Just an update.
I posted about seeing Tux, the Linux mascot, being used by a store at the Expo last year (In my May 2007 archives). There’s an article on BoingBoing yesterday about a similar thing. Apparently Tux is so adorable people are using him everywhere. 
I actually didn’t realize this until today. I feel kinda outraged…
Let me explain. You see, I use Apple’s iTunes on my home PC as well as my laptop at work. On my laptop, I’ve installed Safari so that I can test web pages. I did not install it on my home PC, and have no intention to. A few days ago, there was an Apple software update. I saw that it listed Safari as an update, so I clicked the Install button as I always do. After all, keeping your software up to date is supposed to be a Good Thing.
I didn’t realize that it installed Safari on my home PC until I saw the Safari icon on my home desktop. It took some time to sink in too because I see this icon almost everyday on the laptop. I know it may seem like a small matter. After all I’m not entirely against having another browser choice on my PC. Or I could just simply uninstall it. I’m just angry because I don’t like software being installed on my PC in such a way.
There are lots of software out there that try to get you to install their sponsor’s software, or some tracking software, or toolbar, or even send emails to everyone on your mailing list without your express permission. I get angry at every one of them. But I DID NOT expect such sneaky tactics from an established brand. Through an update service, no less!
Apple, I am gradually losing my trust in you.
For those of you who like printing your photos from one of those print stations (see picture), a word of caution. If you insert a memory card/stick, do scan it for viruses when you bring it home.
If possible, just use IR or bluetooth or a CD to transfer your photos. To be safer, you should de-activate the auto-play feature in your Windows machine. Of course, if you are not using Windows then you may not worry about these issues, but you would still need to clean your memory card.
I was at Tiong Bahru Plaza to try the instant print recently. The prints came out a bit washed out and skin tone appeared very yellow. I was disappointed with the results, but then I only printed out 2 photos just to try it out. Little did I know I got even more than I bargained for.
When I later inserted the the thumb drive I used at the print station into my PC, my anti-virus immediately warned me of a trojan. There were extra EXE files in my memory card that were trying to auto-execute via autoplay. Good thing I had a good anti-virus installed. Thank you Avira!
I came to no harm, but I just thought I should put this out as a warning for others. Those print stations are running Windows and I doubt they see much maintenance or full virus scans. They can be pretty good carriers for computer virii.
This is part 2 of my review of the iPaq rx4240. Unfortunately HP has recently stopped making this device. It’s bigger brother the 4500 is still on the market though, and I still see this unit being sold in most places at the same price.
Anyway, in part 2 I will be reviewing the software and their performance. The iPaq comes with Windows Mobile 5.0, and is installed with the usual Internet Explorer, Media Player, and Mobile Office from Microsoft. HP has also put in a wireless connection manager (iPaq Wireless) which comes with a convenient Today plugin. I find this to be very useful and easy to use. Turning on and off is just tapping on an icon in the Today plugin.
First off, Internet Explorer as this is what I use most on the device. There is no flash or java built in, so this really limited the rich experience you can have on the device. But for small screen devices, it may not be worth it anyway. IE offers different modes for viewing a web page, and I find the single column mode is the best for viewing on the small device. This is also the default mode. Other modes are just inconvenient (constantly having to scroll), or just does not render properly. Some pages though, may still not render correctly, no matter what mode you choose. In general, it’s good enough for quick access if you just need to check something without turning on your PC. But there just seems to be something lacking when browsing on IE. Also I find that IE gives me more problems. Like taking very long to open a page and then timing out. This could be the hardware or connection, but then I also experience this with IE on another Windows Mobile device. I think IE is just not up to par.
I tried Minimo from Mozilla to see if it was better. It was able to render pages a lot better than IE, showing me things that IE just filters off. I also have less connection problems with my wi-fi. However, it is beta software, crashing sometimes and most time is slow and unresponsive. It does, however, have tabs. Mozilla has announced they will be working on a mobile Firefox, which will probably supercede Minimo. That’s exciting news for me as I’m too cheap to pay for Opera mobile. Also Opera requires a Java environment, which is not pre-installed on this iPaq.
The Messaging application is pretty decent. Easily setting up to connect to my Exchange mail from work, and Hotmail. I even set it up to my Gmail inbox without any problems. All the basic functions are there, nothing to complain about here. Nothing to rave about either.
What is more interesting is that Skype can be installed and works nicely on it. The catch is that you have to install version 2.2 (?) or it might not work since later versions impose a stricter system requirement for proper functioning. Anyways, I’ve tried it using my home wi-fi and the quality is good. Of course the real test is whether you can use it to make decent skype calls when you are outside. Unfortunately, I could not get a good wi-fi connection outside on the days that I brought it out for test drives. Wireless@SG is not all it’s cracked up to be. Most times I have trouble even connecting to it, and maintaining that connection.
Next I tried using the iPaq the way I used my video iPod. I put songs and videos on it. Obviously how much you can put is limited to the SD card you use. I had a 1Gb SD card inserted, which was nothing compared to my 30Gb iPod. Songs and video are played using the Media Player it comes with. Videos most certainly will be converted by the Activesync software to a compatible format. This means you can’t just copy the video file onto the SD card and expect it to play. You could install another player like TCPMP and not have to worry about the conversion, but in this iPaq’s case, it really makes no difference. The reason I say this is because the video will not be watchable no matter what. I’ve tried several methods, even using the lowest quality, but the iPaq just does not seem to have enough juice to handle videos without significant stuttering. The only time I got the video to play smoothly was when I accidentally took out the sound from the video while converting. It had no problems playing MP3 files, though. So that means it can either play video or audio, but not both at once.
