THE BEST POCKET PC.... Review on Compaq iPaq Pocket PC

Ok I know this is late for this review cos today the ipaq 3970(749 us $) is already out,but anyways the ipaq 3650 is still popular thanks to its upgrade options.Here is my review:

Form:

With the iPaq, the first thing you will notice is its size ... it is very thin, the thinnest color CE based device to date. This should sooth those who do not want to pocket a brick every day just to keep their contacts and appointments close at hand. Not only is the iPaq thin, its design, overall appearance, and feel are sleek as well. The iPaq feels very good in your hand which is critical if you plan to use your PDA on a daily basis. The best PDAs feel like an extension of your arm, the iPaq feels like this better than any other PDA I've held except the Palm V.

The metal-ized finish also makes the iPaq stand out and will surely turn heads at your next staff meeting. Compared to the two other Pocket PCs available at this time, (the Casio E-115 and HP Jornada 54x), I'd have to say that the iPaq has by far the best look.

The iPaq's USB cradle follows the sleek design of the unit itself, it even looks a bit futuristic. The iPaq fits firmly into the cradle (sometimes too firmly) with or without the provided sleeve. You can also charge the iPaq in the cradle or by simply plugging the AC adapter into the bottom of the unit. Very handy when traveling.

Function

With a great design, a great user experience usually follows and this is the case with the iPaq with a few exceptions. There are a few aspects of the iPaq that both enhance and detract from its functionality, the one item that adds the most to the iPaq has to be its display. The reflective TFT display is the most crisp, clear, and readable display I've ever seen on a PDA of this form factor in almost all lighting conditions. While the limited color depth was thought to be a drawback when the iPaq was first announced, I have no problems accepting 4,096 colors when the display as a whole looks this good. Add to that a light sensor that decides how much backlight you need and you can be sure you'll get a great display 95% of the time without any hassle or reconfiguration.

The iPaq's other features are less notable but as a whole create a very enjoyable experience. The direction pad/speaker combo is quite functional although I would have preferred a ''jog wheel'' of sorts for reading books and other long scrolling documents. I find having to use two hands to scroll through an e-book a bit cumbersome. The buttons on the iPaq are recessed nicely to avoid accidental presses but the power button itself can be particularly hard to activate.The button that annoys me a bit is the record button. There is so little travel in the record button that is flush with the side of the iPaq that I find myself having to hold it down far too hard to record a message longer than 3 seconds. My finger should not turn red just to record a memo.

And not to nit pick, but I also have problems with the stylus silo. First is the release button which I've had get stuck a number of times over the last few weeks I've spent with the iPaq. Second is that the stylus is made in such a way that it will only fit in the silo one way. It almost fits the other way and if you are in a hurry, you will put it in wrong and end up jamming it halfway down and getting it firmly wedged. I did this once and had to use needle nose pliers to get it out.

Although the iPaq has its quirks (where's the LCD cover?), none of them are what we in the industry consider ''show stoppers''. The small annoyances are a small price to pay for the overwhelming ease of use the iPaq delivers. Besides, all first generation designs have their flaws and I'd rather deal with minor flaws on occasion than have the same old design sold year after year for the sake of convenience.

Software

While I do not want to spend much time on the Pocket PC aspect of the device I will say that the iPaq is by far the fastest performing Pocket PC around. While the annoying hour glass replacement is prominent on the Jornada and Casio E-115, it is a very rare sight on the iPaq. I also noticed that while the Jornada is unable to multi-task an MP3 without skipping when opening large applications (Reader, Word, etc.), the iPaq plays MP3s flawlessly no matter what I opened afterwards.

Compaq provides their own tools to help you manage your Pocket PC more efficiently and two even have their own button. First is the QStart which is Compaq's answer to the problem of managing applications. QStart supports categories so you can sort your applications appropriately and view them without too much clutter.

The QUtilities application is the one I find myself using the most. You can access the pop-up list of functions by either tapping the red ''Q'' in the ''tray'' or pressing the ''Q'' button on the front of the unit. The pop-up menu gives you quick access to most of the Pocket PC configuration settings but most importantly, it doubles as a simple task list and task closer. You can see exactly which tasks are still running in the background and shut down tasks one by one or close everything with one tap. This comes in very handy since as you probably know, Windows CE/Pocket PC applications do not have an ''exit'' option and prefer to go to the background when not in use. This is fine for frequently used applications, but others tend to simply eat up precious RAM while hanging out in the background.

Expandability

The iPaq is the only Pocket PC device that does not support Compact Flash expandability out of the box. To some this is a blessing, to others it is a curse. For both however, CF and PCMCIA expandability are just a ''sleeve'' away. The CF sleeve (~$50) allows users to add industry-standard CF cards to their iPaq while the PCMCIA sleeve (~$160) allows users who require more advanced expansion to use PC Cards typically associated with laptop and notebook computers. While buying accessories to give expandability may be a bad idea to some, I think it was a good idea and allowed Compaq to keep the iPaq at the $499 retail price level with 32MB of RAM. The Casio and HP Pocket PCs with 32MB are $100 more expensive

NOTE:Buying a ipaq in india is totally not worth it unless your companies is ready to pay for it.The dealers have to pay too much import duty thus resulting in very high prices.