PDA Reviews

Asus has come up with the new Asus MyPal A636 which has an elegant GPS receiver and foldout antenna added to this PDA. Whether it is worth the payment is yet to be seen but it has impressed us with accurate location fix and good directions. Though heavy and thick than other PDAs, you would love the 9hrs battery life. When it comes to making this device a gadget you can take anywhere throughout it does a fairly good job. This model is first and foremost devices to have a GPS receiver and antenna grafted together. This unit can grab up to 24 GPS satellites that are constantly orbiting about earth for accurate mapping and directions.  Though the cost is quite similar to other PDAs the performance and the screen are slight let downs. Read further to know more about Asus MyPal 636 .

Design:

Rugged Body:

The PDA’s design is a bit retro. Most Pocket PCs these days have a more hidden speaker, yet on the Asus A636, you have got a big circular speaker grill that echoes back to the boom boxes of the 80′s. This is intended to emphasis the high quality speaker that was used here. In the center you see the directional pad along with the action button.The body measures 4.8 x 2.8 inches with a thickness of 0.7 inch and weighing 6.5 ounces. The body is grey and dark silver in colour. The antenna is about 1.75 square inch and can rotate 90 degrees.  Antenna is quite strong and grabs the signals when swilled at 90 degrees.

Display:

The screen size and display quality are the most rated when it comes to devices like these. While viewing maps the screen size should not be disappointing. Our A636 does not disappoint either. Asus MyPal A636 GPS PDA has a 3.5″ transflective colour display which has a very strong contrast, excellent colour saturation and brightness.  It looks better in the indoors compared to the outside, and it comes with a resolution is around 240 x 320 pixels.

Control pads:

Two circular control pads are located just adjacent to the speakers. The keys are well marked and have the advantage that we can use them single handily. In addition to the volume controllers, the device has separate buttons for voice notes, calendar, and contacts as well as options to switch between modes like the landscape or portrait.  Mapping applications are not launched instantly but you have options to reprogram any of the shortcut buttons for this. The front scroll up and down buttons do a good job, the jog-dial button would have been a better option to browse the web pages quickly.

Sound:

The speakers are typically good, and the sound through the front facing speakers is pretty loud. This is a mandatory feature required for the GPS feature for the sake of hearing voice guidance in the car. The stereo headphones are good for listening to MP3 and movies.  This ASUS product comes with a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, mic, and a voice recorder application.

Feature:

Software:

Software package included in the Asus A636 MyPal Handheld PDA include operating system, mobile office suite including Outlook Mobile, and desktop Outlook, Terminal Services, Mobile 10, File explorer, Hand writing recognition, games like Solitaire, Bubble breaker, calculator, VPN connections. In all, this PDA is comprised of calendar, contacts, tasks, notes, message applications.  Also inclusive are several utilities, like ASUS Status program which resides on the task bar. Click on this task bar to see the CPU speed setting, available memory, storage, battery and of course, the backlighting. There is a screen rotation utility, along with shortcuts to Bluetooth and WiFi. Additionally, these icons can turn radios on and off. Customisations for balance, volume, treble, bass and 3D effect are provided along with mic gain settings and Automatic Gain control.

Wifi and Bluetooth:

Connectivity in the Asus A636 PDA is quite good, especially being offered with Bluetooth 1.2 and WiFi 802.11b. The blue tooth software is especially user friendly and fully featured. The software used by ASUS is Broadcom stack and software which is typically nice when compared to other software. This features a wizard that settles the connectivity with variety of other devices like high quality audio gateway devices such as stereo headphones, connecting to a mobile phone for wireless internet access, ActiveSync, hands free/headset profiles, business card exchange, keyboard, mice, serial port.  The ASUS application provides you with useful data about status, data rate, signal strength, IP address. The settings section allows to set the power saving, auto power off, radio power usage and the preamble. Information regarding the current connection is given in the IP info. Site survey shows all access points in range with SSID name, channel, signal strength, and MAC address of the base station.

GPS:

There is a built in receiver which you can flip open and swivel, so that the receiver plate is parallel to the sky. It is equipped with the latest SiRF III GPS chipset which provides GPS receivers high sensitivity, low power consumption and time. With this chipset our GPS receiver becomes powerful and particularly sensitive and can get excellent signal even when the signal is weak like areas of dense foliage, downtown buildings, and indoors.  Hence, the device has a faster time to fix especially time to first fix speed.  The device roughly takes about 35 seconds to start from the time the receiver is activated. This is a twenty channel GPS receiver that tracks nine satellites and gets strong signals from at least eight of them.  The GPS interface shows the current longitude, latitude, altitude and velocity as well as graph that shows the number of satellites the receiver is tracking and their signal strength. To launch this GPS applications go to the Destinator app, tap the satellite symbol on the lower right corner or up top on the GPS Status icon in the Destinator Settings.

Map:

This software is in the SD card which also has some map data pre-loaded. To install the Destinator application, simply plug the SD card. To create your own maps install the Destinator map console on your PC from the Destinator CDs in the ASUS package. The maps can tell you about the size of the map data and also come in thirteen languages.

Navigate:

Real time navigation is something that is really striking. The destinator provides all the necessary tools to navigate the routes and customise the guidance.   The tools are grouped into three: the first is the Destination group where you have options to enter the addresses for route navigation. Pick up POI s from the map database, or input a new address if the location is elsewhere. You can also pick your point in the map and set it as the destination. Tools to customise the visual guidance like directions view, map view etc are found in the Options group. The last group of icon based tools are settings for maps, GPS Status page, route options. With aid from these tools Destinator makes it easy to quickly find or input an address as destination. Overall the Asus A636 navigates routes in a very professional way in both quickest route and shortest route tests.

