Hewlett-Packard 720(Black)

Before starting, I need to mention that I have smaller than average hands. Luckily for me, that doesn't mean I have stubby fingers. What does this have to with the Jornada? One of the top things that I (and everyone else) love about it--the built in keyboard. That and the instant on-off function of the Jornada is what separates it from those popular PDA's. Because of my nimble fingers, I am able to touch type and the same speed as on a regular computer (after a short adjustment period. The ? key is next to the space bar). Many people would automatically downgrade it a point or two because it is a 2/3 keyboard, but (from what I've heard) they are still able to type on it, just not the speed they could on a regular keyboard.

But in all other respects this is absolutely perfect. The touchscreen is easy to use, the processor speed is a little slow, but what do you expect from something so tiny? The size is remarkable. When I first got it, the Jornada looked like a toy, only the comfortably solid feel made me rethink that. One of the best things is the internet access. It has a built in modem, but most people (including me) prefer wireless. The PC card slot allows a wide variety of wireless internet options. In addition to the freedom of the internet, that ability allows another benefit: easy information transfer. Depending on the speed of your internet, the Active Sync program which connects your Jornada to your PC could be relatively slow or fast. But when transfering a 3MB song, it'll take much longer than if you just sent it through email and downloaded it through your internet.

It's a great machine and an incredibly useful tool. My mom (who never approves of things that I buy on the In-ter-net loved it so much that I had to buy her one. My best friend bought one as well (though for a little more than I bought mine). And that's my absolute last point. eBay is probably one of the best places to buy it. www.usedhandhelds.com is the offical unoffical site to buy a Jornada 720, but while a tad more trustworthy, After 3 Jornadas off eBay, I have only great things to say about them. If you want to buy direct, go to usedhandhelds, but if you want to save about $200 on the same machine (just read the fine print on all auctions), then eBay is the place to go. I've bought all my accessories off eBay as well.

So when/if you decide to join us in the HPC world, make sure you check out HPCfactor.com. It's the place to go if you bought this remarkable HPC, or if you just want to find out more about it (and they know a LOT). Also keep in mind that the Jornada has countless programs and a very strong community that allows you to customize and update and expand your personal Jornada. So as long as you keep changing, your Jornada can too.

Happy bidding!

It is the original hand-held computer. It is more versital than a PDA, and costs less. It can do about 90% of what the average laptop performs, yet 1/10th the size.

I will keep my review short. This Jornada is the best thing when it comes to students homework assignments. My daughter is in the 7th grade and my son is in the 5th grade and both of them have typed reports using these minature computers. Their teachers, after looking at what the Jornadas can do, gladly allowed them to use them in class. The teachers were impressed because the Jornadas use the Microsoft products packed into a computer that weighs in at 11oz. They slip right in their backpacks quite nicely and a full charge lasts all day at school.

Once they are home they plug into the side a wifi card and off they go researching stuff on the internet for their project reports.

To print their reports I use ActiveSync 3.1 (downloadable from Microsoft) to transfer their projects to our home computer and print them.

I also plugged into the bottom a 256 compact flashcard and that is the virtual hard drive used to save all docs to. So, if I wanted, I can pop out the flash card and read it directly using my card reader on my home computer.

Happy bidding on your Jornada.

arting, I need to mention that I have smaller than average hands. Luckily for me, that doesn't mean I have stubby fingers. What does this have to with the Jornada? One of the top things that I (and everyone else) love about it--the built in keyboard. That and the instant on-off function of the Jornada is what separates it from those popular PDA's. Because of my nimble fingers, I am able to touch type and the same speed as on a regular computer (after a short adjustment period. The ? key is next to the space bar). Many people would automatically downgrade it a point or two because it is a 2/3 keyboard, but (from what I've heard) they are still able to type on it, just not the speed they could on a regular keyboard.

But in all other respects this is absolutely perfect. The touchscreen is easy to use, the processor speed is a little slow, but what do you expect from something so tiny? The size is remarkable. When I first got it, the Jornada looked like a toy, only the comfortably solid feel made me rethink that. One of the best things is the internet access. It has a built in modem, but most people (including me) prefer wireless. The PC card slot allows a wide variety of wireless internet options. In addition to the freedom of the internet, that ability allows another benefit: easy information transfer. Depending on the speed of your internet, the Active Sync program which connects your Jornada to your PC could be relatively slow or fast. But when transfering a 3MB song, it'll take much longer than if you just sent it through email and downloaded it through your internet.

