Hewlett Packard IPAQ h5455 Pocket PC

If you want a PDA to keep track of appointments and contacts, most will do. A Palm Zire costs $99 (retail) and can handle those tasks with ease.

However, some of us want our PDAs to do a lot more. If you want the ultimate in pocketable power and versatility, at the moment (June 2003), the iPAQ 5455 is the best choice.

The 5455 can do these things:

- Keep track of appointments and contacts. Any PDA can do this.
- Create, edit or delete Word and Excel documents. Any Pocket PC and many Palms can do this.
- Jot notes on the screen in your handwriting. Any PDA can do this.
- Record voice memos. Many PDAs can do this.
- Run a broad range of Windows CE programs, including a DOS emulator that lets you run almost any DOS program. The emulator is a separate program that costs $40. I think just about any Pocket PC can do this.
- View photos in pretty good resolution. Any Pocket PC and most mid-range and higher Palms can do this.
- Listen to mp3 files in stereo, using the built-in speaker or, preferably, external speakers or headphones. Most Pocket PCs and many Palms can do this.
- Watch video files with full sound. Most Pocket PCs and some Palms can do this.
- Plug in extra storage cards. Most Pocket PCs and many Palms can do this.
- Connect wirelessly in your house, office or other locations using wi-fi. (A wi-fi access point must be set up and you must have appropriate access to it.) Not many Pocket PCs, and only one Palm, can do this without add-on parts.
- Connect with your cell phone or sync with your computer using Bluetooth. Not many Pocket PCs, and only one Palm, can do this without add-on parts.
- Use compact flash cards for huge amounts of storage space (up to 1 gigabyte) or extra features such as adding a modem or ethernet jack. Some Pocket PCs, but no Palms that I know of, can do this. Note: requires an add-on expansion sleeve.
- Plug up an external folding keyboard with pass-through AC power. Many PDAs can do this.
- Plug up an external projector or VGA monitor with an optional expansion pack. To my knowledge, only Compaq iPAQs can do this.
- Use GPS add-ons, either in your car or handheld versions. Most high-end PDAs can do this.

There are no features unique to this model. What's special about this model is that there are no MISSING features. There's not a single major feature I can think of that any other PDA has that this one lacks, other than a built-in thumbboard.

My complaints are pretty minor, but I'll list them anyway:

- It's physically pretty big. It fits in my pants pocket, but only barely. It fits well in my coat pocket, but not if you use an expansion sleeve. Add a thumbboard and a spare battery, and you start to need a carry bag - and at that point, why not just use a laptop? Granted, these are optional parts, so it's not HP's fault per se, but it's something to think about.
- The stereo jack is on the bottom of the unit. This means you can't use headphones while using a thumbboard, or plug up external speakers or headphones while the unit is in its cradle.
- Pocket PC still uses a resolution of 240x320, which looks a little outdated compared with the new 320x320 Palms. It's a large screen, and it's not bad overall, but it would be nice if the resolution could be ramped up - say, to 360x480 at the same screen size.
- Battery power seems a little less than on the Tungsten C and Tungsten T I used to have.
- If you use a Mac, be aware that Pocket PCs do not sync with Macs out of the box. There is extra software for $70 that lets you do this.
- This is not a cheap device. The most expensive Palm Pilot that is not also a cell phone is $499. At the moment, it's on sale for $449 through Palm. The 5455 retails for $699, with sale prices of $649. I bought mine slightly used on ebay for $600, including a keyboard, thumbboard and Best Buy warranty. I don't know where this site gets a price of $549. Maybe mail-order.

If you value power, wireless features and versatility over size and cost, you should get this device. It honestly feels like I have a Pentium II computer with great wireless capabilities, shrunken down so it fits in my coat pocket.

Before buying this, I had a Palm Tungsten C, but I was frustrated at the lack of Bluetooth support. The Tungsten C also doesn't have nearly the expansion possibilities.

Before the Tungsten C, I had a Palm Tungsten T, but I found myself wanting wi-fi access and more memory. It also lacks the iPAQ's expansion capabilities.

I run Age of Empires, Windows Media Player 8.5, AOL Instant Messenger, Pocket IE and Pocket Outlook, and a full-blown DOS emulator on the PPC, and they all work as expected! There is a Windows-like file explorer. You can add, delete or rename files, or create shortcuts, in a way that will make sense if you use Windows. When connected through your USB cradle, your Palm's RAM and any memory cards you have installed will show up like mounted ZIP or floppy drives, allowing you to delete or modify files through your desktop, or drag and drop files to and from the PDA.

If wireless isn't as important to you and you want something that fits comfortably in your pants pocket, you should consider the Zire 71 and Palm Tungsten T.