HP iPAQ 211 Enterprise Handheld (210 Series)

Device died within 3 months. Unit would not charge and would not power on or reset. Sent to HP under basic warranty. HP claimed that due to some discolorations on the system board near the power / usb connectors that some liquid must have been spilled on the system board at some previouos date and as such the warranty was void. I was advised that I could either pay $194.50 to have the system board replaced or pay $49.95 to decline the repair and have the unit shipped back to me. Totally unacceptable customer service from HP. I will throw this unit in the trash and never buy another HP product again.

Whats Good: Cann't think of a thing.
Whats Bad: This is what I sent to the CEO as instructed by HP employees.

Purchased in March 2009 Warranty expires April 15, 2010.
I have been a HP customer for over 15 years. I've purchased Desktops, Printers and Pocket PCS. Over the last several years, I have purchased a desktop HP Media Center that was dead out of the box (defective motherboard)and a HP Photosmart 7760 printer that would not work-straight out of the box. Then In late March of 2009 I purchased an HP iPAQ 211 hand held device.The problems from day one: will not always connect to my desktop, often loses connection during Sync resulting in a complete loss of data in MS Outlook Calendar and Contacts on the desktop and the iPAQ, fully charged battery would not last a full day of no to light use, turns itself on and off, no support to speak of, HP refuses to repair under warranty.

Calls to support have proven useless. Their solution has always been to wipe the unit clean and do a complete reinstall on the iPAQ and reinstall all of the supplied software, on the desktop and the unit. This has never solved anything. In early Feb. 2010 I was finally unable to connect to the desktop at all. Once again I called support. This time they offered to have the problem diagnosed in house. Since the unit was still under warranty I agreed. I sent them the iPAQ 211 unit, the HP OEM extended life battery I had purchased separately, and the 24 pin Connector/AC power adapter cable. They called me on February 25, 2010 and said the problem had been determined by HP to be "user damage" with no option to appeal. They gave until March 3rd to decide if I wanted to pay $200.00 to repair or pay $50.00 to send it back to me. It was never explained how the motherboard and the connecter were damaged. I have never dropped the unit or be un-gentle with it in any way. Their only offer to explain was an offer to "send the pictures" to me. They did not have nor had they seen "the pictures" themselves, but they assured me they would show that it was user damage.

I was told by the billing Manager that there is no way to appeal her decision, that she had the final word. Later she stated if I wanted to pursue this further I would have to send an email to the CEO, Mark Hurd, through their corporate web site. But that even if I did that I would still be billed $50 and the unit would be returned on March 3rd. She was the third person to read me the exact same script. I told her I could not find the link and asked her for assistance. She only repeated it was there without offering any help. Then I asked for the address to thier offices, she refused to tell me. With the explanation that she had no idea! When I expressed my amazement she relented and said "they are located in California" but would not give the city because "it is not business related". (REALLY!?)

Then she hung up.

That's where it stands today.

PS I tried to print the preview of this posting and my HP printer locked up. I ended up printing on another Brands printer.

I didn't like this product. Battery life is very poor. I had to order new battery after a week. You have to charge it once a day (use or not). My Palm Tungsten E2 would go a month without charge. Big difference.
I do not recommend this product. HP needs to work on it.

I had the HP3115 in the past. This one seems to read handwriting a little better. It takes patience as it learns your style. It behaved very much like the 3115 except the memory was larger. The battery runs down slower. The internet browser is much faster. There is little comparison between the two. The main memory is very helpful in being able to process more things better. The 8GB memory card is not easily compatible with my 2GB card. The 8GB has a larger word on its FAT table. If you get a 8GB you need to take care of this issue prior to use. It is very difficult to transfer files between the two.

I like the product. It took a while to become accustomed. Many of the things that were required on the HP3115 had to be done again. It has been years since I did them, so I got to learn again.

Windows mobile keeps getting worse with each new release. It was terrible when I tried it 5 years ago and it still is today. The interface is slow and clunky and pretty much unusable. This device was supposed to be a big improvement over my old PDA but sadly it was a disappointment. After 2 weeks of use I sent it back for a refund.

Get with the program Microsoft and overhaul WinMo!

Good for it's purpse. Windows Mobile is compatible with lots of medical references databases so it is a useful features.

I was a bit reluctant to order after reading some negative reviews of this product but I liked my old iPAQ and figured the new one would be at least as good so I took the plunge. I'm glad I did. Contrary to what I read, the screen does not require too heavy a touch with the stylus, the battery life is quite adequate, and connecting the charger is not a problem.

I strongly recommend this PDA to anyone looking for a product of this kind.

My background: I'm a long time Pocket PC user and the 211 replaces my faithful but low-end Dell Axiom x30, and prior to that I was a long time Palm user. My Axim started doing strange things and it was time for a replacement. I wanted an excellent PDA that also worked well as a media device (mainly for music but also for movies which I rip from DVD). I like stylus input with handwriting recognition and am more than happy with a separate, smaler mobile phone (which is why I didn't get a Blackberry). I've had this unit for about 3 weeks and have used it a LOT.

