the demanding games is choppy, which does not make gaming too enjoyable, and then there is the problem with the buttons. They can be pressed at the same time but some games cannot GET OVER long press of a button. This problem is probably linked with short/long press support.

The multimedia part is much better. I have already mentioned the sound quality so no need to repeat myself. Playing MP3s is no problem for the device, I could still easily work with Word or Internet Explorer when listening to highest quality MP3 files (320 Kbps), only the system responses were a bit slower. A video sample played from a card was fairly good as well but it was necessary to have it in 320 x 240 resolution. When I tried a sample in 640 x 240 resolution, the system could not make it. I tested it using TCPMP (ex BetaPlayer) and here are the results.

Pocket PC	BetaPlayer Benchmark
FSC Pocket LOOX N520	184,82%
HP iPAQ hx2750	163,56%
HP iPAQ rx1950	153,06%
MDA Compact	102,56%

As for WiFi, I was 100 per cent satisfied. Everything worked as it should. Some may consider the lack of Bluetooth annoying but it is said that in the ‘West’ WiFi is much more popular thanks to widely available hot-spots. And as I have already mentioned several times, this is simply a feature. If you need BT badly, iPAQ rx1950 is not for you. Matter closed :)

I have been describing the rest of the features continuously so we can bring this to an end. I have made benchmarks but I am going to publish it no sooner than with other devices. It has no informative value with this single device itself. For now I am offering only the test of graphics. I tested the graphic capabilities of this device using GXmark utility. It is not that sophisticated and it offers comparison with iPAQ h3600 only, but at least it provides a nice sample of how many graphic objects can be moving on one display at the same time:)

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Detailed Rating

Now a few words on the final rating. The device type can Pocket PC, Pocket PC Phone edition or eventually a Smartphone. The class means the differentiation for various user groups which is crucial for understanding of the whole rating. That is to say the rating of the individual parts is not absolute but relative to the class just selected. For example? The weigh of a device with VGA display, BT/WiFi duet will be marked with 9 in the ‘High-demanding users’ class, whereas in the ‘Beginners’ class, a device of the same weight, QVGA display, one slot and no radio will be marked 3. The date of the rating is of the same importance. If I rate an integrated 1.3 MPix camera today, it will get 10 points because it is the best you can find in a PDA. If I rated it in six months time, when integrated 2.0 MPix will be available, it would get fewer points.

If you have any comments on this rating, put them into the discussion board. I do not make this rating for myself but for you, to provide you with some leading when choosing your device. If you feel it is a bad way, feel free to tell me:)

Rating
Name:	iHP iPAQ rx1950
Type:	Pocket PC
Class:	For newbies
System:	Windows Mobile 5
Date:	December 5, 2005
Design, user friendliness
Design:	10
Dimensions:	9
Weight:	9,5
Buttons, user comfort:	7
Assembly quality:	9
Performance, memory
Processor:	2,5
RAM:	2
ROM:	3
Display
Resolution:	5
Size:	7
Quality (indoors):	10
Quality (outdoors):	9
Backlight:	9
Touch screen:	9
Audio
Microphone:	10
Loudspeaker:	8
Headphones output:	10
Communication:
USB:	6
Infra:	7
Bluetooth:	0
WiFi:	9
Battery, power settings
Features:	6
Battery life:	8
Expandability
General:	5
Software
System, settings:	4
Bonus apps in ROM:	3
Bonus apps in CD:	0+3
Accessories
Quantity:	3
Quality:	8
Other
Overall impression:	9
Manufacturer support:	8
Price/performance ratio	9
Total
HP iPAQ rx1950	7,00 out of 10

Notes: The rating is 1 – 10. The higher the number is, the closest to the ideal state the result is. If a device gets 10 points in the ‘Appearance’ category, it means it is unearthly beautiful. And if it gets 10 points in the ‘Weight’ category, it means it is extremely lightweight.

...and another review is over:)

Article rating - (350 votes)