Finally we come to games. The iPaq should be able to handle any windows mobile game well. But what I was most interested in was the emulation potential. I tried a SNES emulator, not really expecting it would work well. But of the few ROMs I tried, the emulator was able to run them smoothly on the iPaq. This got me all excited until I actually tried to play something. There are no hardware buttons for gaming! You can still play, it’s just not very comfortable or easy to play.
I’m not gonna mention the standard suite of contacts, task lists, appointments, etc. There are lots of software, free or otherwise, that you can use to replace the standard applications provided. Frankly the Microsoft ones are adequate for sometimes users but not usable if you are a regular or heavy user. If you find you do use these a lot, then you should consider buying a productivity suite like the one from Agendus.
All in all, the iPaq rx4240 is really only suitable for fun, music and as a lightweight digital personal assistant. It’s an affordable entry model for first time users.
The HP iPaq rx4240 is a thing of beauty. It’s really pleasing on the eyes. I got my unit recently and have been using it for about a month now. I’m going to try to give it a proper review, from a user point of view. First off, I’ll cover the aesthetics and build of the unit before discussing the features and applications in a following blog.
As mentioned, the device looks really nice. It’s got a rounded silver body that is nice and comfortable to hold, although I sometimes cannot tell which way is up. Sometimes I turn it on and find that I have it upside down. But that’s just me. There are buttons along two sides of the device, which are not rounded but recessed instead. These two sides are in a funky orange color which really gives the unit some personality.
Now, I can only assume that the 2 sides are recessed in order to prevent users from accidentally pressing the buttons, because there is no key lock provided. This is fine but I still find my device turned on sometimes when I pull it out of my pocket or my bag. I would have liked a lock key as I use the unit as it is marketed, a multimedia companion. Accidentally pressing a button can ruin my listening or viewing pleasure.
Since we’re on the topic of buttons, I would like to mention that this particular model has no joystick keys. So PDA gamers might be put off. There are 5 buttons which are configurable. Out of the box, they are defaulted to Record, Close, Messages, Media Player, and a very handy Change Orientation button that switches from landscape mode to portrait and vice versa. There’s also a power button and a thumbwheel. The buttons are thin but easy to press, and I generally have no problems with them. My chief complaint is that the power button seems unresponsive. Sometimes I need to press it a few times just to turn it on. I even tried holding it for various lengths of time to see if it is some sort of built in protection against accidental presses.
Out of the box, the iPaq 4240 comes with a translucent, black, hard plastic cover just big enough for the 2.8” screen. I’ve not seen this type of cover before, where you need to snap it on or off the device. It seems like it could potentially scratch the smooth shiny surface of the device. When in use, you can snap the cover on the other way, but I find it to be quite a bother. I highly recommend getting a separate case or pouch for this iPaq.
The stylus for this iPaq, as with other PDA type devices, can be stored within a corner of the device itself. It’s a standard stylus with the material at the end matching the device aesthetics. It snaps in tightly and fits the rounded corner seamlessly. But this bring me to the expansion card slot. You can use SD cards with the device, but is it located along one of the orange colored sides. So, putting a card in there really makes it stick out visually. I also find the card sticks out just a bit when fully inserted. Just a tiny little bit. I don’t know why but for some reason this doesn’t sit well with me.
The one thing I really like about this device is the battery. The back cover can be popped open to reveal the lithium-ion battery. Unlike the PDAs of yesteryear, the battery can be easily replaced, or you can carry around extra batteries for long journeys. The battery life itself is quite good. I use the wifi whenever I can and it can still last me a day or two.
And of course, a device claiming to be a multimedia companion really should have a good screen and speakers. I find the 320×240 touch-screen to be okay. The color is vibrant, but as with most such devices, it’s not quite usable in bright sunlight. The speaker is located at the back, so if you’re not using the supplied earphone/mic, you can easily cover it up unintentionally while holding it. Maybe HP should have provided a small viewing stand.
Personally I’ve been using the device with my own pair of headphones and the sound quality is pretty good. I don’t normally use the tinny sounding speakers unless my kids want to listen as well. In which case I have to crank up the volume as the speaker output seems quite soft.
Internally, the iPaq 4240 is powered by a Samsung ARM chip with 400Mhz of power. And this pays off as applications are zippy. I’ve seen other Windows Mobile devices and they always seem to be quite sluggish. But I was pleased as punch with the performance of this particular baby.
If connectivity is your thing, then the iPaq rx4240 will not disappoint. It’s got Bluetooth and Wifi built in that works really well, allowing you to connect and surf the web and check your mail wherever you go. I’ve got more to share on this when I talk about actual usage of the applications. There is a blue light that blinks whenever either wireless connection is on. The device also synchronizes to your PC via a standard USB cable.
In conclusion, the iPaq rx4240 is built well and equipped with features to make it a rather good multimedia companion, e.g. built-in wifi and a fast processor. It can also function as a PDA, and looks very pretty to boot. Some things to note though, is does not have joystick / 5 way navigation keys, or GPS like it’s more expensive sibling, so there are some things it may not do well. If you buy this device, be aware that you are buying a multimedia companion, a fun device to have.