It's a great machine and an incredibly useful tool. My mom (who never approves of things that I buy on the In-ter-net loved it so much that I had to buy her one. My best friend bought one as well (though for a little more than I bought mine). And that's my absolute last point. eBay is probably one of the best places to buy it. www.usedhandhelds.com is the offical unoffical site to buy a Jornada 720, but while a tad more trustworthy, After 3 Jornadas off eBay, I have only great things to say about them. If you want to buy direct, go to usedhandhelds, but if you want to save about $200 on the same machine (just read the fine print on all auctions), then eBay is the place to go. I've bought all my accessories off eBay as well.

So when/if you decide to join us in the HPC world, make sure you check out HPCfactor.com. It's the place to go if you bought this remarkable HPC, or if you just want to find out more about it (and they know a LOT). Also keep in mind that the Jornada has countless programs and a very strong community that allows you to customize and update and expand your personal Jornada. So as long as you keep changing, your Jornada can too.

Over the last 15 years I've had several Sharp, Psion, HP and Palm PDAs. None of them have been perfect, but the esentials for me remain 1) instant-on, 2) legible colour display, 3) reasonably-size attached keyboard -- the foldout ones just aren't reliable enough and require carrying a second piece plus spare keyboard batteries, 4) both Wi-Fi and dialup internet access for email, 5) desktop compatibility -- like it or not, if you use a PDA for work, people will email you Office documents, and 6) rich PIM and basic entertainment functionality that lets me leave as much other stuff at home as possible when I travel on business -- email access, daytimer, full-fledged business calculator, alarm clock, dictionary, paper files, project plans, personal notes, email log, MP3 player, games, personal reading material, etc. I want a single small device that can be used anywhere so that I can just "grab-and-go" without lugging around a laptop.
My last few PDAs have been a Psion 5, Psion 7 (a mini-laptop design with a full-VGA colour display and 95% full-size keyboard) and a Palm TX. The Psion 7 was easily the most poweful and useful PDA I've ever used, but it needs a PC to convert Office files and the conversion software for complex spreadsheets and PowerPoint was poor. The Palm TX synchs beautifully, DocsToGo handles Office files well, and it has excellent WiFi support, but the tiny screen, flaky external keyboard and lack of dial-up support (dialup may be the last resort for email, but I still need it frequently when traveling) made it more a personal device than a dependable business tool.
The Jornada 720 is sturdily built, has an interchangeable rechargeable batery pack so you can carry a spare battery if required, has a decent display that is bright and wide enough for easy reading, a keyboard that is surprisingly useable, and the best on-board Office compatibility for a clamshell PDA. I'm not a fan of Outlook, but it has good PIM funcitonality and has no learning curve if you use the PC version. Since the 720 was discontinued in 2001, you may have to save Office files in an older format before converting them, but the compatibility is pretty good and files are automatically converted by the ActiveSync synchronization as you copy them to your 720. Many file formats can be opened up with HP QuickView right on the 720, so using attachments is feasible.
Outlook compatibility is excellent; it synchronizes contacts, calendar and task info. For commmunication the internal 56k modem works fine, and I've added a Wi-Fi card in the PCMCAI slot. There is a Pocket Outlook email issue; the client software in the J720 does not authenicate SMTP servers so it may not be able to send an email with your ISP. Some ISPs, noteably CompuServe Classic, can work without this. Webmail may also be an option for you. The J720 has IE4, which is the best PDA browser I've personally used, but of course some fancy web pages don't render well. Mobile versions of websites seem to work fine most of the time.
The MP3 player is basic but works, and you can use a CompactFlash card to hold your files, email, podcasts and music. Hispeed CF cards for cameras don;t work; you need a 1X card but these are now available in capacities up to 4 GB.
All in all, the Jornada 720 is still a useful PDA, and probably the best of the clamshell designs if you have requirements similar to mine. They're also inexpensive now and easily found available on ebay.

I had a Jornada 720 ABA US model and found it is limited on memory with 32 Meg. On Ebay I saw annouced HP Jornada 710,720 - upgrade your Jornada (HP FCSR4) with 64 Meg memory, and new ROM that will make my Jornada 720 a Jornada 728.
Problem my Jornada is a ABA US version the board available on Ebay 220141322163 or 220153215198 with code BEY which mean ABB for Belgium, Netheland , ABE for Spain and ABY for Danemark, so necessary to buy also a key board ABB, ABE or ABY to use with the RAM/ROM board, by chance the seller of the board “gumboya”has also ABB keyboard, so I ordered Memory and keyboard
After more than 6 weeks I received the parts and here start the problems
I installed the memory boad and keyboard but my Jornada refuse to load just the HP original screen, impossible to power ON/OFF impossible to reset, several time I remove both batteries and left doing a complete reset, each time I put batteries back same problem, so I decided to re-install my original memory and keyboard, the part I received being visibaly deffective. With the original memory and keyboard installed same problem, MY JORNADA 720 IS DEAD
The parts I received were deffective and KILLED my main board, so only solution is to ship it to HP with the hope they still have the parts to repair it.
CONCLUSION, never buy upgrade RAM/ROM which are used and not comming in a sealed bag from the manufacturer, to save some $ you will destroy your jornada. When you buy used part you have no way to verify they are in working order and instaling them can kill your equipment
Francois

