Rating: 
Summary: Remarkably thin! And all the necessary features
Review: As a previous owner of PDA's (palms) and specifically ipaqs (both a 3870 and a 2215), I am proud to say I've finally found a PDA that satisfies all my needs.But first, I'd like to start with one piece of advice for any first time Pocket PC purchaser. ** If you're unsure between two models, ALWAYS choose the smaller. ** Why? Because the extra features of a large-sized PDA (like a fingerprint reader?!?!) are almost never worth the increased probability you choose to leave it behind. A PDA's usefulness scales rapidly with its vicinity to you. And a PDA is just about the size of a pocket.... You get the idea.. Okay: THE PROS (somewhat obvious)
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1. it is ultra thin and weighs only 5 ounces.
2. the screen is bright
3a. it has wireless 802.11b
3b. the wireless features are now very intuitive and somewhat secure, a vast improvement over pocket pc 2002.
4. it has bluetooth for syncing wirelessly or for accessing your bluetooth enabled phone. (This I haven't tested with this ipaq)
5. it comes with a cradle, unlike some of their other models THE CONS
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1. HP removed the stylus holder from the cradle... which means you can't hold an extra stylus conveniently in front of a docked ipaq anymore. Which means, if you want to quickly access something on a docked ipaq, you have to remove the stylus, which you must do very carefully or you'll disconnect the 'paq. 2. the battery life is much poorer than pretty much all competitors'; most notably the Dell AXim series. 3. no compact flash, only secure digital. Although, almost all compact flash ports are typically used for these days is to hold 802.11b cards, which this device has integrated. And SD memory has gotten remarkably cheap, so it shouldn't bother most users. Still, if you have a compact flash requirement, keep that in mind. 4. the screen is slightly yellow when viewed from a skewed angle. Some people care about this... if you're one of those people, be advised. Straight-on, the colors are accurate, however. 5. the new navpad isn't so great for games Okay, that's it:
Finally, some advice 1. about the wireless features: they drain a lot of juice, so simply turn them on and off as you need them. 2. if you use it to read eBooks, the MS reader it comes with is already outdated! (And the error message is vague about that... I had to figure out the problem by reading microsoft's knowledge base.. not fun.) You'll need to do an update. 3. Buy a protective case; the one it comes with is basically garbage.
Rating:
Summary: Superb PDA
Review: I had been always curious about the Pocket PC OS and its usefulness and practicality on the PDA environment. I am now a believer and definitely prefer it over the Palm OS due to its ease of use, compatibility and similarity to the Windows PC environment. This also results in a faster learning curve. Integrated wireless:
This was the selling factor, and it did not dissapoint me. I got it to work at home and at the office, where I connect to different wireless access points. The iPAQ allows you to create individual profiles for every connection, so there is no need to manually configure every time you switch networks. Bluetooth:
This technology is becoming more common around airports, offices, malls and other places, although probably you'll need to incur in a connection fee. I have not tested this feature yet although my iPAQ recently came across and recognized a Bluetooth network on one of the airports I travelled to. Synchronization:
The iPAQ supports Outlook (preferably 2002) for Calendar, e-mail, notes, file and task synching. The Active Synch software is included and required on your host PC in order to start synchronizing with your PDA. A maximum o 2 PCs (partnerships) can be established for synching. Methods of synchronization include IR(Infrared), USB(using the included cradle), WLAN (yes, you can synch wireless) or serial.
Word and Excel documents are automatically converted into Pocket PC format when they are synchronized with the iPAQ. The original document needs to be copied into the Pocket PC folder (Pocket_PC My Documents) on your host PC before performing the synch. Internet:
In order to connect to the Internet, you are required to be connected to a network, be it WLAN or Bluetooth. There are a few interesting web links included with your iPAQ and you can add your own favorites as well. Navigations is similar to Internet Explorer although you are required to scroll up/down and left/right continously on web sites that are not mobile-friendly. E-mails:
E-mail accounts on the iPAQ are setup in an almost exact manner as Outlook on a normal PC. By default, and in order to conserve memory, e-mail attachments are not downloaded, there's also a default limit of e-mails you can carry at a time. E-mails can be downloaded while connected to the Internet or synched using the methods mentioned previously. What about games? Two games are included: Guess what? Solitaire is one of them! The other one is Jawbreaker, a very simple but extremely entertaining game. There are many web sites with additional programs that can be downloaded for your iPAQ. Programs and utilities included:
MSN Messenger, Windows Media Player, Pocket Excel and Word, Pocket MSN, Microsoft Reader, Calculator, Terminal Services Client among others. Security:
Password security is optional; there are two security options, a simple 4-digit number and a more complex alphanumeric password option. Wireless connection security is obtained using 64 or 128 bit WEP encryption. Obviously your PDA is as secure as the network it is connecting to. Setting up 128 bit encryption on your iPAQ won't work if your wireless access point is unsecured. Time settings: Up to two different time zones are available at the same time. Display:
Very clear display, sharp, easy to read text, adjustable text size and fonts in some programs. Battery:
The iPAQ possesses a respectable battery duration. It obviously varies according to your battery saving settings. Reducing the default screen brightness helps as well as turning off the wireless access or lowering the sound volume. Settings:
You can monitor memory usage and power consumption, remove programs, adjust backlight settings, align the screen, sharpen the text, etc. Other features:
Voice recording: There's a button on the upper left corner of the iPAQ to start recording short messages or reminders, very handy.