Ease of access:

Both visual and voice guidance are provided by the Destinator PN software. The Visual includes map view where you can spot the area where you are in and the route highlighted in easy to spot lines from your current location. There are few shortcuts in small icons on the map view to give us a quick access to zoom, check GPS satellite stats, daytime and night view and turn directions that show the street names and symbols. The visual is offered in many colour themes and also in many languages.  The voice guidance is bang on target. The voice quality is perfect and the natural human voice used here is far too good compared to older versions. The voice alerts come on at 500 yards by default which seriously is good. You have a choice to select or deselect some types of voice alerts like GPS status warnings, speed warnings and likes. There are 5 languages in which the voice guidance comes: English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

Performance:

Powered with a 416MHZ PXA 272 Intel XScale processor, Asus has chosen a better battery life and could deliver considerably good performance. The applications run with good speeds after slight launch delay. ASUS A636 offers options to customise the CPU speed settings so you can set it to maximum, normal, power save, or auto setting.  The auto setting is quite effective and maintains a decent battery life while improving the CPU performance as needed. The RAM is plenty with 64 MB installed, 58 available and 49 free with no programs running on it.  The device also holds a 128 MB of flash ROM with 59 available and 25 additional MB available as flash disk.  So, overall the performance is a mixed bag.  Considering its navigation ability, the A636 MyPal can easily connect with satellites in 20 seconds and can plot our exact location. The routes are efficient and it quickly calculates new routes without much delay. As a PDA the A636 is a performer that offers reliable performance for daily use. The battery life of 9hours has turned to become a very attractive feature of the PDA.

Battery:

Packed with a 1,300 mAh Lithium ion battery, the A636 MyPal Pocket PC PDA gives it good runtimes, and has enough staying power to last a full length movie played using Windows media player and MP3 for over 13 hours with the screen turned off and CPU set to save power. Compared to other models our PDA, it has a hold switch on its rear so that you can use it as a portable MP3 player without the fear of battery drain which would occur while an accidental push on some buttons. Adjust the screen brightness to around 75%, your Aus MyPal PDA would just consume about 50% of its battery capacity. Overall, the battery life is satisfactory.

The Package:

Asus includes a vinyl slipcase, AC and auto power adapters, a synchronization cable, a 256MB SanDisk Secure Digital card, a car cradle, and a gooseneck windshield-mounting arm that attaches to a car’s windshield with a suction cup. We noticed that the car cradle has a tendency to shake loose of the windshield arm.

Warranty:

Asus offers the A636 a parts and labour warranty for a one year period from the date   purchase.

Verdict:

By elegantly integrating a GPS receiver and a foldout antenna into a PDA, Asus turns the heads of the perpetually lost with its Asus MyPal A636. While it’s heavier and thicker than competing mapping PDAs, the A636 has excellent controls, and its well-designed maps provide an accurate location fix and reasonably good directions. There are many occasions when a GPS enabled PDA make compromises in either section. So, at times, the PDA portion might lack power, recent OS, or wireless connections. Till date the Asus A636 My Pal is one that rules both departments. The chipset and underlying hardware are simply excellent. So to sum up you have a product that could simply fetch you a machine that only lacks in looks.

Asus MyPal A636 PDA Pocket PC – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Asus
Model Name	Asus A636 My Pal PDA
Model Number	A636
Product Type	Handheld
Dimensions (W x H x D)	2.9 x 0.7 x 4.8″
Weight	6.6 oz
Display Type	3.5 in Colour TFT active matrix (Transflective)
Display Resolution	240 x 320 pixels
Image	16-bit (64K colours)
Processor	Intel XScale PXA272 416 MHz
ROM	128 MB – Flash
RAM Supported	64 MB – SDRAM
Flash Memory Cards	Multimedia Card , SD Memory Card
Compatibility	SDIO
Audio Output	Speaker(s)
Supported Digital Audio Formats	MP3
Audio Input	Microphone
Wireless Connectivity	IrDA ,  Bluetooth ,  IEEE 802.11b
GPS Navigation	Yes
Navigation Type	Stylus,  Touch-screen,  5-way navigation button
Charging	Car cradle, Docking cradle
Cables Included	1 x USB cable
Power Device	Power adapter
Voltage Required	AC 120/230 V
Battery	Lithium ion 1300 mAh
Battery life	9 hrs
Warranty	1 year

Mobiles have been in business from mid 90s till date. As mobiles and internet became ubiquitous, the demand for the style, form factor and applications started a march, which still has been on the hunt. In the upcoming years, the general trend has been to stuff maximum user applications and to improve the storage. Well, what Motorola have done with their new Q series is no different. So what stands out in them to get our attention? You would soon come to know. We believe everyone have their own picks and tastes. We have seriously never been crazy with mobiles especially with Motorolla. Ericsson or Nokia areour usual picks. Surprisingly, this new Q series model, the Moto Q 9H has caught us, not because of its looks but with its contents. We think this should be enough with the briefing. Read on to find out more.

Design:

Iconic Form factor:

The design of the PDA is the first thing that came to our notice. This new Motorola  Moto Q 9h Mobile Phone comes with a slim and sleek design which is the iconic feature in this form factor. The high end finishes includes exquisite and soft touch materials which gives you a rich and seamless product experience. It comes with a QWERTY keyboard and display of good resolution that makes typing out emails, SMS messages, notes and even presentations quite cool. The screen adjusts itself well under lights.

