Taking A Closer Look At The HP iPAQ’s 910 Hardware
One of the things that people usually say when I show them the HP iPAQ 910 Business Manager Pocket PC is “Is that a BlackBerry?” If I got a penny for every time someone said that (and a nickel if they asked if that was the new BlackBerry Bold), it have paid for a nice, long vacation in the Bahamas right about now. Since that is not the case, I’m here to tell you more about the hardware of the HP’s latest Pocket PC. So join me as we explore some of the great design and it’s flaws in this part of the review.
All images open up to a higher resolution photo
One of the thing that strikes me about the HP iPAQ 910 Business Manager Pocket PC is that it looks so professional. I am not sure if HP wanted a design that was similar to the BlackBerry though I think it looks a whole lot nicer than any BlackBerry I have seen out there. Everything about it just oozes style and elegance as you’ll see in the close-ups.
Top
Let’s start from the top shall we? From right to left we’ve got the power button, soft reset button and a flap covering the connector for an external antenna (which many of us never use to begin with). They’re all flushed with the surface which seems to be common nowadays. One thing I had wished for was that the power button would have been larger. It would have made it a lot easier to press with a wider surface.
Right Side
Or you might call it the left side but anyway, this side houses the pressable scroll wheel and OK button and the auto focus camera button. All flushed again, save for the scroll wheel. The scroll wheel and OK button are nicely positioned, especially for users who use the device for reading text such as emails and web sites. You could scroll through the message (or web page), hit the OK button to close the message, scroll to the next message and press the scroll wheel to open it. Very nice HP!
As for the camera button, I had wished for it to not be flushed because of it’s auto focus feature. To take a photo, you need to press halfway to get the picture into focus and then press fully to take it. So you can imagine when the button is already flushed and you have to press halfway and then fully, that it takes quite a bit of getting used to take clear photos. You want to see the photos you say? Well that’s going to be in another part of the review so you’ll have to check back soon.
Bottom
As smooth as a baby’s bottom. Some may like it, me, not really. I would have preferred for the USB port to be here but that’s just my personal opinion. So where is the USB port then? It’s actually over on the…
Left Side
This is the busiest section of the iPAQ 910. It’s got (from left to right) the volume buttons (both up and down), the voice recorder button and flaps covering both the microSD and USB ports.
Like all the buttons on the perimeter of the device (save for the power button), they are easy to press and very responsive as well. However, I was a bit wary of the flaps covering the ports.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the idea that flaps were used to prevent dust from gathering. However, the way that HP had designed the flaps is rather questionable. For one, they’re anchored in the center as you see in the screen shot above. That means when you open say the flap covering the USB charging port to charge your device, it bends the flap at a 90 degree angle. After an overnight of charge, you can only imagine that the flap would retain some of the ‘bendness’ when you attempt to close it. I’ve only had the device for a couple of weeks but I can’t help but wonder if they flap will bend out of shape or, worse, break off, with continued pressure like that.
Back
Very plain and simple, yet elegant in some ways too. HP has decided to use a rubber back which I think is a good move for a long lasting look. Ignore that white sticker you see on the back. I got a demo unit which is why it’s there. The one you purchase will be sans it.
The top of the back houses the speaker grill as well as the camera necessities like lens, LED flash and self-portrait mirror. Again, you’ll have to wait for another part to see the quality of photos the iPAQ 910 takes.
I had initially thought that HP made a grave mistake by not including rubber feet at the corners of the iPAQ 910 to prop it up when it’s resting on its back to prevent scratches but a closer proves otherwise. The lens is recessed. Same goes for the LED flash and self portrait, though not as much. This erases any doubts I had about accidentally scratching the lens. Another great design thought HP!
Front
So this is where most of the magic happens. There’s so much to cover here, I am going to cover them in sections for easier digestion.
Speaker
Unless you looked closely, you might actually miss it. It’s that small slit right at the top of the device. Don’t let it’s size fool you though. It is loud. Really loud. Where on other Pocket PCs I’ve had to turn up the volume to hear the caller in a noisy environment, I had to turn it down in similar situations just to prevent myself from going deaf.
LEDs
To the let of the HP logo, you get the LEDs which glow depending on what functions are turned on or notifications you have. For example, green represents phone connection, blue is for WiFi and GPS while red signifies charging. Oh and throw in orange as well when there’s a notification. There are actually 2 LEDs here placed side by side and you would not realize it unless you had 2 events happening.
Screen
What can I say but WOW! The screen is really bright. I had it on at half brightness and it still light up a dark room. So much so that I have kept it at half to prevent it from blinding myself. Sure it’s rather small at 2.46″ but you don’t really notice it unless you compare it side by side with a 2.8″ device. That’s because the screen is really sharp and words come out crisp on it. I had no problems viewing web pages or reading my documents and emails.