Pros:
1. The 211 and the IPAQ 111 are the only game in town if you want a non-phone PDA. I don't think Palm sells them anymore and only HP still offers a Pocket PC device. ***This is the single biggest reason to buy this unit***
2. Outstanding, huge screen with vibrant colors
3. Stylus input with handwriting recognition, assuming you like that versus using a keyboard or fingers
4. Adequate as a media device if all you need to play are mp3 and windows media files audio files. Media Player does not support lots of codecs, doesn't have a pre-amp to control treble & base, and in spite of what the documentation says, you can't reprogram the buttons. However, this Media Player is a big improvement over the one that came with Windows Mobile 2003 on my Axim -- that version was unusable. Microsoft claims you can use Media Player to sync files, similar to the way iTunes works, but as this feature never worked on under Windows Moble 2003, I long ago gave up and simply copy files onto my SD card myself and that works fine. However, if you have a big SDHC card with lots of files, it looks like it takes a long time for WMP to update its library
5. Takes SDHC and CF cards. You can really load a lot of storage on this unit. I have a 32gb SDHC card
6. Excellent feel and size. It feels solid and even though it's a "large" unit, most of the increase is in the length. It still fits easily into my shirt pocket -- even in a leather case! And I can stick into my pants pocket easily too.
7. WiFi setup is a snap and mobile IE is OK -- much better than I expected, in fact (I expected the worst!). I tried the Skyfire mobile browser expecting IE to come out second but there was no comparison, IE was vastly better. The Opera Mobile browser (free) has some nice features and may be a better choice than IE in the long run, but I don't really need internet access on my PDA


Cons, in no particular order (but they are the reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5)
- Windows Mobile 6 is a bit clumsy and to my surprise requires somewhat more taps to do things than WM 2003 (eg, to edit a calendar entry requires one more tap than WM 203) -- but this isn't a big deal, just a minor irritant that I've gotten used to already

- Not blazingly fast. I say this because the 211 has a fast processor and many reviewers have commented on that fact. I expected a more zippy feel to it but I don't see it. Not that it's slow (but see next point), but it doesn't feel fast either. I take this to be due to Microsoft bloat, not HP

- Noticeably slow opening a big word document. No idea why but my old, slow, Axim x30 was much faster in this regard. And it's not that big a document I'm opening, either, only 616 words and 39K

- Can't reprogram all buttons. On my old Axim, I could reset any button to any function, but on this IPAQ, you can't reset buttons 2 or 3. I find this very annoying (you can reset "Hold Button 3" but not Button 3). Don't know if it's an HP limitation or Microsoft's

- Windows Media Player (WMP) is lame:
(1) can't reset any buttons at all -- in spite of the fact that it claims to be able to reset any button! I find this very, very annoying.
(2) playback of video files is terrible. I rip DVDs to ASF or WMV format and they play back beautifully on my PC but on WMP Mobile (on the Ipaq) it's so jerky that it's unwatchable. I was afraid it was the Ipaq itself but no -- when I installed my old friend, the TCPMP player (which I used for years on my Axim) it played back magnificently. Clearly Microsoft just failed to put out a quality player -- shame on them. No wonder people buy Ipods.

- Weird syncing problem with Outlook 2003 -- I have to have Outlook open in order for my Notes to sync. Otherwise I get an error syncing Notes. I see no reason to upgrade my outlook, which I guess would fix the problem(?)

OTHER THOUGHTS:
Audio jack on bottom is OK. I mention this because so many other reviewers mention the strange position of the audio jack on the bottom. This simply is not an issue, though I was afraid it would be. I often slip the unit into my pocket (shirt or pants) while connected and I just slip it in top first so the jack sticks up, and this is with a leather flip case, too.

Speakers. Many of the reviews I saw talk about the poor quality of the speakers and how they are on the back of the unit. So what? Does anyone use this as a stereo replacement? Audio recording playback of voices is just fine (I don't use this feature myself but I did test it out). And who does not use earphones listening to music on a personal media device? The sound quality out the earphone jack is excellent, the sound quality from the speaker is what you'd expect from a tiny little speaker. I just don't understand this criticism.

I don't use Bluetooth so I can't comment on that

I haven't used it long enough to really run the battery down but just from listening to music for several hours I can tell that the battery life is very good

I agree with everyone else that this screen requires more pressure. I got used to it quickly, it's not an issue IMO

HP's calling this an "Enterprise" device does it a disservice. It's a great personal device.

Previously owned a Palm Z22. Stopped Hot Syncing so i went shopping for a new PDA. Not too many left on the market. But when i came across the iPAQ 211, and I fell in love with the it.
First, The screen is enormous compared to my Palm. It is bright and the quality of the images are wonderful.
I like the fact that Microsoft Excell, Word, Powerpoint, and One Note are available on this item, due to the fact I'm a student an use them quite a bit. I can start a project when I'm not near my computer and download when I get home.
Bluetooth and Wifi are a great touch, but uses way too much battery, so turn it off when you're not using it. I also found them to be very slow.
You can program most of the display buttons to do whatever you choose. Which is very convenient.
Instant messaging is also great, but there again, very slow.
It's not much use as far as alarms go. The sounds are so low, it's practically useless.
The calandar and Contacts are great, but i liked on my Palm where you could use different colors to indicate different appointments. The calander just display's a light green or dark green under the monthly heading so as to indicate appointments. The Contacts has a lot of different catergories and is extensive. I love it. Almost everything is covered.
Overall This is a very nice product. Like is said I use it mostly for the calendar, contacts and Microsoft tasks. I haven't tried it using MP3 or anything like that. That is not what I bought it for, I have an Ipod for that. But overall, it's a nice piece, and will be an excellent companion to anyone who needs to use it for eveyday situations.

I have had several of the smaller PDAs but found them very difficult to enter data reliably. the HP iPAQ 211 feels good in the hand, has a great stylus, easy to read, and does not try to be all things. Just a fine PDA.

We use this handheld for one specific software that ties in with our office computer's software. For the most part these hand helds are trouble free and work great.

If you don't want to be wired all of the time, this PDA is great. It allows you to easily keep track of contacts and e-mails while providing flawless synchronizing with your calendar. The large screen is easy to read and provides great resolution. I highly recommended this PDA.

