New Ipaq - which one best price

[Stevie]

I'm thinking of upgrading from an Ipaq 3870 to either the 3970 or the 5450.



Starting to use the gps setup I've knocked up and getting frustrated with the slow response of the 3870.



Am using a Haicom 203E and TomTom Nav2. Maps loaded on SD 256mb card and I downgraded Rom to overcome SD read speed. It was even slower on latest rom update.



Seems the 3970 can be had for around £380 now and the 5450 for £450.



Any 'go for the xxx' or 'steer well clear of xxx' comments.



Cheers



Steve

[Darren]

Well if you don't need WiFi then go with the 39xx, there are still many unresolved issues with the 54xx models and for me the low volume of the internal speaker ruins it as a navigation device unless you use an amplifier of some sort. The 39xx have the superb screen which really is a huge improvment. That's my tuppence worth anyway!
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Darren Griffin

[Stevie]

I'd read some of that. Haven't actually seen a 3970 close up to compare with my 3870. Had no plan to amplify the PDA in fact I'm tempted to changeover to a bluetooth to reduce the wire clutter when I use the PDA in the car. Was hoping to use no wires for short trips or just have a single one for the PDA.



The only advantage I thought the 5450 would give me is a better resale value and perhaps better support.



So one nudge towars the 3970 so far...

[MikeB]

Given the choice between a 3970 and a 5450 I would go for the 3970.



The only thing that the 5450 has going for it is the WiFi, which is great if you have it. I do and I am really pleased with that aspect of the PDA.



However!!!



HP started with a good pedigree with the iPaq name and reputation, and then promptly ruined it. I am sorry to say that they have chosen to improve certain aspects of the software and failed abismally.



The Bluetooth interface has taken a step backwards, the WiFi often needs a soft boot to work. Often for no reason settings seem to get lost, particularly the connection settings for my GPRS connection.



Having decided to go SD for additional storage and invested in 4 SD cards the access speed has been crippled on both the 3x70 and the 5450 series.



Often the GPRS connection doesnt work (could be the phone). If you want to use the PDA to send email (perfectly reasonable) you really have to jump through hoops, and then it often doesnt work.



A couple of times I have had the 5450 connected to the power and the unit refuses to charge. A couple of soft boots later it decides to.



The speaker is barely audible at the best of times. Not at all when driving at speeds.



The headphone socket is located in the bottom of the PDA where it is inaccessible when in a lot of car mounts.



Need I carry on?



Of course probably the worst thing is the lack of software patches. HP have only released 1 ROM patch since the launch and a couple of minor patches. A very poor show indeed for a product that should really be a killer PDA.



That said I still love mine. I think I would probably rather have swapped the 3870 for a 3970 but the WiFi was my downfall. If HP could just fixup a couple of the serious issues then I would say the 5450 is the best, but I suspect that they are beginning to get a lot of disgruntled users out there whos loyalties may change.
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Mike Barrett

[Adrian Head]

Mike, I have the same problems with my 5450. I have recently updated to the latest ROM and at the same time started using an Arcon Multimedia Mount in the car. I have only noticed the charging problems on the mount and not in the cradle. I wonder if the charging problem is related to the 1.10 rom update or as I first thought, the mount? What set-up do you run? When have you noticed problems? Anyone else had charging problems with the 5450 if so what ROM version?
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Adrian<font size="1">

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GPS Setup=HP 5450 plus EMTAC BT plus 256MB SD Card plus TomTom 2 plus PCMCIA Sleeve plus 5GB HDD plus Arkon Multimedia Mount <font color="red">plus Understanding Wife <img border="0" src= "sm

[Stevie]

I think I've been swayed in the direction of the 3970. I only really considered the 5450 as the prices until recently were not that much different. Now the 3970 has tumbled to around £350 it's more attractive.



I can then sell my 3870 and get a bluetooth gps unit.



Thanks for the feedback guys.

[Stevie]

Bought a 3970 for £359 over the bank holiday. When installing all my software ec the SD card decided to misbehave and would not read or format. It's a Sandisk 256mb one.



Managed to do a quick format using a 7in1 reader/writer on the PC and have put TomTom Nav2 on it but it's still slow. Is it much faster with Compact Flash, if so I'll have to get a CF jacket?

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