HP iPAQ hx2790

Aimed directly at business users, the iPAQ hx2790 has all the traditional trappings of a productivity-savvy PDA. This handheld sports a peppy 624-MHz processor and 256MB of total memory (192MB ROM and 64MB RAM). It features dual Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless, CompactFlash and SDIO memory, and a large 3.5-inch display. Security is provided with a biometric fingerprint reader. Multiple levels of security allow you to train the PDA to respond to a password, fingerprint, or both, and it’s amazingly accurate; the hx2790 almost always identified our finger on the first scan.

When it comes to performance, this HP was a strong contender. Overall CPU performance was about the same as the Dell Axim, but it scored far better in file system tests and it outdid the Axim on battery life as well (running for a little over three hours with the backlight on).

This isn’t the PDA for the fashion conscious. The screen offers a paltry 240 x 320 pixels. Stretched across such a large display, pictures looked grainy, especially compared to the far sharper Axim. The case itself is large and chunky, and the blunt design looks more like a clay prototype than a finished product. It’s roughly the same size as the Axim, but the hx2790 is significantly thicker than its sibling, the rx1950.

If you could care less about style, we recommend the hx2790 for its performance, security, and slightly better battery life than the Dell.