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Compaq iPAQ 3955 Color Pocket PC

Compaq iPAQ 3955 Color Pocket PC

List Price: $499.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GREAT HIGH-END CHOICE
Review: I've been dying to get a palmtop for the last year to replace my old bulky HP Jourdana. I convinced myself that I would not get one until I could get the perfect package, phone and pocket pc integrated together with high-speed wireless internet, MP3 capability, infrared remote control, all of it. I waited and waited. Unfortunately the first generation of phone/PDAs is out and they all .... I want pocket PC not palm, so I checked out the Verizon Thera, and I actually physically laughed at the Verizon guy when he was showing it to me. For over [$$$] you get a PDA that can be a speakerphone, or you can carry a headset. The screen is awful. Their "high speed" wireless internet is [$$$] a month and no one can seem to get it to go faster than 14.4K. So I decided I definately was not waiting for the next set to come out. I got this Ipaq and kept my cell phone.

I don't like the palms, primarily becuase the graffiti pad is built into the screen; on a pocket pc you can choose between keyboard or a graffiti type recognition system or have the option to use the FULL screen. My girlfriend wanted one so I bought her a color palm m130(she mostly wanted the removable faceplates) and that one is really nice. Palms are definately the better option if you want an organizer, you would like some cool games and programs, and you want to pay less than [$$$} for one. She loves it, but I wanted more.

This Ipaq has the BEST screen. They made it thinner so there is not that annoying gap between the actual screen and where the stylus touches the pad. Makes it easier to use. The audio is very good; use one of those cassette adapters for a car cd player, plug it into this and you have awesome skip free digital quality music to pump. The screen is nice and big and VERY bright. I have the brightness turned about halfway down, and it is still plenty bright enough in all environments. The Battery life is the best of any pocket PC, one of the main advantages to having a palm. This can go all weekend without a charge and I use it constantly. Turning the screen brightness down really helps.

The feature I love the MOST is the consumer infrared port. It RULES. I have a lot of electronics, all the audio goes through a 5.1 reciever, and the video mostly goes directly to my TV (to take advantage of s-video and colorstream). Comcast has a motorola cable box that it is IMPOSSIBLE to get to work with regular universal remotes. This Ipaq can control EVERYTHING. It actually learns the infrared signal from any remote you have, and then you program it yourself to a device, room, and person. You can program MACROS too. I walk in the door, and with one touch this thing turns on my reciever, vcr, cable box, dvd player, and TV, sets the TV to the correct input mode, sets the reciever to the correct input and sound mode, and brings up the cable guide for me, PLUS turns on my air conditioner, sets it on high cool, and turns on my ceiling fan. With another touch it switches both the reciever and TV to DVD mode, changes to digital sound, turns down the brigtness of my TV and I'm ready to watch a movie, with ONE TOUCH. I also have a macro that turns everything off with one touch. My buddes are SO jealous of my home theater now hehe.

The writing recognition is WAY better than Graffiti. It can work with whole sentenes at a time instead of individual letters. It lets me go way faster, and actually makes a decent substitute for jotting notes down on paper. You have to try it to believe it. It's the 'transcriber' option, not the letter recognition. It recognizes printing, cursive, or a mixture of both; and you write across the whole screen instead of a little pad like Palm.

All in all I love this thing and I don't regret buying it at all. It is expensive, so if you are looking to save some money, go to maybe a Toshiba or a Palm. My stragegy is to own this for a year or so, by that time hopefully someone will create a viable phone/PDA hybrid, and then sell this one to buy the hybrid. Either that or just keep it as my universal remote control haha.

Here's what I DON'T like about it. Mostly the physical shape of the thing. My gf's palm is more contoured to the hand and lighter, it is much easier to hold. The main thing is that on hers, you detach the faceplate and fit a screen protector right there; if you want a screen protector for this Ipaq you have to get a special bulky case and increase the weight and size. I'm finding that hard to live with. My gf's palm also has a built in black plastic screen cover (cover, not stick on-protector like I was talking about) that flips UP. That is important because you hold it on one side with your hand. This comes with a really ... plastic case that opens to the side, and it is very inconvenient. I'm going to shop for cases, but with the palm you don't need one at all.

