A few minor cons, but still one spectacular PDA!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Brilliant color display; sleek design; tons of excellent apps available!

Cons: Expensive; sync software has some quirks; cradle is overly designed

The Bottom Line: 
While the iPAQ 3850 has its shortcomings, it still shines like a beacon in the night. This powerful, brilliant PDA will dazzle you.

Author's Review
It had to happen sooner or later...

I had been using my Palm V PDA for a long time. But there was always that one nagging problem that just drove me nuts. The bland, monochrome screen on the Palm device was so difficult to read unless you held it "just right." And don't even get me started about trying to read that thing at night or in a poorly lit room! It was impossible.

Yes, something had to be done. I checked out the new line of Palm color models, but the displays left me feeling pretty blah. Then, while browsing the PDA section in a local electronics store, I picked up, for the very first time, a Compaq iPAQ 3850. Wow! Lights from heaven shone down around me, angels began to sing, and a new iPAQ convert was born. I was hooked right from that very moment.

After taking the software for a quick spin, I realized that what I was experiencing was far superior to my old Palm device. I went back to my office and started researching the 3850 on the Internet to see what kind of software was available for it. I was soon convinced that there was more than enough software available to run all my business and personal applications, and after comparing prices, I placed my order... with overnight delivery, of course! I mean, what gadget freak could wait to get their hands on this little beauty?!

Installation & Setup
Installing the software was a simple matter of popping in the CD provided, which installs the Active Sync software onto your desktop PC. Everything went smoothly and I was up and running in no time.

Cradle/Charger... More Form than Function
The cradle that holds the PDA for syncing data to and from your PC and also for charging the device is an odd-looking contraption. It seems to work well enough, but I think Compaq could have put a little more thought into the design and a little less "style."

The PDA slips down into the cradle, but I found it to be rather hit-or-miss actually getting the connection pins to always line up properly. What a shame. This sort of thing should be worked out in the design phase of any such product, and, in my opinion, should work effortlessly every single time. The only thing I can compare this to is my Palm V. It had a very simple cradle that the Palm dropped into without a second thought. Too bad Compaq didn't do the same.

The power cord and the USB cable connect to the cradle in a rather awkward place, but I can understand why they did it this way. Once connected, both cables are nicely hidden behind the cradle and stay out of the way. Since you probably won't unplug these cables too often, this is not a very big deal.

I think the cradle is too light. It moves around too easily on the desk. The cradle for my Palm V was a solid, bricklike little block... not very attractive, but it stayed put, didn't move around on the desk, and gave me complete peace of mind that when my PDA was docked, it was safe and secure and would not get accidentally tipped over. Compaq should consider redesigning their cradle next time around.

The Run-Away Stylus
The stylus for Compaq's new 3850 is somewhat different from the stylus on their older models. The only reason this is worth mentioning is because the older stylus is actually better in just one respect. The newly designed stylus is perfectly round, and while you're probably thinking, "Oookay, so what's wrong with that?", it means that when you lay this stylus down, it has a tendency to roll away. The stylus on the previous model was oval-shaped at the top, so when you put it down, it stayed in one place. This really becomes an issue on airplanes. Try laying down the 3850 stylus on the tray table of an airplane, and you'll soon be searching the floor to see where it rolled off to. I've just learned to keep the stylus parked in the PDA to keep this from happening.

There are also two holes in the front of the cradle for storing an extra stylus or two. Again, this is a good idea that just wasn't thought through too well. When a stylus is inserted into one of these holes, it sticks out at a very precarious angle. So much so that I never keep a stylus there for fear that one of my kids, while visiting my office on any given day, may fall and put an eye out on it. I'm not kidding.

It would have made more sense if these stylus holes were placed up alongside where the PDA actually slips into the cradle, and at the same angle. That way, they would have pointed backwards and safely out of the way. (Having kids makes you think of things you never thought of before!) But even without kids, the stylus juts out so oddly that you're likely to bump it or catch your sleeve on it and risk tipping the whole thing over... then down would come PDA, cradle and all!

