iPaq 6515 or PDA2k?

[Guest zero_divide_1]

Good day all,

I'm currently a proud owner of a MPx220, and love the phone to death. Recently, however, the business demands of my life have begun to require me to need an even more robust phone/PDA to manage all the things that I do at home, school, and work and my MPx220 is slowing me down, though its only 6 months old! So I have begun looking for a new smartphone but am having a huge problem figuring out which one to get - and I want the best bang for my buck. Since my search began, I've been looking at PDA-type smartphones with integrated keyboards and the two that I have been oogling over are the iPaq hw6515 and the iMate PDA2k.

Each have their own advantages: the PDA2k has WiFi built-in, but the 6515 has GPS built-in and has an SD and miniSD slot for a) a WiFi card, and :) a memory card. The PDA2k has a larger screen (that is more to standard), and the 6515 has a square screen. The 6515 has a 1.3 megapixel camera, but the PDA2k only has a VGA camera. I just got a new edition of MaximumPC where they reviewed the 6515 (stating it costs $450? Where can I find it for $450?) saying some programs wouldn't run on the 6515 because of the square screen/processor limitations, but the battery life on it surpasses the PDA2k. However, the PDA2k seems to be a little more modest because it has a standard sized screen (240x320 vs the 6515's 240x240 screen) and therefore does not have software problems. So here is my delima: each phones has their advantages and disadvantages. Which should I choose? Or should I wait until more information surfaces about the Treo 670 (if it ever surfaces)? I just need a PDA smartphone that will do everything and one that I don't ever have to worry about trying to buy a new one 6 months down the road (I thought my MPx220 would last me forever, but I should have known better about technology...).

[Guest Pondrew]

Is the HTC Universal an option or have you ruled that out due to cost? Or for another reason?

I'd recommend the PDA2k as a capable Pocket PC but if anything it's probably let down slightly by the Phone element (issues such as silent caller requiring soft resets, etc).

Can't really comment on the Ipaq as I know nothing about the device. The non standard screen resolution does sound like it could be a compatibility problem. I really like the sound of having both SD + mini SD slots.

Did they really say the Ipaq with integrated GPS outperformed the Imate on battery life? So much for integrated GPS being a battery killer.

[Guest zero_divide_1]

Is the HTC Universal an option or have you ruled that out due to cost? Or for another reason?

I'd recommend the PDA2k as a capable Pocket PC but if anything it's probably let down slightly by the Phone element (issues such as silent caller requiring soft resets, etc).

Can't really comment on the Ipaq as I know nothing about the device. The non standard screen resolution does sound like it could be a compatibility problem. I really like the sound of having both SD + mini SD slots.

Did they really say the Ipaq with integrated GPS outperformed the Imate on battery life? So much for integrated GPS being a battery killer.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, the Universal is a little pricey. What sort of problems does the PDA2k have? I'm curious since I'm researching the phones before I commit to one. As for the battery life on the IPaq, MaximumPC didn't say whether it got better battery life with GPS and the phone functionality on, so I don't really know. But do you also recommend the QTek HTC Wizard 9100 when it's released? I would prefer Windows Mobile 5.0, but I'm just wondering about everyone else's opinion. Btw, what exactly are the specs on that phone? The QTek website is in Dutch and I can only read English.

[Guest willo]

I was interested in the hw6515 but since the Universal is around the corner I'll probably hold out for that, plus the hw6515 isn't availble through operators.

There is a good review on mobile review http://www.mobile-review.com/pda/review/hp...hw6515-en.shtml there it states that GPS can't be turned off though HP may have changed this.

I also heard a rumour that there might be a new ipaq, have no information on this though.

[Guest Pondrew]

Well, one issue that seems to happen randomly on the PDA2K is referred to as the silent caller issue. Occasionally all sound will be lost when someone calls and only turning bluetooth on and off or reseting the phone restores it (obviously too late for the call). It's infrequent but very annoying when it happens.

There was talk of a patch fixing it (search for unidirectional patch) but it still occurs for me (after installing it) albeit less often.

I've also had issues whereby Windows Media Player 10 will shut itself down and you'll lose all sound until rebooting (this may be fixed in a future rom release though...).

With regards the Wizard, I'd expect it to be quite a capable device and don't believe all the suggestions that the 195mhz chip won't be able to hack it. A state of the art Texas Instruments chip with advanced power saving is probably as good as the traditional Intel chips with their higher chip speed and should have the advantage of better battery life.