I received my first Compaq iPAQ 18 months ago, and I remember that day well. It was the day that opened my eyes to the potential of the Pocket PC. Compaq's original H3600 series iPAQ was slim and sexy, and its unique Expansion Packs let you add card slots, battery life, and more. Compaq won many awards for the 3600 series, including the most important prize: they've dominated Pocket PC sales since April of 2000. In terms of dollars they've even outsold the previous handheld champ, the Palm. Many think that the iPAQ is the primary reason for the current success of the Pocket PC.

The H3600 is a tough act to follow, and with the introduction of the new Pocket PC 2002, many have wondered what Compaq could do to top the original iPAQ. Well, Compaq has done it again with its new iPAQ H3800 series Pocket PC 2002s. This new iPAQ series not only has the hot new Pocket PC 2002 OS, but an improved look and feel, and new hardware features, including a built-in Secure Digital (SD) card slot and Bluetooth capability on some models. Bluetooth is a new technology standard that uses short-range radio links to connect mobile computers, mobile phones, and other portable handheld devices to each other, and to a variety of accessories. Compaq will initially offer the H3835 and H3850 without Bluetooth capability, and the H3870 and H3875 with Bluetooth. All H3800 series iPAQs will have a SD card slot.

A new and improved iPAQ

I tested an iPAQ H3835 with a built-in Secure Digital card slot but without Bluetooth capability. It's obvious that the H3800 and H3600 devices are from the same family of Pocket PCs, but it's just as obvious that many changes have been made to the newer iPAQ (see Screen 1). One of the most obvious is the sleek new launch button/navigation pad layout. The built-in speaker on the original H3600 and the more recent H3700 series is located beneath the navigation pad. This has been moved to the black top piece of the new H3800. The navigation pad has been flattened into an oval shape, and the whole launch button/navigation pad group takes up less space at the bottom of the new iPAQ.

Screen 1: The new iPAQ H3800 (left) shown next to the iPAQ H3700 (right). Both are Pocket PC 2002s, but the H3700 has the same external design characteristics as the original H3600, and can be used to compare the original iPAQ with the H3800. Note the new launch button / navigation pad layout on the H3800, and the black top piece.

The other noticeable change to the H3800 is the black top piece. This cap contains the built-in speaker, battery charging indicator, power-on button, built-in microphone, ambient light sensor, and the Secure Digital card slot (see Screen 2). On the iPAQ H3870/75 it also contains a Bluetooth indicator.

Screen 2: The iPAQ H3800 series has a black top piece that houses the Secure Digital card slot, a buil-in speaker, a charging indicator, and a Bluetooth indicator for iPAQ's with built-in Bluetooth capability.

At the top of the new iPAQ you'll notice a new card slot. This slot accepts "Secure Digital" cards, about the size of a thick postage stamp. Currently, 32 and 64 Mb file storage cards are available in the SD format, but higher capacity storage cards are just around the corner. In addition, Panasonic was displaying prototypes of a number of SD input/output cards at this year's COMDEX. Sometime next year you'll start seeing SD digital cameras, GPS receivers, modems and more. SD technology offers built-in security features and fast data transfer rates. You'll see plenty of new SD technology in the future.

One of the problems with the original H3600 iPAQ was the irregular cross section of its stylus—more like an egg than a circle. This made it possible to insert the stylus into its slot the wrong way, getting the stylus stuck. Fortunately, the H3800's stylus is completely round (Screen 2). There's no way that you can jam it while inserting it into the new iPAQ—nice touch!

Compaq improved the sync cradle by adding support for either a USB or Serial connection. They also made a change to the way the AC power adapter connects to the iPAQ. Look at the bottom edge of the new iPAQ (see Screen 3) and you'll see that the external power receptacle is no longer located on the left edge of the device. The H3800 is now powered through the serial/USB connector in the sync cradle. You need a special adapter (see Screen 4) to connect the AC power to the H3800 if it is not in its sync cradle. This adapter ships with all H3800 series iPAQs. Note also that H3800 series iPAQs will not fit in sync cradles designed for the H3600, and vice versa.

Screen 3: Bottom edge of the new iPAQ H3800 Pocket PC 2002. The external power receptacle and the door housing the hard reset button are no longer located from the left edge of the device.

Screen 4: You need this special adapter to connect the AC power to the H3800 if it is not in its sync cradle.

Another change from the H3600 to the H3800 series is that the reset button under the sliding door on the bottom edge of the device is no longer there. If you need to hard reset your iPAQ just press the task and calendar buttons on the front of the IPAQ and then press the soft reset button.

Compaq includes a sporty new Cover Pack with the H3800 series (see Screen 5). This thin, slip-on Expansion Pack is available as an option for all other iPAQs. The cover, which protects the display from scratches, snaps open and closed easily. The Cover Pack adds very little bulk to the iPAQ, and you can still slip the iPAQ with Cover Pack into the sync cradle.

Screen 5: Compaq's sporty new slip-on Cover Pack protects the iPAQ's display from scratches, and snaps open and closed easily.

Another big improvement is the H3800 series' enhanced color display. The new iPAQs come with a 16-bit reflective thin film transistor (TFT) screen that now displays 64,000 colors. Compare it to the 12-bit, 4,096 color display found on the H3600 and the difference is obvious. I noticed that the H3800's screen seemed darker and crisper than the H3600.

Finally, Compaq increased the battery life of the new iPAQ by 20%. While the added capacity is welcome, the battery still cannot be removed or replaced by the end user. I don't agree with this design feature. If you have a problem with a battery, they do eventually die, you can't just buy a new one. You have to send the whole iPAQ back to Compaq. Additionally, the Pocket PC is used by mobile professionals, many of whom travel long distances in their work. They need to be able to swap batteries on long flights.

