Price:	£335		Reviewed by:	Mike Featherstone
Supplied:	Clove Technology		Review date:	29/03/2005
Pros:	Fingerprint Security Lots of memory Dual Wireless Flip Cover		Cons:	QVGA was not good for me Flip Cover

Introduction

Rather unusually for me as a PalmOS devotee of long standing, I find myself in the interesting position of reviewing the new HP iPAQ hx2750. This is not a device I would naturally have looked at if left to my own devices (pun intended) so having the use of it for a while has not only provided me with an opinion of the PDA itself, but has also offered an interesting insight into the world of Windows Mobile. While I feel I could now make a number of interesting comparisons between the two rival handheld OS implementations, that's plainly not the purpose of this review so I’ll have to save those for another time.

I had the iPAQ in my posession for just over a week and while I had to fight the learning curve of the OS as well as familiarise myself with the hardware on which it was running in that time, I think I’m now in a position to at least offer some sensible comment on the benefits and problems associated with this particular PDA.

The Software

Getting the easy bit out of the way up front, the hx2750 (or 2755 in the US for some reason) is shipped with the Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition operating system plus a few little extra bits and pieces supplied by HP. While this OS is not something I’m overly familiar with, it is fairly well defined and has been discussed in numerous places before so I don't intend to describe it in any sort of detail here. This does highlight one possible problem with my lack of prior exposure to the WM OS, though, which is that if there are any features that are unique to this iPAQ, other than the obvious ones with HP logos attached, I won’t necessarily have spotted them.

The Hardware

The first thing I noticed about this PDA on its arrival at the door was its complete lack of any external identifying features other than a generic ‘HP iPAQ’ designation silk screened on the front panel. Whether this is the norm for these units I don’t know, but it certainly is confusing. I eventually had to go into the depths of the about pages to confirm that it was, in fact, a 2750 at all. The fact that it is manufactured in much the same case as other iPAQs in the 2000 series, only adds to the confusion.

This is a small, slim, fairly solid feeling device with what feels like a slightly rubberised coating on the sides and base making it very comfortable on the hand in normal use. The screen and front panel buttons are protected by a flip-over solid, transparent plastic cover that pleases and annoys me in strict rotation. The protection offered when the cover is closed is first class as it stands far engugh away from the screen and controls such that even a direct impact would probably not damage the PDA. Having to open it every time I want to do something other than switch the unit on, however, is starting to drive me up the wall as the cover is quite solidly retained and stiffly hinged so that it doesn’t flap about in normal use. Whether this will remain the case throughout its life remains to be seen of course. Overall, though, the cover adds to the sum of the parts of this unit, rather than detracting from it, however annoying it may be on occasion.

When offered the chance to review this device, the one thing I was keen to try was the installed security login system. In my experience, PDA security normally falls within the remit of the software or even part of the OS, but that is not wholly the case here. Equipped with one of the new fingerprint scanners, the hx2750 really is a joy to unlock. A single swipe of the finger and your data is available almost instantly (dependant on the encryption option selected) but switch the unit off and it’s completely secure. I’m no expert in the field of biometrics, but in use I have to say that it does instil confidence. Finger recognition is good, as far as I can tell, though you do need to be sure of a good clean stroke. In my use, I ‘enrolled’ four fingers (across both hands so only the most serious of accidents would keep me from my data) and a single swipe of one of them is all it took to unlock the unit. I also persuaded a number of people to have a go at unlocking it themselves, but all to no avail. (With a bit of boyhood wonderment in my voice I’d say ‘It does really seem to analyse fingerprints...as opposed to only pretending to!’)

Impressively, when I was clearing out the memory prior to returning the unit to Clove, I discovered that this security system is implemented in such a way as to protect the PDA even after a Hard Reset has been performed. Now this may be normal in the land of Windows Mobile but it was certainly a revelation to me. What this means, in effect, is that the contents of the storage ROM area, which are retained over a reset, are safe from interrogation under all circumstances. Impressive!….and yes, I did disable the security system and remove my fingerprints from the system prior to returning it.

Equipped with both Bluetooth and WiFi, switchable from a single control panel, the wireless communication capabilities of the iPAQ were a bit of a revelation to me and, contrary to my prior experience and expectation, simple to use. On my first evening with this PDA, I walked home from the office with the WiFi system enabled searching for Hotspots and Access Points as I went. (If you really want to know, I found a total of 57 of which only 28 had any security enabled). A completely frivolous exercise I know, but this form of wireless connectivity is the function I have been looking forward to in a handheld device for a long time now. Up until meeting this iPAQ, I’d been a bit dismissive of the whole area of WiFi but I was converted the moment I first got my hands on it. It ‘just works’ and allowed a revolution in my email handling at home helped by the fact that at least one of my neighbours seems to have an insecure access point. I will be investigating getting one of my own as soon as is practically possible (and, if necessary, I’ll get a WiFi card for my T5 to use with it).

