This post was published 4 years 10 months 10 days ago.
It\'s is possible that the information within this article is now out of date or updated.

iPAQ rz1715 Mobile Media Companion
Author : Chris Leckness
Vendor : HP
Price : $279

It’s a Pocket PC, that’s it
I am not 100% sure, but I believe this machine is to be marketed towards new customers as an entry level Pocket PC. This unit is referred to by HP as the HP iPAQ rz1715 Mobile Media Companion. The rz1715 is the lowest price iPAQ to be sold by HP, but this lower cost brings some shortcuts. Last year’s iPAQ h1945 was offered for $20 more, but was smaller, felt to be of better quality, had more memory, and at least had Bluetooth. In this review, I will cover the design, features, performance, and value of this machine.

"Get the entertainment essentials you need at a superb value with the sleek HP iPAQ rz1715 mobile media companion. You’ll soon be viewing and passing along photos and music from your patio chair, listening to your favorite songs in transit to appointments or on vacation, and staying on top of your schedule, "to-do" list, and contact info with the handy personal information manager (PIM)." – Hewlett Packard

What do you get?
In the box

• HP iPAQ rz1715 unit
• AC adapter
• USB sync cable
• Stylus
• “How do I” Guide
• HP iPAQ Pocket PC Companion CD
• Documentation kit

The unit came with a nice protective film over the display for protection. Since I already had ActiveSync loaded up, I did not even install anything off the CD initially.

Click image to see more comparison pics

Specifications

The Design
As you can see, HP went out on a limb on this new design. The sexy, curvy look of the old iPAQs are gone now. This is such a disappointment for me. (and others that have commented to pre-release pictures). The unit is made of a light weight, cheap feeling plastic, but it feels pretty solid in the hand. It is larger than the model we assume it is replacing. (see pictures below) Other than the location of the power button, all the controls seem easy to use and are logically placed.

The DPAD is small, but surprisingly responsive and easy to use. To charge the the unit, you have to use the sync cable (Pictured below) or buy a universal cradle. The DPAD is cheap feeling. The display is surprisingly bright, but the sensitivity of the screen is off. This may be an issue of needing to be broken in. My x3i was the same way for a week or so and now it is as responsive as it can be. The battery is a problem in my book, it is an internal battery that is not replaceable. This, in my opinion, makes this a disposable Pocket PC. With its poor battery life, it is not suited up well for a business trip. I like to carry spare batteries everywhere I go.

Features
This device has very few features to mention. It has very little internal memory, making the SDIO SD Slot a must. In order to put anything on this thing, you will need a good size SD storage card. The rz1715 is advertised as a Mobile Media Companion. A machine that allows you to view and share your memories with friends and family, a machine that lets you take your digital music mobile and listen to your favorite tunes wherever you go. So basically it is being advertised as an expandable MP3 player with PIM features and other luxuries Pocket PC owners have come to expect. Make sure you order a 512mb SD card with it.

Figure 1 (left) :: Figure 2 (right)

Figure 3

When you first fire the rz1715 up it comes to a new Today Screen Plug that allows you to have music, photos, contacts, and schedule hot links.(Figure 1). I am glad to report that the Today Setup (Figure 2) allows you to turn it off and return your Pocket PC back to a normal Today Screen. (Figure 3)

Among the normal suspects, the rz1715 has some new applications from HP included.

The Task Switcher

Profile Manager

HP Image Zone, which is the same as the previous models.

There is also a demo that tells you what you can do.

As you can see, the unit does in fact have Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, a Samsung processor, and very little memory.Note the memory. I have only installed SPB Benchmark, Soti Controller, and Pocket Nester.

This is what all the Windows Mobile 2003 SE rave is all about. Screen Rotation without the soft reset. You just select and hit ok. It’s that simple.

Performance
This is what everyone really wants to see, right? I have used Spb Benchmark for my performance tests. The following test were performed with the units set to max performance.

These results are poor considering what you can get for less today. I am not sure it can handle much multimedia. I threw some MP3s on an SD cards and it played them nicely with no lagging. Unfortunately, a 5 minute music video was choppy and the audio quit a couple times. I tried a soft reset, which took a good 30 seconds to complete, same results. I then tried out Pocket Nester and it ran fine, good audio and 60 FPS.

I also ran GXMark, a graphics benchmark utility. These are the results and they tell me the graphics performance is not much better than an iPAQ 3600 series.

iPAQ rz1715 (left) and Axim X30 624 (right)

Battery Life?
What battery life? It is internal and only lasts a shade over 3 hours. Not too good considering there are no communications draining the battery down.

Battery test "Max backlight, standard using" – Battery life time: 3 hours 11 min

Overall Value
Even for the iPAQ faithful, there is no value here. You can get the h1945 for the same price now and get a much better machine. You will have to sacrifice the prospect of getting WM 2003 SE, but you gain a removable battery, a smaller form factor, more memory, and a much better looking Pocket PC. On the other hand, if you are not married to HP, you can get the Dell Axim X30 for $80 cheaper. In the X30 you get more memory, better processor, and WM 2003 SE. It appears that HP is trying to get down into Dell prices, but they sacrificed too much quality and function to make it worthwhile.

Conclusion
Overall, this is just a step in the wrong direction for HP. We have come to expect a level of quality from HP with their iPAQ line and this was not like them. It seems they abandoned what they were doing right and redesigned the whole line into a different mold. I hope to be impressed with the 4700 series Pocket PC because this one is strike one for HP. In the defense of this helpless unit, it feels real solid despite all its short comings. I do feel like I have a good machine in my hand.

Pros:

• Light weight
• Bright Screen
• Comes with WM2003 SE

Cons:

• Price
• Very low available memory
• Performance
• Lack of a CF Slot
• Lower than average battery life
• Non-Removable battery
• New Design

Tags: Mobilitysite Reviews, PocketPC

Chris Leckness (3566 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook

Chris Leckness is the Owner/Administrator of Mobilitysite. He is a Microsoft MVP, Mobile Devices and a member of the exclusive focus group, Mobius. Chris runs a Mobilitysite, GotZune, and a few other smaller sites and blogs. His personal blog is chris.leckness.com.

Related Posts

• HP iPAQ Daylight Savings Time Fix
• HP iPaq Community Website
• I4U Reviews the iPAQ 310 Series GPS
• HP iPAQ rx4000 Mobile Media Companion Announced
• HP iPAQ hw6940 now available on HP.com