This is beautiful but sloppy. It is slow. the wi-fi and bluetooth works excellent. I was able to connect immediately. However working with tough screen was find untill you need to use the side bar. It does not work with the stylus. When trying to use the stylus on the side bar all it does is open other menus. This must be a glitch or something. I'm sorry that this didn't work out for me

I'm still learning about this pocket pc, which lets you know there are lots of programs and possibilities. I'm using it mostly to keep track of information for work. I work for a school district and cover several different schools. Having some student info on this keeps me from having to take files from place to place. I also plan to download some education law info this coming year. It's great being able to sync info with my pc's at work and home to the pocket pc. I think this will be indispensable for keeping track of appointments, meetings, contacts and records. Also, I tried loading some music, and that's terrific! Still haven't tried any email or web browsing, but probably will before school starts.

I don't have time to write about everything I like about the device so this review will be short. I have been a PDA user for many years. I was a strong Palm supporter however my TX was stepped on and did not survive that experience. When I was in the market for replacing it I found that Palm has given up on producing newer PDA's which is very disappointing. So I found my only good option was the HP 211 which is the same thing as HP210. Not only am I very happy that it does everything my TX did, it also does a lot more. The only complaint I have is the size of the HP is just a little too big to hide on your person without looking like a major Geek.

The screen is beautiful
The touch screen is responsive and very easy to work with
The input text software is excellent and easy to learn
Speaker stinks! Get head phones
It comes with almost every program you need (Word, Excel, Outlook and more)
I wish it would vibrate for alarms


I'm very happy with the device. If you are a PDA junkie and do not like phones doing everything then this is your best option.

I got this for my husband and he loves it. He did not want to pay every month for a phone data plan when he could check email or internet in a hot spot or at home at no cost. It will pay for itself soon. It is small enough he can carry in his pocket and use frequently. The large screen is very readable. He is finding more uses for it all the time.

Bought the factory refurbished version for less than $300. Using it to access the internet/email/entertain while on the go. The screen is larger than other smartphone or iphone, thus making text/pictures easy to visualize. Also purchased a 16gb sdhc and now have plenty of room for mp3 and movies. The mobile internet explorer is cumbersome to use, so I loaded Opera mobile 7.1Beta which renders most sites extremely well. I also replaced the keyboard with a free pcm keyboard which is bigger and much easier to use. Good battery life with about 1 hr 45 mins with wifi on and brightness at 50% before draining half the battery power. Only negative is that my product had one deal pixel about 1cm from left lower corner which HP refused to do anything about. Otherwise, great product.

Nice Product. Great Procesor. Excelent for gamers. I used for play call of duty for pocket pc and it works perfectly. Video Performance is excelent. In windows media palyer video quality is great, and divx too.
For readers, I recoment documents to go. Great program for read and edit office software and read pdf books.
Internet conecction is easy. I recoment opera software for surface any webside.

We have had a few iPaqs. When the 200 series came out I was hesitant to purchase due to the fact that I loved my 4705 (which is now my husband's iPaq.)

The screen is a little more challenging to use. You have to press harder than you expect to get it to register your stylus initially.

But the colors are so vibrant. It is great for viewing digital photos (just slip the sd card from the camera into the iPaq) or downloading a show and converting it for viewing in the car. The viewer and processor don't seem to catch or lag at all. Games come through with wonderful color and definition and seem to play consistently and trouble free.

Windows mobile 6 seems quite stable. After a year and a half of use, I have only had too reset a handful of times. Additionally, there are quite a few aps out there for mobile 6 so personalization and making this what you need are available.

At times the processor seems a little sluggish, but give it a minute and it catches up. But this is an 'instant' kind of world, so I thought I should mention it.

Wireless and bluetooth are both at hand and both work very well. The wireless seeks out anything it can connect with and often connects when other electronics struggle.

I also enjoy the ability to slip a CF and an SD card in and know that I have as much memory as I care to purchase. And with these cards getting bigger and cheaper, I have more space instantly without spending hundreds of dollars again. It is just a nice long term investment that way.

And while some may find fault with the size, I do not for a few reasons. 1) The screen is LARGE. It is 4 inches, it will take up some space until someone figures out how to fold these screens. 2) It is sturdy. I was just reading how the iTouch seems fragile. I know we aren't gentle on our electronics, but mine doesn't have a scratch on it and it still works great. 3) The battery life. I can listen to a book or music for several hours and it will still be going strong. In this case, size is function and investment.

If you do get one of these (or if you just need screen protector) I would highly recommend looking at ZAGG. We have had several of their screen protectors for various electronics - you only need one per electronic as the protector has a lifetime guarantee. We have yet to return any of them.

All in all, I love my iPaq. Although I hope the market supports HP coming out with another one, I am set for quite a while if they don't.

The best iPAQ yet but still crashes too often for my taste and battery life is not as good as previous iPAQs. Even so I wouldn't have picked any other product over this one.

I bought this Ipaq to replace my older one and love the larger screen size.
I mainly use this as a library replacement since I can have all my documents and books on one small device and still access the web with wifi. Great product.

Product works really well. Just what I needed and wanted. Works a lot better than my old Pocket PC and requires very few soft resets.

I purchased this product, and it doesnt seem to do what I wanted it to do. It is not compatible with my program on my computer, so I can not copy what I wanted. I am very dissappointed, and also disappointed in the customer service from the company. I wish I had never ordered this, or could get my money back.

I upgraded to htis iPAQ from a hx2755. The first thing that I noticed was the resolution of the display, and the amount of memory that it had. One problem that I have had is, becouse of the increased length, it is harder o find cases that will fit, but the performance of the unit outways he drawbacks.

