Hewlett Packard Jornada 545 Color Pocket PC

Windows PDAs have long fought an uphill battle. Users have flocked to the highly functional Palm Connected Organizers and tended to ignore the more powerful, more expensive, and bigger Windows PDAs. The release of the new HP Jornada 545, the first of the new Pocket PC devices to hit the market, may finally turn this around. The Jornada is still a bit bigger, about 5 ounces heavier, and about $100 more expensive than the Palm Vx. But it is sleek, robust, highly functional, and the color screen is beautifully sharp. The "wow" factor is definitely there.

The Pocket PC OS is also responsive and well thought out--a big improvement over WinCE. In addition to the suite of powerful pocket applications (Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, PIM, and scheduler), the Jornada can also serve as a digital voice recorder (to capture those spur-of-the-moment thoughts), an MP3 player, Audible content player, and even an e-books reader.

The standard 16 MB of memory is expandable using standard CompactFlash cards. The product ships with a synchronization cradle (which supports USB or conventional serial interfaces), an extra sync cable (so you don't have to take the cradle everywhere), an AC power adapter, and earbuds. A microphone and a small speaker are built in. For MP3 use, we recommend expanding your RAM to 64 MB with a CompactFlash card to provide an hour of near-CD quality music.

Most Windows users should be able to run through the setup Wizard and start using the Jornada and its applications without cracking the manual. Learning to use handwriting recognition, which is integrated into all the applications, requires mastering a few special stylus strokes, but you should be writing smoothly within half an hour. In comparison to Palm's Graffiti system, the Pocket PC system is fully on par.

In our tests, setting up a connection to a desktop PC for synchronization was simple. Within 20 minutes, we had installed the ActiveSync software, hooked up the supplied cradle to the AC adapter and a USB port on our PC, and established a connection. If you have an older PC or laptop, you can also synchronize using a slower serial connection. Synchronization is automatic and file transfer is simple using the Windows Explorer-like interface.

The only real caveat is that Pocket PC works best in a Windows-centric world. At launch, it appears that there is no support for synchronizing with non-Microsoft e-mail and scheduling applications. (With an optional modem or network-interface card, you can send and receive Internet POP mail directly via your ISP.)

The choice between Pocket PC and Palm comes still comes down to tradeoffs. Palms are still lighter, smaller, and cheaper, and they do the basics beautifully. The Jornada 545 is slightly bigger, 5 ounces heavier, $100 more expensive, but vastly more powerful and flexible. The choice all depends on what you expect your PDA to do. --Thomas Mace

Pros:

• Handsome, compact design
• Superb color screen
• Large application suite
• Easy setup and intuitive interface

Cons:

• No support for synchronization of non-Microsoft e-mail and scheduling applications
• 5 ounces heavier than Palm V

The Hewlett-Packard Jornada 545 color pocket PC is the first PDA to fully embrace Microsoft's new Windows CE Pocket PC system. Synchronizing the HP Jornada 545 with your computer requires just the touch of a button. Slim enough to fit in your hand and light enough to carry in your pocket, the HP Jornada 545 can replace a bulky laptop computer and still keep a busy person on top of tasks and appointments. The HP Jornada 545 features 16 MB each of ROM and RAM and a 240 x 320 pixel color LCD screen. Its built-in software bundle includes Pocket PC versions of Microsoft staples such as Word, Internet Explorer, Excel, and Outlook. It allows users to store thousands of addresses and years of appointments, check e-mail, review Word or Excel documents, and surf the Web. It even enables users to listen to digital music and read electronic books.

The HP Jornada 545 offers a variety of user interfaces including an onscreen keyboard, four customizable keys, two quick keys, and handwriting recognition. Input and output connections include an RS232 serial port, a USB port, and an infrared port for fast transfer of data from one infrared-equipped device to another. Although the built-in memory is plenty to support most users, this pocket PC also offers a CompactFlash card slot for removable memory, making it easy to view digital images or listen to MP3s downloaded from other devices. Some of the audio highlights of the HP Jornada 545 include a speaker, voice recording capability, and a headphone jack.

The HP Jornada 545 features a stylish yet durable metal alloy case with a removable flip-up cover. It runs on a built-in lithium-ion battery with an approximately 8-hour life. In the box come the HP Jornada 545 Pocket PC, a USB synch cradle, a serial cable, a worldwide multivoltage AC adapter, a removable cover, one stylus pen, earbuds, and a user's guide to get you started. You also receive a CD-ROM with additional programs to further optimize the HP Jornada 545's features and CD-ROM with the full standard PC version of Microsoft Outlook 2000.

Hewlett-Packard backs the HP Jornada 545 with its one-year Customer Care warranty on parts and labor.

What's in the box

• Jornada 545
• Stylus
• AC adapter
• USB cradle
• Serial cable
• Removable cover
• Earbuds
• Quick Start Guide
• Jornada CD-ROM
• HP documentation pack
• HP Jornada Accessory Guide
• Microsoft ActiveSync CD-ROM and Getting Started with Microsoft ActiveSync booklet