HP iPAQ RX3715 Pocket PC

• Integrated WLAN 802.11b, Bluetooth IrDA and USB
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition software
• Samsung S3C 2440 processor
• Built-in 1.3 MP camera, 1280 x 960 resolution, 4x digital zoom, video record and playback
• 152 MB user available memory

I bought this a couple of days ago at the store. Trust me, I did my running around trying to decide which PDA to buy. I was not really wanting to spend five hundred dollars on a thingamajig, but after trying it out, I loved it. I went to all of the big stores, and this was the one I kept on coming back to this one. Let me explain why I picked this one.

1. You get a decent amount of memory and it comes with one of those cards with a 100MBS on it...I put 2 albums worth of songs, and guess what--that's fine. I wanted the IPOD before this, and really, I don't need to have a thousand songs. I don't have a thousand songs worth listening to anyway! The sound quality is perfect. You can also buy portable speakers and it'll sound great.

2. It was easy to work with. I fully personalized mine with my photos and changed the theme. It's really like a beautiful tiny computer that's fast and easy to use.

3. If I was going to shell out the dough, I actually enjoy feeling the weight and quality. It looks and feels good in the hand. I did't want something that felt like a cheap calculator, other pda feel this way. BUT some prefer the lightness too. I don't.

4. The camera. Listen, I knew the camera wasn't all that. It's similar to most camera phones. There's no flash! But I like that there is a camera b/c if I'm in class and I don't feel like drawing a diagram, tada, I can take that picture! I'm not going to depend on this camera for my vacation pics. Duh. I have my nice 3MP camera for that. Its just great for those times that you wish you can take a quick snap. Especially living around New York. You see some crazy stuff at times that nobody believes you if you try to explain it. LOL

5. It's a voice recorder...did I say that I was a student??? I wish I had this a long time ago. This a great feature.

6. As for battery life, I've used this for two days w/o charging, the battery is still has ten more hours to go.

7. There's a cradle which connects you to your pc and it's internet connection.

500 dollars sounds like a lot, but you'll end up buying sd cards and cradles, which add up! Plus, this will be able to use longer that those models that are soon to go obsolete.

The only thing that I wish were better:

-I wish there was a better case included--It's an excercise each time to pull it off. But, come on...

Go for it...the other ones, you'll regret a few month from now when you see what features you're missing out on.

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Seriously, I use my iPAQ to keep track of everything from my work schedule to my grocery lists.

The camera isn't tops, but what do you want from a 1.3MP cam with no optical zoom? If you're relying on this as your primary camera you really just don't get it. The cam is fine for quick shots and I've taken some photos that have turned out quite well.

I highly suggest downloading Theme Generator from Microsoft's website as the themes that come with it are, as with most stock desktop wallpapers, pretty boring. Or you can download some from www.pocketthemes.com they have a wide variety.

The universal remote feature is pretty cool. I have both the living room and my office programmed in. It doesn't cover every make and model though. I haven't been able to access the DVD player in my office with it. But it is fun randomly turning off my unsuspecting friend's TV or stereo.

I highly recommend picking up a SD memory card, especially if you want to use the iPAQ as a music/video player. The full screen feature on WMP is nice and makes viewing videos a nicer experience. The speaker(s?) isn't terribly loud, but you don't have to strain to hear it unless you're in a noisy environment. The headphones sound much better.

The Today screen is customizable. I keep the date/time, my upcoming calendar events and tasks list on mine.

The web browser doesn't handle text wrapping well on some pages and having to scroll back and forth to read on pages where it doesn't reformat is annoying, but it is a 3.5" screen after all. It works fine for short web-surfing sessions.

Having Bluetooth is nice as well. Up until now, the built in Bluetooth in my Apple Powerbook was going unused. It won't work with iSync like Palm OS devices will but I can still sync my Address Book contacts and copy small files back and forth.

The cradle now has a permanent home in front of my LCD monitor on my desk so I can drop it in whenever I get home and update the synced files on my PC.

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This was my PocketPC after being a Palm user for 3 generations. I think the reason most people have problems with lockup is that they don't actually "close" the application. Like a mini-PC, it can multitask, and having 4 or more apps open at a time can cause the device to freeze. However, once you figure out how to actually close and unload apps from memory (which, admittedly, isn't intuitive) my lockup programs are no more. I keep, at most, 3 apps in memory that I'm currently using.

What is nice is that a lot of the extras are included, that is, you're not buying "extra" things which should be included. You get a real cradle for syncing and charging. Windows Media Player plays mp3s (with playlists) and video out-of-the-box. Some other manufacturers will say their device does video, but you get trial software that is limited to 15 seconds and must buy other software to convert to a proprietary format. You get a real internet browser, POP and IMAP mail access, programmable remote control (that works!), and other full feature software.

Yes, the camera is poor (despite being a megapixel). A bit better than your average camera phone. Pictures in bright sunlight turn out acceptable. Video clips, however, are actually decent (maybe I have a lower expectation of quality?).

I have sloppy writing as well, but have had no problems once I configure the software as such. Once you tell it which ways you commonly write your letters, it does fine. It is a time-consuming process but is worth the effect. You can even tell it which way your writing slants (I'm left-handed, so I had low expectations). Now I can write in my half-print-half-cursive writing with high accuracy.

Overall, it's a decent device and has lots of cool features that any tech-geek would like.

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I bought mine on Dec 31st 2004. This pocket pc is a very useful gadget from HP. The still camera works great for a 1.2 mega pixel but good lighting is needed for optimal results. I've read the other user's reviews on this product and I think they expected too much from the 1.2 mega pixel camera. The built-in camera is meant for online or device viewing and not for quality picture printing.

I haven't got the chance to rip some DVDs yet but when I connected to the my wireless network, I watched movie trailers and I cannot believe the quality of the picture at 300kb stream rate. Connecting to my wireless network was a breeze as well. Today I installed a network printer to my Ipaq rx3715 and it worked great. All that is required to connect a network printer is the printer IP address and its name. No need to install any drivers for HP printers.

The media player has great quality stereo sound with headphones or external speakers. The bass and treble can be adjusted for personal preference...which is a good feature.

The PDA functionality is very good especially the transcribe feature which allows the user to handwrite on the screen and then it turns in type-written letters. This feature saves you the hassle of typing in the letters from a keyboard.

The battery life lasts 6-7 hours on the average use time including surfing the net with wi-fi. The battery charges fast with or without connecting to a USB port.

There are a lot more features I haven't had the chance to try yet, but in a nutshell this pocket pc is a great buy at $499 US.

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I would give this iPaq five stars were it at least $50 cheaper. Seems to get in line with the competition it would have to be $100 cheaper. But price aside this is a wonderful PDA. I've had a range of PDAs from the first Palm Pilot, Apple Newtons, Philips Nino, Psion Series 5, Sony Clie, and more, and this is overall the best one yet. It's a very small and light package full of features. I love having wifi and bluetooth built-in and it works fine with our AT&T wifi at home and at a local coffee-shop. Battery life is amazing. I've easily watched two feature length movies without running out of battery, and I can easily go a few days of normal use without a recharge.

Is all good? Well, no... the case that comes with the iPaq is pretty much useless. You're going to have to spend more money on a decent case. I got a Krusell Multidapt case. The screen seems to scratch very easily but that's common among these devices and you need screen protectors anyway. The HP software is not the greatest and you're going to want to get some other software to do some things.

Overall, a very good PDA, albeit a bit pricey.