Customer Reviews
Attractive but abysmally frustrating 
2004-04-23
Got this refurbished from Costco. Good screen etc. BUT, the power runs out every time you turn your back on it and there IS NO BACKUP (watch-type) battery. When the power runs out, you LOSE every program you ever installed, and the software walks you through an insultingly stupid nano-tutorial before you can use it again. Stupid design of the decade. Bought a stowaway keyboard for it and whenever the keyboard got near it, the Ipaq got flaky. Tonight the thing died again and I destroyed it (dead, it makes a better work of art than it ever did a PDA). Reason: I had to spend more time and effort reviving it than using it. A great concept with severely crappy reliability.
Great and awesome HandHeld PC 
2004-03-19
Words cannot even begin to describe this handheld pc. Well, I'm over exagerating a little. If you wanted to get a pocket pc, I suggest you get an Ipaq. It has the most amazing backlight and it's amazingly easy to use. There's hardly nothing that can't be done with it since it can be expanded with different kinds of expansion slots. Buy an Ipaq.
My main reason for writing this review was to actually thank the merchant that provided me her great service. Since it was too late for me to rate her using rate seller, I'll just rate her service here. I give yong2_wen2 a 5. Although I recieved the incorrect item at first, I was able to return the Ipaq and get the correct model with all shipping paid. yong2_wen2 was very responsive to every email I sent providing me with great customer service.
Excellent 2004-03-07
This is a great piece of equipment. i would recommend it for any working person with a full schedule. you can use it for anything! i've even used it for sound testing for churches and such. Buy this product! its worth the money!
COMPAQ IPAQ GOOD TILL IT LAST 
2003-08-13
i have had my share of POCKET PCs, PDA and even the CE devices. My very first PDA is the Casio Pocket Viewer, next is the Casio BE-300, after that i had my very first COMPAQ 3850 and now its the COMPAQ 3970.
I kinda like my COMPAQ 3970, it has all the good features youre looking for a pocket PC, bluetooth, picture viewer, calendar, notes, contacts, tasks... but maybe thats all there is.
I enjoyed it for almost a year, im just weary about how COMPAQ will adress this issue, "WHAT IF MY COMPAQ WOULD BE DEAD AFTER A YEAR", this problem keeps buggin me, any problems with my compaq would be a disater, its a timebomb waiting to explode and shatter all your informations into dirt. THe problem is the battery it works well now, but what will happen in the future.
Its expensive the time i bought it, but now newer models are coming in with more features. SO if i were you, buy the newer models, they're more reliable.
Stay away from Ipaq's and Jornada's 2003-07-13
Having given Jornada and Ipaq one try each, it is my duty to warn you to stay from them. Both are good for one thing for one year: playing solitaire!! At the end of one year, they conk out like they were on a timing device of some sort.
Junk Junk Junk Junk 2007-03-12
This has to be one of the worst PDA's on the market. It is all style over substance. I own two of these PDAs and none of them charge at all... They are completely dead. I was able to resurrect them once by hooking them up to an external power supply that I wired up the battery leads. It seems that these machine are programmed to fail after a year. The battery's that came with these PDA as still putting out adequate voltage and are perfectly fine. To bad that PDA is not. Word to the wise - DO NOT BUY THIS PDA!
Valuable to us who are absent minded 2007-01-10
With all of the things that I am required not to forget, for someone as forgetful as I, this is my most valuable asset. It does not let me down. Now I remember important passwords, business functions, my anniversary, my wife and childrens birthday and most importantly where I parked my car in the WalMart parking lot. It is valuable at any price. I am hooked.
Increasing power charge time 2006-05-12
For those of you experiencing problems with sustaining a power charge... I had the same problem and my iPAQ only held a charge for a few hours, I was always losing data and eventually stopped using the device. I was ready to throw it out and I put it away for serveral months. I decided to give it another try and discovered that by adjusting the "Standby" setting (found under Settings, Power, then click Standby tab) the device now holds a charge for several days depending on usage. The "Standby" setting was set at 100 and I brought that setting down to 25. Give it a try before you give up on your iPAQ!
Reliable when new...not so after a few years 
2005-09-19
I bought my 3900 series Ipaq brand new (not refurbished). It has worked GREAT for the first 2 years. During the 3rd year, the battery started dying. I sent it back to have the battery replaced and have had trouble ever since. I do not believe at this time that the battery was ever bad. I believe there is an internal problem that makes this unit "think" that the battery isn't charged, or that really drains the battery power quickly. After charging the unit to 100% charged at midnight, I have gone back at 8am to find the battery completely dead. For the first few times, the data could be recovered. After that, I had to keep restoring the data in order to use it. Interestingly, I pulled the unit off the charger at 80% as I didn't have time to let it charge. That time it lasted for 4 days without problems. I have heard this complaint from all the 3800 and 3900 series owners that I know. If you want to buy this unit, it's great as long as you can charge it often. Otherwise, be prepared to buy another one after a few years (new) or a few months (used/refurbished).
Having said the bad, let me also point out that this is one of the few PDAs on the market place with a nice big 4" screen. The color is amazing and because of the Microsoft OS, I have had no problems converting Office documents back and forth from PC to PDA. I never thought I needed a PDA until I bought this one. Now I can't really see how I did without one, which is why the battery life problems are so frustrating. I truly hope that HP can fix this problem in their newer models. I would definitely consider purchasing another if I knew it would last.
Power issues 
2004-09-28
I have had my 3955 for only 16 months of relatively light usage (I do not even use it every day, as I quickly learned how rapidly the unit burns through a charge). Now, for no apparent reason, the internal battery will not hold a charge . . . fully charged off the docking station, the unit is fully discharged (and all my data and settings gone!) less than 24 hours later after the unit has not been used at all! For this kind of money, I would expect better battery life and the ability to self-install a new battery, rather than having to send the unit in for service. I will probably not purchase another iPaq unless these issues are addressed by HP.
