MarWare has a new line of Neoprene cases
called the SportSuit. These cases are compatible with various PDAs and come in a
variety of sizes and colors.
SportSuit
The SportSuit is a book style zippered case that can be used either as a play
through case, slip case, or belt case. It comes in several colors: Jet, Ocean,
Fire, and Sun (which translates to Black, Blue, Red and Yellow).
Inside dimensions: 5 “H x 3.8″ W x .8” D
Outside dimensions: 5.25 “H x 4″ W x 1” D
The SportSuit will hold the following PDAs: Palm Pilot, Palm III series, Palm
V, Visor, Casio E-10, 11 and 15.
The case has a slanted pocket on the front that can hold small papers or
business cards. On the inside, there are 3 other pockets for business or credit
cards. The pockets on the inside are made of a thin nylon material which feels a
little cheap to me. The front is also has a thick plastic insert (it is
removable) that helps protect the screen.
There is an elastic band in the middle of the case that can hold your stylus.
You can Velcro your PDA to the right side of the case, so you can use it as a
play through case. The back of the case has a belt loop. I don’t think that this
loop is very convenient because you have to unfasten your belt in order to get
the case on and off. I would much rather see them use the detachable belt clips
like E&B Cases use.
The zipper on the SportSuit is heavy duty but still has smooth action. While
using the case I never had a problem with the zipper getting jammed.
Overall the case is made well, and at $22.95, it’s easy on the wallet.
Price: $22.95
Pros:
Can be used as a play through case.
Hard insert protects the screen.
Cons:
Thin pocket material inside the case.
Belt loop isn’t as convenient as a detachable clip.
SportSuit II
The SportSuit II is a book style zippered case that can be used either as a play
through case, slip case, or belt case. The case is basically exactly the same as
the SportSuit but is .5 in longer to fit larger PDAs. It comes in several
colors: Jet, Ocean, Fire, and Sun (which translates to Black, Blue, Red and
Yellow).
Inside dimensions: 5.6″ H x 3.8″ W x .8″ D
Outside dimensions: 5.75 “H x 4″ W x 1” D
The SportSuit II will hold the following PDAs: Palm VII, Casio E-100/105,
Nino, Compaq Aero, and HP Jornada 420.
Price: $24.95
Pros:
Can be used as a play through case.
Hard insert protects the screen.
Cons:
Thin pocket material inside the case.
Belt loop isn’t as convenient as a detachable clip.
SportSuit III
The SportSuit III is a slip style case that can be worn on your belt. This case
comes in black with blue trim.
Inside dimensions: 5.3 “H x 3.5″ W x 1” D
Outside dimensions: 5.5 “H x 4″ W x 1” D
The SportSuit III will hold the following PDAs: Palm Pilot, Palm III series,
Palm V, and Visor. The tag that came on the case said that it could fit the
Casio E-100, Nino and Compaq Aero, but I’m not sure I would want to use this
case for those models. I tried using the case with my Casio E-100 and although
it will fit (very snuggly) it is quite difficult to remove the PDA from the case
because of the tight fit. I found that the Visor and Palm V were a very
comfortable fit in this case though.
The SportSuit III has a pocket on the front of the case that can hold several
business cards or small folded papers. The back of the case is reinforced with a
hard plastic insert. Unlike the picture above, you’d probably want to insert the
PDA with the screen facing this screen insert. (A Visor with its hard screen
cover can fit in the Sportsuit III just fine) Inserting and removing a PDA from
this case is easy. The case flap is held closed with two Velcro tabs.
The belt clip on the back of the case is a hard molded plastic clip that can
slide over your belt. The clip is pretty strong, but I’m still a bit concerned
that it could slip up and off your belt if you squat down. This did happen to me
one time while reviewing the case. It actually happened in my truck. I think I
knocked the case off when I was putting on my seat belt.
Despite the potential belt clip problem, I still really like this case… and
the price is great.
Price: $19.95
Pros:
Hard insert protects the screen.
Slim case.
Belt clip.
