HP Jornada 568

The evolution from the 540 to 560 series is clearly visible in the new Jornada 568, and it's good to see that previous criticisms have been addressed. In particular, the flat stylus has been changed to a more conventional round one, which, although still plastic, is more comfortable to hold. But the biggest change is the transition to Pocket PC 2002.

The screen of the 568 needs the backlight turned up high to match the clarity of screens like the Compaq iPAQs, but is still quite clear outside. With 64Mb of RAM there's plenty of memory as standard, but without MMC/SD card support the HP relies on its CompactFlash Type I slot for expansion. This has a detachable cover allowing oversized cards to be used, but it's a shame HP didn't implement Type II support as Toshiba has.

Another innovation is the use of a replaceable lithium polymer battery. This allows spare batteries to be carried instead of a charger when away from the office, although it's likely to be an expensive option. Due to the removable battery, the 568 also has a lithium backup battery.

The Jornada's build quality is superb; we particularly liked the solid cover that fits over the front to guard the screen. HP also takes full advantage of the 206MHz processor, as this was the fastest Pocket PC on test. Unfortunately for HP, the Toshiba e570 costs £55 less and only lacks the Jornada's extra software bundle.