iPAQ 512

Hewlett Packard's latest candidate to enter the smartphone market is the iPaq 512 that uses the new Windows Mobile version 6 operating system. The iPaq would definitely would not win any awards in outstanding visual design as it comes with the dreaded PC box grey and black accents. It really reminds me of my HP desktop sitting on the floor.

Fortunately it has very good build quality that is sturdy and yet everything fits nicely in the palm. Given its 107mm x 48.6mm x 16.3mm stature, it will not win slimming competition but at 102g it is light to carry about and fits snugly in one's palm.

The phone's screen, a two-inch micro-reflective TFT has just 176 x 220 pixels resolution, with LED backlight but is clear enough to read without squinting.

One compliment I must give is the well-designed microSD card cover: It fits neatly into the card slot and it is made of a rubber material that seems more durable and yet could be pried open with relative ease. This is one design aspect where most other phones have missed the mark badly.

The keypad and button have a nice tactile feel but HP could do better by maximising the space afforded to the keypad area by making the keys slightly bigger. It is always my opinion that using the keypad to access the Internet is not always as easy unless the site is designed for phone access so a better bet is always to go for phones that has a qwerty keyboard if online access is paramount to the user.

Setting the phone's Wi-Fi connection went along without much drama. And what sets this iPaq apart from the other Windows Mobile-based devices is its battery longevity — the battery survived four days with normal phone usage and a 30-minute dose of Wi-Fi connection over the weekend.

The 512 is armed with Texas Instrument's Omap 850 200Mhz processor that some might say is really lacking in terms of computing power especially when pairing with the latest Windows Mobile version 6operating system. What was surprising then was that the phone worked fine with minimum fuss except during the times when I had to restart the phone and update my music library.

As for making calls, there were no dropped calls and the phone was able to receive good signals in most places — even inside a lift! What bugs me was the numerous button punching I had to do in order to start writing an SMS note or replying to one.

That leads to what HP calls it “HP Voice Reply” feature. What it does is to record a voice reply to the SMS received. Useful for when you are driving, for instance, and for the person who’s not agile in texting.

The other less conspicuous feature would be the 512's ability to connect to the office's IP-PBX based phone system using the phone's VoIP — a cheaper way of making calls, which could save corporate phone charges.

Music playback is done via an A2DP Bluetooth support that allows stereo playback using bluetooth technology. The quality, while clear, is passable at best with barely discernable bass and slightly high treble setting. Something made worse because Windows Mobile's media player does not come with a sound equaliser feature which allows you to tweak these settings.
The inclusion of the 1.3-megapixel camera, USB 1.1 client, Office Mobile and the price tag of $699 would not do much to improve 512's appeal. Also, accessing the Internet using keypad is really tiring as it is not as intuitive as a full qwerty keyboard like a Blackberry. For those who are not fans of numeric keypad would be better served with a PDA, especially those that comes with a qwerty keyboard.