Review of the IPAQ RX1955 from Hewlett Packard

PDA's are extremely popular, and sometimes necessary, for those in the business industry. It works as a personal computer, able to access file, pictures and emails. Spreadheets and Microsoft Word are also available on many models, so you can take your work with you anywhere. They have a wide range of functions that can help you organize your life.

The iPAQ RX1955 from Hewlett Packard has all the standard features you would expect from a PDA. This "Pocket PC" allows for wireless web connection, spreadsheets, Word, file transfer from PC to Pocket PC, either Wireless or wired. It has a calendar with reminders, and you can set it to play a jingle to notify you of important dates and times. It can also be used as an MP3 player with the headset jack and it easily accesses the files, in addition to video, pictures and email. There is, however, a minor hassle with transferring Excel files to your home-based PC. It has a 3.5" QVGA color display, 300MHz processor, 96MB total memory, 802.11b wireless, MP3 stereo and a memory card slot. It also features a voice record button, a microphone and speaker so you can record a voice message instantly-even email it to a friend. There are several programs already on it, such as Microsoft® Windows Mobile(TM) 5.0 for Pocket PC, Premium Edition operating system, plus mobile versions of Microsoft Outlook®, Word®, Excel®, PowerPoint®, Windows Media® Player and Internet Explorer®.

A few sore points for the iPAQ is a limited selection of programs available for Pocket windows, at least in stores. There are games, area-localized map programs, budget programs, etc. available, but again, the selection is quite small for this particular PDA. If you are working on a spreadsheet for work and the battery dies, all information is lost. This is easily corrected by making sure you have your iPAQ fully charged before working on any big projects. Although the memory is minimal, this can also be corrected by using memory cards with more gigabytes. Finally, for those new to PDA's the screen keyboard and stylus (the pen, basically) takes some getting used to. However, sold separately are "Pocket PC" keyboards that connect to the iPAQ.

Overall, it is a reasonably priced ($300) piece of technology that can be one of the best tools you've purchased, so long as you invest in getting familiar with it and purchasing the extra software if you feel its necessary.