Love/Hate relationship, but love won out.....

Author's Rating:

Pros: powerful, big memory, card capable, wifi, BIOMETRIC security, geek factor

Cons: took a couple tries to get one that worked right. Pricey.

The Bottom Line: 
Find a good one and hang onto it! This one is a keeper!

Author's Review
Maybe it's just me and HP not getting along, but I've had bad luck with HP PDAs. I must be crazy, because it took two replacements before I got a 5555/5550 that worked reliably, but even with all the hassle, I purely loved this PDA. Every one I've owned since has been compared to this model.

Yes, there were some glitches initially, but they were worked out.
I LOVED the biometric scanner. Worked flawlessly for me, and especially nice because it takes up to two fingerprints (someone else can have access that way).

It was fast, and powerful. Backups were flawless. Had card expansion capability that makes using it as an MP3 feasible.
I thought it had very good battery life, even when I was using it to check email in bed (I had a wifi home network at the time). The setup took a professional to accomplish, but once it was set up, I never looked back.

Nice screen. Good heft in the hand (I have big hands for a woman, so the tiny cell phone/berry things don't cut it for me) Lots of accessories available. Plenty of room for programs.

This unit was used in field work to record archaeological site data. I transported her in a ziplock bag because of the dust associated with my work. Once on site, I found her capable of holding up to full day's work in the field, but she wanted to be charged up on the way home so I could download the data cleanly. Never got around to using GIS with her, but she was capable of using that kind of data.

Only reason I still don't use her is that when I transferred to another location in the same agency, my boss coveted her so much, she wouldn't let me take it!

Did I mention I loved this PDA?