WARNING: "IMPORTANT: Do not connect cradle or cable to computer until you have finished installing ActiveSync?Create software on your computer from the CD." The warning is in 11 languages, with english repeated on front and back of the tag. Russians, Greeks, and Arabs were not worthy of warnings in their own languages.
As for the warrantee: There are special provisions for Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea.
Software disk for HP iPAQ Companion CD
HP iPAQ hx4700 series Pocket PC
This CD includes Microsoft (R) ActiveSync?Create (R) 3.7.1
It also includes Outlook 2002, additional HP software, and printable format for iPAQ User's Guide
Version 1.0, (C) 2004 HP, First Edition June 2004, 361963-001
Beware of the disk: "This product uses technological measures for copy protection. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO USE THE PRODUCT IF YOU DO NOT FULLY COMPLY WITH THE PRODUCT ACTIVATION PROCEDURES. Propduct activation procedures and Microsoft's privacy policy will be detailed during initial launch of the product, or upon certain reinstallations of the software product or reconfigurations of the computer, and may be completed by internet or telephone (toll charges may apply).
The CD popups up a helpful dialog application that leads you through setup. At some point it will detect that your computer does not have ActiveSync?Create. It will tell it is mandatory that it be installed, and that it will be installed after you click next, but in fact, clicking next takes you to a screen extolling the benefits of registering with HP, and pleading about how much HP respects your privacy.
Install Required SoftwareSetup?Create Wizard has scanned your computer and recommends the following actions:
Scroll down to confirm these recommendations and then select Next to install
In order to synchronize data, transfer files, or install new software on your HP iPAQ you need to have ActiveSync?Create installed. Installing ActiveSync?Create is required to proceed.
Details - MS\ACTSYNC\MAIN\setup.exe -s -sms - Install this (Mandatory)
Benefits of Registering with HP
At HP, we are dedicated to providing you with the best customer experience. Registering with HP provides you with better access to support and services, so you can get the most out of your HP products. You can stay up-to-date with useful information about your products by signing up for free support alerts, driver notifications, and personalized newsletters.
HP respects your privacy
HP is committed to protecting your privacy. We will not sell, rent or lease your personal information to others. HP will not share your personal information with third parties except in responding to your requests for products or services. Your permission will be requested when you submit your information. For more details, please see the HP Privacy Statement.
Select Next to register your HP iPAQ product.
Click next and you might think some software will be installed... Nope. It's another advertisement begging you to register:
Sign up now
Why? By taking just a few moments to sign up, you can enjoy:
Quicker service and more efficient support to fit your busy lifestyle
Timely driver and software update notification
The latest product support alerts to maximize your productivity
Customized e-newsletters loaded with tips and tricks
HP respects your privacy.
With HP your personal information remains private and is not shared with anyone outside of HP. You can also choose whether or not you want HP to contact you directly. By clicking Next, you will transmit HP product and PC configuration information to HP. To view HP's full privacy statement, visit www.hp.com.
It claims it's going to transmit to HP, "Microsoft Windows XP Home US"
Please connect to the Internet before clicking Next.
Now you will be forced to register on the HP website with a user id and a password, plus your first and last name, your email address, your primary reason for being interested in HP products such as home, home-based business, business with fewer than 9 employees, or business with more than 9 employees.
The next screen tries to get your home contact information to "offer you even better support and service." They want your address, phone number, and mobile device information, as well as your optional business contact information.
Trial software on the CD includes:
ListPro?Create - Ilium Software presents ListPro?Create 3.0 -- an easy way to make, use and re-use all your important lists, on your HP iPAQ and Windows PC. Complete file compatibility lets you make your lists on any of your Windows devices or your desktop, and use and change them on any others!
Audible Player - With Audible, your Pocket PC can read you the morning paper or a best selling audiobook and replay your favorite public radio program - anytime you want. Audible.com lets you choose from over 20,000 audio programs. Listen to The New York Times, the latest John Grisham or today's edition of Marketplace right from your Pocket PC. Experience a taste of Audible with a special offer for Pocket PC owners and get your first month FREE.
Cadenza mNotes - No other Lotus Notes synchronization product performs like it. Lotus Notes e-mail, contacts, to-do lists, calendar and journal on your iPAQ. Use this one product to synchronize via desktop or wirelessly with a server. Advanced ‘push’ of messages to your device. Easy to install, easy to use.
XcelleNet?Create's Afaria - Afaria Frontline Management software from iAnywhere goes beyond conventional systems management to manage and secure technology used at the front lines of business. Optimized for mobile and wireless users, Afaria allows businesses to deploy and maintain software, secure devices and data, and drive execution of configuration processes and policies.
Rescoe Explorer - Resco Explorer 2003 is a powerful file management utility for your Pocket PC. It implements all standard features such as file/folder manipulation. Thus, you can copy, move or delete files, create folders, run programs with arguments, and search for files or folders. File Explorer 2003 is a complex solution of the following modules: File Encryption, File Manager, Built-in viewer, Network Browser, Registry Editor.
HP Wireless Presenter-to-Go - Deliver presentations wirelessly from your iPAQ™ Pocket PC via an HP WiFi projector. Wireless Presenter-to-Go enables notebook quality presentations from your WiFi iPAQ over an 802.11b connection to your projector. Note: When installing this software a setup warning will appear stating “The program you have installed may not display properly because it was designed for a previous version of Windows Mobile Software” – this is a normal part of the installation and the application operates as intended.
Full version software included:
Mobimate's WorldMate?Create - With its accurate weather forecasts information from The Weather Channel for 67 US cities and 190 world cities, World Clock, Day/Night?Create map, Up-to-date currency exchange rates, Currency and metric conversions, International dialing codes, Clothing measurements and more, it's the perfect companion wherever you are.
