COMPAQ POCKET PC AERO 1550 - At 0.5 inches (1.27 centimeters) thick and weighing about 5 ounces, the Compaq Aero 1550 pocket PC fits in a shirt or jacket pocket. It is the first of the Compaq Aero series to adopt Microsoft's latest operating system for PDAs that includes pocket versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, and many other applications. Despite its thin and light design, the Compaq Aero 1550 packs 16 MB each of RAM and ROM and features a 70 MHz processor.

Besides the Microsoft Windows operating system, the Compaq Aero 1550 is loaded with Compaq's own QMenu, Qutilities, and File Explorer programs. These utilities place frequently used actions--such as switching between or closing tasks, adjusting volume, and changing backlighting--only a click away. Other features of this pocket PC include an infrared port for one-button data transfer, a CompactFlash card slot, a microphone, and a headphone output.

The Compaq Aero 1550 delivers up to 14 hours of use through its rechargeable lithium-ion battery. A backup battery and an AC adapter help keep the unit charged so you never lose your data. In addition to these features, the Compaq Aero 1550 offers a one-year warranty on parts and labor. - Go Now!

HP POCKET PC JORNADA 525 - Pocket PCs aren't known as the budget PDAs of the handheld world--these fast, high-color machines are the ones you'll usually find in the $500 range, offering TFT displays and speedier processors than their less costly brethren.

But HP's Jornada 525 sells for under $400, nearly down to the range of the basic PDAs while still offering a lot of the upper-echelon goodies. The Jornada 525 ships with only 16 MB of integrated memory--normally a sizeable amount that gets eaten into quickly by Windows CE and its multimedia capabilities (we were only able to put a couple of MP3 files on the Jornada as it shipped). But you can add up to 128 MB of additional storage with a CompactFlash card. By boosting the storage, the MP3 playback actually becomes a viable option--for patient users.

The patience comes in with the serial connection of the Jornada. This is fine for normal synchronization of notes, e-mails, and other text files, but we found it painfully slow with multiple megabytes of MP3s. Playback of the music files was crisp through the stereo headphone jack and loud even via the built-in speaker. The Jornada ships with serial connection cable, but you can pick up a serial cradle. It also offers infrared transfer, if your PC or notebook offers the connectivity.

Weighing in at only 8 ounces, the Jornada fits snugly in the palm, with indented grips on the rubber sides, and offers four hot keys for quick access to the home screen, contacts, calendar, and tasks list. There's also a voice recorder built into the Jornada, accessible via a thumb button on the left side of the PDA.

Some flaws mar the overall design package: the flimsy CompactFlash slot cover feels like it could snap off easily and the rubber pieces on the top of each side look like they're meant to peel off (they're not) and do so with little resistance. The Jornada 525 also lacks a stylus slot on the device itself (the stylus is stored in the case that houses the Jornada), and the stylus could use a bit more heft.

Nitpicks aside, the Jornada provides a lot of kick from its 133 MHz processor--applications popped open quickly and we were able to multitask with little slowdown. The bright, 8-bit color screen was easy on the eyes and is also sensitive enough to allow touch manipulation.

Running Windows for Pocket PC and shipping with Microsoft Outlook 2000 also means that your Word, Excel, and e-mail files transfer to the Jornada seamlessly. The Jornada also runs on a rechargeable battery (although we didn't quite get the promised eight hours of life), saving on the cost of battery replacement.

While a redesign would definitely add to the Jornada's appeal, as it is it's a respectable Pocket PC for an excellent price. - J. Curtis - Go Now!

HP POCKET PC JORNADA 545 - Windows PDAs have long fought an uphill battle. Users have flocked to the highly functional Palm Connected Organizers and tended to ignore the more powerful, more expensive, and bigger Windows PDAs. The release of the new HP Jornada 545, the first of the new Pocket PC devices to hit the market, may finally turn this around. The Jornada is still a bit bigger, about 5 ounces heavier, and about $100 more expensive than the Palm Vx. But it is sleek, robust, highly functional, and the color screen is beautifully sharp. The "wow" factor is definitely there.

