Compaq iPAQ 3955 Color Pocket PC

I am very statisfied with my new iPAQ 3955. I would give it five stars but... It was necessary to do a return/replacement with the first unit I received due to a bad "frozen" pixel on the screen. With Amazon's excellent return/replacement policies this was a relatively painless process and the replacement unit was perfect with no problems whatsoever. Out of curiosity while I was out Christmas shopping, I checked several iPAQ 3955 units on display at a local retailer and discovered that 2 of the 3 units on display had bad pixels. I also noted that several of the Amazon customer reviews indicate a pixel problem. Apparently, this is a problem with the 3900 series - otherwise it is an excellent product with a lot of great features at a fairly reasonable price. Just be sure to check for bad pixels.

This is a great product! I researched for months and months, and finally decided to go with the 3900 series. While, if I were to do it again, I'd get the 3975, just becuase it's bluetooth enabled, but it'll be another year or so before bluetooth is used widely enough to justify the extra hundred bucks. No complaints with the iPAQ itself, execpt for the fact that I have a pixel out smack dab in the center of the screen. Amazon wouldn't take it back--because I live in Japan, and after I had my visiting friend hand deliver it to me, I couldn't get it back to America in time for Amazon to feel they had an obligation to help me out--other than by referring me to the manufacturer. So, I had it sent to a Compaq repair center and it was sent back to me with an explanation that my annoying pixel outage was within their accepted "industry standard" and they wouldn't repair it or replace my product. What a bunch of hay! What about my standards? I bought their product brand new for around $$$, and they don't care that it's defective and really annoys me? Bad customer service has likely cost Compaq a previously devoted customer.

I've been dying to get a palmtop for the last year to replace my old bulky HP Jourdana. I convinced myself that I would not get one until I could get the perfect package, phone and pocket pc integrated together with high-speed wireless internet, MP3 capability, infrared remote control, all of it. I waited and waited. Unfortunately the first generation of phone/PDAs is out and they all .... I want pocket PC not palm, so I checked out the Verizon Thera, and I actually physically laughed at the Verizon guy when he was showing it to me. For over [$$$] you get a PDA that can be a speakerphone, or you can carry a headset. The screen is awful. Their "high speed" wireless internet is [$$$] a month and no one can seem to get it to go faster than 14.4K. So I decided I definately was not waiting for the next set to come out. I got this Ipaq and kept my cell phone. I don't like the palms, primarily becuase the graffiti pad is built into the screen; on a pocket pc you can choose between keyboard or a graffiti type recognition system or have the option to use the FULL screen. My girlfriend wanted one so I bought her a color palm m130(she mostly wanted the removable faceplates) and that one is really nice. Palms are definately the better option if you want an organizer, you would like some cool games and programs, and you want to pay less than [$$$} for one. She loves it, but I wanted more. This Ipaq has the BEST screen. They made it thinner so there is not that annoying gap between the actual screen and where the stylus touches the pad. Makes it easier to use. The audio is very good; use one of those cassette adapters for a car cd player, plug it into this and you have awesome skip free digital quality music to pump. The screen is nice and big and VERY bright. I have the brightness turned about halfway down, and it is still plenty bright enough in all environments. The Battery life is the best of any pocket PC, one of the main advantages to having a palm. This can go all weekend without a charge and I use it constantly. Turning the screen brightness down really helps. The feature I love the MOST is the consumer infrared port. It RULES. I have a lot of electronics, all the audio goes through a 5.1 reciever, and the video mostly goes directly to my TV (to take advantage of s-video and colorstream). Comcast has a motorola cable box that it is IMPOSSIBLE to get to work with regular universal remotes. This Ipaq can control EVERYTHING. It actually learns the infrared signal from any remote you have, and then you program it yourself to a device, room, and person. You can program MACROS too. I walk in the door, and with one touch this thing turns on my reciever, vcr, cable box, dvd player, and TV, sets the TV to the correct input mode, sets the reciever to the correct input and sound mode, and brings up the cable guide for me, PLUS turns on my air conditioner, sets it on high cool, and turns on my ceiling fan. With another touch it switches both the reciever and TV to DVD mode, changes to digital sound, turns down the brigtness of my TV and I'm ready to watch a movie, with ONE TOUCH. I also have a macro that turns everything off with one touch. My buddes are SO jealous of my home theater now hehe. The writing recognition is WAY better than Graffiti. It can work with whole sentenes at a time instead of individual letters. It lets me go way faster, and actually makes a decent substitute for jotting notes down on paper. You have to try it to believe it. It's the 'transcriber' option, not the letter recognition. It recognizes printing, cursive, or a mixture of both; and you write across the whole screen instead of a little pad like Palm. All in all I love this thing and I don't regret buying it at all. It is expensive, so if you are looking to save some money, go to maybe a Toshiba or a Palm. My stragegy is to own this for a year or so, by that time hopefully someone will create a viable phone/PDA hybrid, and then sell this one to buy the hybrid. Either that or just keep it as my universal remote control haha. Here's what I DON'T like about it. Mostly the physical shape of the thing. My gf's palm is more contoured to the hand and lighter, it is much easier to hold. The main thing is that on hers, you detach the faceplate and fit a screen protector right there; if you want a screen protector for this Ipaq you have to get a special bulky case and increase the weight and size. I'm finding that hard to live with. My gf's palm also has a built in black plastic screen cover (cover, not stick on-protector like I was talking about) that flips UP. That is important because you hold it on one side with your hand. This comes with a really ... plastic case that opens to the side, and it is very inconvenient. I'm going to shop for cases, but with the palm you don't need one at all. Another thing I don't like is that to get wireless internet or add more memory than the one slot, you need those bulky sleeves. However, since I kept my phone I use the internet on that and I will not need any of those sleeves unless I choose to go ahead and get a GPS add on (which I am going to do) In that case, the GPS will just stay in the car. ALl in all, this thing is the best buy if you are willing to spend the money to have the BEST palmtop pc. I could not be more happy with it.

I have had my 3955 for only 16 months of relatively light usage (I do not even use it every day, as I quickly learned how rapidly the unit burns through a charge). Now, for no apparent reason, the internal battery will not hold a charge . . . fully charged off the docking station, the unit is fully discharged (and all my data and settings gone!) less than 24 hours later after the unit has not been used at all! For this kind of money, I would expect better battery life and the ability to self-install a new battery, rather than having to send the unit in for service. I will probably not purchase another iPaq unless these issues are addressed by HP.

I recieved my 3950 a few days ago, and haven't put it down since. Extremely fast. All programs work excellent. The operating system (Windows 2002) is one of the best I've seen so far (if you use XP or 2000, it's second nature). What is really impressive is the handwriting recognition software... have tried it with 5 different "scribblers", and it nails 4 out of 5 words right out of the box. By the way, go ahead and get one of the expansion sleeves (you'll need it), and some extra memory (the 128 SanDisk available here on Amazon is a steal). After a nerve-wracking 30 minutes (to avoid this headache, here's a tip. Go get the updated driver from the linksys website, and skip the disc that comes with it), I got the Wireless Modem card to recognize. Works FLAWLESS on my Linksys network at my home. Bravo, Compaq! You've given us a winner here!