Cons:
Nothing to keep the belt clip from sliding off your belt.
WinCE Suit
The WinCE Suit is a book style zippered case that can be used either as a play
through case or slip case. The case comes in black with blue trim.
Inside dimensions: 7.5″ W x 4″ D x 1″ H
Outside dimensions: 7.75″ W x 4.25″ D x 1″ H
Some of the PDAs that the WinCE Suit will hold: Casio A-10, A-11 A-20,Compaq
Companion, HP 320 LX , HP 360 LX , HP Jornada 680, Philips Velo, PSION Series 5,
PSION 3c, and PSION 3a.
The WinCE suit has a long slant pocket on the front of the case. The inside
of the case is all Velcro compatible. There are 8 Velcro tabs that you can use
to attach your PDA to the case if desired. There is also an elastic band in the
middle of the case that can hold a pen or a stylus.
One nice feature of this case is the removable card slot panel. This panel
has Velcro on one side so that you can attach or remove it. There are 8 business
card slots and one large long slot. The pocket panel is made of thin nylon
material that I don’t really care for. It feels a bit cheap. But, the rest of
the case is high quality and is made very well.
Price: $29.95
Pros:
Can be used as a play through case.
9 pocket panel is removable.
Cons:
Thin pocket material inside the case.
Product Information
| Price: | $29.95 |
| Manufacturer: | Marware |
| Pros: |
|
| Cons: |
|
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Just click the POST REPLY button on this page.
Julie
As usual an exceptional review and well written. I too first viewed this gem at Comdex, along with the Dell, & Samsung. I feel that this unit was designed with a target market in its sights, namely the people who like the palm feel but want the CE punch (without lugging a brick around), I agree what a screen !! For the heavy power user I hope that the 48 MB and 900 Ah batt not be the deal breaker.
The last of 2002 was a good year for us gadget gals and guys, it gives us hope to what we will see in the future.
May the force remain with us
Good review as always. Sad to see (still) such disappointing battery life in an otherwise nice device. HP can go ahead and start stocking lots of extra batteries for sale I suppose.
Mike
Well, I wouldn’t mind using one of these, but without networking ability, it’s useless to me. I’m thinking the TT is still at the top of my list.
I’m currently using the HP1910 (clocked to 300 MHz, which helps with performance). However, like all PPCs, it’s still a bit sluggish compared to PalmOS for anything except file and FPU-intensive operations.
Julie, you folks have gone back and forth between PPC and Palm many times… I find that PPC’s note program is horrible and I’m thinking about using ListPro instead. But if Sony comes out with a sub-5-ounce 480×320 device, I may go back to Palm.
I know the built-in apps can simply be synced with Outlook, but how do you deal with transferring your data back and forth between Palm and PPC for 3rd party apps like ListPro on the PPC or Hi-note on the Palm?
Thanks!
For a complete idiot such as myself, would you please explain what SDIO means? Is this some type of wireless networking? I keep seeing people say that the 1910 doesn’t have SDIO capability, and that is a reason for not buying it… But I don’t have the first clue what SDIO means.
Thank you for your help.
One other question—- what happens to all the PDA’s after you guys get done with them?
The biometric fingerprint scanner is mentioned at the top of the article in the specs, but I didn’t see any other note of it.
Does this model indeed had the fingerprint scanner? I don’t see an obvious place on the PDA for it from the photos and I’m curious if it is improved over the previous iPaq model you guys reviewed.
Thanks!
SDIO refers to the expansion capability of the Secure Digital (SD) card slot. The 1910 can use its SD slot for adding storage only. It can’t be used for other I/O functions like adding GPS or a network card.
As usual, great review! I picked up a 1910 as soon as they came out. I upgraded from an HP 565 and I am very happy with it. No complaints here about performance. I usually have the screen on the next-to-lowest brightness level and it still beats the 565 display hands-down.
