Hewlett Packard Jornada 545 Color Pocket PC

Other products by Hewlett-Packard

Product Details

Product Manual [3.31mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 3.1 x 0.1 inches ; 9 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004SGD3
• Item model number: 545
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #83,347 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1999

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Windows PDAs have long fought an uphill battle. Users have flocked to the highly functional Palm Connected Organizers and tended to ignore the more powerful, more expensive, and bigger Windows PDAs. The release of the new HP Jornada 545, the first of the new Pocket PC devices to hit the market, may finally turn this around. The Jornada is still a bit bigger, about 5 ounces heavier, and about $100 more expensive than the Palm Vx. But it is sleek, robust, highly functional, and the color screen is beautifully sharp. The "wow" factor is definitely there.

The Pocket PC OS is also responsive and well thought out--a big improvement over WinCE. In addition to the suite of powerful pocket applications (Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, PIM, and scheduler), the Jornada can also serve as a digital voice recorder (to capture those spur-of-the-moment thoughts), an MP3 player, Audible content player, and even an e-books reader.

The standard 16 MB of memory is expandable using standard CompactFlash cards. The product ships with a synchronization cradle (which supports USB or conventional serial interfaces), an extra sync cable (so you don't have to take the cradle everywhere), an AC power adapter, and earbuds. A microphone and a small speaker are built in. For MP3 use, we recommend expanding your RAM to 64 MB with a CompactFlash card to provide an hour of near-CD quality music.

Most Windows users should be able to run through the setup Wizard and start using the Jornada and its applications without cracking the manual. Learning to use handwriting recognition, which is integrated into all the applications, requires mastering a few special stylus strokes, but you should be writing smoothly within half an hour. In comparison to Palm's Graffiti system, the Pocket PC system is fully on par.

In our tests, setting up a connection to a desktop PC for synchronization was simple. Within 20 minutes, we had installed the ActiveSync software, hooked up the supplied cradle to the AC adapter and a USB port on our PC, and established a connection. If you have an older PC or laptop, you can also synchronize using a slower serial connection. Synchronization is automatic and file transfer is simple using the Windows Explorer-like interface.

The only real caveat is that Pocket PC works best in a Windows-centric world. At launch, it appears that there is no support for synchronizing with non-Microsoft e-mail and scheduling applications. (With an optional modem or network-interface card, you can send and receive Internet POP mail directly via your ISP.)

The choice between Pocket PC and Palm comes still comes down to tradeoffs. Palms are still lighter, smaller, and cheaper, and they do the basics beautifully. The Jornada 545 is slightly bigger, 5 ounces heavier, $100 more expensive, but vastly more powerful and flexible. The choice all depends on what you expect your PDA to do. --Thomas Mace

Pros:

• Handsome, compact design
• Superb color screen
• Large application suite
• Easy setup and intuitive interface

Cons:

• No support for synchronization of non-Microsoft e-mail and scheduling applications
• 5 ounces heavier than Palm V

Product Description

As a busy professional, you know every day can be a challenge. Meetings, appointments, projects, and deadlines - sometimes it's hard keeping it all together. But now there's something that can help you handle it all with ease - the HP Jornada 540 series Pocket PC. It has everything you need to gracefully juggle the details - and have fun while you're doing it. All in a slim, lightweight PC companion that's a perfect fit for your lifestyle. And, with its strong enterprise manageability and security features, a perfect fit for your corporate environment!Synchronize with your desktop PC at the touch of a button. Then carry and access your contacts, tasks, calendars, memos, and e-mail anywhere. Even view e-mail attachment files. Review and act on your e-mail - including your AOL e-mail - and surf the Web. Send instant messages to online friends and stay up-to-date with the latest news, sports scores, and stock information. Efficiently review and revise your documents and spreadsheets. Download digital music, images, and other multimedia files from your desktop PC with the cable. Instantly find the information you need with quick launch screen icons. Listen to your favorite audio books and articles from leading newspapers and magazines. Hear popular MP3 and WMA music and compile your own digital music playlists. Read best-selling e-books. Even create a digital photo album to share with friends. Designed to fit the way you live, the slim HP Jornada features a rubber protection strip to make it easy to grip and carry anywhere. Its elegant alloy casing allows you to project style and professionalism in any environment, while its sleek metal cover provides durability and protects the screen from scratches. You can also personalize it to fit your needs with a variety of accessories.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

100 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Now is Notebook or Pocket PC: Yes you will!, May 12, 2000

By	Roberto Doumet (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

.... ...been a Palmdevotee for years, since the first one: The US Robotic Pilot. .... For mother's day, my brother and I bougth a HP-545 for our mother. Since she is a tech-enthusiast and carries a purse all the time, we thougth she would like all the features normally comprised in the Win CE systems, not minding usability and all the known flaws in the Win CE devices. ....

My first impression was the design of the unit. The rubbered sides and the angled edges makes holding the unit a pleasure. The cover, which is made of metal just as the rest of the unit, was also elegant and very well thought: It's made of metal not like that of the Compaq Ipaq which is plastic, and no cover for the Casiopeia. And the cover holds the styli.

However you will certainly notice a difference in weigth when taking the cover off the unit. Which I did not mind since if I was to take the cover off is because I would put it in my jacket pocket.

