I am in a bit of a quandry. Waaaay back in March of this year I learned about the upcoming HP hw6500 series Windows Mobile PDA / GSM phone combo. With the builtin GPS its a really killer combo. But for some reasons unknown, HP has not released the unit back in March, or April, back when I was originally expecting it. They finally did release it in Europe and elsewhere, but it’s still not available in the US six months later.
Now the critics are panning the unit since it doesn’t have Windows Mobile 2005 but instead the older 2003 SE version. HP has since confirmed (*whew* I can finally admit that I knew this weeks ago but couldn’t say anything) that there will be no upgrade path for this unit. :s
So. I’ve heard it will be out soon (really), but I don’t know if I still want it! The GPS is the only compelling reason to get it IMHO. Everything else that you can do with it, you can do with the upcoming Palm Treo 700w. Plus as we all know, Palm has made several very successful converged PDA/phone units now. Frankly, their track record is better. (Can you say HP 6300?)
So where does this leave me? The new Treo is supposed to be out “early 2006″. The hw6500 will be out in the US “soon”. (before xmas, ok?)
I think now it comes down to price. We don’t know what Cingular will be charging yet with a service discount. My current mobile contract ends 12/6, so I’ll be ready.
All of the phones mentioned are really great but none of them have the features that are included in the PPC 6700. This unit has the new Windows Mobile 5.0, has an SD Card which these days can be up to 2 MB, has a USB connection plus an expanded QWERTY keyboard besides having a great camera that does bursts and 15FPS movies, has bluetooth, Wi-Fi, EV-DO and is also able to hook up at broadband speed via the cellular network. I can’t wait to have my very own. Hehehehehe
You are correct in that its stats are formidable, but I don’t like it. There are others with the next gen features that I’ve ignored and all of them are too large! Same with the i-mate Jas Jar. To each his own. I warn you though…play with a PPC before you buy it. You may not like the keypad. It feels flimsy and not at all like the tactile feedback that you get on some of the treo clones.