The Pocket PC OS is also responsive and well thought out--a big improvement over WinCE. In addition to the suite of powerful pocket applications (Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, PIM, and scheduler), the Jornada can also serve as a digital voice recorder (to capture those spur-of-the-moment thoughts), an MP3 player, Audible content player, and even an e-books reader.

The standard 16 MB of memory is expandable using standard CompactFlash cards. The product ships with a synchronization cradle (which supports USB or conventional serial interfaces), an extra sync cable (so you don't have to take the cradle everywhere), an AC power adapter, and earbuds. A microphone and a small speaker are built in. For MP3 use, we recommend expanding your RAM to 64 MB with a CompactFlash card to provide an hour of near-CD quality music.

Most Windows users should be able to run through the setup Wizard and start using the Jornada and its applications without cracking the manual. Learning to use handwriting recognition, which is integrated into all the applications, requires mastering a few special stylus strokes, but you should be writing smoothly within half an hour. In comparison to Palm's Graffiti system, the Pocket PC system is fully on par.

In our tests, setting up a connection to a desktop PC for synchronization was simple. Within 20 minutes, we had installed the ActiveSync software, hooked up the supplied cradle to the AC adapter and a USB port on our PC, and established a connection. If you have an older PC or laptop, you can also synchronize using a slower serial connection. Synchronization is automatic and file transfer is simple using the Windows Explorer-like interface.

The only real caveat is that Pocket PC works best in a Windows-centric world. At launch, it appears that there is no support for synchronizing with non-Microsoft e-mail and scheduling applications. (With an optional modem or network-interface card, you can send and receive Internet POP mail directly via your ISP.)

The choice between Pocket PC and Palm comes still comes down to tradeoffs. Palms are still lighter, smaller, and cheaper, and they do the basics beautifully. The Jornada 545 is slightly bigger, 5 ounces heavier, $100 more expensive, but vastly more powerful and flexible. The choice all depends on what you expect your PDA to do. - Thomas Mace - Go Now!

HP POCKET PC JORNADA 548 - Windows PDAs have long fought an uphill battle. Users have flocked to the highly functional Palm Connected Organizers and tended to ignore the more powerful, more expensive, and bigger Windows PDAs. The release of the new HP Jornada 548, the first among the new Pocket PC devices to hit the market, may finally turn this around. The Jornada is still a bit bigger, about 5 ounces heavier, and more expensive than the Palm Vx. But it is sleek, robust, highly functional, and the color screen is beautifully sharp. The "wow" factor is definitely there.

The Pocket PC OS is also responsive and well thought out--a big improvement over WinCE. In addition to the suite of powerful pocket applications (Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, PIM, and Scheduler), the Jornada can also serve as a digital voice recorder (to capture those spur-of-the-moment thoughts), an MP3 player, audible content player, and even an e-books reader.

The standard 32 MB memory is expandable using standard CompactFlash Type I cards. The product ships with a synchronization cradle (which supports USB or conventional serial interfaces), an extra sync cable (so you don't have to take the cradle everywhere), an AC power adapter, and earbuds. A microphone and a small speaker are built in. For MP3 use, we recommend expanding your RAM to 64 MB with a CompactFlash card to provide an hour of near-CD-quality music.

Most Windows users should be able to run through the setup wizard and start using the Jornada and its applications without cracking the manual. Learning to use handwriting recognition, which is integrated into all the applications, requires mastering a few special stylus strokes, but you should be writing smoothly within half an hour. In comparison with Palm's Graffiti system, the Pocket PC system is fully on par.

