Introduction, packaging

It’s better later than never, so does the saying go. Our current review I something like that too, as HP’s national representative, after some delays, has finally managed to send a sample of their new HP iPAQ 214. I was overly happy when the device was announced, as momentarily Hewlett Packard is the only manufacturer to have a PDA lacking telephony functions on the national market. I’d not like to go into to many details about the “happiness factor” of this. Although I’m no market analyst, I still think that there is a need for such devices, as, no matter what we say, Windows Mobile-based devices are a compromise in means of telephony, but they are perfect for everything else. Contrary to current trends I don’t feel the need of making all kinds of combo-devices, but that’s my subjective opinion.

HP has lots of experience in the domain of making Pocket PCs; it’s enough to mention hx4700, which has become a real legend. Let’s see its specs in a few words, for the sake of those who don’t know very much about it: VGA resolution display, fast processor, case made of magnesium alloy, advanced data transfer features. Regarding its features the almost 4 year old device is still quite good, but Windows Mobile 2003 SE is a bit outdated – I intentionally do not go into details about the difficult process of upgrading it to WM5. So it was high time releasing a new device, but knowing the predecessor HP didn’t have an easy task, as technology didn’t advance as much as it would be required to create a device that is by all means better than hx4700. Fortunately the engineers did their best, so even though the 214 won’t be as successful as its magnesium brother; it’s still something really good.

The sample device came in a really clumsy box; the hand of a wizard puts apps on the iPAQ – it doesn’t matter anyway, it’s not this that will sell the device. The list of accessories includes an install CD, manual, leather case, charger with changeable connector and a data cable. I have mentioned it a lot of times, but I will do it again: unfortunately those times are gone when a cradle was packed with PDAs, and if something would be worthy of this, than that’s the new HP.

Exterior

It’s easy to describe the exterior of iPAQ 214: big. But not big, like a phone-PDA, this is really huge; it’s larger than the hx4700. This is only partially explained with the 4”, crystal clear VGA touchscreen, since this is not the reason for the handset to be almost 2 cm thick. In means of materials used, it’s not even close to its predecessor: plastic everywhere, moreover it’s only of medium quality. The front shines nicely; it was a real pleasure to take photos – cleaning fingerprints wasn’t such a joyful process. The HP logo decorates the upper part, on right of this we can see a light sensor, two LEDs and the hard-to-press power button. Under the screen there is the inevitable iPAQ logo and the controls: this means four buttons and a 5-way navigation pad.

The back side’s desertedness is beyond description, there is not much to write about it, and probably that’s the reason. There is a speaker and a gap, but any user can spice up the decoration with some fingerprints, since the soft, silky surface collects these with priority. The area under the aforementioned gap is the detachable part, which covers the battery. There is no need for anything special to take this off, we can forget the outdated and tiresome process of pressing small buttons or the like, a simple slight of the hand is enough for the miracle – the interesting is, that no matter the simple solution, the device is very well assembled.

On top we can find an almost forgotten feature, the CF expansion slot, this is just under the bay of the SD card. On right of these we can see the silo of the stylus. This stylus is quite small compared to the handset, but still it’s large enough to provide comfortable use.

The designers didn’t want to make the sides overcrowded: the reset gap is on the right, while the hotkey of the voice recorder is on the left.

On the bottom, near the standard miniUSB port and the 3.5 mm jack connector we find the connector for HP’s unique sync cable. No need to be afraid, we can connect the device with our PC through miniUSB too, the HP connector is needed for the optional, separately sold, USB-host cable.

Interior, operating system, software

The operating system is Windows Mobile 6 Classic, thus meeting our era’s requirements. The popularity of this OS edition is shows very well how many of new generation devices are phone-PDAs – Classic is the version that lacks support for telephony functions, besides the two new HP machines only Mio P360 and P560 use this system. The CPU is a 624 MHz Marvell PXA310, which has the same clock speed as Intel PXA27x chips, but it’s better than those from many point of view – this topic might deserve a separate review in the future. The designers weren’t saving on memory either: there is 128 MB of RAM and 256 MB of ROM and we can use two memory cards, so there will be no lack of storage space.

