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HP iPAQ 2215 Pocket PC

HP iPAQ 2215 Pocket PC

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Beware: Worst Customer Service in the Business!
Review: The good:This is a great device. I particularly like the processor, memory, wireless connectivity, and that it features both SD and CF slots.

The bad:HP has terrible customer support. Because in my experience PDA screens scratch and/or wear out, I made the mistake of purchasing an extended warranty, the HP Care Pack, from HP. So far my experience has been very negative. To begin with they sent me two warranties for my one device. I discovered this when I looked at the purchase confirmation so I called them for help. First they blamed me and accused me of purposely buying two warranties and then they proceeded to make the return process as inconvenient as possible. Let's just say that I still haven't gotten a refund for the warranty they "accidentally" charged me for, but that isn't why I am upset.

Unfortunately my problems actually began as soon as I opened the one warranty I had actually purchased. When I opened the warranty I found that my product, the iPAQ h2215, was not listed on the warranty as a covered product. Additionally, the warranty specifically excluded items not explicitly covered by the terms and conditions.

I then called HP for help, which is when I realized just how terrible HP customer service has become. I called the sales representative, who promptly told me that she did not know anything about the product warranties and then gave me a phone number to call.

I called the number and was greeted by a cheerful attendant who also knew little about warranties. She attempted to help me, but she seemed confused about why sales would refer me to her since she was not the warranty department and she did not have any warranty information.

So, she referred me to technical support. Of all the departments, technical support was by far the least helpful and most frustrating. This should be a warning to anyone planning to buy an HP product because even if you never purchase an extended warranty from HP you may at some point have to deal with HP tech support.

The heavily accented technician began by asking for my model and serial numbers. I provided them, but he was unable to find them on the system and so he was extremely reluctant to provide me with any kind of assistance whatsoever. I see no reason why the model number would not show up on the tech support computer. What if I needed tech support?

Anyway, he said the problem was probably that I was giving him the wrong number or that I had not registered the warranty like I should have. I told him that I was giving me the model number that appeared on the box's label and that I had purchased the item less than a week ago. He was unconvinced. I then asked him, hypothetically, if he would honor the warranty I had purchased even though my product was not specifically included in the warranty card. He said that he probably would not. This was about as much help as he was willing to provide. From the start of the conversation both he and I were confused about why I was directed to technical support in the first place and I understand that he was not trained to help me. However, he was extremely rude, difficult to understand, and had no inclination to provide even the slightest assistance without appearing to be inconvenienced. This is not understandable and not excusable. After he "helped" me, the technical support representative referred me back to sales.

After waiting on hold for a sales representative I explained my problem and asked to speak to a supervisor. The representative assured me that he was almost certain that the warranty covered my product, but he was unable to say for sure. He also said that although there is a supervisor available the supervisor cannot provide any additional help. I asked to speak with them anyway, and soon learned that the representative was more than correct. The supervisor was able to offer even less help than the representative. The supervisor basically told me that it is only logical to assume that the warranty covers the product because it is not specifically excluded like some other models. When I told him that technical support had informed me that they would probably not honor the warranty, he seemed to change his mind and he referred me to one of the phone numbers that I had already contacted.

I am now waiting for a return authorization so I can return this warranty. I am also planning to return the iPAQ, even though I really like it, because I never want to deal with HP again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Finally, the perfect Pocket PC
Review: I've been using Palm and Pocket PC / Windows CE devices for almost seven years now. Palm Pro, Palm IIIx, Visor, Visor Edge, several Clies, Nino, iPaq 3600, iPaq 3800, Jornada, Cassiopeia, Maestro, Razor Zayo...I'm hardly a newcomer here.

That said, every device had some sort of flaw. PalmOS was too limited to be a decent value, while Pocket PC / CE devices were too heavy to keep in my pocket. Finally, HP got it right.

The h2215 is the perfect balance between a powerful OS, powerful hardware, and a device you can truly keep in your pocket. The expansion options are absolutely wonderful -- you've got CF I/II and an SD slot that supports SDIO, so you'll always be able to have extra memory, without sacrificing wireless connectivity.

While Pocket PC 2003 isn't much different than 2002 in terms of cosmetics, it's a huge leap forward in terms of stability and ease of use. Connecting to wireless networks is a snap, and I've yet to have anything cause me to do a reset.

The h2215 is light, and easy to hold. The rubberized grips are absolutely perfect -- just light enough to keep the unit firmly in your hand, but not as uncomfortable as the grips on the side of the Dell Axim.

The best part (at least for me) is that old iPaq accessories work on the h2215. I was able to pull the sync cable I bought for my old 3800-series out of the closet, and plug it right in to the 2215 without any problems.

