HP iPAQ 510/514 Voice Messenger Review

iPAQ 500 features a comparatively conservative but attractive in its own way design. It looks in no-way like a fashionable telephone but is rather neutral, which is appropriate for a smartphone of this class. It feels comfortably in the hand and is also easily kept in a pocket due to its compact size.

Model	Dimension (Inches)	Dimension (MM)	Weight (OZ)	Weight (Gramms)
HP iPAQ 500	4.2" x 1.9" x 0.6"	107 x 48.6 x 16.3	3,6	102
HTC S710 VOX	4.0" x 2.0" x 0.7"	101 x 50 x 17.7	4,2	120
i-mate SPL	4.5" x 1.9" x 0.5"	114.5 x 49 x 12	3,6	102
Toshiba G500	3.8" x 1.9" x 0.9"	96 x 49 x 22.9	4,8	135

The plastic of the body is smooth on the outside and good-looking but, we would rather the device had rubber coating on the back panel for a more secure hold with moist hands. The battery lid has an unpleasant play.

HP 500 is standard candy-bar telephone. The manufacturer’s logo and the loudspeaker are at the top of the upper panel and immediately below is the 2.0” display. It is one of the main compromises of this model. The resolution is untypically low for a smartphone – 173 x 220 instead of 240 x 320 pixels. It not only leads to a poorer image quality (also brought about by the lack of brightness and the unrealistic and non-saturated colours), but may cause problems when the matter in question is OPERATION of the device as a smartphone.

The low resolution is a major inconvenience for reading texts or using an Internet browser. It is also a considerable drawback that applications, set for QVGA displays, are inapplicable. Thus, despite being a WM6 telephone, the only possible applications for the iPAQ will be those, intended for use with WM telephones with resolution 176 x 220 pixels. Other similar units are the HTC S310 and some other older models.

The keypad has a black background and transparent buttons, adding to the exquisite and elegant appearance of the device. The white backlighting, which is most neutral and suitable for this kind of telephone, also makes for this effect. The keypad is rather narrow though, diminishing the button size. We mainly encountered problems with the software buttons and the answer/reject ones, often pressing the “receiver” instead of the former, or vice versa. Despite its small size, the 5-directional d-pad is easily pressed in all directions. Though quite small, the numeric keys feature a good relief and this was really for the first time that we could feel button 5’s bulge trouble-free. They are easy to press but slightly “over-sinking”, which can make one uncertain if the keys were actually pressed.

Right side	Left side	miniUSB port

On the right there is the Voice Control button and on the left – a 2.5 mm socket for stereo headphones/handsfree, a hotswappable slot for micro SD cards and the volume control rocker. The computer connection and charging is done via the miniUSB port on the bottom.