I've had the 6945 for about two weeks now. So far it is performing very well. Setting up the email took a while to figure out. If you are like me, you hate all the clutter and useless software pre-installed on these devices, so it took me a while to clean up the view.I don't use the Outlook Sync function, but it looks like it works well. The auto-sync function is something to be aware of. The first time I did auto-sync it wiped-out my contact list on my PC and replaced with the few contacts on my sim card. Luckily it only deleted the contacts to my outlook delete folder so it was easy to restore. Here are some PROs and CONs after about two weeks of use:
PRO:
1) Wifi or Cingular GPRS email works well. You will have to set up two different accounts one for your Wifi and another for when you are using GPRS, but that is easy to do. The reason you should do this is so that when you are on Wifi you can send via the Wifi server instead of the Cingular GPRS wireless network. I have set up both a work and personal home email account (both POP3). Looks like this device can handle several more email accounts if necessary.
2) Internet explorer works very well. This is not a lame mobile web browser that strips down sites. It is the real deal. Websites look just like they do on your PC or laptop only smaller. You can customize the view pretty easily. Favorites folder is easy to set up and the address bar is easy to use.
3) The screen is very nice. I find myself using both the built in keyboard and the on screen touch pad. Both work very well. Resolution is very good.
4) WM-5 is very nice. I've used the Work and Excel programs so far. They are essentially the same as on your PC. Why anyone would want to use an iPaq to edit a DOC or XLS file is beyond me, but if you need to do this you can. I have not had a chance to use the Powerpoint viewer yet, but I'm sure it works as well as Word and Excel.
5) I purchased a 1GB mini-SD storage card. That is very easy to pop in and out.
6) You can use MP3s or WMA files as your ring tone that's pretty cool.
7) The device is very solid. Not as big as you would think. Fits well in your pocket or on a belt clip. Looks like it will hold up well. The pen locks in the side and is also pretty solid. Not like the Treo, which I've heard is very fragile.
8) And now for the Phone It works very well! I was surprised because most people complain about the phone quality on these devices. I find the sound quality to be as good as my RAZR. The Cingular Sim-Card can be swapped in and out between my RAZR and iPaq, so if I am going to a sporting event or bar I and dont want to bring the iPaq I can just swap the sim-card right back into the RAZR and it works. I had to call Cingular and get them to change my phone to the iPaq. This was purely for data.
9)YOU DO NOT NEED TO PURCHASE THE "Treo Package". Don't let Cingular sell you that extra crap. I simply added the MediaNet200 package for $19.99 which gives you unlimited Media + 200 text messages a month. That is plenty of text messages and the unlimited data gives you all the web surfing and emailing you can do!
10) GPS navigation is pretty neat little function. You have to download the maps from Microsoft Pocket Streets, but they are free. The GPS sucks battery life like crazy, but if you are on the road in a strange city this can be very helpful.
11) Windows Media player works just like your PC. I added about 750mb of music, so the device is actually an MP3 player as well. It has an external speak or you can stick in headphones (be aware, using the media player sucks battery life).
CONS:
1) I'd say the biggest con is the battery life. If you are on just GPRS/Phone with stand by (no talking, emailing or surfing) it will probably last about 2 days. However, using the phone or emailing cuts that down to about only 12-14 hours. If you set up the WiFi as well as have the phone on, your battery life is about 8-10 hours. If you also have the GPS and Bluetooth on, I'd say 5-6 hours. My advice is to not use the GPS or Bluetooth unless you really need them. And, if you are going to be on WiFi, leave the device in the craddle. The USB charging is very slow but the AC adapeter chargest the device to full in about 2 hours. YOU CAN PURCHASE A BIGGER BATTERY and you probably should.
2) Cingular does not support the 6945. You will have to tell them you have the 6925. I called HP they are identical except that the 6925 is Cingular only and the 6945 is unlocked for T-Mobile as well. Obviously Cingular wants you to buy the 6925 instead, but the 6945 is the same. If you call Cingular for support, just tell them you have a 6925 to avoid even having to explain things to them.
3) The ring volume is not that loud. But, it does have vibrate.
4) Do not buy the leather case that Amazon sells with the device for like $. The device comes with a belt clip that works just fine. If you want something nicer, go buy it in person.
...All in all this is an excellent device. I use to carry a cell phone and my laptop on the road now all I need is this. Again, you can swap your sim-card in and out, so keep your old cell phone for times when you don't want to carry around the iPaq.
