Rating: 
Summary: HP Should Stick to Printers
Review: After months of research (and months of saving my money) I purchased my first Pocket PC this past spring. I got tired of the iPaq 3670 waiting list, and bought the Jornada 548 when Amazon.com threw in a free Targus Stowaway Keyboard (which, incidentally, is wonderful). About a month after bought the Jornada, the screen got scratched when I used the HP stylus to jot down a quick note. I usually use an aftermarket stylus, but grabbed this one in a hurry. When I sent the unit to HP, they determined that the damage was caused "by the customer." They claim to have inspected it twice. What's more is that it APPEARED that there were more scratches when I received it back. My point is that HP does not back up its product. They would not even meet me part-way, and were unhelpful and insulting. Despite their 'findings,' I tested the HP stylus again, and it STILL damaged the screen...so I just don't use it. I agree with another reviewer, too in that the location of the stylus well is LUDICROUS for a unit with such a sensitive screen! You're just ASKING for trouble! Now I have to live with a unit I for which I paid $450 with scratches on it...unless I want to pay $200 for a new screen. Come on, HP! Give us a break! Other than that, I have been moderately satisfied. I agree with other users' comments: I occasionally have to reset the unit, as it does freeze sometimes. More annoying still, I also have problems synchronizing because the cradle only connects if the unit is positioned just right...and it can be very difficult to find that spot. Additionally, the screen (scratches or none) is basically worthless outside. I am happy with the general performance, and HP does offer a nice software package compared to some others. Even though I have many complaints, I'd still be lost without my Jornada. I'm addicted to my Pocket PC. But note that IT'S THE POCKET PC CONCEPT THAT'S GREAT *NOT* THE JORNADA, ITSELF! it's The Jornada is okay, but my advice would be to buy an iPaq...better screen (both durability and visibility), longer battery life, better speaker, faster processor, more memory. I guess I should have stuck it out on that waiting list. If you're thinking of buying a Pocket PC, and if you're like me, you'll love it no matter which one you get. But really take the time to research what you buy. Know what you want and how you're going to use it, and remember that you get what you pay for. Good luck. UPDATE: After one year, the unit stopped synchronizing altogether!! I've just stopped using it, because I absolutely DREAD the thought of dealing with HP Support again. I think I'm going to give this unit to my husband (who doesn't need synching cababilities) and buy myself an iPaq. (Of course, given that Compaq is now owned by HP, maybe I should consider an NEC or Toshiba.) SUMMARY: I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT!
Rating: 
Summary: lot's of annoying little glitches
Review: It has a lot of functions, but also a lot of little glitches. Freezes up from time to time. Buttons sometimes stop doing what they are suppose to do. You wind up having to reset it and lose data. Their customer support also (is very poor).
Rating: 
Summary: Great Product!
Review: I graduated from a Palm to my Jornada 547, and I couldn't be happier with the change. The most dramatic change is the screen, with full color and easy to read in any light conditions. With the complact flash slot, I have had no problems loading and running any program I've wanted (to date). Well worth the higher cost compared to a lot of the Palm products.
Rating: 
Summary: Revolutionized my life
Review: I used to carry a laptop and a Franklin planner almost everywhere. Now, my Jornada and the Targus keyboard are all I usually need, unless I'm doing a presentation to a client. The Pocket PC is a marvel of convenience. Here are common things I do on my HP Jornada:
* All MS Outlook related activities (appointments, tasks, meeting notes, and contacts)
* MS Pocket Money: I get a receipt, and I enter it before I leave the location. No more piles of receipts to process at the end of the month so that I can reconcile my accounts.
* Pocket Word: keep my personal journal, jot down notes, write business documents, etc. The formatting isn't anywhere near as powerful as the desktop version of Word, but it won't take too many more features for this to be a highly functional word processor.
* Pocket Excel: Track mileage. Pocket Excel is a very basic spreadsheet, but it does a great job for simple spreadsheets. I expect future versions will be better.
* Download web pages for viewing: Using AvantGo, I routinely download the Economist, New York Times, CNN, and many other sites. And if I travel, I can download restaurant and entertainment info for the city I go to.
* Track billable hours: Using a great FREEWARE program for Pocket PC, I can track billable hours for clients, projects, and even activities associated with projects.
* Brainstorm: I use a mind-mapping Pocket PC program to brainstorm and develop mindmaps and preliminary project plans for myself and with clients. * Listen to music: A 64MB flash card can hold a decent amount of MP3 files!
* Show off my new daughter: I have a digital camera, so I can transfer images of my daughter to my Jornada to show pictures to my friends and associates. Additionally, with a Pocket PC, you can do many other things that I don't yet use the Jornada for, including view PowerPoint files, edit databases, edit html files, edit images, send and receive emails, view live Internet, watch mpg movies, and make cellular phone calls. Great! The Jornada really has revolutionized my life. That said, there are some cons (which is why I didn't give it 5 stars): 1) The biggest flaw is that the screen is virtually impossible to view in sunlight. The Compaq iPaq's screens are much better. 2) The Windows OS is a bit clunky. It's hard to exit programs or switch between programs. I haven't seen the new Pocket PC 2002 OS to see if they've improved on this. The benefits far outweigh the flaws, however. Pocket PCs are a great productivity tool, and the HP Jornada is a great product.
Rating:
Summary: Do not purchase the HP products. They can not be upgraded.
