Time Killer
Written: Feb 24 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Quick synchronization with desktop PC, including news, weather, and so on.
Cons: Awkward text input method (but typical of most PDA's)
The Bottom Line: Indispensible gadget in today's busy life. The next wave of PDA's is becoming better with new improved software if you are willing to either wait or pay a little more.
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| dongeeL's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Jornada 540 Pocket PC |
If you are reading this review, the chances are that you are looking for a used PDA, right? HP Jornada 540 is about two years old unit, and I just bought it from a friend as a replacement to my trusty but discontinued Apple Newton 2000 Message Pad. In fact, I have been looking for a replacement PDA for months, but did not want to spend a bundle for something inferior to my current PDA. Therefore, I kept waiting for the best and the greatest....until now.
This time, the price was right for me to buy this Jornada 540 as a “tester”, and here’s what I think of it after using it for a month. Even though there are great looking PDA’s using Palm operating system, I prefer Windows CE operating system. The Palm based PDA’s, I think, have poorer text recognizing capability, although I heard it’s not too difficult to master how Palm interprets each letter. Palm based PDA’s are also much lighter and smaller, and I am sure it has advantages that I am not familiar with.
Jornada 540 is a Windows CE based PDA that can keep track of addresses, phone numbers, schedule, and tasks. Not as convenient to use, but it also imitates Excel, and Word. There are other mini programs such as calculator, money manager, and book reader. Lastly, it downloads news and weather information from internet. This is the feature I like the most.
Addresses, phone numbers, schedule, and tasks are downloaded and synchronized from the desktop version of Outlook program. Excel and Word can be copied (click and drag). Basically if you are computer savvy, it’s not too difficult to figure out all this. However, if you are not, then you will get confused with its limited information displayed on its small screen size. It is possible to make input directly on to the PDA by stylus provided, but it is so awkward that I find myself making most of input on the computer then let it synchronize. The charging cradle is hooked up to a USB port of my desktop computer, therefore, the unit synchronizes automatically (by choice) whenever it is being recharged. While synchronizing, it downloads PDA version of websites such as USA Today, CNN, the NY Times, Business Weekly, etc. This is great for killing time when waiting in a restaurant or anywhere else.
The batteries hold charge for about 8 hours of usage. At first, I thought this was going to be a problem, but due to my desire to have the latest news from website downloaded all the time, I end up putting it in the charging cradle whenever I am sitting next to my computer. I keep my charging cradle at work, so it’s not a problem during week days. On weekend, however, I must conserve energy by using it as little as possible to make it last two full days until the next charge. Power shuts off when it has about 25% charge left. If the unit is not charged up, then all your info is gone! Luckily, synchronizing is easy and fast to restore the lost data... that is as long as you are near your computer.
Color screen is very attractive. However, beside it gobbling up too much power, it is very difficult to see under the outside light. I’d almost prefer a monochrome screen for that reason. Another complaint I have is that the unit, as small as it is, is relatively heavy. It fits in a front shirt pocket, but it sags almost half way down to waist. And because it is small, it looks sissy to hand carry it around, especially in a carrying case. In another words, its size and weight are mismatched.
Despite its instant-on feature, it actually takes about ten seconds to warm-up to its operating brightness. This is a minimal annoyance, but it still is especially when trying to look up information in a car under the bright sunlight (forget trying to look at it under the sunlight... at least a shade is required to read the screen).
If your requirements meet the criteria outlined above, then Jornada 540 is a great PDA. I cannot imagine living today’s busy life without one. I have friends always forgetting to do this and that, and they are usually ones with no PDA. Having said that, I just looked at a PDA and discovered that the pricier models have one additional text input method similar to my trusty Apple Newton. It’s called “transcriber”, and it recognizes your handwriting vs. you having to learn its method to write in a little text box at the bottom of the screen. With this alternate method, I might actually be able to completely replace my Newton in the very near future. For me, this input method sets apart a good useable PDA from the rest of toy PDA’s. If this is not an important feature, then Jornada 540 is as good as any. Running at 133 mhz clock speed, it is not super fast, but it’s adequate. You just need to get used to the one second delay here and there while switching programs. By the way, mine did come with 32 MB of memory.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 50 used
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Epinions.com ID:
dongeeL
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Member: Dongee Lee
Reviews written: 68
Trusted by: 10 members
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