Compaq iPAQ 3970 Pocket PC

Screen, Sound, and Gaming

As I said, this is an amazing screen. It equals if not exceeds the Sony Clié NR70. The 3900 series, like the NR70, uses a transflective screen. It both reflects ambient light to illuminate the screen (for outdoor viewability and power savings) and has backlighting. How different is it? The 3800 and 3900 PDAs look identical and I was worried I'd be confusing which is which in my PDA pile. But one look at the screens when the units are turned on and there's no mistaking them for each other. The 3900 series screen is that much brighter (without appearing milky) and richer, that even when they are not side by side you can tell the difference.

Colors are also more accurate. When I create images using Paint programs, I'm not startled to see how different they appear when transfered to my color-calibrated desktop PC. If you're interested in paint/image editing programs, you can read my review of 4 top apps, complete with sample art here.

Sound is typical iPAQ: as loud and good sounding as it gets on a Pocket PC. No clicks or pops from the speaker.

So far I've tried Hexacto Bounty Hunter 2099 Pinball, Hyperspace Delivery Boy, Diamond Mine and a few old WinCE games and they all run fine. Their speed seems no different than on StrongARM Pocket PCs. They look better thanks to the transflective screen. The directional pad is described as "8-way" and it does diagonal movements. Which games didn't work? Icy Maze, Reflect It, FogNog Blaster and Warring States.