Rating: 
Summary: Finally, a Pocket PC that fits in your pocket!
Review: I have been a dedicated Palm user, having started with the Palm III, and moved on to the Palm V and Palm 505. I would sometimes eye my boss's IPAQ with envy, except that his PDA was so large and expensive that he rarely made use of it except as a toy. On the other hand, I used my Palm for everything: meeting notes, Avantgo, GPS, Chinese-English dictionary, Quicken... I could see the limitations of the Palm system, however, and was waiting for improvements to the Pocket PC to make the switch more palatable.The Palm-killer is here in the HP 1940. While it's admittedly more buggy and complicated to operate than the Palm OS (can Microsoft ever make a stable OS??), it's infinitely more versatile. Advantages:
1) Price. I bought the HP 1940 from Amazon last month , which included a promotional Amazon gift certificate. The comparable price-point Palm model -- the new Zire 71 -- is not nearly as capable as the HP 1940.
2) Versatility. I can surf the actual web pages with Internet Explorer, listen to MP3's, watch movies, and record voice memos.
3) Bluetooth. I bought a USB bluetooth adapter for my laptop, and now I can sync and surf wirelessly with my PDA. I can even chat on MSN Messenger at the same time! Definitely a good deal, considering the Palm bluetooth SD card alone is $100. I also have a Siemens S56 Cingular cell phone with built-in bluetooth, letting me use my cell phone as a wireless modem! No bulky, weird hybrid PDA phones -- my PDA can be a PDA, and my phone a phone, but now they can connect seamlessly and invisibly.
4) Size. The 1940 is small enough to fit in my old Palm 505 case, but still has a larger screen. Disadvantages:
1) Windows OS. I have all the same frustrations with the Pocket PC as I do with Windows 2000, 98, etc. I'm a pretty sophisticated user, so I muddle through, but I would recommend users less comfortable with computers to stick to the simplicity of a Palm.
2) Battery life. Not much more than 3 hours, continuous use. I tend to leave it on at work, so I plug it in.
3) Limited accessories. I never really liked those bulky sleeve and compact flash accessories for the sister IPAQ models, because they make them too large to carry in your pocket. Still, for now, there is precious little made for the 1940's petite design. I ended up using my old Palm case because there were so few to choose from for the 1940.
4) Yellow-tinted screen. To be honest, I probably wouldn't have noticed it if other reviewers hadn't pointed it out. It was surprisingly easy to ditch my Palm for this gem. I definietly think you get your money's worth for this model. The comments about the lack of a cradle and cheap stylus are superfluous. I rarely prefer the inconvenience of cradles, and I typically bought more comfortable styli for my Palm anyway.
Rating: 
Summary: Ignore bad reviews for this...sheesh
Review: This thing is great. I'm reading reviews here about difficulty with the sync software and crashing. I'm not a pro. This is my first PDA and I don't see how this could have been easier to set up. I'm running Windows 2000; the Sync software works great. It installed in one try with no issues. This has *never* crashed on me--been using it about 6 weeks. Frankly, it's been *rock* solid. Soon I'll have a bluetooth dongle on my PC and will be able to Sync wirelessly. How cool is that? Anyway, all the 1940/1945 is is the very-popular 1910 with Bluetooth and a more current OS. This is getting great reviews all over the place and rightfully so. Not sure what PDA these users who are giving this one-star reviews are using. I figure either they are total pros that should be buying top-of-the-line Power PDAs or just the opposite, completely tech-unsavvy people who don't know how to do simple things on their PCs. The only thing that's kind of a bummer for me is I haven't figured out a way to run this through my non-bluetooth (Motorola T720) cellphone for internet use. If anyone knows how to do that I'd love to hear how. You can get a data cable for the other Ipaq's but so far not this one. I've heard this is an upgraded SD slot and one may or may not be available later. If I could figure that out this would do everything I want it to do and more. Otherwise I'll have to wait until my contract is up on this phone and then just get a cellphone that supports Bluetooth.
Rating:
Summary: effodable PDA with features you know!
