PDA Reviews

iPAQ 214 - Enterprise Handheld PDA from Hewlett Packard

There is an enormous range of mobile phones that are currently available in the market that are already sufficiently equipped with PDA softwares. In this sea of gadgets would people really want to take different devices with them with same functionalities? The answer will be evident in the following review.

Stylish but bulky design:

The HP iPAQ 214 has a very good look like that of the high end PDAs. This  pocket PC has a quality built with a very simple set of buttons. Similar to the other devices, the power button is present on the top right end of the unit. The phone is quite large and you would not feel comfortable carrying it for a long time in your hands. The product has its dimensions as (HxWxD) 13.4 x 7.5 x 1.8 cm, Weighing 190g, this is not something you will want to carry around in your shirt pocket too often.

Screen:
Most of the area of this stand alone PDA is dominated by the four inch diagonal screen. The display has a very good resolution of 640 X480 pixels. The touch screen is nothing more than awful. When you touch, you would feel as though you are pressing through a loose thick plastic. It responds well to the stylus that is provided. It is not that bad, but it makes us feel so as, a lot of the other devices come with a much superior touch screen quality.

Controls:
Right below the screen are the control keys. The square like navigational pad has sharp top edges and curvy bottom. The shortcut keys are placed both the sides of the main navigation giving instant accesses to the commonly used features like calendar, mail, and shortcut to windows.

Down under the device has the docking and charging connector along with a mini USB port for PC synchronization. The complete standard 3.5mm headphone socket would be a great relief for most of the people. A dual SD/CF socket is hidden on top of the device allowing expansions with devices or memory cards.  A solitary voice recording button is present on the left of the device and the reset button is placed in the right.

There are also some other handy features that are involved in Hewlett Packard iPaq 214 Handheld PDA. The shortcut buttons, when held for a while, would launch some other shortcuts. This is a very good thought and works well.

Operating system and the processor:

The HP iPAQ 214 uses the windows mobile 6 Classic. It comes with all the functionalities that you would actually expect from this operating system sans any SIM card or telephone support. The processor is a 624Mhz marvel which is exceptionally fast for this PDA. Even the slowest applications that can be imagined worked well with the 214.The 128MB RAM would make sure that the applications run well. With 128MB of RAM and 256MB of ROM, there is space for your extra programs and files to be stored and it would make sure that the applications run well. When it comes to the speed factor, the HP 214 is a dream device.

Connectivity:

Connecting the device to your PC would take only a few minutes and once you have established a connection, you can synchronise it with the help of your Bluetooth connection.

With the complete wireless being integrated and Bluetooth support, you will have the least worries of wiring and connecting to your PC. Connecting with Wi-Fi was not at all an issue. It took place swiftly as the other HP devices. The sharp display and the big screen allows you to see a lot of the web’s content making the navigation even more simpler. The content of the web looked great on the screen. The screen even when viewed outdoors was bright.

The light sensor:

HP has included a very interesting feature. It has accommodated a tiny light sensor placed next to the power switch. This automatically adjusts the screen brightness based on the ambient light conditions.

The package:

Packaging of HP iPAQ 214 Pocket PC reads too much about its market brand. The contents in the black box includes the heavy 2,200AH battery, the user guides, software, a standard charger, an USB sync cable, a connector for the charger and the HP iPAQ 214 device itself. The device also comes with a retro style carry case.

Some final comments:

HP might have left people wondering why on earth have they not included the telephonic capabilities? Their answer is that, these kind of traditional PDAs seem to attract the market areas which do not require the connectivity of mobile for instance, hospitals.

There is more than one way that the phone seem to belong to the older ages. For instance, the voice recorder button on the side of the device, the two memory card slots, for older attachments such as the barcode scanner. Add to this the continued use of a synchronisation cable could have been upgraded to mini-USB.

Initially the thought that this device does not have the telephonic features was depressing but the device does a good job on what it was intended to when it was designed. HP has integrated all the essential elements without damaging the basic fact for what a PDA stands for. If you already have a good mobile phone and looking for just a pocket PC, you can not find a better device than the HP iPAQ 214 .  You can also check the reviews of HP iPAQ 114, HP iPAQ 211 in our website.



HP iPAQ 214  Handheld PDA - Technical Specifications, Features

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