Hewlett Packard Jornada 548 Color Pocket PC

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Very good Pocket PC - owned quite a while - never any problems! I love it!

Rating:
Summary: Money Well Spent
Review: A very good product. Knowing nothing at all about the world of palm pilots and pocket pc's, I started looking into them. Aside from working full time, I was getting ready to go to school and figured I might need a little help keeping myself and my schedule a little more well organized. My first decision...I decided to go with the lince of pocket pcs rather than the palms. From there, it wasn't an easy decision, but after comparing costs, things like memory, the different features, etc. I decided to go with the HP Jornada 548...not one of the newer, but not one of the oldest models either. I've got to say, it was one of the smartest shopping decisions I've ever made. I've owned mine for about 6 months now, and I have absolutely no regrets. Easy start up, easy to sync, and the memory is more than adequate. For someone hesitant about buying a pocket pc, I'd say this is definitely a good buy!

Rating:
Summary: Nice product, for the most part
Review: We inherited one of these from a cousin who had a major hassle with it. The screen kept blinking on and off--just enough to be obnoxious. After hassles with HP he finally got them to replace it entirely (their customer service was helpful, he said). So he gave us the old one. We got it to work for a while, my wife got hooked on it, so I bought her a new one. It works fine. Now I'm considering one after using the blinking one! We mostly love that it synchs with Microsoft Word and Outlook. Proof enough? We like it.

Rating:
Summary: wonderful handheld
Review: I spent about a week looking at various pdas. I talked to a lot of people who own them and i read a lot of customer reveiws. i was torn between four the handspring visor prism,the palm pilot 515, the sony clie c615 and the hp jornada 548. all had very similar features. i had heard that the screen on the palm 515 was a little dim. the other three had the same ratings on their screens very good. i was looking for a basic pda. i only wanted to keep contacts and maybe check email. having worked as a sales person meeting various reps from companies i was always losing their business cards. with a pda i would not lose the numbers as easily (i hope). i settled on the hp jornada because it gave me a little more bang for the buck. i have had it now for a week and i am very happy with it. i would recommend this if you want a basic pda at a good price. by the way i had no problem synching it with my pc which is running windows me.

Rating:
Summary: Everything Needed at an affordable price
Review: This bad boy has an amazing list of features at a great price. The included CD rom has plenty of additional software for anything you could ever want in a hand held. This is my first hand held and as of now I see no reason to upgrade, it lacks nothing. I would recommend a memory card if you want to use the MP3 feature.

Rating:
Summary: Not for the faint-hearted.....
Review: or those who shun manuals. I am a fairly computer-savvy person, but this handheld was difficult to use out of the box for me. The synchronization process failed numerous times initially. Then I downloaded the Windows XP update, but that was not a fix. I had to reset all factory defaults (i.e. wipe out all stored data & pgms) and then re-synch with the XP software on my PC.
I still have problems with memory management but I think this is a part of the too-steep learning curve on the 548. In addition, the processor can be maddeningly slow for some tasks, like opening a low resolution (1 megapixel) photo file. This sluggishness is also apparent when multi-tasking (like reading mail while running MP3s in the background), often requiring a soft reboot (reset). The good things are the price, expandable storage (I have a 256 card for music and 1 for pics), sturdy build and excellent graphics. I'm not sorry I bought it, I just wish I had more time to learn its intricacies.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome Windows Pocket PC
Review: There will always be pro's vs con's on every pocket pc depending on what your exactly looking for it to do. My Jornada has an excellent screen, plenty of aftermarket software. Yes, the speed is not a screamer but I didn't exactly pay a screamer price (500+) I find the memory to be adequate as well. You can't go wrong with the Jornada 548. I looked at the compaq and agree that it's case is more like a toy and the casio well, its mostly proprietory software except for MS Word, Excel etc. It is not genuine outlook from what I saw on the screen shots.

Rating:
Summary: It works for me.
Review: I needed a small word processing tool, some entertainment while hanging around in airports and offices, a mid-range calculator, and some limited spreadsheet capability. The Jornada 548 does all that. Prices have dropped as the 560 series has been released, and I found a Targus foldable keyboard (another very satisfactory product)... The HP unit ships with an impressive library of ebooks on the installation CD, and there are lots of good games available from the Zdnet website and others. The final useful add-on is a combination USB cable made by iConcepts that also charges the PDA through the USB port -- giving easy access to synchronization and fast recharging at the same time with little to carry around. I have a cable on each of my computers at home and at work. The newest Active Sync software was a quick free download from the Microsoft website and it works fine with my XP-based computers. There's no need for a separate case because the removable hard cover protects it well and the stylus tucks into the cover. I'm sure the 560 series is faster, but this does the job for me.

Rating:
Summary: Medical uses
Review: I am a physician user and I have found it to be very helpful in practice with applications such as Moble PDR, Pocket Harrison's and Sanford Guide. I think it far and away beats the Palm Pilots my colleagues use.

Rating:
Summary: Quickly outdated
Review: I purchased a 548 and returned it the next day. After taking the time to set it up, I started to look for electronic books that could be read on a pocket PC. If you look, the newer titles state they are only for the 2002 version of the operating system. There isn't much software available for ti now though I kept hearing promises of things becoming available in the future. From my experience with Microsoft, we are going to see more things available that requires the new OS and this has a good chance of being left behind. I contacted HP, there is no upgrade and the next version of Jornada that uses the 2002 system is expensive. I'll wait a while longer before trying to upgrade my cheap and reliable Palm and see how the market shakes out.