The biggest bummer I experienced with the switch to the 1910 is that I had to say goodbye to my vaja case when I upgraded.. but I just noticed last night that E&B cases is taking orders for a slipper case for the 1910 now. They say they’ll be shipping in 14-21 days, so I pre-ordered one. Sure, vaja is selling cases for the 1910 but they don’t have one yet with the magnetic closure, and the Slipper case does.
That was a cut and paste error on my part that has been fixed.
Sorry for the confusion…. 😮
Hello,
did you happen to test using the IR for remote control of TV’s, VCR’s, etc?
I seem to remember reading something about the IR on the H1910 not being capable of remote control.
-Dan
I didn’t test that. I’ll try a test tonight.
Julie:
Great review (as always). You’re right, it may not have all the bells and whistles of its big brother, but it never leaves my pocket and that is the number one factor for me.
I think you need to highlight or bold the language under the parrot picture – most PDA users will never believe that is an unretouched photo of the screen. It has to be seen to be believed. Maybe I’m just too prejudiced, but it is better than any other on the market right now (I think it’s even “clearer and brighter” than Clie, even if it isn’t as high a resolution).
As for the remote question – good luck, but very doubtful. It’s about the weakest IR I’ve seen, but when you consider how lucky it is they even found room for a 900ma removable battery, tha’s understandable. I’m sure they could have poured more battery into it if they’d used a permanent polymer battery, but I’m one PDA user tired of permanent batteries, and I’m glad to lose a little staying power for the removable battery.
I hate to be spreading what is probably a rumour, but I thought I heard that the SSD slot might be made SDIO compliant with some sort of SW patch.
I am thinking this is wishful thinking, but has anyone heard about this?
Thanks!
GG
I’m afraid it’s wishful thinking. Commentary on several other boards indicates the necessary address lines are not present (although I thought all SD sockets were the same).
There does seem to be promising work in the area of a “speed adjuster” as I hesitate to call it an overclocking utility. The Xscale is apparently designed to run at variable speeds between 100 and 400 mhz, depending on manufaturer settings. Several programmers (and beta testers) over at Brighthand indicate success in setting the processor registers to run at 300 mhz.
Another rumor 😉 has it that HP purposely set the processor at200 mhz to keep a spread between it and the 5400 series, but it legitimately helps save battery power as well.
While I had the same belief (that all SD sockets were the same), I figured as much about the rumour. Oh well, I guess my search will continue.
GG
Julie,
Great review as always . You have concluded my worst fear, battery life! I had read it wasn’t that great but seeing you tests just adds to the rest of the reviews. This helps make up my mind on Palm vs PPC.
thanks.
I’ve done a few battery tests.:
One test was with the backlight at 25% (one notch from off, which is plenty bright) playing a Weather Channel mpeg file in PocketTV (Enterprise Edition) with the sound muted. It lasted 3 hours 27 minutes before turning off.
Another test with the backlight at 25%, sound at 75% and mainly PIM with maybe 30 minutes of games/video, I got 4.5 hours.
With the Auto IR Recieve turned off (Start->Settings->Connections->Beam) add another 30-45 minutes to the uptime.
Also, hopefully in the near future people will be able to use Clear Speed or another XScale clocking utility to set the CPU to 100 MHz to conserve battery power. This will especially be helpful when playing music since 100 MHz should be plenty of power to process MP3’s/WMA’s, but will conserve quite a bit of battery.
BTW, that was a good thorough review as always!
Yes, small can be beautiful!
While going for Sony CLIE at first because of the great screen and small size, I think I would have gone for this device if it were on the market a couple of months ago.
Yet … maybe within a half year I’ll be saying the same again when another great gadget hits the market …
I stand corrected (at least partially). Although no one can really confirm the information at this point, an article on:
http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/
indicates that the Xscale processor itself can control SDIO functions on an SD device without other support chips. This doesn’t prove the necessary address lines exist, but it’s a ray of hope, particularly given the initial success of uping the speed to 300 mhz.
Maybe the 1910 really is throttled back to avoid competition with the 3900 and 5400 series.
Well, Here is hoping! My only concern about this device is the lack of SDIO (for some this is not an issue). If this is true, and can be addressed, then I will be picking one up.
