Spotlight Customer Reviews
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Everything in one place
Comment: This is a great PDA. Period. It is not perfect, of course, but the combination of features is just awesome and it actually works as advertised. Here are some noteworthy observations (strictly subjective):
- It came with the latest version of Windows Mobile 6 installed.
- The screen is excellent, both in color and sharpness.
- Applcation speed is also excellent.
- WiFi set-up was easy and works very well (range wise) in my (fairly big) house; have to try it in a public place yet.
- MP3 capability is good; my dedicated MP3 player is better, of course, not to mention my home stereo ... which I won't be hauling around like this PDA all the time, thank you very much.
- The GPS module works fine; first, I thought it was not powerful enlough, because it told me about having a weak signal all the time. Then I discovered that it takes a few minutes after you turn it on, to acquire the satellites; after that has been established, it usually racks up 10 satellites and everything is groovy ...
- The GPS software is ... okay. It located my adress one street to the south of the actual place - that is the same mistake UPS always makes, because we have three different streets with the same name in this subdivision, with the only difference being the designator "Ln", "Ct", and "Dr". Also, it would locate one of my friends house almost correctly, but at the last hundred yards it changed its mind and tried to lead me to a parallel street in the subdivision.
If you really need a super accurate GPS, there is always the possibility to purchase a better software like from Garmin or TomTom to replace the Destinator 6, which comes with the PDA. But for my purposes, it seems to do the trick, so I do not plan to change it anythime soon.
- I like the little foldable pen and the position of its "garage".
- I also like the thickness of this item; it is rougly the same size as a Blackberry, which seems to be acceptable for many people these days. Other PDAs are somewhat thinner, but I like the feeling of something solid in my (big) hands
So, what's not so good? It needs a built in webcam. The package even contains a Windows Mobile version of Skype - alas, without a webcam, you can only chat by voice.
In short, this device has many very useful features, everything works just fine and I would definitely recommend this thing to anyone.
Update 01 Jan 2009:
Now that I've used this PDA for a few months, I like it even better. The GPS functionality is not so important to me as I thought before. I use it not very often, but it is nice to know that it is there when I need it. The provided maps are from 2005, so many new streets are not listed. Which is an annoyance, and it seems to be impossible right now to get an update. The manufacturer has been acquired by some big company in the meanwhile and they don't seem to care about this product anymore. So if you really need up to date maps, buy some other GPS software instead. That stinks, I know - but the basic GPS functionality works just fine, it's just the software that is not up to par.
I already have supplanted most of the standard programs delivered with the PDA with more sophisticated software. This allowed me to tailor it to my needs and I must say that I could not live without it anymore. I totally switched from paper to electrons and don't even use sticky notes that often anymore. Of course, I carry this thing around all the time - so what? It serves as the external hard drive to my brain ...
Oh, and it works flawlessly. Even setting up network access in my heavily fortified home network was no problem.
The only thing not so great is that being on the internet drains the battery at an alarming rate. But since ASUS provides a car charger and a wall charger, that is not a big concern most of the time.
And yes, the unit is about twice as thick as an HP PDA (without GPS). But I like the heavy feeling in my (big) hands. It feels like serious business.
Customer Rating: Summary: Very good Pocket PC
Comment: This PDA has been very stable and works as expected. It's been used for WIFI connecting to my WPA network, and used extensively as a GPS. I'm not using the supplied GPS software because I already had a copy of iGuidance that I loaded on it.
Nice unit.
Customer Rating: Summary: very good stuff
Comment: I have recently bought this PDA and I am very satisfied with it. It came with an SD card of 1GB, having the maps from Destinator6 installed, so I bought another SD of 8GB. Wifi and GPS work very well. The preinstalled software is not much, you still need a pdf viewer, flash player (for IExplorer) and a calculator (and of course whatever else you think useful). The battery is ok, in standby mode it lasts more then 10 days, but the battery life depends on the kind of utilization you have: GPS and WiFi are the most life consuming. The sound card is not so great, gives acceptable quality if you have good headphones, but is far away from the quality of an iPod.
Customer Rating: Summary: Asus A696 +GPS
Comment: GREAT COMBINATION PDA AND GPS. PHONES COME AND GO BUT THIS COULD BE MY FRIEND FOR YEARS.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Cognitive Musings on PDA Purchase
Comment: Since I just purchased this item, I will update this review in the future. However, I hope sharing my thinking on how I bought this PDA might save someone hours of research.
I basically broke the process down into a flowchart, with branch points at each major decision. For example, the first branch point was to decide if I wanted a "pure" PDA, a Blackberry type item, a sat/nav device with PDA aspects, or smart phone. I eliminated the Blackberry and smart phone options right away. The next major decision was whether to get a Palm or a Pocket PC. Palm hasn't come out with any new offerings in three years and the reviews for the E2, Life Drive, and TX were decidedly mixed. I currently have a Pocket PC which I enjoy, so this was easy.
Focusing on Pocket PC-type PDAs, HP was a major player but they have a gazillion models. The Wikipedia entry on HP iPaq was invaluable in wading through the descriptions of each of series. I then began to winnow out various models based on operating system (nothing earlier than Win Mobile 5), expansion card slots, connectivity (had to have WiFi and Bluetooth), screen, and memory. I also branched out into Axim and Asus models. Once I had a list of candidates, I looked at Amazon.com's ratings since I found them to be more thorough and balanced compared to CNET or ZDNet. I also crosschecked the support forums for Axim, Asus, and HP, which were invaluable. So, for example, iPaq 4155 was crossed off due to problems with screen cracking, iPaq hx4700 was flimsy, etc. I liked the biometric scanners on the iPaq hx2795, but it still uses Windows Mobile 2003 SE, the scanner was problematic in some models, and some users reported they were unreliable.
Customer service was not an issue since based on my research it was uniformly poor for each of these companies; HP was slightly better but you are pretty much on your own.
In the end, I had four choices that I placed on a grid to compare: Axim X51v, Asus MyPal A696, HP iPAQ hx2495/hx2490, and the HP iPAQ 111 Classic. The Axim had the best screen, two expansion slots, and great power. But in going to Aximsite.com I found that there were problems that required tweaking and I was concerned that the model was discontinued so customer service would be non-existent. The iPaq 111 had a great form factor, good power, the latest Windows Mobile 6.0, SDHC flash memory support and good memory. But it was a fairly basic model with no infrared port and some reported screen problems. The iPaq hx2495 got good reviews, had both a Compact Flash and SD memory port, and good battery life, but it had an older operating system, reported "yellowish" screen issues, and some CF card issues.
In the end, I chose the Asus MyPal A696 because it had both a good selection of PDA features as well as GPS options. I am aware that the GPS is not great, customer service is poor, getting accessories may be more difficult than with an iPaq, and that it doesn't have a cradle, which bugs me. But it has good power, good memory, good anti-glare screen, great connectivity (Bluetooth 2.0; IEEE 802.11b and g) and it looks and feels great.
If I hadn't chosen the Asus A696, I would have gone with the Axim X51v. If price was the main concern, I would have gone with the iPaq 111 or the Asus A626.
