Hewlett Packard Jornada 540 Color Pocket PC

List Price: $479.99 Discount Price: $149.00

Features:

• Sharp 12-bit color LDC screen, 4,096 colors
• Includes MP3 player for listening to digital music, audiobooks, and news
• Check e-mail and surf the Web
• Manage your schedule with Pocket Outlook and your finances with Pocket Money
• What's in the box: Jornada 540, Stylus, Hardcover, Serial cable, AC adapter, Quick Start Guide, Jornada CD-ROM, HP documentation pack, Microsoft ActiveSync

Accessories:
Viking 64 MB CompactFlash Card	RhinoSkin RhinoPak 1100 PDA Case	Hewlett Packard Jornada 520 and 540 Series AC Adapter	Hewlett Packard Jornada 520 and 540 Series Spare Stylus Pens (3-Pack)	Hewlett Packard Jornada 520 and 540 Series Car DC Adapter

Customer Reviews:

The Best in Handheld computers [Posted on 2000-11-11]
..I first bought a handspring ..but found it ate batteries like they were comming out of style. ( had to replace them every other day) I was getting angry as I need this to keep track of the three jobs that I have. Then one night I bought this wonderfull thing. I can actually read it..Use it every day without having to replace the batteries. It keeps track of evcerything..time..tasks..phone numbers ...lets me have some fun as I can play games and read a book. It has made my life better as I can schdeule my life to fit everyhting I do.

HP = "Happy People", or, Every Customer is Satisfied [Posted on 2000-11-16]
The HP 540 Color Pocket PC is great if you need a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or if you just want to have the latest, coolest, and the most neatest gadjet around. There is one CON: -Not Enough Memory- I recommend buying the HP 545 Color Pocket PC if you are looking for something with more power, but if you are looking for something with a low price and ~OK~ power, get this! It's great to have! If your looking for a PDA, get the HP series, they're the best! I only accept HP and nothing else! Go With HP!

Too much fun [Posted on 2000-11-24]
I got my Jornada and it really blew me away. As an owner of a Palm VII and V, my Jornada really just made them look stupid. It comes with Word, Excel, Money, Outlook...and that's just scratching the surface. It can play MP3s and, with the right software, even movies. Granted its short on memory; I strongly recommend buying more. I bought a 128MB CompactFlash card (maybe an overkill) and it doubles as an awesome MP3 player. I always have it in my pocket, so I just plug in my headphones and I walk around campus with music.

I downloaded Microsoft Transcriber (which is free) and I can't say enough about it. 10 times faster and easier than using graffiti, you just write as normal. When you're done it converts your writing to text. It even reads cursive! I have pretty mediocore penmanship and it can read things that even other humans cannot.

It has a built-in microphone and speaker. It comes with PeaceMaker to exchange contacts and business cards with Palms. It has Internet Explorer so it can view regular web pages; not just preformatted AvantGo pages. I like the flat stylus better than the skinny Palm one...its wider, so you can grip it more like a normal pen than a toothpick.

Here are the downsides: like every color screen, its hard to see in daylight, though there are preset brightness settings to help you out a bit. It needs more memory, so get a compactflash card. The serial cable is a bit slow; a USB cradle or cable will save you a LOT of time, especially if you transfer a lot of MP3s or web pages. It WILL crash every once in awhile. Its really not a big deal. All you do is take your stylus and tap the button on the back. 3 seconds later its up and running again.

Bigger improvement [Posted on 2000-12-17]
Pocket PC O/S is a bigger improvement over WinCE version. Drawback is that there is no Microsoft Powerpoint available yet for Pocket PC version so you'll have to convert presentations to HTML format. Furthermore, unless you use a 3rd-party software, you'll lose transition & animation effects from the original Powerpoint presentation you made.

I also own a Palm IIIc and find it easier to use compared to the Pocket PC version. The Palm platform is almost idiot-proof, unlike Pocket PC which has a higher learning curve for ordinary users who are not so computer-literate. I didn't even need to read the manual to use my Palm Pilot.

Also note that there are more software available for download onto the Palm platform.

Upside is that Jornada 540's screen/display is great, you can work on Word & Excel documents, unlike in Palm Pilot, memory is expandable, you can play MP3's, record voice messages, and plug in your earphones if you want to listen to music. Compared to Palm Pilots currently in the market, Jornada has more features and better display resolution.

DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!!! [Posted on 2001-10-19]
I, too, thought I had a great product. Until just after my warranty expired. My PPC decided one day to short circuit itself, and get so hot I could not even pick it up. It warped the leather of my carrying case, and could well have started a fire if I had left it near papers on my desk. Now, it only works when it wants to. HP's response is too bad. Of course, they would be willing to fix it for $200. My advice, DO NOT BUY THIS DEVICE! Best case, you get poor customer support and a sub-par product. Worst case, it burns your home or office to the ground!!!

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