The standard HP 1440mAh battery is nice and large and supplies more time between charges than I have been able to take advantage of so far. Like Neil, I’m not the type of reviewer who’ll sit down and play power games with a device just to see what I can get out of it - I don’t think that represents a true reflection of a PDA in use. Rather, I tend to rely on seeing how well it survives my daily routine. Taking the palmOne Tungsten T3 as a benchmark (i.e. a device I needed to charge every night) I have only good things to say about the hx2750. Of course, the fact that this battery is also replaceable makes the whole deal even better. If the standard charge doesn’t carry enough power for your application, then an extended 2880mAh unit is available as an alternative from HP (though I don’t know how it fits into the PDA – presumably an expanded rear cover is required to hold it as the internal space of the battery compartment is filled with the standard battery).

Sad to say, I had mixed feelings about the screen on this unit. Initially, if I’m honest, this was more a Palm/WM bias than a reasoned objection to a technological shortcoming and so most of my objections were theoretical rather than practical. With my PDA background, I am used to a 320x480 pixel display as standard so the prospect of a device with ‘only’ 240x320 did not carry much in the way of ‘wow’ factor. Given that the display is physically smaller than those that I am used to, however, the smaller pixel count does not make for an automatically ‘worse’ picture in use as I’d expected. The reduced physical size also permits a smaller form factor for the unit making the drop in resolution even less important when looked at as part of the overall package. I’m still conscious of it, though, and tovard the end of my week found that prolonged use has started to give me some rather interesting headaches. I won’t claim that this is completely due to the resolution (and couldn't prove it if I did) but it was a large personal negative point on an otherwise nice unit.

In terms of brightness, the screen is more than adequate, providing a good range of illumination for use indoors and out in most ambient conditions. This is also a display for which the backlight can be switched off completely (again, a revolution for a T3/T5 user) which has been useful in the right circumstances.

I’m not a fan of the supplied stylus, as a shortish bit of stubby plastic doesn’t do a lot for me. It’s long enough and thick enough to use comfortably for a short period of time, but if you are going to perform any ‘pointing’ intensive tasks (or, like me, you use Transcriber as your chosen input method) then I would suggest an investment in a more substantial instrument would be in order. Is it only palmOne that ship substantial metal styli with their PDAs?

The buttons, on the other hand, are a delight to use, the D-pad in the centre particularly (though its use is not as all pervasive as I’ve become accustomed to in PalmOS over recent months). There is something very satisfying about a button with a solid but cushioned action, and this iPAQ has that by the bucketful. The power button is easy to press but slightly recessed to avoid accidental activation which is just as well, as neither this button, nor that for the voice recorder on the side are protected by the cover.

Equipped with 128Mb RAM/128Mb ROM this is the most memory you’ll find anywhere on a Windows Mobile machine that I know of. Comparing it (at work) with older devices owned by some of my colleagues, they were amazed at the sheer amount of space available on what is termed the ‘iPAQ File Store’, some 85Mb (or 185Mb if you believe the Clove site!). This is the user accessible portion of the ROM, and was enough to enable me, in my week of use, to backup the entirety of my data without requiring the use of expansion cards of any type.

On the topic of cards, the 2750 is equipped with both SD and CF card slots enabling an incredible amount of storage to be added to the PDA, if you’re that way inclined, or numerous accessories to be used with it. As I don’t have any of these things, I wasn’t able to test these functions of course.

If processor specs are what interests you then this device is fitted with a lovely 624MHz PXA270 but as raw clock speeds don’t actually give you too much clue about performance without reference to the amount of cache or its memory access times, as with all things you ought to try it before buying to see how it really performs in anger. Certainly I’ve had no problems performance-wise having tried many things up to and including Skype calls via the Bluetooth link with my laptop. All were handled very well.

A USB cradle is supplied by default (hint, hint palmOne) and while the physical support offered to the PDA is solid, I’ve some trouble with the resulting connectivity (which means that the PDA required some wiggling before an ActiveSync connection could be reliably formed). Whether this is something about this specific unit/model, or whether it’s a generic cradle problem, I don’t know. It’s been a little irritating at times in this regard but given that I normally use an InfraRed connection to the PC for ActiveSync, its overall annoyance factor is minimised. A ‘power-only’ adapter is also supplied in the box but as this didn’t come with my review unit, I’ll make no comment as to the usefulness of it.

Conclusions

For a first exposure to a Windows Mobile PDA, I’m very impressed with the iPAQ hx2750. Aside from my very personal issues with the display and the on/off relationship with the flip cover, this is really a very nice PDA indeed. Compact and eminently portable, looking quite smart around the office (more so than many older iPAQs in my opinion) it is also functional in the very best of senses with the fingerprint security adding an ease of access that I believe to be unparalleled elsewhere.

More than sufficiently endowed with installed memory and expansion capability, and equipped with dual Bluetooth and WiFi transponders, all it would need to make it a nearly ‘perfect’ PDA would be one of the new VGA screens just coming onto the market (which would also neatly solve my issues with the current QVGA offering - hopefully).

I must admit that it was with some reluctance that I packaged this unit up to return it to Clove (from whence it was loaned). I enjoyed the use of it for the week and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone (as long as your eyes are better than mine!).