I don't have a need for Smartphone as I have a corporate Blackberry, just a Pocket PC to handle primarily my fitness tools. It needed to run Windows Mobile 6 (to support the newly released versions of the fitness apps) and I need a VGA screen (readability) to replace my Dell Axim x50v (only way to get to Mobile 6 on the Axim is with a convoluted hack).

Summary- Does what I want, good looking screen, slow and pricey. Probably last of the standalone pocket PC's.

What's good:
- Screen is bright and readable.
- Supports SD and CF cards (at the same time).
- USB charging
- Good documentation and easy to get up and running. Easy wireless setup.
- Good battery life as pocket PC's go.
- Has enough RAM to support having multiple key applications open.

What's not good:
- Slow screen response. You can watch the screen try to compose itself when switching applications.
- Doesn't seem to manage RAM very well. I needed a third party tool to help.
- Didn't come with basic applications like a task switcher.
- Doesn't come with a docking cradle.
- I wish it had the Biometric fingerprint reader like older iPAQ models.
- It's pricey; even after shopping for and getting about the best deal around from a reputable supplier.

I suspect this is the last Pocket PC I will buy. Looks like they are going the way of the dodo since so many people are using smartphones. The applications I use it for look like they will be available on the iPhone/iTouch either now or in the near future. I will probably look at the iTouch and see if that will be the route I take next.

I purchased this for business use. I am a regional manager and travel alot. I had an ipaq 4155 before. Here are my thoughts. Pros: great screen and super clarity, fast processor, alot of memory, buttons easy to use, menus very easy to customize, and contains all the accessories you will need standard from the factory. Cons: it is big (much bigger than the specs) and is not something you can slip in your pocket, syncs very slowly (esp the first sync), and the up botton on the pad is difficult to use. Unless you need the larger screen, the ipaq 111 would probably do the job. I do like this product and would purchase it again. It does everything and more my old ipaq did.

This was my first windows type PDA. It is a disappointment. For being an "enterprise unit" there was no expense app. The screen needs to be pressed firmly to recognize taps. HP seems to think that all Windows mobile devices are phones. Some of us like to write on the PDA while talking on a seperate phone. I really am sorry to see that HP has not changed their corporate mindset. Their products still consistantly underperform and are not fully supported with fixes or upgrades. Such a shame.

I purchased the HP iPAQ 211 for use with a specific bit of software that requires Windows Mobile v6.1. I knew that it came with WinMobile 6.0 Classic and I thought that I would easily be able to upgrade it to 6.1 later, but no such luck. It looks like HP will not be releasing an upgrade for this device; it will start shipping new iPAQs with WinMobile 6.1 at a later date, but in the meantime, this machine will remain with v6.0 indefinitely. I wish I had done further research on this before I purchased; now I have to return it for a refund (minus the restocking fee, of course.) I will be looking for another handheld with WinMobile v6.1 already installed.

Overall, I like the feel of the PC and it's really too bad that I couldn't use it. It's very light and very portable and it has a great, clear display.
The touch screen takes some getting used to as there are areas on it that (in my experience) are more sensitive than others: for example, dragging the scroll bar that you get on the right hand side sometimes would be jerky and inconsistent. Clicking on icons was OK; however, while using internet explorer, clicking on links was sometimes hard to do as it took the device a hard press for it to acknowledge the click. At least the on-screen keyboard was easy to use.

The verdict:
If you don't require WinMobile v6.1 for any of your software, then this would be a nice handheld for you. Otherwise, I would wait until they start shipping with v6.1.

Don't waste your time or money on this. For about the same price, you can get the latest iPod Touch with 32 gigabytes of storage (compared with the mere 128 megabytes or so of storage that comes initially with the iPAQ). AND the iPod Touch is sleek, stable, intuitive, and a breeze to use, unlike the iPAQ with it's buggy Windows Mobile OS.

My wife wanted a non-phone PDA for work, and she initially chose the iPAQ because of the large screen. (She is a nurse and wants to consult medical references, via installed apps and the web.) After we brought it home, we tried to use it to access our wireless home network. It detected our network, we entered our password, and then it just hung there saying "Connecting..." After a couple of hours of trying this & that, I ended up having to completely disable security & encryption from our wireless network before the iPAQ would connect. Then when I re-enabled security & encryption and reconnected the iPAQ, it connected fine for some reason. Go figure!

Contrast this with the iPod Touch. (Which we got after returning the iPAQ.) It detected our network, we typed in our password, and it was online in no time.

We did try to use the iPAQ for a day, figuring the connect-to-network issues might just be a fluke we could live with. My wife tried the IE7 mobile browser, and went to the Merriam-Webster website. For some reason, IE7 locked up. Try what we might, we could not get it to navigate elsewhere or return to our homepage or anything. It was permanently stuck. Finally, we had to remove and re-insert the battery to free up the browser. Then later it froze on www.google.com! About the simplest webpage out there, and IE7 mobile couldn't handle it!

Contrast this with the iPod Touch and the Safari browser. We've gone to Merriam-Webster, Google, and a host of other websites with no issues other than some slowness on some JavaScript-intensive sites. No getting stuck or anything like that. And the magnify and shrink finger gestures on the iPod Touch make it very easy to browse through sites that aren't specifically designed for mobile devices.

In addition to the larger screen, my wife initially wanted the iPAQ because it had a stylus. But after a day or two using the iPod Touch she fell in love with it and is not looking back. It doesn't take long to get used to using your fingers to type on the iPod, and although the screen is smaller, the crystal-clarity more than makes up for the size. In addition, the iPod interface makes much smarter use of the available space than Windows Mobile does; thus, more apps can be directly accessed from the iPod main page than can on the main page of the iPAQ.