This is truly the best PDA I've ever carried. At this price, it's a steal.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pocket PC better than Palm
Review: I just bought this Ipaq two days ago and I could'nt be happier on what i spent my 500 bucks on (with accessories).
So far I have one MP3 file and 4 high resolution photos on it and I still have about 25 megabytes of storage left good for maybe another 20 pics or about 6 mp3's. The windos media player can't play avi files though, but it's really easy to fix that just download the divx player for pocket pcs and start watching. Im buying a 265 MB Compactflash card so that I can watch my movies on the road and in school. Remember that a 500MB divx file will be a lot smaller on your IPAQ, depends what kind of resolution it was encoded in. The bluetooth is cool if you have a bluetooth enabled phone so that you can use your minutes to browse online, but intergrated 802.11b would be a lot better since I have a wireless network at home. I recommend this to anyone who is considering it and now Im gonna leave to go play with my ipaq. The only reason I gave this IPAQ a 4 out of 5 is because I have had it forn only two days, but if it works well and I know it will Ill give it a five.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Nice hardware, improved connectivity
Review: I waited a long time for the new models to come out and ordered the 2215 as soon as it was available. It was worth it.

First off, let me say that the software upgrade from 2002 to 2003 is barely noticeable, except for a few connectivity features, one of which I've found very helpful. This version has a good Bluetooth Manager that makes connecting to a Bluetooth cell phone (such as a Sony/Ericsson T68) easy. With this feature, the cell phone can be used as a modem with a dialup internet service (e.g. MSN or Earthlink) for net access from anywhere with free nights and weekends, and in addition to the included email software and Internet Explorer just about all the net software you could want is available for PocketPC - AIM, ICQ, IRC, SSH.... If you want Wifi you'll need a CompactFlash addon card.

Pocket Word and Excel are useful but don't expect to write a book on it without an addon keyboard. The iPaq picture viewer with slideshow and thumbnails is a nice touch, works very well with the CompactFlash card from my digital camera.

As far as the hardware, you get 400MHz, 64MB, 2 kinds of expansion slots, Bluetooth and a very nice screen in a package that's an inch shorter and a fair bit sleeker than older iPaqs - definitely pocketable. The battery life is a good 8 hours (less if you're doing battery-draining things like running the screen at full brightness or playing Age of Empires). 64MB sounds like a lot but you'll use that up pretty quickly if you start installing software or downloading e-books - fortunately a Secure Digital expansion card works seamlessly and doesn't add to the size or weight of the device.

One complaint - the rubber grips on the sides are not attached as securely as I would have expected, and they are coming off. I fixed this with superglue.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Not too simple, not too hard
Review: This is my first Pocket PC, and it is so simple to learn and use, and yet it has all the advanced features you could want. The dual CF/SD slots really drew me to this specific PPC (because you don't see many with the CF anymore), and I have not regretted my purchase in the least. Much reccommended.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: easy to use
Review: I agonized over getting a Palm over a pocket pc. Now I am glad I chose the ipaq 2215. I am fairly computer illiterate but was easily able to install the activesync program and set everything up. The screen is nice and bright. The calendar and contact sections are very easy to use.

I am a physician and am happy to have plenty of memory to install some programs like epocrates. I only charge once a week and to me it seems to charge fairly quickly.

So far no complaints.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Finally - a PDA that meets all of my needs.
Review: I purchased this PDA after owning 3 Palm OS PDAs and after debating purchasing a Pocket PC PDA for alomst a year. I have no idea why I waited so long.

First off, the size and weight of this PDA are fantastic! Much smaller than the Dell that I almost bought. I bought the case with belt clip and I always have it with me when I am working.

Another huge advantage over the previous Palms that I owned - direct integration with my MS applications. It is fantastic to be able to directly open and modify Excel and Word documents without using a 3rd party software package.

The bluetooth feature is great. Another reviewer listed this as a con. They need to do some digging into the advantages of bluetooth. My whole house is wired for network so I have no need for 802.11 wireless access. Bluetooth is the perfect solution. I purchased a USB bluetooth adapter that has a 100 meter range for $24 and can sync my palm, send/receive emails, browse the web and access files from anywhere in my house. If I wanted to do that with a wireless network, I would have to buy a router for $100, buy a wireless adapter for my PC and then have a PDA with WiFi built in. HP makes one, but it is $655.00. Not only does it cost twice as much, it is much larger and much heavier.

You can't use Wireless with a phone or with GPS - two more reasons for bluetooth. You can also get bluetooth headphones and keyboards.

Overall, I love this thing. The speed is great. The screen is very sharp and the OS is very easy to use if you are familiar with Windows.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The PocketPC Device everyone should get!!!
Review: FINALLY!!! A PocketPC that is a *dream* come true! Yes the wait is over, stop reading this review and click on the 'Add to Cart' button and just buy this PocketPC!! Ok, I'm getting ahead of myself... You may want to know why you should get it, right??

1 - It's small and lightweight for a device that supports both Compact Flash (CF) and Secure Digital (SD) formats. It's about the same height and width of the iPAQ 1900 series, but just a tad bit thicker and heavier. *BUT* not by that much!

