This is a neat compact unit which looks pretty cool in it's silver casing. Under this nice looking outer are the workings of this little unit, with an Xscale PXA 250 processor this little handheld is probably not the fastest, but it is better than average heading towards the top. It's easy to seeTFT screen is 3.5 inches and consists of an active matrix, making the graphics crisp and clear. The device operates through Windows CE 3.0.
On powering up the first thing you will notice is that it looks just like a mini PC which indeed it is, the familiar Windows screen is there with the also familiar Start bar. There are also several sub menu's which can be personalised to suit the user, that is some can be removed and others added. The date menu is not removable since it is obviously deemed by Microsoft as a necessity.
The operation of the unit is very similar to that of your home PC, being that it is a menu driven system, programs can be downloaded via the units USB cable
which are called today screens. They are themed and provide a slightly better user interface than the one provided by Mr Gates. Using this cable attached to a PC connected to the internet you can also download many other games and utilities to enhance your little handheld. This is achieved using another Microsoft program called active sync which simply synchronises your device with your PC. It creates a user defined folder on your PC where it stores all your handheld info and files should you wish to do so. So since the portable has
Microsoft Excel and Word in the pocket versions you can create your spreadsheets and word documents which are saved in a special
pocket Pc format.
Active Sync translates these files if you wish to modify or simply have a copy of them on you
desktop PC so both units are always containing the same data.
Outlook is also supplied with the unit so all your
address book info is automatically synchronised to the way you prefer. You can have it update the info to correspond to either the handheld or the desktop PC. A task manager is also supplied where you can manage all those important details. There is a colander where you can keep track of your appointments and place alarms on those that require a reminder. The notes program is quite novel in that here you can use the supplied stylus to write in your own handwriting any little notes you wish. The stylus is used to do most things on the unit but there are buttons provided for the Calendar, Task manager, Internet
home page, and email. An
internet connection is required for some of these processes but is not supplied with the iPAQ. Two cables come with the unit one for charging it from a normal socket and the other to
connect it to a PC through the USB connection. The battery life is quite substantial since I'm using this quite a lot during the day, I find I might have to charge it every other day.
Battery life can be extended by reducing the brightness of the screen, here there are 4 levels Power Saving, Normal, Bright, and Super Bright the latter just drains your battery in no time and unless you are in total darkness and using it as a torch need never really be used.
I usually have mine set on normal and reduce to Power Saving when the system indicates the battery is getting low. Using the sound recorder also seems to use more power than most other functions but since this is only going to be used now and then it is not much of a problem.
Using Windows Mobile version of Media player you can view videos and play music on you handheld but this media must be transferred using the Active Sync option which as I mentioned before translates to the required format. Having a SD card slot means that you can get a lot of info stored and of course you fav music tracks too. The Main memory of the unit is 64Mb but rather a large portion of this is used for system resources and running programs, so a decent SD is the best option. Should you have problems locating your music then you can use the File Explorer
which simply lets you browse you unit and the SD card to enable you to find that elusive file. There is a 2.5mm socket on the top of the iPAQ so that you can
plug in your earphones and listen to music or any recorded messages you may have created. The unit is very light and you hardly notice it in your pocket, being just a little heaver than a
small mobile phone. There are numerous
web sites where you can purchase really good games for this unit, and lots more sites where you can get equally as good
free games and programs for it. With it being a proper PC there are many programmers out there writing new and knacky utilities for your pleasure. Although this particular model is now hard to get, in fact your best shout here is Ebay, it does not mean it is obsolete by any means, but it is a fine example of how things should be done. If you do decide you want one £60 on EBay should do the trick and for that you'll get a bundle of extras. I find it an extremely handy device, and shall most definitely upgrade to one of the later models when this little baby has served its time, which I think might still be a fair while yet. I have checked the newer models out and the only real difference is going to be a faster processor, a newer
operating system which I have found from experience does not always mean better performance, and it is also going to cost me something like £250 to upgrade, so for that reason alone I'll stick with this little baby for a while yet.
Knacky and Cool 
Super