Compaq iPAQ H3650 Pocket PC

With its sleek, silver case and slick looking cradle, what's not to love about iPAQ's ergonomic design. Need speed? iPAQ runs at 206 MHz. It's fast!

by Lisa Jahred (this article is a bit dated but iPaq is still a great addition to your tech life!)

After using my iPAQ H3650 for a few days, it's easy to see what all the fuss is about! Thin, fast and easy to use, iPAQ really puts the power of a PC in your pocket.

What's OnBoard?
I was most impressed with the brilliant 3.0 by 2.3 inch color display. Unlike other devices I have used, the iPAQ screen is clear, with great visibility indoors or out.There are 5 backlight settings and an ambient light sensor to adjust brightness for automatic backlighting.The 32MB of built-in RAM is more than enough memory to take care of business and the 5 customizable hardware buttons are very easy use.

What Exactly Can You Do With An iPAQ?
For starters, manage your daily appointments, tasks and contacts with Pocket Outlook, use applications such a Pocket Word and Excel or listen to your favorite music with the Media Player. Want to read a book? No problem! With Microsoft Reader you can download the latest novel and read at your leisure.

Syncing Up
Connecting iPAQ to my desktop PC should have been a snap. Apparently there are some issues with Activesync 3.1 and some users, including myself, have had some problems getting this to work smoothly. It should be as simple as installing the software on my desktop PC, plugging in the USB cradle, putting iPAQ in the cradle and making the connection within seconds. It did not go as smoothly as planned and I had to turn off automatic syncing in order for this to work. Overall, aside from that glitch, Microsoft ActiveSync was easy to set up and has a very clear online help system. Apparently Compaq is aware of this sync problem. It does not seem to be consistent with every user.

Expanding Capabilities
For even more power, iPAQ uses a clever expansion pack system to add plug and play functionality and customization.There are currently 2 expansion packs available, the Compact Flash (CF) Expansion Pack and the PC Card Expansion Pack. Attaching the expansion packs is as easy as slipping the pack on the unit for instant recognition, no additional configuration is necessary. With the PC Card Expansion Pack, wireless connections are just a stylus tap away, while the CF Expansion Pack provides additional storage capacity as well as connections with a LAN or fax/modem.