Another thing I don't like is that to get wireless internet or add more memory than the one slot, you need those bulky sleeves. However, since I kept my phone I use the internet on that and I will not need any of those sleeves unless I choose to go ahead and get a GPS add on (which I am going to do) In that case, the GPS will just stay in the car.

ALl in all, this thing is the best buy if you are willing to spend the money to have the BEST palmtop pc. I could not be more happy with it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Beware of battery problems
Review: Although I agree that the IPAQ looks great, has a great display, tons of neat applications, I've had a fatal flaw in my unit that doesn't appear to be that uncommon - the unit (even though completely turned off) drains the battery down to 0% at random times. One day it is at 95% battery capacity, the next day it's completely dead. That means you lose all your data and installed programs. Just wonderful if you're on the road, and used it to schedule appointments, etc (they're all gone, unless you were able to sync with a desktop/laptop before the battery died). I'm not claiming this happens with all units, but it does appear to be a significant problem - check out the links included below from the HP support site. After sending the unit back several times to HP, I'm tired of trying to get them to fix it. I'm trying to get HP to replace it, time will tell if they do....

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great and awesome HandHeld PC
Review: Words cannot even begin to describe this handheld pc. Well, I'm over exagerating a little. If you wanted to get a pocket pc, I suggest you get an Ipaq. It has the most amazing backlight and it's amazingly easy to use. There's hardly nothing that can't be done with it since it can be expanded with different kinds of expansion slots. Buy an Ipaq.

My main reason for writing this review was to actually thank the merchant that provided me her great service. Since it was too late for me to rate her using rate seller, I'll just rate her service here. I give yong2_wen2 a 5. Although I recieved the incorrect item at first, I was able to return the Ipaq and get the correct model with all shipping paid. yong2_wen2 was very responsive to every email I sent providing me with great customer service.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Elegant & Functional
Review: I recently replaced my 3600 Series iPaq with the 3955. What a difference! This iPaq is truly a joy. Easy setup. Clear instructions. Solid construction. Excellent sound quality. And a screen that makes the vivid color display on my old iPaq look like mud in comparison. True, the iPaq is a bit pricey and the learning curve - as with all Pocket PC's - is a little steeper than with a Palm, but once you get familiar with it (and it doesn't take long) there's nothing like it. Highly recommended.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Terrific
Review: Last year I got the Palm Vx for a holiday gift and I was very happy with it. It didn't come stocked with many feature but it did what I needed it to do and then some. I kept it for a year but this year, with the falling price of Compaqs in my area, I decided to grab my dream PDA. Let me tell you the iPAQ is the epitomy of PDA, there's nothing like it. When you first see it, what catches your eye is the sleek design of it. Once the screen turns on and see the 65,000 color screen, you'll know what seperates a Palm from a Pocket PC. The features that come with this Pocket PC: expandibility, 64MB ROM, Handwriting Recognition, Speakers, Mic/Voice Recorder are just obscene. Its hard getting past all of the great things it allows you to do and getting to work. The best part about this Pocket PC would be multitasking however. On PDAs that run on Palm OS (Palms....Clies....Visors....) there is only one task at a time. With the iPAQ I can listen to music, synchronize with my desktop and do work simultaneously. And the sound quality on the Pocket PC is actually quite good and there's a headphone jack if you need it anyway. The iPAQ is hard-pressed to be outdated because Compaq included an expansion slot. With this you can turn your Pocket PC into a digital camera, a cell phone, a GPS system, etc. And the screen, is among the largest on any Pocket PC (save for the newer Clies) and what it lacks in size, it makes up for in style. The iPAQ is a gorgeous PDA, no doubt about it
It fits comfortably into your pocket. So if you own a PDA and you're looking to updgrade or you want to purchase a very nice, reliable one, grab the iPAQ.
P.S.) Last year the Compaq iPAQ was the same price as a Palm m500, the difference is laughable... Check the features on amazon.com yourself...

