Do you have doubts about a PDA (HP iPaq Pocket PC Rx3715)

Member Name: yorcie

Product:	HP iPaq Pocket PC Rx3715
Date:	20/05/05 (196 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Simple to use, So versatile, Excellent value for money

Disadvantages: Accessories bit expensive

HP iPAQ rx3715

I feel I can speak with some confidence now having owned this piece of equipment for almost 6 months. I think it is important to tell you what sort of person I am because you may be able to identify with it. I have a hells own job running a desk diary. I can write every appointment I have in it but for most of the time it is there to reflect on missed appointments, because I could never remember to look in it everyday. Since buying this machine it has quite literally changed my life in more ways than one.

I only entertained this machine because it had a windows base. I wanted something that would be familiar and easy to learn. Hey! it was both familiar and easy to learn.

I set my sights on the Hewlett Packard iPAQ 2210. Read all about it and then went out to buy it. I could not get hold of it for love nor money. The thing I found was that there was not one single person that could tell me very much about them. That is so frustrating when you are spending this sort of money and you cant play with it. (incidentally there were 12 demonstration models on a wall, only three worked). It was Christmas and there were 5 people looking at boxes and those that worked. A potential £1,500 worth of trade but no one could help any of us. I was offered the rx3715 and apart from reading the spec on the box I was getting fed up and felt my Christmas present was slipping away from me. I bought the PDA and bartered for a 128mb SD card as I had been severely inconvenienced. They agreed and I am pleased to say I have NEVER looked back.

Enough of me, now lets talk about the PDA. First of all it is a really attractive looking piece of computer hardware. Secondly it is so versatile you will be amazed at what it can do. If you get a picture of one you will see five buttons at the bottom. I rarely use these so dont get hung up on them, they are merely shortcuts. The screen is a great size but more importantly the images are exceptionally crisp and sharp. It comes with its own cradle which sits on your desk and just holds your PDA and charges it without any prompting whatsoever. It comes with a pointer which sits in a little slot on the top, a bit like putting a sword in a sheath. While you can use anything that has even the remotest point to it you dont because things like pens or pins would scratch or damage the screen face. You dont lose these either as Hewlett Packard would charge you £18 for a pack of three. You cannot use any other type as they cleverly design the slot so the pointer sits flush.

Once you have put the battery in you must never remove it again, doing so will completely wipe everything that is not in the iPAQ store (more of that later). Switch on and instantly you are given a windows screen. You can get your own wallpaper but I would say not to get too many as eventually it just goes to clutter up your PDA. On screen you have the start menu and a 'new' button for word, excel, contacts, notes and tasks, or anything you want to put in the menu. The start menue behaves just like the one on your computer so no need to go into detail about that. In the middle you can have whatever you want in there. I have the date at the top, under that I have a list of any tasks i have and then my calendar items. Looking at it today tells me things yet to happen (wiped when it has passed) and later in the day tells me things happening tomorrow. But dont worry as you can personalise all this to show what you want to see. The speaker sound level is also visible but that travels with you vitually everywhere so its always available. The only exception are some games and when watching something on media viewer. The time is displayed and also that data is being transferred (or not).

This PDA uses only an SD card unlike other models which I believe can use two varieties. So what is my reply, I'm more than happey with my SD card. So let me just finish by telling you what this machine can hold and do for you, ;eaving the best until last. You can play a multitude of games on it. There are litterally hundreds of games and they are not poor quality either. You can store all your contact names and information. File explorer is exactly that, the way to get round your machine. There is also a 'find' facility. Windows Media now on version 10 is just brilliant on here. Sitting neatly at the back of the PDA is a 1.2 mega pixel digital camera. There is no flash of course so you are a bit limited with low level lighting but overall I have taken some cracking pictures with it. You can view all your pictures either on the onboard programme called HP Image zone or you can view them on your computer. There are three places you can store files, programmes and documents. The basic machine which I suppose is like your basic 'C' drive. Then there is the iPAQ store which I mentioned earlier. Storing stuff in here is much safer as it is less likely to be lost. The last place is the SD card. I got a 128mb card with it but then bought a 1gb card because I wanted to do something really special and this is where this piece of kit excels itself. I can transfer full length feature films onto the SD card and then play them back at will. The first one I tried was on the train from Portsmouth to London, a journey of 1 1/2 hours. I put the Life of Brian on in Portsmouth and it finished while approaching Waterloo station. Headphones come with it and though the speaker is not too good the headphones give you excellent sound. That 1gb SD card can take 5 full length films.

Finally back to the cradle. putting the PDA in the cradle immediately interfaces with your computer. Whatever information you select will travel backwards and forwards instantly. For instance, any pictures taken on your iPAQ. On your computer you have an explore facility which allows you to travle right through the iPAQ file system including the basic storage, the iPAQ store and your SD card. This is the place to dictch things you no longer want on your PDA.

I could go on and on all night about what this can do for you and if I had been able to read a down to earth review like this I would have had a far easier job choosing my machine. I didnt so it took me a long time. Take it from me, this PDA was between £260 and £290. but I told someone today, now I have been using it for sometime I would pay £400 for this and I am a Yorkshireman and dont part with my money easily. It is just so good that I know you are going to get along fine with it and gain a friend in the process. It sits in my shirt pocket all day long justv reminding me when my next appointment is or ready to play a game during my lunch break. I cannot praise this machine highly enough. you have my word it is good.

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