Wide, Wider, Widest:

Distinctly, compared to its companions in the Q series, Moto Q 9H seems to be the first one to be in a GSM carrier while others come with a CDMA carrier. The speakers are located in the front on top of the QPGA screen. This looks as wide as Nokia E 61i which is regarded as the widest smart phone till date. It looks way thin compared to Blackberry but surely is difficult to wrap your hands around.

Display:

Designed with a QPGA screen of resolution 320 x 240 pixels, the Q 9h gives you a top class display set up. The screen lets you watch your emails or movies and gives you clarity which you could expect from a high end mobile like this one. It has the self adjusting technology that allows you to read your mails irrespective of the environment. Even in this tiny volume you could watch MP4 and WMV clips with no hiccups. But we must accept, it is still a pain navigating through full sized Web pages on this tiny screen.
Buttons and Ports:

The slot locations have not changed much from the previous versions. There is a Micro SD slot which appears to be the easiest slots to reach from left. The  micro card SD reader is designed to accept cards up to 32GB.There is also a Micro USB port which would be particularly useful for charging sinking or accessories. On the right there is the volume control along with a back button typically used to exit an application and move to the front menu. The rear side hosts the 2 mega pixel camera along with a flash. The battery cover encloses the battery and also near it is the speaker which could be used as a play back or as a speaker phone while in a drive.

Keyboard:

The QWERTY keyboard in Moto Q 9H Smartphone is big and accounts for the overall size of this phone. The keypad is something special with the keys smooth and sensitive. The keys are brightly backlit for typing in darker environments. The keys are highlighted in blue. The scroll wheel in the previous models have been replaced with up and down keys, as well as select and back buttons on the right side of the phone. It is crammed with many tiny keys which includes @, #, & etc., along with numbers visible on the letter keys. There are also the ‘Enter’, ‘Shift’ and ‘Alt’ keys that perform the same functions as the computer keyboard. Motorola has sorted the problem of finger slips by providing a much rougher grip. Along with the normal keys are the short cut keys which are aligned at the bottom tray along with the spacebar which are dedicated for launching Calendar, Address Book, Music Player and Camera applications plus speaker toggle key. The only problem that possibly arises is that, you end up pressing the short cut keys instead of pressing the space bar. The up, down, select and back are available for easy access on the right side.

Connectivity:

The connectives include a single external port, a micro USB jack, USB sync cable and Ac adapter. The company gives you a Motorokr S9, Bluetooth stereo headset and hands free phone. The S9 head set would be your favourite pick if you have the habit of listening to music while jogging or walking. It is also hands free phone that works well to switch between a call and music listening.  Unlike other PDA s, the Q 9H has omitted a standard stereo headphone jack, which disappoints some of those who would have loved to plug their connectors to it.

Features:

Jet Set Go Connectivity:

We would like to describe the connectivity speed with this term. The Moto Q 9H is the first one to incorporate the HSDPA (High Speed Down Link Packet Access) service which accounts for its very high DSL speeds. With this technology, you could experience downloading speed of 3.6 Mbps. Equipped with all materials in its arsenal, this phone would allow you download music at high speed, or stream a video, or browse the internet. It is sure to give you access to your choice no matter where ever you are.  The hardware takes time to process the information and is not as swift as the network. Hence, you could expect some delay.  Despite all this, we felt down when we found that this is devoid of WiFi. Though the phone has a 3G network to support, the network would become bleak at certain points.

GPS Built in:

With GPS built-in, you would be able to track your routes through this phone. Applications like Google maps, Live search would give you real traffic information with the help of satellites. TeleNav GPS navigator service provided by AT &T and Rogers has been used here. The software sends GPS information to the server which sends back the necessary mapping information to Q 9H, thereby, freeing it from storing huge map files which are required while using a GPS service. On top of this, the service is offered at a much lower price with flexible plans.

Camera:

The Motorola Moto Q 9h sports a 2 MP camera with flash is on its rear. The flash allows you take pictures even when the light is quite dim. The camera application gives you easier means to upload and download pictures to your phone. For still images you have several shooting modes and a choice of 4 resolutions. The maximum zoom is up to 8x. You are also given the luxury to adjust pictures with white balance and brightness settings. But unfortunately, the clarity of pictures are just average. The camera is still haunted with fuzzy images, focus and hit – miss results on exposure.

Operating System:

The Motorola Moto Q 9h PDA has employed the Windows Mobile 6 operating system. This operating system is best suited for mobiles considering its ability to multitask. It also supports computer attachments to share the internet connectivity through USB and Bluetooth. The current date, email messages and tasks would be displayed on the screen which really gives you a good user interface experience.

Software Package:

Motorola has packed some additions into the hood of Q 9h. To start off, instead of the standard windows explorer, it has the Opera pre installed. The makers must have realized the change people had craved for. It also has the latest Office Mobile, Java Manager if ever you would require a java application. Other than the lone occasional problem this package gives, while you access your Gmail, no further bottle necks could be spotted. A handy wizard lets you access POP3 and IMAP accounts just by entering your password. Several popular instant messaging clients including Yahoo and Windows Live are pre-installed in Q 9H. In addition to the PDF viewer and a ZIP manager, other personal information tools like calendar, track list, notepad and calculator have also been included.

Downloads:

This part features the software you could possibly download. Initially you will be able to download the My Q Pak Bundle which includes various useful applications. You have wide number of choices open ranging from My Space Mobile to Mc Afee VirusScan Mobile Ready handset.

The Specs:

Underneath this brilliant form factor lays the champ who is responsible for the functions the phone does. It is none other than the TI OMAP 2420 processor with a speed of 325 MHZ. Along with a 256 MB flash memory and 96 MB RAM, the processor delivers a performance much higher than Blackberry Curves 312 MHZ. With about 120 MB of user available storage and 39 MB of available memory performance is above average.

The Extras:

The Motorola Moto Q 9H PDA phone includes 3 way calling, conference calling, speed dial, text and multimedia messaging. The SIM can hold up to 250 contacts. The system allows you to assign a picture or a group ID and even ringtones for caller ID purposes.

Performance:

When it comes to performance the first thing that comes to my mind is the HSDPA technology which would allow you faster and better speeds to download your favourite songs or videos, or to connect you with your friends. The Q 9h PDA shows its capability as a media player. Rendered with a 320 x 240 pixels resolution display and a colour depth of over 65,530, it could play movies smoothly with a jump or jerk here and there.  The Bluetooth and wireless have done their jobs in ensuring fast connectivity.  With this kind of processor and memory available, the speed performance should be excellent, unfortunately, there is some delay in response, particularly in the case of multiple tasks. The system crashes have declined compared to older versions which is very good news considering that performance has shot up well.

Loud and Clear:

This is yet another remarkable aspect of this phone. As a phone, the clarity of voice and the speaker sounds are two things you would love to talk about. The reception on the other side is clear and loud. The speakers are so audible that you could place them near the cup tray while driving and still you would be able to hear them clearly. With the dual speaker technology, the music player sounds rich with plenty of sound.

There is relatively very less parts where the phone has not shown quality. Along with top quality applications and with a superior Windows mobile 6 operating system the phone has notched a top quality performance.

Battery:

Battery is the area where the Motorola Moto Q 9h PDA stands distinctly ahead.  The Q 9H comes with 2 types of batteries; a BT 90 for heavy usage and BT 60 for normal usage. Interestingly, it also comes with 2 new coverings because; BT 90 needs a slightly larger outfit to cover it. The batteries are claimed to last nearly 9 hours of talk time and 30 days standby. The larger battery would last three days without charging despite the fact that you could use the phone in speaker mode and surf the internet. Overall, Battery ends up being one of the highlight selling points of the PDA.

Warranty:

Motorola offers its Moto Q 9h one year limited warranty for parts and labour.

Verdict:

Now comes the final word for the Motorola Moto Q 9h PDA. Seriously, the pros have outweighed the cons by remarkably greater margin. The makers have focused on email access and entertainment and hence, have blended functionality with entertainment in one device. The price is seriously low compared to other PDAs which are devoid of these features. The Quad band technology lets you stay connected across the globe. The Bluetooth wireless technology gives you a better sound quality. USB 2.0 full speed download enables faster file transfer from PC to micro SD card in the phone. With a frame rate of 30 per second watching live videos have become less cumbersome. The sound is excellent plus keys are perfect and lets you message fast. We could go on and on with the positives and we feel satisfied except for the few cons here and there. Well, the screen is devoid of touch. Added to that, the phone also lacks Wifi, making it vulnerable at certain points where the 3G connection goes down. Apart, from these there are not much faults to point out. Finally, this has its own flaws which would never pull your mind back once you eye its umpteen features.

Check Nokia Smartphone Reviews, Asus PDAs Reviews in this website.

Motorola Moto Q 9H – Technical Specification Details

Manufacturer	Motorola
Model Number	Moto Q 9H
Series	Q Series
Product type	PDA
Dimensions (H x W x D)	118 x 67 x 11.8 mm
Weight	134 grams
Phone Design	Candy Bar
Display Technology	TFT
Size	2.46″
Resolution	320 × 240 pixels
Colour Depth	16-bit (65000 colours)
Vibrating Alert	Yes
Phone Navigation	QWERTY Keyboard 5 way Track pad
Wireless Interface	3G and Bluetooth
OS	Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 Standard
Processor	Texas Instruments OMAP 2420
CPU Clock	325MHz processor
ROM	256MB
RAM	96MB
Memory card slot	microSD, microSDHC, TransFlash, SDIO, up to 32GB
Camera	2 MP
Features of camera	Quality still pictures Video recording
Microphone	Mono
Loudspeaker	Stereo
Cellular:Networks	GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900, UMTS2100
Cellular;Data-Links	CSD, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA
Synchronization	ActiveSync with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 with Service Pack2, and Windows Mobile Device
Call-Alert	64 -chord melody Vibrating alert
USB	USB 2.0 client, 12Mbit/s mini-USB
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 1.2
Mobile Email	Yes
Internet Browser	Yes
Messaging	SMS, MMS, Email, IM
Extras	Windows Media Player Mobile Photo-caller ID 2-Mega pixel camera with digital zoom Calculator Alarm Clock Outlook Mobile Ambient light sensors to adjust backlight automatically
Battery Type	BT90,BT60
Talktime	9h
Package Details	The Motorolla Q 9H, Motorokr S9, Bluetooth stereo headset and handsfree phone
Warranty	One year

If computer had started the first revolution, then the PDAs had unleashed the second. They have revolutionised the business world and are now an integral part of every businessman out there. A company that has leading expertise when it comes to manufacturing top class PDAs is Palm. When it introduced the Palm V as a handheld for the elite, its features such as the anodised aluminium finish, small and thin size were supposed to appeal to the upper class of business people. However, there were many people who wanted a small and light device and were ready to pay extra for it. Thus, the Palm V became a top selling handset. Following its success, Palm has decided to stick to the similar form factor and add new features to their latest offering the Palm m500.

A sleek and stylish looking device, the m500 allows one to add memory, store and backup data and even add a camera or a wireless modem. This compact piece has software that allows one to connect to the internet and send emails via cell phone or modem. With a 33MHz Motorola DragonBall Processor and an installed memory of 8 MB, the m500 is well loaded. So will this model be successful too? Does it have what it takes to be a great PDA? Read on to find out.

Design:

Nothing Innovative:

Many users have been waiting for Palm to release a model as a rival to PDAs from Compaq, Handspring etc. While the newer PalmOne m500 PDA features an expansion card slot as well as a host of refinements, it did not have anything innovative as expected. In fact its predecessor the Palm VX at discount rates is a great competitor to the flashy newer PDAs.

Looks similar to the Palm V:

When we first saw it, we could not help noticing that the m500 is very similar to the Palm V. The shape of the m500 does differ from that of the Palm V, but the difference is subtle enough not to be easily noticed. The m500 has sides that have a curve that run along the length of the PDA in place of the slight flare at the bottom of the Palm V. The top of the m500 is more curved too. When it comes to size, the model is as long and wide as the Palm V.  The m 500 is slightly thicker. Considering that the difference in between their thickness is in the order of millimetres, these devices look pretty similar.

Build Quality:

The back part of the m500 Handheld PDA is made of plastic and not metal. That perhaps explains its light weight. However, the device still feels solid. The casing does not flex, crack or creak when squeezed.  Unlike the Palm V the casing is not glued but is held to the body with the help of 4 screws that can be removed by a T5 Torx driver.

The Buttons:

On the front of the device are 2 application buttons and a power button. The Application buttons on the m500 are slightly larger than the ones found on the Palm V making them easier to press. These buttons also have a better tactile feedback.  Also, the buttons sit flush with the casing making it hard to accidentally activate them. The very annoying one piece scroll button has been replaced by 2 small scroll buttons which no longer would press against the fold over cover ( an issue with the Palm V) . The size of these buttons maybe a problem to a person with larger fingers.  The power button on the m500 is present on the same location as it is on the Palm V. The only changes being that the button is now translucent and with a bulge making it easier to press. This button also doubles as a battery charge indicator.

Ports:

Both sides of the m500 have silos available.  But they are not for styli like they were meant to be in the Palm V. The silo on the left is used as an attachment location for the cover provided. One can also attach a case if necessary. The right side silo is meant for the stylus.  The stylus is  metal bodied  and has plastic ends. It is slightly shorter than the one found on the Palm V. Because of this small difference, the Palm V styli are incompatible with the m500.  On the top of the device are the IR port and yes, the expansion card slot.  The IR port allowed the m500 to connect to another palm PDA at a distance of 5 feet without any inconsistencies. The expansion card slot allows SD cards or MMC cards.  These SD cards allow storing of large files and are a handy way to bring large databases along with you.

Display:

The Palm m500 PDA features a monochrome screen that is comparatively less green that of the Palm V and has a digitiser made of plastic rather than glass. We guess that the plastic version is more flexible and resistant to falls ¬¬¬¬than a glass one. The display quality is very similar to the Palm V and so is the reverse backlight.

Features:

Processor:

The M500 runs on a 33MHz Dragonball VZ processor just like the m505. Most of the tasks were done instantaneously and that was expected of it.  However on our Quartus benchmark test, the processor did not do well. It could possibly due to the incompatibility between the application and the new OS. The m500 is as fast as the Visor Edge when it comes to doing tasks or playing games such as Dreadling.

Memory:

The Palm m500 features in built memory of 8MB which is sufficient to store thousands of addresses, appointments for a few years and up to 50 standard applications.

Palm OS 4.0:

The Palm m500 is the first device to feature the OS 4.0 version.  But most of the software changes are noticeable only when it comes to performance or are presented as subtle tweaks. The newer additions include a Notepad, a Clock, Card Info and extra security. The notepad can be accessed by pressing the rightmost hardware button. The notepad allows one to scribble a note instead of using Graffiti. Each note is time and date stamped. The memo pad which has been replaced by the notepad is still available as a separate application. The clock program allows users to set an alarm for the current 24 hours. It lacks the feature to set a recurring daily alarm.  The Card info is a small application that gives details about the expansion card inserted. While the addition of these applications is welcome, there is nothing really innovative or interesting about them and hence it let us down.

Small Tweaks:

With the new OS, the Palm m500 allows one to call up the onscreen keyboard and use both keyboard taps and graffiti strokes to enter text.  This makes entering text faster if you are good at graffiti letters. There is a new screen included that allows one to clear all the alarms at the tap of a stylus.

SD/MMC Slot:

The best feature about the m500 is the SD/MMC slot. As of now, the slot can be used for expanding the memory and running applications. Expanding memory is something which most of us would never need thanks to the in built space of 8MB on the device. When an SD card is inserted into the device, it automatically switches on. When one tries to run an application on a SD card, it is immediately copied into the RAM and run from there. The application runs normally and when exited, it is deleted from RAM.

