Compaq's Aero 1550 doesn't have the glamorous colour LCD, front-facing speaker, or fast processor of its showy sibling, the Compaq iPAQ H3650 Pocket PC, but it does offer all the basics that a PDA should and more at a relatively low price.
Pocket versions of Word, Excel, and Microsoft Money sync handily with their desktop versions, though multimedia applications and games are less appealing on a gray scale display.
If you're looking for a PDA with Microsoft's Pocket PC OS for straightforward note-taking, contact management, and appointments, then the affordable Aero 1550 is not a bad choice. It's not terribly fast or loaded with features, but it has some advantages over the Palm OS and gives you enough power and features to get the job done. Programmable hot-buttons on the front of the unit quickly link to frequently used applications or menus and a voice recording button on the side make the unit an effective substitute for an audio cassette dictation recorder.
It may seem at first that 16MB is a lot of memory when compared with the 8MB or, worse, 2MB you'd find in a Palm device, but you will soon discover that Pocket PC tends to demand a lot more resources. Nonetheless, you are still able to store many more contacts or appointments than you would with a Palm, and, with a slot for a standard CompactFlash card built into the unit, you have room for up to 128MB worth of extra data per card.
Just a half an inch thick, the Aero 1550 is one of the slimmest PDA models out there, although it's a bit taller than many Palm-based handheld PCs. It's also a fairly unglamorous device with a dull gray finish, but Compaq has added two features that make it easier to use. The four main buttons on the face of the Aero 1550, below the LCD screen, are set by default to calendar, contacts, tasks, and notes, but each is programmable and can be re-directed to launch any application installed on the device. There are two more buttons along the side, plus an up/down knob for faster menu navigation. One button quickly opens the "QMenu" of frequently used applications; the other acts as a one-touch voice record button for audio memos or voice dictation, effectively allowing the Aero 1550 to double as a handheld dictation recorder.
We did enjoy the two-mode light switch that allows you to turn on and off the backlight by pressing and holding down the Power button. The monochrome LCD screen uses less battery power than the Compaq iPAQ H3650's colour screen, but the ability to save battery life when you're in a bright environment is welcome. Battery life shouldn't be much of an issue, however, because the lithium-ion battery recharges when it's sitting in the docking cradle.
The Aero 1550 uses an older and slower serial interface for connecting to a desktop Windows PC, rather than a faster USB cable, so synching data between your desktop and Aero 1550 will take longer, especially when moving large volumes of data. The built-in CompactFlash card slot allows you to move larger files back and forth via a CompactFlash card, although Microsoft's ActiveSync software doesn't recognise this as an option for synching files. You can, however, use a spare CompactFlash card to back-up data on your Aero 1550 and retrieve it relatively painlessly through a menu command if you need to. The CompactFlash card slot offers the possibility of wireless email and Internet connectivity through either an optional modem or network connection.
The 70MHz processor in the Aero 1550 is just barely enough to lumber through Microsoft's slimmed down, though still chunky, Pocket PC OS. There's a noticeable delay shifting between applications and even accessing menus, though if you're using Microsoft Word on any kind of older desktop PC, the wait is probably nothing new. The Aero 1550's handwriting recognition via Pocket PC is good, though it lags if you write quickly.
The Aero 1550 is a utilitarian handheld designed to easily sync Pocket versions of Word, Excel, Money, contacts, etc. with traditional desktop versions of the same. For straightforward PDA tasks such as note taking, contact management, and appointment keeping, the Aero 1550 is an affordable choice. Pocket PC also includes Windows Media Player, and the Aero 1550 has a built-in speaker, but it's located on the back of the unit and doesn't offer the same sound quality as the iPAQ H3650's. Fear not MP3 mavens, there is a headphone jack.
The warranty is only one year, but Compaq fixes or replaces almost any defect or defective unit within a couple business days. And, beyond the warranty period, you can still expect toll-free help for troubleshooting and seeking out repair options. The Aero 1550 is one of the more affordable PDAs you'll find, and if you don't go overboard using it for multimedia tasks, Web surfing, or gaming, then it's not a bad choice. On the other hand, the sluggishness of Pocket PC may annoy impatient users who might be better served by one of Palm's lower-end, inexpensive devices.
Compaq Aero 1550
Company:Compaq Australia
Ph: 1300 301 234
Price: AU$797.50
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