Hewlett Packard iPAQ 214 Enterprise PDA

I have had a number of PDAs but this is quite simply the best for various reasons.

It is very attractive, comfortable to hold and manage, and quick. A pleasure to use.

With the right software it is a very efficient and responsive digital assistant - pretty much as life enhancing as you would wish it to be.

It is big enough but not too big.

Screen display is bright and clear and not glossy or irritating.

The supplied leather case is both very pleasant and effective.

The 214 provides ease of complex information management which most mobile phones including the iPhone cannot match.

It is a touch screen device but still works best with the stylus. On a responsive system such as this the stylus is better than fingers under many circumstances.

Handwriting recognition can be used very effectively with a little practice, as with any of the Windows mobile based systems that take stylus input. That eliminates the need for a hardware keyboard most of the time.

However, it also readily interfaces with Bluetooth keyboards without trouble, and can be used very comfortably for sophisticated text based document management with modest software additions.

The iPaq very rarely crashes, which is much better than with past generations of PDAs.

Security and backup works very well.

The combination of SD card and CF card storage provides much storage space.

Battery life is sufficient for moderate all day use, though it could benefit from even higher capacity than the good 2200 mAh battery provided.

Internet access via Wifi is very efficient and not seriously frustrating. The screen size and clarity allows a satisfactory browsing experience, though clearly browsing on a laptop is faster and better.

The range of add ons and software is now very good. I particularly like the Softmaker office suite since it is so sophisticated though a little more expensive. Some treeview based outliners (see My Life Organised for example) have improved enough to be very useful, though it is a pity that the beta version of Bonsai for WM/PPC seemed not achieve maturity.

Filing management for complex data seems to me to remain much better in Windows based systems than in Android, Nokia or Apple devices. Combining that with effective handwriting recognition means that for me this hand held device is still way ahead for people wanting complex document and data management as well as efficient and attractive personal information management in their hand.

Downsides:

Software remains relatively expensive compared with Android and Apple apps, and a more cumbersome to install.

I would prefer a still longer stylus but you can use your own pen style stylus anyway.

The iPaq is still slightly thick and heavy compared with the competition.

Battery life is also still a little short despite the relatively high capacity. You have to be careful with it towards the end of a conference day taking notes, for example.

It would be nice if the layout of the primary and secondary Windows mobile screens were more attractive.

Windows error management and help remains woefully bad. Not sure that the competition is much better in that regard, though.

Despite some improvements, the Windows Mobile Device Center remains pretty unpleasant and opaque to use for synchronisation purposes and it is still difficult to sync with PIMs other than Outlook.

I bought this iPAQ as I needed a dedicated organiser that really is useable. For my purposes, primarily to store and view documents, take notes, access my diary, sync with lap-top - it works very well. The screen is bright, clear and large. The slip-case gives excellent protection to the whole unit which is very important. Battery life is good, touch screen works well as does blue-tooth and wifi. My only two criticisms, 1. the speaker volume is rubbish - however it's fine with headphones, and the unit is a bit too chunky, about 12mm I think. The unit would have been much more attractive had it been slimmer, and if the screen was black when switched off and not grey which looks pretty rubbish.

All in all, when it comes to functionality it tops any smart-phone including iphone. Obviously it is not a phone! But I have a phone for a phone and think it's best that way. At meetings when it comes to setting dates etc, my colleagues with their smartphones and iphones take a lot longer accessing their diaries - most of them don't bother using them because it's easier to use a paper diary. I ion the other hand have no trouble as this unit is specifically designed for such a purpose.

I do have a smartphone as well, but it does not compare - even remotely.

I would certainly commend it to anyone that could use it's functionality.

I've watched movies on this unit whilst on train journies - it's excellent picture quality works well

I bought this product for spare parts. Many customers of mine have ipaq 214 and usually I need parts "instadly" thats why I made this purchase. I think that it is a very usefull and durable. Usually I have to replace the lcd or to clean the buttons and the circuit under them

Its not good at all and I have sold it within 3days as it was not able to support alot of applications simply my advice is not to buy it at all a smart phone can do more then that simply it is very very poor who ever wants to buy they are throwing the money in the water.

For this product can not express an opinion as parts cast and you did not use the parts. When I tell him impact my