The main downside I had with the screen was that of durability. Now most of you should be using a screen protector with your Pocket PC and if you do not, this next experience should highly encourage you to.
On a very windy day in Philadelphia, I noticed that there was a dent on the screen. Nothing major and you might not even realize it if I did not tell you about it. I guess a small pebble or debris had hit it while I was out using the device in such weather. Would a screen protector have prevented this? I would assume though because with my 2 years of using my Glofiish X500 with one, I have not had as much as a scratch on it.
Buttons, DPAD & Keyboard
For the last section, we have the parts that you will be using the most often. The DPAD is the usual 4 directions with a center button for selection. I thought it was a rather elegant the way they designed the DPAD that way, black surrounding the silver selection button.
On it’s side you get the usual softkey buttons which, while not directly under the softkeys on the screen, is close enough that you don’t really care. Beside that you have the green call button on the left and red end key on the right.
Over at the second row, you get a button opening up your Calendar (which you can reprogram), a Start button, an OK button (which makes 2 when you count the other on the right) and another button that you can also reprogram that opens up Mail. Like all the other buttons discussed, they’re really nice to the press and are of the right size (for me at least).
Below that you have one of the reasons that attracted me to this device in the first place: the 37 key front facing, exposed QWERTY keyboard. Before you complain that the keys are small take a closer look. See how they’re raised like an arc? That 
design alone makes it a lot easier to press. Coming from a SIP entry method, I cannot tell you how much more I enjoyed typing with this keyboard. Mistakes? Sure, there were some initially but as I used the device more and more, they dropped like flies. No, I can proudly say that I can type really fast with the keyboard. Long email? Bring it on.
The only thing that I felt HP could have improved on the keyboard was to have a shortcut to quickly access the Connection Manager. There was sadly none on the this one which means if I wanted to open Connection Manager, I would have to pull out the stylus or go into Settings. Not really convenient don’t you think?
Stylus
We’ve got a telescopic stylus but I guess that is getting pretty common for a device of such size. It feels rather light in the hand though and I would have preferred a slightly heavier version. Then again, with all the keys on the HP iPAQ 910, I have to admit that I have not been touching the screen a whole lot, much less taking out the stylus. It’s not a deal breaker if you ask me because you’ll soon realize that the stylus is more of an accessory that you will be using less and less with the iPAQ 910.
Battery
The other reason that attracted me to the Business Manager is the battery. At 1940mAh, it’s the largest I have seen in a Windows Mobile any portable device in a long time. When you couple that with the slightly smaller screen, you can pretty much guess the mileage the iPAQ 910 will get you. Where my Glofiish X500 lasted me about 1.5 days with moderate usage, I am getting almost 3 days with the iPAQ 910. You can definitely go longer with the humongous battery, more so if you turn off unneeded radios (like 3G and WiFi) when not in use.
Conclusion
So what did you think of the HP iPAQ 910 Business Manager? I personally thought that the design team did a pretty good job on it. It’s one of the better looking phones out there, be it a Pocket PC, BlackBerry or dare I say it, iPhone. Then again, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
While there were some questionable decisions made (such as the flaps covering the microSD and USB ports), all in all, it is one nice device when placed in my hand. Neither too big or too wide, it felt really comfortable and of a good weight. Depending on how you are holding the device, be it to just scroll through and read messages or typing out messages, you will find the iPAQ 910 to be a great companion as you navigate thought your busy daily life.
Be sure to check back soon as I cover the insides (software) of the HP iPAQ 910 Business Manager as well as the all important user experience and tests on it. Subscribe to our RSS feed so you don’t miss a thing.
Manufacturer: HP
Model: iPAQ 910 Business Manager
MSRP: $499
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Excellent article on the iPaq 910, but some items have not being brought to light. The antenna type was not explained in the article; it is for the GPS. One thing that HP has terribly dropped the ball on is that the device does not have an external port for the phone antenna. This bothers me because I have finally enabled the iPaq to play streaming flash video, which requires a good antenna reception. Usually I use it at work during lunch with a USB cable tied to a computer to power it while I stream television shows on the net. In some areas because of the lackluster phone reception, it would really be desired to have an external antenna port to enable the device to stream flash videos well. But, NO EXTERNAL PHONE ANTENNA PORT! Another is the choice of screen. Yesss, it’s bright. In a room. Take it out on the sun and you can’t see the screen at all! The grilled speaker on the back, it’s another HP fumble. Why, because you have to raise the crappy low volume to its maximum, if it had been placed in front, it would have made watching videos much better.
And no additional port for an earpiece. I power the phone with a USB cable while I stream videos and if I want to listen to them quietly with an earpiece it’s a bust. Either the power chord or the earpiece. Not both. Shameful design flaw. Last, it would still play the flash videos better if the chip put into it was faster still than what it carries now. Then it would have been both a business powerhouse and a movie house emporium in one. Shameful HP….utterly shameful and disappointing.