Brighthand has a nice round up of all the new VGA PPCs (Historically PPCs have had 1/4 VGA screens) out today. Most noticeably absent? A replacement for the 41xx series ipaq. I mean it’s easy to argue that the 19xx series ipaq shouldn’t go VGA… its a direct attack against the palm OS: smaller, less power, less money. The 41xx series is a different story. While the old form factor of the orginal ipaq was dying and HP had yet to release it’s new power-house machines, the 41xx was born. It was sized between the old ipaqs and the super small 19xx, but it had more power than any ipaq out. With built-in WiFi and Bluetooth, most people could get by on the single SD slot (which helped it stay smaller than the competition). The strange thing is that HP priced this little gem between the old ipaqs and the super cheap (in PPC terms) 19xx.

That’s right: smaller, faster, and cheaper the old form factor ipaqs (that were released within weeks of the 41xx) HP sold a bunch of these PDAs. Old the stupid or those caught in corporate legacy situations continued to buy the old form factor. Fast forward to today. HP has released it’s new line. VGA screens. Dual slots. Fast processors. But big. Remember this is a PDA, where is the little guy? Perhaps because the 19xx and 41xx continue to sell so well, HP is delaying the release of the replacements. Hopefully they have not decided to scrap 2 of their best sellers ever.

The ideal replacement for the 41xx would be as follows… consider this a request and a prediction:

42xx Series iPaq

Yeah don’t you hate it when today’s batteries get hot from extened use? I mean driving around talking w/ my hands free kit, I sometimes feel like i should be holding my cel phone in front of the A/C vent. And it’s not just cel phones, my Dell laptop (Hey Dell it’s a LAP-top, not a “passive cooling system”-top) is constantly trying to start my left pant leg on fire. It’s easy to tell where the CPU in this thing is: it’s the part glowing white hot… and speaking of pants and fire: a woman’s cel phone battery exploded in her back pocket and caught her pants on fire.

• Exploding Phone

I like the part where they say “The girl was in a kitchen and near a pot of water, so the flames were quickly extinguished” — like water is not easily accessible in a kitchen if it not poised at the ready in a pot.