Buy HP iPAQ 114 Classic Handheld PDA

Keith Mason| 24/01/2009

Very pleased with the HP iPAQ 114 so far - sturdy, does everything I want of it - and very light (only 114gms, compared with my old HP Jornada 520, which was about 500 gms!) It comes with a neat leather case.

The HP 114 has a lovely large bright touch screen, and connects easily to a PC using either Windows Mobile Device Center for Windows Vista computers or ActiveSync 4.5 for Windows XP computers. (I have 3 notebook/laptop computers of different sizes and use both versions of the connection software.) I was able to transfer my Contacts and Calendar from my notebook PC's Microsoft Office 2007 Standard edition within a couple of minutes.

The WIFI (integrated WLAN 802.11b/g) is a breeze to connect to a domestic broadband WIFI router. Haven't tried the Bluetooth yet, but I expect it will work fine.

I have ordered a couple of screen protectors and an 8GB SDHC memory card - I am pleased it will take the newer High Capacity cards. With 8GB I should be able to carry hundreds of eBooks in Mobipocket .prc format. I have already loaded up all the works of Shakespeare, Dickens, and the works of about 30 other classic authors - the Mobipocket program (Mobipocket.com) works fine with it.

This is in marked contrast to my brief experience with a Palm Treo 500, which I returned after only 1 day of trying to get it to work and being vry dissapointed (I didn't order it from TotalPDA). At one stage the Treo produced a long line of gobble-de-gook lettering where the mobile phone network was supposed to be shown - I could only get rid of it by doing a hard re-set.

I also couldn't get the Palm Treo 500 to connect to the Internet via my mobile phone network. I found the Treo's screen too small, the querty keyboard much too fiddly, and the Treo's battery charging light didn't come on initially as it should have done when it was being charged from the mains. I know this is supposed to be a review of the HP 114 and not the Palm Treo 500 - but I think the HP PDA is a much better machine altogether than the Palm smartphone. I am unconvince by smartphones - I know they are supposed to be taking over, but I think they are too complicated.

For about the same money, in my humble opinion you are much better off with a dedicated PDA like the HP 114 - light, easy to use, does what it's supposed to. I prefer to carry a PDA and a fairly basic mobile phone than an all-in-one smart phone.

One final point - I think it is a definite plus that the HP 114 is so light - though I did see a review on Amazon complaining it was TOO light - how stupid! I don't want to walk around with a brick in my pocket - if I did, I'd have chosen a Blackberry or kept the smartphone!

TotalPDA delivered the HP 114 quickly and efficiently - it arrived the day after I ordered it. All in all, I'm delighted.

The £10 rebate was a bit of a palava to apply for - this was because of HP's convoluted procedures - I'll have to wait and see if I get it - I think HP put the rebate straight into your bank account.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful. Yes | No

oumar kone| 22/11/2008

tell me the price to the ipaq 114 before the cashback and after the cash back. thank you

1 of 2 people found this review helpful. Yes | No

andrew clarke| 12/05/2008

An excellent basic PDA. All the usual features of a PDA (office applications, calendar, contacts etc), plus some of the more modern including bluetooth and wifi. I would recommend this to anyone, however it would be best suited to those who want to use it for diary management and email. Those who want to use it for loads of office type documents or internet may find it difficult as the screen is not huge

9 of 9 people found this review helpful. Yes | No