HP iPAQ Pocket PC H6315

I bought this phone about 18 months ago and in general have really enjoyed it. Obvious selling points were the built-in wifi and integration of mp3 player, calendar, quad band phone and word processor.

The most important thing I can recommend is that you unlock your phone and move to a carrier other than the one that offers these handsets - you know who they are. While using a 'company-not-named' SIM my phone would crash at least weekly sometimes requiring a hard reset. Since unlocking the phone and switching carriers I've never lost my data and have only had the OS freeze a couple times (in well over a year).

My issues with this phone are:
- needs an integrated keyboard. The clip on is too bulky to carry around.
- needs a better processor. The current processor can't handle apps like Skype mobile, which should be a no brainer given the integrated wifi.
- needs more on-board memory. The 64MB storage and 64MB RAM are quickly consumed given the preinstalled (and permanent) applications.
- more reliable storage card recognition. Too frequently my phone is unable to recognize my storage card. This is an issue I not only use it for mp3s etc, but also to install apps given the limited amount of onboard memory mentioned above.
- ability to rotate the screen for a wider aspect. This would make the pdf viewer, word processor and browser much more useful as you would not need to scroll constantly.
- ability to tab through open applications from the Today screen. Having to 'close' each app before 'opening' another is a pain. There's no quick view that tells you the list of open apps at any give time.

Looking at the new phones on their way it looks like HP has taken a number of these issues to heart.

Please don't take my comments above as a knock on the phone. It is an early release and I have no regrets with my purchase.

The iPAQ h6315 Pocket PC from Hewlett-Packard (HP) is an all wireless and all everything PDA/phone. It is an international quad band GSM/GPRS model with built-in Wi-Fi for linking to wireless LANs and hotspots, and Bluetooth for connecting to a wireless headset or sending documents to a Bluetooth-equipped printer, and it has a built in camera, this thing is awesome.

The screen is a bright, clear 3.5-inch (240 x 320 pixels, 65,536 color) transflective LCD. That looks amazing. It is very easy to read even in the brightest conditons. The screen is also a touch screen, which makes it very easy to navigate around the menu systems.

The h6315 runs Windows Mobile 2003. It includes pocket versions of Outlook, Word, Excel and Internet Explorer and comes with 64MB SDRAM, 64MB Flash ROM and has an integrated SD card slot, so you can increase storage for your movie files, games and MP3's. The design is great. I like the well-labeled LEDs at the top of the front face beside the power button. They indicate the status of the GSM/GPRS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios, blinking orange when not connected, green—or in the case of Bluetooth, blue—when working properly.

With the built-in Wi-Fi connectivity you can also browse the Web at high speed on a corporate or home WLAN connected to the Web, or at a hotspot. It worked well from the first time, connecting to my home wireless network was a breeze! Accessing pages designed for small screens was very zippy indeed. Accessing pages on the wider Web is naturally slower, and of course you'll have to use scroll bars to see everything on most pages.

The H6315 can also play MP3's and movies. This is an amazing feature. It comes with Windows media player 9, and it can play back all WMA files, WMV files and MP3 files like a charm. If you buy an additonal sd memory card you can store video and mp3 files on there. It makes out to be a great personal MP3 player while you are on the run, i also have an fm transmitter that i connect to the unit and i listen to my MP3's through my car stereo system. Movie play back is also outstanding!

The camera has the usual .3 megapixel (640x480 pixel) sensor and a lens that is fixed-focal length (i.e. no optical zoom) and fixed focus (pictures are never absolutely razor sharp). It also has no flash. These specs are fairly standard for camera phones, but they reduce the camera's utility to taking shots in favorable light that are good enough to use as memory aids or, in optimum conditions, to transmit visual information, such as the condition of a piece of broken-down machinery. The camera is of course also good for taking fun shots you can e-mail or send over the carrier's MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service).

The phone is very easy to use. It has an onscreen display that looks like a phoen keypad layout. you touch the screen to select your numbers, then hit dial. Very easy to use! the sound quality is great too. You can set any of your stores WMA files as your ringtone too! Sending text messages and MMS mesaages are a breeze too!

If your looking for a PDA with built in phone the h6315 is amazing! it can do everything you want it to do and more! What an amazing piece of equipment! I will never be able to live without mine now!

I wanted a PDA phone because of it's applications. I am busy and I need a calendar with reminders. This phone's calender is great! The MP3 player is great. This phone is really easy to personalize which I loved! Sure it does need a soft reset sometimes, but that's technology for you. I've never had any major problems with this phone.

It works great when it works. But I need a pocket pc phone to work all the time. I like all it has to offer. But it needs to be fine tuned. Maybe i have a bad one.