USB Cradle:

The Palm m500 features a USB HotSync cradle that allows quick and easy transfer between the PDA and PC or Mac. It holds the handheld tightly and the m500 must be removed in a specific way for it to make a proper connection. Near the USB plug at the end of a cord is  a power plug where the cradle plugged on to the wall.  The USB cradle allows for faster HotSync operations than its predecessor the Palm V.

Vibrate and Flash alarm:

The m500 features a new vibrating and flashing alarm apart from the irritating alarm sounds . It is the first device to feature vibration. While the vibration is not exactly super strong, one can notice it shaking when placed in a shirt or jeans pocket. The flash alarm turns off the sound and has the LED blink, a great feature in case of meetings where you would not want to disturb anyone. All the alarms have a snooze button which is for a fixed 5 minute period. During the snooze, an asterisk blinks in the upper left hand of all applications.

Extra Security:

The m500 has a newer security feature of automatic lock. One can assign a password and encrypt data to keep information safe.

CD Contains:

The CD that comes along with the m500 is bundled with lots of useful software. There is an AOL application that allows one to email and send IM to friends using a data enabled phone or a landline modem. The AvantGo application included is a web channel manager that allows one to sync internet content either wirelessly or through desktop sync. The DocumentsToGo allows one to view and edit word documents and Excel spreadsheets. The Photosuite application is an image and video viewer and supports the following formats : PG, .GIF, .BMP, .TIF, .PNG, AVI, MOV, QT, ASF, and WMV .  While viewing videos on the m500 is useless, viewing pictures is not bad.  The PowerOne Calculator is handy considering it has useful functions such as tax, tips, percent change and date calculations.

Mobile Connectivity Software CD:

Other than the pretty useful software included in CD, there is another notable addition – Palm’s Mobile Internet Kit.. This helps in transferring email, browse the Web ( using the Web Clipping technology) and uses SMS text messaging on a GSM phone with IR capabilities.

Performance:

When speed is the criteria, the m500 is as fast as the Palm V. But the benchmark tests revealed that the m500 is almost one and half times faster than the Palm V.  It is however not perceivable as we could not notice any speed difference between the two devices when launching applications.

Great Visibility:

The m500 PDA was readable in  outdoor, indoor and dark conditions. Reading it in outdoors was a pleasure as it was crystal clear. However, it was not so readable indoors or in the dark.

Speakers:

The speaker on the m500 is a tad bit louder than the m100 which itself is slightly louder than the Palm V.  While one can use this PDA as an alarm clock while on the move, it is still capable of beeps only and lacks DTMF tone generating capabilities.

What is in the Box?

The Palm m500 comes along with a stylus, a rechargeable lithium ion battery, a USB hot sync cradle, Palm Desktop Software and Palm Mobile Connectivity software, a getting started guide and a handbook.

Battery Life:

The Palm m500 runs on a rechargeable lithium ion battery. The m500 has a decent battery life in spite of being switched on most of the time.  Heavy usage would drain it dry but that’s after several hours of usage.  The PDA lasts around 30 days with light usage of lesser than one hour a day.  It takes about one whole hour to charge it back to full power on the cradle.

Warranty:

The Palm m500 comes with a warranty of one year for its parts and labour.

Verdict:

While the Palm m500 is a great product and a step forward for the Palm line, it is not as flashy or as revolutionary as the Palm V was.  The SD card expansion slot, the USB connector, better buttons, great software and the vibrating alarm are things that would standout in the list of pros for the device. However, the OS does not feature much improvements and the device is a tad bit too expensive.  It’s a better idea to go for either the next model, the Palm m505  if you are ready to shell out a little more for a colour PDA  or the predecessor the Palm V if you think you can do without SD functionality.

Check Latest PDA Reviews,  other Palm PDAs Reviews, Specs in this website.

PalmOne m500 PDA – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Palm
Model Name	Palm m500
Dimensions	114.3 x 79 x 10.2 mm / 4.5 x 3.1 x 0.4 in
Weight	113 g / 4 oz
Display type	Advanced LCD screen technology for wide-angle, low-light, and bright-light viewing
Display colour	Greyscale
Display size	160 x 160 pixels
Backlight	Yes
Processor	33MHz Motorola DragonBall VZ processor
Operating System	Palm OS 4.0
Standard Memory	8MB with flash upgradeability
Expansion Slot	Compatible with SD cards and MMCs
Requirement	PC: Windows 98, 2000, or Me; USB port; 30 MB hard disk space; CD-ROM drive Mac: Apple Macintosh OS 8.5.1 and above, available USB port, 30 MB hard disk space, CD-ROM drive, 5 MB available RAM
Handwriting Recognition	Yes
Keyboard	Onscreen
User controls	Stylus
Memo Pad	Yes
Address Book	Yes
Scheduler	Yes
Email	Yes
Web Browser	No
Security	Yes
Stereo	No
Built in speaker	No
Voice Recorder, MP3 Playback, Headset jack	No
AC Adapter included	Yes, Via HotSync cradle
Battery Type	Rechargeable Lithium ion
Batteries Included	Yes
Software	CD-ROM with Palm Desktop software for Windows and Macintosh plus Documents To Go 3.0 by DataViz, MGI PhotoSuite Mobile Edition, AvantGo, Pocket Mirror 3.0, Palm Reader, MultiMail SE, and Palm Mobile Connectivity software
Warranty	1 year

As a result of stiff competition in the PDA market, you have all the choices in the world to look for the most reliable and the cheapest PDAs. Asus has been providing such PDAs for a long time now, and their products have become cheaper during the course of time. Their new A- series PDAs were released recently and one of them is the Asus MyPal A626 PDA. Realising the present market and value for money, Asus has incorporated useful features for a lesser cost and made it affordable for almost everyone. Let us have a detailed analysis of this new PDA and see if it is reasonable as well as affordable.

