HP iPAQ HX4705 Pocket PC Review

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(More customer reviews)This iPaq gets none of the love it deserves. In truth, it is the best stand-alone PDA available on the market. First, let me address the immediate complaints made about the 4705.
1. Price
Um, get a paper route. This is the highest end device of its kind, because of its speedy processor, VGA screen, and extras which are packed into the device. There are Pocket PCs available for much less money, but with lower price you sacrifice quality.
2. Size
Seven Ounces, the size of a pack of index cards. This PDA fits in your front pants or jacket pocket, and form factor dictates that it be that big to accomodate the large screen.3. Screen flip cover.
This is removable. I've never understood this complaint.4. Touchpad.
Using a floating cursor, like a laptop computer is actually a huge convenience. Using the pad as a navigation director isn't easy, so be aware of that before purchasing.Anyway. The 4705 runs on a very fast processor, and can handle several tasks at once. The VGA screen displays 640X480 pixels, making videos, games, and websites absolutely gorgeous to view. There is tons of built-in memory, as well as SD and CF slots to accomadate another 3 GB of storage. This is more than enough room for all your videos, music, photos, games, and PIM. Pocket Informant is included, to manage your Notes, Calendar, Tasks, and Contacts. It integrates with Outlook for your Calendar, Contacts, Notes, Tasks, and Inbox. ActiveSync 3.8 works very quickly, and you'll have no problem taking both your office, and your personal life with you on the go. Microsoft Office is included, so you have both Word and Excel. You can read, edit, write, and print documents and spreadsheets. These can be transferred to and from your computer. Windows Media Player 9.0 is included, allowing you to listen to .wma files, or watch .wmv files. A free e-book reader can be found to allow you to read books on the device, and if you subscribe to Audible.com, you can listen to books. There are literally hundreds of games that you can find for the device that are mind blowingly realistic graphics-wise. Some are free, some cost a small fee to download. HP Image Zone lets you make slideshows of your favorite photo albums. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are also integrated in the device. This means you have two options of accessing the internet at any given time. Wi-Fi means that you can get a high speed internet connection near a Wi-Fi hotspot such as a coffeehouse, hotel, airport, office, home network, etc. If you're not near a Wi-Fi area, you can connect at dial-up speed using a Bluetooth modem. I use my Motorola V710 phone from Verizon. This may cost more, so check with your wireless company. All in all, this device is a life saver. To recap, I use this iPAQ to:
1. Maintain my Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Tasks, and Inbox
2. Keep all documents and spreadsheets handy
3. View all my photos
4. Read ebooks
5. Connect to the internet whenever, wherever
6. Play numerous PC console- quality video games
7. Listen to hours and hours of music
8. Watch video, including full length DVD movies
9. Record notes
And tons more! This iPAQ is worth every penny you'll pay for it. And if you have a job that involves anything more complex than soaking french fries, it will basically pay for itself, because you'll save hours from your job. The question isn't: Should you buy the HP iPAQ 4705? The question is: You haven't bought the HP iPAQ 4705 yet?!

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Includes: Windows Mobile 2003 2nd Edition, Pocket Outlook, Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, Pocket Informant 5.0, 1,800 mAh lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, desktop cradle, plastic flip cover, stylus, & more. hp iPaq hx4705 Pocket PC - This versatile Pocket PC is a reliable go-anywhere business tool for your hectic lifestyle. Be more productive when you utilize the hx4705's fast Intel 624MHz processor and bundled applications. Stay connected to the world around you with integrated 802.11b Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support. No matter where you are, the world is at your fingertips with the hx4705 Pocket PC.480 x 640 Pixels Magnesium-alloy body Integrated SD Slot (supports SD/MMC and SDIO) Integrated CF Slot (CompactFlash Type II) Integrated Microphone & Speaker (both on the front of the iPaq) 3.5mm Stereo Headphone Jack MP3 Stereo Playback 4 Shortcut programmable buttons Navigation touchpad with mouse-like cursor Buttons -power, voice record, soft reset, contacts, inbox, mail, & iTask Connects to a PC via USB 2.0 Unit Dimensions -5.17 (h) x 3.03 (w) x. 59 (d) Unit Weight -6.6 oz.