ClearVue?Create Office Suite - True mobility requires access to important information - especially saved files, email attachments and Internet downloads. ClearVue?Create provides the ability to open and view native Microsoft Office files directly on your Pocket PC. For more information, select the Details button above.
Out of all of these I chose to install: Rescoe Explorer 2003, ClueVue?Create Office Suite, Mobimate's WorldMate?Create, and ListPro?Create
Some of the programs failed to install. I never saw the active sync install before it got to trying to install these extra programs. So now I cancel out of trying to install these disks, leave the flow of the wizard, go to the main menu, and find software, which list the Activesync, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Windows Media Player, and MS Outlook 2002.
After installing, I plug in the cradle, then drop the pocket PC in the cradle.
My device is recognized as a PocketPC?Create Smart Phone, and HP USB.
Next step is to setup a partnership. You can choose between:
Standard partnership which synchronizes e-mail and calendar items between the computer and the device, keeping both up-to-date
Guest partnership which only copies info between device and the computer, add and remove programs, or restore backup image on a device whose memory has been reset. Use this if you do not want to synchronize data.
I choose the Standard Partnership and click next.
I then get a choice whether to synchronize with my desktop computer, or with a Microsoft Exchange Server. I choose desktop.
I am now offered a list of items to select and synchronize including: (Mobile Device, vs. Desktop Computer)
Inbox - Microsoft Outlook - I deselect this, I get too much spam
Notes - Microsoft Outlook - I select this, I use the Outlook notes a lot.
Pocket Access - Microsoft Databases
Tasks - Microsoft Outlook
Some things such as tasks offer additional settings
Tasks - Synchronize all tasks / Synchronize only incomplete tasks / Synchronize only the X past weeks of active tasks and X future weeks of active tasks / Synchronize only those tasks in certain categories
Inbox - Mail synchronization - You can synchronize the e-mail messages in Mail on your mobile device with either Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Exchange on tis computer.
A tree control is offered to help select from folders, junk email, etc.
I select my personal and business folders, and ask for 500 lines of the messages, and the last ten days of messages, with no file attachments.
File Synchronization offers \My Documents\Pocket_PC My Documents folder to be synchronized with the device. It's possible to add specific files too. I select my master list of domain names and add it to the list to synchronize.
Favorites synchronization - offers to synchronize favorite links and associated offline content from your desktop to your mobile device. You can customize by choosing whether or not to synchronize offline content pages, and images and sound.
Contact Synchronization - offers to synchronize all contacts, or only certain listed contacts, or only those in sleected categories.
Calendar Synchronization - Synchronize all appointments, synchronize only X past weeks and X future weeks, or synchronize only those appointments in the listed categories.
23:29 I started the synchronization.... 13 calendar items, 430 contacts, 10 tasks, 1 favorites, 83 notes not synchronized, 28 files not synchronized.
It needed about 1 minute to finished synchronizing.
It's not possible to create nested folders within My Documents on the device. "Only one level of folders are allowed in the "My Documents" folder.
I copied over several more cat pictures
Only the notes in my main notes folder synchronized. All the sub folders of notes I've created did not synchronize.
I finally got my bluetooth keyboard enabled, and I am actually entering this line into the wiki from the palmtop using the blue tooth keyboard.
I have set the screen to be in landscape mode (sideways). One of the problems with editing this from the palmtop in this mode is that as soon as I click within the edit box, the onscreen keyboard pops up and takes up two thirds of the screen. This sometimes screws up the careful scrolling I've done of the browser window. It is frustrating, even more so this way because of the height of the oinscreen keyboard than it is when the PDA is used in the normal portrait display mode.
Expansion battery looks like it will give 24 hours of power. It is, however, much bigger than the stock battery. Unfortunately, when recharging a battery in the external charger, the plastic backing can not be left on the battery. It ends up being an extra piece floating around while the battery is in the charger.
Default screen saver is a calendar for this month, with photos in the background.
The PDA comes preloaded with a nice assortment of photos. The "\My Documents\My Pictures" files are used by the screen saver program called DockWare?Create(r) by Ilium Software, version 2.0.2
Photo sequence for screen saver:
First it starts with a blank black background
Then it shows your "My Pictures"
then it shows: two kids laying on a lawn with crowns and some kind of yellow inflatable things
A spiral stair case
A black boy and a black girl who is holding a blue life preserver around the boys head
A black puppy playing tug of war with a sock toy
An asian looking little girl
A black girl with a black bandolier, her cell phone clipped to the bandolier, and a t-shirt with wings and the word "host"
a cute Martha Stewart like young girl and her boyfriend who is wearing a blue bandana with a white star
a man and a woman in a two person yello kayak with mountains in the background and very blue water and rocks (maybe Lake Tahoe)
Fun game with your PDA: on one showing of the slide show of pictures, see how many details you can write down about each.....
Any touch of the screen causes the slide show to go away. However the up and down positions on the touch pad will let you go forwards or backwards through the pictures in the slideshow.
As soon as you place your own photos in "My Pictures" directory, they are then used in the screen saver picture rotation.
To configure DockWare?Create, just press and hold the stylus on the screen while Dockware is displaying. You get some options to switch between a display of the month, with time, a display of just todays date, and a display of the time and todays date spelled out on the bottom half the screen.
No replacement screen covers on HP's ordering website!
Pocket Informant - Bugs?
It's heirarchy info for tasks does not get backedup by the iPaq backup.
If you create a URL in a note, and the url becomes underlined, it's not possible to edit within the URL anymore to fix typos. Deleting will delete the whole URL, not just the last characters of the url.