Customer Reviews

Hewlett Packard Jornada 520 and 540 Series Serial Cradle

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

 

 

If your desktop machine is running Windows NT (as opposed to Windows 95/98 or 2000), you'll find that the USB cradle provided with the 545 isn't compatible with NT. Or maybe you're like me, and want to synchronize your data with an NT machine at the office as well as with a 95/98 machine at home. In either case, you'll find this serial cradle to be much more convenient than the serial cable included with the Jornada.

A couple of important notes: First, remember that the Jornada cradles do not include an AC adapter; so if you're ordering this as a cradle for a second computer, you'll want to order a second AC adapter as well. And second, make sure to go to the Ports control panel in NT and raise your serial port's speed, as described in the Jornada documentation; if you leave the serial port at the default 9600 bps, you can go eat a light lunch in the time it takes a fully-loaded Jornada to do a full sync. :) (Syncing with a serial connection is always much slower than using a USB connection; but with the serial port speed raised to 57600, the speed is at least tolerable.)

I also own a Palm Pilot with cradle so I didn't have great expectations for the HP cradle. I was delighted to see that the HP cradle was heavier, better built, and adds a power plug as a bonus. When I sit this down and use it, it doesn't slide about my desk because of the steel base and rubber feet. I am very happy with this cradle.

The problem here...not...enough information to allow customers to know what they are purcahsing. There are two types of cradles, a serial cradle and a USB cradle. When one clicks for the additional technical details, the screen comes up empty. What Amazon is shipping is the serial cradle. The USB cradle is what is shipped with the Jornada 548. The USB cradle works very well and is a great tool when one is in their office. It is a little heavy and bulky for traveling in a brief case. A second cradle for home is nice.

I have both a Serial and USB cradle for the 540 series. Both are terribly disappointing pieces of junk.

Within a matter of a few days of use, I now have bent pins on both cradles - rendering them useless - and preventing me from establlishing a connection to my desktop. (No, the there is nothing wrong with the female connector on the 548...)

Upon examination I see the pins are VERY flimsy and under-engineered. For ... [the retail price] I expect HP to produce a much more robust product.

Connectiong the PDA to a desktop is a critial and major function of the Pocket PC. Couldn't HP put 10 cents more into the manufacture of these cradles, so they could perform their vital function?

I have had to "fall-back" to using the serial cable that came with the 548. The connector on that cable is much better made and should have a long life.

I'm buying this cradle not because I've had trouble with the pins on the serial cable &USB cradle but because serial seems to be the least problematic way to synch my 548. USB is great, it's a little faster even after raising the transfer rate of the serial port but it is notoriously unreliable. Serial synching ALWAYS works and this cradle seems an easy, inexpensive workaround. As pointed out in another review, do go in and raise the transfer rate (Control Panel to System to Devices) - raise it to match the default you choose on your PDA. The default rate on my PDA was 56k and it was slow for Audible downloads.

The first CE powered PDA that is worth it's salt should have the connectivity that goes along with it. This is teh weakest portion of the Jornada as its' pins recognizing the device are not strong enough for day to day usage. I have had to go back to the serial connection which appears sound to date.

The product is exceptional otherwise and has very good ease of use.

Absolutely a convenient optional accessory for jornada 520-540 users. Setback is speed with its serial connection compared to more updated USB capability that is not available for these type of jornada. Works great for sync and recharge.

Nice little unit. It's constructed pretty solidly and looks pretty handsome on the desk. A must have accessory.