HP iPAQ hw6515 - Close to everything

Oct 21 HP iPAQ hw6515 - Close to everything
Found in:Devices,

HP's hw6515 is at least four devices in one: Pocket PC, phone, camera and, best of all, a GPS device capable of providing turn-by-turn navigation with audio guidance. (A second version of the smartphone, the hw6510, does not include a camera.)
While there are lots of Pocket PC phones and a few Pocket PC GPS devices, this is the first that combines phone, PDA and GPS functions. While the hw6515 has a Bluetooth radio, the smartphone lacks Wi-Fi, which is just about the only major want-to-have feature missing. It runs the Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition operating system, and comes with all the usual Pocket PC applications.
The cellular-wireless handheld packs only middling power, though—a 312 MHz Intel PXA272 processor, 128 MB total memory—and features a smaller-than-typical 3-inch, 240 x 240-pixel resolution screen. Like the earlier h4350 Pocket PC, the hw6515 features a QWERTY "thumb keyboard." The screen is smaller and square to make room for the keyboard below it.

HP's new Pocket PC Phone is also a quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE device with an integrated antenna. Cingular's EDGE (Enhanced Data for Global Evolution) network promises to exchange data at average speeds of 135 kilobits per second (kbps), about three times as fast as conventional wired dial-up connections.
Its 1.3-megapixel camera comes with a flash and is capable of taking full-motion video. There's integrated Secure Digital In Out (for memory and peripherals) and miniSD (for storage only) slots.

Performance
The hw6515 does a lot given its sleek and relatively diminutive form factor: 4.65 x 2.80 x .83 inches, 5.82 ounces. The downside is that, like most jacks of all trades, it doesn't do anything terrifically well. Most disappointingly, the GPS functions did not work flawlessly in our testing.
In fairness, the unit we tested was still marked 'Engineering Sample, Not for Sale.' HP may work out some of the glitches before bringing this product to market in North America. On the other hand, we did see indications out of Europe - where the hw6515 was already being sold - that HP would recall the product because of problems with GPS. HP denied this.
GPS
Our review unit had the optional Navteq software already loaded, so we can't report on how easy or difficult it is to set up. The software provides the same kind of functionality as other turn-by-turn navigation and mapping applications.
It gives you GPS information from the GPS receiver, including time, latitude, longitude, altitude, speed and the number of satellites it's able to poll. You can view a map of where you are, and zoom it in or out. You can save your current location as a Favorite—home, office, airport, etc.
PDA
As a Pocket PC, the hw6515 is somewhat compromised by the smaller screen. When you display the letter recognizer interface, there's not much screen real estate left for content. Users who have always balked at PDA handwriting recognition will no doubt welcome the keyboard, but we found the keys way too small for rapid input.
One upside: the numeric keypad section of the keyboard lets you dial telephone numbers without having to use the onscreen number pad, something else many users apparently don't like.

The 6515 is not the fastest Pocket PC. The rotating color wheel cursor that indicates the processor is busy doing something seemed to appear more often than with most Pocket PCs we've tested recently, often when loading big programs such as the camera software or changing from one function to another in the Navteq software.
This is perhaps not surprising given the processor power it packs. The fastest Pocket PCs have 500 MHz and even 600 MHz processors.
Network
As a phone, the hw6515 also appears to be slightly underpowered. We tested it at the same time as the Samsung p207. In some indoor situations where the p207 made a reasonably strong connection to the Rogers network, the connection with the HP product tended to be slightly weaker and voice quality slightly degraded compared to the Samsung unit.


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