Strengths:fast processing; fast and flexible IR transmissioin (supports upto 4mbps); large screen with beautiful display; quick easy conversion from portrait (vertical) screen display to landscape (horizontal)
Weaknesses:touch pad takes practice; cursor mode easiest to use.
Posted Feb 21, 2005 - Using the hx4705 increases the enjoyment of my work day. It is fast (most responses are instantaneous or nearly so) and reliable (at most 1 soft reset per day--and it has never crashed at a "critical" moment), and the display produces text, colors and images faithfully.) I primarily use Pocket Outlook, Pocket Word, and Pocket Excel programs to process large Task lists and Contact lists (hundreds of items of each) and complex spread sheets; manipulation of these lists and spreadsheets is almost always instantaneous. There is also plenty of memory: I currently have 6 full-size reference books installed, and I plan to install more. It's capability for fast IR (4mbps) communication makes ActiveSync'ing and backing up quick and unencumbering. (However, when I transmit to a mobile printer in Fast IR that is supposed to accept Fast IR, occasionally text is garbled--I was told that this "must be" a problem with the HP Mobile Print software, but I'm not sure exactly what the problem is). Because the device has both CF and SD slots, I can (and did) install a 1GB CF card containing a 65,000-page textbook in the CF slot, and I can install an HP camera in the SD slot simultaneously. Because the hx4705 has LEAP, WiFI, 802.11b, USB, IR and Bluetooth capability, you can connect to just about any network or device you want to. If you have a wide spreadsheet display or picture, just press a button and the display quickly rotates from the standard vertical image to a wider horizontal image. The standard battery is long-lasting for me, too: with frequent text entry, data look-up, and printing throughout a 12-hour day, I get a low-battery warning only at the very end of the day (and only on unusually busy days).
Overall, I think the hx4705 is a superb (though expensive) PDA, and I would recommend it to anyone who plans to use a pda in a demanding, versatile manner.
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