HP Ipaq 6955 - The Ultimate??

[Synergy]

For me anyway! Cell Phone, WM5, BT, WiFi, GPS all built in, with a very usable qwerty keyboard! I just got this a few days ago and I am one happy camper!

Anyway I am new here (but not to pocket pc's..) I hang out at Howard Forums alot, but thought I'd drop in here.

Anyway my history with pda devices: HP Jornada 568, Toshiba (cant remember the #), HP Ipaq 4150, Sony Ericsson P910a (I missed the PPC OS, so I skinned the Symbian UIQ to look like pocket pc today screen!), HP Ipaq 6515 (briefly), and now HP Ipaq 6955.

I have always been partial to the HP pocket pc's more than other brands, and I don't know why exactly.... I like the looks and feel of them in my hands I guess. I am a girl with small hands, and the HP's that I have had seemed less bulky than other brand name ppc's. And this one is small and compact, and packs 4 radios inside without any bulky antennas! I really don't mind the sqaure screen now that most authors are making their software compatible, and a larger screen would mean larger device or sacrificing the qwerty keyboard.

Anyone else here have this device, and have any stories to share?

So far, the GPS is very reliable, moreso than the Ipaq 6515's was. The included HP Navigation software is excellent too, though it's only a 60 day trial and costs 129.99 after that WiFi works like a charm (tested it on my home wireless network, and at Starbucks) Calls are also very clear, and I have had no dropped calls (on Rogers in Canada) while driving around the city. I have noticed far fewer hangups requiring soft resets than with PPC 2003 SE.

[nishv]

Hi,
I have been using iPaq 6915 (UK Version of the 6900 Series) for over 3 months now... I am very happy with it. Since it is an AIO I only have to take this out.

The reason I got this are

1) Built in GPS
2) A PDA with QWERTY Keyboard (Because I hate T9 or touch screen...)

I am currently running TomTom 6 on my iPaq, very stable and very accurate. I cannot complain about its GPS.

The battery life is excellent in my opinion. I have tested it running GPS for over 2 hours, and compated to other PDAs, this is probably the best one around when it comes to Battery life (We are talking battery life here...)

The only downside is the 1.3 MP Camera.... It is kinda poor but still can take fairly average shots when it comes to light. Flash is useless in dark. And the shutter is very slow.

Apart from that, I don't have any cons about this device, If you have found any, feel free to let me know so I can check it out.

I havent seen anyone here who uses a 6900 series so people are pretty curious when I use them

I am glad I have found someone who is using a 6900 Series

This is the comment I have posted on Engaget.

This is probably the closes thing you could get to have your entire office into your pocket. Plus it will have a built GPS and Wifi.

The keyboard is very handy, you can type while you drive (Not advisable!)

It is pretty heavy compared to other phones (Around 175g) I can carry it on my pocket without a problem...

The camera isin't that great but it can take fairly good shots in day time... That is probably the only downside of this device.

[JonnyB]

I'd like to 2nd that motion!

I've had my 6955 for about a week...and I continue to be impressed.
Wi-Fi works as advertised, happily picking up any wireless network within range.
I've had the device on for 18 hrs at a stretch, calling, making notes, emailing, even logging onto MSN, and using Terminal Services! Right now it's down to 18% battery capacity...but its going to bed soon, as am I.

Is it the ideal device? No, its not.
It needs more memory (besides the mini SD card, and that should be certified for more than 1 GB).
It could use a 320x640 screen..yes it certainly could.
HP should have included the 624 Mhz processor instead of the 412 or 416 Mhz jobbie.
That being said, this delightful device has a combination of features and performance in one package that's hard to beat.
And...the Fantasy ring tone is great.
The flash for the camera is almost useless for its intended purpose, but it makes a wonderful flashlight.

One last thing; I have an HP-41CV that I still use, which I bought new(when they were new). If the 6955 has even a fraction of the durability and the functionality that that calculator (which it has in spades),and which my other HP PDA devices have shown, it'll be a great value, despite that fact that you could buy a laptop for the same price.

[frankd]

I have my credit card ready to purchase a 6955...but I have one question. I have a Mac running Entourage for my contacts/calendar. I curretly use a tunnel to update my palm pilot device.

Is there a verson of Palm I can run on the 6955 to make it a palm pilot as well? Would the built in contacts and calendar on the windows Mobile 5 sync the same way?

Thanks FD

[MWayneB]

Nice to join this forum even it is a little late by comparison. I have had my iPAQ 6955 since December 2006 (received as a gift from Roger / HP as part of a test forum).
Overall I have been very pleased with the unit but it is and will never be the Blackberry killer that it was stated it would.
My biggest issue is the lack of support from HP on this and their hand held units in general. It would not hurt to have a firmware update at least once in a product life cycle to correct some of the little issues that slipped past the development team.
Little issues still bug me like text messaging time stamp is never correct, no voice dialing, the issues with trying to make a short telephone call (unit does not want to hang up on the Rogers network). The inability of the unit to wake up from a sleep mode at times, dropping the connection to the GPRS network (only a soft reset will bring the unit back) and the noise through any speaker located close to the unit when connecting to the GPRS network. People sitting near to me are always asking if I am checking the room for radio activity (that is the sound it makes). The sound quality for listening to music is less than acceptable so I use my Dell Axim X51V or the iPhone.
Over the years I have had many PDA's from the Apple Newton through most of the Palms and several Dells and HP including my current model 6955. At the same time I now also have the iPhone 3G (16GB) and although Apple is good at many things it is not there yet.
End the end this iPAQ 6955 is still the unit I use everyday and never leave home without it. Hope there are still some other out there that might be able to share thier experiences and trouble shooting within this forum.
Thanks for letting me vent.