GG
Saw this, so I guess it is more than just a rumour (it references the PocketPCthoughts information). I are really hoping that this is possible for the 1910.
http://www.brighthand.com/article/SDIO_Everywhere
GG
It would be great news it the 1910 has the sdio.
😮
I had no idea that the IR receive pulled that much power. I turned mine off last month to see what effect it would have, and went from 17.9 hours to 19 hours before the first low battery warning. I was doing a more specific test this weekend with the brightness at 50%, but gave my handheld to the kids while I took a nap. They played games for 4 hours solid…
Hi Julie
Great review. I have a simple question though, as I’m planning to purchase the h1910 soon. and it is going to be my first PPC handheld (i own a Palm).
Is the PocketPC OS itself upgradable? That is, does the NAND Ram that you talk about allow the owner to upgrade the OS stored in it by flashing it when a new version comes out. For e.g. if MS releases PocketPC 2003, can i upgrade the ROM with this new one?
Please do let me know.
TIA
Zarkov
Yes the NAND itself is rewriteable. Although there is no official words about h1910 upgrade, HP/Compaq has a pretty decent track record about maintaining and releasing upgrade for their products. It is sort of taken for granted that h1910 will be upgradable to PPC2k3 when it comes out.
Just a few questions after looking at this GREAT review.
Being a Palm user, I don’t see myself playing many games on the 1910 but do see myself having a few programs and databases (?HanDbase). And understanding NAND memory by what I have read here, will I be able to store programs and information on the SD card and run them on the device?
I think I understand I’ll have to clear memory (if running out) to run other apps.
Also, I understand that with the 900 Ah battery life will be some what short. So could another, longer life battery be used? Knowing that it would have to fit the size of the current one.
As a former Palm user, let me give my explanations:
The NAND memory is the internal ROM, and will have no impact on using the SD for program storage or running programs. Think of the PPC just like your desktop – programs and data can be saved on the SD. The programs run and the data can be used directly from the SD when the program is moved to main memory to run. You don’t have the Palm OS (even with VFS) problem of where the data must be stored, and can the program run from storage.
Even on the 1910 I rarely run out of memory. However, there are good, free utilities (such as WISBar) that let you truly close rather than minimize background tasks to free up more memory. To help the situation, I always set program memory to 32mb, storage (internal) to the remaining 14mb, and put all but critical programs and data on the SD card. By critical, I mean those I have to have if the SD card is removed (such as PocketInformant – the PIM replacement).
There are no longer life batteries for the 1910, and it’s doubtful given the space limitation. As a Plam user, I’ve just had to get used to recharge each day (over night, while at your desk, etc.) Batteries are pretty efficient and recharge fairly quickly, besides, you can top off a Li battery at any time.
Does the 1910 have a case?? flip cover or something??
Wow, you guys can’t beleive how lucky I feel having found this site!!
Anyway, now that I have a much better understanding of NAND and the fact work has been letting me use an iPAQ 3970, I know that I’m ready to make the change.
Does anyone know if there is a cover/case in the box with the 1910??
Sorry, there isn’t a protective case or slip case included with the 1910….
:confused:
Does anyone know where I can find a small leather case for this ipaq model. Please advice. Thanks!
Saby
…try http://www.handheldplanet.com
They have a new case for the 1910, and it looks pretty thin.
Judie :0)
Thank you for the http://www.handheldplanet.net URL, I’m buying it.
Hi. Great review, btw! I am a long time Palm user who decided to switch to the 1910 primarily because of this review. It is a shame that this does not come with a case, but that gives me an excuse to finally try a Vaja case!
Here is the problem, though: I have grown used to the Iambic Agendus planner and can’t seem to find anything close to the for the my new iPAQ. Does anyone have a recommendation for a really good schedule/contact manager out there?
I am also looking for the best photo viewing (jpegs mostly) and video viewing (avi primarily) software out there. I tried to convert the avis to mpeg to watch with win Media Player 8 on the 1910, but it did not work. Thanks in advance.
