Sober and functional design, exuberant calculation power, complete wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Infrareds), SD and CF expansion cards support, data encryption, high autonomy, ultrabright display. These the ingredients of the HP PDA ideal for the professionals in mobility, but also for the more advanced gamers. All dressed by custom-made software of very good level and operating stability offered by Windows Mobile 5.
INSTALLATION
The standard endowment includes the PDA, the removable Li-Ion battery of 1440 mAh, the AC power supply, the fixed base of communication and USB recharge, an adapter to charge the PDA without cradle, the instructions manual and the CD with the communication software.
The battery goes in the back-side, after opening the suitable bay. To charge it we can connect the PDA to the cradle or directly through the adapter provided.
The charge autonomy is up to two days of continuative use, if one does not overdo the use of the Wi-Fi. Who wishes greater autonomy, can buy the long-lasting battery of 2880 mAh, available as optional.
When the iPAQ is connected to the PC, is possible to charge it through the USB connction, without need of outside power supply. The cradle is an accessory by now rare in the PDA's world, but very comfortable to use the device when installing programs or managing files.
To install programs and synchronize the data with the fixed computer, is necessary to install the software AciveSync (version 4) on the PC. The connection between PC and PDA happens through the USB 2 cable, but also using the Bluetooth is possible.
GLOBAL VIEW
The first thing we can note is the overturnable transparent lid. An accessory well-made that protects the display and the control keys, without prejudicing the reading of the informations. Thanks to the flip cover, any bag of transport is not necessary and the quick use improves much. The power switch and the signalling LEDs are left overdrafts, to be always accessible.
Other relief element is the strip in rubber that surrounds the whole PDA and also protects it from casual crashes, useful also to extract it from the breast-pocket and handle it without slipping risk. This strip, combined to the oval appearance (that remembers the Nokia 6600) confer a sensation of solidity and elegance.
The touchscreen LCD TFT display is of the kind transriflctive, well visible even in full sunlight. It has a QVGA resolution of 320 x 240 pixel, a perfect lighting uniformity and a good colour rendition. The sensitivity and the touch precision of the pen are perfect, especially after excuting the alignment procedure.
Command buttons are well positioned and easy to activate. The central joypad allows an effective navigation between the menus and also allows a pleasant game experience.
All the buttons (except the joypad) are programmable and answer two kinds of pressure: short pressure and prolonged pressure. This way is possible to activate functions or programs according to the user's necessities.
The vocal notes button is in relief, protected well by the casual activations. The nib extracts with ease and has a good balancing.
In case of malfunction is possible to reset the device with a light pressure on the "soft reset" blind button.
Microphone and loudspeaker are positioned frontally and offer a good quality. In particular the microphone is masked well by the noises and can be regulated on several sensitivity levels.
MEMORY AND PERFORMANCES
The new iPAQs use Flash ROM (persistent memory) to store the data, a memory that preserves the information indefinitely without energy need. The RAM keeps on being used, as it happens for the PC, in the execution of programs operations. The endowment of the hx2490 is of 128 mb of ROM and 64 mb of SDRAM. About 80 MB of memory are available for the user. If we wishes a greater capacity, can use the SD or CF slots to insert additional memory modules.
The CPU is the excellent Intel XScale PXA270 processor, clocked to 520 MHz. The calculation power is perfect for advanced video and multimedia applications and to execute maths calculations, but naturally it can give away breathtaking emotions to the addicted players.
The wide memory endowment and the brilliant CPU, allow to work with many applications open together, with all advantage for productivity.
SOFTWARE ON BOARD
The operating system Windows Mobile 5 offers a program suite to read and create the common Office documents. E-mail, word processing, spreadsheets and even a PowerPoint viewer, make very simple the datum exchange between fixed and portable computer. The possiblità to rotate the screen, improves very much the display vision and the navigation in Internet.
The Middle version Player 10, stable and complete, offers numerous functions of synchronization of the files between PDA and other computers.
Internet Explorer in the mobile version also offers an effective navigation of the sites not optimized for mobile devices.
Also in this use is possible to draw advantage from the image pivoting to show better the web pages.
Numerous programs provided by HP, improve the use of the operating ambient and add value to this work tool.
The desktop of Windows Mobile is put beside by the iTask control panel, that improves the access to frequently used programs and manages the principal functions of the Pocket PC.
The image visualizer HP Image Zone offers numerous possibilities of selection and zoom of the images. Is also possible to create a slide slide on-the-fly with the available images.
Also prensent utilities of diagnostics, management of the certificates, audio, data encrypting, and a complete endowment to connect the PDA to the computer networks.
ACTIVE SECURITY
Who uses a mobile device wants to keep its data to the shelter from indiscreet eyes. The PDAs of the series hx2000, dispose of an encrypting software automatically activated if the device is left unused.
Is possible to choose different kinds of password, from the simple numeric PIN (like it happens in the mobile telephones) to the alphanumeric key. The encrypting answers the highest security standards and can be activated selectively for the various directories on the PDA.
The encrypting program configuration is very simple thanks to a clear and reliable procedure. Who wishes an even more secure PDA, can turn to the fingerprint recognition, present on the iPAQ hx2790.
CONNECTIONS WITHOUT WIRES
The hx2490 owns all the standards to communicate in mobility. The use and the configuration of the connections is simplified by a graphic interface of excellent level.
The Wi Fi 802.11b can dialogue with the nets through different access modalities.
Are supported the protection certificates and the VPN (Virtual Private Network) access.
The signal strength and the state of the link, are realtime shown by graphs. In case of weak signal, it is possible to activate the roaming option, which chooses automatically the alternate hot-spots for the connection.
The Bluetooth 1.2 owns all the link typologies provided for the standard. After setting up the Passkey, it can emulate a serial port, connect to vocal gateways, printers, etc.
Is also possible to interface the PDA with a Bluetooth telephone. This way we can use the address book of the PDA to call a telephone number and manage the call with the BT earphone of the telephone. A true wireless magic!
The IR interface in standard IrDA, allows the connection of external keyboards or other devices compatible with this standard.
THE OTHER MODELS
Nearby to the model of this test, other Pocket PCs that complete the range with different functions are available.
- iPAQ hx2790 is equipped with of an integrated fingerprint reader, to increase the security of access, owns a more powerful CPU (624 MHz) and a greater memory endowment (192 MB of Flash ROM and 64 MB of RAM).
- iPAQ hx2190 is the base model, pushed by a 312 MHz CPU, without the Wi-Fi, equipped with the same memory as the hx2490. He lacks the cradle for the connection to the PC.
All the models of the series hx2000, share sturdiness and ergonomics at the maximum levels.
CONCLUSIONS
A Pocket PC ideal for reliability and performances. The Wi-Fi connectivity guarantees quick access to the Web, the Bluetooth interfaces with telephones multimedia and peripherals, the infrared is ideal for the external keyboards. Expansion slots open horizons to have more memory and turn the PDA into a GPS navigator. A display among the best ones on the market and two days of autonomy, complete a reference product for the users in mobility.
For who wants to examine in detail the potentialities of PDAs with Windows Mobile 5, I recommend the reading of the iPAQ rx1950 review, published to the following link:
http://www.tomshw.it/mobile.php?guide=20060206
