Compaq has done a great job improving its popular line of iPAQ Pocket PCs, and the 3800 series is now even harder to resist than the original 3600 series. The new iPAQ 3800 series now features a 64,000 color reflective screen, 64MB memory and a secure digital card slot. Compaq has made two models available; the 3850 series and the 3870 series with an integrated Bluetooth transceiver/receiver.

Running the new Pocket PC 2002 operating system, and with a wide range of expansion pack options available (yes, your previous expansion packs will work), the iPAQ still remains as a powerful and effective business tool for mobile professionals.

Contents
The iPAQ comes with the following items:

Design
The new iPAQ 3800 series is roughly the same size as the original iPAQ, but has been slightly redesigned and looks even better than the 3600/3700 series in my opinion. I personally like the new black and sliver appearance, and it often turns heads when I use it in public. The speaker is now located on the top front of the unit, between the microphone, ambient light sensor and the power button. Directly on top you'll find the infrared port and the newly added Secure Digital card slot. The voice recorder button is still located on the left side of the unit.

When you first look at it, the redesigned directional pad looks a little long and skinny to be easily used. However, it has been improved over the original pad on the 3600 series as it is now truly multi-directional. The issue with multiple buttons hit at the same time has been fixed in the 3800. You'll need to play with the joypad in person to appreciate how smoothly it is manipulated.

Compaq has addressed the shape issue with the stylus pen, in which some people often tried to force the teardrop shaped stylus pen into the unit backwards, conveniently jamming it. The stylus pen is now round and therefore nearly impossible to jam it into the unit. However, a user has once already tried to jam my stylus pen into the earphone jack (located on the top of the unit also), and wedged it in good enough causing the sound not to work anymore. Go figure. You'd think that the resistance would cause a person to stop and think if that's the correct hole. Fortunately, CompUSA allowed me to replace my iPAQ with no problems. Some folks just shouldn't be allowed to use PDAs!

The iPAQ now includes a great looking case with a removable screen protector. And if you're style conscious, you can purchase additional "style packs" in several different colors including dark gray, dark blue, red, green and more.

Wide Range of Expansion Options

The iPAQ 3800 series now includes anintegrated Secure Digital card slot for memory expansion. I plan to buy a 128MB SD card soon to store some MP3s and other business data. The SD card is slot located at the top of unit, and the cards simply slide in. To remove SD cards you just push down and a spring mechanism will push it up.

Compaq has released new expansion packs options for the iPAQ, including a new wireless expansion pack that turns your iPAQ into a cellular phone and allows you to access the Internet and surf the Web wirelessly. And yes, your previous expansion packs will work with the new 3800 series. However, devices that use the serial port at the iPAQ base (such as cradles, digital phone card interfaces, etc.) won't work because the new serial port is wider in the 3800.

Many other expansion sleeve options have been developed for the Compaq iPAQ, including a new multimedia expansion pack called the FlyJacket that allows you connect your iPAQ to any video device equipped with an RCA or S-Video input/output, even allowing you to record video to the iPAQ!

Below are four popular expansion pack options for the iPAQ:

Wireless Expansion Pack	Micro Keyboard	Bluetooth Wireless Pack with CF Card Slot

LifeView FlyJacket Multimedia Expansion Pack

Display
The iPAQ 3800 series now uses a 64,000 reflective color TFT display, something that I wished the original iPAQ 3600 series had. The reflective TFT display is much easy to read in various lighting conditions, however it is not as bright and clear as the former Casio E-100/EM-500 series. But an advantage the reflective TFT display has over the former Casio displays is the ability to read the screen in direct sunlight, something I could not do with my older Casio units (Casio now uses a reflective TFT screen the same as the iPAQ in its new E-200 Pocket PC).

The iPAQ 3800 series also features an ambient light sensor located on top of unit next to the speaker that automatically adjusts the brightness of backlight for more efficient battery use. I usually turn this feature off though. Since I can manually turn the backlight on or off by holding the power button down for 2 seconds, it works great for me.

I still have a small issue with the iPAQ's backlight, in which you can't see the screen at certain side angles unless you're facing it directly. This is because the backlight is located on the side of screen, which creates an "all white" effect when you look at it from the side. A small issue, however it's not a problem. But I would like Compaq to do something about this issue in future iPAQ's.

Applications
Compaq has included an impressive amount of third party applications on its software extras CD. Everything from IBM's ViaVoice voice recognition software to Presenter's iPresentation PowerPoint presentation viewer. The following full applications are included on the iPAQ software CD:

• Audible Player
• Conduits Peacemaker Professional
• eWallet Professional Edition by Iliumsoft
• IBM ViaVoice
• iPresentation PowerPoint Viewer
• ListPro Professional Edition by Iliumsoft
• Microsoft Outlook 2002
• Quick View Plus
• Sega Game Gear Classics (6 popular Sega games including
• Sonic the Hedgehog and Baku Baku)
• SnoopSoft's Dashboard w/Compaq 'skin'
• Vegas Blackjack and Video Poker
  

All of the software included alone is a fantastic deal, and special links are provided to download even more applications listed on the CD!

Sound
The speaker has been moved from behind the rotational button as on the previous iPAQ to the top of unit. And Compaq didn't stop there; the sound system on the iPAQ is excellent for a PDA, but now has bass and treble controls when using with a stereo system! However, there is one small problem. There is still an annoying "pop" sound when playing certain sound effects. I hope Compaq releases a ROM fix for this soon.

Battery
Compaq has addressed the battery life concerns of the previous iPAQ by replacing the 950 mAh Lithium polymer battery with a 1400 mAh battery, which should add a couple of hours of additional power. This should give you about 9 hours of batterly life before recharging. However, that depends on the backlight, audio and specific applications actively running which may include Windows Media Player or other graphic or sound intense applications. Since I use the backlight at its highest setting and turn off the light sensor which automatically adjust the backlight during different lighting conditions, I only get about 5 hours of battery usage before recharging, which is still ok for the high powered usage I do.

Summary
I recommend the Compaq iPAQ 3800 series to the professional who desires the best in functionality, features and style. But why didn't I give it a perfect rating? I'm still waiting for an even newer iPAQ model featuring a built-in wireless modem, in which I've heard various rumors on. When that is released, I'll consider the iPAQ the perfect Pocket PC solution for the meanwhile.

Quick Specs
Product:	Compaq iPAQ 3850/3870
Rating:
Price:	$599/$649
Notable Features:	64 MB memory, 64,000 reflective color screen, SD (secure digital) card slot, Bluetooth transceiver/receiver (3870 model only)
Size (H X D X W):	5.3" x 3.3" x .62"
Weight:	6.7 oz. including battery
Company:	Compaq
Source:	MobileBiz Solutions
Reviewer:	Eriq E. Cook
Date of Review:	November 25 , 2001