Thanks for clicking! It's a review of my HP (Hewlett Packard) iPAQ h5550 (h-5-5-50?) PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), which I bought a few weeks ago. Call it what you like, a Pocket PC, palmtop, PDA, iPAQ, or whatever; it's basically a handheld computer. This one is mostly silver with black at the top, has a large touch screen, eight buttons, a fingerprint scanner, and a place to store the stylus. You probably saw the picture. Sleek looking design, don't you think? Expensive looking too! Main reason I wanted a PDA was to use it as a GPS (Global Positioning System) or Satellite Navigation since I keep getting lost when driving in areas I don't know that well. Only thing with using a PDA as a GPS is that you would also need to purchase a GPS receiver unit, software and normally, a memory card to store the maps and this isn't cheap!

You get a docking cradle with USB and Serial connectors, AC power adapter, AC power plug adapter to connect to the PDA, two styluses (one already slotted in the PDA), Quick Start Guide, and warranty documents. It also comes with a CD containing the Microsoft ActiveSync, Outlook 2002, and some other bits of software (some are only trial versions). The manual is also found on the CD in PDF format. I know some people prefer hard copies but this saves paper and probably lowers the cost a bit so I'm all for it! The manual is quite thorough and covers pretty much everything you'd need to know about the PDA including illustrations.

After charging up your iPAQ h5550 (usually overnight) and the first time you turn on the device, you are guided through a screen alignment procedure. You simply tap the centre of crosses a few times after it moves. It then takes you through a short exercise on how to do the equivalent of click and right-click on the PDA, as you would on a desktop PC (tap, and tap and hold in this case). After that, it's the Time Zone setting. After the initial settings, you can change various other settings like the backlight, volume, themes, backgrounds, sounds, etc. The Operating System (i.e. Windows) is pre-installed onto the IPAQ into the ROM. You do not ever have to install this even if you reset it to factory defaults. The Operating System software provided is Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC, which is just a smaller version of Microsoft Windows. The 'Start' menu is at the top left-hand corner.

I'm using a USB connection to connect the cradle to my computer, because it's faster than the serial connection, which the cable also has. As soon as I placed the PDA into the docking cradle, my computer synchronised with the PDA. It also asked for the password I had set up on the PDA but I checked 'Remember Password' so it wouldn't bug me again. All went well. When I connect the iPAQ to my PC (using the cradle), the iPAQ plays a four beep tone to acknowledge my PC and then synchronises the appointments, calendar, emails, etc. You can choose what to synchronise.

The main reason I bought it is because I know people who have this model already and they say it's one of the best. I've also read reviews on it and most were generally positive. The iPAQ has a clock speed of 400MHz, has 128MB of RAM and a 48MB ROM. That's Random Access Memory and Read Only Memory, for those who don't know. RAM is the memory a computer uses to run programs. ROM is the type that can only be read and not written to. "Clock speed" refers to the processing power. Although these figures sound low, they are pretty good when you're talking about PDA's. They're some of the reasons why I chose this one. The other reason is because this one is flexible since it has built-in Bluetooth, which means I can buy extra toys to use with it (=D) and Wi-Fi, meaning I can access the Internet if there's a Wireless Access Point nearby (i.e. My house, Starbucks, other coffee shops with Wireless Internet). I can even go on Ciao with it! The screen's a bit small though, so lots of scrolling.

Since it's a computer, the h5550 has many, many uses. Some of the software included allows you to use it as a clock, calculator, notebook, voice recorder, calendar, address book, and so much more! You can even buy software to turn your iPAQ into a remote control to use with your TV/VCR/DVD/etc using the built-in infrared. You can use it for word processing, and spreadsheets since Microsoft Word and Excel are included. Something about word processing is that since the iPAQ doesn't have a keyboard (can be purchased separately) so you need to use the onscreen keyboard. You tap on the keys to type but the buttons are quite small. It is possible to increase size of the keys but fewer keys will be shown so I prefer the smaller onscreen keyboard. I often miss the keys that I want and get the one next to it but I suppose I can practice and improve my accuracy. This'll take some practice. If you don't like to type this way, you can also use character recognition, where you write a character or words and it recognises your character or words depending on whic you mode you use, and converts it into a printed version. I find this slower so I'd rather use the keyboard for now until I practice a bit more. If using the 'Note' feature, for taking notes (obviously), you can just handwrite your notes without them being converted.

After the training, you can choose which finger's fingerprint you wish to store into the iPAQ (you can store all fingers if you want). I'd recommend doing that if you choose 'fingerprint only' protection because you won't have a PIN or password as an alternative method to get in. If you only enrol one finger, then you can only use that finger's print to get in. Now what if you cut your finger? You won't be able to get back in! Anyway, once stored, you can use any of the fingerprints stored to access your iPAQ. You can also set the number of login attempts allowed. I don't know what happens after the maximum allowed login attempts. Might lock me out or something so I won't be trying that! Doing a Hard Reset doesn't remove the PIN's, passwords and fingerprint information so that's not a way to overcome the protection.