Beautiful Color Display
After coming from a monochrome display on my Palm V, the spectacular color display of this iPAQ 3850 is nothing short of breathtaking. Now this is how a PDA should look! The display is easy to read in just about any light, including at night, something my Palm just couldn't do at all. This comes in handy while on an airplane at night. You can easily work on this 3850 without having to turn on the overhead light and disturb other resting passengers. I've also used it several times while on the road with the family at night. It is a breeze to look up driving directions even in total darkness. Very nice.

The Settings menu has an on-screen slider bar to adjust the screen brightness in almost infinite increments. This is really nice. An automatic setting is also provided which will adjust the brightness up or down automatically based on the ambient light. I have this feature turned off. I've found that my own brightness setting works great in any light.

Memory
The 3850 comes with 64MB of memory. My Palm V had 2MB. What can I say? I feel like I've moved from a one room apartment to the Ritz Carlton. I've purchased and loaded every program I need, and even some I don't, and I've still got plenty of room to stomp around. (I do, however, load extremely large programs onto my SD memory card. See next section.) Don't be surprised to see twice the memory on the next generation of iPAQ's.

Software Galore
It doesn't matter how "nice" a PDA looks if you can't find the software you need to do whatever it is you want it to do. Well, finding software for the Pocket PC platform is not a problem. You can start with two of the main sites, pocketpc.com and handango.com, and chances are you'll find anything your heart desires, and then some.

Downloading applications and installing them to your Pocket PC is simple. Even an inexperienced PDA user can do it. Generally, you just double-click on the downloaded file and it asks whether you want to install the application into the "default" location, or to a storage card. I install almost everything to the default location, which means that it will reside directly on the PDA. However, I have chosen to install certain very large applications onto my SD memory card instead... things like, a massive dictionary, the entire Bible, etc. These big boys reside on my SD card so they don't use up the storage space on the PDA.

And speaking of applications, I think that the Calendar, To-Do List, and Address Book apps that come with the 3850 are functional enough, but I have found the king of all suites. It is called Pocket Informant, (www.pocketinformant.com). This application adds unbelievably powerful functionality to the features I use every day. I couldn't live without this software now!

Here are some other software apps that I have found to be indispensable. You may find them useful, too.
Resco File Explorer (www.resco-net.com)
A must-have power tool for managing all your files. Works like Windows explorer. Far more powerful than the built-in file explorer that comes with the iPAQ. (Hint hint, Compaq!)
Time Tracker (www.rfcons.com)
Complete time and expense management program. Way too many features to discuss here. Let me just say that I've researched all other similar programs, but nothing even comes close to the power this wonderful program provides.
City Time (www.codecity.net)
A brilliantly designed, very useful tool for anyone who travels or wants to keep up with times in other cities or countries. You just have to see this one to appreciate it.
eWallet (www.iliumsoft.com)
Safely store all your private information in this password-protected application. Comes with tons of predefined templates that will let you quickly enter all your credit card info, automobile records, etc. Plus, create your own templates. Very useful.
ListPro (www.iliumsoft.com)
Another great application from the makers of eWallet. Instantly create fully-customized lists for any purpose. Also comes with dozens of predefined lists. Must see to appreciate this.
Convert-it (www.cresotech.com)
Quickly convert anything to anything... acceleration, angle, area, density, energy, force, light, mass, power, etc., etc. Fantastic.
Pocket Bible (www.laridian.com)
An indispensable tool for carrying multiple versions of the entire Bible right in your pocket. I have loaded four complete versions of the Bible onto my SD memory card, and still have plenty of room. Provides powerful word and phrase searching capabilities, etc.
WordLogic (www.wordlogic.net)
This is a really clever "keyboard" input program that I think is the best input method available. Forget the popup keyboard that comes with the iPAQ. This keyboard has patented technology that highlights different keys as you "type" and provides word suggestions as you go. Again, I've tried every other input method, but I can input data 4 to 5 times faster using this program. A real time saver! (Depending on when you purchased your 3850, this program may come as part of the "extras" on the CD. Look for it there first before buying it.)

System Navigation
Pocket PC2002 is a fairly straightforward operating system, although I think it could stand a little cleaning up. A drop-down menu is easily activated by tapping on the upper left portion of the top menu bar on the screen. From here, you can access all your programs and system configuration settings.

