Hewlett Packard Jornada 680 Handheld PC

by HP

Product Details

Product Manual [1.45mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 16.1 x 9.9 x 3.2 inches ; 4.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00000J0ND
• Item model number: HPF1262A
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #110,674 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1973

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Looking to fill the niche between a notebook and a palmtop? The Jornada 680 offers the features of a PC with pocket-size convenience. Loaded with software for personal information management and featuring a complete keyboard for touch typing, this sleek hand-held PC makes a great traveling companion.

The Jornada 680 connects to your PC through a docking cradle via the PC's 9-pin serial port. Setup consists of following the Quick Start instruction sheet, attaching the battery, and connecting the docking cradle. In our tests, the entire process was intuitive, and software installation on our PC went without a hitch.

The keyboard on this small, portable unit is about two-thirds the width of a normal desktop model, so typing feels a little cramped at first. Taking quick notes and memos for testing was easy, but composing longer documents would not be practical.

File synchronization with the desktop "partner" PC occurs through a serial cable and by running Microsoft Windows CE Services 2.2 with ActiveSync. The Partnership Wizard guides you through establishing a connection and synchronizing shared files. When the two units are connected, you can access the Jornada's desktop as an ordinary window on the partner PC's Windows desktop.

We set up the Jornada to connect to an ISP through its internal modem and to send and receive email through the ISP's POP3 server. This process was easy--we just ran the Make New Connection wizard and answered its questions. (Make sure that you have your ISP's e-mail protocol information handy.) Surfing the Web is fun and fast, although you have to get used to the half-height screen when viewing Web pages.

The printed User's Guide is thorough, clearly written, and well organized. The Jornada's online Help is more limited but covers the most important topics. The pleasant, intuitive user interface precluded the need to consult the documentation for most tasks. --Mike Brown

Pros:

• Large, bright CSTN color display
• 7-hour battery
• Built-in modem
• Loaded with software

Cons:

• Larger and heavier than a palm-size PC
• Does not include a 9-to-25 pin serial port adapter

Amazon.com Product Description

HP announces the new HP Jornada 680 Handheld PC, a Windows CE color handheld PC to answer all your mobile computing needs.

What's in the box

• Jornada 680
• Stylus
• Rechargeable battery
• AC Adapter
• Docking cradle
• Serial cable
• Documentation guide

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

94 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for getting email when you travel., November 7, 1999

By 

Dana D. Dlott (Urbana, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hewlett Packard Jornada 680 Handheld PC (Office Product)

If you shlep a heavy laptop on trips just to get your email, do a little bit of web browsing or write some notes, this is for you. You just put the Jornada in your pocket or briefcase and attach the phone cable to its handy built in modem. The battery lasts so long (sometimes 8 hours) that you can travel for several days without even taking the power adapter. The whole system weighs only about 1 lb. The keyboard is OK but might be problematic if you have fat fingers.

Although you can download Word or PowerPoint documents from your desktop and carry them around, the graphics are not good enough for technical presentations. However if you use mainly plain text and your PowerPoint presentations are mainly big pie charts and so on, this is another great feature. I found out that HP sells a VGA adapter card for the Jornada. This little plug in card lets you download your MS PowerPoint presentation into the little travel computer and then output it to a VGA monitor or projector with graphics up to 768x1024. So not only can I carry the Jornada on trips to get my email, but I can also download my presentation (up to about 16 MB) and output it to the client's projector or monitor. Since the presentation comes from the computer's memory, it is very fast. Great!

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars jornada does the job, July 13, 1999

By 

"lenlutz" (Philadelphia, PA. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hewlett Packard Jornada 680 Handheld PC (Office Product)

I was looking for a "micro notebook" like machine. Pda utilities were important. being a "unix" programmer, some type of terminal was also quite important. I have used a few of the "palm size" machines and found them undesirable. (im always poping up the little tap on keyboard, AND,when entering numbers, 99% accuracy (hand writing recognition) doesn't quit cut it). I also was not going to spend over $500, and not get some kind of word processor. Using Hpvx, i have a beautiful, portable, always ready,telnet machine, that does wp, excel, email, and internet... and the color is Great. The battery last. Really last. better then 8 hours, even when using the modem.... Am i Satisfied ??? Im thrilled!. it not tiny, but its always with me, and i have become quite dependent on it.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beats other types of palmtops and hand-helds, hands down!, September 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hewlett Packard Jornada 680 Handheld PC (Office Product)

I have been using my HP Jordana 680 for over a month and I have say I'm delighted with it. It is by far and away the best Windows CE device yet. It beats other types of palmtops and hand-helds, hands down!

The price might seem fairly steep compared to other PDA's, but you do get an awful lot of for your money, in a very little package. I considered buying a Psion 5, but by the time you had added the PCIMA adapter and the modem the total cost was the same as the HP 680!

I have also found HP's customer service to be excellent, their website is top-notch, their software updates are easy to apply and their telephone staff are superb.

There are several other features I would like to see in Windows CE, but as the operating system can be upgraded there is no reason why they cannot be added at a later date. Some of these are:

* Conversion of files to pocket format on the device itself (this would be handy for email attachments)
* The ability to create graphs in Excel
* Embed objects within word files
* Any chance of a copy of NetMeeting for CE?

So come on Microsoft how about these enhancements?