Gadgetoid

gadg-et-oid [gaj-it-oid]

-adjective

1. having the characteristics or form of a gadget;
resembling a mechanical contrivance or device.

HP iPAQ 214 “Enterprise” Handheld

The PDA market is in a seemingly endless slump, nothing since the last of the AXIMs and the HP iPAQ series has shown any significant improvement in power or features. When it comes to hand-held computing Moore’s Law just doesn’t seem to apply.

The HP iPAQ 214 is no exception to this modern trend, but it’s a rare and thus warmly welcomed addition to the choice of non-mobile-phone PDAs on the market with some pretty impressive specifications that far eclipse those of the HTC Kaiser and similar current popular Windows Mobile phones.

Alongside a 4″ LED backlit 640 x 480 pixel display the HP iPAQ 214 boasts a 624 MHz CPU at its core, backed up by 128 MB application RAM and 256 MB flash ROM. The 126 MB RAM is pretty standard but I can’t help but wish it has a more juicy 256 MB to fully outclass the Kaiser.

The HP iPAQ 214 is 7.6cm wide and 12.6cm high with a depth of just 1.6cm and packs 802.11b/g wireless lan, bluetooth 2, and SDIO/Compact Flash slots. That amounts to a pretty large storage potential and the standard connectivity options one would expect where mobile phones are not involved.

If you only use your smart phone or pda phone at Wi-Fi hotspots and lack any kind of data plan then the iPAQ 214 and a more traditional phone could be a good upgrade path. The HP iPAQ 214 retails for just under £250 and a quick Froogle will get you on the right track.

Wednesday, February 20th, 2008, Windows Mobile.