I could go on and on, but will just mention one other thing: for those who might be wanting to use such a device for a little fun in addition to work, YouTube doesn't work out of the box with the iPAQ but does with the iPod Touch.

It's unbelievable that this poorly designed and buggy piece of junk iPAQ is being offered at such a high price. It's real value is somewhere along the lines of $100.

So far so good. A handfull (won't fit in your pocket) but feels sturdy and should survive numerous drops. Lots of capability (almost too much for FOBG, I'm learning). Don't like the solitaire graphics, but that's minor.

This is fairly good, after a few months of updates to MS software. Next time I'll just buy a smart phone.

I purchased this PDA as a replacement for a Palm T|X that is starting to go bad. Overall I like the iPaq, but really prefer my Palm! The iPaq works o.k., but has a few shortcomings. The bluetooth tethering to a phone for internet access is problematical at best. This is more of an OS issue in that Windows Mobile 6 has some funky bluetooth problems. I purchased an external bluetooth keyboard for this also, and have constant problems with the bluetooth connection to the keyboard that requires a reset of the PDA to fix. Again, this is more of an OS issue than a hardware issue. Additionally there is a dearth of good software available for Windows Mobile 6 at the moment. Hopefully this will change in the future. Overall the basic software that comes with the PDA works great, and I have had no problem with using the mobile office apps (writing notes/documents in meetings and displaying basic spreadsheats).

The PDA itself is nice to use and has plenty of memory available. The dual card slots (SD and CF) are nice also. Being able to insert a single card for regular storage and having an available slot to swap out other storage is a big plus.

Probably the biggest complaint I have about the hardware is the placement of the light sensor. HP designed the screen to dim and brighten based on ambient light. The problem is that the sensor for this is in the upper right face of the PDA. Being right handed, I occlude the sensor periodically which causes the screen brightness to change. It actually took me about an hour to figure out what the problem was. I thought something was flaky with the PDA until I realized that it was being caused by a design (mis)feature.

The battery life appears to be decent with the iPaq 211. I have yet to completely drain the battery during normal use around the office and cruising the web from the couch in the evening. I typically put it on the charger overnight and can get a full day of reasonable use out of it.

I've had the device for about a month. Previously I had the Dell Axim 51v. The HP IPAQ is much better engineered. I won't detail the many problems I had with the Dell Axim because I believe that it is discontinued anyway. The advantages of the new IPAQ 210/211 include:
-Excellent screen--very bright and sharp
-Supports an 8 GB SD card--no problems
-Windows Mobile 6 seems much less buggy than Windows Mobile 5.
-Buttons, headphone jack, etc all have a very solid feel
-It runs all my pocket PC applications--no problems.
The drawbacks are few, but worth mentioning:
-Does not come with docking station, which leads to more cables on my desk while syncing.
-The headphone jack is on the bottom of the device. Third-third party docking stations are available, but I didn't buy one because I'm concerned the headphone jack would be blocked.
-Slightly larger than the Dell Axim, but I don't find this to be problem.
Other than those minor issues, I'm very happy with the device. If like me you want a Pocket PC without a phone, I think this IPAQ is currently the best available option.

I was hoping for a much better product after reading the reviews online. What I got was a device that took forever to connect to the internet, battery power that lasted a very short while and calendar that was better on the Dell X30. The internet capability is much better on my iTouch and so is the battery power.

I DO NOT WORK FOR OR BENEFIT FROM ANY SELLER OR MANUFACTURER OF THESE PRODUCTS, I'M JUST A WORKING STIFF WHO WISHES HONEST REVIEWS.
Short and simple.1 Speaker is useless, HP admits it. 2 Light weight on media files, and internet, definitely no streaming, HP admits it. HP Tech support good sales support knowledge poor.
Archos 605 NO go!
Asus 626 Nooo gooo!
I'm waiting for Ipod touch 2nd g. we will see.
Only buy from Amazon.com or Walmart, no restocking charges. Read carefully from where you are buying, trying can be expensive.
We need real life user input without any bias. Please all reviewers let us know if you have any relations, if none than say no relations or benefits to products you review, thanks.

As we are on the road full time the PDA serves as a check book, calendar, and we use it for our books.
Although I am new to this particular unit I really like it.

This PDA is great!! It's a little bulky, but this is due in part to the
re-enforced "shell" cover which I bought extra (recommended) to protect
the device. I esp. like the wifi feature which allows me to access the
internet in any unsecured hotspot.

I was very satisfied with this device. I had read many reviews extensively and can see some of the negative point, others I don't agree with. The blue light is annoying. I don't like the fact that you can't easily just exit and lock, as I could on my Palm T/X. I fail to understand the complaints about the volume on the speaker. It performs like any other device that size and generally you would have earphones on. Yes, it would be difficult to listen to voice instructions on a GPS, but that is true of my LG phone GPS also. The fact that the ring selector thing is slightly truncated at the top does not bother me but that may be because the applications I'm interested in don't call for it that much.

I have Slingbox installed and it works just great. Whenever I'm at a hot spot, or anywhere around the house, I can watch all of my satellite TV on the large screen.

The supposed added pressure necessary with the stylus just has not been an issue with me.

I ordered the Think Outside Bluetooth Stowaway keyboard and it works just fine.

I recently got rid of my Palm T/X after it broke the second time. While it had internet access and I had managed to get on, it was extremely cumbersome and kind of a joke. With the 211, you just go on IE and you're good to go. Obviously, it doesn't take the place of a regular computer but for e-mail and brief straight-forward information gathering it works just fine.

