Dear Gear Diary…
Posted on 29 October 2006, at 7:07 pm, by Judie Lipsett
Q. Hi Judie,
I have a question. Have you seen a CF or SD card anywhere that has both WiFi and Bluetooth?
John
A. Hi John,
Unfortunately I haven’t yet seen any CF or SD cards that combine the two wireless technologies, which seems pretty surprising. The closest thing I could find was a USB WiFi & BT dongle. 
Q. Dear Judie,
I would like to start by telling you that I love you work. My latest device will be the 838Pro thanks to your review, and I wanted to know when the new Ipaq rx5915 will be reviewed since I really want to buy it but before I do I want to hear what you think about it.
Thank you,
Evan
A. Hi Evan,
I think that the HP iPAQ rx 5915 is a very interesting device, but I haven’t yet decided if I will be buying one.
I like that it has a 3.5″ screen, built in navigation, BT & WiFi, 2GB ROM, and…feh, never mind. I just ordered one. It should be here in 5 - 7 days. Ha!
I’ll let you know what I think once it arrives. 
Q. Hi Judie,
I love the new site and I like the “Dear Gear Diary” feature. I hope you will consider my question.
I wanted to ask you what you feel is the VERY best PDA screen protector.
Thanks for your time,
Jeffrey
A. Hi Jeffrey,
I actually have two favorites, and both are very similar. If you don’t mind spending a little bit more money, I would suggest that you go for the Pocket PC Tech’s WriteSHIELD kit, which is available for $36.99 in either AG (anti-glare, or slightly matte) or Crystal (totally clear). Each kit comes with two protectors, two Klear Screen Wet single packs, one 3.25″ horsehair brush, three applicator / removal picks, two optical quality MicroFiber cloths, and one 2oz. bottle of Klear Screen cleaner.
Once the protector is installed, it will last for anywhere from six months to a year depending upon how vicious you get with your stylus. The blue MicroFiber cloth and the Klear Screen cleaner come in very handy; I obsessively wipe my screens down with the combo at least once every couple of days. 
If you don’t want all of the extra doo-dads, then you can’t go wrong ordering from BoxWave. They also offer a Crystal and Anti-glare version protector. Prices vary depending upon the protector ordered, for example the HTC Universal version is $12.95 for one and $27.95 for three. Included in each pack is a small cleaning cloth and a squeegee to help with bubble-free installation. These protectors will also last anywhere from six months to a year.
Thanks for the questions guys! If you have a question for Dear Gear Diary, send it to: geardiary@gmail.com! 
October 30th, 2006 at 1:41 am
I have previously bought EXIM branded screen protectors off eBay, and they can’t be beat. Excellent application/removal and perfect clarity. A lot cheaper than Boxwave and PPC Techs too.
I will be looking forward to that rx5915 review as well. My dad and I have tried two GPS systems recently (a TomTom 710 which was excellent but missing a few warning features, and a RoadAngel 6000 which had the warnings but was utter junk) and have returned them both. The rx5915 (if it hurries!) looks to be an excellent unit.
October 30th, 2006 at 5:49 pm
3.5″ QVGA screen, but only 240×320 resolution and 64MB RAM. Somewhat disappointing, at least for me.
I continue to wait for someone to surpass the Doug benchmark for PDAs similar to this: Ye Olde Tapwave Zodiac, with a 4″ 320×480 screen, 128MB of memory, built-in Bluetooth, and two SD slots. Same weight as this new HP device. Not to mention shoulder buttons for convenient eBook reading.
I mean, geez, how much longer do I have to wait for someone, anyone, to even match those specs, let alone pass them? It’s beginning to be pretty depressing, honestly.
Doug
October 30th, 2006 at 5:52 pm
Yah, I know.
I am totally spoiled by VGA, too.
We’ll see if I wind up keeping it (for the Navigation, if nothing else), or if it goes back within the return period…
November 1st, 2006 at 7:29 am
I just saw this release about a sd card combinded with a wifi.
http://www.eye.fi/beta.html
It’s in beta, but it’s being released.
This should be a nice way to move data.
November 2nd, 2006 at 4:27 pm
One of the reason I think you don’t see these types of devices (WiFi + BT on a single card) is because of addressability–in other words, you would need two different drivers to address each part of the chip on the same bus.
There ARE tiny WiFi+BT chips out there that share the same antenna. They’re usually accessed via two different interfaces, like a SDIO bus and a UART. But IIRC the SDIO bus is a one-bus, one-device system. I think CF is as well, though I’m not sure.
What that USB device perhaps does is have an internal USB hub which connects a WiFi RNDIS module and a Bluetooth RNDIS module, all enclosed in a single device. When you stick it in your PC or laptop, Windows enumerates two different devices as seen by the USB hub.
Anyway, this is probably way more detail than anyone cared to know, but it explains the above question.
–
Judie, it’s great to find your other site. I was beginning to think the web had lost you, which would’ve been sad. Best of luck with Gear Diary!
November 2nd, 2006 at 4:48 pm
Thank you, I am really happy to see you here.
And thanks for the very detailed BT/WiFi explanation - I had no idea it was quite so complicated, but that makes perfect sense.