It was with mixed feelings that I received news of the untimely passing of the iPAQ hx4700, according to the HP website article that was posted.I had posted some gaming information about the iPaq hx4700 on my site not too long ago.
As a PDA gamer geek, I admired its ample 4.0" real estate, VGA colour depth capability and awesome 624-Mhz processor speed, but in a lot of ways I don't miss it at all.
It boasted a tiny touchpad, which was widely maligned in Pocket PC forums for not really being conducive to arcade gaming.
It comes in handy for role-playing games like Myst where you tap the screen to advance, but frenetic Pac-Man style PDA gaming is better suited for a device with a D-pad.
Add the widely maligned "el cheapo" plastic form factor and slightly bigger size, and you're stuck with a gaming device that won't just fit in just any old case, much less your pocket.
I'll take my iPAQ 4150 over it any day. If I can overclock it to 530-Mhz from 400-Mhz without nary a hiccup (see my XCPUScalar writeup on benchmarks in the Pocket PC emulator guide section) that my XScale baby suits me just fine for the moment.
Throw in built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and we have a PDA gaming champion. I'm yet to encounter the Pocket PC game download that makes it stumble.
Hence, I have my reasons for doubting that the Pocket PC game community had ever fully embraced this device, but I can't wait to see what gaming goodness awaits on the technological horizon.
