The HP direPaq (Compaq iPaq Pocket PC H3830)

Member Name: ben-lloyd

Product:	Compaq iPaq Pocket PC H3830
Date:	01/07/09 (137 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fully Windows compatible

Disadvantages: Unreliable, bulky, limited, too little RAM

As part of my job I have been issued with an iPaq H3830 which, if all you want is an address book-cum-diary is fine. Unfortunately I expect/need a lot more from PDA and would like to use it to make my job a lot easier.
The bundled software with the iPaq is very useful at times but only really in a networked environment - my employer has a large wireless network, wherein begins the problems with this machine.

As with all iPaqs and Pocket PCs, battery life is dreadful due to the large colour screen and the excessive processing power needed to run Windows Mobile 2000 or 2002.

To get round the poor battery life and networking issues, I also have a PCMCIA "jacket" with additional battery included. Mounted into the PCMCIA slot is a standard type II wireless network card which allows me to access networked resources at work, remotely control servers, browse the internet and collect my email on the move. The downside of this is that the device now weighs more than twice as much as when I started and is too large to fit comfortably into a pocket.

I have also found the operating system to be very unstable and, just like a desktop PC, my Pocket PC needs regular (2-3 times a day) reboots. I have upgraded the device from Windows 2000 to Windows 2002 and also the device firmware but neither of these have made any difference to the systems performance.

In the favour of the H3830, it has been thoughtfully equipped with a secure digital/multi media card slot instead of requiring a Compact Flash jacket like earlier models. However because of the meagre 32MB RAM included this slot has been in use since day one of ownership. It is possible to get a wireless network card to go in this slot but then you will not have enough memory left to run any programs or store any documents....

There are also some reasonable accessories available - the thumb-keyboard and fold-up keyboards are very useful to me in day-to-day working as I find the handwriting recognition to be poor on the iPaq too. Even the Palm-Graffiti recognition equivalent does not work correctly.

Based on my experience supporting Pocket PCs both at home and at work I would only recommend them to people who want a simple diary/contact management device they can carry in their bag which has a familiar-ish Windows interface or for those who are label-conscious. There are now many more PDAs on the market which feature longer battery life, integrated wireless, more memory etc etc etc and I would suggest that the buyer investigates these options, even though they will cost more. I would also suggest that the more PDA-proficient check out the Palm-based PDAs which in my experience are more stable and versatile along with being smaller, lighter and more battery efficient.

Overall this machine is marginally better than the earlier iPaq 3630 but still a cripple in PDA terms.


© ben-lloyd 2009. This review appears on other websites under the same user name.

Summary: Looks good, but that's about it...

Processing/Quality:
Reliability:
Ease of use:
Installation:
Noise:
Battery life: