HP's iPAQ h5550 Pocket PC is a versatile PDA

Author's Rating:

Pros: Lots of uses, bright screen

Cons: Do you really need a PDA?

The Bottom Line: 
If you need a PDA, this is a great one with lots of features.

Author's Review
Imagine my delight when we were doing some office cleaning at work and found a box full of iPaq Pocket PC’s. A few years ago, my employer had purchased several of these models and some people had used them for a time, but eventually quit messing with them. I was lucky enough to find one still brand new in the box, so of course I claimed it as my own. That was over a month ago, and I’m still finding new ways to use my HP iPaq h5550 Pocket PC.

Here’s what you get with the iPaq h5550:
400 megahertz processor
128 megabytes memory that’s expandable thanks to SD memory card slots
3.8” high resolution color screen
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth access
Rechargeable battery
Docking station
Leather carrying case

It also includes a good bit of software, including Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook. I had some trouble in Windows XP Pro installing ActiveSync from the disc that came with the device, but then I found an updated version of the software on Download.com and had no problems after that. ActiveSync is the software that lets your PC communicate with this device and sync up items such as your Inbox and Calendar entries. For example, you can download your email into the iPaq, then answer them on your iPaq, then upload the emails back to your PC and send them out.

This handheld device, also known as a PDA (personal digital assistant), functions very much like a stripped down computer. At the time of its release, this was quite a handy little device full of a lot of the same functionality you might find on a regular PC. Now that Blackberry devices are becoming more commonplace along with advanced cell phone options, I think this device is really showing its age. While I can see the usefulness of it, I’ve had a hard time fully adopting the technology.

I don’t have a keyboard attachment for this PDA, so I have to use the included stylus and touchpad to enter text. It is sensitive enough to make typing go pretty quickly, but it is still tedious if typing anything more than a few sentences. You definitely wouldn’t want to compose a long email on there unless you really had to. Microsoft Excel has a lot of good functionality for making calculations in the field, but you wouldn’t want to manage any large spreadsheets on this thing due to the limited screen size.

I think this Pocket PC would have been much better suited for a widescreen format as opposed to the roughly 3.3” wide by 5.2” tall screen. At the resolution provided, it doesn’t give you a lot of horizontal space, thus making web pages and word documents require you to scroll left and right a lot. You can download Adobe Acrobat for Pocket PC’s, but you’ll run into the same problem. The screen quality itself is very crisp and bright, though.

The wireless functionality on this iPaq is great! I have a wireless network set up in my home, and I was able to quickly get connected and browse the Internet. This iPaq comes with Internet Explorer installed, and it works pretty well, other than the screen width limitations that I previously mentioned. When I logged into my Google Mail, it displays the messages down the center of the screen and uses bold text to show the ones I had not yet read. When I logged into MySpace, it showed the photos and most of the links, though I had to scroll around the screen to find everything. All in all, I found the wireless Internet access to be pretty quick, though not as quick as from my home computer, but that cannot be expected.

Since this was an older unit that had never been used, I’m pretty sure the battery lost some of its potential lifespan while sitting idle for a couple of years. It still charged right up, but I’ve found it only runs about 8-10 hours before giving me ‘low battery’ alerts. While using the wireless Internet access, it seemed to run the battery down twice as fast. The battery itself is removable, and you can always use the docking station to recharge when needed. It also includes a little adapter so that you only need the power supply to recharge instead of hooking it up to your PC.

You can find a good bit of free software online for Pocket PC’s, and I’ve used Download.com to get several utilities. You can get MP3 and video players for this device that will also you to turn it into a nice little multimedia set. You’d need to store the data on SD cards to make it work, but the functionality is there. Personally, I think you’d be better off doing the same thing with an iPod. There are also quite a few games available for these devices, but since this is something I use at work, I probably shouldn’t even mention that.

For me, the biggest drawback to using this Pocket PC is that I’d just as soon have a small laptop to do the same work, and more. This mini-computer is a little smaller than a standard size paperback book, and it has some weight to it. I handle it very gently and still feel worried about dropping it while in use. I’m pretty sure a good shock would kill this thing deader than fried chicken. It needs some kind of grip along the sides to make it easier to old, because the smooth plastic surface makes it a bit slippery.

Before purchasing a PDA, I think you really need to ask yourself if you need such a thing. A PDA is one of those devices that seems all cool and great before you buy it, but often many people find it hard to really make use of them. That’s why we ended up with a box full of iPaq’s at my office. I think these devices are best suited for people who spend short periods of time away from the office. If you are gone overnight, you might as well be carrying a laptop.

I like my HP iPaq h5550 and use it a good bit at work, but I don’t see a need for me to have it for anything other than work use. I recently checked eBay and found some used ones for going @ $200, so you can pick one of these up for much cheaper than what they originally sold for. SD memory sticks are also very inexpensive, so if this thing fits your needs, you can spend a couple hundred bucks and have a decked out little PDA.