Hewlett Packard IPAQ h4150 Pocket PC

I have owned several PDAs since 1999, and have always being amazed by having an "almost complete" computer in my hand. I first started off a Casio Cassiopeia E-105 running Windows CE 2.0, then sold it off in eBay and got a Compaq iPAQ H3850 and my latest one being a Hewlett Packard iPAQ H4155.

These devices have evolved so much during the last years, mainly due to the fact of an increasing popularity for wireless toys, namely cellular phones with integrated agendas, calendars, and being capable of surfing the internet.

This iPAQ 4155 represents the paramount for Personal Digital Assistants, or PDAs, being one of the lateste devices to hit the market, including a smallish size, excellent screen, plenty of memory, Windows PocketPC OS, built in Wireless LAN (also known as WiFi or 802.11a/b/g)

Processor speed: 10 out of 10

It sports a very fast Intel XScale processor running at 400Mhz. Having owned an iPAQ 3850 with an Intel StrongARM 206MHz processor, the speed difference is truly felt. Processor speed makes applications run more smoothly, and you will be delighted to see they run pretty snappy. It is worth mentioning that the new version of Microsoft's Pocket PC, called Windows Mobile 2003, has been optimzed for running on XScale processors. This is why while using an older PocketPC running Pocket PC 2002 on a 206MHz ARM processor like on the iPAQ 3850, you could not feel the speed difference on a 3955 (which had and supposedly more powerful 400MHz XScale processor).

Screen: 7.8 out 10

The 4155 sports a LCD TFT transflective screen with 320x420 resolution and 65535 colors, like in previous iterations of the iPAQ models. The screen is very bright and easy to read, crisp and sharp.

It has a slight annoyance, which occurs when viewing the screen from a slight angle, it will acquire a light yellowish tone. It is not bothering, but perfectionists will notice this. I have seen the screen on the iPAQ 2155, and the screen is slightly better from the standpoint of this undesired coloration.

Form factor: 8.9 out of 10

Measuring a slim 4.4" tall, 2.8" wide and half inch thick (with the regular battery), this unit is the smallest and slimmest iPAQ yet. It sports a metallic looking front faceplate, which is not soiled with fingerprints as in previous iPAQs, and a flat dark gray backing. It has a slight black plastic edging surrounding the entire unit, which acts like a grip as well, it might feel slightly slippery when holding it in your hand, but this edge will make it feel that you have a grab on the unit, and it won't fall.

One thing I dislike, is that to remove the stylus, you need to have nails. Grabbing it out of its silo is not that easy, I would have prefered a spring loaded mechanism. This feels a little bit cheap when compared with older iPAQ models. The stylus has a shiny metal body, though, that matches its silvery faceplate.

The power button is located at the top center, and it is recessed by a u-shaped indentation, to its left is the multifunction LED (flickers green to indicate the WiFi indicator is turned on, blue when Bluetooth is active). To the right of the power button, is the power/charge indicator, which flashes red while charging.

Features: 9.5 out of 10

The reason why you get this unit, besides its slim form factor, speed and size, is because it has integrated wireless 802.11b technology built in, as well as Bluetooth communications. The wireless range for this unit is simply amazing, even though it does not have an externally visible antenna, it has OUTSTANDING range. I have a full strength signal within 50 feet of my wireless access point. I can even go downstairs, and still have 4 bars of full signal strength. Simply amazing, considering the antenna is internal.

Configuring wireless access took me no more than 10 minutes, including setting up WEP encryption (so that my wireless LAN is secured) and punching in the generated encryption key into my iPAQ.

Turning wireless on and off is a snap. Just launch an application named iPAQ Wireless, and there you have two buttons: one for turning Bluetooth on and off, the other for turning WiFi on and off. Pretty darn simple.

I had the opportunity to transfer files via Bluetooth with a coworker's H1945 iPAQ, and Bluetooh range spanned well beyond 80 feet indoors.

Windows Mobile 2003 is a much improved PocketPC version, with fewer bugs than previous iPAQ models. It runs about 25% faster than earlier versions of PPC 2002. It comes standard with Pocket Outlook, Pocket Excel, Word, Internet Explorer and Pocket MSN Messenger.

On the top of the unit, it has a Secure Digital (SD) slot, which will allow you to insert a postage stamp-sized memory module to further expand your unit's 64Megabytes of internal RAM.

There is no CompactFlash (CF) slot. This is available on the dual SD and CF slot iPAQ H2155.

It has a built in infrared port, located in the bottom left hand corner of the unit. A headphone jack of standard size is also available at the top of the unit.

The USB cradle it comes with, is not 100% solid, in terms that the unit does not rest on the cradle, but in the connector, making it fragile. The cradle features an extra battery slot for charging an auxiliary battery.

The unit features 6 hardware buttons plus a pretty directional pad. Nicely styled, and pleasing to the touch. An internal speaker is built into the middle of the directional pad, and provides awesome sound, and it is adequately powerful.

Battery life: 6.7 out of 10

The unit comes with a standard capacity 3.7 volt Lithium Ion rechageable battery, with a capacity of 1000 milliamps per hour. I can achieve about 2 hours and 50 minutes, with the screen set at 50% brightness and having the WiFi radio turned on, and heavily browsing the web and using MSN Messenger. I find this battery life to be acceptable, but not amazing. I would expect 5 hours of full use, and an available higher capacity 1800mAH battery to provide me with almost 5 hours of heavy use. Much more adequate power, indeed. WiFi use and screen backlighting are your primary sources of battery drain.