In our tests, setting up a connection to a desktop PC for synchronization was simple. Within 20 minutes, we had installed the ActiveSync software, hooked up the supplied cradle to the AC adapter and a USB port on our PC, and established a connection. If you have an older PC or laptop, you can also synchronize using a slower serial connection. Synchronization is automatic and file transfer is simple using the Windows Explorer-like interface.

The only real caveat is that Pocket PC works best in a Windows-centric world. At launch, it appears that there is no support for synchronizing with non-Microsoft e-mail and scheduling applications. (With an optional modem or network-interface card, you can send and receive Internet POP mail directly via your ISP.)

The choice between Pocket PC and Palm still comes down to tradeoffs. Palms are still lighter, smaller, and cheaper, and they do the basics beautifully. The Jornada 548 is slightly bigger, 5 ounces heavier, more expensive, but vastly more powerful and flexible. The choice all depends on what you expect your PDA to do. - Thomas Mace - Go Now!

HP POCKET PC JORNADA 680 - Looking to fill the niche between a notebook and a palmtop? The Jornada 680 offers the features of a PC with pocket-size convenience. Loaded with software for personal information management and featuring a complete keyboard for touch typing, this sleek hand-held PC makes a great traveling companion.

The Jornada 680 connects to your PC through a docking cradle via the PC's 9-pin serial port. Setup consists of following the Quick Start instruction sheet, attaching the battery, and connecting the docking cradle. In our tests, the entire process was intuitive, and software installation on our PC went without a hitch.

The keyboard on this small, portable unit is about two-thirds the width of a normal desktop model, so typing feels a little cramped at first. Taking quick notes and memos for testing was easy, but composing longer documents would not be practical.

File synchronization with the desktop "partner" PC occurs through a serial cable and by running Microsoft Windows CE Services 2.2 with ActiveSync. The Partnership Wizard guides you through establishing a connection and synchronizing shared files. When the two units are connected, you can access the Jornada's desktop as an ordinary window on the partner PC's Windows desktop.

We set up the Jornada to connect to an ISP through its internal modem and to send and receive email through the ISP's POP3 server. This process was easy--we just ran the Make New Connection wizard and answered its questions. (Make sure that you have your ISP's e-mail protocol information handy.) Surfing the Web is fun and fast, although you have to get used to the half-height screen when viewing Web pages.

The printed User's Guide is thorough, clearly written, and well organized. The Jornada's online Help is more limited but covers the most important topics. The pleasant, intuitive user interface precluded the need to consult the documentation for most tasks. - Go Now!

HP POCKET PC JORNADA 720 - One of the nice things about Windows CE devices is that manufacturers don't have to stick to a specific design. They can make large screens or small screens, add keyboards or rely solely on the touch screen for input, and basically do whatever they want. Hewlett-Packard decided to make a do-anything device when they designed the Jornada 720, and on most counts they have succeeded.

The device sports a keyboard just large enough for comfortable touch typing and a large 640 x 240 screen that makes Web browsing and document editing much easier than is the case with a smaller device. This useful combination means that most people will be able to use the Jornada 720 as a notebook computer replacement. However, if you're looking for the ultimate in portable handheld computing, you'll have to look elsewhere.

The 720 is about as loaded as a Windows CE device can get; it comes with an integrated 56 Kbps V.90 modem, docking station for easy connection to a PC, AC adapter, and rechargeable battery. It's outfitted with 32 MB of RAM and a 206 MHz StrongARM processor that really makes applications fly. On the multimedia side you get an integrated speaker and stereo headphone jack for audio playback, and one of the most beautiful TFT active matrix displays we've seen. It can mix and match more than 65,000 colors at once, renders very crisp text, and never had trouble keeping up with our input like inferior passive matrix screens do.

The very thing that makes the Jornada 720 so useful--its relatively large size--is also its biggest drawback. Its weight can make it unwieldy, and there's no good way to get a grip on it when there isn't a flat surface to use it with. We ended up accidentally pressing keys far too often when holding the unit with one hand, though with a little practice juggling becomes much easier.