Design:

Cute Device:
As always, with the Asus PDAs, the A626 is designed very well and it is very comfortable to hold. At 1.5 cm of thickness, it is extremely slim to hold in one hand, so that it will be easy to type with the other. The dimensions of the device is, (H x W x D) 11.7cm x 7.08cm x 1.57cm and it weighs only about 158 grams. This means that, you have a very slim and light PDA with you, which makes you feel comfortable and stylish. Now, if you look at the PDA in detail, the device is landscape oriented, which is pretty rare; you will normally see a PDA portrait oriented. The display is fairly large, and occupies most of the real estate. Then there are four main buttons that take you to the most important features of the device. Then there is the conventional joystick surrounded by the directional keys and this keypad is surrounded by two speakers on either side.

Stainless Steel Finish:
This is a very special feature of the Asus MyPal A626 Handheld PDA. If you look at the present PDAs, you will find out that most of them are made of either plastic or aluminium. But, Asus has gone on with using stainless steel for its PDAs instead of the usual options. You may wonder what might be the benefits of using a device made of stainless steel are; well, such devices are highly resistant to damages caused by shock and very durable and they are also resistant to abrasion and finger prints. So, the device is always clean and healthy with its stainless steel panel. The finishing is also very good and the polished surface makes the device very shimmering, giving it the ultimate style that consumers long for.

Solid by any means:
Complementing the attractive design, the Asus A626’s display is one of the best you will see in the PDA market. Since the display occupies the most of the front part of the device, it had to be a touch responsive type. This makes the display look even better and bigger than the usual ones. The 3.5 inch TFT LCD screen is very comfortable to look at, especially when reading or typing mails, reading eBooks, playing games and watching movies. The 16 bit QVGA display, with full 65k colours helps in providing a great display for all the utilities that you will find in the Asus A626. The screen does not retain finger prints and therefore, your screen is always clean and lucid. Another advantage of the display is that it is an antiglare type, which means that, there are no reflections of objects from the screen and this enables a clearer display. All this features of the display collectively makes it one of the best in the current market.

Stylus:
Although the stylus is one of those that are not very uncommon, many PDAs are not providing it now due to issues concerning space and weight of the device. But the MyPal A626 Pocket PC has got a very short and sturdy stylus that is placed very well, at the right hand corner of the device. It is a pretty strong one and does not get damaged even after prolonged use. Another thing is that the tip of the stylus is also quite smooth and the consequence is that the soft and delicate LCD of the device is also not damaged easily. The screen also gives a very good touch response when the stylus is used. Hence, more often than not, the stylus is better than your fingers.

Connectivity:
Connectivity is also one of the important aspects of any device, and particularly a PDA. The Asus A626 has got a few options for you to connect it to other devices and interchange data such as files, documents, music files, videos, pictures and many more. As we have already seen, there is a slot provided for an external memory card, which has to be an SD card and at the most a 4 GB one. There are also a few connection slots provided, like the USB 1.1, which can be used to primarily connect the device to and sync it with your computer. There is also a headphone jack provided for audio out. You can connect headphones or an audio cable of a music system to this jack. Hence, the Asus A626 provides the basic connectivity features and with good efficiency.

Features:

The Asus A626 PDA Pocket PC is equipped with ample set of features for us to talk about. Most of the mid range PDAs produced by Asus, like this one, have more or less the same features. Although there are not any new features in the MyPal A626, the ones that are included are very useful. Let us peek at various features of this new PDA from Asus.

Processor: Not the best in the business
The processor is the most important of all the features since it relates the very performance of the device. It decides how fast and efficient any device works. You can relate this to the processor of your computer. The Asus A626 features the Intel XScale PXA270processor of 312 MHz frequency. This may be surprising because, you will find that most of the modern PDAs come with at least a 624 MHz processor. This indicates that the speed and its efficiency of the device will be half the average ratings. But nevertheless, it is not that bad since there are not many options or features that would pull out a lot from the processor. It will still be able to perform well with the minimal features that are available in the A626. Overall, the problems will be very few and far between.

Operating System:
It can be said that, this feature of the Asus A626 will be the most decisive one. The device comes with the Microsoft Windows Mobile version 6 as the operating system. The benefit in using a PDA with the operating system from Windows is that, the device will be easy to use and also the user interface will be much better than many other operating systems that you will find in other prime PDAs in the market. The main features that you will find in this operating system include a revamped Mobile Office in which there are newer versions of pocket Word, pocket PowerPoint and pocket Excel. This means, these applications are made easier to work with and also to simplify your works such as working out a document and printing, or presenting a project in the office. Things like these make this operating system a very commendable one. A device that looks stylish on the outside, must also look great on the inside too and the MyPal A626 suites the description.

Wi-Fi:
Since people using the PDAs will be online for most of the time, they need to choose a PDA that has the Wi-Fi option. The Asus A626 has the option for you to connect to the internet from your office or a cafe through the Wi-Fi ports. All you need to do is just go to the option in your menu that denotes Wi-Fi and then you will be directed straight to the internet. Now, for those of you who use this option on a regular basis, it will be a lot better and easier if this option is set as a shortcut, so that you can access it with just a single click.

