HP iPAQ rx3715

HP says the HP iPAQ rx3715 is a sort of Swiss Army knife for mobile media: It takes pictures, streams audio, and surfs the Web. Although the built-in media applications don't live up to HP's promises, we still quite like the 3715 for its many hardware features.

The first thing you'll notice on the rx3715 is the 1.2-megapixel camera, unique among Pocket PCs sold in the U.S. Supported by a pretty good photo-taking application that takes full advantage of Windows Mobile 2003 SE's landscape mode, it took bright and well-balanced (if slightly soft) shots in our simulated-daylight tests. Forget about shooting in low light, though, as shutter speeds get so low as to guarantee blurriness. The photo-taking app shows shutter speed and aperture when you're framing your shot, which is very useful; but no matter what the shutter speed, we found we had to hold the rx3715 pretty still to get good photos.

The huge memory, SD card slot, and long battery life (9 hours 32 minutes in our typical-use test, and 6:35 playing continuous video) make the iPaq a fine media player. The bright screen makes video very easy to watch. Sound through either a stereo-wired or mono Bluetooth headset was fine and loud. The 3715 also comes with HP's very easy-to-use networking application, which got us up and running on our local Wi-Fi network very quickly.

The 3715's performance holds its own with other well-regarded Pocket PCs. It beat HP's earlier h4150 model in our file-system and applications tests, but the earlier model won out on CPU and graphics tests.

There's plenty of third-party Pocket PC media software out there, which is good, because the built-in iPAQ Mobile Media application is disappointing. It promises to stream photos, audio, and video from your home PC to your device (so you can listen to your music collection while mowing the lawn, for example). Unfortunately, it only streams unprotected WMA music files, not MP3s, AACs, or anything bought from an online music store. For video, it only streams specially-prepared WMV files designed for Pocket PCs. HP promises support for more media types in future versions.

Another built-in application lets you use the 3715 as a universal remote control. It's easy to set up; it found two TiVos, two TVs, two DVD players, a VCR, a stereo, and two cable boxes with aplomb. Recording multiaction macros is also quick and easy. But the on-screen remote-control buttons are tiny and poorly labeled, making for a sharp learning curve in daily use.

The iPAQ 3715's 1.2MP camera makes it a unique beast among Pocket PC handhelds in the U.S. Combined with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networking, you have a flexible and powerful Pocket PC. Pity about the media streaming.

Benchmark Tests
SPB Benchmark: 1,534
CPU index: 1,531
File system index: 1,360
Graphics index: 2,938
Platform index: 1,449
Battery life: 9 hours 32 minutes (typical use test)

SPEC DATA :

• Screen Size: 3.5 inches
• Operating System: Windows Mobile 2003
• Flash Memory Type: Secure Digital
• Bluetooth: Yes