Review: This unit is very good. Even though I have returned the item to get 2215. (Because for [$$] difference you get Craddle, Compact Flash slot, 400 Mhz CPU, Premium Pocket Windows OS, etc.) I enjoyed the unit for 13 days. But I did have some problems. (I always complain about problems but not how good it is!)
After 13 days of usage, I found some problem with charging. I asked my wife to remove it from charging and give it me while I am standing outside of my apartment, offcourse I told her to keep pressing side buttons and pull it slowly. I dont know how she removed it from the craddle. It started showing me that unit is still charging. Even after 10 hours its the same thing. I bring it back home and put on charging. The LED was blinking very fast for about 3 hours. After fully charing the LED was constant on(It should stop any light or blinking) So I decided to return it. Now I ordered 2215 from Amazon. I waiting for its arrival. One more strange problem -- I could not see 'CAPS' button on the onscreen keyboard. After returning, I did went to [other retailer] to check, there I found CAPS lock on the both 1945 and 2215 pdas. I wonder what was wrong with the PDA that I had. The unit does't come with a leather cover. I don't know why they don't think the way I think. For example take Sony models, they come with flip cover. Its very important. You spend [$$] on these kind of machines and there is no security ???, you can not just put it into your pant pocket. The unit PALM III some version also had flip cover. They have to think how people are going to use these kind of devices in ones regular life, then they can do things better. 2215 spec shows that it comes with leather slip in case. (If I don't like that cover or its too bulky then I would return even this 2215). The stylus comes with this unit is too thin. I saw stylus of 2215, its thicker than what 1945 has and looks convenent. For me a PDA should do these things.
1. Do all your regular tasks - regular features of a PDA
2. Pocket PC should have all regular microsoft office products
3. Convenent to use. Things like brightness, handling, carrying, input data, transfering data from desktop, storing, backup, etc.
4. expandability options.
5. compatability with Microsoft money if its a pocket PC Sometimes I think, why should I want PDA ?. The anwser I usually come up with is, "I have lot of electronic gadgets, like, latest colorful T720 wireless phone, Bose Home theater, Sony Wega 32" TV, Sony VCR, Sony DVD, Sony Audio Receiver, Sony Deck on my Car, etc. etc. ". I spent [$$] on my wireless phone, then why can't I spend [$$] on PDA ?. Its really crazy. My sincere advice is that, fist dicide why you want and what you are going to do with that. Decide what features you want and how much you spend, and think about. Do you really care about future upgrages??. Sometimes you want upgrades, but by the time you are ready for upgrade, you may find new item with all those features that you wanted. But for less price than what you have already paid for your existing equipment. My openion about bluetooth, is that it is not for normal people earning between $$$$$ pa to $$$$$$$ pa. The best option would be use your cell phone to connect to the PDa and surf the net. My comments or suggestions are very confusing as this is a very completetive world and changing so fast. DO your research and land at a proper place. (I could not do this because I am a crazy electronics fan). This is just my experience and how I felt. But it does't alter or wanted to alter manufacutures Aims and belief or what is thie game plan.
Rating:
Summary: Palm killer is here!
Review: iPaq with slim and sexy body, bluetooth, SDIO slot, replaceable battery and the mutlimedia features for an afforadble price is here! Surely this is a Palm killer and will be the best selling model of the year. Ofcourse the users will have to deal with quirks of bloated Windoze but then most have already done so on their PC.
Rating: 
Summary: Does not hold a candle to my old casio e125
Review: Not only do you get no case, no cradle, and no user's guide, but you get a battery that lasts 2 hours at medium brightness with secure digit card inserted, a super slippery stylus, and you'll be happy to spend hours and hours setting up the sync software, plus you'll be sticking the stylus into the "reset" hole many, many times each joyful day. You'll love to bang your head against the wall numerous times when you want to sync it with more than one PC. I admit the styling is great, but this is a [poor] PDA, because it requires you to constantly soft reset. And it slows to a crawl when you run more than three apps at the same time. Fuhget it.
Rating:
Summary: Nice PDA!
