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HP iPAQ Data Messenger Review

I recently got my hands on a retail version of HP’s iPAQ Data Messenger phone (European version).

It’s a nice, simple and stylish looking Pocket PC phone which is a tad smaller than the iPAQ 600 I have. To summarize in one sentence what the HP Data Messenger is all about, it’s actually a slightly smaller iPAQ 600 with a QWERTY keyboard and more fashion sense.

The main features of the HP iPAQ Data Messenger is a 2.8 inch QVGA (320 X 240) touchscreen, a slide-out backlit QWERTY keyboard from the side, with an optical navigation pad and touch sensitive controls on the front, 3 megapixel camera and it runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro. There’s also a 2.5 mm headphone jack for making calls/listening to music and micro USB port for charging and connectivity to your computer.

Sure, I do not doubt what people think about the iPAQ Data Messenger – even at the time of its debut, which was around October 2008, it’s specifications already looked dull, dusty and outdated compared to its competitors with similar form factors (that is, devices running WM 6.1 Pro with slide-out QWERTY keyboards). Both the Sony Xperia X1 and HTC Touch Pro offer either larger/higher resolution screens than the HP Data Messenger and come with their own Today Interface, which attempts to cover, what people brand as hideous and clunky, the Windows Mobile UI.

So what’s the point of the HP iPAQ Data Messenger, you ask? Well, it’s mainly targeted at business people who want a straight forward business Pocket PC phone (And we all know Windows and Windows Mobile mean business). It’s not meant to be a flashy or show-off phone with tons of bells and whistles. I find the Sony Xperia X1 a bit on the pricey side (which Sony product isn’t?) while the HTC Touch Pro is the true competitor of the HP Data Messenger and will probably steal quite a few sales thanks to its superior specifications.

However, what’s going for the Data Messenger, versus the Touch Pro 1, is that it has a 2.5 mm headphone jack (I can easily plug in an adapter for 3.5 mm standard headphones) and the fact that I can start out with a fresh phone and install whichever 3rd party Windows Mobile Today Interface that I want. Compared to the new Touch Pro 2 and other new phones released over the past week this month and it’s a different story; those other phones are much more appealing, sadly.

The only way HP can probably fight for now is by lowering the price of the Data Messenger so more people will go for it… and get off their butts NOW to the design room, then hopefully down the road somewhere, release more appealing and competitive iPAQs which are actually able to stand toe-to-toe against the competition!

I love HP (especially their notebooks) but I seriously think they should actually put in some effort into their Pocket PC/smart phone department!

HP Mini 2140: Where are the speakers?!!

When I first saw the HP Mini 2140 with the bigger screen, and naturally, reduced bezel around it, I wondered to myself “Just where did the speakers go?”. From the initial press pictures and “virtual demo” on Hewlett Packard’s website, I couldn’t see the speakers in ANY of the press photos at all. And apparently, many of our readers’ enquiring minds wanted to know as well…

Thankfully, a HP Mini 2140 dropped into my hands about an hour after the official announcement and as soon as it did, I inspected the entire netbook for the speakers… just about everything, down to the arrangement of the various connectivity ports, was the same as on the Mini 2133. I lifted the Mini 2140 up (making it activate the 3D Drive Guard HDD protection system) but no speakers underneath either.

Within minutes of posting my hands on with the HP Mini 2140, my Outlook account became swamped with emails from people asking (and demanding to know) “where are the Mini 2140′s speakers?”.

Alright, enough with the suspense, the HP Mini 2140′s speakers are located just below its 10 inch screen – in the gap between the screen and battery so it’s not really visible (See the blue arrow in the picture above). Rest assured, there are TWO speakers (for those who cannot live without stereo sound).

Sound quality of the HP Mini 2140′s speakers were very good – I’ve played some movies and several albums of music on this netbook already. The speakers here are louder than most other netbooks; louder than its predecessor Mini 2133 even! The secret behind this is probably the speaker placement which I just mentioned – which allows the sound to be “bounced” off the battery to the screen to you (this also seems to give the sound more ‘depth’)… or maybe HP just put in better speakers in the Mini 2140.