I only gave it 4 stars because of the battery life. That can be fixed by purchasing the more powerful battery, but that will cost you extra. Also, the device is pretty expensive relative to the Treo or Q or Blackberry. None of those devices have WiFi though.
Pros.
*very good exterior design.
*qwerty keyboard feels nice when typing
*very good software package included
*keep all your info, contacts, emails, task, up to date with active sync
*GPS at your hand! (get GPS TUNER 5, excellent tool)
*wifi, easy set up, excelent connection speed
*bluetooh
*edge-gprs, easy set up, get your mms, wap, emails, via your cell phone gprs service.
Cons.
*Battery life sucks
*when you are running more than 3 programs at the same time, sometimes the the screen freezes.
*Camera takes up to 5 seconds to activate when the program is not on.
*Camera with no autofocus
*You need to buy micro sd card, (not included)
The gps in this ipaq is great, I downloaded The GPS TUNER , use my own maps for calibration and i was ready to go. I used my Ipaq gps on a commercial flight sitting by the window, and I got gps fix all the flight. It was great having all my flight info, speed, alt, avrg speed, ete, eta.
The phone feature was off, so my smartphone becomes a pda, and no one cant complain about it during the flight.
It it very nice to see your path later where your flight was.I just got my HP 6945; took chip from my T-Mobile MDA; and I was operational. Took no more time to get mail then any other Pocket PC. I installed Tom-Tom, 5-minute veterinary consult, Plumb's veterinary drugs, synchronized it with my calendar and numbers and I am in business. Using a Jabra bluetooth, I can stream my MP3's while doing everything else. The only feature missing was voice activated dialing, but I am adding MS Voice Commander to fix that. I get better reception and signal (and stability) with the HP 6945 than with my T-Mobile MDA. So, it was a great purchase. Picture quality is not what you want if you are a photographer, but it is a phone. In a pinch, a picture is still worth a thousand words. Beats carrying a phone, a camera and a PDA; since this is all in one. I find that my thumbs don't mind the keyboard, but it does take a little adapting. The numbers lock feature is nice.
rogOK folks, here is the info you have been waiting for, coming from the perspective of a hp 6315 owner:
First, ALL the bluetooth issues are resolved completely. You will no longer have to be concerned with reconnecting to headset constantly. Plus, NO MORE ECHO thank god! the echo problem is fixed. When using the bluetooth to answer phone, it answers imediately and you can talk the second you hit the button, no delay. Headset sounds crystal clear to caller. (I don't know why all these folks are claiming they can't get their headset to pair up. I had no problem)
Second, in comparison to the 6315, this phone is greased lightening. Its all a matter of perspective, but if you owned the 6315, you will love the speed on this 6945. ie. hit the power button and it shuts right off with no delay. I would say it operates at double to triple the relative speed of the 6315.
Third, no more hangs like the old days. I have been using it non stop for 48 hours utilizing remote surveylance software, installing lots of programs, using mini sd card, streaming with wmp, using internet explorer, using mail & phone, and even running wifi bluetooth and gps NO REBOOT REQUIRED YET. and memory bounces right back when closing programs rather than clogging up and requiring resets.
Basically, Everything that bothered you about the 6315 seems to be fixed.
Beware, to my surprise ther was NO included backup software but I installed sprite backup/restore and it works perfectly.
Yes, battery life sucks, get a car charger and get over it. Note that the bigger battery solves that problem. Alot of people are saying to get the bigger bat if you use your gps, but if you use gps you will plug into charger to keep phone from going into standby constantly so tell them to stick it:)
Note: With small Battery, I took phone off charger at 10:30am and using all features except gps under average loads (including internet surfing and streaming for an hour using wifi and gprs), it was at 62% by 4:30pm. it charged to 100% in about 30-40 min.
other Things to note:
MS voice 1.6 is AMAZING. It hasn't screwed up once. No comparison to older products.
You can now associate rings and photos to your contacts which is nice cause it pops the persons pic up when calls come in (I dont know if spb added this feature or it came with).
and this phone works perfectly on tmobile service. The only issue was internet access (I had to change the prefix on the internet server options from internet3 to wap).
SPB add on is a must!
You will have issues with screen resolution, but since win mobile 5 doesnt support the larger screen res anymore, you might as well get used to it. Plus, you know that new mobile 5 software will be modified for the newer screen sizes.
Anyway, that's about it.
In conclusion, if you have the 6315 and your thinking about an upgrade, DO IT!!!!
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