The booting speed is medium; it takes less than a minute. After first boot we have approx. 92MB free program memory and 160 MB storage space. There is no problem with speed, the Monahans CPU, featuring hardware graphic acceleration, is powerful enough to keep the VGA display running without problems. These are the speed test results:

I just can’t understand the results of the first CPU test if I take practical experiences in consideration. I ran the test many times, and I always had the exact same results, so this is not the reason. I have no idea what can it be, but it’s sure that a 624 MHz CPU should be faster in this test. As I didn’t experience slowdowns anywhere else, I can say that the many years old Pocket PC Mark doesn’t like this type of chip and that’s why such strange results are given.

The PDA is no big deal in terms of software. The most interesting is the HP PrintSmart Mobile, which is a wireless printing application that works through WiFi and it is only compatible with HP printers. My old LaserJet is unsupported, so I couldn’t test the application, but in theory it works. Besides this there is nothing special on the handset, there is a shortcut bar on the Today screen, from where we can also set brightness; there is a PDF reader, Wireless Manager, but these are also available on concurrent devices. Of course it’s no use comparing 214 with any kind of phone-PDA, as this one has different functions. Software included with Windows (address book, calendar, e-mail client, Internet Explorer, etc.) are also present on the HP.

Data transfer, multimedia

As there is no GSM module, there are all kinds of mobile internet features missing from the data communication repertoire: there’s no GPRS, no EDGE, no 3G, so we can only access the net through 802.11b/g WiFi. As opposed to its predecessor, this model has no infra port, but Bluetooth is of version 2.0. The miniUSB connector has the same version number, and as an added extra, the device supports the USB Host feature, that means all kinds of USB gadgets can be connected to it, like pendrives, external hard disks – the only problem that could arise is the power consumption of the connected device, as the iPAQ cannot provide as much power as a PC. I couldn’t test this function due to the lack of the aforementioned cable, that is optional and sold separately.

Multimedia features are not really present, as the device is not capable of many things on its own; there is no camera and no headset is included. Our movies and music can be played via Windows Media Player, this has serious limitations in video playback, and moderate in music playback. It is capable of the latter, but it lacks such features like equalizer and bass boost. After installing a couple of free applications and buy a headset with a 3.5 mm jack connector the situation changes a bit; keeping in mind that sound quality depends mostly on the quality of the headset. All our movies are played without a problem by the Marvell CPU, even if they are DivX/XviD files optimized for PC playback – so it’s A+ for movie playback: large display, fast processor.

Other, conclusion

There is an extraordinary battery under the hood, with a capacity of 2200 mAh (!). Thus online time is exceptional; the battery takes it for three days with one charge, in case we don’t listen to music, “just” browse the web, send e-mails, that is we use the functions the PDA is designed for.

Conclusion: the fact that a PDA lacking telephony functions is released again is joyful on its own. HP created a quality product in the form of 214, which is fast and smart not only by the documentation, but in real life too. Of course there is the question that how much better is it than its predecessor? It’s a fact that it’s not much better, and moreover: it uses plastic instead of magnesium, it lacks the infra port, and anyway why didn’t they expand that device instead of releasing a new one? Probably because of two reasons: on one hand who the hell would have bough it, and on the other hand thanks to the use of plastics the company, known more of its quality products rather than cheap ones, has managed to put a price-tag having an acceptable value on the device. HP iPAQ 214 is currently available at a gross price under € 350 and I think the huge display, the fast, new generation processor and the fair offer of features are worth this much, even if it weighs 192 grams. It’s very cool. I liked it a lot.

HP iPAQ 214

Bocha

Translated by Szaszati

The sample device has been provided by HP’s national representative, thanks!

Specifications

HP iPAQ 214
	Technology	doesn’t contain a GSM module
	Operating system	Windows Mobile 6 Classic
	Size	75.4 x 133.8 x 17,4 mm
	Weight	192 grams
	Processor	624 MHz Marvell PXA310 (Monahans)
	ROM/RAM	256 / 128 MB (160 / 90 MB freely usable)
	Display	4” diagonal, 480 x 640 pixel resolution, 18 bit color depth touchscreen
	Expandability	CF I., CF II., MMC, SD (SDHC and SDIO-compatible)
	WiFi	802.11b/g
	Infra/Bluetooth	none/2.0 (A2DP too)
	GPS receiver	none
	Audio	3.5 mm jack connector, microphone, mono speaker
	Camera	none
	Battery	2200 mAh changeable Li-Ion
	Other	HP PrintSmart Mobile software, USB-host function with optional cable (sold separately)