HP iPAQ hw6510 / hw6515
The sleek HP iPAQ hw6510 and hw6515 Mobile Messenger is probably the slickest, coolest looking combined PDA/cell phone device today. It features an integrated thumb board, EDGE, Bluetooth and an integrated GPS receiver. It not only supports GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz and GPRS Class 10, but the hw6515 is also the first Windows Mobile communicator to support EDGE for high speed data transfers. This Windows Mobile Pocket PC device sports quad-band GSM, class 10 EDGE high-speed data, Bluetooth, QWERTY thumb board, and dual memory card slots (SDIO and miniSD). Other features include an internal antenna, megapixel camera with video capture (hw6515 only), and a user-changeable battery. Seemingly custom-built for business travelers, the HP iPAQ hw6515 ($450 with two-year service contract) will tell you where you're going and who wants you to get there, with its excellent push e-mail and GPS functions. The hw6515, which runs Windows Mobile for Pocket PC 2003 Second Edition, looks more like a BlackBerry than what we've come to think of as a typical Pocket PC. This is due, in part, to its unusual 2.2-inch 240-by-240 square screen. (Most Pocket PCs have a rectangular, 240-by-320 screen.) At 4.6 by 2.8 by 0.7 inches and 5.8 ounces, it's thinner and lighter than the palm One Treo 650, but half an inch wider and thinner but slightly heavier than the BlackBerry 7290.
GPS is a fresh addition to HP's line. The hw6515 comes with HP's iPAQ Navigation Software package, which installs on your PC and lets you load maps for states or metropolitan areas onto the handheld's memory card (though there's not enough free memory on the handheld for most maps). Like the majority of GPS systems on the market today, the iPAQ uses Navteq's map data. The navigation system allows for various route options and a 3D view. It also has a recording function that lets you capture a trip segment and play it back at a later time, though only at real-time speeds. Options for inputting a destination abound and rivals those found in the best car navigation systems. You can set a destination by address and intersection from your contact list, by points of interest and city center from your favorites list, or by recent destinations. Points of interest are arranged in eight main categories: Attraction, Business, Education/Govt, Emergency, Lodging, Recreation, Restaurant, and Transportation. There are appropriate submenus for each main category that help you limit your search. Results can be displayed alphabetically, or sorted by distance (within 25 miles) by city, or you can list all of these parameters.
The hw6515 generated extremely inconsistent results on our PDA battery tests, with usage times ranging from slightly under 5 hours to slightly more than 6 hours. All results were good for a Pocket PC handheld. We suspect that the hw6515 will last longer than the Treo 650 but not as long as most BlackBerrys, which use less power-hungry screens. We achieved 9 hours, 15 minutes of continuous phone talk time on a charge, without PDA use. Using Good Link and frequent web surfing reduced this to about a day of heavy use at a time, very similar to the Treo's battery life.
With a 316-MHz processor, the hw6515 achieved good benchmark-test scores for a PDA/phone, but trailed most dedicated PDAs. Its results were buoyed by a high graphics score, which was probably the result of its small screen. Unfortunately, the small screen means that many third-party Pocket PC applications that usually run fine on a 320-by-240 screen have trouble here. This is probably because they are usually optimized for a larger screen. It has been said found, for example, that some application dialog boxes flow off the bottom of the screen—including those in some SPB Benchmark testing suite. It was also discovered that some preproduction model had some bugs: It occasionally wouldn't register some key presses, and it needed to be restarted when it got stuck searching for stereo Bluetooth devices. People were disappointed with the 1-megapixel still camera, which took blurry, washed-out pictures in daylight. The long delay between pressing the shutter button and actually taking the picture was especially annoying.
In the end, what some people found most disappointing was the lack of built-in Wi-Fi and the inadequate onboard memory. The hw6515's 55MB of available built-in memory was stretched thin by the time some had loaded Good Link and a few third-party applications. While most people got decent through put on Cingular's EDGE network, averaging 130 Kbps for downloads; the megabits-per-second throughput that could have been achieved with a typical 802.11b Wi-Fi connection would have been more impressive. Cingular's unlimited data plan is expensive at $44.99; it also offers cheaper, megabyte-limited plans down to $19.99. The iPAQ hw6515's most direct competitor is the Nextel RIM BlackBerry 7520 because it too has GPS (the server-based TeleNav GPS navigation application is on board). The BlackBerry is cheaper and has longer battery life, but the hw6515 has more multimedia features. Both are fine choices for e-mail and in-car navigation. Really, though, the decision between the two will probably be made based on whether your IT department wants to go with a GoodLink/Cingular/Microsoft solution or a BlackBerry/Nextel one.
The metal deluxe case for the iPAQ hw6510 and hw6515 is made of anodized aircraft grade aluminum and the design of the case is according to the profile of the iPAQ handheld. The neoprene lining on top, bottom and the side holds you're handheld securely in place. The lock on the side holds the top and bottom of the case tightly together and prevents from accidentally open which could get your handheld scratched. With this form-fitting metal deluxe case, it protects your handheld investment. Also contains a removable '360 degrees swivel belt clip' (easy to install and remove). Back of the case still stays flat when clip is not in use.
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