Something worthy of note is that the HP Mini 2133 and HP Mini 2140 have speakers which are sensibly and strategically place; which aren’t blocked by anything. Most netbooks have their speakers in odd places, like on the underside of the netbook, which tends to muffle sound… yuck.

However, left-right stereo separation on the Mini 2140 is less noticeable compared to the HP Mini 2133 (Whose speakers were placed on the extreme edges of the screen). This shouldn’t be an issue for most people… if you want good and very noticeable stereo separation, you probably should be using headphones anyway, instead of your netbook’s built-in speakers.

HP Firebird 803 leaked

Reading about the leaks online about the HP Firebird 803 feat. Voodoo DNA this morning caught me by surprise… not because of any mind blowing specifications, but a gaming PC setup in a net-top-like form factor (plus the Blackbird 002′s design). The Firebird 803 will supposedly feature a Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz processor, 4GB [included?] RAM (though for a gaming PC, I’m expecting it will be able to SUPPORT up to 8 GB of RAM), Blu-ray drive and dual NVIDIA GeForce 9800S cards with NVIDIA nForce 760i SLI. The “confirmed” features (looking at the leaked images) are a single slot-loading DVD drive, dual hard drive bays, 6 USB ports, 1 Firewire 800 port, 2 eSATA (non USB hybrid though, unlike those on the HP HDX16/HDX18 notebooks), HDMI, 1 S/PDIF and 1 DVI dual-link port.

The HP Firebird 803′s PSU will be external to reduce heat and supposedly shares the same one as the Voodoo Envy 133. Based on the leaked pictures, I’m pretty sure the PSUs of HP’s latest notebooks can fit as well (whether they can be used is another story).

Looks to be a solid concept – miniature Blackbird 002, less features and customizability, but probably less expensive as well. I’m guessing it’ll be available in February, from $1300.

In other news, Dell has confimed that they will be releasing their ultra-thin notebook, MacBook Air competitor very soon… which will also be competition for the Voodoo Envy 133. It will be called the Dell Adamo (sounds a whole lot like the Honda Asimo)… Voodoo, are you feeling the heat?

8GB SDHC works on HP iPAQ hw6915

HP iPAQ hw6915 owners and fans rejoice, I’ve just tested my 8 GB SanDisk microSDHC memory card with the HP iPAQ hw6915 (via a microSD to mini SD adapter, of course) and guess what? IT WORKS!! And with just ONE 3rd party driver I downloaded from the internet too! Fantastic.

Now I can go to the gym tomorrow with all my music and in-ear earphones! Here’s the story: I’ve been using a 2 GB microSD card with my HP hw6915 via a micro SD to mini SD adapter since the device can’t detect 4 GB and above cards. Problem is, all my songs can’t fit on a mere 2 GB card… and also, having a few MOVIES at hand is a plus, in case I get bored of just songs while working out. Meanwhile, I’ve got four 2 hour long movies and over 600 songs in the 8 GB micro SDHC card I use in my iPAQ 614c, but the hw6915 has never managed to detect the 8 GB card… until today when I installed the unofficial SDHC update.

Why not use the iPAQ 614c for music then? Well, the iPAQ 614c has a triple-duty mini USB port which handles charging, data transfer and headphones. But I want to use my own headphones (sometimes it’s in-ear, sometimes it’s the big over-the-head headphones that I use for gaming) and they all need 3.5 mm jacks, which is the standard. I prefer my own headphones because they have noise-isolation/cancellation and have VERY good bass and “thump” – the iPAQ 614c’s bundled “dangle from the ears” type of earphones (you know like those bundled iPod earbuds? same case) lack both. Also, the iPAQ 614c can NOT use HTC mini USB to 3.5 mm adapters because HTC’s mini USB ports are slightly squarish, making them sort-of proprietary and HTC exclusive, whereas the 614c’s port is more mini-B shaped.

But since my iPAQ hw6915 started developing the tendency to self-reboot randomly at times a few months ago, it became unreliable as a phone. So I use the iPAQ hw6915 now almost exclusively as a music player (plug in my own headphones via a 2.5 mm to 3.5 mm adapter, and made even better now with 8 GB SDHC compatibility) while using the iPAQ 614c as a phone and sometimes music/video player.

