HP iPAQ Hw6945 Mobile Messenger

Update: I installed Google Maps Mobile and now the GPS works without fail. The software quickly identifies satellites and the maps are great and easy to read. If you're having difficulty with your GPS on the hw6955 give Google Maps Mobile a shot and see if you have a similar experience.
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First, my phone is an hw6955 which is the Canadian equivalent of the hw6945. To my knowledge there is no meaningful difference between the two.

Dislike:
1. You need to pay for the GPS software (from what I've read and personal experience the free software that comes with the handset is a bit dodgy).
2. Not enough RAM. I find myself manually shutting down programs to clear additional RAM. An alternative solve would be to add a new key that didn't just minimize a program, but rather closed it completely.
3. Battery life leaves room for improvement. It's not horrible mind you, but with heavy WIFI use you'll find yourself charging frequently. Fortunately it seems to charge quite quickly.
4. Price. On the surface the price seems steep but when you consider that you're buying a phone, a 1.3 megapixel still camera, an emergency video camera, a 400MHz computer, WIFI access etc it may just be a screaming deal.

Likes / Why I Chose This Phone:
1. Fast Processor. With 400+MHz I'm able to run Skype on this phone and so far it has worked very well.
2. Windows Mobile 5. Applications are much easier to use on this version of Windows Mobile (vs my old hw6315) and you very seldom need to use the stylus (so far only with some third party applications).
3. WIFI. This combined with the Skype-ready processor resulted in my choosing this over Nokia's e61. The WIFI software seems better on this phone than my 6315 which often struggled to find and connect to open networks. The hw6955 does so with ease.
4. Still and video camera. I didn't even realize this thing did video when I bought it but I've used that feature extensively of late. I wish it was easier to convert the phone's video format to .avi or some other common format for my PC.
5. QWERTY keyboard. My 6315 was a handy phone, but it was severely limited by only having a software keyboard. The physical keyboard on the 6955 has changed my life. Despite being small the keys are VERY easy to use and I hardly ever mistype on this phone despite having very large hands.
6. MS Office - again, having the ability to quickly read and edit my MS documents is great, particularly when traveling. Plane seats are so small now that notebooks aren't practical and with this phone I'm able to work easily in those close confines if I need to.
7. Battery life (see also dislikes) - I expected the battery life on this phone to be worse than it is... but that's not saying that the battery life is presently good. If I'm just using the phone I can go several days without charging, but if I'm using WIFI heavily its a different story. I hope that the battery holds up as well as the one on my old 6315... after 1.5 years it was still holding a charge as well as it did on day 1.
8. UI is much improved over the 6315.

I highly recommend this phone to anyone looking for a very full featured PDA/smartphone. At roughly $700 CDN, it's not cheap (though consider all you're getting for that price), but it has everything you'll need and more.

excellent Device, compared to the 6500 series. faster processors. with the outstanding GPS Navigation system. but its sucks how u've gotta pay for additional software from HP for the GPS software. which i think it should have been free. should have been a bundle with the device.

It is the best ipaq, you have every thing you need in one hand, and the keyboard it make easy your work, I recommend it.