HP iPAQ hx2415 Pocket PC

VERY SHORT LIFE EXPECTANCY

This product worked great, however the touch screen began getting dead spots after about three years of seldom use. I would guess that continuous use it would be even less. Replacing the screen is the only solution and that costs as much as the product itself. I recommend keeping the warranty up to date or not buying this product at all. I don't think that three years is worth the money I spent on the product.

Current Best Offer: $399.00

Great little gadget

I purchased my hx2415 three years ago, and have enjoyed it on many long trips. It's ability to communicate via 802.11b, bluetooth or serial infared gives it great functionality. The SD and CF slots are a good way to store vast amounts of data without cluttering up the iPaq's limited internal storage. I use HP's bluetooth GPS along with iGuidance to help me navigate while I travel. My travelling MP3's are stored in a 2 gig sd card, and are easily accessed by the iPaq's Windows Media Player. The whole case is protected by an all aluminium clamshell that I found on Amazon for under $20. Throw away the clear plastic flip-lid that came with the iPaq, as it will not protect it.

As some have noted, these PDA's will eat batteries if not configured properly. Make sure to shutdown any alert sounds or pop-ups that are generated outside the operating system. Even the M/S calendar can turn on the unit to remind you of appointments. That's great if you're at your desk, but it's not so good if the PDA is locked in a suitcase. Also make sure to shutdown the infared port when it's not needed. The standby battery control is a bit awkward, as you can select the length of "stand-by" time. Make sure to set it at maximum, so the unit can last longer after the main battery drains. Lastly, get in the habit of checking the screen after you press power button. A long press only shuts down the screen backlight, but the unit keeps running. I always check to make sure the unit is truely powered off.

Current Best Offer: $399.00

A versatile pocket computer

I have had an HP 2415 for a year. First the bad news - the battery will drain if it is docked and no power is turned on - despite being set to go to sleep when powered. I have had to reload software 10 times because of this flaw.

The purpose of this review is to show what you can do with this little device if you buy the right software.

The whole reason for not having a combined phone and PDA is to get maximum battery power.

Having said that my main use is to sync with Outlook for email reading and looking up phone numbers.

I usually use WiFi to connect to the Internet - in a pinch I can use Bluetooth (saves battery) and connects well to Cingular with my Bluetooth enabled cellphone - but because I don't have a very good data plan with Cingular it cost me $40 to get 5MB of data while between flights in an airport - so if you want to save battery and use Bluetooth and your cellphone to connect to the Internet sign up for a good data plan.

I've also added a whole bunch of software to make it more useful.

If I travel I can convert a movie to run on an SD card using Pocket DVD.

I have star gazing software which is useful as the screen lights up at night - also SatPPC tracks the shuttle and international space stations.

Free Bubbles and Tetris games (from Ramon De Klein) with a paid Trivial Pursuits give you something to do in airports.

For mapping I can download Mapquest routes using AvantGo for free. I have Microsoft's Streets and Trips and the version with GPS has a Pharos GPS that works in the CF slot (even though the last pin of the CF slot got bent and was not covered by warranty and the slot won't take a memory card any more - not a big deal as the device can only address 4GB). I also have Outdoor Navigator - no longer in business. Its good for geotracking.

I have Pocket Diet Tracker - again no longer offered on Handango - the advantage being you can import the entire USDA food database plus make your own or download from the Pocket Diet Tracker site calorie sheets from fast food restaurants.

I can learn Spanish on the device.

You need third party software to make it sync with iTunes - so I don't do that but it can store MP3 files, playing them with Windows Media Player.

I take books with me - downloaded Acrobat Reader and Flash (the latter essential for website browsing).

While on website browsing - it won't take popups and the browser is weak - so a plea to website developers - don't use Flash or extra windows - stick to tables and animated GIFs and use a version of HTML - then web browsing works fine.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary is pretty weak, and I have an Encyclopedia Brittanica on an SD card as well as World Almanac for reference. I have Quick Verse and Laridian (NIV study Bible) for reading various Bible Versions - so no need to carry a Bible to church any more.

TapBirds is a bird watching program that would be more useful if it had better descriptions and a wider choice of birds - but for seeing what you are supposed to be looking at it works fine.

Finally free software Tipster lets you calculate tips for groups of friends at a restaurant.
PhonTuner can be used to tune instruments such as guitars and violins.

All in all this is a very useful device. I understand I could upgrade the OS to Windows Mobile 5.0 to overcome the power draining problems - but then some of my software would be obsolete.

Current Best Offer: $399.00

Battery Problems - Lost all data

This is my 4th PDA, and I have had it for about a year now. My first 2 was Palm devices - first a Palm IIIx and then a Vx. I loved the Vx for its small size, but after it died, I decided to go with a PocketPC for some of the features it offered. I got an iPAQ 3955 which I like alot, but the size was hard to get used to after the Vx. I still used it pretty heavily, and after 2 years I found I needed a device with built in WiFi, as the PPC2003 upgrade wouldn't let me use my WiFI card anymore. So last February I upgraded to the 2415. I liked the smaller size of the unit over the 3955, and it functioned well at first. However, in the past few months, I found there are times I try to turn the unit on, and nothing happens. Apparently, the battery will run down while it is off, and after charging, it is back to factory settings, having lost all applications and records. Even though there is a backup battery in it, it doesn't seem to have done anything to maintain my data. This has happened a few times in the past several weeks to the point where it has been too much of a hassle to keep reinstalling the applications (and digging out reg. codes to reregister the programs). I have found that I barely use it anymore, but not for a lack of wanting to use a PDA. I'd rate this at 2.5 stars since it functioned well for a while, and only recently became virtually useless. I am now looking at going back to a Palm device if I can find one that suits my needs.

Current Best Offer: $399.00

screen cracking and unable to turn on/hard reset problem

I have HX2415 for no more than 2 months, the screen cracked
hey, I didn't drop and apply too much stress on the screen
well, I took the screen out from good old RX3115 (from HTC actually), and replaced
then it has stablity problem, sometimes it don't turn on, if you try to reset, it turns to hard reset:(
recently HP PDA has screen cracking problem
now I have Dell X50V (also from HTC), and work a lot better (except battery time)

Current Best Offer: $399.00