Customer Reviews

Hewlett Packard Jornada 420 Palm-Size PC

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The one button recorder is great. Push and hold the red outside button and it will automatically turn on the PDA and start recording. The financial calculator is accurate to the penny, an important software feature when calculating amortizations. The hard, flip top, transparent cover protects the screen well. The width is thicker than a Palm Pilot V. Thinner would be better. When you select a contact, it does not display everything about that contact on one screen, for instance, the notes about that contact. You have to go to edit and tap on notes to see the entire information on the notes, a slight inconvenience. It is easy to enter appointments or events in the calendar. It is easy to synchronize information between desktop and the PDA. The battery lasts a long time between charges, a very important feature. Overall, I am very happy to have selected this over the Palm Pilot V. I was able to eliminate a small taper recorder and my old, ever reliable HP financial calculator in my purse. This freed up space and weight.

This Windows CE device was what I needed after being tethered to a Palm Pro for over a year. I couldn't do much with the Palm, other than read mail and take notes. Now, it looks and feels like I'm taking my desktop with me. I bought a 32MB CF card with it, and I'm happy with it.

The only thing to improve would be the sound. That little speaker doesn't put out enough volume, however, through earphones it sounds good.

WHEN I RECIEVED THE JORNADA, I WAS QUITE AMAZED AT IT'S CONDITION. IT WAS NEARLY PERFECT AS ADVERTISED, EVEN THE BOX. ONLY INSIGNIFICANT COSMETIC BLEMISH ON THE CLEAR COVER, BUT I THINK THAT'S TO BE EXPECTED SINCE IT'S A USED ITEM. OTHERWISE, THE DISPLAY HAS GOOD COLOR RESOLUTION. SINCE I'M NOT AT ALL FAMILIAR WITH WINDOWS CE, I'M HAVING SOME PROBLEMS, BUT I'M SURE THAT I'LL OVERCOME THEM. ALL IN ALL, IT WAS A VERY PLEASANT TRANSACTION WITH ONLY ONE EXCEPTION. I'D HOPED THE ITEM TO BE SHIPPED VIA UPS. IT WAS SHIPPED USING PRIORITY MAIL, BY U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, & I HAD TO TAKE A COUPLE HOURS OFF WORK & GO TO THE POST OFFICE TO SIGN FOR THE ITEM. BUT, SINCE IT WAS SUCH A GOOD DEAL, THAT WAS A VERY SMALL INCONVENIENCE THAT I CAN LIVE WITH. I WOULDN'T HESITATE MAKING ANOTHER PURCHASE THROUGH AMAZON.COM.........

Yeah, it's big. Yeah it's clunky. But I've had this PDA now for about 5 years, and it's never failed me. Not once. I originally bought it because I thought it was cool (at the time). Didn't use it that much except to keep a few addresses and phone numbers in. Mostly it stayed on a shelf collecting dust. I recently moved, stuck it in a box, and there it sat for another 2 or so years. Finally unpacked it a week ago, plugged it in, charged it up, and it runs as good as it did the first day out of the box. I've long since lost the sync cable and associated software so I can't upload anything to it, but it serves my purpose quite well. Storing contact info, to do lists, appointments, random musings, etc. The Jot handwriting recognition software works very well too.

I've spent the last week researching newer Palm OS, and Windows OS PDA's, weighing the pro's and con's of each and came to one conclusion. HP built a heckuva unit with the Jornada 420. I'll probably stick with it for a long time despite it's clunkiness, volatile memory, and short battery life.

I bought this thinking it would be my do-it-all device. Voice recorder, address book, calendar/to do list, and mp3 player. It does it all except the MP3 player part. A reviewer said he loved the MP3 player capability. -NOT- If you load MP3 files into it, there is no player to play them. At least Win CE can not find anything to use to play them. Is the player an add on? If so, where can I get it.
Larry

You can also own one second-hand now at an EXTREMELY reasonable price. I've had mine for about six months now and it works great! I love it's mp3 feature, love the color screen, the battery life and the durability.
If I could have two wishes though, I wish it was a USB device. Transferring larger mp3 files from my pc just takes way too long over a serial connection. I had to buy a compact flash card reader to circumvent the problem.
I also found I have a real dislike for Windows CE. You have this beautiful color screen and it's just too cramped up with windows. Palm's OS really seems to flow better. I had heard that Window's new 'Pocket PC' OS had solved a lot of these problems, but I've yet to use it.
All in all though, it's an awesome buy for the price!