Rating: 
Summary: Pleasing all the way
Review: After agonizing for over two months (mainly over the price), I finally bought the new iPaq. In fact, the reason I finally bought it is I walked into the local CompUSA and checked it out alongside the HP offering, and even though the Jornada was smaller, the 3835 was definitely more stylish -- and the screen was the real beauty that helped me make up my mind.I owned a Casio EM-500 before, and the new iPaq is a giant leap forward in terms of screen quality, processing speed (my, everything now opens instantly, and playing WMA files no longer slows down other activities), as well as styling. The new Pocket PC OS is more stable and speedier, and I like the XP-like interface. Otherwise, it's familiar to this Pocket PC old hand. In short, the iPaq lives up to its reputation as being a cool and powerful PDA. Anyone interested in a Pocket PC should give this unit a serious look.
Rating:
Summary: Don't leave home without it.
Review: I use to be the only person in the house able to program the VCR, but find I'm about the only one who cannot anymore...kinda left behind by technology. I was a little scared to dole out the big bucks for this technology if fear that I just wouldn't "get-it". However, what I've found is that if you can run windows, you already know most of what you need to know. All I can say after having it 2 weeks is that I won't leave home without it. I especially like the way you can write sentences in handwriting and it converts it into typed text. Like another reviewer, seems hard to get accessories for it, but sure that will get better soon.
Rating: 
Summary: 5 stars but....
Review: This was my first Pocket device. People recommended that I get an upscale organiser, but I opted for a pocket pc.
I have never looked back since. It saves me so much time (especially the transcriber-I prefer to transcribes letters etc on this then sync it to my PC) and it goes with me wherever I go. I must say for a Project Manager the uses of Word,Excel, Outlook the organiser etc are invaluable being on the go all the time. It has not completely replaced the laptop but i'm sure it will rival it once its memory can be increased significantly. The media player rocks (but as with all systems- mp3's and large files...slows it up).
It would have gotten a 5 star recommendation if it did not have these downs
- Not enough documentation
- It freezes and requires resetting at times A must buy for professionals on the go.
Rating: 
Summary: Very mixed bag
Review: The product is exactly how it is described. Lot's of functionality. Well designed. On the down side:
- The unit I received is a lemon. It has three unrelated issues that Compaq acknowledges as hardware problems. This is a LOT of HW problems for a single unit!
- Compaq's support has been unusually poor. In their first reply to my email, they sent a generic answer saying that I should reset my unit. They apparently did not even read my description of the problem I was encountering because at the very beginning, I had already said that I had tried resetting several times. In their second reply, the directed me to call second tier Tech Support (in other words, they waste several days of your time with a first tier of support that can only provide pre-canned answers) for assistance. I called the number they specified and waited on the line for over 45 minutes before giving up. Summary
Good product if it works. If you get a problem unit, the inconvenience of Compaq's support will make the whole experience negative.
Rating:
Summary: Bye Bye Palm
Review: My wife gave this to me as a xmas gift, god bless her soul. I was a die hard Palm user for many years, thought there was no better. Ever since getting my hands on the IPAQ 3835, I now see how in the dark ages I have been. It looks great and has all the features one needs to be productive between home and work. Yeah the new Palm 505 is nice, but when you crack the hood, you see thats it's reallly the same ole Palm with a few nice add-ons. The display on the 3835 is truly superior to others on the market, I like the fact that anyone to your left or right can't see what's on your screen. There are those that argue that the battery life is bad, let me tell you, I just got back from a business trip in Europe, didn't have any euro plugs so had no means to charge my IPAQ, wasn't a factor, no I wasn't playing games, I'll leave that to the GameCube, but it lasted a full day and a half without a hickup. Once I purchase a SD card, I'll have a mini laptop in my pocket. I could go on talking about how great the IPAQ 3835 is, but I have a better idea, go get your own and see for yourself what a great product this is. Lastly, you may say I missed out on bluetooth by not waiting for latest IPAQ, not so, I can purchase the bluetooth sleeve, enough said.
