10 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
Awesome PDA, not a phone
Date of Review: Mar 29, 2007
The Bottom Line: Perfect replacement for the business traveler that needs to keep in touch but does not want a bulky device
The HP IPAQ 4350 (also called the 4355, depending on when it was manufactured) is a very Solid Pocket PC. Running Windows Pocket PC 2003, you get many of the features that you do not get with a smartphone or pda device. This includes Microsoft Office, and a bunch of other productivity suites.
The device itself is very fast. I rarely run a program (including graphical games) that slow down on the device. However, once in a while, you do need to reset it to clear the memory.
With WIFI and bluetooth, it is very easy to get online with the device. It works flawlessly with over-the-air synchronization to a Microsoft Exchange Server.
The qwerty keyboard is one of the best I have every used. It is large enough so that you did not hit multiple keys at once, but small enough not to take up too much space.
This device is not a phone, but you can load skype mobile (beta) onto the device and use it like a phone, but you must be connected to the internet via Bluetooth or wifi.
There are plenty of free and pay programs (applications) available for the device over the internet. The active Synch works great with Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
The battery life is adequate (if not good), but once the main battery dies, the backup battery will not last long, especially if it is kept in a car subject to colder temperatures. Make sure you back up your config often to a SD card, or else you have to reconfigure the device every time the backup battery dies.
Even though the device is a few years old, I would recommend it to any traveler that does not want to carry a laptop and does not want a bulky smartphone.