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Attractive but abysmally frustrating
Review: Got this refurbished from Costco. Good screen etc. BUT, the power runs out every time you turn your back on it and there IS NO BACKUP (watch-type) battery. When the power runs out, you LOSE every program you ever installed, and the software walks you through an insultingly stupid nano-tutorial before you can use it again. Stupid design of the decade. Bought a stowaway keyboard for it and whenever the keyboard got near it, the Ipaq got flaky. Tonight the thing died again and I destroyed it (dead, it makes a better work of art than it ever did a PDA). Reason: I had to spend more time and effort reviving it than using it. A great concept with severely crappy reliability.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Love It
Review: I bought the IPAQ 3955 and was in love with it from the beginning. The price was kinda high, but for the features that you get on it, the price could be worth it. I love the memory capacity, the screen is very bright, there are a lot of accessories for it and there is plenty of software out there for it. The salesman in the store said the battery would last about a year and a half. That could be the only downfall of it. The microphone on it works wonderfully. Have not used the built-in blue tooth yet. I highly recommend this. It's hard to find on the Compaq website, so I would study every review on here.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Simply the Best!
Review: I was a bit hesitant about spending another [price] on yet another iPAQ. Not that I disliked my previous two (I've owned the 3600 and the 3800 series), but ten seconds after I turned the unit on (3955) I was glad I did! The iPAQ 3955 works so well I have renewed confidence in the "New HP" as Compaq has merged with HP. I must admit I was a bit skeptical when the merger was announce about the future of the iPAQ, but this first model since the merger has dispelled any concerns I previously held (Although the unit and all materials are still branded COMPAQ). The Consumer IP port is exceptional, it easily relaced my Phillips Pronto 2000 Universal remote, (with color to boot!) I've even downloaded a Voice activated Universal remote version for even easier use! The remote function alone is worth about [price]! The most striking feature is definately the display. Wow! When I compared the 3800 and the 3900 on each screen with identical files, I was amazed! The colors are vivid, crisp, great contrast, depth of color and is truely superior. Videos look amazing and sound incredible due in part to the Bass and Treble controls. The speaker is clear and for MP3's the headphone jack makes the unit sound unmatched. The iPAQ's popularity makes the availability of software vast, although there is currently limited software that takes advantage of the new processor speed (twice that of the earlier models). Be warned: Nexian is still having compatability issues with the 3900 series, so your Digital Camera expansion pack won't work yet. Nexian hopes to have this fixed soon. All other accessories are compatible from the 3800 series to the 3900 series, and most all others for the 3600 series work as well (Except for cradles and other cables.) The unit has performed well to date with none of the quirks or bugs from the 3800 series. (LED issues, static with speaker, unit auto-turning on/off, unit requiring frequent soft resets, color resolution, contrast settings, etc.) As a previous owner of the iPAQ 3635, iPAQ 3835, and now the iPAQ 3955 (all purchased from Amazon.com), I can recommend the new iPAQ 3955 with overwhelming support! P.S. I was able to sell my previous units at about 80% of their original price on Amazon Marketplace, so again the investment in the iPAQ is well worth it, the depreciation is low since demand is high! I would highly recommend all you 3600 and 3800 users out there to trade up and sell your older units to those just beginning to get their feet wet with PDA's. The older units are fantastic for High School or College students, make great gifts for graduation, and the newer units (3900 series) are essential for PDA junkies/technophiles who demand cutting edge technology!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent
Review: This is a great piece of equipment. i would recommend it for any working person with a full schedule. you can use it for anything! i've even used it for sound testing for churches and such. Buy this product! its worth the money!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: COMPAQ IPAQ GOOD TILL IT LAST
Review: i have had my share of POCKET PCs, PDA and even the CE devices. My very first PDA is the Casio Pocket Viewer, next is the Casio BE-300, after that i had my very first COMPAQ 3850 and now its the COMPAQ 3970.

I kinda like my COMPAQ 3970, it has all the good features youre looking for a pocket PC, bluetooth, picture viewer, calendar, notes, contacts, tasks... but maybe thats all there is.

I enjoyed it for almost a year, im just weary about how COMPAQ will adress this issue, "WHAT IF MY COMPAQ WOULD BE DEAD AFTER A YEAR", this problem keeps buggin me, any problems with my compaq would be a disater, its a timebomb waiting to explode and shatter all your informations into dirt. THe problem is the battery it works well now, but what will happen in the future.

Its expensive the time i bought it, but now newer models are coming in with more features. SO if i were you, buy the newer models, they're more reliable.


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