Like some others, I was a little surprised to see that you cannot turn it on by hitting an application button. A minor inconvenience.

While others liked the automatic dimming function, I found it extremely annoying (constantly going from bright to dim), disabled it the first day and it has been disabled since. It is very easy to manually adjust the backlight at the Today screen.

For the times when it is inconvenient to carry a full laptop (such as prolonged motorcycle trips) I have a Sony Vaio VGN-UX280P, which runs Windows XP. However, if I didn't have that, the 211 would satisfactorily emulate a regular laptop (especially with the external keyboard). I give it five stars.

I should have tested one before I bought it. File manager, downloader program, setup are all primitive. Sometimes it will do what I want, and sometimes it won't. Spend a little extra money on something better.

Glad I spent the extra money and got this one. The larger, higher definition screen is definitely worth it. It has decent battery life(about one week on a charge with moderate daily usage). Overall, I'm happy with the product.

HP iPAQ 211 Enterprise Handheld (210 Series)
I had a very old Compaq IPAQ that finally died of old age so was looking to replace it. I settled on the HP IPAQ 210/211. After using it for a while I feel able to discuss features and pro/cons.
First...it has an excellent screen with 640x480 resolution. The built in speaker isn't very loud but that is a moot point as I use headphones which are plenty loud if necessary. It is noticeably faster than the old IPAQ.
Second...it has wireless built in as well as Blue Tooth. The wireless works great...as a ATT internet user I have free access from any Starbucks, city libraries, plus several other locations when traveling. The wireless is quite sensitive as I have no problem picking up the signal from Starbucks while parked in their parking lot a couple of hundred feet away. The Blue Tooth has been more of an issue. I was hoping to use it to control my various astronomical telescopes wireless through some astronomy software I own. Even though it should work I have yet to get it to work even though the Bluetooth in the IPAQ sees the Bluetooth receiver at the telescope. I finally decided to go with a wired setup. My old IPAQ had a third party multi-pin to RS 232 connector to allow me to use it to run the telescopes, while HP doesn't list one, Socket makes a CF card to RS232 adaptor which works perfectly. The neat thing is that the new IPAQ has both a SD card slot as well as a CF card slot so I can run a 8MB SD card for all the programs and files and still have access to the CF card/RS 232 adaptor. This ability makes the IPAQ a natural for people who need RS232 ability, electronic technicians, pilots, etc.
Third...the IPAQ makes a great multi-media player. I use it to play music and movies...I also have the ability to transfer specials and movies I have downloaded from TV through my home computer, edit out commercials, and than save on the IPAQ. The ability to rotate the screen lets you see the wide screen image which is a good image. You can run about 4-5 hours before the battery goes dead...after which you can pop in a spare battery. This is a lot more convenient and portable than one of those portable DVD players...and you still have all the other capabilities and wireless Inet at the airport between flights. You can figure about 1 GB per 2 hour movie when saved as a portable device resolution.

OK...pros/cons.
PROS
Screen, SD/CF dual card ability at same time, Multi-Media.
CONS
The big one for me is WHY did they eliminate the IR receiver/transmitter ability. While you can use wireless or Bluetooth...IR is really a much more convenient way to swap files with friends..especially since many of their units only have IR.
This next is more of a wish list than negatives...only way to record sound through the built in mono microphone. While it gives good sound for notetaking...they could have made a killer portable high quality sound recorder by incorporating a stereo-in miniplug in which you could plug a high quality small stereo mike. And a simple applet that provides a equalizer (bass, treble, balance adjustment) would be useful too. The last 2 items alone would have made this a very popular item for music afficiandos. My old IPAQ had the equalizer so don't know why they left it off of the new model.

The market for these PDAs is somewhat replaced by the all-in-on camera,phone,organizers but I have found the programs I need and features aren't available yet on these phones. When you have a specialized third party program like my two astronomy programs...this is the only way to go. In fact I bought the IPAQ solely based on its ability to run the two programs.

Bob

Three stars - not because it is a mediocre product, exactly, but because HP screwed up one important aspect of the design: the screen is WAY TOO FRAGILE. This is the second one I have owned. The first has a broken screen and HP won't support it. It's understandable, in a way - they have to assume you mishandled the silly thing because, how can you prove otherwise?

I'm here to tell you unequivocally that it is delicate. It is possible to break it while exercising reasonable care. I didn't drop it, I didn't hit it, I kept it in the little protective sleeve that comes with it.

Didn't do any good. I stuck it in my pants pocket, had it there about 15 minutes. Took it out to use it - broken screen. This, while it was IN THE PROTECTIVE SLEEVE. The lesson? Buy the armor case...it's well worth the investment to keep your iPAQ from turning into an expensive paperweight.

Aside from its fragility, I love it. It has become an essential accessory in my life for time management. I work at a busy company, and this thing syncs with my to-do list, calendar, documents, etc. to keep me on track. The Wi-Fi is outstanding - I can connect to the office network while on campus and never have to worry about not being able to access my stuff, or having to carry around a full laptop to do so.

It's bigger and more user-friendly than a smart phone, and as such does not tie me to a service provider. It has plenty of memory expansion capability and some really useful features, like voice recording and bluetooth. I only wish it had a built-in camera. For that, I use my cell phone. Can't have everything, I guess.

But, buyer beware: get the armor case!

