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In the list of new entrants is HP, which is finally here with their range of handsets, and today we take a look at one of their variants - the HP iPAQ 512. 
Bundle HP iPAQ 512 Stereo Handsfree USB Cable Charger CD & Manual 
Specifications Band: GSM 850 / GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900 Dimension: 107 x 48.6 x 16.3 mm Weight: 102 grams Operating System: Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Processor: TI OMAP 850 200MHz processor Battery: Li-Ion 1100 mAh Build & Design The iPAQ 512 is a standard candy-bar phone - it's light, and fits easily in your pocket like other standard phones of the same form. 
The phone has a large 2-inch screen with a resolution of 176 x 220 pixels. Although this is a standard resolution for many phones, in this case it tends to get a little pixilated; a 240 x 320 would have been better. The phone has a standard alphanumeric keypad with a 5-way D-Pad. The keys have a laminated finish with the center button of the D-Pad and the calling keys having a brushed metal finish. There are two menu keys and a Home and Back/Previous menu key. 
The left side of the phone has the volume control, a microSD card slot which has a rubber flap to shield it from dust. The rubber flap is pretty tough to pull out and makes it difficult to get to the memory card if you don't have nails or a pin around. There is also a 2.5mm stereo port on this side to connect your handsfree. The right side holds a Voice Command button. 
The bottom of the phone houses a miniUSB port which doubles as a charging port, and also a connectivity port. The back of the phone is where a 1.3 MP camera is placed, and above that is the loud speaker of the phone. 
The overall build of the phone is good. Although I feel that the phone won't be able to survive more than a couple of drops. Interface The HP iPAQ runs on the Windows Mobile 6.0 OS. It has a 200MHz processor which manages to handle the phone operations along with running software side-by-side. The phone is a bit under-powered - it's a little slow in response; although, one can't demand a better processor at this price. While researching over the internet, I found out that people were even overclocking the processor of this iPAQ. There are many people who overclock the processor to 230-240 MHz, and have even attained 300MHz. While that is possible, it isn't advised as it voids the product's warranty completely. 
The phone has 64 MB RAM, out of which 20 MB is taken away by the OS; that leaves roughly a little over 40 MB for the other programs to utilize. There is 128 MB of internal memory as well out of which just about 65 MB is available to install programs and store data. 
The phone comes bundled with the following software - Mobile Office, Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, and PowerPoint Mobile. For internet surfing there is IE provided. You can use Windows Live login to access all the Windows Live features. MSN Messenger,Internet sharing, e-Certificates, Tasks, Calendar, Calculator are the other applications also available. The phone has Java MIDP 2.0, so you can install software of your choice. 
One thing to note - changing the view to full screen doesn't change it to landscape orientation; I particularly didn't like this about the phone. Overall, the interface is simple to use; considering it's a Windows OS, I don't think anyone should find it difficult to use. Multimedia The iPAQ 512 has Windows Media Player with all of its settings ousted. There are no playback settings like equalizer and sound boosting as seen in the O2 Atom and the Asus P535, which was a bit of a disappointment; but not absolutely because the sound is as good as any other Nokia handset has to offer. Videos are also played through WMP and have quick options to make it full screen, which turns the video to landscape mode. Camera The HP iPAQ 512 has a 1.3 MP camera. Its quality is really poor and feels like it's there just for namesake. 
The camera takes decent pictures in bright light conditions, but terrible ones in low-light even with the night mode on. The camera has a maximum resolution of 1280 x 1240 pixels, and offers 4x digital zoom. 
It barely meets the image capture needs; so this phone would be a wrong pick for someone who wants to click a lot of decent quality pictures. The video recording is QCIF, and is best to use for sending videos over MMS. Connectivity The iPAQ 512 has a good list of connectivity options. The phone offers simple GPRS connectivity, and even Wi-Fi;.EDGE as well as GPRS being Class 10, and Wi-Fi is an 802.11 b/g. 
As far as device connectivity goes, the iPAQ 512 has a Bluetooth v1.2 module. There is no Infra-red port and the miniUSB port is a 1.1 as well. Both these result in slower data transfer; though not much of a problem when it comes to Bluetooth. The phone uses Windows ActiveSync to communicate with the PC. This means, communication is slow by itself, and the USB 1.1 module makes transferring data seem like it'll take forever. Battery Life The iPAQ 512 uses an 1100 mAh to power itself up. The battery life of the phone is good. Statistics say that it'll deliver over 6 hours of talktime; the phone lasted me 3 whole days with about 30-40 minutes of talktime each day. 
With the Wi-Fi module switched on for about an hour, the phone managed to last for a day. The phone's small screen is one of the main reasons why the phone can actually churn out such good battery life. The phone charges through USB which takes about two hours to charge fully. Conclusion Now comes the best part of the phone. The HP iPAQ 512 sells for a little less than 12K, and can be found for around Rs. 11, 500 off the street. It's a steal at this price for being a Windows Mobile phone that has Wi-Fi as well. You'll hardly find other Windows Mobile phones available for this price, that too with Wi-Fi. There are a couple of offerings from i-mate, but those aren't as good when compared to this offering from HP. Overall, the down side of this handset is the poor screen; a screen with better resolution would have given it more credit. It still remains a decent pick for someone with a tight budget wanting to opt for a Windows Mobile. Test unit sourced from: Genesis PR
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