MP3 audio: MP3 files can be downloaded and played on your PDA using Windows Media Player. A headphone jack is also available for your private listening pleasure. Memory is limited though, is not like you can have a CD full of music on your iPAQ, don't confuse it with an MP3 player.
Letter Recognizer - A very cool option where the iPAQ attempts to recognize your handwriting and converts it into readable text.
Block recognizer - It's similar to the Palm's graffiti recognition
Transcriber - It recognizes words written in cursive
Notes can also be quickly handwritten as if using the iPAQ as a paper Notepad.
Images can also be viewed using your iPAQ, and as with the MP3 files, you should consider the memory limitations. Memory:
Additional memory can be obtained with Secured Digital (SD) memory cards. These come on 128, 256 and 512MB sizes at reasonable prices. The HP iPAQ 4155 is a complete, full-featured piece of equipment, well worth its price.
Rating:
Summary: powerful; easy to use, except for bluetooth settings
Review: I have owned this product for about 4 months and loaded 6-8 additional programs. I added a 256 MB SD card to handle the load. Speed and reliability have been great. The range of the 802.11b receiver is better than my laptop. I considered the Palm Tungsten T3 but bought this product for the combination of 802.11b and bluetooth. Also, I wanted a user-replaceable battery. I previously used a Handspring Visor. Switching from Palm to Windows Mobile 2003 is easy once you realize that unlike Palm, any program or function continues to run until it is turned off in the memory control applet in system settings. Pressing the "X" in the upper right hand corner does not shut down the program, it simply removes it from view. Sometimes the system becomes slow because of the multitude of programs running. I find that among the additional programs I have loaded, only the Audible.com listener causes instability and crashes. Also, be aware that PocketPC 2002 programs will not always run on Windows Mobile 2003. Setting up email accounts is fast and simple. Email attachments such as word or excel files must either be translated into Pocket Word or Pocket Excel format via the sync process or viewed by the Westek Clearvue software included on the installation CD. It is also useful to install the included Adobe Acrobat software to view pdf attachments. Overall, Documents to Go on the Palm platform is a better solution for viewing and altering email attachments, however. The bluetooth settings for connecting to the internet with a GPRS phone are difficult, unless you have one of the few Sony-Ericsson phones listed. The instruction manual does not even explain that certain settings are necessary and vary from phone to phone. Luckily, I found what I needed to use for my Cingular Siemens on an obsure forum hosted by Pocket PC Magazine. I recommend a program called GPRS Manager to make it easy to connect your Ipaq to the internet through your cell phone, should you need that feature.
Rating:
Summary: Great Pocket PC
Review: I bought the HP IPAQ 4155 for 3 Reasons: 1)I set up a Wireless B/G Network in my home and needed to access it while I was on the road.
2) I was becoming dissastifed with how slow my Treo 300 was surfing the web.
3) I wanted to surf the web as fast as possible without a laptop or PC. I've had this unit about a month. I am extremely satisfied with it thus far. It is my first Pocket PC. I've been using the Palm OS for over 5 years. To be sure, the Palm OS is more intuitive to operate. But I can do so much more with Windows Mobile Premium 2003. The HP IPAQ is a great MP3 Player (get excellent sounding stereo headphones), a very good PDA and, above all, has tremendous WIFI signal strength. The WIFI is built into the unit so there is really nothing to set up. I connected to my wireless network at home as soon as I took the unit out of the box. Lots of people have wireless routers in NYC so it is simple for me to connect (for free) when I am outside my home. I find the WIFI signal strength on the unit is about 1500 feet; but that depends upon the Router I am connecting to. I am so satisfied with the HP IPAQ 4155 that I am seriously considering ditching my Treo 300 and getting a Bluetooth Phone so I can surf the Internet when I cannot pick up a WIFI signal. The Processer inside this unit is very fast. I have not tried the Bluetooth yet. The only negatives were the cheap case and cradle and the weak battery. My battery was going down to 0 after 2 hours of wifi surfing. I rectified these deficiencies by buying a hotsync charge and sync cable, a new custom case and a 2000mAh battery, which required a bigger battery door. Now I can surf a good 4 hours daily with the wifi before the battery completely drains. Bottom Line: HP hit a homerun with this unit.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome features, but lots of quality problems
Review: On paper the iPaq 4155 looks like a dream Pocket PC (unless you compare to the even better, VGA-capable Toshiba e805), with features every PDA geek would die for. (Ok, I'm exaggerating.) I won't go through the list and the features are well listed here on Amazon. But you should be aware of the many quality-control problems that have made iPaq notorious from day one. Foremost is the battery issue. Yes, the battery here is replaceable, but after just a month of use it's already degrading significantly. I'm not even talking using wireless a lot! We are talking basic PDA functions like checking calendar and addressbook and reading a few webpages via Avantgo and looking at a few JPEG pictures. You cannot afford not to recharge it every night, otherwise it *will* go dead on you when you least expect it. Second I don't know if this is still a consistent problem, but there's a already a few specks of dust under the screen. Yes, I'm talking the 4155 here, not the original, what was it, four or five iPaq's before they supposedly fixed the problem? Yet another problem is the buttons, which feel unresponsive most of the time, and the stylus is a pure joke. The overall user experience is quite disappointing, unless the whole purpose of your existence is to extol the virtues of Pocket PC. For my money, I'm sticking with my Palm and Toshiba e805.