Software makes the difference

Compaq's new H3800 and H3700 series, and newer Pocket PCs from other manufacturers, come with the Pocket PC 2002 operating system, along with the most recent suite of Microsoft Pocket PC applications and utilities. A brief summary of the Microsoft software is found in the Spec Sheet on the next page of this review. A more complete review of the new MS software is found on page 14 of the January 2002 issue, also available on Pocket PC magazine's Web site (www.pocketpcmag.com/Jan02/2002os.asp). In addition to the improved Microsoft software, Compaq has added an impressive bundle of add-on programs to the new iPAQ.

My number one pick of these addon programs is iTask, a cool little program from Compaq that lets you switch between open applications, close programs quickly, run Backup/Restore, Self Test, and other utilities; change settings quickly; and fine tune the brightness of the screen (see Screen 6).

Screen 6: The iTask program built into the iPAQ lets you switch between or close running applications, run utilities, change settings, and more.

All of the MP3 community will love Compaq Audio (see Screen 7). This new addition to Settings lets you adjust the bass and treble of sounds and music played on the iPAQ. The speaker on the new iPAQ is an improvement over previous versions, and the ability to fine-tune bass and treble will help make it even better.

Screen 7: The new Compaq Audio applet in the Settings folder lets you adjust the bass and treble of sounds played on the iPAQ.

Check out Compaq's enhancements to the Backlight applet in the Settings folder (see Screen 8). The new Brightness Level screen lets you set 32 different variations of brightness for two profiles (running on batteries, and running on AC adapter). It's easy to see why iPAQ is the leader in screen quality.

Screen 8: The iPAQ's new Brightness Level screen lets you set 32 different variations of brightness for two profiles.

As with previous versions of the iPAQ, the new version of Compaq's Backup/Restore utility (see Screen 9) lets you back up your system to, and restore it from, a memory card. But it also lets you backup to the new iPAQ File Store, 6.59 Mb of free memory in iPAQ's flashROM. This means that you can save important data in nonvolatile memory. If your batteries go completely dead, or you have to do a hard reset, your programs and data stored in the File Store area remain untouched and ready to access.

Screen 9: The new version of the iPAQ Backup/Restore utility lets you back up your system to, and restore it from, a memory card or the new, nonvolatile iPAQ File Store.

Third-party software bundled with the iPAQ

In addition to the Compaq programs mentioned above, the iPAQ H3800 comes with a CD that has a number of excellent, user-installable third-party applications, including the following:

iPresentation Player and Mobile Converter from Presenter (www.presenter.com). This application installs on your desktop PC and Pocket PC. It lets you convert desktop PC PowerPoint presentations and play them on your Pocket PC. You can even connect your iPAQ to a VGA monitor or projector using products like the Flyjacket from Lifeview (www.lifeview.com), or the Voyager CompactFlash VGA adapter from Colorgraphic ( www.colorgraphic.net). Check out the detailed review of this product and other presentation software on page 49 of this issue.

IBM Embedded ViaVoice Mobility Suite (www.ibm.com/software/speech/enterprise/) lets you access your iPAQ's Pocket Outlook information with voice commands. You can "Go to Contacts" and have Embedded ViaVoice read you Jacob Andrews contact information. You can ask your iPAQ to tell you the time, today's date, and more. You can even go to your Inbox and have Embedded ViaVoice read you all or selected e-mail messages. IBM's Embedded ViaVoice Mobility Suite enables you to use your voice to get information quickly and easily.

WordLogic Keyboard from WordLogic Corporation (www.wordlogic.net). This is my number two pick for the best add-on programs. WordLogic is an alternative soft keyboard that does a great job of predicting the word you're typing, after you've entered only a few characters. Based on a patent pending dictionary design, WordLogic predicts and displays the five most likely letters to follow the ones you've already entered, as well as the most frequent words beginning with the letters you've already entered. You can add new words to the dictionary, including company and product names. This should be a standard application on the Pocket PC 2002.

Pocket QuickView from Bitbank Software (www.bitbanksoftware.com/ce/pocketview.htm). Do you have a digital camera and hate viewing your pictures on the camera's one-by-one inch screen? PQView lets you view over 70 different file types including PowerPoint, spreadsheets, and PDF files. You can even view certain AVI and MOV video files. For more on this, see the review in this issue.

The following programs are also on the CD: Dashboard (an enhanced Today Screen application that shows 2 days' appointments, Jeode Java Virtual Machine, Audible Player (a service plan is required to download and play Audible content), eWallet, ListPro, StarTap (trial version), Xcellenet Device Management Agent, Sega Game Pack, Vegas Game Pack, Compaq Wireless LAN Drivers, Eletel Messaging Software, and an iPAQ Reference Guide in PDF and eBook formats.

Great look; great feel; great add-on software

I am glad that Compaq has re-engineered the speaker, moving it to the top of the iPAQ and out from underneath the navigation/ game pad. There are a number of great games for the Pocket PC, some with fantastic sounds. But you need the game pad to play them, and resting your fingers on top of the speaker all the time muffled the sound. The layout just didn't make sense.

Existing H3600 users can upgrade to the new Pocket PC 2002 OS and applications, but there are some tradeoffs. First, you can't install all the programs in the H3600's 16 Mb of flashROM. Some of them must go in RAM. Second, you have to stay with the H3600's 4K color screen and the old navigation button. Gamers will really benefit from the new 65K color screen and the new navigational button, which lets the game player access buttons simultaneously.

If you're in the market for a PDA, you need to take a closer look at this new iPAQ. It not only looks great and feels great in your hands, but it ships with a great bundle of software that will help Compaq maintain its lead in the Pocket PC market.