The h4355's built-in keyboard provides easy, foolproof text entry.

The first time I ever wrote about a PDA (or "Personal Digital Assistant") was just a few years ago. In its day, that particular handheld organizer was on the "cutting edge," for a couple of reasons: (1) it supported additional memory cards, which meant you could infinitely expand the unit's storage capacity beyond its 8MB of built-in RAM, and (2) it was capable of displaying digital pictures…not that they looked all that impressive on the unit's greenish-gray monochrome LCD. It had no audio capability at all — MP3 playback was still a few generations of PDAs away.

Today, I'm writing about another cutting-edge PDA — HP's iPAQ h4355, which retails for about $500. This little handheld PC is a testament to just how far this genre of products has come in recent years. Even though it has many of the same basic organizer-type functions you'd find on PDAs of the past (like memos, to-do lists, a calendar, etc.), the differences between the iPAQ and that older model are, as you'd expect, striking.

For starters, it's got color (well, colors, actually — over 65,000 of them). It's got a built-in, backlit thumb keyboard for easy, intuitive text entry. With a 400MHz processor, it's speedier than the desktop PCs that many folks are still using, and it comes loaded with some pretty nifty Windows® Pocket PC software (including Windows Media Player 9, for playing digital audio and video files). But here's the coolest part: it's got built-in Wi-Fi® capability, which means it can automatically connect you to wireless networks in your home, at work, or down at the local coffee shop, allowing you to browse the Internet or send and receive e-mail.

Using the iPAQ
Like all PDAs, the h4355 features a touch-sensitive LCD panel (this one measures 3-1/2" diagonally). To input text, you can write individual letters or even whole handwritten words on the touch-panel with the provided stylus; the unit can recognize them and turn them into type. There's also a "soft" (virtual) keyboard mode, which lets you tap individual keyboard "buttons" on the LCD panel one at a time. Not surprisingly, the hard buttons of the built-in thumb keyboard provided the easiest and most foolproof way of entering text — this feature accounts for a $50 step-up in price within the iPAQ line, but folks who use this PDA for intensive writing, note-taking, or e-mailing will be glad they sprang for it.

For navigating through menus or text blocks, you can either once again tap away at the touch-panel with the stylus, or use the iPAQ's convenient 4-way cursor control button. Four additional buttons let you quick-launch commonly used programs. I found myself utilizing a combination of the various hard controls and touch-panel options.

LCD and battery life
As previously mentioned, the iPAQ's 3-1/2" rectangular LCD is capable of displaying more than 65,000 colors, and it has a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. Text is easy on the eyes, and digital photos are nice and crisp (and HP's photo-handling software looks good and lets you easily zoom in and move around within a picture). The display's backlight has adjustable brightness — you can crank it up temporarily for better visibility while you're outside in the sunlight, then dial it back when you return indoors to preserve battery life. The lithium ion battery pack is removable; spare batteries are available from the manufacturer (at about $100 a pop). Generally speaking, the included battery gave a pretty robust charge that tended to last me several days.

Connecting to a PC
HP provides a cradle with a USB connector for "synchronizing" the handheld unit with your desktop PC — a process whereby the two devices share recent data with one another in order to keep your calendar items, task lists, and e-mail "Inbox" up-to-date in both locations. This USB connection also allows you to copy specific files (music, video clips, spreadsheets, etc.) from your computer to your PDA, or vice-versa. Conveniently, the cradle doubles as a battery charger, for easily freshening up your power pack before you hit the road.

System expansion
A top-loading Secure Digital® Card slot accepts optional SD and MultiMediaCard® memory, so the sky's the limit, storage-wise. The 64MB internal memory will probably be enough for some people — however, since the RAM is used both for storage and for running programs, you'll probably want to pick up an extra memory card or two, especially if you plan to take advantage of the iPAQ's digital audio or video playback capability. The SD card slot can also handle SDIO expansion cards (think PC Cards, only smaller). HP even sells a tiny digital camera with an SDIO interface, so you can use your iPAQ to snap, store, and view pics.