Rating:
Summary: The best pda I've owned
Review: I switched from palm OS to the iPAQ and am happy with every aspect of this great PDA. Synchronization is so easy and seamless. Screen is easy to read and clear. Features are great especially both wifi and bluetooth. Have used for powerpoint presentation review and applications are quite good. Only drawback is that some "universal" portable keyboards don't work with this unit.
Rating:
Summary: HP sells seriously compromised products
Review: After dealing with HP, their warranty and technical staff I would not consider buying any more of their products especially after what I already knew about the quality of the PC's they sell. They tout theat they are committed to quality, durability and reliability. The 4155 is far from reaching any of those descriptions. If you ever call them you will more than likely talk to some one that can't really speak english well and will not know much about any technical aspect of their own products let alone resolving any major issues you might have with their products that they are asking top dollar for. I am very unsatisfied with the reliabilty and durability of this product. The battery life and charging function seems to always be on the fritz and the screen scratches easily. It is also very fragile and is made of glass. A far cry from durable. If these things were alot more reliable and were made of higher quality I would never had to experience the poor support that HP offers from their staff over the phone. Alot of time and money was wasted trying to deal with a company with very poor standards of customer support and quality. If one of these fields could be mentioned as being excellent than half of the money you spend on their products would be worth it. Besides that you better have alot of time and money before you buy one of their products, enough money to be able to afford two or three of each item you buy from HP. I have to also mention more than half of their products always gets returned to them, serviced and coming back with more problems. They make it difficult to resolve, with their mail back procedure instead of a service center or dealer. I will never consider putting an HP product into use as a business device or any role wich reliablilty is crutial.
Rating:
Summary: Ditch that Palm
Review: I have been a Palm user since the original Palm Pilot came out. It has been a hassle to try and sync with Outlook, Word and Excel. Also trying to hotsync books was a big deal. With the IPAQ 4155 all the above are a breeze. The wireless internet and bluetooth are so easy to setup. I was worried that there is no "epocrates" for the pocket PC, but the Pocket PDR (free) is an even better product. Will never go back to the Palm again.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor Service from HP/IPAQ
Review: PLEASE read this before you buy an HP IPAQ product so you know how you will be treated if you should have a problem. I own about 6 HP products between IPAQ's, printers and scanners, and I always chose an HP before any other product, until NOW.
I purchased 3 IPAQ's within 2 months. One for myself, my husband, and my father to the tune of $1350! There are days I don't even use my IPAQ, so it isn't abused. My IPAQ froze up on Thanksgiving day of 2003. It would not do anything, so on Monday, I called HP service, they said they wouldn't do anything because the 1 year warranty had expired. I purchased two of the three on Oct. 4, 2002 and this was November! I thought, oh, this product is only good for 1 year of use?
So I talked to a few "higher up's" in the service area and got told that I am on my own. Then I had my husband call up there and they agreed to send us a box with shipping paid so we could send the unit back for them to diagnose the problem. Fair enough. They call within a week and left us a message telling us that the mother board is shot and it will cost $217 to fix. I just got done paying $450 for the product just over a year ago!! You have to be kidding!! This unit was obviously DEFECTIVE from the beginning. And because of a few days of warranty lapse, HP won't step up to the plate and help at all.
So my husband calls back up there and talks to another "higher up" again (because obviously he got further than I did the first time), and her verdict was that HP will not stand behind their product at all. We have to pay the entire bill. Well I will tell you what, I will not fix this HP product, nor will I EVER buy an HP product again. And furthermore, I am in one of the hugest business markets in the world and talk to customers all day long, and I will be sure to tell them of how HP treats their customers. They should stand behind their product, Period!
If they haven't figured it out, PEOPLE make a business and HP's people and policies are ludicrous! If I have a customer that has a problem and is 2 months out of warranty, I will make our manufacturer stand behind their product and fight for my customer's rights!! It is obvious that HP doesn't care about their customers at all. Good to know!! Beware of big business.
Rating: 
Summary: Great PDA
Review: It is an excellent PDA. I am practically paperless. No notepads to meetings, no Visio pictures. Al integrated into my PDA. Can sync with my laptop anytime and sync. back. Problems
The sync. of Pocekt Word documents to MS-Word causes pictures to move up and down. I may doing something wrong, but it's kinda irritating.
The Connection Manager is a little intrusive.
I wish there would have been a good case in the market
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