Cheers;
Jacques
I like Pocket Informant for an advanced PIM:
http://www.pocketinformant.com/
For JPG viewing, there are quite a few good programs available. I like IA Album:
http://www.iastyle.com
Video viewing, check out PocketTV:
http://www.pockettv.com
Can’t use use ACT for PPC ? I think it cost around 160.00 bucks tho!
Julie,
What programs can you use for a backup utility for PPC?Does the 1910 come with one?:)
Wow!! Thanks for the speedy replies. Julie; I will give each of the programs you mentioned a shot. Thanks.
Jacques
More h1910 stuff
http://www.mobigeeks.net/e/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=450
Thanks, Green1. Just went to that link and joined the forum to post the following note. Maybe someone here can point me to the right resource.
Hey all;
Just purchased a 1910 a week and I love it. I have been a longtime Palm user (Clie 760C was last device) and have made a fairly easy transition to the new platform. However, I was wondering if it is possible to download a file that will allow my 1910 to view Greek language news I download from BBC in Greek via Avantgo. I tried to download the site to my 1910 through Avantgo but the text shows up as gibberish. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks;
Jacques
Could use some help … I purchased my 1910 around Christmas, and have been using it for basic applications for 3-4 weeks. I am not a heavy user, so the 1910 seems like a perfect upgrade from my Palm.
But twice the unit has frozen up on me, and it acts like it doesn’t have the resources available. Once I finally navigate my way to the memory control panel, it tells me there are plenty of resources. I spent a half hour on the phone with HP last night and they can’t figure out what is wrong with it. It also did an involuntary hard reset one morning, even though I know I had a fully charged battery. I lost everything of course.
To compound the misery, I purchased this unit in NY but I live in Asia. They have not introduced it in Asia yet, so when I was advised by HP Tech Support to take it the nearest service center, the Filippino tech guys were all excited to see a new product. But they didn’t have a clue what to do – even their Singapore HQ could not service it.
Yes, I am venting b/c I dont know how I am get this thing serviced properly. I read some posts on CNet about involuntary resets and freezes. Has anyone else experienced this problem?
I am further frustrated b/c I thought I had finally found a Pocket PC worth switching away from Palm, mostly due to size, screen quality and value for money. But now it looks like I am screwed …..
I met so many people in stores trying to fit their new 1910s into existing cases …
Here’s another case I found looking for the same (i’m using a Palm 505 flip-top case for the interim – works pretty well just a little too wide and cant use the buttons at the bottom.)
http://www.mobileplanet.com/private/pocketpc/product.asp?cat%5Fid=&cat%5Fname=&dept%5Fid=3704&pf%5Fid=MP301663&listing=1
Under what circumstances does you h1910 froze? if completely random: what software have you installed, what is the pattern of locking up?
I’ve heard about automatic hard reset once, A person was overclocking the unit to 400mHz.
Does a simple soft reset solve the problem? This is the first time I hear of complete random reset. But I have never use C|net forum, have you tried posting in regular PPC forum? (PPCT, B’hand, PPCpassion. to find out what’s wrong?)
It freezes up when it is running only factory installed apps (just a few like calendar, tasks, contacts and calculator). The only clue to the problem is it seems to freeze after a calendar reminder has gone off (and I didn’t immediately dismiss or snooze the reminder).
I had installed CityTime and BatteryPack, and Windows Media Player. After the first crash, I didn’t reinstall any of these. Still happened.
Soft reset button does not work, even when the unit was functioning properly.
I don’t even know HOW to overclock the unit …
Very strange. Have you tried backing up your information, and do Hard reset? after returning to factory condition if it still happen then it might be hardware or interaction with desktop. But this is not a common problem.
Yesterday I bought a new iPaq 1910 to replace my aged 3650 model. This morning I have been horrified to note that about 50% of the time when I attempt to do anything other than hunt-and-peck with the stylus (in other words, whenever I use Transcriber or any other free-form notes entry) the input gets horribly garbled. The letter “s” looks like bird scratch. The letter “g” will suddenly look like I scribbled lightning bolts on the screen. Basically, it makes Transcriber unusable. However, the same problem crops up even when Transcriber is turned off in favor of, for instance, virtual keyboard entry.