Very handy for taking notes and has useful spreadsheets; has Word and Excel. Handy for scheduling meetings & appointments. Internet capabilities extremely limited. No hardcopy manual which I'd gladly pay for. I bought refurb unit to save over $100; new unit too expensive. Device fragile, hard to grasp, slippery. Hard to open back. No camera. Main advantage is no cell phone and no monthly bill; otherwise don't buy it if you want good internet capabilities. Most of the issues are with the poor quality of the software. Search function finds documents with specific word in title if in main folder but doesn't support levels of folders. No local support at Fry's Electronics. Sync software with Vista very poor. Won't download large photos even with both 2GB CF and 2GB SD cards installed; messages are "file is too large". I am a photographer. Potentially a good device but this product is below average.

It is a shame that anyone would rate this product less than 5 stars. Really, I don't know what some users are looking for. This product is much more than adequate. I got one just a few days ago. I loved it so much I have decided to purchase 3 more for my friends and colleagues as Christmas present. They are that good.
My job requires that I have almost instant access to volumes of information, and this pocket PC has not disappointed. I have installed my most commonly used books without any problems. Instead of carrying numerous pocket books, I carry only this small and slick handheld without losing anything.
Moreover, the clarity of the music remains incredible. The battery life is more than adequate. I just finished a 5-day assignment with the PPC after only one charge. The storage space is relatively small, so I bought a 16G expansion SD card for less than $25. And, unlike Dell's buggy and annoyingly slow Axim II, this baby is much faster.
Indeed, what is not to like? At less than $400, you have a true digital assistant that promises to last a long time.
As far as I am concerned, this product deserves 5 stars and more.

HP iPAQ 210 Enterprise Handheld

HP hit a homerun! The IPAQ 210 is an outstanding handheld laddened with enough features to serve admirably as a laptop replacement. Its brilliant screen displays photographs, Adobe pdf attachments and spreadsheets with ease and is large enough to accommodate your favorite movie. Typical PDA functions - calendar, contacts, notes, voice recordings etc. are a snap with Windows Mobile 6.1. WiFi and Bluetooth are easy to use and well integrated. This little trooper runs for hours on a single charge. If you are serious about using the IPAQ as a laptop replacement, you will need to purchase the Bluetooth keyboard accessory. Excellence is expensive, but the IPAQ 210 well worth it -- think of it for less than $500 bucks you can stop lugging that laptop!

Pros: Outstanding PDA and Microsoft Office Mobile, Gorgeous Screen, Laptop Replacement

Cons: Weak Speaker, Bluetooth Bonding for external keyboard can be finicky

All in all I'm pleased with the product. It has the best "video/screen" resolution I've seen, battery life is pretty good when you aren't running a boatload of wireless connections, and synching with Exchange is improved over my Palm T|X. All in all the online experience (browsing, mail, synching) is superior to Palm.

Nits and irritants:

1. When connected via USB, I cannot seem to find a way to configure the device to not come on every few minutes (maybe with every change in schedule/mail/contacts, etc.) and it is almost impossible to survive without saving your password as a result. You can't just turn it off it seems, it will pop back on within minutes. Half the time my goal is not to have it sync, simply to let it charge, so this is a major annoyance. If there's a better way, it isn't obvious and that leads to irritant number 2.
2. Documentation, especially configuration assistance is abysmal. What's new about that anymore? The art of good technical writing simply seems lost on us as a society anymore.
3. On occasion you have to wait on some update in the device to finish, just like on PCs. One of the main reasons I spent more on this than I would have on a micro-PC is I wanted instant on for schedule purposes and a usable web interface. It's truly annoying to be delayed. Easiest way to avoid delays seems to be to leave the wireless off as might be expected. The concept of throttling down background tasks seems less advanced.
4. Like a lot of folks I dislike the "up" position on the directional rocker - too small for my fat fingers to use accurately.
5. Text recognition is far inferior to early Palm Graffiti in my estimation. I could really input almost as fast as I could stroke characters on early Palm. None of the input methods on this device are as trustworthy, accurate, or fast, in fact I tend to hunt and peck the keyboard.
6. Oh yeah, really stupid thing - you can adjust the backlight down to 0, that is can't see a thing. Pretty hard to find the slider to adjust it back once you do if you happen to take your stylus off the screen. I don't know what they were thinking.
7. App interface is a bit vertical, that is seems to stack a little too much. Don't like all the drill downs, Palm was quite a bit simpler, and for general purpose more usable in my mind. It can be difficult to figure out why something is "grayed" out or why some button isn't working on iPAQ, and drilling down often requires too many levels in book. Hides/Obfuscates functionality meaninglessly.


Value/Cost: Give the price of micro PCs, 2*s.
Interface/Visuals: 4*s. Font scalability is remarkable.

Browsing: 4*s. Nice to be able to see a whole page when you need to. Not all pages reproduce accurately tho.

Wireless: 3*s: Somehow it's just more difficult to configure correctly than it should be.

Synching: 3*s: Especially bad with the auto turn on/alert features. No amount of work seems to get that configured in a likable way. Otherwise pretty good. Blame ActiveSync and the Device here.

Apps: Powerpoint I like, does what I'd want it to in this format. Word seems to not manage graphical content well at all. Haven't tried Excel much or the Media Tools yet.

Palm vs. iPAQ? For usability, simple schedule/contact management I prefer my Palm T|X, cept it's dead. For Web/Browsing and Exchange Integration the iPAQ get's my vote. For input, the old Palm Graffiti with all its proprietary quirks remains the most functional in my estimation.

My ipaq 214 broke after 10 days of use, and HP refuses to fix it even though it is obviously well within the warrantee period. They plan to charge me half the price of the new item. The 24-pin connector was always stiff (unlike the nice cradle that came with my 4700) and became more and more difficult to connect during a trip I took to Iraq. On the 10th day it stopped working altogether, having mashed the teeth on the motherboard. I was only using this to charge the unit. HP simply does not stand by their products.

