Great product, poor quality control
Written: Sep 02 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fast, great screen, lots of RAM
Cons: Some quality control issues, not a lot of software
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| philgrad's Full Review: Compaq iPAQ H3650 Pocket PC |
Like most people, I had my iPaq on order (and backorder, and more backorder...) for about six weeks. When I saw that the local Circuit City had them in stock, I rushed over and picked one up. After using a Palm Professional for the last year, I thought this little beauty was a dream come true. And that's when the trouble started.
Installation was pretty easy, although I have to say that I like a manual--an actual printed manual, with a troubleshooting section--not a .pdf format that I have to be sitting in front of my computer to read. I got the infamous Windows 2K install problem, where the computer asks for a driver and then gives you an installation error. After following the troubleshooting tips on Compaq's site, I got the conduit software (for synchronization) installed. However, I have found that every 5-10 synchs, especially when the iPaq is removed from the cradle and then brought back after a period of time (like overnight), I will get the same driver problem again. This may just be a problem with Win2K, but I think Compaq has a little work to do here.
Applications worked flawlessly--the streaming MPEG ability is very impressive ("Hey, wanna see the Star Wars trailer?"), as is the MP3 player features. Again, better documentation in this arena would help matters immensely. Installing new skins for your MP3 player is anything but intuitive. Thankfully, there are great sites like Handango.com and WinCEPlanet that have FAQs on these subjects.
Some people have complained about supposed sluggishness in the OS. I haven't found this to be the case at all. Among the WinCE/PocketPC devices that I have tried, the iPaq really shines. Apps open in fractions of a second, and the functionality is so far above the PalmOS that you will likely never look back (and if you work in an office dominated by Palm Pilots and Visors, there is a free applet that lets you exchange info with Palm users).
The screen is simply beautiful. In direct sunlight or under bright flourescent lights, everything is perfectly clear and readable. With full backlighting on thing wash out a bit, but it is easy to configure the proper brightness. I tend to leave the automatic setting checked, but that may become annoying if you are in a room with variable lighting (e.g. it's dark at your desk, but there is a lamp just behind you). In such cases, it tends to turn the backlight on and off at random moments.
The handwriting recognition is superb, especially if you install some of the extra options from the CD (Microsoft's Transcriber). Transcriber lets you write anywhere on the screen and it recognizes whole words. You can also jot something down quickly and have it recognize the whole thing later (rather than on the fly). This is really nice if you are in a hurry and a messy writer as well--you don't need to make corrections until you have the time to do so. Compared to Jot or Graffiti, this is probably the strongest aspect of the iPaq.
Now to the dark side. After one week of use, I took my iPaq home from the office (with a full charge). I made some notes and tasks before bed and shut it off. When I got up in the morning, it would not start at all. I tried a soft reset, then a hard reset. Nothing. I took it to work and put it in the cradle, and the charge light would not come on. I called Compaq and they sent Overnight Express to pick it up. After a week, the iPaq was returned to me (four days longer than they said it would take). They had to replace the power supply/batteries. I got two conflicting stories from my two inquiries. One person said that if the internal batteries both got to zero charge, then they had to be replaced (Design flaw, anyone?) and that this was a known issue. The other person said that he had been handling a lot of the support calls and hadn't seen this issue--mine had to be a fluke. However, it gets worse. Now my iPaq has the infamous loose door problem, and it didn't have that problem before. I called Compaq immediately and they said management is trying to decide how to handle the problem. Perhaps a replacement is in the works for all of us early adopters.
In any case, I still recommend this product. It is head and shoulders over the competition in terms of performance, usability, and features. Simply be aware of the possible design flaws when purchasing.
Oh--as others have noted, all the accessories for the iPaq are backordered from now until who knows when. If you are planning on a cellular modem, ethernet sleeve, PC or compact flash sleeve, it's going to be awhile!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 499
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Epinions.com ID:
philgrad
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Member: Joshua Brown
Location: St. Louis, MO
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 1 member
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