Hewlett Packard Ipaq HX2750 Review
Unbeatable Editor Review

Well, as the saying goes ‘third time lucky’, Hewlett Packard certainly has been.  The HP iPaq HX2750 is an upgrade of the HX4700 and the HX2000 series – And this time they’ve come very close to perfect.

The HP iPaq HX2750 boasts an Intel 624 MhzXscale processor, 128MB RAM, a biometric fingerprint reader for enhanced security, integrated Wife, and Bluetooth.  All of this provides a truly solid performance. It has a QVGA level screen (which is not as good as a high resolution VGA screen) but.  But it has a 3.5in TFT screen and it displays 64,000 colours along with vibrant images and sharp text.

The iPaq HX2750 should be proud of the features it has to offer. The handheld boasts Intel's zippy 624MHz XScale processor. A bonus is the chip's SpeedStep and Wireless MMX technology, which optimises battery life and multimedia performance. The PDA has memory aplenty too. You get 128MB of ROM and RAM and a total of 192MB of user-accessible memory, 80MB of which is available through the included iPaq File Store. If your work calls for more storage, the HX2750's CompactFlash and SDIO/MMC slots should meet your needs.

The word that best describes the iPaq HX2750 is sturdy. It could definitely stand some rough treatment (a good feature for those of us that are heavy handed).  This model comes in charcoal grey and looks nice, not as nice as it would in black – but nice all the same.  Being sturdy, it’s also a tad heavy, weighing 164g - you'll probably agree after holding it for a while.  It is a nice handheld PC though, it is compact enough with measurements of 77 x 119 x 16mm, and the rubber sides make it comfortable to hold in one hand.

To retain its looks, the iPaq HX2750 has really thought about the product and has included a useful plastic flip-screen cover, which is detachable and transparent and sits over the top of the screen to prevent scratch damage.

Underneath the main screen there are four programmable short cut keys which include Appointments, Contacts, Inbox and iTask.  There is also a four way navigation toggle with a centre select button.  You’ll also find the usual suspects like power button, speaker, and microphone.  One user-friendly feature that the iPaq HX2750 sports is a pair of tiny LED lights which blink orange when it is charging, blue for wireless mode and green for alarms.

On the left side is a lone voice-record button and you'll find a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, dual expansion slots (CompactFlash and SDIO/MMC) and the stylus holder on top of the device. A small reset button and a USB connector reside on the bottom, and a battery-release switch is on the back.

The iPaq HX2750 comes with an AC adapter and a USB desktop-sync cradle.  The device doesn’t come with a protective case (apart from the plastic screen protector).  The Li-ion battery life is good but if you want to carry a back-up power source, a higher-capacity 2,880mAh lithium-ion battery charger is available.

If Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, IR, are not enough then what is.  They can also be used simutaneously which is a bonus.  You can also expect to find Pocket Word, Excel, Outlook, Internet Explorer, and Windows Media Player 9.0.  Since the HX2750 is primarily a business device, HP throws in HP ProtectTools so that you can set a password or a PIN number to protect your data, in addition to VPN- and WEP-enhanced security.

Performance wise – the HX2750 is a winner.  At just a fraction slower than the top performers it’s very impressive. The iPaq is very fast even when running a few applications, and you’ll notice that there is no lag in response time.  Battery life is decent - better than most of the Pocket PCs on the market offering a good eight hours of average use.  Expect this to reduce if you use it intensively though.
 
Overall, the verdict is that this is a really nifty piece of kit.  You can't expect anything more.  Compared to other Pocket PCs on the market - the slightly smaller screen is the only downfall but that is not a problem when weighed up against the excellent features that it offers.

By Lisa Malyon

Pros + Biometric Fingerprint security + Overall excellent performance	Cons - Slightly smaller screen than others on the market
Overall Rating

By Lisa Malyon
May 30, 2006 at 12:38:20pm

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