The iPaq 211 is quite a bit bigger than than the 2200 that I have had for 3 or 4 years now and does seem a bit clumsier to hold. BUT it has a larger screen with twice the resolution so that it is a joy to look at and it does seem a bit more responsive. I bought mine refurbished and it's perfect. It did have a few spots of something sticky on it but they were easily cleaned off and there are now no signs that it was anything other than brand new.

The good:
It has USB host capabilities so I can transfer photos directly from SD or CF cards to a powered hard drive without a PC or Laptop. You need a special cable which costs another $50 but it is well worth it for me. The hard drive must have a separate power supply, as all 3.5" ones do. The smaller 2.5" drives are usually powered from the USB port and the iPaq has not got enough power for that. However, my Buffalo 320GB ministation is capable of being powered from the mains (my TomTom mains charger fits and supplies the 5v with the correct polarity). File transfer is SLOW (about an hour for 1GB) but that is no problem if you can get through the day and download while you have dinner or something. The reason I value this capability so highly is the ever increasing restrictions on baggage that the airlines are imposing. Hand baggage allowances within Europe are so measly now that a DSLR camera with 2 lenses, a hard drive, a PDA and a silver flute + piccolo is as much as I am allowed leaving no room for a laptop as well. And no, I would not want to pack any of that into the checked luggage.

It has both SD and CF card slots so you can have your cake and eat it. That covers both my point-and-shoot and my DSLR camera so I am very happy. It also means that you can get 64 GB of storage if you invest in 32GB cards in both slots. Yes, it does support SDHC.

It has full VGA resolution so that your photos actually look good. And you can rotate the screen with a long press of a button.

It can run movies (with added software) without significant glitches and the screen does a good job.

The wireless just works. It picks up a new connection without fuss and there is an icon to disable it (to save power) right on the Today screen.

I haven't tried the Bluetooth yet but I see no reason to suppose it works any less well than the 2200 which was fine. Apparently it does support the protocol that allows for stereo bluetooth headphones.

And Skype (free download) works almost as well as on my laptop (without the webcam of course). There is a tiny speaker on the front and a microphone to bottom left so that when you hold the iPaq up to your left ear it works just like a large cellphone.

Some people seem to hate the fact that the headphone jack is at the bottom instead of the top. However, I love that. It means that all the cables come from the same edge. It also means that you can put it in your pocket top down so you can easily reach the control dial and the headphone wire comes straight out from the exposed edge.

The not so good:
It takes a second or two to turn on when you press the button. The 2200 turned on almost instantly. Not a deal breaker but disconcerting. Also, the buttons for contacts and calendar do not turn the unit on as they did on 2200. It has to be on already for the buttons to launch the programs.

I read all the reviews of the weakness of the main speaker (at the rear) and decided that for me this wasn't so important. They are right, the speakers are very very quiet. But you can hear it very well if you hold the unit up to your ear and a pair of headphones solves the problem completely. Now I need to invest in a stereo bluetooth pair!

Also you do need to press a bit harder on the screen than on the 2200 but you get used to that very quickly. I found the bare screen rather sticky so that my letters had breaks in them and were therefore mis-recognised. (This could have been because I was afraid of scratching the screen before the screen protector arrived.) Anyway, I forked out for the official HP screen protectors (you get 3 and they last for ages) and after that, writing on the screen was a joy. If choosing off-brand protectors go for the crystal-clear ones rather than the glare-reducing. I think that will get you the smoothest writing experience.

HP has not provided the backup software that saved my bacon a couple of times on the 2200. I believe there are free downloads and I will have to get one (you never know when you'll forget about it long enough for it to run down completely). However, I have now learned to install all new software to a card or to the iPaq store rather than to the default location so that at least I won't lose the programs if the power goes.

Talking of which, the unit does seem to need charging at least every other day. I believe that while in use, the power lasts longer than the 2200, but when in standby, the 2200 would go for the best part of a week without significant discharge. The 211, however, seems to lose 10% of its power just overnight even with bluetooth and wireless turned off. I haven't been able to find out why this is. Some say that it is better if you stop all running programs (and maybe pop the CF card out) and so I have found, but it still isn't as carefree as the 2200 was.

All in all, this is a pretty good PDA and the only one on the market running Windows Mobile that has USB Host capabilities, dual card slots and a big VGA screen. I don't need a keyboard so I am not prepared to pay almost twice as much for a umPC. In spite of its drawbacks, I love the 211 and really enjoy using it.

The product itself is not too bad. It has a solid feel to it. Programs open quickly and respond well. As soon as you turn it on its ready to go, there is no bootup time. Has a great picture but lousy sound. I ended up buying a Bluetooth headset so I can hear it. I also strongly recommend buying screen protectors because you'll be poking and stroking pretty hard with the diddle stick until the touch screen breaks in after a couple weeks of use.

The software and firmware is what's bad about it. Every time you put it on or off the charger, connect or disconnect anything, it automatically turns itself on. There is no setting to defeat this. The mobile office software and clear view PDF don't have full screen mode, so a third of the screen is taken up by the window frames. Bring up the input window and now you only have one third of the screen left see what you're working on.

Bottom line, it's a great tool for doing simple tasks. It won't replace a laptop when traveling. If you're waiting for the mini PCs to become practical, this is a great pacifier.

Great product that I'm still learning how to use. This was bought to replace my Palm Lifedrive which was starting to fail. The HP works flawlessly with Windows Vista which the Palm did not. I look forward to learning new things to do with the IPAQ daily.