Is that a computer in your pocket? 6 mobile devices tested

T&B Editor's choice Editor's choice:
RIM Blackberry 7730, Toshiba Portégé R100

  Portable devices
  Main issues

  Fujitsu Stylistic ST5010
  HP iPAQ H5550
  Motorola A925
  Handspring Treo 600
  RIM Blackberry 7730
  Toshiba Portégé R100

 Specifications
 How we tested
 Editor's choice
 About RMIT
On the PDA/phones combo side of the fence the BlackBerry 7730 wins the Editor's Choice, though all had many excellent features (and faults). While it does not have a camera, it does have an excellent range of features and does not suffer from the compressed keyboard of the Treo 600 (which otherwise would have been our favourite).

On the Portable PC side all three devices had their merits, but I must finally select the Toshiba Portégé for being above average! This mini-notebook is at home on the desk at work and on your lap in the field. It has all the power of the Stylistic, without the bells and whistles (and price). If you already have a decent notebook and need a smaller, yet still powerful machine, I highly commend the iPAQ, which has handwriting recognition even if it can't compete with that of the Stylistic. The Stylistic is a great machine, but it's very hard to justify the price tag.

This article was first published in Technology & Business magazine.
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Talkback 6 comments

    One of the main problems I see ...Anonymous -- 31/10/04

    One of the main problems I see with all the phone/pda's is that they seem to forget about phone functionality and concentrate on the PDA side of things. For example handsfree dialling/answering. Most of the end user I talk to want the phone features first and the PDA features second.

    In your review of the Treo 600 ...Anonymous -- 30/12/04

    In your review of the Treo 600, you were concerned about the possibility of hitting two keys at once. Well, I've worked with the Treo software engineers in California (in partnership with my company, Openwave systems), and they have sophisticated algorithms to account for the multi-key-hit problem. In other words, your reviewer hasn't used the unit for any actual work to give it a decent review.

    The design spec was to make it as small as possible with a full keyboard so as to not frighten people who weren't familiar with Graffiti or other handwriting-recognition programs. Well, IMHO they succeeded admirably.

    The price for this notebook is ...Anonymous -- 02/01/05

    The price for this notebook is Aud$$3,960.00......... on the toshiba website..

    The a925 and a920 (same intern ...Anonymous -- 02/02/05

    The a925 and a920 (same internals, different firmware) have the GPS enabled. The (A) in AGPS needs info from the operator (an AGPS server that kickstarts the positioning with additional data), and does not work without the operator enabling it. But the GPS should work anytime, anywhere. Except for the fact that this unit needs up to 5 min to get the initial fix. See www.nhgps.com or http://per.nitro.dk/ for programs that use the GPS units of motorola phones.

    Where in Australia is the Tosh ...Anonymous -- 11/06/05

    Where in Australia is the Toshiba R100 selling for $1999?

    The Trackwheel IS an Enter Key Dummy! Anonymous -- 26/12/07

    Whoever wrote this review is clueless about how to use a Blackberry - didn't even bother to read the manual. The trackwheel is the enter key. All you do is use the trackwheel to navigate to what you want to click, then press the trackwheel in to "enter" !

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