Does anyone else have this problem? I experienced similar problems (though less severe) with my old unit, but I had thought/hoped that this was something the company would have solved in the past 2.5 years. Is there a fix? Or do I need to try to return it?
Yes. I had it happen yesterday (after having unit for two months). The letter “D” looked like it had fringe coming off the entire letter. FInally did a soft reset and everythings working normal again.
I helped my mom buy a new 1910 today and playing with the store demo is was doing the same thing. I sure hope it doesn’t get worse.
Right now I get to spend some money ,anybody find a cradle for it? HP is out of stock also looking for screen protectors?
Hi, I would like to buy a pocket pc, i’ve never had one, not even a palm, but i do have a pc and a laptop as well. As far as i see the 1910 is not a good one. is it?
i don;t know wich one to buy, i think i am not a very power user, but i like to use what my equipments can offer me.
Please, can you help me to choose one, even if tis a earlier model? 😎
usually price range is a good starting point, then what you plan to use your PDA for. It would further determine if a model would have the hardware/peripherals you plan to use.
for eg. h1910 is a low end model at about $280. It’s main offering is excellent for indoor transreflective screen in super small package. Essentially it’s great organizer and plus running various productivity programs. But It has very limited peripherals support. eg. wireless, GPS, CFcards, etc etc.
So if you plan to use it for directional GPS map, or connecting to wirelss network, this might not be your model.
In general h1910 performance is quite good. It can serve as movie viewer and run big load at acceptable speed with overclock, but of course it’s not the fastest model out there compared to its other iPAQs big brothers. It has one of the best external speaker and good audio overall, tho’ come with quirky 2.5 mm headphone plugs. The replacable battery last about 2.5 -4 hrs continuously depending on the load, which covers a whole day on and off activity for most people. And so far it’s pretty well accepted.
so, it’s all depends on what your PDA needs are.
Thanks for you advice green1. I am looking for one that i can add some peripheicals and of course, connect to to internet, about the price, i would like one that don’t be very expensive. I don’t have plans to get lost, but i would like some connectivity, even if is not for a gps., any way thatnks for any advice.
Psdt: could be great if july would answer to me too.
I think everybody is waiting to know if the rumored E350 is really $199. Good luck with the shopping, btw.
http://www.pocketpctools.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=325&mode=&order=0&thold=0
I’m posting this on the 1910 page because I have one and have seen this, but I have also seen this on 3955’s.
Here are the details, h1910 w/ 128Mb SD card, ActiveSync 3.6 and Outlook 2002. I have seen this with the 3955 with no SD, ActiveSync 3.5 and Outlook 2000 also. A soft reset doesn’t help.
I have seen on another site (that I don’t know if I should trust) that HP is aware if this, so has anyone seen this issue?
Thanks
If i remember correctly from another forum post, It’s a bug. If you create a reminder, it will take about 3seconds or so for the calender to refresh the database and the reminder to take affect. So if one would to create a reminder then close agenda right away in next instance, the reminder won’t get refresh.
I might get the detail wrong, but that’s the ghist of it.
Mine will sometimes turn the display on (seems to correlate to a reminder) and leave it on until the battery completely drains. This is somewhat annoying. I think I’ll get a Clie.
I am thinking about buying one of these because I was originally looking at buying a Palm OS based PDA and then I found out that I could get a Windows Based one for around the same price. I am a newbie, so can you tell me the difference between Microsoft Pocket PC and Windows Mobile. Can anyone help me out????
Is it possible to connect this unit to one of them foldy keyboards?
Yes, get the IR version from http://www.thinkoutside.com
I bouth an HP 1915 (European version of 1910) in Germany and it has german version of Windows for PPC 2002. I dont understent any german. Is it possible to change windows whit some programe and which?
Can you gave me some links for freeware???
Thanks