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Saturday, December 29, 2007

HP iPaq 510 Voice Messenger Review


If you're one of those traditional types who like their smartphone to actually look like a phone, then you'll probably like the HP iPAQ 510. The HP iPAQ 510 is a small and sleek smartphone with a traditional bar design that looks solid and beautiful and weighs only 102 grams. The design of the HP iPAQ 510 resembles that of the Nokia N70 which means you also get a cramped keypad. For those with big thumbs, expect to push two buttons at the same time every once in a while. The toggle button in the middle is also very small but I guess a cramped keypad is what you'll get sometimes when you choose a small mobile phone.

To be dubbed as a smartphone, a phone has to have the ability to do a wide variety of tasks like checking your email, editing documents on the go, mobile Internet browsing and the likes and the HP iPAQ 510 delivers just that. The HP iPAQ 510 has the latest Windows Mobile 6 Operating System which means you can integrate your company's email using Microsoft Exchange and edit your documents on the go using the Mobile Word, Mobile Excel, and a PowerPoint viewer. An Internet Explorer for Smartphones is also included so you can browse the Internet. However, since it runs on Windows Operating System, expect to run into a few hiccups like system hanging or slow response when you're running too many operations at the same time. A 200 MHz TI OMAP Processor can't exactly compete with the iPhone's 600 MHz ARM Processor but on this small device, you can't exactly do all your workload but expect it do the simple jobs.

HP appended the "Voice Messenger" on the HP iPAQ 510's name so naturally, it has voice over Internet protocol (VoiIP) capabilities. There's no 3G connectivity with this smartphone but in order to make use of the VoIP capabilities, you can connect using the phone's built-in WiFi. The HP iPAQ 510's integrated WiFi is 802.11 b/g compatible and has WPA2 security.

Tired of pressing your phone's keypad to access applications or key-in commands? The HP iPAQ 510 can be your personal voice valet with 20 voice commands available that doesn't need any voice training. You can tell your HP iPAQ 510 to do a calendar, email, phone, and even productivity tasks. I was expecting to be exasperated with the voice command feature since English is not my native tongue but I was surprised that the phone actually understands what I'm saying. The HP iPAQ 510 also delivers in terms of battery life with talk time that lasts up to 6.5 hours and standby time of up to 7.8 days. The HP iPAQ 510 also has Bluetooth connectivity but no A2DP profile. Other specifications of the HP iPAQ 510 includes: QuadBand GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity, 2 inch display, 64 MB program memory and 128 MB flash ROM, expandable MicroSD slot, integrated microphone, speaker, 2.5 mm stereo headphone jack, and 1.3 mega pixel camera with video recording capabilities.


Update from my other blogs:

Samsung i640 Review

Sony Ericsson W910i Review
LG KF600 Review

PLDT MyDSL

Ugh, my love-hate relationship with PLDT is starting again. Until now, they still haven't reconnected our DSL line and the Customer Service Representative said that it would only take about one day. I guess I have no one to blame but myself for getting my hopes up and actually believing a CSR. Right now I'm in a coffee shop using their WiFi connection in order to update my blog.

*sigh* I was actually starting to like PLDT MyDSL even though I went through hell with them during the first six months of our subscription, however, our connection speed have increased recently and from download speeds of 34Kbps on Azureus, I was now getting download speeds of 100+++kbps which is really fast that was why I was having second thoughts about disconnecting our subscription but right now, if PLDT MyDSL doesn't reconnect our DSL line in before new year, I would definitely cut our ties and just switch DSL providers.