In recent years, HP's Jornada has played second fiddle to the flashier Pocket PCs from Compaq and Casio.
With its next-generation Jornada 560 series, HP attempts to move to the front of the pack with a better-performing, more sleekly designed handheld that offers much improved battery life.
Although it has the same basic dimensions and shape as the previous Jornada models, the 568 looks sexier. It has a metallic-silver flip cover and case, which are both protected by a band of grey, rubberised plastic.
The flip cover may seem like a minor thing, but if you've been using a Compaq iPaq Pocket PC, which doesn't fit in its standard case with an expansion jacket on, you'll really appreciate the extra protection for the display.
Aside from the new design, the display is perhaps the most noticeable change. The Jornada 548 had a dim, 12-bit colour screen. This time, though, HP delivers a full 65,536-colour, reflective display.
The 9cm display--only slightly smaller than that of the Compaq iPaq H3600 series--is easy to read in direct sunlight, but the backlight was a tad dim indoors. However, you do get a rated 14 hours of battery life. That's a significant improvement over the eight-hour rating for many current Pocket PCs. Even better, the included lithium-polymer battery is removable, so you can carry a spare to keep going.
At 198 grams, the Jornada 568 is light enough to be a good travel companion. However, Compaq and Toshiba have both announced new Pocket PCs that are smaller and lighter than the Jornada.
The Jornada 560 series is HP's first Pocket PC based on the 206MHz StrongARM processor, which far outpaces the Hitachi SH3 chips found in previous Jornada Pocket PCs. There's also 64MB of RAM and 32MB of flash ROM onboard. If you need more space, a removable panel hides a CompactFlash Type I extended expansion slot, which can accommodate larger CompactFlash peripherals, such as modems and LAN cards.
Nonetheless, Casio and Toshiba both offer Pocket PCs with 64MB of RAM, a Secure Digital (SD) card slot, and a CompactFlash Type II slot for less than the AU$1499 list price of the Jornada 568.
If you already use a Pocket PC, the 2002 version of the OS won't look much different to you. This is by design, and you'll find many customer-requested enhancements included in the software. To fill any gaps, HP does its part with a solid bundle of extra software.
The Jornada 568 includes additional productivity software, backup utilities, an image viewer, and even drivers for popular accessories, such as wireless LAN cards, modems, and keyboards. There's even voice-command software so that you can speak to your PDA.
HP further sweetens the multimedia deal with applications for digital music and audio books. Just bear in mind that the tiny built-in speaker is better suited for meeting alarms than for listening to Powderfinger--but that's where the headphone jack comes in.
The Jornada 568 offers all the usual buttons to access these applications. The four primary buttons default to Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, and the HP Home Menu for quick access to frequently used applications and settings. The device also supplies the standard buttons on the side and front for scrolling through and selecting items, as well as for taking text or voice memos. A lighted button on top glows red while charging and green when it's finished, and you can set the light to flash to remind you about appointments.
If the Jornada had a CompactFlash Type II slot so that you could add larger-capacity storage cards or if it had a lower list price, we'd be far more enthusiastic in our recommendation of this PDA. Casio and Toshiba have announced Pocket PCs with better built-in expansion options and lower prices.
If you don't mind buying extra expansion accessories, HP has announced a PC Card adapter with an SD card slot for its 560 series, as well as a replacement battery with an SD card slot, both of which should be available soon. While we don't think the Jornada is a good deal, we do think it's worth the extra AU$150 to grab the 568 over the 32MB 565.
| Product: | HP Jornada 568 |
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| Price: | AU$1499 |
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| Vendor: | Hewlett-Packard |
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| Phone: | 08700 115 115 |
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| Interoperability: |  Windows based, comes with one irDA infrared port, one USB (slave), serial RS232C, AC input jack, earphone jack, expansion slot. |
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| Futureproofing: |  No inbuilt SD capability, but SD and PC Card can be added with optional accessories. Type I CompactFlash only. |
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| ROI: |  Not a great bargain, but worth buying the 568 over the 565. |
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| Service: |  One-year return to HP warranty, can order a HP support pack which includes a three-year warranty for AU$150. Phone 132 347, extensive support on Web. |
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| Rating: | 
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6%
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