HP iPAQ H2210 review

HP has an undoubted gift when it comes to designing PDAs. Despite weighing 144g and being one of the smallest Pocket PCs here, the H2210 packs SD/MMC and CompactFlash slots, as well as a Bluetooth adaptor, into its tiny frame. With the Type II CompactFlash slot accepting Microdrives, and the SD slot supporting SDIO, this iPAQ offers incredible expandability.

The H2210's build is exceptionally solid, with the anti-slip rubberised flanks being particularly ergonomic. Some people might mourn the passing of the voice-recorder button and jog dial, but the navigator pad feels smooth and refined, while the slightly tapered sides mean the unit fits snugly into the hand.

This quality extends to the TFT, which is one of the best we've seen. Colours look realistic, it's relatively large and - if you whack it up to the top settings - exceptionally bright. And in bright outdoor conditions, the transflective screen is perfectly legible without the backlight. This is just as well, since we found the relatively small 900mAH power pack lasted for only two-and-a-half hours under intensive use. That said, standard tasks should allow you to eke a week or so of normal work from the unit.

It also benefits from a removable battery, and HP even integrates a battery-charging slot into the bundled docking cradle - very handy if you buy a second battery to take with you on your travels. And when you're on the move, you can always use the travel-charging adaptor that's included in the box.

Should the battery run out, you'll always be able to rescue your vital data, as there's 3.8MB reserved in the ROM specifically for this purpose. Although there's 64MB of RAM in the H2210, a hard reset gives you only 57MB to play with; hardly a huge limitation but you'll need a memory card if you're an MP3 junkie. And if you are, the excellent sound quality from the 3.5mm headphone jack won't disappoint, while the 400MHz XScale PXA255 CPU ensures that the H2210 feels lightning fast even with an MP3 playing in the background.

HP rounds off the H2210 with Nevo, a remote-control app to take advantage of the infrared port at the top of the device, and five 'iPAQ points' to spend at www.ipaqchoice.com. It's a good system, as you can choose whatever type of programs you like, be they games, utilities or business apps.

The iPAQ H5550 is a better choice as an all-singing heavyweight corporate device, but the H2210 takes some beating as a truly compact PDA. In fact, among the Pocket PC devices, only the iPAQ H1940 comes close. Then again, it's probably not Pocket PCs that HP has to worry about, but the excellent new Tungsten E and T3 from Palm.