HP iPAQ H4355

I work and test new product for a living and work within IT.

The HP iPAQ H4355 has everything I every needed and more. TomTom software works great!

I was worried about its size but it fits in my pocket and cannot even feel its there.

However it is going to take time to learn my way round the phone and I am having to read the manual when I have never read a manual for anything in my life.

Not to sure on battery life yet as I only got it today.

Highly recommended if you want to combine your PDA, mobile and GPS tom-tom all in one!

Well as far as PDAs go, the HP iPAQ H4355 is one of the most capable (but not the most I realize) out there.

It has a fast 400 MHz processor and 32 MB of memory. Applications run fast, even the mini web browser. Finding other software can be a challenge though, and requires much internet searching to accomplish. If you need a good MP3 program, try Pocket Music (free) or Pocket TV (also free). Windows Media Player that is included really sucks.

The wi-fi card truly amazed me. It picked up hotspots, connected and held a good signal as well as a laptop. The browser is a hair slow, but it is a PDA afterall. Intenet Explorer that is included was the only browser I could find. There were some Java programs out there and even some Flash players for Windows CE, but there was rarely enough memory to run them effectively.

The iPAQ includes lots of software, including Pocket Word and Excel and Microsoft Reader (lots of free books online). Don't expect to type much however. The H4355 has a key board, but typing is abysmally slow, even writing e-mail was a hassle.

What I don't like about these PDAs is they don't have harddrives. I could live with a little larger unit and less battery life for some harddrive, at least a GB. I mean if iPODs can make an MP3 Player with 20 GB and stay that small, why can't PDAs? If you want to store anything, you actually have to use the unit's memory, a whole 32 MB for storage AND RAM. I bought a 512 MB SD card, which annoying cost $200.

In conclusion, while the H4355 is highly capable and very impressive for a PDA, it is just a PDA. After a month of use I began to look for other accessories, like a collapsable keyboard and more SD cards. I then realized that what I needed was a laptop, so I took the iPAQ back and did just that. If you have lots of money burdening you and love gadgets, then you can buy an iPAQ and a laptop, but the iPAQ alone just wsn't cutting it.