HP iPaq rx5900 Travel Companion user reviews

Pros By far the best all in one PDA/GPS Non Cellular commitment device

Cons The Rx5900 is for those who are very Technically Inclined

Summary After doing alot of research of PDA's that has WIFI Capabilities with bluetooth as a plus and a unit in which I did not need a 2 year contract with a cell phone company. I did research on the internet along with going to Office Depot, Comp-usa, Staples, Best-Buy, Sams, Cost-Co and finally Circuit City. I found it to be tough to find PDA's at any of these store's unless it was a $99 unit which really didn't do much more than a mp3 player does. I wasn't sure if PDA's were slowly being taken off the market or if people were just looking for just supped up mp3 players. I found that the there were 4 good units that seemed to be comparable to each other which were the following. The (Sony Milo) Great wifi but felt like a kids toy the plus for this was the quarkey key board that slid from underneith the product but for the price $350.00 I wanted to see what else was out there. The Palm T/X diffently placed 2nd in my book but one I could never find a working unit the only one's I ever had a chance to buy were open box and that didn't sit well although the review's were high and it was competitive was this Ipaq. Then I ran into the RX5900 which had the longest lasting battery power lasting 6 1/2 hours when in GPS mode which takes up more power than just using the pda. The unit comes with so much just to start off with Its a PDA with a Gps built in or Vise versa it comes with Tom Tom software intergrated with Windows Mobile 5.0 which synch's though your computer be it Blue Tooth, WI-Fi 802.11 b/g or the included usb cable's. The unit has the capabilities of playing Video, Music and all the goodies in Window 5.0 which is being pushed by a Samsung 400 Mhz processor. Remember this is a PDA/GPS and it has a 400mhz processor with a SD slot for additional software or added memmory. The only downside is It is pricey currently $479.00 at Circuit city but it is a new product and time will bring the unit's price down. Their is an optional keyboard you can get from HP. Their is just so much more to I can wright about this unit but then I'd feel like an employee for HP so I say check it out. For you techie's out their who want a laptop for your laptop here it is. This pretty much has everything a notebook does just a little longer to learn TO PAY WITH IT. ITS THE ONLY GPS/LAPTOP/MP3/VIDEO PLAYER I'VE EVER FOUND. Good Luck in your search.
Eric Mastro Clearwater, Fl

Pros Fast menu's and GPS Rocks

Cons Media Center isn't finding MP3's...I need to study more. Also couldn't get 2 gig SD to read

Summary This is a fast machine, and the GPS is awesome and fast, it had everything we've looked up so far.
I can't get the media center to find the MP3's I put in the "MY MUSIC" folder yet, I may need to study a little more on that.
Also, I bought a 2 Gig SanDisk to put in it and I couldn't get it to work properly, I think it may have been the SD card, going to replace it with another and see.
Over all it's awesome. The damn thing has 2 Gig of storage on it anyway, even if I haven't figured out the SD card yet.

Pros Excellent Tom Tom along with a WM5 PDA

Cons Not a phone or WAN device

Summary This is everything it is said to be. You get the excellent Tom Tom UI along with turn by turn instructions and a full Windows Mobile 5 PDA. You also get lots of cables and an excellent car mount. I did find the PDA to be a bit sluggish on some tasks, but the SIRF III aquires a satelite quickly.

I had some issues connecting via bluetooth to my phone (Samsung Blackjack) because the bluetooth 2.0 stack on the Ipaq and the AKu3 smartphone addition of WM5 do not use DUN any more instead they are looking for a "pan" and the ipaq does not like that...but I imagine it will work with most bluetooth phones.

Overall the PDA is laid out very well, with shortcut menus etc. The worldmate software with its weather, packing lists etc. is actually very cool and it truly makes this thing a "travel companion"

Pros GPS, Windows Mobile 5.0, Storage

Cons SD Card issues

Summary I have had this unit for a little over two weeks and I am absolutely in love with it. Despite other reports the screen is not squishy. The screen is bright and can bee seen even in direct sunlight. Gps is fast and accurate but it does take about one minute to initally connect from a cold boot. If I can figure out the sd card issue it wouldbe perfect. I currently can not get the unit to recognize a 1gb Kingston sd card.