Compaq has been at the forefront of Pocket PC device design and the impressive iPAQ series of PDAs still leads the way in non-Palm devices. The H3870 continues that trend by bringing integrated Bluetooth connectivity to the PDA market.

Like its predecessors, it's both small (8.3 by 1.6 by 13.46cm) and light (190g) and the excellent 16-bit colour 'transflective' TFT screen is highly visible in indoor and outdoor lighting conditions.

In keeping with the Pocket PC2002 standard, it uses a 206MHz StrongARM SA1110 processor backed by 64MB of RAM. While there's only a single SD Card expansion slot built in, you can use the range of optional iPAQ packs that support PC Cards and CompactFlash cards.

Backing up the integrated Bluetooth transceiver is Manager software, which allows the device to work with Bluetooth hosts for cable free data exchange and synchronization. As an alternative to synchronising over Bluetooth, you can also use the supplied USB cradle, which will drain the 1,400mAh battery more slowly than the wireless method.

The software bundle for the H3870 is quite good. Besides Pocket PC 2002 and all of its associated improvements, there is Block Character Recognizer for people who are proficient in Palm's Graffiti writing system and a File Store application that allows you to put your most critical files in 6MB of EEPROM that the iPAQ system leaves free. If you ever run the iPaq's batteries down completely or hard-reset your handheld, the data stored in EEPROM won't be lost. There's also Insignia Java Virtual Machine, a special data-encryption package.

Compaq also bundles IBM's Embedded ViaVoice Mobility Suite, which lets you dictate commands to your calendar, contacts, and in-box. The PDA can even read back the contact names, numbers, and addresses that you request.

Covered by a one-year warranty, the iPAQ H3870 would make a great choice for those needing a handheld device with integrated wireless connectivity