Sharp HC-4500

With the second wave of Windows CE HPCs now having washed ashore, it's clear that vendors are finally beginning to find their feet. The first-generation CE machines, equipped with a less-than-ideal operating system and let down by a lack of imagination, seemed clunky in comparison to what was already on offer from Psion and 3Com's PalmPilot. Seemingly unsure of whether they were pocket PCs or PDAs, these early efforts had neither the true Windows feel of the former, or the real-world practicality of the latter.

While the Psion series 5 made it look like CE would be overshadowed by Psion's excellent design and solid operating system, it now looks like it was merely buying time. The new Windows CE handhelds have managed to capture the Windows feel, but more than that, they're looking usable, exciting and innovative.

It's for this reason that Sharp's HC-4500, recently launched in the US as the Mobilon, has managed to capture so many admiring glances in the PC Pro office. Like the Hewlett-Packard 620LX (reviewed issue 41, p180) it boasts a spectacular colour screen. However, what really caught our attention is a feature which the HC-4500 boasts, but no HPC we've yet seen can offer - an optional digital camera. This slots into the Type II PC Card slot on the right-hand side of the case, adding just over an inch to the length of the Sharp, and a mere 80g to the weight. It can take images of up to 640 « 480 resolution in 24-bit colour, thanks to a 0.25in 350,000 pixel progressive scan CCD and a 2x zoom lens. When the images are viewed on screen they're limited to the 640 « 240 display resolution at 256 colours. That doesn't affect the image when exported to a PC through the serial connection cable. The Camera control applet also lets you annotate your images, both with conventional text and a recorded voice-note. The quality of photo images is reasonable and, while it won't match the standard of the best standalone digital cameras, the colour balance is acceptable and works fairly well in a variety of lighting conditions.

The camera is a selling point, but there are other features to recommend the HC-4500. The colour screen is one of the brightest, clearest screens I've ever seen on a handheld. It's as large as the display on the HP 620LX, but like any screen of this size, I wouldn't want to use it for extended periods of time.

The same could be said about the keyboard. As the keys are a little bit larger than those of the Casio Cassiopeia A-20 (reviewed p168) and the layout is relatively standard, it's actually quite usable, thanks to a firm and responsive action. However, if you're working on a document of any length, you'll soon wish you were using a proper keyboard.

One disappointing omission from the HC-4500's features arsenal is a built-in modem. If you want to keep on-line while mobile, you'll need to invest a little extra money in a PC Card model.

As with any CE 2 machine, the standard Microsoft pocket apps are on board, including Word, Excel, Outlook and Internet Explorer. With the notable exception of Pocket Outlook, they all share much of the look and feel of the real Windows 95 apps which desktop users will instantly feel comfortable with. Outlook has two problems that prevent this. First, the distinct Schedule+ feel of the Contacts manager; and second, the poor synchronisation between the pocket and full versions of Outlook 97/98, including the fact that you'll have to install Schedule+7 and export your contacts database to it before any synchronisation can take place.