Until HP releases a nice large and wide touchscreen, QWERTY keyboard Pocket PC phone with a 3.5 mm headphone jack… umm which should be in the near future right? Hey EVERYONE has one now (HTC Touch HD, Nokia N97, iPhone 3G, etc all have 3.5 mm headphone jacks) so why not eh, HP?… then I guess I’ll have to switch between or sometimes carry both devices (oh, what a drag!) along with me.

Of course, it would appear that the Nokia N97 I talked about a few days ago sounds like it would fit the bill perfectly, I would rather use the Windows Mobile OS, and preferably a HP device (for many reasons).

By the way, to save you all that time searching the net, here’s where I downloaded the update for SDHC compatibility with the HP iPAQ hw6915. Do note it’s 3rd party (but what Windows Mobile add-on isn’t?) and I’ve personally tested my iPAQ hw6915 with cards up to 8 GB, all of them work. Just put it in your non-SDHC card (like 1 or 2 GB normal mini SD), put the card into your iPAQ hw6915, install the CAB file and restart. After that, the device should be able to detect memory cards up to 8 GB.

UPDATE (June 2009): Since the time of writing this article, I have since returned the iPAQ hw6915 and iPAQ 600 phones, and transitioned over to the HP iPAQ Data Messenger. So, sorry, I will not be able to test memory cards with the hw6915 as they come out with larger capacities (ie 16 or 32 GB) in the future.

HP iPAQs need 3.5 mm headphone jacks

HP iPAQ Data Messenger and iPAQ Voice Messenger

Right, as everyone knows, HP announced two nice iPAQ devices last month, the iPAQ Data Messenger – which is like the iPAQ 612c with a slide out QWERTY keyboard, flush touchscreen (so it’s easier to reach the “Start” and “X” buttons at the side of the screen using your finger, instead of a stylus) and 2.5 mm headphone jack – and the iPAQ Voice Messenger, the direct successor of the iPAQ 510 with a larger screen and “half QWERTY” keyboard (as in QW-ER-TY, RIM Blackberry style). Both offer welcome updates over their respective predecessors.

Both the HP iPAQ Data Messenger and Voice Messenger Pocket PC phones currently list 2.5 mm headphone jacks built in. For the Data Messenger, the 2.5 mm jack a nice change from the “mini USB headphone jack” (can you believe it?) on the iPAQ 610 and 910 phones whose adapters to 3.5 mm were hard to find (HTC’s adapters are shaped with a slight difference and don’t fit). I don’t really have a big issue with 2.5 mm headphone jacks since I’ve been using a 2.5 to 3.5 mm adapter (see the picture above) with my HP iPAQ hw6915 to plug in my own set of headphones, and such adapters are easy to find…. but here’s an idea.

The 3.5 mm headphone jack is probably the most widely used port in the world for headphones (that’s why they’re also known as “the standard jack”) and allow users to swap out the pair of “in the box” earphones for another pair they love. Not everyone likes the “hang from ears” headphones usually included in the retail packaging of their mobile phone (I don’t!) and usually would want to swap it out for a pair in-ear headphones or “over the head” headphones.

I’m not complaining about 2.5 mm jacks since plenty of 2.5-to-3.5 adapters are available out there, for only 2-3 bucks too! As long as there’s a way to plug in my own set of headphones, I’m happy… But won’t it be more convenient if someone actually built that 3.5 mm headphone port right into the device? The old iPAQ h6310 phone (you know the one with the huge 3.5 inch touchscreen launched back in 2004?) had a 3.5 mm headphone jack, so why can’t the latest iPAQs have them too?

In addition, including a 3.5 mm headphone jack built right into a phone opens up the ability to tout the device to the public as a “music phone”, as what other manufacturers have been doing lately. So yeah, not only does it benefit users in terms of convenience, it also makes marketing sense to the company! Equals more sales.

Seeing that the iPAQ 910 announced last year had tweaks from the initial press picture, to the pre-production unit, to the final design when it was finally available in June this year; I hope HP does some tweaks for the better… at least on the iPAQ Data Messenger which is their current flagship iPAQ phone (based on specifications). Fingers crossed =)