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Magellan Crossover 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator Review

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(More customer reviews)One the whole, I like my M. Crossover. Generally speaking, it does everything I need it for in regard to GPS. I do not use mine for the audio or visual playback and do not care about those functions. To date, I have done nothing with the computer software either and cannot vouch for that aspect.
The best features to me were in having a GPS unit that I could use to plot courses in the car and yet have a GPS that would work well for hiking. I have driven all over north Texas with the unit and had it mark my travels in both the road mode and outdoor (hiking/contour map) mode. I have not used it in the Marine mode. With just a few exceptions, it has had all the roads I have been on. The exceptions were a couple of very small roads in the middle of nowhere and roads in a brand new development. No surprise. Strangely, it had some dirt roads that I would not have expected. So that was really handy.
In the outdoor mode, I have plotted various key points and had it track my progress, both while driving and while hiking. It has done this all relatively well.
Before I go further, let me say that if I lost this unit, I would not hesitate in getting another. However, it is not a perfect unit and has some shortcomings that are a bit of a bother, but not fatal at all. It has been my experience that all GPS units seem to have various shortcomings, often varying depending on the type of intended use of the unit. I do think the Crossover, with its shortcomings, does enough of the cross over functions to cover my needs sufficiently well and I do not currently see any other units on the market that match it in such versatility.
I have run the unit on battery (most of the time) and while charging in the car. I have charged it with the 120v outlet charger as well. They promise 8 hours of run time and so far I have run as much as 6 on full screen brightness and not run out of power. The 8 hour estimate seems good.
On my recreational property, I have plotted the locations of the property corners, gates, and other specific locations. Subsequent return trips have the show very good match between my previous plots and locations, to just a few feet, well within the unit's specifications. It performs consistently well in this regard, as it should.
The shortcomings...
In the 150+ hours of use with probably 80 or 90 start-ups, I have had it fail to properly boot 4 times. This necessitated the use of the reset switch on the side and after resetting, the unit booted fine.
The green rubber ring around the unit is to help absorb shock if dropped and it probably does help to some extent (I have dropped it once). However, it is prone to slip off when carried in a pocket or pack during periods of lots of motion and the grippy aspect of the rubber can make it hard to extract the unit from a snug pocket if one wants the rubber ring remaining on the unit.
The on screen controls vary with the mode that it is in and as such, the features I like in one mode are not in the same place in the other mode and that can be a bit annoying if you go between modes on a regular basis. This is especially true of the brightness function that is onscreen on the map page in the outdoor mode but not in the car mode.
You can't plot points in the car mode, but if you are in the car mode, the map does not show the icons for gas/food etc. that it does in the outdoor mode. That seemed a bit counter-intuitive.
I have medium-sized guy fingers and sometimes find that I have not been able to precisely press an onscreen button properly. Maybe I need more practice or smaller fingers.
Even on the brightest setting and while out in the sunlight, it can be hard to see the image on the screen. As long as sun is not shining directly on the screen in the car, it does well enough.
As with all GPS units I have used or experienced in the past, letting the GPS decide your route from point A to B should not mean that the traveler should blindly accept the route as the best option, even with the various choices given (fastest, shortest, most use of freeways, etc.). It will get you from point A to B, but what it asserts is the best route may actually be much less than optimal.
I don't know of any other way to charge the unit other than with the accessories provided. You can't take the unit on a 2 day hike and use it all the time without running down the battery and you can't change out the battery. It would be nice if there was a separate battery pack that could be jacked in or a solar charger. Otherwise, the unit is somewhat limited to either sporadic use on multi-day hikes or day hiking because of the battery limitation.
Lastly, while it can track something like 14 satellites, it can lose track of them as well. While hiking in Big Bend with the mountains, signals came and went a lot. It was a bit annoying. No doubt this will happen with other units as well, but the access to 14 didn't seem to make it keep track any more often or continually than with other GPS units I have used.
As I noted above, I would buy this unit again if I had to replace the current unit. I harped on the shortcomings because if you have read Magellan's promo for the Crossover, then you know what it can do and it has been my experience that it pretty well does what is claimed. I only point out the shortcomings such that other potential buyers can make a better informed decision.