Review: HPs can not be upgraded. This is an email to & from HP: Is it possible to upgrarde my HP Jornada 5XX series from windows ce 2, to pocket pc 2002? Can you recommend someone that might be able to help with this? I understand that you would like additional information regarding upgrading or trading up to the Pocket PC 2002 operating system. Changing the version of an operating system on an HP Palmtop or Jornada product requires replacing the Read Only Memory (ROM) module. HP does not currently offer upgrades to the operating system on any of their devices; however, some third-party resellers may offer upgrades that are no longer available through HP. If any issues are discovered with the software (including operating system) or hardware included with the device after it leaves the factory, the updates are provided in the download link below. These updates would be installed to the Random Access Memory (RAM) with all other added programs, files, and contacts that would have to be reinstalled if the device was ever reset to factory condition.
Rating:
Summary: Nice PDA
Review: PROS
Sturdy design.
Pocket PC versions of MS Office and internet explorer
Setup was a breeze
Handwriting recognition
voice recording CONS
Poor battery life.
The screen is almost impossible to see when you're sunlight
Only 32MB of memory
Processor speed OVERALL
The Jornada 548 Color Pocket PC is a nice little device. However, if you're looking for a multimedia powerhouse look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Great except that it damages itself !!
Review: I purchased the Jornada 548 about 5 months ago, and I'VE LOVED IT! Except, that is, for the fact that the lid marks the screen when it shuts. You see, the stylus holder is in the lid, and so there is a little ledge that sticks out a bit. Unfortunately, and maybe this is an isolated incident, the ledge has caused a mark in the center of my screen. HP tech support confirmed that the stylus holder IS INDEED supposed to impact the screen, but they said they have not had many cases when it actually caused damage. I'm not sure if that is entirely true, but I do know that it's not covered under warranty, and my only other option was to pay nearly $200 to have the screen replaced (just so it could get damaged again)! uh...no. Like I said before, this may just be an isolated incident, but it sure dampened my Jornada 548 experience.
As for the rest of the device, IT'S GREAT! But I would suggest purchasing the Jornada 568 instead, not only does it have way more computing power, it also has an internal stylus holder. {:^)
Rating:
Summary: Awesome tool only hampered by minor interface problems
Review: I bought this Pocket PC when I started traveling as part of my job as an self-employed business consultant. Unlike most consultants, I do not carry a lap-top around with me as my clients usually provide a workstation with all the conncetivity that I need for my actual work. The handheld is simply my electronic office, allowing me to keep schedules and contacts, organize tasks, and track finances. There are many things that I like about the Jornada. For one, the colorful display is crystal clear which means that text is easy to read and pictures are displayed rather brilliantly. The default applications: MS-Excel, MS-Word, and MS-Money are all well implemented and suit my needs to a tee. It's nice to be able to write a document on the road and then pass it to MS-Word on my PC at the office for printing. Keeping track of time and expenses is a piece of cake with Excel and MS-Money. For entertainment, the windows media player is a gift! It allows me to dump MP3's or WMA's (even better!) to the PDA from my PC at home. This means I can listen to all my favorite tracks on the road. The slim design and cool graphite casing make for an attractive yet still compact unit that is rugged enough to handle being tossed around inside my briefcase. So, where are the cons??? Well, simply there are some oddities with the operating system. There is no 'easy' way of closing an application once it is open. Accessing programs can be a bit of a chore unless you have them preset on the Start menu. Otherwise, I've experienced no problems with the device - which I have now owned for 6 months.
Rating:
Summary: Can't live without it
Review: I have a few minor complaints that I will start with. First, you really need to be very critical of how and where you save your items. I think this is the case with all Pocket PCs and not just this unit. If the battery power runs out, you lose all information not backed up to your flash card. If you don't have a flash card, you are out of luck. The nice thing is that you can back up your calendar, task list, and contact list all in one step, or you can just back up everything. Also you can just save your documents directly to your flash card. I could not figure out why I could not play MP3s off of my flash card. I checked the manual and there was no information, so I assumed it could not be done. My friend told me the files need to be within the folder "My Documents". It works, but better documentation would have been nice. Next, the task management is a bit non-intuitive. There are programs that are opened, but there does not seem to be a quick way to close them or switch between them easily. The alt-tab method in windows would have been a nice solution. When I power down, I always have to remember to go to the memory manager and choose "close all tasks", or they will still be running when I return. Now the good stuff. I carry this thing around with me everywhere. I bought the car power adapter so I can listen to mp3s or books on my commute to work and not worry about power loss. I will get an audio book from the library, and convert it to mp3 with free software readily available on the internet. If I am driving and I need a reminder, I just record my voice with the push of a button. My contacts are all in one place and can be accessed any time I need. I have so many things to do at any given time it was impossible to keep track of them, but now I just write them down in the task list, or the calendar. I will connect to my PC at night and download the latest news and sports, then I can relax on my couch and read it all. You can also transfer and view images from your PC if you want. Being a programmer, I checked out the SDK to see if I could write a program for this, and it is very easy. There are plenty of free and shareware programs available that people have written that anyone can download. The software support is there for mobile devices and grows every day.
Rating:
Summary: Nine months and the honeymoon is over
Review: The features were great. I thought I had the answer to my PC data portability problem. Having it all online is okay. Having it all online and in my pocket--now that was progress. Speed, performance, she had it all. Then 9 months into the romance she completely let me down. I have had to reset this thing more times then I can count. And just last week it seems to have totally locked up for good. I lost all my data on the PPC and it will not resync with my desktop. I place it in the cradle and nothing happens. That's not new but before if I turned it off and on a few times, perhaps slide it in and out of the cradle a few times and perhaps rebooted my PC eventually my PC and PPC would again notice each other. This time nothing works. This thing should last longer and be more reliable. All the features in the world are of no use at all if the thing is not reliable. For it to only be 9 months old and quit on me says "Don't waste your money."
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