Customer Reviews

HP iPAQ 910 Business Messenger

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Disclosure: I am an HP employee although I have nothing to do with HP Phones or hand-held devices. I bought this phone for my own use. This may have made me more persistent in seeking out things like the latest OS update but I think my review remains fair.

I saw some of the same problems as other reviewers but after updating the OS from HP's website I really like this phone. The latest version improves the phone call volume (although I'd prefer it to still go a little louder). I think they also improved battery life although I never really had a problem with that as long as you don't leave things like wifi on all the time.
I upgraded to this phone from a T-Mobile Dash and if you know the Dash then this is a vast improvement.

It helps if you are more of a techy as you can find all kinds of good apps on the web - the YouTube player works great. If you already know and like Windows Mobile then you will certainly appreciate how well it runs on this device. In my case I am more interested in having a powerful PDA (with things like GPS and WiFi built in) than a whiz-bang phone but I think it does both well. The fact that is is unlocked is also good - I've used it on T-Mobile and AT&T without any issues.

My answer to some of the negative reviews:
- Volume: Get the latest update for an improvement, and/or use a wired or bluetooth headset.
- Battery: Avoid running wifi and turn off bluetooth if not being used, also put phone into standbay mode (press button on top). I have not had standby mode affect the receipt of calls - it wakes up fine when a call comes in.
- Button press delays: I get this only when pressing numbers during a call, e.g. to join a conference bridge line - odd but not a big deal to me
- Keypad vs. Stylus: I've not found anything I am forced to use the stylus for - there are keyboard alternatives, the spin wheel etc. but I do bring out the stylus from time to time as I think it is quicker.
- Touching face setting off buttons: There are WinMob programs out there that will disable the touchscreen while on a call automatically to prevent accidental option selections when the phone is at your ear. For me I just press the button on the top of the phone after I answer a call - it puts the PDA and screen in standby but the phone keeps operating - if you need to use the touch screen during the call then you press the button again to wake it up - without interrupting the call.

I bought this phone a couple of months ago and I am very unhappy with the overall product attributes. Below is a list of things I detest about the IPAQ 910:
1. Speaker, earpeice and ringer volume is poor especially when using in slightly noisy enviroments
2. Action buttons do may not work on first press and phone takes too long to process requests
3. Some vital functions cannot be accessed by the keypad except by using the stylus
4. The notepad and word mobile software files get corrupted easily making file recovery sometimes impossible
5. While talking with the phone next to your face, a lot of functions are activated in error
6. Device takes too long to wake after the backlight shuts off (slow processor or device programming)
7. Camera function is the worst I've ever used. It takes a while for the picture to register after you have pressed the shutter. This creates a difference in the picture you actually wanted and that which the IPAQ 910 captures
8. When sending a text message to multiple users, phone does not let you pick all your recepients at once. You will need to keep selecting "add new recipient" every time

The list goes on and on. I wish I never bought this product. Software is bad and general engineering not very impressive.

This phone is probably the worst phone I've ever seen, and certainly the worst phone I've ever used. It is actually user-hostile. On several occasions I've needed to use it to listen to a long conference call, and after about 15 minutes, te phone gets too hot to hold comfortably against the face. On one occasion after an hour of use, the screen started flashing a message about overheating battery!

Battery life is miserable.

There is no way to lock the touchscreen so holding it against your face can accidentally activate the soft-buttons, one of which is "disconnect" (Which by the way is inexplicably tiny and directly above the "Hold" button. On the subject of the screen, WHY did they make all the butons so small that it's virtually impossible to press them without the stylus?

Battery life is miserable

the speaker is a mystery to me. when using the speakerphone function, the volume is so low as to make it unusable,and ringer volume is a joke. But when listening to music using the media player, it's very loud. WHY?

Battery life is miserable.

If you activate the security lock on the phone, 50% of the time you can't answer a call. You can try, and the phone thinks it has, but it doesn't actually connect the caller. People calling me have learned to just leave a quick message and wait for a call back.

Battery life is miserable.

Button responses are delayed so you're never quite sure if you've actually connected or disconnected a call. It can take upwards of a second to register. Maddening.

Battery life really sucks.

As a PDA, though, it's not bad, other than the miserable battery life. It's just that I thought I was buying a PHONE, not an email machine with a buggy afterthought of a voice device thrown in.

Not my favorite, I not planning to buy another HP product EVER... HP has bad support, their QC is not good, and almost every HP product I had failed. Sound quality is bad, you can fairly hear a conversation because the sound is too low... the speakers are also low, the voice commands worked very bad.

I have had my IPAC 910 for one year. Thank goodness I got the extended warranty; as mine started to freeze up and I could not make phone calls either. I have a new one but it has always been difficult to hear unless you use the ear buds. It is very inconvenient to use as a phone if you like using the stylus, and the reception is terrible(try to get any bars!). I still use it for my medical program software, but put the sim card back in my old phone. I would say it works well as a pda, but makes a very poor phone. I got the larger battery as an accessory, and it does help it run much longer. Using blue tooth for a head set sucks the power out of it without the bigger battery. Good luck!

I was so excited when buying this phone but now I'm most disappointed. I am an avid HP fan but they have let me down big time. The device is crap! And here twelve of the sins of HP with this device that I have found:
1. After a while the keys stop responding at the first press - so darn annoying and makes me want to throw $450 into a wall sometimes. Also, they are not soft
enough.
2. The device accesses applications sometimes independent of user input. e.g. I don't like to remain connected all the time to the internet through my mobile
provider, but sometimes when I about to use the phone and I press the action button to do, I see that I'm connected to the internet. And this seems to happen
when the signal strength in the device fluctuates.
3. The device heats up very quickly when talking.
4. It seems to have such a mind of its own that it picks up signals sometimes when it decides.
5. The audio output is abysmal:
a. The earpiece seems to automatically attenuate - sometimes I can't hear a thing and other times it's just suddenly deafening.
b. The speaker is definitely a manufacturer's anomaly - it is annoyingly weak - the worst I've heard.
6. It is so darn difficult and seemingly impossible to customise the sounds for various sound output applications.
7. Some applications are not user-controllable.
8. The screen is a disaster:
a. The options to customise are next to non-existent.
b. It is way too small when most of the face of the device is like wasted real estate.
9. The camera is a nightmare. It captures what it feels like capturing it seems.
10. Sometimes I am standing in a area of excellent signal strength and the signal icon/indicator is fluctuating.
11. I was hoping that I would be able to create PowerPoint slides, but alas, the device does not allow.
12. As for style, what's up with this terribly looking & black plastic on the face and sides of the device. Apply some chrome finish already.

And the list goes on. HP should replace my device.

I bought this product refurbished, good price, in general good device, but the speaker doesnt work....

The cell is fine, not what I was specting from the latest mobile from HP. Cons: GPS doesn't works very fine somethimes works sometimes not. The battery drains if u use it with 3G or Wifi, doesn't last long that a half day.

This is the worse phone I have ever used. Can't get the phone to ring and help desk doesn't help. Sent it back to HP for repair and was charged $240 and still doesn't work. Do not buy!