Uncompromising

Author's Rating:

Pros: Small, light, beautiful, connected (almost)

Cons: No keyboard or WiFi (yet), no case or cradle in the box

The Bottom Line: 
Unless you use very processor-intensive apps on your PDA, this is simply the best combination of features, performance and size. The price is just icing on the cake.

Author's Review
A few hours ago I owned, and wrote a review on the iPAQ H1910 PDA, on this unit is based. In that review, I mentioned the new model, the H1945, which solved the 1910's problems. Well, not 10 minutes after I finished submitting that review, I hopped in my car and went to Fry's to see if the new 1945 was out. It is, and I bought it, returning the 1910 to Staples on my way home. Obviously, most of the commentary on the 1910 applies here as well. I've pasted in the old review, but don't blast me yet, as I then went through paragraph by paragraph and kept what remains relevant, added what is different or new, and contrasted to the 1910, resulting in a whole new, more complete review which not only looks at the PDA on its own or from the perspective of a long-time Palm user, but also in direct comparison with the H1910, its immediate predecessor.

Like many other reviewers of the 1900-series iPAQ, I just switched from a Palm Vx. I think this is because the iPAQ 1910 1945 are really the first Pocket PC units that can satisfy a Palm V owner's standards for size and svelt appearance. Other Pocket PCs, even the thin Toshibas, are just too bulky. Other units are either thick, tall, wide, or in the case of the Dell, ALL OF THE ABOVE. The small iPAQs, however, are roughly the same size as the Palm V (only a bit thicker), which is to say, they are extremely small.

Small doesn't mean cramped, however. The PDA has a 3.5 transreflective TFT display that is brighter and sharper than the $600 iPAQ that was next to it in the store, and every other PDA they had as well. That screen is a bit smaller than those of the large PDAs, but one look at the unit and you will see that it is simply the bigest screen that would fit. Having used both the 1910 and now the 1945, I haven't seen any production variance or degredation in quality - both screens are simply outstanding.

To get the size down, they eliminated the jog dial, put on only an SD card slot instead of the bulkier CF, and used a smaller 2.5mm headphone jack instead of the universal 3.5mm everyone else uses. The 1910 includes a pair of ear bud type headphones with the small plug, while the 1945 does it better by including a very small 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter. The stylus is also perhaps a bit too thin for comfort. In fact, the only controls on the PDA are the on/off switch at the top which doubles as an indicator light, the record button on the left side of the case (next to the IR lens), a direction control with central button in the center below the screen (the speaker is under this disk - very clever) which is flanked by the four application launch buttons. As in any Pocket PC, the buttons are all user programmable for different functions.

So far, you may think this sounds like the best PDA on the planet. Well, you may be correct. If all you want to do is use the standard Microsoft applications and your games and movies are old, small and have low processor requirements, then yes, I would say this is about the best PDA out there. There are other compromises besides a slightly smaller screen and fewer buttons to get the weight and size down, not to mention the fantastic price.

First off, the 1945 uses a 266MHz Samsung processor. Performance so far appears about identical to the H1910, which uses a 200MHz Intel X-Scale - I cannot tell the difference in response. You will not be watching feature films on either small iPAQ pocket PC with anything resembling DVD-quality. the processors are simply too slow. Short movie clips run fine, and MP3s sound great though. Likewise, this isn't fast enough for the most intensive of games. Think of the performance of this unit as being the same as the first generation of Pocket PC 2002 devices and you won't be too far off. I have a number of little airport timekiller games installed, including Microsoft's pocket entertainment pack, and have no complaints about performance.

The 1910 had two serious compromises, it is not upgradeable to the new 2003 OS, and its SD slot lacked SDIO capabilities (may be only lack of driver software, I'm not sure). The 1945 solves both of those problems, coming preinstalled with the Pocket PC 2003 operating system (now called Windows Mobile 2003), and with not only SDIO functionality, but built-in bluetooth. as well. Speaking of Bluetooth and SDIO (for WiFi 802.11), Pocket PC 2003, oops, I mean Windows Mobile 2003, includes zero-settings netowrking, which is supposed to work just like Windows XP does on a desktop or notebook computer. I don't yet own an SDIO WiFi card and have no bluetooth enabled devices, so I can't verify this, but if it is as easy as Windows XP, then this will be a significant upgrade.

The new 2003 OS is also significant because it is built on the new .Net Framework 4.2 architecture, unlike Pocket PC 2002, which was based on Windows CE 3.0. I had no stability problems with the 1910, but from what Microsoft says, the difference seems to be much like that between the old Windows 9x and NT architectures, the new system simply having a more robust kernel.

My only complaint with the updated iPAQ is due to the lack of included and available accessories. I had to find and order a case on the internet as none is included. There is no cradle (no biggie, since I always keep my PDA in a case anyway), and there are no versions of the Stowaway keyboard for it yet. I think the arrival of the 1945 with its SDIO and bluetooth will push the aftermarket on the keyboards, and for me, a combination synch/charge cable that charges off the PC's USB is more convenient than any cradle or ac adapter, and was only $10 on eBay. A WiFi enabled H1945 on a Stowaway keyboard will almost rival a laptop for many tasks, and with the small size and excellent screen of this unit, will likely tempt many users to go in just that direction.

So what else does this long-time Palm user have to say after making the switch to the Pocket PC? Well, the new OS is still more cumbersome than Palm. I think that with Palm OS 5, they have really closed the gap in features, but Palm's interface is still much more intuitive. The whole Windows UI just doesn't translate so well to a PDA format. Its not bad, by no means unuseable, but it's also just not Palm. The 2003 Pocket PC OS while supposedly vastly improved under the hood, still looks about the same as 2002 and goes about its business in much the same way.

The user interface I'm willing to make, however, as the Pocket PC offers better Outlook synchronization, which despite all the fun and games, remains my primary reason for owning a PDA in the first place. Synchronization is also faster with Microsoft's Activesync software, and gives the user many choices in how things are synchronized and conflicts are resolved.

Another nice bonus compared to the 1910 is the software CD. The 1910's CD was an embarassment, with a few links to download essentials such as Media Player 8, and not much else. The 1945's CD has many useful programs and links (Media Player 9 is preloaded in the OS), including RealOne player, an infrared printing utility, Acrobat Reader and many other programs.

Overall, I liked the 1910, a lot, but I LOVE the 1945. This PDA is as small as a Palm V, has perhaps the best screen in the business, is bluetooth enabled and supports WiFi SDIO cards, and finally, it is still VERY inexpensive at $299. With the singular exception of processor speed, I can now honestly say that it IS the best PDA on the planet. Even with its somewhat slow processor, there is nothing else on the market that comes close for what I want and use a PDA for.