Apple’s iPhone2 made the headlines last week but other manufactures also release new phone models as well. One of those manufactures was HP, with their phone the HP iPAQ 910 business communicator. Why HP decided to release their new phone the same week as Apple, because HP got no press coverage on this phone, even though it was announced in January of this year.
The Specs of the phone are pretty amazing. Tri-Band UTMS/HSDPA, Quad-Band EDGE is one major spec that I like, unlocked GSM is another. The big item that got me to this phone: 3 mega pixel camera. There is a 3 – 5 second lag when you push the capture button to when the camera takes the photo. Reason for the delay is that the camera has to focus and correct the resolution of the camera. There are several different resolutions on the camera: 1, 1.3, 2, 3, QVGA. The iPAQ also has video capture in VGA and QVGA mode.
The phone has a great design. Blackberry comes to mind when you look and hold this phone. Many complain that the phone is thick but it fits fine in my hands. The phone has a full QUERTY keyboard and keys poke up. The keys are very small but they are rounded at top so your fingers feel the keys typing.
Battery life is average for a smartphone with 1940 mAh Li-Polymer Battery. One item I notice is if you leave the screen on over a couple of minutes, the battery door will get warm. Not enough to burn your hand but enough to wonder about the design of the phone.
The only complain I have about this phone is Windows Mobile 6.1. If your moving old applications from Windows Mobile 5 or 6 to 6.1, make sure your phone will support these applications. Two of my biggest applications that I use daily, Shozu and Slingbox Mobile, do not work on this phone. Both programs do install but they don’t work properly. Shozu kept crashing and slingbox would start up and then crash. Slingbox tried to work out my problems to no avail and there was no response from Shozu at post time. However, it does include Google Maps with a working GPS.
The last paragraph could be the turning point for many people, especially since HP doesn’t include Mobile Word, Excel and Powerpoint. If you rely on applications, make sure your applications are supported for Windows Mobile 6.1. Otherwise, I suggest sticking to a Windows Mobile 6 phone.
This is a new feature I’m adding to this site, product reviews. Don’t expect much. I’m on a limited budget!