The new iPAQ Pocket PCs are official

Those long-rumored new iPAQ Pocket PCs from HP are officially official now, and you gotta give it up to HP for not freaking out when leaked specs and pics turned up all over — they obviously get that this kind of buzz is good for them, unlike some other companies. The details aren't exactly a surprise for anyone who has been following this, but because we hardly expect anyone else to be as obsessively geeky as us, we'll run over the line-up again:

• The hx4705 - The flagship, with a 4-inch VGA resolution LCD screen, a 624MHz processor, 192MB of memory, integrated touchpad, built-in 802.11b WiFi, Bluetooth, and CompactFlash and SD expansion card slots.

• The h6315 - HP's new Pocket PC Phone, with quad-band GSM/GPRS, built-in 802.11b WiFi and Bluetooth, integrated VGA quality digital camera, a 200MHz processor, 64MB of RAM, SD expansion card slot, a 3.5-inch LCD screen, and an attachable mini-keyboard..

• The rx3100 - They're dubbing the rx3100 a "Mobile Media Companion", and it comes with 64MB of RAM, built-in 802.11b WiFi and Bluetooth, a 3.5-inch LCD screen, an SD expansion card slot, and software for wirelessly browsing your music, photo, and video collection from anywhere in your home and so you can use the rx3100 as a universal remote control.

• The rx3700 - Another Mobile Media Companion, the rx3700 has the same media and universal remote software as the rx3100, a 400MHz processbuilt-in WiFi and Bluetooth, a 3.5-inch LCD screen, and an SD expansion card slot, but also has a built-in 1.2 megapixel digital camera.

• The rx3415 - HP's third Mobile Media Companion, the rx3400 is similar to the rx3700, just with less memory and a 300MHz processor.

• The rz1715 - Their low-end Mobile Media Companion, the rz1715 only has a 203MHz processor, 32MB of RAM, a 3.5-inch LCD screen, an SD expansion card slot, but no WiFi or Bluetooth.

• The rz1700 - And lastly, the rz1700 is their new entry-level Pocket PC, which is basically the rz1715 without the media software.

[Pictured from left to right, the hx4705, the h6315, the rx3415 and the rz1715]

[dave @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

We have the full review of the h6300 rz1715 on our site...

[Eric Rice @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

And it's slick. A bit wide, but I can deal. And the digital camera is fun! I've been dying to talk about this, but couldn't due to threat of death. Okay, maybe not that bad, but still.

[Quenton Elliott @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

Hey these things are all well and good, but how about the bigger chunk of news concerning HP screwing their customers into the ground by dropping support for previous top-of-the-line models and refusing to offer a Windows Mobile 2003 SE upgrade. Some of the units in question are less than 3 months old, and HP reps used the SE upgrade to sell through the product. This is shameful.
If HP is dropping support for products that aren't even a year old, why in the world would you purchase a new iPAQ from them.
You're better off looking towards other brands.

and for info on the Windows Mobile second edition debacle, look at this thread:
http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/bizsupport/questionanswer.do?threadId=641503

[ms mobiles @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

hx4705 is super - the touchpad idea is something I was missing in Toshiba e800.

[ben @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

A touchpad on a device that is 90% touchscreen!? The genius marketing literature effusively states: "Integrated touchpad navigation with mouse-like cursor". Excuse my French, by why the freaking hell would I want a �mouse-like cursor� when I have a perfectly good stylus-like pointing device in my hand?!

[Viper @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

THe old 1940 and 4100 were peices of PDA art. Not only were they thin, and light... but they packed robust processors, and the most vivid screans. They new ipaqs, however, fail at all three. Credit the HP designers for fudging up and keeping the identical case for the PDA with a camera, and the one without. Credit them for creating a huge peice of crap only a tricorder freak would love. Why won't they just update the old PDA's with mobile 2003 2nd edition. Why? God, Why?

[Rupert @ Dec 19th 2005 12:03AM]

Does anyone know if i could change the screem from a hp rz1710 to a rx3115?