Windows Phone Thoughts: HP iPAQ 2215 - The New Shining Star in the Pocket PC Galaxy?

Device Memory
The iPAQ 2215 has 64 MB of RAM and 32 MB of ROM. 57.11 MB of RAM are available to the user and HP puts this on the outside of the box to eliminate buyer confusion (they actually under-estimate a little, stating there are 56 MB of user RAM). The Flash ROM only has a meagre 3.83 MB for user storage, although that's enough for several applications to live in. The Pocket PC 2003 OS image has grown a little and HP went for a 32 MB ROM chip rather than the larger 48 MB ROM that some other Pocket PCs have.

Device Performance
The iPAQ 2215 represents an evolution of Pocket PC performance that brings together two important elements: the first Pocket PC operating system based on Windows CE .NET 4.2, and an Intel XScale PXA255 with a 200 mhz bus. When you power on the device and begin to use it, it's impressively fast – screen redraws are snappy (almost as fast as the Palm Zire 71). Here's where the rubber meets the road, so to speak, and where I'll unleash a partial set of tests I did with the incredibly comprehensive Spb Benchmark (ok, ok, I helped design the program, so of course I love it!). That's right, I could have taken even more benchmark screen shots. 8O Most of these are self-explanatory, but higher results (bigger bars) always mean more speed, which is better.