HP iPAQ 5555 Pocket PC

Pros:- It feels solid and well constructed. For example, the stylus holder has an internal spring that gently pops the stylus out of the shell when you press it. The whole unit compares very favorably to something like the Toshiba e755, which both feels and looks cheap.- Performance is great. Documents and programs open instantly.- Configuring Wi-Fi is easy, and it's easy to tell when Wi-Fi is active by the green light on the face of the unit. I didn't test Bluetooth, but connecting to my 802.11b network was straightforward.- Looks great. It's one of the most stylish PPCs around, and people will definitely notice it.- The "getting started" poster that comes with the unit is useful, and while I wish it had printed docs, the online PDF is well-written and reasonably substantive. The docs weren't an afterthought.Cons:- It's expensive!- I couldn't get fingerprint recognition to work reliably. Biometrics contribute to the high price, and they didn't work well enough to justify the premium.- Wi-Fi signal frequently disconnected. Maybe that's the state of handheld Wi-Fi? I'm not sure, but for the price it should hold the connection more reliably.Overall: I returned it. There are too many units with comparable specs for substantially less, minus the biometrics. Still, if you need to have fingerprint recognition (and if you can get it working reliably), this might be the unit for you. Leaving aside the fingerprint recognition, I was very impressed by the overall quality and will probably purchase a less expensive HP.

If price was a factor, this might be a 3-star review. I'm reviewing it assuming price is not an issue and you are willing to pay for the model.Positives:* Comes with Pocket PC 2003 (Windows Mobile 2003), which has worked out some of the bugs of PPC2002, so I understand. Seems a pretty stable OS.* 128 MB is just the best (for now!). This is great if you love to install tons of stuff on the unit.* With the 48MB of ROM and the OS, there is about 17MB left over for Ipaq file store. Another bonus in space.* Wifi is nearly perfect. Picks up access points without a hitch. Only minor problem might be that it's "too" excited sometimes and forgets that a certain access point is no longer around, so you have to manually remove it from the list.* Internet apps pretty good: Pocket IE, Messenger, W Media* Also easily used 3rd party software to browse my network and play tunes off another computer.* Syncs over wifi. This is so great!* Easy syncing with outlook, of course. Syncs IE favorites, too.* Unit ships with a higher capacity battery than the others (1250 vs. 900 mAh)* Fingerprint reader is faster than entering a PIN or a password. Also many security possibilities (i.e. fingerprint OR pin, fingerprint AND pin, etc.)* Voice recorder is handy.Negatives:* Price / Value ratio is fairly high. It seems that you could have a comparable unit with the 2215, a wireless card and some extra ram for about $100 cheaper.* The microphone/headphone jack is not flush with the bottom of the unit, but inset (see angle pic). Some of my headphone jacks sleeves are too fat to push the plug in all the way. This is a big design flaw.* With all the stuff it's got, it is on the heavier side of the PDA weight spectrum.* Big processor and battery means it gets very warm!* It'd be nice if printing over a network was a possibility. Can't seem to be able to do this.* IE is somewhat boiled down. No easy way to save a picture on a webpage like the desktop version of IE.* Charging with USB is possible, however the unit seems to wake up and want to sync even though I set syncing to manual. Doesn't go back asleep and won't USB charge while on.No comment:* Haven't been able to test bluetooth for lack of other devices carrying this technology.* Haven't used SD slot yet.* Haven't used the ipaq expansion pack, but this apparently allows it do do oh so much more! :)-- Buzz

this thing sucked. I would never sync to anything and it fell apart in the battery area about 1 year after I bought it. he review prompt only just came up, I bought it when it first came out like 12 years ago. It sucked from day one. and the Customer service from HP was a nightmare. I still wish I'd been able to get a refund. SUCH a giant chunk of dookey. it was the scooty puff jr of handhelds.

I would love the ipaqs if I could ever count on them to work. The 5555 is the third ipaq I have owned in the past three years (The company I work for gets them at a great discount, and I don't have to pay for them, which is why I keep getting them)First off, there are many things to love about this pda. The fingerprint recognition is really cool. It works perfectly for me, and I don't have to worry about remembering a password or having it stolen. The integrated bluetooth and 802.11b is an excellent add-on, and hasn't added to the bulk of the device at all. There is a large amount of built-in memory, the display looks beautiful, the battery is swappable, and there are a lot of nice applications built in.What disappoints me with every ipaq is the low reliability. It is so poor that I would never personally spend my own money on one of these devices. I typically have to hit the reset button on my ipaq several times per day, becuase under heavy use the thing will freqently slow down or completely freeze up. You can't blame third party apps for these faults, since I am commonly using the standard features of my ipaq when these faults occur.My first two ipaqs died within about a year of purchase. The first one had a battery go bad, and since it was built into the device I could not swap it myself. The second one just stopped working. I could turn it on, but it basically just gave me a blue screen of death and nothing more.I love what the ipaqs offer, I just wish HP could get their act together and make them work as they're supposed to.