2 - With both CF and SD, you can mix and match wireless/memory options. If you already have a wireless CF card, then use the SD for memory or vice-versa.

3 - SDIO - You can use 802.11b SD cards when they're out or any other SDIO cards (as long as there's PPC2K3 support.)

4 - Removable batteries!! Yippie!! If your battery dies, you can have just pop in another one. And they're Lithium Ion so no worries regarding memory effects. You can charge an extra battery in the cradle while your device recharges!

5 - Gorgeous screen that can be seen on all iPAQs! Bright and colorful.

6 - Really nice joystick like directional button. I've owned the first iPAQ and a Cassiopeia (as well as played demo versions of other PPCs) but I believe this is the best directional button there is.

7 - Built-in Bluetooth! With PPC2K3, it's much easier to make partnerships with other bluetooth device! Just connect your iPAQ to your cellphone and surf the web! I've made it sync with my computer and my Sony Ericsson T610 with no hitches.

8 - It's fast, and much more stable than the previous PPCs. And I've used them all from WinCE -> PPC -> PPC2002. This is the most stable PPC OS so far, and the fastest. I can watch a 300kbps stream on my PPC Windows Media Player (WMP).

9 - OS hasn't changed much from PPC2002, but the small changes that are there really makes a difference. As I mentioned in point no. 8, there is WMP. And better connectivity (as I mentioned in point no. 7) with built-in Bluetooth. Pocket Internet Explorer (pIE) is speedy. I use my 2210 and T610 to connect to the web wireless via GPRS and surf the web on pIE. It's great! Now that's true wireless. Not as speedy as WiFi, but I can use it just about anywhere I get a phone signal!

I've been using this device for over a month now (it's now August 4) and I still love it. So go ahead now! Buy it from Amazon! You'll love it! I've had no problems with the rubber grips and they make the iPAQ fit well in your hands! The price is great too!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Model / show it loving care OR ELSE
Review: I have had nothing but praise for this Model, and I had been a Palm Pilot / Sony Clie user for many yrs prior to this..i had 1 PPC prior to this it was a casio model dont remember exactly which one but on to the ramble...i am not here to b++++ & moan about IPAQ support / nor have i YET been hoodwinked into coughing up hundreds of dollars for HP to fix my product...here is my story...
a great unit, i have had no synching issues...no transfer issues at all for files...a wierd thing happend to me once in the the handheld didnt know how to open a word document, somehow a file association vanished from the handheld for word files only, this sympton was visible in that in the category of files in the active sync menu showed as UNRESOLVED ITEMS and just wouldnt resolve...this was only fixed..fixed by a HARD RESET (glad I had the ipaq backup file of my other stuff to do this) and the associations were once again fixed..

beaming files also became an issue as the PPC kept getting installed with more & more apps...granted this model has both CF and SD cards with a 1GB card you can guess where I am installing most of my games & apps...somehow as the handheld was getting filled it wasnt beaming files properly it kept saying it was attached to the cradle this was a phantom feeling the device has when too many apps occupy the handheld's main memory..Hard reset fixed the beaming issue but once i used the IPAQ restore file backup I had same issues...MIND you this does not affect the NEVO remote control program, nor does it affect BLUE TOOTH beaM & connectivity.

I will repost here with either a pro or a negative, here is an issue I brought on myself...
I am still in warranty for my model, i recently had an issue in which CONDENSATION built up on my screen..and you could see beads of what looked like water drops & fog on the panel which I was able to shift around in the panel off to the sides..however a day later the dew buildup evaporated...i thought YAY no more DEW buildup...but upon its evaporation came the ERRATIC and or NO PEN response from tapping the screen was the price i paid...ive seen other posts on people dropping their models, cracking screens ...trust me DEW buildup / condensation moisture will send your unit to its grave as well...reason for the DEW is still unknown to me..i will report back on how HP handles me in warranty and if they hit me up for a ridiculous fix price...

good model , if you choose an ipaq, and arent that hell bent on built in WI-fi this model suits your needs...i have a CF wi-fi card and this model i am utterly happy with..I hope to be re-united soon with my PPC once it comes back from HP repair.

Dont let this stray you away from this model..things happen, its inevitable!! and I will see how warranty handles me before i unload any further negatives.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: AWESOME
Review: I took approx. 3 weeks to research PDA's. I even broke down by peer pressure and bought the Palm T3. (took it back the next day) :) The HP 2215 is incredible and so very easy to install and sychronize with a laptop/desktop. I am a homeschool mom, Private Tutor, and I run my own home business. This Pocket PC keeps me organized. All those palm people who say the HP support is awful, must have gotten their phone numbers confused....and called Palm Support. I had NO help when I first purchased the T3. They were rude!! I called the HP desk just for fun (comparison). They were so helpful and funny. Don't spend 3 wks like I did. Stop Now, SHOP, BUY the HP 2215!!


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