INTRODUCTION
Less is more. That's
what proponents of converged devices will tell you. Carrying
fewer devices is more valuable and more productive. I
happen to be a converged device proponent. I
agree with the philosophy that carrying one device
instead of two or more is much more preferable in
most cases. That's one of the reasons why I
originally bought my Samsung
i700. It makes more sense to carry one PDA-Phone
than a PDA and a cell phone in separate forms.
The i700 has been with me for over a year now, and even though I have upgraded it to WM2003; for me, it is very limiting. Its processor is weak, it doesn't have WiFi or Bluetooth, has only 64MB of RAM (that cannot be upgraded by anyone, including PPC Techs), and has been known to be a bit flaky on occasion.
I have been looking for a new converged device for a while and stumbled across a couple of choices. One that caught my eye was the i-mate PDA2k. Will its state of the art features be enough to make me put aside my i700? Is it the device that its been hyped up to be? Does its performance and features justify its higher cost? Will the i-mate PDA2k be a friend of yours? Let's take a look and see...
WHAT'S
HOT
The
i-mate PDA2k is one of the most innovative converged
devices available today. Based on the HTC Blue
Angel, the device has one of the most impressive
set of specs I have yet to see in a Pocket PC Phone
Edition device:
-
400MHz Intel xScale PXA263 Processor
-
128MB RAM (125MMB User Accessible)
-
64MB ROM (43.25MB User Accessible)
-
802.11b WiFi Adapter
-
Bluetooth 1.1 Adapter
-
Quad Band GSM/GPRS (850/900/1800/1900)
-
GPRS Class 8 & Class 10
-
SDIO Slot
-
VGA Camera (Video Capable, MMS Capable)
-
64k Color 3.5" QVGA TFT LCD Screen
-
Slide-Out 39 key QWERTY Keyboard
-
9 Programmable Application Buttons
-
1400mAH Rechargeable LiON Battery
-
WM2003 Second Edition Phone Edition OS
Comparatively, the device's dimensions stack up this way against the following devices:
|
Device
(no cover) |
Size
(inches) |
Weight
(grams | ounces) |
i-mate
PDA2k |
4.92" x
2.82" x 0.74" |
210
| 7.41 |
i-mate
JAM |
4.1875" x
2.3125" x 0.6875" |
150
| 5.3 |
i-mate
PE2003 |
5.12" x
2.39" x 0.72" |
190
| 6.69 |
|
HP
iPAQ h6315 |
4.68" x
2.95" x 0.73" |
190
| 6.70 |
|
HP
iPAQ rz1715 |
4.48" x
2.75" x 0.53" |
120
| 4.23 |
|
HP
iPAQ 2215 |
4.57" x
2.95" x 0.63" |
142
| 5.01 |
|
HP
iPAQ 5450 |
5.43" x
3.30" x 0.63" |
206
| 7.26 |
|
Dell
Axim X3i/X30 |
4.60" x
3.21" x 0.58" |
138
| 4.80 |
|
Dell
Axim X5 |
5.00" x
3.20" x 0.71" |
196
| 6.90 |
|
Toshiba
e740 |
4.90" x
3.10" x 0.60" |
190
| 6.70 |
These specs put just about every PPC and Phone Edition device I've seen on the market today to shame. The only thing that the device lacks, as of this writing, is a VGA display a more recent, and perhaps, faster, processor, like the PXA270 series xScale from Intel, and a larger ROM. However in my opinion, the specs are more than just respectable, they're very competitive (AND with the proper software, the processor can be tweaked to function at 472MHz or 531MHz with a great deal of stability).
The i-mate PDA2k is an unlocked device, so if you purchase one, you're going to pay a premium, as opposed to other similar devices that are carrier locked. For example, Cingular (my carrier) offers their HTC Blue Angel variant, the Siemens SX66 Pocket PC. The price of this device, though nearly identical in hardware specifications to the PDA2k, is much less than what I paid, unfortunately.
I ordered my PDA2k through eXpansys USA. The i-mate PDA2k seems to be a popular device with a lot of people. When I placed my order, eXpansys USA didn't have any devices in stock. However, they promised me that they would have a number of them in stock in a few days. Unfortunately for me and a number of other people, they ran into some Customs problems. I had a blog going regarding the purchase. You can see the entries here:
Getting the device in a timely fashion took a bit of doing on my part. Although Dennis at eXpansys USA is an awesome guy, I don't think I would have been among the few and fortunate to get a device so quickly if it hadn't been for my persistent phone calls every day since placing my order. However, eXpansys USA did a great job in getting my order to me. Looking at their website at the time of this writing, you won't find the PDA2k, in World Wide English on their website, though you can still order it by phone. They are instead offering the Qtek9090, a nearly identical device. The only difference between it and the PDA2k, is the software offering in its Extended ROM.