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The Magellan 2500T Crossover the world's first full featured, pocket size crossover GPS that you can use both in the car and on outdoor expeditions. Enjoy driving, hiking, geocaching, boating, fishing navigation with this all-in-one GPS. The 2500T is also water resistant to IPX4 standards, and features a sleek, intelligent design with a powerful, integrated antenna, MP3 player and picture viewer.
Convenient Crossover Navigation If you've ever wished for a single unit that could guide you on the drive to the park, on the hike in the park, and up the river to the next park, the 2500T is the GPS system for you. The large, easy-to-read, 3.5-inch diagonal touch-screen is ideal for either showing you the best route to a new restaurant or keeping you on-track during your next outdoor excursion. Simple touch-screen menus make it easy to select virtually any destination and get turn-by-turn voice and visual guidance on the road. Or you can take the 2500T on your next hike, mark waypoints along the way and save the route to go again next weekend. Detailed built-in street maps of North America and light topographic maps of North America help ensure that you'll never get lost again, no matter where your travels take you.
Advanced Auto Navigation The 2500T gives you the tools you need to make sure your next car trip is as enjoyable and hassle-free as possible. Advanced auto navigation features include multi-destination routing, which is ideal for vacations; SmartDetour to route you around slow freeway traffic; and SayWhere text-to-speech, which tells you both where to turn and the name of the street to turn on. If you miss a turn, or suddenly find yourself stuck in traffic, the 2500T will save you time and stress by automatically recalculating your route. Powerful and reliable, this system runs on a high performance battery that offers up to eight hours of use so you can search points of interest and plan your trip with ease. Once you're on the road, you can take advantage of the optional TrafficKit accessory, which makes it easy to avoid traffic with Real-time incident reports. (Note: subscription required for traffic reports).
Easy Outdoor Routing Its sleek and rugged design makes the 2500T easy to take with you wherever you go. The included SportsGuard provides added armor to enhance this system's endurance during outdoor use. As you take on new adventures, you can even add detailed regional topographic or marine maps via Secure Digital memory cards. And whether you're traveling in the car or on foot, you can enhance your trip by listening to music and viewing pictures whether you're in the car or on a mountain trail.

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Magellan Maestro 3250 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been very impressed with this GPS unit. I have had several before, Garmin and Tom Tom, but this unit is by far the easiest I have used.
The voice functions work well although you sometimes have to repeat words, but I love the fact that using voice commands does not require you to touch the unit AT ALL for some basic commands.
The traffic functionality seems good but I have not had any situations to test it yet. I did have to use the detour function in an area that did not have traffic coverage and it was easy to use and very intuitive.
One complaint on the unit, and the only real reason it gets 4 stars, not 5, is the screen is VERY bright, which works great during the day (I have never seen a unit so easy to read in sunlight), but at night it can not be dimmed as much as I would prefer. The colors can be set to automatically change to night colors, which do help, but the brightness is a little too much for my taste.
Overall, I would highly recommend this unit to anyone.

