HP iPAQ Pocket PC H4150

If you want a PDA, then you have to check out this model. I won't list all the specs, you can find them anywhere if you want them. I'll just tell you what its like to use, and what you can do with it.

It has built in WIFI. I have a wireless home network, I can get my email on it, I can chat on Messenger, and I can surf the net, albeit not quite as well as on a pc, but far better than a WAP phone. I can do this at home, or anywhere where there is a WIFI access point (you have to pay though). Access points are rapidly springing up everywhere now, but they are expensive.

It has Bluetooth. I have a bluetooth mobile phone, therefore I contacted my service provider (Orange) and got them to enable GPRS on the phone. Now I can connect anywhere via my phone and get email etc, and I only pay for the data transferred.

Its fast. Everything is instant with this beast. You press a button and its there. You can use Word, Excel, Windows Media player, Microsoft reader, calculator and picture viewer. All of these come preloaded. You also have your address book of course and calendar, and these synch with your pc via the cradle that comes with it. It really is very easy to set up. If you're using Excel in particular, then you have to be realistic, you're not going to get a huge amount of data on the screen in one go, but scrolling is easy, so its not too bad. One disappointment though is that it doesnt support password protected workbooks. Maybe an update soon will address that issue.

I bought tomtom bluetooth navigator to use with it (£160), it loaded up easily and is a dream to use. If you drive anywhere, I recommend it. If you're a gadget freak and you dont have satnav already, what are you waiting for???

The battery goes on forever, but you have to realise when you press the on/off button, youre only switching the screen off. Therefore, if youre away from your desk and want to save the battery as best you can, turn all the programs off before you switch the screen off, and certainly make sure the WIFI and Bluetooth are off. WIFI especially drains the battery quite quickly. I left mine with the Bluetooth on connected to the internet via my phone for 6 hours, and it only used 20% of the battery !

You will need to buy an SD card to store things on, as the built in memory isnt huge. I bought a 256mb card on the net. It was really cheap and works perfectly but its blue, and you can see the top edge of the card sticking out the top of the Ipaq, so if you can, get a black SD card, and it will look neater :)

The PDA is so small and light, it will slip into a shirt top pocket easily. It comes with a nice jacket to protect it, but this doubles the thickness of the unit. I've put a screen protector film on mine, and certainly in the summer carry it in my shirt pocket without the jacket.

On the negative side, there are only a couple of things I can think of worth mentioning. First, I've had to reboot it a few times because it seized. Its an easy operation, just press a recessed button with the stylus and it takes a few seconds. No data was lost and it worked fine after.

The other negative I have to admit, I didnt even notice until I read it somewhere else. The screen has a yellow tint to it if viewed at certain angles. Its not a problem as far as Im concerned, but clearly some dont like it, so I suggest you try to see one in the flesh before you commit.

I paid £300 for my Ipaq, I could have got it cheaper on the net, but when I finally decided which one to buy, everywhere had sold out!!! so I drove 40 miles to a Dixons store I found that had stock. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a small lightweight machine which has WIFI. If you don't need the WIFI, then consider the next model down.