First of all: I'm one of those guys who don't believe in combining all
functionality into one device. I don't see myself talking on a "phone" and when
asked what my plans are next thursday need to say "hold on" after which I take
the "phone" to look up whats in it. NOR does the idea "sec. <turns on hands
free mode> {everyone in <public place> can now listen to the conversation}"
appeal to me.

I used to be a databank lover. Maybe you know the idea; a paper agenda
("portfolio" ?) to which they attached a databank in the inside of the cover.
Unfortunatly this only lasted one year (no more paper updates) and so I adopted
a Psion. I really grew into a Psion lover. I started with the 3c series, then
went up to the 5mx. Even though it was a bit bulky it simply did all I needed.
This lasted for several years. Then a period of "no agenda needed" came in and
during that time (2004) I bought a second-hand iPAQ 3630 to play with.

Because I also happen to be a fervent Linux user its only natural I eventually
ended up trying Opie and GPE (linux mobile distributions) on the iPAQ. In the
end the only thing I liked about the experience was the bootloader. That is an
amazing work of art: boot it, turn on the serial console and then you can dock
the iPAQ into its cradle and use a terminal program (this one only had a serial
cradle) to access it. Allowing you to dump the current rom image or upload a
new one (all ymodem transfers). And just like your average *nix (-based)
bootloaders on the PC (Grub, Lilo, or even commercial non-*nix ones like System
Commander) it doesn't matter what OS you're using.

Unfortunatly both Opie and GPE didn't appeal to me. I eventually ended up
restoring my (saved) CE 3.0 session and discovered that even though it was less
extensive (on Opie I had ssh server/client, webserver, ssh client, etc.) it
simply did what I needed the iPAQ for. No disrespect to either software project
intended but... An ssh client is nice. But if your ipaq has no connectivity
except irda it quickly turns into overhead. And if you then also take the
limited / lacking input input options into consideration (virtual keyboard or
character reconition which was a little bit flakey from time to time) you're
likely to come to the same conclusion I did: Windows CE is the better choice
here.

Now, several years later I'm starting on a new job and I need an agenda. Being
the freak I am I want a PDA and since I still remember the 3630 experience its
only natural that (unwilling to look into the whole pda market, lazy as I am)
my main focus went out to ipaqs again. I ended up purchasing a hx2790b last
friday and so far I really like working with it!

Its funny; many reviews consider this model a bit bulky but robust enough to
withstand some abuse. But when I compare it to my old 3630 its actually on the
smaller size ;) The screen is somewhat equal though. Another aspect which I
somewhat like is the plastic cover. It really helps you to protect the device
without having to use 2 seperate items (my 3636 had a leather case with a metal
plate embedded to protect the front). The only downside I can think of is that
the on/off switch isn't covered on the new ipaq so if you put it in your pocket
it /could/ be accidently turned on. And speaking of which; the fingerprint
scanner is very usefull. Its a lot more comfortable not having to "expose" your
PIN every time you need to access some data (like on the old model). Swipe your
finger, wait a moment and if all is well you're in. Safe (I haven't seen it
fail so far) and very easy.

Another major difference for me was the screen. This really took getting some
used to, from a "sturdy" glass screen they now implemented a more plastic /
softer material. Although the "glass" screen was easier when it comes to
writing (I'm always a little worried about putting too much pressure on the new
one) I can sure see the advantages. If it can actually bend a little chances
for damage will probably be much reduced.


One more thing which was a little dissapointing for me was the removal of MS
Money. This used to be included in CE 3.0 but is now gone. Fortunatly its not
all bad since I discovered some very good software to replace it: Inesoft Cash
Organizer 2007. It takes getting used to and can sometimes be a little
confusing, but once you're familiar with the details its actually a very
pleasant program. In many ways it even manages to outperform the Money version
I got used to. Quickly being able to put in a payment right from the 'Today'
screen is very handy. And using extra big buttons so that you could even use
your fingernail in an emergency also makes this a good experience.

Next was creating good backups. ActiveSync does a decent job I think but I'm
not too trusting with it. It seems to skip files every now and then. I just
created a pocket Excell sheet on the iPAQ but never saw it appear on my
desktop, even though it was in 'my documents'. But all of that is currently
solved with thanks to 'Sprite backup'. Its sometimes a little annoying to need
the device to be reset before the backup can start but I guess there's no other
reliable way to make sure no programs remain active in the background.

And ofcourse the option to directly backup to the PC is really splendid.

Right now I'm using a 512Mb SD card to store software, mail attachments, backup
files and files which I need to be kept available at all times. And use a 512Mb
flash card for bigger datafiles (some mp3s, pictures, ebooks, etc) and
"external" backups (I don't keep the flashcard in the ipaq all the time).


Well, and there you have it :) I'm still getting used to the ipaq "in the
field" but it does a remarkeble job so far. The only thing left to do for me is
looking out for some more software, but this time I'm going to focus on free
stuff :)


--
Groetjes, Peter

..\\ PGP/GPG key: http://www.catslair.org/pubkey.asc