The 545 screams elegance and sobriety. Unlike the Compaq Ipaq, you are looking to a machine that if taking out in a busines meeting your boss will not look at you like you are going to start playing a video game.

The unit is sturdy and usability is high. If you already have worked with a Palm III or other Win CE system, you will want to kiss anyone who had something to do in the design development of this unit.

The revamped Win CE now called Pocket PC OS, is incredible. Microsoft finally stopped dreaming of a computing heaven in 3010 and came down to mere mortals using things in real life. Now, simply there is no ground for comparison between Palm units and Pocket OS units. Why? I'll highligth some items:

- You will actually WILL be comfortable to the point of leaving your notebook PC entirely behind for a business trip. You will be able to browse the web to its entirety and in living color, not only snipets like the Palm.

- You WILL smile when your plane is late for departure. You'll have time to read that Stephen King novel or listen to your favorite music, stored in the unit. The 545 even comes with ear buds, but for better sound quality invest some $ in a pair of Sony or Koss, which increase the MP3 or WAV sound quality.

- You WILL be able to send and receive email with attachments: No hay problema.

- You WILL Synch. Software: Great. No comments about that. USB support in Win 2000.

- Display: Great display. I heard the Compaq has a bit better display. But I would not trade this small difference for the overall usability of the HP.

Finally the software bundle: It has everything you need out of the box. If something is not there, you can get it from the Web.

I don't place the five stars simply because I believe with all the multimedia capabilities of this unit, HP should have bundled a modem or incorporated one inside the unit, just as some Notebook manufacturers do. This would have greatly contribute to express the competence the machine has to work the web.

Palm or Pocket PC: Now Simply there is no point of comparison with the Palm OS and the Palm Pilots. For most of us: The usability factor has been resolved incredibly well, both in software and hardware. Period. Now there is no reason not to get one of this items.

This is a new category in Computing hardware, and there is simply no competition yet for this... off course except your Notebook PC. ....

74 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HP Jornada 545 - The answer to quite a few prayers, May 1, 2000

By	Ken Smith (Singapore) - See all my reviews

Well I have found a product that is not only a gadget but actually works just the way I would have made it myself (if only I could). The HP545 is the best "thing" I have come across for many years. It has, at a stroke, replaced two items I habitually carry and another that I was going to buy. These are my organiser / Tape player / MP3 Player.

I habitually spend (too) many hours of my life stuck in hotel rooms and airplanes (down the far back and up the very front) and I love the concept of the "talking books" / audio cassette that are now available - it saves my eyes and helps me sleep. What I do not like is having to pay almost as much for postage as for the cassettes and waiting 4 weeks to get them. Then having to hump around all those cranky cassettes and the battery eating player.

Yesterday I changed my life. Using my HP545 and Audible.com I brought 5 new audio books, downloaded them on the internet and uploaded them to my 545 in the space of an hour. This cost me 25% of what it would in cassette format + postage. It would have been less than an hour too, but I was still fumbling the software a little. My goodness why could it not have always been this easy...

I now have in my 90MB FlashMemory card (buy it and plug it in) 8 printed books (lots supplied - classics but still I haven't read that many of them), 10 MP3 favorites and 25 hrs of audio book programming. And there is still space to spare.

Transfers to and from the PC are a snap and the USB connection is very fast. Don't even think of doing these file sizes on the serial though. No USB - think about another solution or you will grow old waiting for the files to move.

The included apps are just GOOD. OK the screen is fairly small but the 65K colours and crystal clarity help. Everything works and the cutdown versions of Outlook / Work etc are very functional.

I have saved the neatest for last. The script / handwriting recognition WORKS. Even my scruffy scrawl gets the job done and with a little practise at being neat with the pen and not trying to use the very bottom of the screen you can gallop along.

Well done HP and MS - A nice job well implemented.

Caveats : You need a decent sized memory card. Budget for 64MB and you will not be disappointed. For the numerically inclined an average "printed book" is 200K, audio books are 2MB per hour and high quality MP3 is 1MB a minute. These figures are deceptive though. I would never carry 25 hours of taped book around normally and it is so easy to move stuff in and out of the 545 that I am being a hog. Still what was that phrase about expanding to fill the space available....

137 of 144 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Palm OS is DEAD!, May 4, 2000

By	[e-mail] (Beaverton, Oregon) - See all my reviews

I have looked at Windows CE devices before and found them under powered, over priced, and inadequate in several respects. After months of scrutiny and research, I was finally ready to buy a Palm Pilot. At the last minute, I looked at the Jornada 545 and bought one on the spot.

Its handwriting recognition is like nothing else I've used. In a couple of hours I was entering data quickly--something I didn't think was possible considering the high marks the Palm OSs Graffiti earned, but never worked well for me.

The color screen is great. I bought the Pretec modem and was able to surf the web. In the morning I download all the new web pages I typically read and review them throughout the day when I have a little time.

I needed a PDA to keep in sync with email and my Internet site, but the Palm's "Web Clipping" technology just wasn't worth it. The Pocket Internet Explorer is great.

The Jornada 545 is also fast. It boots instantly, and the syncrhonization between my Microsoft Outlook is GREAT!

This elegant collaboration between HP and MS is a must have product!