Review: I was a little worried ordering this after reading all of the reviews of a yellow tint on the screen. Well I purchased it anyway expecting that it was just people overly high expectations. Well I can say that I am happy with it. It works well with my PC, and I purchased Missing Sync to sync it with my mac which also works without a hitch. I was also a little concerned about the low clock speed compared to say the dell, but it is zippy... runs MameCE, PocketNES and other emulators well. And as far as that yellow screen... well yes it is there if you look at the screen at an angle, not normal viewing angles... overall this is a great little pda that I would recommend to anyone!
Rating:
Summary: Crash galore
Review: Here's my recommendation, friends. If you love a palm pc that crashes and crashes and crashes, this one is perfect for you. In addition, you'd love to know that it barely syncs with your desktop. Sarcasm aside, this is not unlike a piece of garbage, maybe expensive paperweight is a better cliched analogy. Seriously, I like my HP desktop, but this is really bad. Expect to reset it twice or more a day, and don't say I didn't warn you when you pull your hair out over the sync troubles. Only bright spot is the screen, but what good is it if it can't work smoothly?
Rating:
Summary: Mighty Mite - HP does it right!
Review: Looking for a Pocket PC(PPC) with the power to handle your most graphic intensive tasks, but the form factor you loved in your Palm V? HP has finally built it - the Ipaq 1945! I must say that I didn't set out to buy the 1945. I had my eyes on the Ipaq 2215. I was looking for a PPC that would double as a gameboy using PocketSNES. Although PPC's released as little as 3 months ago couldn't run PocketSNES fast enough to be playable, I was promised that the new Intel processor in the 2215 would. So I took a trip to my local retailer to check it out. Long story short, the 2215 performed as promised, but my eye was caught by the 1945. With a 'what the heck' I popped my memory card into the slot and fired it up, thinking that the 266mhz Samsung processor couldn't possibly compete with the 400mhz Intel. Boy was I surprised when the [money amount]performed just as well as the 2215. This thing had some power! I then tried a video that had been choppy on my previous (300mhz Intel) PPC. It ran smooth as butter. I was sold. I've now used the 1945 for about a month and I couldn't be happier. This thing has handled every task I could throw at it. It's onboard memory is as large as any other currently available PPC, but it is faster than almost all of them (do a web search to see what the benchmark numbers say). The screen is bright, clear, and well saturated, if a little on the yellow side. I thought Bluetooth would be pretty useless until I connected for the first time. I can now sync the Ipaq without a cable or cradle, and wirelessly surf the internet from my couch. Very Cool. With the [money amount]I saved by choosing this model over the 2215, I was able to purchase an extra snc-n-charge cable, an aluminum case, and a Bluetooth Dongle for wireless connection to my PC. I highly recommend this PPC to...I was going to say budget conscious buyers, but since this outperforms PPC's costing hundreds more...everyone looking for a powerful handheld that will fit comfortably in your pocket.
Rating:
Summary: Nice product with a couple of downsides
Review: The 1945 lives up to its promises and reviews rather nicely. It is beautifully compact and nicely designed. It is reasonably fast. The screen detail is exceptionally fine. BUT--I have found two items which have been somewhat of a disappointment: The screen has a "yellowish" tint which gets worse as you view at off-angles from normal; and several of the applications which I was happily using on my 2002 PPC (an Audiovox Maestro)do not work on the new HP 1945. I had heard about the yellowish tint from others, and it is true! I thought perhaps I was imagining it through the "power of suggestion", so I went to CompUSA where I could compare the 1910 and 1945 side-by-side. Well, its real, all right! - And the 2215 next to those also had the yellowish tint. Not that it is all that noticable by itself, but it is somewhat annoying that HP rides the coattails of the 1910 in bragging about the fantastic screen - when in actuality, the color rendition of the 1945 and 2215 are inferior to their stellar sibling. HP-why did you change??? $$$??? Regarding software compatibility of the new 2003 operating system, I am sorely disappointed! I have found at least 4 applications which worked fine on my 2002 Maestro, but do not work at all, or are extremely buggy in the 2003 O.S. The worst was a BELKIN InfraRed keyboard which hard-crashed the 1945 so bad that I had to do a hard reset, losing many hours of installation work in the process. Belkin offered no warning or patch for 2003 users, even on their web site. So back up your installs incrementally, lest you meet the same fate; and check compatibility carefully before shelling out any $ for 2002 software which may not work! Niether Microsoft nor HP have offered any patches or upgrades to overcome any incompatibilities. Overall, I'm happy with the things which do work on the 1945, and I'm keeping it. If you don't need bluetooth, consider buying the 1910 instead - you'll be $$ and smiles ahead. P.S. the aluminum hard case for the 1900-series iPaqs is great!