It was pleasant to me - work with keys and the touch screen facilitate input of the information. The card enclosed in the complete set has allowed to leave in the Internet by means of WI-FI, well thought over stationary support and design of the device. It was not pleasant to me - out-of-date system Windows, few additional opportunities, except for office, there is not connected with the Internet on a cable, a greater dependence on a stationary computer.

There are sites online raving about this thing. Short comings are a little complicated loading software for non-geeks. One reason I bought this was for my European born wife to use as a spell checker. Works great for that, as it has a compact version of MS Word. It also has a good media player. You load your songs on a CF card. You can access individual songs to play back, as well as playing them all. I like the screen and the larger keyboard. It has a voice recorder and it works good for recording meetings. I haven't ran the battery down yet, and I have used it for over 6 hours at a stretch. It is like a mini laptop. WIFI works good in hotspots for email and etc. It is a little slow. Nice to play with.

nice unit,but trying to get it wifi???? wow,so i bought a second unit from them,its supost to have disca and wifi,,,, still cant get it to work wifi, talked to there teck suport ??wow, she gave me info that didnt match the dics i recived - then sent me to a web sight that is out of service, maby one day ill fimd some one to help me get this things to work wifi...

HANDHELD IS GREAT . TECH SUPPORT FROM SELLER IS REALLY WEAK . CALLED ABOUT A PROBLEM TECH SUPPORT WAS VERY LAME TECH DID NOT HELP ME AT ALL HE DID NOT SEEM TO HAVE MUCH KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE JORNADA 720 . SEEMED LIKE HE REALLY DID NOT CARE WHETHER HE HELPED ME OR NOT. I FEEL OK GOT YOUR MONEY FROM YOU NEED HELP SORRY ABOUT YOUR LUCK FIND HELP ELSEWHERE .

Hi to everyone. Ebay asked me to write a review about my purchase on the HP JORNADA 720. I think the idea of Ebay is giving the opportunity to get good stuff with good prices. It is in our own interest to look very good what are you buying before doing it. This is the typical case, they promote a product that is gonna help you with your on the go needs, including Internet. I have to admit it is good for people using Pc's computers, no for Apple ones. You must have Microsoft office, meaning: Excell, Word, etc; problem is that you receive a product with a software that is 5 years old and this device does not allow upgrades, you must to buy a new device if you want, and you know softwares are updated or upgraded in a regular basis of one year or some of them each 6 months. Big problem is that you can not go to wherever you want in the Wild Wild Web (Internet), even just to check your e-mail in AOL, why? Because the browser that this device uses is not updated to the big technology browsers that we use now!.

So, here it is, just Think Twice Before you Buy something on Ebay, not always what they offer you it is as they describe.

thanks


Daniel H. Solarte

Neat little device. Perfect for taking notes in class, sending emails on the go, and browsing the net...

The technology is out there... They just need to translate this thing into a phone, and I'm sold.

I loved the idea of the pda although it does not work with vista. So my friend loved it and now its a great gift

the size and portable of of HP Jornada. what i dislike about is the wireless network no connection available. what makes me to buy it's the price cheaper

The HP Jornada 720 is an excellent portable device. I bought it because it is easier to travel with than a laptop, yet can handle all my needs, such as internet, email, and managing a calendar. The touch screen adds new dimension to normal windows activity, and many tasks are fast and easy.

The product will work just fine for your organizational needs if you have an older version of Windows. I have an older desktop with Windows2000, but you cannot sync with Windows Vista. I still have not been able to sync with the cradle device because it did not work when I received it. I am also having issues activating the WIFI card.

Great machine, too bad they did not continue to update this excellent device line. The 720 is laid out better than the 680/690 series because the CF Card and PCMCIA slots are separate and doesn't require the machine to be
"jacked up".

Could I have some arithmetic processing to go with that CPU when you're ready, this thing would fair worse than a pikey in a gcse maths exam, we're talking half hour to load word

Everything arrived just as expected. The seller made a quick turnaround, recieved products quickly..