Windows Phone Thoughts: BargainPDA Slams The iPAQ rz1715

"In truth, there's nothing massively defective about the iPaq rz1715 itself, aside from a really bad name and some questionable design choices. It's very low end, but sometimes you need very low-end hardware. Priced at $150, the 1715 would make a decent entry-level PocketPC for bringing in the Zire customers--people who don't care to spend a lot, and only want the basics. But there's the crux of the matter. It isn't priced at $150. It's priced at $280, an upper-midrange price point for digging-under-the-barrel hardware. For a lot less than the 1715, you could buy an Axim X30 312 MHz combo that would be faster, have more memory, better build quality, removable battery, and dual wireless. And for the same or a little more than the 1715, you could get a high-end X30 that is much faster than the 1715 in addition to everything else. Trying to sell the rz1715 for $280 is the kind of craziness that usually requires illegal narcotics, and lots of them. It isn't worth it."

Oof. 8O Couple that with the only pro they list, "Makes a great way to identify stupid rich people", and the consensus certainly seems to be that HP has built a seriously overpriced Zire-equivalent Pocket PC. I'd love to see such a device like this near the $150 price range, but I'm afraid I have to largely agree with BargainPDA's conclusions based on the device as it stands now. If you ever want to read a smackdown, check this review out.