Hewlett Packard IPAQ h3630 Pocket PC

Much as I hate to contribute to the "Microsoft takes over another niche" trend, I gotta say that the Ipaq 3630 is a serious rival to the Palm OS. The backlit, reflective color screen is quite bright and easy to read in situations ranging from direct sunlight to midnight dark. At the time I bought it (17 months ago), it was far and away the best display on the market. I have yet to see one better, but I'm not really shopping anymore, so take that one with a grain ...

On top of the brilliant screen, the Ipaq runs the Pocket PC operating system, essentially a mini-me MS Windows. Included in the OS is Pocket Word, Excel, Outlook, Solitaire, all the really important Office apps. In addition, there is a great character recognition program available for download called transcriber. Actually, calling it a character recognizer isn't quite fair. What it really is is a handwriting recognizer. You do not have to individually write out letters. Transcriber can interpret them if you wish, but the real advantage comes from its ability to recognize lines of handwritten text, especially cursive. Instead of feverishly whacking stuff out in a small block like Palm's Graffiti demands (or the built in "character recognizer" of the Ipaq), Transcriber lets you enter text just like you would write it on paper. After finishing a line, the software thinks for a second and then converts what you wrote into typed text. Cool? You bet. Accurate? Well, that's another story.

What I have found is that I can reconstruct anything I write from notes taken on the Ipaq, but there are frequent errors. I would put the accuracy at around 85% for my handwriting, not that different from my native ability to interpret my *own* handwriting, so the gizmo gets a solid B. The main thing is I can take notes when I need to and don't have to worry about not being able to read what I wrote later.

Pocket Excel is just killer. It is a fully functional little spreadsheet. Before going out to look at cars with my Daughter, I set up a spreadsheet in Excel on my laptop to calculate loan amorts for various terms and rates. Then, I used the active sync program to transfer the spreadsheet from my PC to the Ipaq. Sure enough, all the formulas went across perfectly and I had my own handy little loan tool banging around in my pocket. Which brings me to the size of the thing ...

The Ipaq is right on the hairy edge of being too big. I say right on the edge because it is NOT too big, just close to being so. It still fits in a shirt pocket or in the side pocket of a pair of Dockers. Forget wedging it into your jeans though, unless you are really trying to impress your date with the size of your bulge.

The problem with this is that if you want to attach anything to the Ipaq you have to use an expansion device. This is a bulky sleeve unit that will pretty much rule out the use of any pocket smaller than one found in your average musher's parka. But I like to keep it simple. No extras for my Ipaq. It takes notes, appointments, stores contacts and beams them over to other Pocket PC or Palm OS PDA's (using a nifty little tool called Peacemaker) and plays a mean game of solitaire when windbags take over the meeting. It is also an excellent alarm clock with its very own snooze button!

There are tons of other features/programs -- a media player, jpeg viewer, all sorts of stuff. But again, I like to keep it simple, so I mostly end up using the stuff outlined above.

Some stuff on service. I bought the Ipaq when it was just released and very hard to come by. Turns out, there was a serious problem with the original design that caused the screen to suddenly reverse itself. You would be writing along in Transcriber and suddenly the whole screen would start reading backwards. It was a real pain. Well, Compaq determined that there was a manufacturing defect in the design of the display/system board interface. So how much trouble did I have getting Compaq to fix it? None! They sent me a shipping box overnight, right to my door. I tossed in the flaky Ipaq and shipped it back, free of charge. Compaq had if fixed perfectly and back to me in less than a week. This level of service is nothing short of excellent.

If you decide to get an Ipaq, a caution ... Do yourself a favor. Don't let the batteries run all the way down. If you do, the Ipaq will remember only one thing, and that is your contact list. Everything else, all your data files, all those applications you painstakingly downloaded and installed, all will be gone. I have a tendency to leave the Ipaq stashed in my briefcase for long periods. Leave it in there too long and the batteries go dead. If they do, you will be busy reentering your owner info. And all those cool apps like Transcriber and Peacemaker and Freecell? Gone. Your contacts will be safe, but little else will remain other than the applications that come with the Pocket PC OS. No, it isn't really all that hard to reinstall the applications, but you will never have to do it if you just remember to stick the Ipaq in the charger every week or so.

Otherwise, the batteries do fine. A full charge will get you through an entire day's meetings. Keep the backlight brightness low for optimum use time, and remember to turn the thing off when you aren't using it, even if it is just solitaire. I think the Pocket PC OS paired with the splendid little Ipaq has proven versatile, easy to use, and just plain handy. After more than a year and half of ownership I wouldn't dream of parting with mine.