Rating: 
Summary: unreliable
Review: you know what, ive used pocket pc when it first came out, i thought there was absolutely nothing wrong with it, but over the time the memory expanded and it became so slow and sluggish. i was wrong to think that microsoft os and compaq had actually sone something decent in the field of computers and electronics. i just hace to say that i was very dissappointed with the new pocket pc and am returning mine, i have had much better luck with sony and its HARDWARE. it is slow and becuase it is so slow you cant even tell the difference between crashing and processinge, im through with them. sorry, but i dont want it.
Rating: 
Summary: WARNING...IPAQ's screen CANNOT display MS Reader properly!
Review: I bought and loved this IPAQ until I tried to run MS Reader and found that the words are all fuzzy and they have an annoying rainbow-colored pixel-bleed. MS Reader uses "ClearType" technology, but on the IPAQ it's anything but clear! I compared it to the Jornada 568, which displays ClearType beautifully and crisply. Upon looking around on the web and Usenet, I found out that the IPAQ's screen is oriented in the wrong direction to display ClearType properly. It was so bad that I had to return it and eat the retailer's restocking fee. I subsequently bought a Jornada 568, and I have been very happy with it ever since! Aside from that, the IPAQ is not properly balanced to use as a hand-held reader...it is too top-heavy. The Jornada is lighter and much more comfortable to hold for extended period of time. Now, I must say that I found the IPAQ to be a superior device in every other way---it feels great in your hand, the display is beautiful and bright when displaying anything other than MS reader, the audio is awesome. So if you don't plan on reading ebooks, then go with the IPAQ. But if you like MS Reader, go with the Jornada 565 or 568.
Rating:
Summary: The Ipaq 3835 finally lured me away from Palm
Review: I was a Palm user ever since the original Palm Pilot about 5 years ago. I never thought that anything could pry me from my beloved Palm Vx...until this latest generation of Compaq Ipaqs. Now, I'll never go back!
I have over 1,000 contacts in MS Outlook, plus loads of appointments and tasks and everything converted seamlessly to the Ipaq. (But make a backup just in case as it is not wise to tempt fate.)
I am thrilled that I finally have true MS Office integration with my PDA - including automatic synchronizing of files. Of course the Pocket PC is not all work and no play: I read ebooks on it, play mpeg videos, and listen to music and audio books. It can even read my email to me while I am driving!
Compaq bundles a LOT of software with the Ipaq 3835 (the only difference between the 3835 and the 3850 is that the 3835 comes with Peacemaker which allows you to beam via infrared to other PDAs including those using the Palm OS). However, the Compaq version of Dashboard totally crashed my Ipaq and I had to do a hard reset (yes, I do believe in backing up!). A corrected version of Dashboard is now available, but I've decided I don't really need it. BTW, the installation disk comes with a full version of MS Outlook 2002 as it is strongly suggested that you should have the upgrade installed on the PC you syn your Pocket PC to.
If you aren't certain about which Pocket PC to get, just keep in mind that the Ipaq's StrongARM processer is considered the standard - most software is written for it. I've seen lots of software that works ONLY with the Ipaq...
Rating:
Summary: Save yourself the trouble!!
Review: It crashed on me with in 10 minutes of breaking the seal on the package. The "soft" reboot did not work. I had to perform a "hard" reboot. It worked about 2 more minutes then it crashed again just trying to set the time. The battery showed 98% charged so I unpluged the thing and went mobile. It kept shutting off. When I pluged it back in I could not get a battery reading. I called compaq and before I had a chance to tell them the whole story, the agent said I had a bad battery to send it back. Total time in-hand 20 minutes. Had to pack it up and set it back the day after Christmas. Good luck to all who plunk down 600+ bucks. I hope you have better luck with yours.
Rating:
Summary: Love/Hate relationship
Review: I think a lot of the good press this device has gotten is based on comparison with Palm devices. The iPaq does have a superior display and a much wider, more useful selection of software to choose from. However, the unit that I have locks up often and requires me to do a soft reset. What a pain. I've also had a lot of trouble with programs not working when the memory card is inserted. Don't get me wrong, I would not trade my iPaq for a Palm, but I wish my pocket PC wasn't as fussy as my desktop PC. I'll give it 5 stars when it works right, every time I turn it on.
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