Bluetooth:
Bluetooth has been around for quite a long time now, and it is also a very useful application that allows you to connect your device to any device that comes with this option; like your computer, laptop, television, mobile phone etc., and hence, your device can exchange data and files with almost any other electronic device in your home. Additionally, it is the Bluetooth 2.0 version that is featured here. Hence, the communication is a bit faster than normal and it is also easy to search for new devices.

Memory:
With a memory of 256 MB flash ROM and 64 MB of Ram, your PDA has enough memory for the daily round. But for the purpose of entertainment and expansion, you need to have greater memory. So, Asus has provided the facility for the expansion of the memory of your device. Hence, you can now include a new memory card and can store enough data. But, not all memory cards are compatible with the device; only SD cards and that too only up to a capacity of 4 GB are compatible. Hence, should you buy a new memory card, you must be careful while choosing it.

Gaming:
In the beginning, PDAs were restricted only to office use and were not providing that much of entertainment. But slowly, as entertainment crept into all walks of life, you find entertainment being provided on almost all the devices. Gaming has also been a fascination and it helps a lot in relaxing the minds. The MyPal A626 also, like many other latest PDAs, comes with the option for gaming on it. There are lots of games available on the internet that run on the pocket PC platform. You can download them and install into your device. There is also the accelerator inside the device that is specially designed for this very purpose of gaming. Hence, even while you are on the go, gaming is with you.

Clearly, there is no deviation from the norms regarding the features. Asus has stuck to the basics and saw to it that nothing is exaggerated and also at the same time that the PDA is made useful to almost everyone, let alone the businessmen. And for that mid range price tag of the A626, it is a very good overall package of features on offer.

Performance:

Of late, performance is the one aspect that has been bringing down the sales of the PDAs from Asus. Hence, this time around Asus has decided to concentrate on the performance of their PDAs by lowering the number of features. Many improvements are made in order to make the Asus A626 better than its precursors. Let us have a peek at the performance aspects of the A626 and see if it is any better this time.

Video and Audio:
Even though the Asus A626 is powered by an inferior version of the most used processor, it is still good enough not to make you worry about the overall performance of the device. The fact that there is a reduction in the number of extra features, meant that more of the processor’s power is now concentrated on the most important aspects of the device. Arguably, they are the video and the audio performances of the Asus A626. Both these aspects are very good on the device. With the very good display technology that is used, combined with a reasonable processor, the videos on the MyPal A626 look really good. Watching movies on this device is fun and when a headphone is connected, you get a realistic movie experience. Hence, there is a good audio complementing the videos. This is really a great combination. And also the gaming is quite good and for those that play mid range games, you will experience no lags or blurs and your gaming will be pretty comfortable. The problem arises only with the high end games. Otherwise, everything is fine.

Battery:

The Asus A626 comes with a 1200 mAh lithium ion battery that gives you a battery life of at least 3 hours (talk time). Another good thing about this is, unlike many others, is that the battery is removable. This means that you can remove the battery whenever you want and replace it with a new one. This facility comes in handy when you are out of your house and there is no option or time to recharge the battery. Then, you can always use a second one as a replacement.

Warranty:

The Asus MyPal A626 PDA comes with a limited parts and labour warranty for a period of one year from the original date of purchase. For more details, you can visit their website.

Verdict:

After having gone through all that is detailed above, it can be concluded that you will find very less negatives with the Asus MyPal A626. A pleasing design, with all the strength and beauty in the world, a very good lot of features that includes one of the best operating system and software package, and a very good performance make up the list of positives regarding the Asus A626. A comparatively slow processor, lack of a good number of features including that of a camera and a phone, make up the list of negatives. But, we need to realise that no device in the world in completely perfect and everything has its own negatives. Considering the very reasonable price tag, it can be said that the MyPal A626 is one of the most buyable PDAs in the market. No problems if you do not like this. There are many other devices from Asus itself which are better at performance; but to enjoy that, you have to swipe in some extra from your plastic.

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Asus MyPal A626 PDA – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Asus
Model Name	Asus MyPal A626
Product Type	Pocket PC
Dimensions	11.7cm x 7.08cm x 1.57cm
Colour/Finish	Stainless Steel
Weight	158 g
Display	TFT LCD colour display
Colour resolution	VGA resolution with 65k of 240 x 320 pixels VGA pixel colour display, backlight and anti glare
Imaging features	Photo Viewer, Photo Editor, Photo Album
Messaging options	MSN
JAVA	No
CPU Processor	Intel XScale PXA270 312 MHz
CPU details	Databus Width: 32 bit CPU Clock Multiplier: 1.5 Internal Systembus Clock: 208 MHz CPU Core: Intel XScale Level 1 cache: 32KB data cache / 32 KB instruction cache Instruction Set: ARM v5TE
Memory	ROM Type Flash ROM Size 128MB RAM Type SDRAM RAM Size 64MB
Expansion slots	SD and MMC
Video	WMV
Audio	MP3,WMA
Multimedia	Speakers Microphone recording Headphones jack MP3 support WMA support
Operating System	Microsoft Windows® Mobile version 6
Wi-Fi enabled	No
Battery	1200 mAh battery with about 3 hours of talk time
Utilities	Word, Excel, Power Point, Clock & Alarms, File Explorer, Notes, Voice recorder, Calculator and MSN
Wireless Communication	Bluetooth GPRS WiFi
Connectivity	Cable sync method USB 1.1 Bluetooth Infrared Serial
Warranty	One year