HP iPAQ 4155 Pocket PC

But first, I'd like to start with one piece of advice for any first time Pocket PC purchaser.

** If you're unsure between two models, ALWAYS choose the smaller. **

Why? Because the extra features of a large-sized PDA (like a fingerprint reader?!?!) are almost never worth the increased probability you choose to leave it behind. A PDA's usefulness scales rapidly with its vicinity to you. And a PDA is just about the size of a pocket.... You get the idea..

Okay:

THE PROS (somewhat obvious)
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1. it is ultra thin and weighs only 5 ounces.
2. the screen is bright
3a. it has wireless 802.11b
3b. the wireless features are now very intuitive and somewhat secure, a vast improvement over pocket pc 2002.
4. it has bluetooth for syncing wirelessly or for accessing your bluetooth enabled phone. (This I haven't tested with this ipaq)
5. it comes with a cradle, unlike some of their other models

THE CONS
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1. HP removed the stylus holder from the cradle... which means you can't hold an extra stylus conveniently in front of a docked ipaq anymore. Which means, if you want to quickly access something on a docked ipaq, you have to remove the stylus, which you must do very carefully or you'll disconnect the 'paq.

2. the battery life is much poorer than pretty much all competitors'; most notably the Dell AXim series.

3. no compact flash, only secure digital. Although, almost all compact flash ports are typically used for these days is to hold 802.11b cards, which this device has integrated. And SD memory has gotten remarkably cheap, so it shouldn't bother most users. Still, if you have a compact flash requirement, keep that in mind.

4. the screen is slightly yellow when viewed from a skewed angle. Some people care about this... if you're one of those people, be advised. Straight-on, the colors are accurate, however.

5. the new navpad isn't so great for games

Okay, that's it:
Finally, some advice

1. about the wireless features: they drain a lot of juice, so simply turn them on and off as you need them.

2. if you use it to read eBooks, the MS reader it comes with is already outdated! (And the error message is vague about that... I had to figure out the problem by reading microsoft's knowledge base.. not fun.) You'll need to do an update.

3. Buy a protective case; the one it comes with is basically garbage.