HP iPAQ 200, the long needed successor to hx4700

The long awaited successor to hx4700 is on the horizon.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/06/hp-unleashes-ipaq-series-100-and-200-pdas/

Judging its technical specs, it looks as a marginal improvement over it, not a revolutionary one. But it has a potential of making this the most powerful PDA ever. (And the last ever?)

1. OS upgraded from WM5 to WM6. However, custom WM6 ROMs are already circulating at xda-developers (orginally made by kozhura @ 4pda.ru forums).
2. Display is the same.
3. SD slot will support SDHC.
4. Physical d-pad is back. A definite improvement.
5. Bluetooth is 2.0+EDR (3 times faster and, presumably, more energy efficient. The previous implementation of Bluetooth in hx4700 was all but efficient. Energy consumption tested by Menneisyys was a disaster, gobbling mAh even at idle rpms.
6. WiFi g in addition to b. This means that watching VGA (DVD quality) movies from remote server over WIFI will be a smooth experience.
7. More efficient VGA acceleration whatever this means.
8. Increased RAM 128Mb (or not really increased? there is mixed information in HP PR materials, with 128 seeming a prevailing number). It would be a shame to not have 128MB in this PDA, as long and painful experience with hx4700 proved that 64MB is not enough for keeping several important applications (like navigation, browser, office programs, etc.) open at the same time and thus, quickly available at any second.

However, it is too early to state that the device will be more useful than its predecessor, before we get results of READ-WRITE benchmarks of production units. Hx4700 had a notoriously slow SD,CF slots and built in Flash read/write times, that were crippling its performance to a halt at times under WM5.

I would love to get my hands on this device for a more in-depth review.