WHAT’S HOT

   You mean my iPAQ 1945 can go wireless now? Finally,
God answers prayer! For dual-slotted devices, having an SD based wireless
solution frees up CompactFlash slots for large storage mediums like
the IBM Microdrive. In effect, you could now have a highly portable,
wireless, high storage solution.

SETUP

   Setup was cake. SanDisk included a CD with the
necessary drivers for both Pocket PC 2002 and Pocket PC 2003. All you
need is a soft reset and you’re good to go.

PRODUCT FEATURES

    First things first. The SanDisk card is
tiny. You really can’t tell until you see it. It’s as thin
as a normal Secure Digital card with just about twice the length.

The
SD Card will stick out slightly from the device you insert it in. Not
to worry, it doesn’t stick out anymore than a CompactFlash based wireless
solution would.

The
SanDisk card next to the HP iPAQ 1945 Pocket PC, just itching to get
online.

The
green LED indicator light on the face of the card will blink when it
cannot connect to an access point, and go steady when connected.

Once the card is in, Windows acknowledges the connection	The tray icon program leaves some handy options right at your fingertips

As
you can see, the SanDisk card hardly takes away from the HP’s slim casing.

The SanDisk utility shows specific link quality and strength, including some other neat features like an IP renew and Ping tool.	If you wish, you can remove the taskbar icon so it no longer shows (this does not hinder connectivity whatsoever).

HELP
SUPPORT

    There was very little support and/or documentation
included with this product. Most support issues can be addressed through
the manufacturer’s
website.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

    size=2>To use the SanDisk card, you must have a Pocket PC 2002 or Windows Mobile
2003 (Pocket PC) Device configured with an SDIO slot. I tested it with
both an HP iPAQ 1945 and 2215 and it worked beautifully.

BUGS AND WISHES

   
As
near as I can tell, my only complaint is about the card compromising
system speed. On both my iPAQ 1945 and 2215, menus and buttons took
significantly longer to load when the wireless card was inserted and
connected. In addition, writing in Transcriber had an unwelcome added
delay.

In addition,
when I opted to have the tray icon removed, it kept reappearing after
a soft reset and re-insertion of the card. It’s only been frustrating
so far.

PURCHASING

   
Amazon.com
has them in stock and ready to ship now. Among other e-tailors, eCost.com
has them in stock as well.

PROS

• 
  

  Wireless on devices with only
  a SD slot

• 
  

  Frees up CompactFlash slot
  for storage (on some devices)

• 
  

  Integrates well with Windows
  Mobile 2003 Connection Manager

• Relatively low power consumption
  (2.7-3.6 v)

CONS

• 
  

  Tray icon refuses to permanently
  disappear

• 
  

  Unit speed and performance
  drops when WiFi is turned on

OVERALL
IMPRESSION

   Overall, this is a really great wireless solution
for Pocket PCs. It has wirelessly enabled my otherwise wired HP iPAQ
1945 and for that, I owe SanDisk my thanks. Hopefully they can fix the
speed issues in some sort of software update… I’ll be waiting.