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This is a refurbished GPS. Refurbished generally means that the unit has been returned to the manufacturer, who brings the navigator back to like new conditions. Some GPS may contain cosmetic blemishes. When a Magellan GPS product is shipped back, for whatever reason, it is inspected, tested, and repackaged for resale. The item can no longer sold as "new," only as "refurbished." Magellan's refurbished items are verified to be in original working condition after undergoing an inspection process by factory-qualified service teams. Each Magellan refurbished products comes with a 90-day limited warranty. Please note that this device does not qualify for Magellan 30-day map guarantee. We've been big fans of Magellan's Maestro line since it came out in early 2006. The Maestro interface is incredibly easy to use, even for those who are not completely comfortable with electronics. At the same time, Magellan was ahead of the industry with useful innovations like multi-destination routing and pre-loaded reviews for points of interest like hotels and restaurants (from AAA). With its 3200 and 4200 series, Magellan has improved the Maestro line giving them a SirfStar III chipset that provides super-fast. satellite lock and making them thinner. In fact, at .7 inches, these are -- at the time of this writing (November 2007), the thinnest portable GPS navigators available. Distinguishing between models is also fairly easy. 3200 and 4200 Family of Navigators Distinguishing between models is also fairly easy. The 3200-series navigators feature a 3.5-inch screen, while the 4200s have a 4.3-inch widescreen display. The 3200 and 4200 offer great, basic navigation with turn-by-turn spoken directions, pre-loaded maps of the 48 contiguous United States, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, and 1.3 million POIs. The 3210 and 4210, add maps for Canada and Alaska, AAA travel information (see details below) and bump you up to 6 million POIs. The 3220 and 4220 add maps of Mexico. The top-of-the-line 3250 and 4250 add a host of other features, including text-to-speech directions that give real street names, Bluetooth for hands-free phone calls, integrated traffic (with a free 3-month subscription), and voice command. What Makes the Maestro 3250 Exceptional?

Easy To Use Interface The intuitive user interface makes the Maestro series incredibly easy to use. Use the big icons on the 3.5-inch touch screen to search for your destination by address, intersection, or any of 6 million points of interest (POIs), including restaurants, hotels, airports, gas stations, and more. You can even touch an onscreen icon for a nearby destination, see name and address, and get an instant route. Turn by turn visual and spoken directions guide you every step of the way. Auto re-route gets you quickly back on track whenever you make a detour or miss a turn. QuickSpell feature intelligently searches and checks spelling when you enter addresses. The 3250 offer multiple view options, including 2D, 3D, and TrueView that shows your upcoming turn using a 3D split screen. Maneuver List displays the full turn-by-turn details of your route. Auto night view adjusts color and contrast for easy night viewing. Voice Command and Control Voice Command further enables hands-free operation so you can keep your eyes on the road. Say a command to access the most used navigation functions. Find the nearest coffee, restaurant, gas and ATM or get an instant route home. Plus, you can ask for your location, the distance to your destination and quickly get details for the nearest roadside assistance and more, all with the sound of your voice. AAA-enabled With built-in AAA travel information, the Maestro 4250 gives you instant access to the most trusted source for trip planning, searchable AAA TourBook listings, Show Your Card & Save locations for member discounts, approved auto repair facilities, attractions, events, and more. The Maestro 3250 also provides AAA members roadside assistance details, with exact location and a toll-free number. Plus, the Maestro 3250 is Bluetooth-enabled so you can connect your Bluetooth cell phone directly to AAA for immediate help when you need it most.
Note: AAA member roadside assistance requires AAA membership.

Bluetooth for Hands-Free Calling The Maestro 3250's Bluetooth wireless technology lets you make hands-free phone calls with your Bluetooth-enabled phone. You can store or sync numbers and contact information through the easy-to-use touch screen, and even place calls directly through the Maestro 3250's integrated microphone and speakers.

Integrated Real-Time Traffic The integrated traffic receiver offers onscreen RDS-TMC traffic incident reports in real-time. A free 3-month traffic service subscription makes it easy to avoid accidents, slow downs, road closures, severe weather and more. Your Maestro 3250 automatically recalculates your estimated time of arrival based on traffic conditions and prompts you to reroute when a quicker way is available.
One of the thinnest portable GPS navigators on the market

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