If you are graduating to the Jornada from a smaller handheld (such as a Palm) instead of slimming down from a notebook, prepare to be underwhelmed by its portability. Expect to be impressed, however, by its zippy performance, generous display, and expansion possibilities. - T. Byrl Baker - Go Now!

TOSHIBA POCKET PC E330 - I absolutely love this Toshiba Pocket PC. I had been a Compaq IPAQ user over the past 2 years since dumping the Palm OS and thought I would be an IPAQ user forever. That is until I first saw the new Toshiba e330.

My Toshiba Pocket PC e330 has the latest Intel XScale processor running at 300MHz with 64MB of RAM, Pocket PC 2002 OS and the familiar tools like Word, Excel, Outlook and Media Player. The device also has a built-in Secure Digital (SD) media slot for additional storage space. I've used my SD card to backup my PDA as well as a holding place for my MP3. The built in Media Player makes this a great portable MP3 player.

This PDA is fast and I typically amaze people by playing full-screen video on the beautiful color screen. And the best part of the device is its incredibly thin profile and lightweight. It easily fits in your pocket and it just a great device. I highly recommend this PDA for anyone looking for an entry level device Pocket PC device as the price keeps on dropping. - Go Now!

TOSHIBA POCKET PC E740 - Packaged in an attractive, sleek design, the Toshiba e740 Pocket PC features a familiar user interface and tools powered by Microsoft Windows Pocket PC 2002. It's the first Pocket PC to be equipped with a blindingly fast 400 MHz Intel XScale processor, vastly improving application switching and multimedia playback. The Toshiba e740 is equipped with built-in slots for both Secure Digital (SD) and CompactFlash (CF) memory and module cards. It also features integrated wireless Bluetooth and WLAN capabilities.

The Toshiba e740 is loaded with 32 MB SDRAM memory and 32 MB of flash ROM (for future upgrading). It's powered by a built-in lithium rechargeable battery that recharges via the included USB cradle. - Go Now!

TOSHIBA POCKET PC E750 - I've owned various Pocket PCs (over 12 models) since the original iPAQ was available, and the Toshiba e750 is the closest the perfect as they come! Having come from an iPAQ 3970 (which was also near-perfect), I had very high standards for my next Pocket PC. And I'm very glad to say the e750 has met that criterion thus far. Note, I did own the e740 but contrary to the e750, I thought that was near-garbage.

The e750's screen is excellent and comparable to the 3970's (I will not settle for less). It's bright and sensitive (unlike the e750). Sound quality is excellent through headphones and good through the internal speaker (the iPAQ's is by far clearer and louder through the speaker, but quality difference is not discernible).

The WiFi range is something I was quite surprised with...the e740 did not extend beyond about half my home in Ad-Hoc setup, however my e750 covers my entire home and even up to across the street (the card in the computer is a Lucent Orinoco Silver PCMCIA card). WiFi works flawlessly and was quite simple to set up...definately a step above the e740's poor manager.

Video playback, which utilizes the ATI Imageon 100 chip inside the e750, is also FLAWLESS and surpasses all units I've owned (I didn't keep the e740 long enough for players to become available that took advantage of the chip). I have videos encoded at 29.97 fps that play full-frame using PocketMVP (www.....com)

The extra 32MB of ROM is quite pragmatic, and I've utilized it to the fullest...I've never had so many eBooks and programs crammed onto my unit's internal storage.

The only thing I can complain about is the unit's battery life. While it is removable, I'd really have liked it if Toshiba had included a larger battery. As it stands, battery life is good without WiFi, but only about 2 hours with WiFi enabled.

Nonetheless, the unit is excellent and I would reccomend it without qualms, especially if you have a WiFi network. The CF and SD slots work well to load this device with memory (I have 1.5 GB of storage in addition to the internal...512MB SD and 1GB CF...1.5GB of storage and WiFi...what more do I really need?) - Go Now!