I'll answer the last one first, because that's probably your best alternative. To use a phone with your iPaq, you need bluetooth on both devices, and some software on the iPaq to deal with the phone. There are those that prefer this arrangement to a single device... the reason is that you can use the phone alone if you want to. You also get two dedicated devices. I have tasted the single device world and will never go back... unless there's some compelling reason that I haven't thought of yet. The convenience of just carrying around a single device, plus the tight integration are very nice. There are several phones that do bluetooth... they are usually the high end variety. I don't think it makes much difference which one you use as long as it has bluetooth. Some iPaqs have built in bluetooth. If yours does not, then you'll need to buy a card. My guess is you only have an SD slot, so you'll need a bluetooth SD card. They are out there, but they aren't inexpensive.
I don't think you want to go the single device route with the iPaq. Compaq had a GSM/GPRS sled for a while, but I don't think it worked very well. If you really want to go single device, you'd be better off to sell the iPaq on eBay, and then buy one of the Pocket PC Phone Editions. You should have an iPaq Phone Edition available in a few months, if you want to stick with HP.
Perhaps someone will chime in here that's done the bluetooth approach.
hi Mike,
thanks for the quick reply. I was at compUSA yesterday to checout the
Tmoble phone, its $599 with actation. Its a bit costly for me right now.
(and my phone ipaq will get me a max of $200)
So i guess i have to wait. In the mean time i was searching the web and
foud out that we could still get access using the present cell phone and data cables.
I am looking for a GSM/GPRS cellphone with which i can do this. Did not find one yet.
By the way, Some Q's on the tmoble phone:
Can i connect the t-moble phon to my laptop and browse?
is there a IR/BT on it? i don't seem to find it.
There don't seem to be a CF interface too? Is there a seperate
sleve for this?
This is the way that I bought mind and Amazon is a great vendor. I believe that they still offer a 30 day return policy with no contract penalty. The way they explained it to me was that you wouldn't be able to sign up for another T-Mobile plan for 90 days if you did that.
You can NOT connect the Phone Edition to your laptop and browse.
There is IR on it which works fine, but the strength of the IR is not as strong as the iPaqs for things like controlling your TV. That's about the only problem there... for communications with a laptop, or for beaming.. it's fine. There is no BT, and no way to get it at this time. The card slot is an SD slot, memory only. You need SD/IO to use an SD BT card. There is no ability to use CF, unless you got a CF to SD adapter (this is a CF card that lets you insert and SD card into it). The iPaq world is pretty much the only sleeve strategy in town.
Thats a lot of no's to your questions. I've got to tell you though, that having everything in one device is pretty awesome. It will change the way you do everything. I don't carry a wallet anymore... because since I always have this with me, I just put what I need in the case. You put your phone and pda in one device, and you truly "never leave home without it)... I don't even leave a room without it. There are advantages to having two devices as well. I asked someone who is doing what you described to respond here... we'll have to see if he does. The holidays have everyone all over the place.
Take care. I'm thinking of creating a "2 device pdaPhone" page like the phones... I need some volunteers to help populate it with content.
As an update, the news item from yesterday tells the story. HP is now saying they'll have a pdaPhone in the next 6 months, and they weren't sure if it would be Pocket PC Phone Edition or Smartphone. I guess that means that the 5450 isn't going to see a phone version. We'll have to wait and see if the latest story is true or not.
Mike,
I read in your last post that the IPaq 5450 phone edition may not be released. I have been waiting for this for a long time. Is there somewhere that I can get more info about it?
Mike,
I read in your last post that the IPaq 5450 phone edition may not be released. I have been waiting for this for a long time. Is there somewhere that I can get more info about it?
I think the Expansys link is old info that was speculation, and it was later invalidated. I do not believe there will be a device like the one in this link. Of course, I could be wrong.
As of HP Dealer in Middle East (Kuwait) said that they are working hardly with a third party developer to release a new ROM Update for the H5450 to work as GSP/GPRS/WiFi/Bluetooth....
This is all what I get from my HP Dealer, and I'm waiting....
I believe this is wishful thinking. I would find it hard to believe that HP has designed a WiFi radio that can also do cellular with a firmware update. Think about it. There have been no announcements of anyone even working on this type of technology, and they would have had to already had the hardware in place in the device, in order for this to even be possible. If they were shipping a device with WiFi that had even a possibility to work with cellular, I would have expected that the technology that went into it would have been discussed long ago. Plus, other reports have indicated from reliable sources that HP isn't even going to produce a cellular version of the 5000 series, but is rather looking to Smartphone and other choices for phones.
One thing is for sure... time will prove out what is correct.
Hello
I know it does not make sense, and I did not believe them at the first and I still not, But when I meet the contact guy from HP with the third party, he confirm that, and said that they are about to release it next month, but he was not sure about the release date.
The third party is Mobem... And I'm afraid that he has a confusion between using mPhone with Bluetooth enabled PPC!!! lets wait and see.... Finally, I hope this dream become true...
1. The XDA (T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone) can be had everywhere for arounf $300 - you can get one new from amazon or buy one used from PocketPCPassion.com, Brighthand.com or PDAStreet.com forums. You can also sell your Ipaq there.
2. The XDA is easily unlocked and www/xda-developers.com have a great custom ROM image for it that has a bit of software bundled and ready to go. I highly reccommend it.
3. Using the xda-developers rom you can use a usb cable and use your xda as a modem for your laptop - anyone telling you any different should also be aware of this fact.
4. You can also buy the GSM/GPRS Sleeve - it would have to be from an on-line retailer and I have heard nothing good or bad enough about them to offer an opinion especially since I have had no personal experience with them. HOWEVER you could then use your current Ipaq or one of the newer ones and have a ppc phone, but be aware that the #1 complaint I read about the Ipaq w/GSM sleeve is that it is too bulky to be truly useable as a phone.
5. A great option is to get a t68i (can be had for $100 to $150) and a bluetooth CF card for you ipaq and use the t68 as your connection to the internet as well as a gsm phone.
If you have any more questions please email me and I will get back to you.
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