The HP Jornada 720 Handheld PC, a lightweight notebook alternative that weighs just 632 grams, upgrades the HP Jornada 600 series by adding a 32-bit 206-MHz StrongARM processor, a 51-MHz data bus, and a 2D graphics accelerator. Rated at 9 hours, the 720's rechargeable lithium ion battery lets you accomplish a day's work. Mobile professionals can back up files to external media and connect to an ISP or to e-mail or network applications with an analog phone line connection to an internal 56K modem.
Open the 720's dark grey case (3.3 by 18.7 by 9.3 cms HWD) and you'll find a bright, 6.1 inch-diagonal touch screen that provides 640 by 240 dpi resolution with 65,536 colours. You can easily manage light typing tasks with the compact, comfortable keyboard and customisable hot keys.
Notable hardware features include 32MB of flash memory, a Type II PC Card slot, a speaker, a microphone, an infrared port, status LEDs, audio control buttons, a SmartCard reader for security, a redesigned Type I CompactFlash card slot, and an AC adaptor. You can connect the 720 to a PC serial port or use the included docking station for either a serial or USB port connection (serial cable included).
The 720 runs Microsoft Windows for Handheld PC 2000 3.0 OS, Microsoft Internet Explorer for H/PC 4.01, and Windows Media Player. Microsoft's standard Pocket applications are supplemented by nine HP utilities, such as QuickPad for capturing miscellaneous text for exporting to Pocket Outlook or Pocket Word.
In testing, the PC synchronisation worked flawlessly. We connected easily to an ISP via the Remote Networking New Connection wizard. HP's Dialup 2.0 wizard is more powerful, but we disliked the way it automatically restores the default settings if a good connection isn't made on the first attempt. The browser did a great job of displaying the demanding PC Magazine site but was unable to display surround videos on Microsoft's own CarPoint site.
With the HP Jornada 720 Handheld PC, you get notebook functionality plus improved portability. When optimised with accessories and add-on software, its usability increases exponentially. Who said that keyboards are dead?
HP Jornada 720 Handheld PC
Company: Hewlett Packard
Ph: 13 24 26; Fax: 02 9354 7766
Price: ERPAU$1,999.
Rating: 4 Star
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