However, one thing that really takes some getting used to is how programs close... or rather, how they don't close. When tapping on the X at the top right-hand portion of a program's screen, or selecting Close or Exit, you just assume that the program actually shuts down completely. Not so. In most cases, this only minimizes the program, although, unlike Windows, you can't really "see" that the program is still running. I found this to be rather odd, but this is, of course, an issue with Pocket PC2002, not with the iPAQ 3850 specifically.

There are little utilities available for downloading that will help you "toggle" between all your open apps, but really, this should be part of the OS! There's just no excuse for this.

Many of the more recent developers of PPC2002 applications are now writing their apps to truly shut down the program when you close it. This makes more sense because it clears the program from memory and frees up space for other programs to run more efficiently.

Occasional Problems with Active Sync
When the 3850 is docked in the cradle, Active Sync wakes up (if you've chosen that particular setting) and looks for differences between the data on your PDA and the corresponding data on your PC. Depending on how you've configured the Active Sync setup, the changes will be automatically shuffled back or forth between the two devices.

99% of the time, this process works flawlessly. However, every now and then, my PC tells me that it doesn't recognize the PDA and therefore can't sync the data. This is strange, but just another one of the many quirks with Windows. In order to correct this, I have to do a "soft reset" of my PDA, (similar to rebooting Windows, although much faster), then everything works fine. This really hasn't caused major problems at all since it happens so infrequently, and I have never lost data because of it.

I don't recall ever having this sort of problem with the Palm HotSync procedure. Honestly now, what would we do if a Windows operating system ever ran without any problems?

Compact Flash
While no CF card slot is included with the iPAQ 3850, it does come with a built-in SD slot. My 64MB SD card has worked fine for me, and, as mentioned earlier, I have tons of huge apps loaded on it, with lots of room left over. It would have been nice to have a built-in CF slot, but that would, no doubt, have made the 3850 much bulkier.

A Compact Flash slot can, however, be easily added by sliding an expansion sleeve onto the 3850. The iPAQ instantly recognizes when an expansion pack is slipped on, so "installing" one is a breeze. I added this option to mine so that I could use a CF modem card, and it works very well. I can easily send and receive faxes, email, and surf the Net now.

In this day and age when we all rely so heavily on "being connected," I think a modem should be standard equipment on all PDAs. But that's just my opinion.

Protective Cover
The protective cover that comes with the 3850 did not exactly give me a warm, fuzzy feeling that everything would be okay if I ever dropped this little $500 toy. Basically, it is a "hinged" plastic screen cover. Nothing more. It will certainly protect your screen from scratches and knocks, but it will do absolutely nothing to protect the unit itself against anything more severe.

I saw this as trouble waiting to happen, so I immediately began scouting around everywhere for a better solution. Boy, was I in for a wild goose chase! There just weren't any (what I considered to be) truly outstanding cases for this device. The one from Compaq was way too big and left lots of room for the iPAQ to slide around. Go figure.

I finally found one at the Franklin Covey store at our local mall. It is a nice leather case that can be fully zipped shut. It is well padded all around, and has pockets inside for business cards or credit cards. It really isn't too much larger than the actual iPAQ, so it's not at all too bulky to carry around. I actually dropped this once on our garage floor, and it protected the unit perfectly.

Newer PDAs are now shipping with very nice swivel covers, made out of the same metal as the device itself, some even have built-in keyboards, and I think you'll see that trend catching on in a hurry. And while those covers will protect the screen, I doubt they will do much in the way of protecting the device if it gets dropped on a hard floor.

Believe me, if you haven't dropped your PDA yet, it's just a matter of time, and spending a few bucks on a good quality case will pay dividends when that moment comes.

Conclusion
What can I say? After coming from the boring, monochrome world of my Palm V, I'm in heaven now with my iPAQ 3850. It's exactly what I've been looking for. The power this PDA puts at my fingertips is incredible. The only scary thing is realizing how much I depend on it now. I make daily backups to my PC, because if I ever lose this baby, I wouldn't know my own name.

If you're looking for a PDA to do just about anything you can imagine, and do it in elegant style, I think you'll be very pleased with this one. Despite its few shortcomings, (every PDA has its own shortcomings), I haven't regretted purchasing my 3850, not even once. Overall, I am thrilled with this fantastic little life-saver!