Rating:
Summary: The best PocketPC to come along in a long time
Review: First off, I feel the criticisms of the 2-star review posted July 25th need to be addressed, because some of them are in error (why do people write reviews for things they don't own?)... 1). The ARM9 core Samsung S3C2410 CPU in the 1945 is actually quite fast. Don't be fooled by a 266MHz clock speed compared to 400MHz XScale devices - this device runs multimedia apps and games faster than most other PocketPC models. I've done the benchmarks and framerate tests myself - it's impressive. Why? because despite the XScale hype, almost no apps or games are optimized for this Intel CPU, so ARM based processors can actually perform faster. The Samsung CPU also handles many functions internally, while the XScales still rely on a 100MHz external bus (the new PXA-255 processors use a 200MHz internal bus). Also, the 1945 isn't any 'hotter' than other PocketPC models I have owned. In fact, it stays quite cool. 2). The 1945 has 56.66MB of available system RAM out of 64 - NOT 46. It also has approx. 13MB of additional flash file storage that can be used for anything - so the device really comes with approx. 70MB of available RAM! 3). Bluetooth is essential. I use it to surf the web wirelessly at home and sync. It works great, and is quite fast. Be sure to select a Belkin or other Class 1 long-range USB dongle and read Brighthand or other PocketPC forums for tips on how to properly set it all up. It's also great if you have a BT cell phone. 4). The 30 minute battery "guess" for WiFi SD use is wrong. I get 2.5+ hours playing hardcore games with brightness and sound on full blast, 4 hours playing MP3 with the light on (6-7 hours with it off). And yes, a 256MB flash/WiFi combo so you can have both expansion RAM and wireless. 5). Note the use of the word "bloatware" -- this is an old slam that users of Palm devices use to bash the PocketPC. Draw your own conclusions from a guy that wrote a large and scathing review based on, in his own words, "A test drive" at a local store. He comments on the "cheaper" Zire 71 as having more features, but in reality it's the exact same price for less RAM and a much less sophisticated OS. You do get a very low resolution camera, but it doesn't do video and multimedia is still better on PocketPC. Now that the comments from the guy who doesn't know what he's talking about are out of the way, here are my PRO and CON comments on the 1945 (which I've had now for almost a month): PRO:
* Size and style are the best of any PocketPC. Great power in the tiniest form imaginable. Think Palm V! It's amazing. * Removeable battery - spares are cheap ($... shipped) and the optional cradle can charge the 1945 plus one extra battery! * Stylus included has a metal shaft and reset tool (unlike the Zire 71). * VERY fast - comparable to the fastest PPC models available. Great for games and video! * Voice/Memo Recorder button & mic (lacking on the HP 2215 and Palm Zire 71). * Fast USB transfer. Large files copied from the desktop go very quickly. * SDIO slow allows IO accessories like WiFi, and the upcoming tiny HP video cam that will take movies and 1.3MP images! * Screen has a slight yellow tint when viewed at certian angles, but is still very rich and vibrant with great color, like the 1910. * Price - Unbeatable at $... list, and Amazon has them right now for even less. CON:
* Battery life is OK but not as good as models such as the 2215. * Slipcover & cradle are optional. * Earphone jack is non-standard (adapter is included) * No CF slot or available expansion sleeves. * Uses Windows Mobile 2003 'Professional' which lacks MS Reader and ClearType Tuner. Reader can be installed, however. CONCLUSION: The iPAQ 1945 marks a milestone, as did its predecessor, the 1910. It carries forward the 1900 series tradition of groundbreaking (for PocketPC) size & price while adding to it the super-fast Samsing ARM based CPU, an expandable SD slot, integrated bluetooth connectivity and a new version of the OS. It's not perfect, but for less than $... it's by far the most powerful & versatile PDA available capable of superb performance.
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