2. Out Of Sync

Getting the iPAQ rx1950 up and running after letting it charge up overnight was easier than what you go through when you buy a PC. For example, there is no separate installation or initialization process for Word or Windows Media Player. Setup more or less involved just booting up the device and getting used to Microsoft's new Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system (more on that below) and the mobile versions of the Office applications.

Syncing the iPAQ with the PC was a different story. Installing Microsoft ActiveSync 4.0 onto a PC was a breeze, and once the iPAQ was connected to the PC with a USB link, ActiveSync immediately recognized the device and began working its magic - but only for a few seconds. First, 36 MB of user available storage memory does not leave much room for syncing up your PC's photo or video files and the iPAQ's storage capacity was rapidly depleted.

ActiveSync had problems syncing with Outlook.

ActiveSync just did not sync with my PC's Outlook Express 6 program. Instead it repeatedly prompted me to designate Outlook Express as my default email program. The problem was that my version of Outlook would not allow me to select this option. Instead of reinstalling Outlook again on my PC, I looked up the problem in forums and found others shared my pain. Bugs are reported when ActiveSync 4.0 and Window Mobile 5.0 are synced up. I downloaded and installed the latest version of ActiveSync 4.1.0 on my PC, but was still unable to get the sync process established for Outlook. On the iPAQ, for some odd reason, I was also no longer able to select Outlook from the ActiveSync program menu. Instead of scouring the forums again in search of a solution, I finally gave up.

On a brighter note, WindowsXP did recognize the iPAQ like any other peripheral device such as my MP3 player or digital camera. So, transferring files to and from the device while connected to my PC only involved clicking and moving files with Windows Explorer. From a daily use perspective, selecting which files to copy to and from the iPAQ worked out fine. Copying the occasional email or file from my iPAQ to my PC or selecting which MP3 files to listen to before transferring them from my PC to the iPAQ worked out well. At the same time, even the largest iPAQ SD card will not come close to handling the gigabytes and gigabytes of MP3 files that you might try to sync up from a song list folder, making file sync less than useful especially in the hands of a novice user.