back to basic model - priced as a ferrari

PROS;
Compact and lightweight (4.23oz / 120g). The rz1715 is mechanically compact, and sturdy -- it looks that the unit could even survive moderate abuse. The screen is deeply recessed so it will be easy for me to find a simple holster that offers sufficient screen protection. All buttons, and the screen can be disabled, so unit doesn't *frikin* turn itself on accidentally in your pocket. ** Amazing how simple things can really make a difference!
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CONS;
The 32meg RAM is unbelievably tight! Requires a survival plan. No bluetooth. The price $258 at Sams Club is still too much asked, when there are no goodies onboard (bt, wifi, camera). Sell for $229 instead? The sync connector is delicate and appears to be somewhat fragile. I fear that the connector will break in the long run, with daily use.
Separate connector for charging/external power could have been good to have.
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Buttons appraisal;
The D-pad and the buttons have excellent click. I dare to say that the rz1715 made history by making best buttons in years! The buttons may be plain and even look cheap but it's truly a victory of function over form!
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SDIO slot:
The unit has SDIO slot -- so I can add all the memory and WIFI in need. I didn't want a PDA with both SD and CompactFlash because I was aiming at the smaller formfactor for portability reasons.
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PocketPC 2003 Second Edition, Screen:
The windows ppc2003 2nd edition offers easy switching between portrait and landscape mode. I prefer to use the onscreen keyboard in landscape mode for entering text. Thumbs up HP and 2003 SE. Typically I have screen brightness set to about 40 percent - and the screen looks great. The landscape mode is a very useful feature, especially when viewing "normal" web pages designed for regular PC's, as opposed to PDA friendly pages.
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Reliability;
This is reallly a "back to the basics" PDA. The rz1715 doesn't crash and burn all the time -- probably because it's so darn simple. If you ever owned a e740 you would know the significance of this very well ...
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No goodies, no frills;
If you are a gadget lover or CPU cruncher, then buy Dell Axim 30 instead !
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No comments on;
cpu speed, sdio speed, gaming experience, battery life, video playback experiences.
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I strongly recommend these upgrades;
Buy SD memory card or memory+wifi combo that plugs into the SDIO slot. I paid $200+tax for a store display unit in Sams Club, and another $129+tax for Sandisk 256M WIFI combo. So now my PDA ended up, costing $329+tax, Maxing out at: (32+10+256meg, wifi, mp3, no bluetooth)
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Battery soso;
The internal li-ion battery is 950 mAh. How soon it will wear out is yet to be seen. I'm hoping the battery will last for about one year. I'm planning to throw in a badass 1300 mAh battery mod, once the factory battery dies out - hey, guys at www.jornadabattery.com keep me posted! *** Some feedback about battery benchmarks; turning the backlight to 100% sure helps draining the battery fast - in less than 4 hour - but I'm doing great with as little as 40% backlight - so the maximum backlight test is not a very useful measure in my opinion. With 100% brightness my rz1715 unit doubles as a flashlight for visits to my closet.
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Battery tips;
Backlight 40%, close all apps when done, disable buttons in off mode to prevent unwanted wakeup while in pocket, turn off radio if WiFi card in SDIO slot. Make sure the *frikin* ActiveSync if no longer running after syncing is done.
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Activesync;
If you were about to tear the CD envelope - STOP - don't open the cd! You can download Microsoft ActiveSync 3.7.1 from www.microsoft.com/downloads. It is so much easier to return an open rz1715 box to the store, if the seal on the software package is not broken. Still: even after version
3.7.1 the ActiveSync still is a bugtrap -- it takes a lifetime for MicroSoft to get this right.
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Memory strategy;
keep all pictures and application data files in your external SD store. Leave the *entire* 25+ megs of RAM to the system for managing your applications runtime profile. Perhaps leave 1 or 2 megs file space for some notes and documents. ** Note that program files can also be stored and launched from external memory. ** Does the programs run slower when executed from the SD card? No, since the system copies the file to the RAM for execution anyways. Try this: load some simple app to your SD card, and start it up. Remove the SD card while the app is running. ** Did the app stop working? No, because it's actually executing from the internal RAM ** Also: if all your important apps fits into the 10meg filestore then you have the ideal situation where you can dedicate your entire sd card to application data (gif,jpg,mp3) rather than dealing with a EXE + app data mix.
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Mods for the daring:
I would throw in a high fidelty internal speaker. Convert the audiojack to charger/external power plug. Replace battery with 1200+ mAh Li-On polymer (voids the factory warranty, but you knew that already)
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My wifi config;
SanDisk 256M + WIFI combo, with latest drivers (Jun 15 2004 / 3.01.04.03.0037) from sandisk website, Netgear MRB814v2 wireless router. Security settings: WECA compliant (Open), WEP, 128 bit encryption, only listed mac addresses can attach to acces point.
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Open vs. Automatic WIFI settings;
The Automatic WEP did'nt work that well for the SanDisk SD 256M+WIFI card, and the problems manifested itself in the card occasionally roaming off to other access points, and getting assigned wrong IP address by DHCP. The PDA's network adapter driver (connections manager) picked up some IP address from a neighbors access points rather than my own. So even with correct encryption key provided, the system climbed up the wrong tree due to "Automatic" vs. "WECA compliant" issue.
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WARNING: for those considering the Sandisk SD 256M+WIFI combo: check Dell's users forum -- lot's of postings about SanDisk CF/SD cards. The problem I experience after about one week of succesful use: the Sandisk 256M+WIFI SD card simply stopped to power on after beeing inserted into the SDIO slot. Usually the small LED blinks a few times when card is inserted, but now both the 256M and the WIFI was absolutely dead wood. I went back to CompUsa and got a replacement card instead. I'm crossing my fingers that this specimen will last longer...
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NOTE: picking a PDA is difficult nowadays, whith so many makes to choose from. I have used the rz1715 for one week now, and haven't thrown it into the wall yet.