My iPAQ has crashed on me a few times. Luckily, it doesn't happen excessively so I'm not too bothered about it. Only happened occasionally and I'm not sure what causes it to crash. Too many programs running at the same time maybe? When a program is open and I try to close it, it's unresponsive. When that happens, I reset it but pressing the reset button underneath the iPAQ. Should I say that Microsoft is to blame? Another problem is that I've experienced times when it doesn't turn on when I press the power button. This can happen if you've just performed a 'Hard Reset' or if you battery is completely dead or has been taken out but it's happened to me even when it was fully charged with the battery in place, and when I had not performed a hard reset. To resolve this, I simply press the reset button. By the way, a 'Hard Reset' is when you hold the bottom two buttons and the reset button at the same time for the iPAQ to reset itself back to how it was when you first got it (factory default). This means you lose all files and programs installed on it though so be sure to back up and synchronise your iPAQ with your PC so that your appointments, notes, contacts, etc. are also on your PC. Sometimes, the iPAQ seems to turn itself on when it's on the cradle. Can be annoying if you want it switched off. I think it has something to do with ActiveSync. No big deal though.

My main quibble with the h5550 is the battery life. They claim that it can last an average of 10 hours but with continuous use, I estimate it's more like 4 hours. There isn't always a wall socket or USB port about so battery life is always an important issue to consider before deciding on a portable device. If I turn on Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth, then the h5550 uses a lot more power (especially with Wi-Fi, which can drain it). Speaking of using more power, the iPAQ makes a marvellous mp3 player and it even comes with Windows Media Player. Annoyingly though, playing mp3's with Windows Media Player can also drain the battery because the screen will remain 'on' whilst you listen to music. This is still the case without the backlight. Okay, you don't really need the display when you're listening to music. All you need is the sound output and the buttons to control the player. My solution to the problem was to use GSPlayer, which lets you switch off the display whilst playing music. Excellent feature! Now why couldn't

Pictures of HP iPAQ Pocket PC H5550

h5550 in docking cradle

You can buy a spare battery but they're expensive. You can also lower the brightness of the screen and the backlight's settings and turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when you don't need them to prolong the battery life but it's still a bit annoying. At least the charging time is only around two and a half hours, which isn't too long.

BUYING

ACCESSORIES

I've noticed that the official stuff is very expensive. I think they could have at least included a sync/charge cable so that you don't have to carry the cradle around if you want to hook up your PDA to i.e. a PC at work, and charge it without having to carry around the adapter and without the need of a spare wall socket. Something that I would have liked is a screen protector to err….protect the screen from scratches, fingerprints, etc. Keeping the PDA in good condition means it'll be worth more when I come to sell it in the distant future. Screen protectors can also be expensive, even though it's just a sheet of transparent plastic. I saw some (not for my model) selling for £24.99 each down Tottenham Court Road, which is a bit excessive. It will probably be cheaper if you shop online and/or buy unofficial stuff. I reckon they could have thrown in a 128MB SD card. They can be pretty cheap nowadays if you know where to shop but still, it would be nice to not have to buy it separately.

It's powerful with it's high specifications, and flexible with it's range of wireless capabilities (i.e. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Infrared). Bluetooth lets you connect all sorts of devices to the iPAQ, broadening your options for accessories. Wi-Fi lets you use the Internet where there are Wireless Access Points. I hear some Starbucks branches have wireless Internet. The infrared can also be handy for transfer files to a laptop or computer with infrared receiver. Can also be a fun substitute for your remote control, as I had mentioned before.

It's good that it came with a holster and a spare stylus. Sometimes, companies can be a bit stingy and may try to make you buy things separately. There are lots of accessories that the iPAQ doesn't come with but I'm glad it came with 'something'.

THE BAD

It can crash sometimes. Well, it IS a computer, and it IS running a Microsoft operating system. Can be frustrating but can't really do much about it. It also lacks memory for viewing large images. For example, I have a London Underground tube map jpeg image on my SD Card but my h5550 cannot view it at 75% or above zoom. If I try, it says it does not have sufficient memory. Also, you can't play certain video formats like .AVI with Windows Media Player. It needs to be wmv but you can play other formats by installing different media players (i.e. Pocket Real Player for rm files and Pocket MVP for avi, mpg, etc, ). These are all freeware, which is good news but you can find shareware and probably retail too. I find that PocketDivX (for playing avi) gives ALWAYS gives an audio error and doesn't play avi movies. Probably not unless you have one that's encoded in a particular way. When playing movies, there's the problem of storage, processing speed and screen size. Video files can be quite big and you would need quite a bit of storage to store them and the internal storage is not much use so it has to be via memory cards. When playing larger video files, there's the problem of the video being jerky. Most likely because the processor isn't fast enough or it can't read the data quickly enough. Tiny movie files are not affected but larger ones are annoying jerky. Lastly, the screen is smaller and playing a full sized movie file you got off your PC may be a bit too much for the PDA's screen. I've found that a lot of it is 'cut off' because it doesn't fit. I would have thought that the player (been using Pocket MVP) would be able to shrink it down enough but I was wrong. With these problems, the h5550 is not a very good video player. Fair enough, it wasn't meant to be one so it's nothing major.

The screen is a bit small for normal web browsing, as I've found out by loading up the Ciao website on it. I don't think there's much that can be done about this but I think using a laptop would be better for web surfing, if you had to have a portable computer. The iPAQ is still better than using a WAP mobile phone though! However, I do find that the speaker isn't very loud.

The stylus holder turns out to be a bit annoying. You push the stylus down to pop it out. It seems great and convenient but I've found that I often accidentally pop it out while I have the PDA in my pocket or while I the PDA clipped to my trousers/belt. This means I'm more likely to lose the thing. No wonder they give you a spare. Official HP accessories are expensive; however, you could just shop around and/or get unofficial stuff sometimes. There are lots of accessories for these though.

Lastly, try not to let the power run out completely. If so, you may have trouble starting up the iPAQ again! Not impossible but it doesn't seem to even charge until after a hard reset (which erases everything).